This chapter is dedicated to my mother, who finally took time to finish reading this story. Or at least the chapters that are currently up.
A/N: This is the second version of this chapter. I was about to post the first one when I realized it was... well, wrong. Off. Not suitable. This one seems better to me. Hope you like it too :)
Rachel was curled up in a corner of a dark room. Dark covers were in front of all the windows and the little light that could make its way into the room created a lot of shadows. They seemed to be moving, and the old house was constantly making a sort of creaking sound around her.
Suddenly she heard something fall on the upper floor. She let out a panicked scream and ran to the door. It was locked. She ran to the window and tugged it open. It was above the porch, so she climbed out of it. She pulled it shut after her and ran.
She ran to the back of the house and headed towards the park just behind the old and dilapidated house. She fell onto the muddy ground when she was about halfway through the garden, thus creating mudstains on her pants and hands. But she didn't care. She was terrified and all she wanted was to get away from this house and the evil man who had brought her there.
She fell again in the park, now adding stains of grass to the mud ones too. Her light beige pants didn't look so light anymore.
She spotted an old lady sitting on a park bench, so she hid behind a tree. What is she was bad too?
She sat down at the foot of the tree and curled up into a ball. She wrapped her little arms around her knees and rested her head on them.
Soon the exhaustion took her over.
oOoOoOoOo
This time Gibbs' speed was even higher than it had been when they'd raced to catch the bad guy. The team couldn't help but wonder if there ever came a limit to Gibbs' speed. Probably not. It seemed like they were flying along to highway, dodging other cars as they went and trying to ignore the orchestra of blaring car horns.
Tony and Ziva were practically jumping up and down in their seats, even this speed wasn't enough for them. They wanted to bolt to their daughter at the speed of light, maybe even faster.
And even though Gibbs' driving cut the normally fifteen minute drive down to five minutes, it wasn't fast enough.
The moment Gibbs brought the car to a screeching halt in front of the house Sean had given them the address of, they bolted from the car. Gibbs and McGee were right behind them as they entered the house. The team cleared it, making sure Sean had no accomplices there, all the while searching for Rachel. She was not there.
They made their way around the house, looking into closets and everywhere where a child might hide or be hidden in, finally heading down to the basement.
Rachel was not in the house.
They all ended up in front of the house eventually. Frustration was clear on everyone's faces.
"That son of a bitch lied to you!" Tony exclaimed, his hands curling into fists. His words were directed at Ziva, though his anger was not. It was directed at Sean Thompson personally.
"He'll regret it," Gibbs promised. Then he caught sight of Ziva from the corner of his right eye. She was heading towards the back of the house. "Ziva?" he questioned, but she made no attempts to answer him. She didn't even turn to look at him.
The three men shot questioning looks at each other, then went in the same direction as she had, noticing now what had caught her attention.
There were little footprints on the ground.
Thanks to the fact that it had rained last night, and quite heavily so, the footprints were clearly visible in the dirt. And that was the direction Ziva was heading now. The rest of the team just followed her lead.
The trail of footprints led out of the small garden and into the park that was just behind the house. The muddy prints continued on the stone path in the park. Ziva squatted down and touched one footprint. The mud was still fresh, having yet to dry.
"Rachel!" Ziva yelled. "Rachel!"
The team spread out to search for her, for they knew she had to be somewhere close by. They all hurried away in different directions, occasionally calling out Rach's name.
Tony had walked for about two or three hundred yards when he spotted a small figure curled up by a big old tree. Her beige pants, light green blouse and dark curls were painfully familiar.
He ran to the little girl and knelt down beside her. He checked her breathing. Yup, definitely alive. She appeared to be sleeping, but it worried Tony that she didn't wake up when he gently scooped her up in his arms. Tears trickled from his eyes as he looked at the peaceful face of his daughter. Tears of love and happiness over finding her, over having her back safely in his arms.
"Found her," he called out. Rachel didn't even stir in her sleep. After a few moments he noticed the others running towards him.
Ziva made it to him first, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she caught sight of Rachel's seemingly lifeless form in his arms and the tears on his cheeks.
"Is she…" she started, but found the thought too terrifying to voice it out loud.
Tony looked up from his daughter's face to his wife's. He saw fear lingering in her dark eyes.
"She's okay. Just sleeping."
Ziva let out a deep sigh of relief and hurried to his side. She looked down at her daughter's sleeping form. "Are you sure she is just sleeping?" she questioned, genuine concern clearly visible on her face.
Tony looked more closely at Rachel. "I hope so."
Ziva lowered her head and placed a tender kiss on Rach's forehead. "Rachel," she said, her voice gentle. "Wake up, tateleh. Mommy and daddy are here."
Ziva held her breath as she saw Rach's eyelids flutter at her mother's voice. She opened them sleepily and her whole face lit up when she took in her parent's smiling faces above her.
Tony put her down on her own feet and both he and Ziva engulfed her in a hug. "We missed you, darling," Tony whispered.
"I missed you too," Rachel said weakly, tears falling down her cheeks. "That man was so mean to me," she said through muffled sobs.
"Did he hurt you?" It was Gibbs. Neither Tony nor Ziva had heard him coming. They looked up at their boss. McGee was there as well. They let go of Rach so that she could get some air. She tugged at her left sleeve. Ziva reached out to help her and gently rolled the fabric up.
There was an ugly bruise on the little girl's arm. Ziva gasped quietly as she saw this. Tony gritted his teeth. "He'll pay for this," he muttered darkly under his breath.
"Did he hurt you anywhere else?" Ziva questioned softly. Rachel shook her head.
"Okay, let's get you out of here," Tony said, pulling Rachel's sleeve gently back over her arm. He stood up. Rachel reached her little arms out for him and he picked her up, smiling happily to have her back.
As always, please review. As my very good friend said: "Writers are like lovesick puppies. We need that sense of security that someone cares enough to review, and we need constant praise and attention. Yes, most of us are very needy when it comes to feedback." I totally agree with her. So please, grant me that sense of security :)