Disclaimer: Don't own them, wish I did.
A/N – It's about 1am local time here, I'm trying to adjust myself to the time zone. I just got back from travelling through the Middle East. Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, Syria, UAE and Saudi Arabia. We were going to visit Iran, but alas, for obvious reasons we did not. To make a long story of the trip short, my grandmother is Muslima (we are not…again, long story) and decided to visit Mecca. I decided to be a tag along. Anyway, I'm rambling…
--
Jacob was asleep before they even reached the house, his head bobbing forward with every slight jerk of the vehicle. Daniela yawned, and pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the window. The sights of DC rushed past her, blurring, making her head swim.
Fire. Smoke. Abba. Ima. Burning flesh. Gasoline. The screams. Isaac. Jacob.
Daniela awoke with a start, her head pounding, her heart racing in a strange bed, wearing a clean pair of pyjamas. Light poured in from under the door, soft voices muffled. She crawled out of the bed and opened the door a crack. Five voices. The man called Gibbs. Tony. Ziva. And two people she didn't know. She stood in the doorway until she heard a soft voice.
"You are welcome to come." Ziva smiled at the girl who looked down at her feet shyly.
"Sorry, I did not mean to interrupt." She said softly.
"You did not. Come. We have ordered pizza, we are just waiting." She led the girl into the main room.
"Daniela is awake."
Gibbs gave a small wave to the girl. "Sleep well?"
She shrugged. "It was okay." Her eyes glanced around the room nervously, landing on Abby and McGee before quickly returning to her feet.
"I'm Abby!" The forensic scientist exclaimed, jumping up from her spot on the couch to embrace the girl. Daniela grabbed Ziva's waist and hid herself behind the Mossad agent. She peeked out warily and gave Abby a small smile.
"Your name means 'bring joy' in Hebrew." She said softly taking a step out from behind Ziva.
"I'm Tim." McGee called from his spot on the couch, giving the girl a smile. "Do you know what my name means?"
"Honour." Daniela replied simply. "Ziva means Splendid and Anthony means Highly Praiseworthy."
"Yes! Take that Probie. Honour? Whatever, I'm praiseworthy." Tony gloated with a grin. A sharp smack on the back of the head made him stop. "Sorry boss."
Daniela smiled, for the first time since landing in DC. "And Jethro is a Hebrew name. It means Excellence."
"How fitting." Ziva said with a smile, putting her arm around the girl. "You must be hungry."
"The food was not kosher on the plane, but we ate pretzels and cookies." She rang her hands nervously in front of her as she perched on the arm of the couch.
"Well that is not a meal." Ziva stated patting the girl's knee softly. "We will feed you."
"We even ordered cheese and vegetarian, totally kosher." McGee said with an encouraging smile. They sat in an uncomfortable silence until a soft bleating sound was heard from the other room. Daniela looked around.
"That is Jacob. He needs me. Where is he?" Her voice was panicked.
"He's just in the other room." Tony said pointing to the room with the door closed.
She jumped up and rushed into the room. Jacob was curled up in the middle of the bed, tears streaming down his face, his body wracked in semi silent sobs. Daniela tried to pull her brother into a hug, brushing his dark hair away from his face. He pushed her away, his fingers flying. She frowned and started signing back. Jacob glared at her and crawled on the opposite side of the bed. Sighing, Daniela got off the bed and stomped back to the other room.
"Where's Jacob?" Abby asked as the girl sat on the floor.
"He is angry and is in the room." Daniela replied and pulled off a piece of the cheese pizza that had arrived while she had been in the room and took a bite. "He will not talk to me." She paused and swallowed the pizza in her mouth. "He wants Abba."
"Is there anything we can do?" Abby asked, picking at the pizza watching the girl, her green eyes wide with empathy.
"Can you bring back my Abba?" The girl asked without looking up from her plate. "If not, no. There is nothing." She placed her plate down on the table. "I am tired. May I go back to bed?"
Gibbs nodded. "Tomorrow you, Ziva, Tony and Jacob are going to go shopping for some clothes, then you will come into our office and we will go over some things with you."
Daniela shrugged and quickly retreated to the bedroom. Tony and McGee exchanged worried looks with each other, neither willing to be the first to make a comment about the situation they suddenly found themselves in.
"She just lost her family." Gibbs said, breaking up the silence.
"She has not had proper time to mourn." Abby added with a sad nod. "Poor kids."
They sunk back into the silence, each eating the pizza that was slowly growing cold. Ziva thought about losing both Tali and Ari, though different than the situation the children found themselves, it was still brought back memories. The soft bleating sound continued from the room.
"Maybe someone should you know...check on him." McGee said looking nervously towards the room.
"And say what Probie? 'Hey, kid. I know you can't understand me, and you're probably upset about your family getting blown up...'" Tony glared at the younger agent. "Real smart idea McFreak."
"Hey Tony..."
"WHAT Abby!?" He turned to face the scientist.
She pointed behind him, where the young boy stood, tear stained cheeks and a confused look on his face. Jacob frowned and wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand.
Do you want to eat? We have pizza. Gibbs signed to the boy. Jacob nodded and sat down on the floor in front of them, grabbing a piece of pizza out of the box. He took a bite and looked at McGee and Abby warily.
Who are they? He signed chewing on the pizza.
Abby grinned and started to sign quickly. My name is Abby. A-B-B-Y. And his name is Tim. T-I-M. We work for NCIS too.
Jacob smiled and took a giant bite of the pizza. I am Jacob. He sniffed and finished his pizza in silence, looking up at Tony every now and again. The boy stood up and walked over to Tony, so close their noses were almost touching. He grabbed Tony's face and looked him in the eye. They held each other's stare until Jacob rubbed his hand's vigorously over Tony's head. He quickly pulled away and smiled. His fingers flew quickly and looked over Abby's way.
"He just said that you look like a hedgehog. And that..." She looked around shyly. "You have the same hair as his father."
Tony swallowed hard and looked at Jacob, who was staring back at him, his dark eyes huge and questioning. He looked over at Gibbs and Ziva, who just nodded encouragingly. My name is Tony. T-O-N-Y. He signed haltingly, only knowing how to sign that phrase. "How old are you?"
Jacob adjusted his fingers and nodded before holding up 4 fingers. Four. I turn five in 3 months. He signed slowly, looking at Abby to translate.
The little boy pulled down his pyjama shirt and cocked his head to the side. He grasped Tony's face and gently rubbed their noses back and forth before quickly singing something to Abby and running towards his room.
"What was that all about?" Tony asked watching Jacob close the door behind him.
"He said it was an Eskimo kiss." Ziva replied, trying to stifle a yawn. "0700 tomorrow Gibbs?"
"Whenever the kids wake up. Let them sleep." Gibbs said standing up. "Let's go McGee, Abby." He extended a hand to the forensic scientist. "We'll see you tomorrow."
Tony watched as the three of them left the house, shutting the door behind them. "Want to watch a movie?" He asked looking at the collection that was neatly stacked on the shelf. It wasn't as big as his, obviously, but it would do.
"Any movies you have not seen?" Ziva asked, receiving a cocked eyebrow and rolled eyes as an answer. "Sorry. That was a stupid question. What do you recommend?"
After seconds of deliberation he pulled out Ocean's 11 and waved it at her. She nodded. "I have never seen, but I have heard it is good."
"You'll like it, trust me." He sat on the opposite side of the couch from her and started the movie. It was twenty minutes in when her full on sailor snores alerted him to the fact that she was sleeping. Not wanting to risk getting knocked out by waking the sleeping assassin, he draped a blanket over her prone body and shut off the TV. He watched her chest rise and fall in a slow rhythm. There was something oddly comforting about the rhythm...the snores. He thought to himself as he closed his eyes.
--
Daniela awoke and rubbed her eyes, the bright sun streaming through the open blinds. She burrowed deep under the covers , trying to block the sun out. When that failed she threw the covers off and opened the door a crack. She could hear snoring from the other room and weighed her options. Go outside and risk waking them up, or make a nuisance of herself in the room, and definitely wake them up. She opened the door wider and quietly tiptoed into Jacob's room, shutting the door behind her. Jacob sat up grinning.
I am hungry. He announced kicking the blankets off of him.
They are sleeping on the couch. Daniela signed, sitting at the foot of the bed.
So? I am still hungry. Jacob rolled off the bed and made a move for the door. I am going to get food. He opened the door and looked back at his sister. Coming?
Yes. Just be quiet. Do not make them angry.
He laughed silently. How would I know? His dark eyes darted around and he marched over towards the kitchen. Pulling his tiny body onto the counter he started to rifle through the cupboards until he found a box of cereal. He started to turn around when a pair of strong hands grabbed him.
"Hungry?" Tony asked, facing the boy speaking slowly.
Yes. He smiled at Tony and waved the box of cereal at him. I found it.
Clueless as to what Jacob was telling him, Tony replaced the boy on the floor and got out two bowls with spoons and handed them to Daniela who was standing beside them. "You two sit down, I'll grab the milk."
Daniela signed quickly to her brother who plopped himself on the chair and poured himself an overflowing bowl of cornflakes and waited patiently for Tony to pour the milk.
"You two snore very loud." Daniela said matter of factly, taking a bite of the cereal.
Tony laughed. "Sorry."
"You did not wake me, I was hungry." She replied shrugging. "My Ima and Abba snored too." She said around a mouthful of soggy cornflakes.
Tony watched the two children eat their breakfast, their fingers flashing back and forth. He heard the shower start and looked over his shoulder to see the couch empty.
"She went to the other room when you were getting the milk." Daniela reported, wiping the milk that dribbled down her chin.
"I knew that." Tony retorted turning back to the kids. "Once Ziva is out of the shower, do you two want to get washed up and dressed?"
"I shall shower as well." Daniela said, lifting her bowl and taking it to the sink. She signed to her brother who frowned and sniffed inside his shirt. He cocked an eyebrow at his sister and shook his head and signed something to her. "I do not care. You can stink then."
"Tony. She knows you already." Ziva said with a chuckle, walking out of the bedroom her damp hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a black shirt and clean khakis.
"Hey, she was NOT talking about me. She was talking to him." He pointed to Jacob who smiled and slurped his milk up.
"Great, another man who does not shower." She smiled and turned to Daniela. "Would you like to shower?"
"Yes please." The girl pulled at her long curly hair. "My hair is...discussing right now."
"Disgusting." Tony corrected automatically.
"There are towels in closet, and there should be some clothes for you in your room." Ziva coaxed gently. The girl gave her a curt nod and walked into the washroom. "And you mister. What are we going to do with you?" You need to be clean. She signed. Jacob shook his head.
No thank you. He looked up at Tony. He did not shower.
Ziva smiled and patted the boy on the head. "Once you finish eating, there are clothes in the closet for you."
Jacob smiled and started signing slowly. No shower?
"Later." Ziva replied with a chuckle. She watched as the boy hopped off the chair, carried his bowl to the sink and skipped towards his room.
"I don't think Daniela likes me." Tony said quietly coming up behind Ziva.
"Honestly Tony, I do not thinks he likes anyone at the moment." Ziva replied, hearing the shower turn off. "I cannot say that I blame her. I have not lost my parents to violence…but I have lost too many to the same violence."
Tony stood quietly, watching as his partner roughly brushed a tear that was threatening to fall. He wracked his brain for something, anything to say that didn't sound like something out of a clichéd movie. He was about to open his mouth when he felt a sharp tug at the bottom of his shirt. Jacob smiled up at him, his brown eyes twinkling. Sighing, Tony reached down and grasped the tiny hand in his.