Recap: Three days after Gibbs and McGee brought Mini-Ziva home.
~ Misunderstood: The Aftermath – Talking ~
"Hey Duck," Gibbs entered Autopsy with his usual stride, having left his little companion, who still stuck close to him, in the capable hands or in this case lap of McGee.
"Ah Jethro. I didn't expected you to be back at work."
"I'm not, just getting an update from Vance about the police investigation."
"I see," The older man regarded his friend momentarily, "But this is not the reason why you came down here, is it?"
"Ziva is becoming quieter every day. Barely plays or runs around," sighed Gibbs.
"That's understandable after the last few days."
"She was fine afterward."
Seeing his friend's doubtful expression he elaborated, "Yes, she was scared at first, but once we were at my house, away from any strangers and had dinner, she was nearly her 'old' self. She even spoke and repeated some words I tried to teach her. Now she won't even response to what I sign."
"That's most unfortunate. Does she have nightmares?"
"No, kid's sleeping like a log when I check on her."
"Maybe she has them when you're already asleep and just doesn't go to you about them?" the M.E. offered.
Gibbs sighed and turned to the door, "I hope you're not right with this. I'll keep on eye on her tonight."
"Jethro!" Ducky called out as the other man was stepping through the automatic doors, "Timothy told me Agent Jardine offered her help. Why don't you try if Ziva responses to her?"
The gray-haired nodded.
(Bullpen ~ a few minutes later)
"Shalom Ziva," Jardine greeted casually as she came to a halt in front of Gibbs' desk, where the team leader sat with the girl in question on his lap.
As he had come back from Autopsy, McGee had finally eased his grip on the little child, who immediately had used the chance to escape and had hurried over to Gibbs.
Upon his questionable look McGee had informed him about Ziva's dislike to be left with others and that she had tried to get away several times already. Gibbs had only been able to shake his head at this.
Now the older agent watched as the small girl suddenly looked up, completely bewildered to hear the familiar sounding greeting.
A smile graced the corners of his lips, "She hasn't acknowledged any of us when we called her."
"Wrong language," smiled Jardine and rounded his desk to where Gibbs had set the little girl down on her feet.
The agent would have glared at the smart-ass remark but kept any sarcastic comeback to himself as he watched the agent settle in front of Ziva, who had taken a seat on the mattress right crosswise to his desk.
-"My name is Nikky,"- Jardine started in Hebrew.
-"Hello."- Ziva replied guarded.
-"How are you?"-
-"Fine."-
Jardine laughed lightly, -"Your ears aren't hurting?"-
-"Maybe."- Mini-Ziva replied with another one-word-answer.
-"You know it's not a weakness to admit that you're hurting, sad or to cry. Right?"-
Ziva just shrugged her little shoulders.
-"Those people are worried about you."-
-"I don't know them."- Ziva said after some hesitation.
-"You know Gibbs, Tony and the others."- countered the agent, smiling gently at her.
-"But I don't understand them."-
-"I know."- Nikki said softly, feeling that she had went straight to the core of the problem.
-"Where am I?"- Mini-Ziva whispered scarcely audible as she gained a bit of trust in the agent.
-"What do you mean? You're at NCIS."-
-"No, which country."- Her brown eyes looked questionably at Jardine.
-"Oh. You are in America, USA."-
-"I don't like it here."- Ziva frowned, knitting her eyebrows.
Agent Jardine calculated the number of germs if she would sit down instead of crouching down, which started to became very uncomfortable the more time she spent in this position.
"I've got spare clothes and could shower," she thought.
-"May I sit beside you?"-
-"Okay,"- muttered Ziva and scooted to make room on the small mattress.
-"Thanks."-
-"'ibbs told me I had to stay with him."- The little girl slowly started to open up more.
-"Don't you like Gibbs?"- questioned Jardine, looking directly at the older agent who had looked at them at the mention of his name.
-"I guess."-
Jardine nodded her head, -"Do you trust him?"-, mouthing the word trust to Gibbs.
Once more Ziva just shrugged, not giving them a real answer.
Jardine looked apologetic to Gibbs, who had put his stoic mask on, in order to hide his reaction to Ziva's non-answer.
-"But you feel safe when you are with him."- Nikki inquired gently.
-"I guess."- The little girl directed her eyes to the floor.
-"Isn't that trust too?"- Jardine asked carefully.
Though Mini-Ziva kept quiet.
Knowing that she had probably overtaxed the little girl, Nikki changed her tactics, -"He's really sad that you aren't playing with him anymore."-
-"But he's grown up. Grown ups don't play."- Ziva exclaimed confused.
-"They do, when they play with children."-
The little girl frowned, -"My daddy never really plays with me."-
-"What about your mom?"- coaxed Nikki.
-"We cook together. But she's busy with my baby sister most of the times."-
-"I see."-
-"Why don't you speak their language?"- Ziva finally asked the question which was on her mind for some time.
-"I do, but I speak many others, too."-
-"How many?"-
xxxxxxx
"She hasn't been so lively for days. Not even before this mess with the orphanage started." McGee stated from across the room.
"Let's hope it isn't just temporarily," Gibbs managed to reply, his mind still rattling about how to get the little girl's trust back.
"I wonder if we ever find out what really happened."
xxxxxxx
-"Do you want to talk about what happened when you ran away,"- Nikki asked, having overheard McGee's comment.
-"No."- Ziva hastily said, shaking her head.
-"Okay. Could you tell me why you ran away, though," Jardine probed gently.
-"I wanted to find my daddy,"- Ziva admitted barely audible, sniffing a bit.
Agent Jardine smiled, -"You know, he misses you, too."- she gently stroke a wayward strand of hair out of the little girl's face, -"He wants you to be safe. That's why you need to stay with Gibbs for a while."
Mini-Ziva nodded slightly, -"How long?"-
-"A few months at least."-
Next to her, Mini-Ziva hugged the stuffed bear, which Abby gave her, in response.
-"I want to talk to him.-"
-"I'll try to arrange it,"- Jardine answered after a brief hesitation, -"But I can't promise you when that will be."-
The little girl brightened up at that prospect of at least being able to talk to her father.
-"If you want to talk about what happened the last few days or when you just want to talk in general, I'll be glad to listen."- Nikki offered.
Ziva regarded her momentarily, -"Really?"- a hint of doubt in her voice.
-"Here,"- Jardine handed the little girl her business card, -"There's my number. You can call me at any hour."-
-"Thank you."-
-"You wanna tell me now why you don't play anymore?"- Nikky tried anew, earning herself a frown.
-"Why do you want to know?"- scowled the small child next to her.
-"We are worried and want to help you feel more comfortable."-
-"I want home."- Mini-Ziva whispered miserably.
-"How about we teach them a bit Hebrew and they teach you English in return?"- Jardine changed the subject to her original mission, finding out how to help Ziva to adapt to the new environment.
The little girl just shrugged.
-"It will be much easier to express your need and wants, don't you think?-
The little girl couldn't bring herself to disagree with the agent's logic and slightly nodded her head.
After a long struggle, McGee once again ended up with an unwilling Mini-Ziva on his lap, as the team leader and Agent Jardine went to Gibbs' office.
"So?" He looked expectantly at her.
"She's homesick. A lot."
"Thought so," the team leader pinched the bridge of his nose in thought.
"She's also withdrawn because she can't understand what you guys are saying."
Gibbs frowned, he had anticipated something like that, but hadn't thought it would be that bad.
"We agreed," she smiled at the memory, "That I'll organize some learning material for her. Games and such, where she'll be able learn English playfully." Nikki explained.
"Alright."
"For you, too." She added after a moment, causing him to raise an eyebrow.
"Keep it fair?" Jardine offered with a smile.
Gibbs sighed for what he thought was the thousands time today. He really felt too old to learn another language. But he knew from personal experience that a kid at Ziva's age talked a lot, normally. Speaking about every aspect of their day.
With the language barrier between them, Ziva couldn't do so, which was bound to cause frustration. He had a vague idea that her older self would love it too if they partly understood Hebrew.
"Are you listening to me?" Jardine asked.
"Thinking about the headache I'll get from learning."
Nikki smiled at him, "I was saying that I could do some research in multi-lingual preschool in D.C.? Some social interaction with kids at the same age, which actually understand her, might help her."
"Might be a good idea," Gibbs agreed, also he wondered how to assure his mini agent to leave his side for it.
"Pointing to objects while saying their names in English and speaking to her about the tasks you are doing at the moment will be benefitable in your everyday life too."
"Already doing so. It's like with a child learning to speak for the first time."
Jardine smiled, "Yes. I guess it is."
"Though talking to her in the last few days only had made her become very quiet."
"Give her time, Agent Gibbs. She's just overtaxed with new experiences and the 'trip'."
"I guess ya right," Gibbs pinched the bridge of his nose again.
"You know, I also asked her if she feels safe with you."
Now the team leader looked sort of hopeful, Nikki decided.
"She said she was. When I asked her if this didn't express trust too, she couldn't answer me. Either because she was overtaxed or because she realized I was right."
Gibbs smiled forcefully at her.
"Give her some time and don't try to overdue it. Do it after her own time." She handed him her card, "If you need help while not being in the office. I gave her one too, if she wanted to talk to me."
"Thanks."
Gibbs considered the thoughtfulness of the other agent. She definitely just went up a few ranks on his list of esteem.
"About the running off," Jardine trailed off, "I might have said something wrong."
"What do you mean with wrong?" His blue eyes stared down at her.
"She told me that she had wanted to find her dad. And I may have told her that I'll try to arrange a phone conversation for him."
"What the hell were you thinking?"
"She asked me how long she would need to stay, and then one thing led to another." Jardine told him, slightly scared of the team leader's reaction.
"You gave her a time?"
"About the phone? No. I even said that I can't promise her if it's possible at all. As for staying here, I told her a few months."
Beside her, Gibbs relaxed again. "You did the right thing," he reassured with a small smile.
"Really?"
"Yeah, but don't make any promises you can't keep," he looked sternly at her before restarting the elevator.
As he opened the front door after a silent car ride home, Ziva immediately went upstairs. Gibbs frowned at this but decided to leave her alone for a few minutes.
Meanwhile Mini-Ziva had crawled onto Gibbs' bed and curled up. Not bothering to do anything else.
Later, as the team leader went to check on her, he was surprised to find her half asleep. It was barely afternoon and his little agent normally never went to bed if not strictly told to do so. The fact that she also rarely left his side and now seemed to seek solitude, bothered him greatly.
Concerned that his decision to get Agent Jardine involved was the wrong action, he watched her from the open door, wondering once again what she was thinking while he contemplated how to handle the situation correctly.
"Eat?" He asked gently as he sat beside her, a hand running soothingly over her small shoulders.
"Sleep." Her voice was muffled as she hid her face in the mattress.
"Okay," the team leader replied gently as he put the handmade quilt, which lay at the end of the bed, over Ziva's small frame.
Following Ducky's advise, Gibbs got comfortable in a recliner for a long afternoon and night. With his feet probed up on the end of the mattress, he silently watched his agent sleep.
He had drifted off into a light slumber, when the door was slowly pushed open, a few hours after they had come home.
Immediately alerted, Gibbs tense his muscles, preparing himself for whoever would enter the room next..
"You making sure that she doesn't disappears again?" yawned Tony, completely obvious to the older man's alertness, his mind fogged with the need of sleep.
Gibbs exhaled and willed himself to relax, "Kind of. Ducky thinks that she has nightmares but doesn't tell anyone about them."
"Oh."
Tony looked at the sleeping girl, "She looks uncomfortable." He noted with a hint of concern in his voice.
"Yeah." Gibbs sighed, "How was your day?"
"Good. Met a few new people."
The team leader nodded, "It's late," he started, choosing not to comment on the fact that his agent was two hours late to arrive back at home, "Go to bed, it has been a busy day."
"Okay, good night," the teenager agreed, taking a last glance at Mini-Ziva before he left the room as soundlessly as he had entered.
Much later that night Gibbs was awoken again by a fearful wail coming from the large bed. He was on his feet and at Ziva's side in a blink of an eye.
"Hey," he soothed the scared girl, lightly stroking her cheek.
It didn't took long for her to fully open her eyes. Fearful she looked around the room before her eyes came to rest on Gibbs' blue ones, which looked concerned back at her.
"'ibbs." Mini-Ziva sniffed, feeling awful.
"It's okay, it was just a dream," he tried to calm her as he sat next to her, laying a protective arm around her.
-"Ra,"- she mumbled, seeking some solace as she looked at him through heavy eyelashes.
Once again Gibbs wished that they could communicate easier. Also her English vocabulary had started to develop, the little girl was still greatly hindered when it came to expressing her thoughts and emotions.
After all they only got as far as to teach her a few numbers and some basic words like yes, no, eat, sleep, look and bath.
Funny thing that he would have understood most of the words in Hebrew too. His 'newest agent' must have taught him those subconsciously over the past few years.
Now sitting next to Mini-Ziva, he looked at his watch, considering to call the misophobic agent in order to get rid of some of Ziva's fears.
As he felt her cuddle close to him, he remembered the business card in his trouser pocket. Still clad in the same clothes which he wore to the office, he took his cellphone out, too.
He briefly wondered if he really should wake the agent. However, a sniffle from beside him let those thoughts vanish as fast as they had come.
"Jardine," a sleepy voice greeted him on the other end of the line.
"Gibbs here."
There was a silence before Nikki had recognized who was calling her in the middle of the night, adrenalin shooting through her body, "Did something happened?"
"Nightmare," he replied curtly, grateful not to have to explain further cause the other agent immediately asked where Ziva was now.
"Right next to me, she said something but I can't understand her." Jardine could hear his frustration over the line.
"Could you put me on speaker?"
"You already are."
-"Ziva?"- Agent Jardine started to speak Hebrew.
-"Nikki,"- the little girl croaked on the verge of tears, immediately recognizing the agent's voice.
-"It was just a dream, sweety."-
-"But what if he just goes away and I'll be sent back to that place?"- A lone tear escaping her eyes, which Gibbs gently whipped away.
-"Who?"-
-"'ibbs."- She looked fearfully at the agent.
-"Sweety, he won't leave you. He cares about you."-
"Jardine?" Gibbs voice broke through the quietness of the room as Mini-Ziva didn't responded.
"She dreamed that you would leave her and she would end up in such an orphanage again..."
"I would never do that," he stated, his voice somewhat hoarse.
"I told her as much," Jardine responded quietly, "What is she doing?"
Gibbs looked at the small girl, "She's staring at the wall in front of her. Maybe if you could act as a translator we could eliminate some of her fears."
"Just tell me what to say."
-"Ziva? I'm going to translate what Gibbs says now. And I'm gonna do the same for him. Okay?"
-"Yes."- The little girl looked expectantly at Gibbs. The older man could see something like curiosity in her eyes.
"Ziva I would never leave you," he started, waiting patiently as Jardine translated their words.
-"What if those white men come for me?"-
The agent needed a moment to realize what she was talking about, "No one will take you away from me. I won't let them. You're safe with me."
-"You won't let my daddy take me back?"- She looked at him confused and Jardine had trouble to refrain from laughing at the combination of the question and the seriousness in the child's voice.
"Only he's allowed to do it. No one else," reassured Gibbs, the words feeling foul in his mouth as he remembered her father.
"Like hell I will let him come near you," he thought inwardly, schooling his face.
As he looked down at Mini-Ziva, Gibbs could see that his little companion stubbornly refused to let more tears fall even though she needed to release the build up emotions, badly.
"You don't need to hide your emotions from us, here. No one will ever tell your father. I promise you this."
Hearing Jardine translate those words, Mini-Ziva regarded the agent thoughtfully. Gibbs needed to hold back a smile as he recognized the look as the one she would have used on suspects or Tony in order to find out if they were telling the truth or not.
-"You won't?"- She finally questioned.
"No." He shook his head.
-"Okay."-
Her relieved tone of voice caused him to smile and hug the small child closer to him. At first he thought that she was just resting against him but then he felt his t-shirt slowly getting wet by her tears as soft sounds, increasing in volume, escaped her small frame.
"I think it's enough for one night." He quietly told Jardine as he stroked Ziva's back reassuringly.
"Okay." The agent agreed, gently saying goodbye to Ziva before telling Gibbs she would bring him a list of Hebrew words over, later that day.
A few minutes passed till the agent finally felt Ziva's breath easing out. The clearing talk and his presence obviously having brought her enough peace to fall back asleep.
After a while Gibbs eyes drifted shut too. His last thought containing the hope that things would ease back into place soon.
~ Fin ~
Ra = Bad