A/N – Going to point out that I have never been in therapy so chances are it's not going to be what it's supposed to be like. Oh, and my **********ing computer crashed, and I fried my harddrive...so yeah. My wonderfully created chapter was totally erased. SIGH, back to square one.
Dr. Jordan Parker had been a psychologist for 15 years, and she had seen everything, though it never got any easier. Especially when it came to children and their families. This was no exception. She watched the small girl on the bed with a trained eye, and flipped through what she knew about her and her family.
"How are you Daniela?"
Daniela shrugged and propped herself up on the pillows. "Okay."
"Do you know what happened to you?"
"Yes."
"Can you tell me about it?"
"Two bad men took me and my brother." She mumbled looking down at her lap. Her eyes never met those of the doctor, instead fluttering between her lap and the door. "They broke Jacob's hands...he's deaf...he needs to use his hands to talk. And they broke them."
"I'm sure you're a good big sister and you help your brother out a lot." Jordan wrote something down on her pad of paper. "Did they hurt you?"
"My brother needs his hands to talk." Daniela said quietly, never making eye contact. "He needs them."
"I know Daniela, but sweetheart, we need to talk." Jordan moved her chair closer to the bed. "Can you tell me what they did to you?"
She shook her head, her braid swishing back and forth. "They...they...hit me. And...kicked me...and..." A tear rolled down her face that she wiped away roughly.
Jordan watched as the girl bunched the sheets in her hands, chewing at her bottom lip. "They...touched me." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Pulling three dolls out of her bag, Jordan placed them on the bed and waited for the girl to make eye contact, as brief as it was. "I have three dolls here. Can you show me with the dolls what happened to you?" She pointed to the smallest one. "This one is you, and these other two are the two men. Can you show me what happened?"
The girl ran her finger over the smaller doll, lingering on the long dark hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. She looked at the other two dolls with a look of hatred, her face hard. With a look that was a cross of frustration and anger, she tore the pants off of the smaller doll and shoved the larger two on top of it. "That is what they did to me." She spat throwing the three dolls on the floor. "That is what they did to me!" The monitors she was attached to started to blink wildly as her blood pressure rose. Tears started streaming down her face. "They said they would hurt Jacob...and my Mummy and Papa...they said they would hurt them." She hiccupped, as nurses rushed into the room, Tony on their heels.
"What's wrong?" He rushed to Daniela's bedside.
Jordan shook her head. "She just got upset." She gave Tony a look of understanding. "It's okay Daniela, just take some deep breaths."
Daniela struggled for air, her blood pressure slowly dropping, Tony staying to the side with Jacob. "I...I am okay Papa." She wiped the tears away with the back of her hands.
Tony stepped forward and wrapped Daniela up in a tight hug. "Okay sweetie. You know where I am if you need something."
The nurses gave a curt nod and adjusted the machines one last time before following Tony and Jacob out of the room.
"I'm sorry I upset you." Jordan pulled out a pad of paper and some crayons. "Do you draw?"
"Yes." The girl eyed the paper with greedy eyes.
"Can you draw me your family?"
Daniela nodded, a smile crossing her face. She grabbed some crayons and busily went to work. First a girl with long curly hair. Then a smaller boy with a crayon smile. Two adults, both wearing black suits and smiles. Other adults were added. A tall woman with black pigtails wearing all black clothing, a man beside her. An older man with a bow tie and glasses, a younger man wearing what resembled green pyjamas beside him. A man with silver hair with a frown and a woman with fire red hair standing beside him. And finally, above everyone else, three smaller figures, all in white. A boy, a man and a woman.
"Can you tell me about this picture?" Jordan asked examining the picture.
Shrugging, Daniela placed the crayons in the box and looked at the drawing. "It is my family." She pointed to the centre two. "That is me, and that is Jacob." Moving farther out, she started explaining each person. "That is my Mummy and Papa. That is Tim and Abby. This is Ducky and Jimmy. And this is Gibbs and Jenny."
"Gibbs doesn't look very happy." Jordan noted pointing to the frown.
"He is very nice. He reads to me. But he does not smile. I think that he is sad a lot." Daniela pointed to Jenny and nodded. "But he smiles when Jenny is around."
"She looks interesting."
Daniela nodded emphatically. "That is Abby. She is very fun. And that is her Tim."
"Her Tim?"
"He is very nice. He cares for lots of people."
"And who are they?" Jordan asked pointing to the three figures in white.
"Angels."
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"Ziva! Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at the hospital? Did something happen to Jacob or Daniela?"
Ziva frowned slightly and waited for the inevitable bone crushing hug from Abby. "They are fine Abby, do not worry. I went home to shower and change clothes, but Daniela had a request."
Gibbs walked over, coffee in hand and nodded her on. "Request?"
"Yes, request." Daniela looked up towards the railing where Jenny stood, leaning over and peering down at them. "She would like to see you all."
"All of us?" McGee said quietly from his computer.
"All of you, McGee." Ziva smiled. "She made a point of asking. Are you too busy to come?"
Gibbs took a sip of coffee and nodded. "Slow day."
"YAY!" Abby exclaimed, wrapping Gibbs in a hug. "I need to go get the presents I have! I bought both some gifts! Just give me a second!"
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"How're you doing there buddy boy?" Tony smiled down at Jacob who was contentedly playing with a large truck in the sitting room. The boy smiled up at him and kept running the truck around. He picked up an old copy of Sports Illustrated and flipped through it, his concentration not on the articles but everywhere else. Months ago he would have complained about being bored, about being stuck in a hospital with a four year old. He would have complained until Gibbs had slapped him. But here he was, worrying, sitting, pacing, thinking and loving.
"Excuse me, Mister Della Roevere?"
Tony stood up and faced the doctor. "How did she do?"
"Well Mister Della Roevere,"
"Tony, please."
"Tony." Jordan sat down across from him and sighed. "She's a strong little girl, but she's still a little girl. She's carrying a lot of pain, confusion, fear and guilt with her."
"But...she'll be okay...Right?"
Jordan sighed again. "Mist...Tony. I can't say one way or the other. She's going to need therapy and lots of support. Some days she'll appear fine, happy even. The next day she may be completely different. All you can do is support her." She glanced at Jacob with a soft smile.
Tony nodded and extended his hand to the doctor. "Thank you Doctor Parker."
The elevator door rang and Ziva, followed by Gibbs and Jenny came off. He spotted them and gave a short wave. Jordan smiled. "Your family?"
"Yeah."
"I recognize them from Daniela's drawing." She stood up and gave a nod to the small group. "I should get going. I have another client, but I will visit Daniela tomorrow. I know how much of a strain something like this can be on a family. A good friend of mine is a family counsellor...if you're interested."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for everything." Scooping Jacob up in his arms, Tony walked towards the group. "Thanks for coming."
"Abby, McGee, Ducky and Jimmy are in the next elevator." Jenny said with a smile, taking Jacob from Tony. "We couldn't all fit in with Abby's stuff."
"And she convinced Jimmy and Tim to carry it for her." Ziva said, placing a kiss on Tony's cheek. "How is Daniela?"
"Had a bit of an incident earlier, but she seems okay." Tony said waiting for the elevator doors to open. He shrugged at Ziva's darkened expression. "The doctor said that it will happen, but she said that Daniela handled it well."
"ABBY! HOW MUCH STUFF DID YOU GET?" McGee stumbled out of the elevator, his arms full of gifts.
"Well I wanted to make sure that I was fair." Abby replied with a smile. "But I think I may have gone a bit overboard."
"A bit?" Jimmy gasped from behind a pile of boxes. "Abby..."
"If you complained less, we could get there faster." The goth said with a smile, following Tony down the hallway.
Daniela sat up when she saw the parade of people come to her room. Ziva sat down on the bed and wrapped her arms around the girl. "How are you feeling?"
"I am okay. Thank you for bringing everyone here."
"We brought presents!" Abby exclaimed dropping a pile on her bed. "Go ahead, open them. The ones wrapped in red are yours, the ones in blue are Jacob's."
Daniela's eyes grew wide and she looked around the room. Ducky smiled gently at her. Jimmy nodded towards the pile of presents and took a step back to allow everyone else to get a better view.
"Go on." Jenny urged giving the girl a wide smile.
"All...for me?" She whispered, taking in the sight before her.
"For you." Tony said, sitting down on the chair beside Ziva. He grabbed Jacob and placed him on the bed.
Blue for you
Jacob's eyes lit up and grabbed the largest blue wrapped present and tore into it. He let go an ear piercing squeal and pulled out a remote controlled car. Tony laughed as he crawled off the bed and started the car, zipping it around the small room.
"I guess that's all he's going to unwrap." McGee said with a small smile. "Daniela?"|
With shaking fingers, the girl began to slowly unwrap a flat present. Her eyes glassed over with unshed tears as the wrapping paper came off. In her hands sat picture frames, the one on the left, a picture of Daniela, Jacob, Isaac and their parents. The one on the right, a picture with the NCIS group. And the one in the centre, a picture with Ziva, Tony, Jacob and Daniela.
She stared at the picture in silence, the group gauging her reaction. Silent tears rolled down her face, dropping on the glass covering the pictures.
"Where did you get this picture?" Daniela asked, wiping the glass with her fingers. "Of my Abba and Ima."
"The Director. Do you like it?"
Daniela nodded, and threw herself into Ziva's arms. The tears for her parents, her brother, her new family...they all flowed. Her small body wracked in silent sobs.
McGee and Palmer tried to blend into the background, unsure of what to do with a crying child.
"How about we take Jacob for a drink and he can show off his new car." Gibbs suggested, ushering the group out, allowing the small family to have some time by themselves.
"I miss them." Daniela whispered, recoiling slightly as Tony wrapped his arm around her and Ziva. "I do not mean to, but I miss them."
"It's okay Dani...you're allowed to miss them. That's why we got you the picture, so you'll never forget them." Tony said, giving Ziva a sad smile. "We know that we can't replace your family..."
"...Can I tell you something?" Her voice was quiet, just above a whisper.
"Anything." Tony exchanged a worried glance with Ziva.
"They...they said that they would kill you...all of you...they...they said that if I said no...they would kill you. I did not want to. But I had to. You know that, right? I had to..." Her blue-green eyes were filled with tears, looking for acceptance.
"We know Daniela, we know. You did nothing wrong." Ziva said, brushing the girl's hair back. "They were the ones who were wrong. They had no right to take you. They had no right to touch you the way they did."
"It's okay to cry Daniela. It's okay to be angry. We'll be here for you." Tony said quietly.
"But...the mission is over." Daniela said bluntly. "I was here for a mission."
Tony sighed and tightened his grip on the two females in his life.
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Faster.
Abby laughed. "Just like a man." She turned to McGee. "He wants the car to go faster."
"It can." McGee smiled and picked the car up. A couple seconds later he put it down and watched as it spun around faster than before.
Jacob grinned and chased after it, remote in hand.
"He's a cute kid." McGee said, watching him run down the hall.
"He is." Abby looked up at him. "Have you ever thought about having kids, Timmy?"
"Iunno. I've always figured that I'll eventually find someone and settle down..." He watched the goth with a careful eye. "Why?"
"What happens if you've already met them, but you just don't know it?"
"I think I'd know Abby." He said quietly.
"Do you?"
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"I will speak with her when I get a chance." Ducky said, sipping the hot tea. "But I know Dr. Parker and she is a very capable child psychologist. And I am not sure if she would open up to someone she knows. Rape, any type of rape, carries a heavy stigma, even with children that young."
Jenny nodded and swallowed the hospital coffee. "Thank you Ducky."
"So what's next?"
"Next?"
"Oh Director, you know, next. For the children. For Tony and Ziva." He allowed his voice to trail off. "You didn't think about that, did you?"
Her eyes gave away what she was unable to say...
So here is the latest chapter of "One Voice." Hopefully my stupid computer won't crash anymore. I'm going to be away for the next two weeks, I had a team qualify for Nationals so we're heading out tomorrow.
EDIT – I changed the format...hopefully it works.