The next day's morning dawned on a silent Warehouse. The celebration had lasted long into the night, and the Residents had finally drifted back to their Apartments exhausted but content. All but the Guards and Angels on shift were fast asleep, and the first rays of light did little to rouse them.

Suddenly, the door to the Warehouse opened, and a shadowy figure burst through it. It darted in and out of the rows of Apartments, before skidding to a stop in front of the one it had been searching for. Panting, it stepped into the metal box, not realizing it was a bad idea to do so. Before the dark, winded figure could take three steps, it was slammed against the side of the shipping container, with a slender arm pressing against his trachea and a sharp knife to his jugular.

A moment of panic flooded the surprised intruder, until a lantern was lit and the Apartment was illuminated. The threatening arm and knife both belonged to Ziva, whose sharp and piercing eyes quickly recognized the intruder.

"Dammit, Ethan," Ziva said, releasing the youth and sheathing her knife. "What the hell are you doing? I could have killed you."

"I know, Ziva, I'm sorry, but the Angels spotted a gang of Vipers coming down on some Strays, only 150 meters from the Perimeter." Ziva's eyes shot over to meet Gibbs'. They shared a long look, both knowing the implications—it was too close for comfort, and the special agents lying dormant within them stirred restlessly at the idea of an injustice occurring within sight of their walls. Ziva nodded to Gibbs, agreeing with the suggestion his arched eyebrows relayed. In the next moment, both sprang into action, going immediately to their boots.

"How many?" Gibbs asked brusquely as he pulled on his boots.

"Angels counted seven Strays and sixteen Vipers," Ethan responded.

"Sound the alarm," Gibbs ordered. He tied his laces and straightened as Ethan scampered away. A moment later, the youth had begun to slam a heavy pipe against an empty Apartment across the way. The resulting clangor of Ethan's ministrations filled the Warehouse with raucous din, and soon shouts of alarm joined the melee.

Ziva and Gibbs moved swiftly and efficiently, not wasting any time as they swiped their weapons of choice from where they rested against the wall. Both carried knives on their persons at all times, but they knew that they would not be enough to fend off the Vipers. While Vipers were not as infamous as the Black Blood Gang, they still wreaked their share of havoc. They were reminiscent of the gangs that had existed in DC prior to the Incident. They were violent and greedy, and were prone to raping and pillaging rival gangs and passing Strays. Such a large group on a roving Patrol was unusual, and made the situation even more dangerous.

Within moments, Gibbs and Ziva had abandoned their Apartment and made their way quickly through the Warehouse. Gibbs hefted a heavy iron rod in his right hand. It was something he had found on Patrol one night, a pole that was originally designed to break up packed soil for gardening. It featured one end that was a modified chisel, the sides tapered to form a scraping edge, and another end that had been ground into a single point. It was almost five feet long, and solid iron an inch in diameter. The result was a heavier weapon than most people would find preferable, but Gibbs had lost no time in becoming proficient in its use. His muscular physique had not been lost since the Incident, as nearly constant movement had kept him conditioned and regular Encounters kept his skills sharp. In many ways he used the pike as he would a bayonet, if he needed a strike to be deadly, but it was equally easy to utilize in a non-lethal manner. It was capable of breaking bone, even when not wanting to use lethal force, and the speed with which Gibbs wielded it was often enough to discourage his opponents after only a single crushing blow.

Ziva's weapons were also modified gardening tools, but that was where the similarities between the weapons ended. Where Gibbs' pole arm relied on brute strength to wield, Ziva's were lighter, and able to be used with speed and grace. She had designed them herself, using a pair of long-bladed gardening shears that had been foraged from a house in Vector 3. The two halves of the shears had been disarticulated at the hinge, leaving her with identical metal blades attached to wooden handles. She had then snapped the thin pieces of metal that connected the handles to the blades, leaving the metal caps on the ends of the handles. Using a welding torch they had found in one of the shipping containers, Ziva had reattached the handles, this time so that they were at ninety-degree angles to the blades. She painstakingly cut and sanded the handles so that they were a third of their original length, and had managed to sharpen the neglectfully dull blades until they were razor-sharp. The finished product was two identical elbow blades, both of which resembled the tonfa that modern police batons had been modeled after. When she gripped the handles, as she was now doing as she rushed through the Warehouse, the blades ran along the outside of her forearm to reach almost to her elbow.

Other Residents joined them as they passed through the Warehouse, each of them with their own makeshift weapons in hand; chains, pipes, wooden bats, anything that could be swung and could cause any sort of bodily harm. There would be no firearms among them—they were too valuable for an Encounter such as this. The Vipers were not known for carrying guns themselves, and it would be unwise to use their ammunition on the Vipers when there was a good chance of needing them against the Bloods.

By the time they passed through the Warehouse door, Tony and six other Residents had joined them. As they funneled out into the Maze and paused for orders, Gibbs took a quick survey. Ziva was the only woman among them, but Gibbs knew that wouldn't be a problem. These men were all off-duty Guards and Angels, men who had been training with Ziva in their off-hours in an attempt to ready them for a situation like this. They respected her, and knew that she was more than proficient in a close-quarters fight. On top of that, Gibbs knew that they adored her, after witnessing many a confrontation between them and Newcomers who had made the mistake of making a snide remark about Ziva's physical attributes within their hearing. Even if Gibbs had not been present, these men would have followed Ziva through the gates of Hell, the Marine was sure of it. These were good men, and decent fighters. Despite the Vipers' superior numbers, Gibbs was confident that there would be minimal casualties among the Residents when all was said and done.

"Let's go," Gibbs said simply. He turned and set off towards the Perimeter, setting a brisk pace as he led them through the Maze. As soon as they reached the Perimeter, where the Guards were already opening the Gate, the sounds of the struggle could be heard. Fearful cries of pain and mocking whoops and hollers spurred them on, sending them sprinting through the final rows of shipping containers as the Gate was closed, but not locked, behind them. They raced towards the fight, and within moments burst upon the Conflict.

Without breaking stride, Gibbs' keen eyes told him that several of the Vipers had decided to double-team the male Strays, clearly intent on eliminating the greater threat. Others taunted the women, yanking their clothes and pulling their hair as they desperately tried to escape the Vipers' clutches.

With a fierce yell, Gibbs body slammed the closest Viper, his momentum sending the thug sprawling. Then he swung his iron staff around with both hands, sweeping another's feet out from under him. The Vipers had clearly been taken by surprise, as for several moments, shouts of alarm joined the cries of their victims. But the Vipers quickly recovered, and were soon striking back with their own arsenals of 2x4s, tire irons, pipes, and chains.

Gibbs blocked a blow from a tire iron, then trapped it with a twist and yanked it away from its owner, sending it skittering across the cement. He shot a leg out, catching his opponent in the chest. The Viper whoofed from the impact, and he curled in on himself as Gibbs turned to engage the next attacking gangster. A loud clang reverberated up Gibbs' arms as pipe met staff with a vicious blow. Gibbs focused on his new opponent, barely able to spare a thought as to how Ziva was doing before he lost himself in the fight.

Ziva was close on Gibbs' heels as they came upon the fight. Her sharp eyes immediately caught sight of three Vipers surrounding a felled Stray. Without a second thought, she darted to the thugs and immediately put herself between them and their victim. Her blades came up and blocked the heavy metal chain that swung violently through the air. Then she spun, slamming an elbow into the nose of the Viper to her right. Bone crunched wetly, and a cry of pain quickly followed. With a triumphant grin, Ziva moved on to the remaining two. Avoiding the use of her sharpened blades, she lashed out with a roundhouse, and swung the inside of her forearm towards a Viper's face.

Slamming the end of the wooden grip into his cheek, she sent a swift back kick into the ribs of the viper who had been trying to sneak up behind her. The thug yelled in pain and indignity, but didn't fall until another kick caught him in the throat, making the thug gurgle as he went down.

The resulting momentary reprieve gave Ziva a chance to regain her bearings. Through the din of the struggle, her ears picked up a sound that was distinctly out of place. Her brow furrowed as she struggled to identify it. An icy cold gripped her heart when something clicked, and she realized what it was—the wailing cries of an infant. Ziva whirled around, her eyes darting to locate all the Strays, quickly attempting to identify who was holding a baby.

"No, please, don't!" a desperate female voice echoed to Ziva's ears. The Israeli spun again, but could not find the sources of the pleas."Stop! Not my baby!" Ziva sprinted away from the immediate battle and into the surrounding stacks towards the sound of the desperate cries. She almost missed the presence of four vipers at the end of the row as she barreled past, but she skidded to a stop just as one drew his arm back, a knife gleaming in his hand, ready to plunge it into his victim's chest. The woman he held by the throat was sobbing and pleading, but received nothing but a merciless smirk in return. Ziva saw a box at her feet behind her, and a rustle of a blanket and a heart-wrenching squall told her the baby was inside it.

Without a second thought, Ziva pulled back her arm and then sent one of her blades flying. It sailed gracefully through the air before sinking tip first into the Viper's chest. The woman sank to the ground as the grip on her throat loosened, and, sobbing, she crawled to where the box lay. The other three Vipers saw their comrade fall; by the time they turned to face Ziva, she was on them.

Fury fueled her movements as she lashed out, surprising them by using her momentum to slide to a stop, much as a baseball player would when trying score a run, and shot out a leg to sweep two of them off their feet. She then spun into a fighting stance, from which she delivered a sharp side-kick to the one left standing. He was waiting for her though, and caught her leg mid-strike. A pipe slammed into one of her kidneys, making her cry out in pain. But the adrenaline surging through her kept her on her feet, dulling the immediate agony, and she managed to slash out at her captor. He dropped her leg quickly, but she was not quick enough to block the pipe's second blow.

Only her reflexes kept her from taking the full force of the blow—she twisted at the last moment so that the pipe seared across her cheekbone instead of shattering her jaw. Then she was dodging an attack from the Viper who had trapped her leg, who now wielded a metal chain in each hand. The links were thick and heavy, and the Viper was twirling them lazily as he waited for his moment to strike. The two Vipers were quicker than she would have liked, and was finding it difficult to land a decent blow on one without leaving herself open to an attack from the other. A moment later, just as she was avoiding the pipe, panic hit her—there had been four of them when she had first found them. She had killed one, two were fighting her now… where did the last one go?

An agonized scream from behind answered her unvoiced question. A frantic glance towards the sound yielded the sight of the final Viper withdrawing his knife from between the woman's ribs. She fell to the ground, motionless. The blade was slick with her blood, and glinted darkly in the growing light.

The moment's distraction was enough to send her sprawling as one of her opponents tackled her from behind. Reacting instinctively, Ziva did not resist the motion, instead taking advantage of the momentum to roll onto her back. The Vipers fell on her instantly, but Ziva kicked one back while she sliced the chest of the second with her remaining blade. The wound was not fatal, she knew, but it was enough to send blood flying, splattering her face and arms. For a moment the gangsters fell back, and Ziva scrambled to her feet just in time to see the last Viper standing over the infant, dripping knife in hand and a malicious gleam in his eye.

Ziva immediately loosed her second blade, which missed its mark by a fraction of an inch. But the angle of its flight caused the blade to sail wide to the outside, so that instead of severing the man's spine, it knocked the knife from his hand and sent both blades skittering out of his immediate reach. Abandoning her first two opponents, Ziva surged towards the endangered infant. The now weaponless Viper turned to meet her advance head-on. She dodged his first blow, but was caught by his elbow on the backswing. She delivered a quick punch of her own, her fist connecting solidly with his ribs. He attempted to wrestle her to the ground, but was thwarted by the back of her head slamming into his nose. It stunned him enough for Ziva to twist in his grasp and send her knee into his groin.

Then she was completely free, and she immediately went to the box. All rational thought left her as she responded to the instinctual need to protect the infant that rested inside. She barely had time to scoop the child into her arms before the other two Vipers caught up with her. A blow from the pipe came dangerously close to her kneecap, causing her leg to buckle involuntarily. The chains soon followed, and the end links wrapped around her arms as they connected. Ziva hunched over and wrapped her arms around the bawling infant in an attempt to shield it from errant blows.

Her mind raced as she scrambled to find a way to get them both out of the situation alive. But with blows from three Vipers raining down on them, Ziva found she couldn't move without the risk of the baby getting hit. Even standing to run would leave it vulnerable to the reach of the metal chains that were currently pounding against her back.

When the pipe came crashing down on her ribs, she couldn't silence the scream that escaped her lips. She curled herself as tightly as she could around the baby. As she ran through her painfully limited options, Ziva couldn't help but notice that the infant was no longer crying against her. Looking down at the small bundle in her arms, she found a pair of bright blue eyes gazing curiously back at her.

Gibbs sent the last of the Vipers head over heels with a well-placed sweep of his staff that, causing the gangster to crack his head against the pavement and lay unconscious under the Voice's piercing gaze. Accepting that the thug was no longer a threat, Gibbs took a moment to take stock of his surroundings. Looking around, he found the rest of his men all still standing. Apparently deciding the Strays were not worth fighting the Residents who had come to their defense, the Vipers still on their feet scampered off. Gibbs' men let them go, instead helping the fallen Strays to their feet. Some Residents had taken a few knocks, but the worst injuries Gibbs could see were a few split lips and a bloody nose.

Suddenly, dread gripped Gibbs by the gut as he realized someone was missing.

"Ziva!" Gibbs shouted, trying to keep panic from edging into his voice. The other Residents heard him though, and instantly began to glance around for their leader, concern writ clearly across their features. "Ziva!!" Gibbs called again, this time louder. But no response yielded itself. His breath caught in his chest, and Gibbs momentarily forgot to breathe. In the following silence, an angry voice echoed through the stacks.

"Stupid bitch!"

An agonized scream followed, and in the next moment, all of the Residents sprang into action, sprinting into the stacks. Gibbs outpaced them all, and was the first to find three Vipers whaling on a single hunched figure. Panic flooded him, but before it had a chance to paralyze him, he was charging forward with a yell that distracted the thugs from their victim.

As soon as he was in reach, the iron pike in his hand came up to slam into a face. A pipe was dropped in shock, followed quickly by a shriek of pain. The Viper stumbled back, only to be replaced by his buddy, who wasted no time in swinging a chain in his direction. Gibbs ducked, dropping his pole arm, and swept in close to slam his fist into the gangster's abdomen. Another punch, this time to the face, and then the other Residents took over, leaving Gibbs free to check on the battered figured still crouched on the pavement.

"Ziva!" Gibbs said, kneeling next to her, gingerly placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you hurt?" he asked, his concern audible. "Ziva—"

"I am fine," she interrupted. Her voice was soft, and though she tried to hide it, he could hear that she was in pain. She moved to get off her knees by getting a foot beneath her, but her movements were stiff and unbalanced, so Gibbs gently helped her to her feet.

"Ziva, what—" Gibbs' confusion as to how the Vipers had gotten the jump on her was forgotten as he saw the bundle in her arms. "What in the hell." It was more a statement of wonder than a question, but Ziva took it upon herself to explain nonetheless.

"They were going to kill it," she said, looking at him. "I tried to save its mother, but—"

"Margaret!"

A Stray rushed forward, only to stop short of the woman's lifeless body, which by now was lying in a large pool of blood. The Stray ran a calloused hand over his bearded jaw.

"Is she your… wife?" Tony asked. His eyes tried to remain focused on the Stray he was speaking to, but they were inevitably drawn to the sight of the baby resting peacefully in Ziva's arms.

"God no," the Stray said bluntly. Upon seeing the questioning gazes shooting in his direction, he scrambled to amend his statement. "She was a great girl," he assured them, "but she was hung up on her husband's death. Died a couple of months ago." The Stray paused. "I always got the feeling that she would have joined him if not for that little girl, you know? She loved that kid."

"Kid have a name?"

"Uhm, yeah," the Stray said. "Natalia. Margaret said it was the husband's mother's name, or something."

"Natalia," Ziva echoed, gazing down at the baby. The little girl cooed back at her, reaching up to curl a tiny fist around a lock of the Israeli's hair. Gibbs' heart warmed as he saw Ziva smile back. "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl, heh?" Ziva murmured softly. A slender finger traced the curve of a cherubic cheek.

"I'm Robert, by the way," the Stray offered, stepping closer to Ziva with a familiar intent in his eyes. Gibbs bristled, but Tony interceded before any action on the Voice's part was necessary.

"And she's someone you don't want to mess with," Dinozzo said, placing a restraining hand on Robert's shoulder. "You got all your gang here? Except for Margaret?"

"Whoa, whoa," Robert said. "We are not a gang. We just—"

"Travel together," Tony finished. "Yeah, we've heard that before." He looked pointedly at the Stray. "Question still stands."

"Yeah, we're all here," Robert replied, after taking a quick look at the others. "Look, thank you, for your help. We'd probably all be dead right now if you all hadn't shown up when you did. Anyone ever tell you that you had great timing?"

"Once or twice." Tony shot a questioning look towards Gibbs, who responded with a short nod. "Look, Bob-o, I bet you guys could use a safe place to stay for the night. Why don't you all come back with us and crash at our place. Give a chance for those Vipers to clear out." After a moment of consideration, Robert nodded in acceptance.

"I can't speak for the others, but I for one am not looking forward to spending the entire night out here with those guys hanging around." When the others bobbed their heads in agreement, Gibbs shifted his attention back to Ziva.

"You ready to go home?" he whispered softly in her ear. She nodded, barely sparing him a glance as she continued to look at Natalia. Gibbs bit back a grin. He turned to the other Residents. "Logan, Jerry, Steve, escort those jokers back there off the docks. Knock 'em out first. No need to be gentle."

"Aye, Gunny," Steve said. The only other Marine among the Residents, Steve addressed Gibbs by his former rank out of respect—Marine to Marine. Not needing further instructions, Steve took charge of the transport detail, motioning for the others to start moving. As they each started dragging the Vipers who had been attacking Ziva away, Gibbs turned to leave.

"Let's go," he said. Ziva finally looked up, turning to follow him. But her first step nearly sent her sprawling as her damaged knee gave out. Gibbs' quick reaction kept both her and the baby from pitching forward onto the pavement. This time, he did not remove his steadying hand.

"As soon as we get back," he said, "you're going to see Ducky." Ziva gave him a sharp look. "No arguing. You're going," he said as she opened her mouth to protest. After a moment, she smirked.

"I was going to say," she corrected smugly, "that I will go. But there is not much purpose in it, as he has nothing but aspirin and band-aids to fix me up with." She arched a superior brow at him. "Remember?"

"Yeah," he said, a grin finally allowed to grace his features, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "I remember." He guided her forward, leading them all back to the Perimeter. "And if you think this has changed my mind, you took one too many blows to the head."

A/N: I have been on a total roll lately, can't you tell? And this coming Tuesday is just screaming for a Zibbs tag. I can't wait. Until then, enjoy this, and hopefully I can refrain from updating again until my weekend homework is finished... I swear, this story is going to make me fail all my courses this semester! I'm totally addicted to writing this stuff.