The sun streamed through the window, bright enough to make Ziva wince. She reached over the bed, feeling for Tony before remembering that they weren't at their house. She sat up and watched Daniela sleep soundly on the bed next to her. The little girl had tearfully come into the room where he was sleeping in the wee hours of the morning. Kissing the top of the girl's curly hair, Ziva slipped out of the room and followed the light into the kitchen where both JJ and Michelle were sitting, the younger of the two hunched over a stack of files. Hearing Ziva's footsteps, Michelle looked up and gave Ziva a smile.

"Morning."

Nodding, Ziva sat across from Michelle and ran her fingers through her curly hair. "Morning." She smiled thankfully as a cup of coffee was passed her way. "Toda."

The darker woman nodded and stirred her own cup, the sound of JJ's typing filling the room.

"I see that Dani wasn't downstairs…" Michelle started giving Ziva a soft look.

"She came into my room at about 2am." Ziva explained stirring the coffee with a spoon before taking a sip. "Nightmares."

At that comment, JJ looked up from her stack of notes and pulled off her thick black framed glasses and looked at Ziva. "Nightmares?" She asked spinning her pen between her fingers with practiced ease. "Like what kind of nightmares?"

Ziva David was prepared for anything, but that question threw her off slightly. "About our mission. About us leaving them." Ziva shrugged. "About a lot." Pushing her hair off her face, she took another sip of the coffee. "Why?"

"Things like that…comments about the children's mental well being helps your case. That Daniela and Jacob…they need you." JJ wrote down some more comments on the file before rubbing her eyes. "I'll get back to you guys later this week." She said yawning. "I need to do some research and talk to Daniela's therapist." Scooping up her pile of files and her laptop, JJ leaned over and gave Michelle a hug. "Thanks for letting me crash here."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "You didn't. You stayed up and worked all night."

The blonde shrugged. "It's what I do." She gave Ziva a smile. "I'll contact you later this week." She grabbed the mug of coffee on her way out.

Ziva watched as JJ left and she gave Michelle a weak smile. She was tired, there was no denying it. The hours that they had spent trying to figure out the adoption plans, the home, her citizenship, the lack of sleeping from Israel…it was adding up. The bags under her eyes were dark, her skin sallow with exhaustion.

"Are you okay?" Michelle asked softly. "As your friend, not as a doctor."

Shrugging, Ziva twisted her hair around her finger. "You would know if I was lying." She said simply. "I am tired." She said softly. "We have been working on getting the kids back….it has been hard. But…we will do what we have to do in order to get them back."

Michelle sat silently and listened to Ziva, nodding along in support. "How is Tony doing?"

"He lies. He says that he is fine, but I know that he is having a tough time." She sighed. "I just want it all to work out. Not just the adoption. I mean, of everything." She said quietly. "I want Daniela and Jacob to be okay. I want…us to be okay."

Glancing at her watch, Michelle noted the time and folded her hands in front of her. "When was the last time you've slept, Ziva? Like actually slept."

"I do not know." She admitted. "It has been a long time."

Michelle nodded knowingly. "How about I give you a prescription for sleeping pills?" She asked. "They're non addictive. And how about you go and grab another few hours sleep with Dani? I'll make breakfast when the girls wake up." She handed Ziva a sleeping pill.

She wanted to object and say that she was fine, but Ziva knew better. "Okay." She said softly. She dry swallowed the pill and sighed.

"It's not a sign of weakness, Ziva, asking for help. Sometimes it's a sign that you've been strong for too long." She said with a smile. Reaching over the table, Michelle squeezed Ziva's arm. "Things will work out."

Standing up, Ziva gave Michelle a soft look. "If you need help with the girls, please wake me."

#

The smell of acidic smoke invaded Tony's nostrils and he awoke with a start. The bed wasn't uncomfortable, just…empty. Sitting up, he looked around before reaching over and pulling on his pants. He checked on the room where Jacob and Tyler slept before stepping out and finding Kieran sitting on the back deck, cigarette in hand. He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of Tony's footsteps. "Sorry, bad habit." He said stamping out the cigarette. "Did I wake you?"

Running his fingers through his hair, Tony shook his head. "No. Wasn't really sleeping anyway." He said leaning on the railing and staring at the rising sun. After a few long moments of silence he swallowed hard. "How old are you, Kieran?"

The younger man sat back on the deck chair and zipped up the sweater he was wearing. "25." He replied waiting for Tony to continue.

"Don't wait until it's too late." Tony said quietly. "Just…don't wait." He straightened up and exhaled loudly. "I'm going to go try to sleep for another hour. Wake me if Jake gets up."

Kieran nodded and watched Tony walk away before relighting his cigarette.

#

"Mom? Where's Dani?"

Michelle looked up from the paper she was reading and motioned for her daughter to come over. "She had a bad dream and went to sleep with her Mom."

The little girl sat down beside Michelle and nodded. "Oh. Is she…okay? I don't want the other girls thinking that I invited baby." She said seriously.

Michelle sighed and she ran her fingers through Lucy's hair. "Luce." Michelle said softly. "You know when you fell off your bike and it took you three months to get back on?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. But…this isn't a bike. She's eight."

"Some bad things have happened to Daniela and Jacob. I can't tell you what, but Daniela is still sometimes scared, like you were with your bike." Michelle said calmly as she stroked Lucy's hair. "She's not a baby, she's a brave little girl and you just have to be her friend, okay?"

Lucy looked up and nodded. "I can be her friend."

Michelle kissed the top of her head. "I know you can, baby. All she needs right now is a friend."

"Will she be okay?"

Standing up, Michelle went to the fridge and pulled out some eggs and milk. "With a friend like you, I'm sure she will be. Now do you want to help me make pancakes?"

#

Ziva awoke with a start hearing giggling and voices coming from outside the closed door. Sitting up she looked over at Daniela who was slowly stirring. "Good morning."

Daniela shrugged weakly and sat up. "I don't want to go out there." She said in Hebrew.

"Why not?"

"I'm the only girl that had to come sleep with her Mum because I'm scared." Daniela sniffled. "They're going to make fun of me."

Ziva wrapped her arms around Daniela and held her close. "You will be fine." She sniffed the air. "And it smells like pancakes."

She helped Daniela to her feet and held her close. "Come on, let's go eat." Ziva said softly in English. Opening the door she followed Daniela out and gave Michelle a smile. "Good morning."

"Morning. Pancakes are on their way." Michelle called. "Grab a seat."

Ziva shook her head. "I'll help. Daniela, go sit."

The little girl nodded and sat down at the corner of the table and stared at her hands.

"Why'd you go sleep with your Mom?" One of the girls asked. "We didn't even watch any scary movies."

Ziva started to take a step forward, but Michelle laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Lucy looked up and gave the girl a look and slid closer to Daniela. "Hey, it's not a big deal. I still sleep in my Mom and Dad's bed when I'm scared." She reached over and wrapped her arm around Daniela. "I'm TEN and I still do it sometimes, Daniela's only eight." She said giving Daniela a smile.

"Y-Yeah…I guess." The girl backtracked.

Lucy nodded and passed Daniela a glass of orange juice. "And I'm Daniela's friend, and it's my house and you can't be mean to her."

Exhaling softly, Ziva looked up at Michelle who nodded her head. "Now who wants pancakes?"

#

They had to drop the kids' off. It's what they had to do since they didn't have custody. Tears ran down Daniela's face while Jacob sniffled against Tony's shoulder. Back at Ziva's apartment, Tony wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed her softly. There weren't words to explain the way they felt, the feeling of their children ripped from their arms every weekend. No one else knew how they felt. They only had each other to lean on. "Love me." Ziva whispered in the darkness, her hands raking down Tony's chest. She needed something real, something to ground her. He didn't say anything, his large hands spanning her hips. Their bodies moved together as one, trying to ground themselves in each other.

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