Recap: It's Saturday!

~ Dates and Fears ~

It was barely past eight in the morning when the doorbell rang.

"Hey Mister Gibbs."

"Hello Jaz. Come on in."

"Thanks."

"I thought you guys weren't going out till 10 am?"

"Yeah, I got bored and decided to come over early," Jaz shrugged while giving the older man a wide smile.

Gibbs smirked, "Well, Tony's still sleeping," he motioned with his hand to the couch where his agents slept, still snuggled up to each other.

"Sweet picture," Jaz laughed, covering her mouth to stifle her laughter in order not to wake the two sleeping figures.

Meanwhile Gibbs had approached the slumbering teenager and gently shook him.

"Time to wake up," he smirked at the bleary teen.

"What? Why?"

"Jaz's here," Gibbs stated nonchalant.

With a start Tony sat up straight and looked around Gibbs, where he saw his girlfriend waving back at him, a smile on her face.

"It's already 10?"

"Nope."

When Tony made no move to get up, Gibbs cleared his throat, keeping his voice down, "Get up and get dressed. Don't leave your girl waiting."

"What? Oh yeah right," shaken out of his haze Tony first went to Jaz, giving her a small kiss on the lips, before he disappeared with a last glance at Gibbs upstairs.

"Hopefully he's nice to her," thought the teen as he closed his bedroom door.

Downstairs Jaz watched as the team leader tugged the blanket more firmly around Mini-Ziva. Till now the teenager had only seen her one or two times. The little girl always quick to hide from her whenever she came over.

"You ate breakfast yet?" Gibbs' sudden question startled Jaz momentarily.

"Not really."

She watched as he went past her into the kitchen.

"Well, come on then. Sit and make yourself comfortable."

"Okay..." Unsure, Jaz sat down at the dinning table, watching the agent as he set glasses and a bottle of orange juice on it.

"Figured that we'll see you more often now," Gibbs answered her questionably gaze.

Suddenly shy, Jaz could only smile in response.

"Do you need help?"

"Nah. You sit. I'm sure Tony will be downstairs any second now. He can help."

True to his words, his shrunk agent appeared moments later.

"Huh?" Tony looked stunned at the scene in front of him.

"You catching flies," commented Gibbs as he placed the dishes onto the table, "I invited her for breakfast. "

"Oh," he cast a look to his girlfriend, who grinned at him.

"Now that you are here, you can set the table. I'll wake Ziva in the meantime."

Once the team leader had left them alone, Tony turned towards Jaz, his expression somewhat serious.

"You don't mind this? I'm sure we could skip out of it..."

"Actually, this is nice, Tony. I never have breakfast with my family. They're always too busy to just sit down and enjoy a meal together."

"Oh, okay." He leaned over the table to give her a quick kiss before he got the last essentials for breakfast.

Over at the couch, Gibbs straightened Mini-Ziva's crumpled clothes as she sat up, yawning widely at him.

"Slept well?" The team leader asked like he did every morning, eliciting her to talk to him.

"'ery," she responded smiling.

"So you picked up another new word, " thought Gibbs, giving his little agent a smile of his own.

"Are you hungry, Ziv?"

The little girl thought for a moment before she nodded, "Me hungry."

"Breakfast is ready, then," stated the agent before he decided to bit the bullet. 'We've got a visitor.' He signed, moving to the side to give the view to the kitchen free.

"Toneys friend." Mini-Ziva questioned frowning as she jumped of the couch and looked over to the dining table for the first time this morning. A hand clutching the agent's pant leg.

"Yes."

The little girl looked unsure up to him before she took his offered hand into her much smaller one.

"She's nice," he reassured her in a quiet whisper as he led her over to the others.

"Hey bug," greeted Tony and ruffled Mini-Ziva's hair as he went past where she had sat down, opposite from Jaz.

"Tony!" She looked accusingly at the teenager.

"Ziv," Gibbs reminded her of their visitor and to keep her voice down.

Shyly the little girl looked across the table and mumbled a quiet greeting.

"Hello Ziva," Jaz smiled at the small child, who immediately directed her gaze to the plate in front of her.

Next to the little girl, Gibbs shook his head at Ziva's reaction but kept quiet about it.

"You two know where you're going next?"

"Gibbs!" Tony groaned across from him. Although he was used to the team leader's questions by now, it was very unpleasant when his girlfriend sat next to him.

"Maybe to the park," Jaz answered snickering, before she looked at Tony. "If you want?"

"Sounds good." He shot an unamused look to Gibbs, who smirked back at him.

(Park)

"Finally alone," groaned Tony as Jaz and he sat down on a bench at the park, which was only a few minutes away from Gibbs' house.

"Don't be so dramatic," snickered his girlfriend, "I like your family."

"I'm glad you do."

"A few friends asked if I would go to a concert next Saturday. Would you like to tag along?"

"Sure. Who's playing?"

"Brain Matter"

"Nice," he plastered his best smile onto his face, also he had no idea who this band was. "Might have to ask Abby about them..."

"You still with me?" Jaz grinned at him.

"Sorry, was miles away." He looked sheepishly at her.

"So I've noticed." She smirked, "What's on your mind?"

"The future."

"Can I ask you something without you taking it the wrong way?"

"Sure."

"What's keeping you here?" She bluntly asked him, "I mean, you told me you wanted to go to Ohio state college... "

"You want me to go?"

Jaz sighed, "I told you not to get it the wrong way. I'm glad that you're here, but the why keeps nagging me." The last part were a mere whisper.

"With everything that's going on in my life, I just wanted a break and I figured that it would be good to get to know Gibbs - before I'm off spending his money on a college... Besides, the year gives everyone at my age the chance to catch up with me. Being the youngest on campus wouldn't be any fun."

"Like as in every girl being older?" Her eyes were laughing at him.

"Maybe," he mumbled, hiding a grin of his own, "That okay as an answer?"

"I guess," she looked into his eyes before she pulled him of the bench. "Come on, let's enjoy ourselves now."

"Enjoy?" He grinned widely at her as his eyes traveled down her body.

Jaz laughed, "Easy there.."

While Tony was out with his girlfriend, Gibbs and Ziva drove to the pediatrician for the final examination of the little girl's ears.

Since the pediatrician had been sworn to secrecy before being briefed on the unusual state of Tony and Ziva, he would be the attending doctor for both agents.

"Ziva." The elderly nurse called and led them into an office where a man in white clothes but without lab-coat greeted them.

Mini-Ziva, having been carried by Gibbs since they had left the car, hide her face in the agent's shirt.

"Still doesn't like me," the doctor commented understandingly, before he motioned Gibbs to take a seat across from his desk, "Did she had any problems over the last few days?"

"She had held her head a bit askew in the first days. But you had warned me that it would happen, so we weren't really worried about it."

The doctor nodded, "Does she still has problems in hearing?"

"Only when she doesn't want to hear," Gibbs grinned.

"Turns out to be a little rascal then?"

"Uh huh."

"Alright, I'll take a real quick look into her ears and then you're free to go."

Gibbs nodded, "Ziv," he tried her to get to look at him, "It's okay. He will not hurt you."

Warily she finally met his eyes but as she spotted the doctor standing nearby, with an unfamiliar object in hand, she hastily buried her face in Gibbs' shirt again, clenching her hands in its material and making the agent wince as she also gripped a few of his chest hairs in the process.

The team leader sighed and turned to the pediatrician, "I'm really at a loss."

"Most children are scared of doctors."

"She just have to see a white lab coat or white clothes, as it now seems, and she freaks out completely." His gaze resting on the little girl who was tensing up more and more.

"From the file, NCIS provided me with, it's understandable. Ziva will need good experiences in order to overcome her anxiety."

"How do we do this?"

"The doctor at Bethesda noted down that role play helped her. So why don't we try this."

"Okay – Ziva?" Gibbs tried anew, only to notice that the little girl has become awful quiet in his lap. Gently rubbing her back, he tried to rose her but only got a low mumble as response.

Concerned, he looked at the doctor who gently checked her pulse.

"Did this happened before?"

"No, she never.. passed out..."

"Hm," hummed the man as he listened to the little girl's heartbeat, "It's strong and I don't hear any anomalies."

Gibbs breathed a sign of relief.

"If her ears have fully healed she may not notice me checking them," suggested the doctor, momentarily directing his attention to her ears.

"Try it." The team leader decided after he had tempted to waken her anew.

With a small nod, the doctor bent close to Ziva, placing the ear speculum carefully into her ear.

"Completely healed," the pediatrician smiled, "Now I need to check the other ear as well"

Gibbs gently transferred Ziva to his other shoulder, letting the doctor look into her other ear. A few seconds elapsed till the man announced it healed too.

"Did she had problems with showing emotion before?" The pediatrician asked, tackling the problem of anxiety.

"Only problem was her father telling her not to show them. But I made it clear that she doesn't have to hide them. I thought she had understood this, since she was happy and laughing openly after our talk."

"I'm not a psychologist but it seems as if she had tried to hide her fear and in doing so passed out."

Gibbs looked down at the little girl in his lap, saddened that his agent had to go through yet another upsetting experience.

He once more realized that, even at her young age, her father obviously had manipulated her enough already, to make trusting people very hard for her. Especially when confronted with a situation which had leaded to hurt before.

"Like her older self not trusting us for real, in the beginning," he mused as he kept stroking Ziva's back.

"Her dislike of doctors could be a problem in the future," the doctor broke through his thoughts.

"Like avoiding hospitals even though it would be better if a doctor checked her over," he thought numbly, "Also this must have to do something with her father's stupid mind-games..."

"What do you suggest?"

"You told her what to expect here? That you would be with her and that there wasn't any pain involved?"

"Yes, of course," Gibbs glared at the doctor.

"I'm just ruling out every possibility."

"Don't think that she feels guilty about being sick either."

"Would have been my next question. A child's mind can work very surreal for us adults."

"Uh huh." Answered Gibbs, remembering how guilty his daughter once had felt as she had gotten sick. "Kelly..."

"Taking her with you when you visit your own doctor can be helpful for her as well."

Gibbs grimaced, "I don't go to doctors."

"You never get sick?"

"Nope."

"Well then, there are books and DVDs about doctors and pediatric checkups. Let her see that other children get checked out too and that it's normal. Maybe showing her what's about to happen is the best curse of action here."

"Alright."

"She's turning four soon and if we don't handle this situation before then, it won't be any fun for anyone."

"Checkups are fun?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"Seeing kids building towers of blocks, hop on one foot and note down their general development can be fun."

Gibbs smirked, "Skipping the exam is not good, right?"

"Even though her 'state' is special I really would like this checkup to take place. Dr. Mallard briefed me that her condition can still last a few months. And no one knows how the time as kid will affect her in the future. It would also be good to check the results with the data we've from her medical file."

Gibbs sighed and took the offered information material, which the doctor held out to him.

"It sums up everything you need to know about the checkup at age 4. What you should prepare your kid for and what you can do to improve her development."

"Be completely understood by strangers," Gibbs read aloud.

The doctor laughed lightly, "Well some points need to be adapted."

"Immunization..."

"We'll have to count on the shots she got to be working."

"But there will be some within the next months?" Gibbs checked, already fearing the answer.

"I'm afraid so."

On his lap Mini-Ziva slowly woke up, blinking several times.

"Ziv."

"'ibbs," she sniffed quietly.

"It's okay," he reassured her, kissing the top of her head as she hesitantly looked around.

"I think it's time to go," Gibbs quietly stated to the doctor who only nodded in response.

Instead the doctor scribbled something on the paper in front of him and held it out for Gibbs to see, -Let her walk on her own to show her it's not dangerous.-

The team leader nodded in understanding and gently rose from his chair, only to kneel down shortly afterward to set Ziva onto her own feet.

Before she could protest or cling to him, he took her hand in his and straightened up again.

With a last glance to the physician, Gibbs slowly walked out of the office. His hand firmly holding his agent's as she stuck close to him.

The doctor smiled as the door closed behind them. His patient was on the right way.

Outside in the parking lot Gibbs finally stopped.

"Oh Ziva," he sighed and crouched down on the dirty cement, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket to gently dry her tears and make her blow her nose.

He gently pulled the little girl into a hug, "It's okay. You were very brave."

"Brave?" Her voice was barely audible.

Gibbs held her a bit away from him so that she could see his hand moving as he explained to her the meaning of the word and why he had said it.

"I think you deserve a little reward now," he spoke and signed to her, before covering the few steps to their car.

"Me?" She looked doubtfully at him as he opened the backdoor of the car.

Since his Dodge Challenger was too difficult to use with a small child in the backseat and Tony had his truck, Vance had practically forced a NCIS issued car on him – claiming that it would be much safer than any of his own cars anyway.

"Yes. You." Gibbs tipped the tip of her nose playfully after she had climbed into her seat.

"Toy?"

The gray-haired agent chuckled at her hopeful tone and nodded. Although her room was already cramped with numerous toys, she was like every other child when it came to never having enough of these things.

"If it helps making doctor appointments less horrible," he mused, strapping the little girl into her seat.

"Now?"

"Yes, now." The agent stated after a moment, giving her a smile as he drove out of the parking lot.

"Yay!"

Gibbs had nearly hit the brakes as he had heard her utter the all too familiar expression.

"Abby," he thought immediately, "If she's still going to say that after she's grown up again...?"

"So, what toy do you want?" " Gibbs asked as he looked down at the girl.

Tears long forgotten she now firmly held his hand as they both entered the toy store. The agent held back a smirk as he watched how she more or less skipped beside him. The familiar store giving her the security she needed.

-"Ani Lo Yode'a,"- she replied shrugging.

The team leader was momentarily baffled at her use of Hebrew before he decided not to call her on it and just accepted her gesture.

"If you see something you like, tell me," Gibbs advised as they carried on further into the store.

He was led along several rows of puzzles, stuffed animals and finally 'Barbie' and other dolls, where Ziva seemed to drag him extra fast along.

"Definitely no doll-fan," thought Gibbs as he gave the section a final glance.

After the little girl seemed to have made sure that they had covered every section of the store, he was pulled over to the outdoor section.

"What are you..." His words died in his throat as he realized where exactly Ziva was guiding him to.

"You want this?" Gibbs pointed to the object in front of him. "I thought more about a doll or stuffed animal when I said toy."

-"ofanâyim."-

The smile she gave him, made him crave in nearly immediately.

"I'm wax in her fingers, as Abby would say," he mused as he returned the smile with one of his own, which were coming onto his face more often these days.

"Me have?" Mini-Ziva asked innocently, playing with the price tag. Her small fingers tracing the digits.

The team leader put his hand to his chin and thoughtfully rubbed the stubble there, which he didn't cared to shave off in the morning. Although he wasn't worried about using the NCIS issued credit card again for such a purchase, he was sort of anxious about what kind of trouble Ziva could cause with it.

"You sure?" He grinned at his small agent.

"'leaseeeeeeeeee."

All of his control not to laugh at her 'tactics' went out of the window at this moment and his sudden burst of laughter filled the store.

"'ibbs! No laugh!" Mini-Ziva stared at him. Her arms were crossed over her small chest and her whole posture was telling him that she didn't thought that it was funny at all.

"Ya cute, you know this right?" he bend down and hugged her to him, causing her to loosen the 'angry posture' and to hug him back.

"Me cute." He felt her nod against his side of the head.

"And you surely use it for your advantage too," he added in thought.

"You want this?" Gibbs checked and pointed to the desired bicycle.

"Yes!"

Having seen other kids driving up and down the street on their bikes, Ziva wanted to do the same now.

"Can you drive?" He asked and signed next.

Mini-Ziva looked suddenly very shy and directed her gaze to the floor.

"No?" Gibbs asked gently as he lifted her chin with his finger.

"No." Her answer was a quiet mumble which he barely understood.

"I'll teach you," he promised signing and smiled at her.

"Tea'sh?" she double checked, letting the smile return to her face as he nodded in affirmation.

"Me have?" Still in front of the Gibbs, the little girl looked longingly at the bike again.

"Yes."

"Toda!" With a leap she had her arms wrapped around his neck and she hugged him tightly.

"No problem Ziva, No problem at all," he thought, happy to be able to give his agent a better childhood than her first time had seemed to be.

His gaze swept over the rows of bikes. There were only a handful of which would fit in size. The rest being too big or too strange looking for his liking.

Unfortunately the bicycle which caught the little girl's interest belonged to the first group.

Gibbs sighed, "Ziv, this bike is too big," He explained signing.

Mini-Ziva furrowed her eyebrows, "Me have."

Contemplating his next move, Gibbs decided that showing her the problem would be easier than just telling her no.

"Come on," he held the bike upright, "Sit?"

With a smile on her face Ziva tried to get her leg over the middle bar.

"Help?" she asked meekly as it didn't worked.

"No."

"Why?"

Gibbs could see the first brim of tears in her eyes and gently hugged her after he had set the bike back on its stand.

"It won't be safe if you can't sit on it properly." He gently explained.

"No bike?"

"Yes, bike," he answered, using very simple words, "We just need the right size."

"Siz-eh?"

The team leader smiled and showed her different sizes with the use of his hands.

"Okay?"

The little girl nodded and looked back at the other bikes. Her eye holding a questioning expression.

"Here," Gibbs walked over to the size 12 bikes and tested them for their weight before stopping in front of the lightest, "Try."

Reluctantly she walked over to the pink bicycle.

"I'll paint it," he signed as Ziva scrunched her face at the bright color.

Gibbs hid his laugh behind a smirk as he saw his agent sitting on the bicycle, which sported her least favorite color. With satisfaction he noted that she could mount and comfortably straddle the bike with her feet flat on the ground.

"Good?"

"Ken," mumbled Ziva, the color putting a damper on her mood.

Gibbs chuckled, "Let's get you a helmet, munchkin."

Confused she climbed of the bike, letting it drop to the floor with a cloud crash.

"Uh oh." The little girl clamped her hand over her mouth and looked startled at the team leader.

"It's okay," he reassured her and motioned Mini-Ziva to join him by the helmets.

She frowned at the display. After all, the kids she saw on the streets weren't wearing any of this stuff.

"Keeps your head save," explained Gibbs, "Tell me if it is too tight," he signed before he placed the first helmet on her head.

The little girl looked up at the unfamiliar object, causing it to fall off in the process.

"Okay, that was too lose," he smiled at her and unfastened the strap which was the only thing keeping the helmet from falling to the floor.

The next one wasn't any better as it, if provoked, could bounce from one side to the other, the straps having too much room and not laying flat.

"Third time is a charm," mumbled Gibbs as he, after much contemplating, fastened the third helmet.

Already as he gently placed it on Ziva's head, he noticed the perfect fitting, The helmet sitting level on the little girl's head and covering her forehead in front.

"No rocking from side to side, only slightly back and forward," thought Gibbs as he put a finger between Ziva's neck and the strap of the helmet. The little girl giggling as the movement tickled her.

(A hour later – Picking Tony up from somewhere in D.C. to go 'couch-shopping')

"What took you so long," grumbled the teenager as he slid into the front passenger's seat.

"Nice to meet you too," Gibbs raised an eyebrow, "Keep it down or you'll wake Ziva, She needs the sleep after this morning."

"It's pouring," his agent mumbled, casting a glance into the back, "Where did the dog come from?"

"Toy store."

"I thought you went to the pediatrician."

"We were," Gibbs smirked, "Afterward we went to get her a reward."

"Ah."

The car was filled with silence.

"So the biggest stuffed animal was just big enough for her?"

"Bought a bicycle first," comment Gibbs.

"What?"

"First we spent nearly two hours getting the right bike for her. When it got check out, she saw the dog in a shelf near the check out. Damn strategical placings..." Gibbs grumbled good-naturally.

"Couldn't resist those eyes, eh?"

"As if you could."

"True." Tony flashed his teeth as he smiled widely, "Did she named him?"

Gibbs snorted, "Oh yeah..."

"So? You going to tell me?"

"M'Goo..."

As soon as he heard the name, Tony burst out laughing, "McGee is going to love this!"

"Tony?" A sleepy voice asked from behind him.

"Hey bug," the teenager looked at the backseat, "Didn't meant to wake you."

"Look," now wide awake again, the little girl pointed to the stuffed German shepherd sitting next to her, "M'Goo!"

Tony laughed, "Nice dog."

~ Fin ~

Ani Lo Yode'a – I don't know.

Ken - Yes

Lo - No

Ofanâyim – bicylce.