"Gear up.", Gibbs said after receiving a phone call at his desk. He stood, and the team picked up their bags and followed him to the elevator.

They all piled in before DiNozzo asked the obvious question. "Boss, where are we going?"

Gibbs continued to stare at the metal doors. "Bethesda. Marine wife, Casey Devlin, was severely beaten two nights ago and is in a coma. The police think her daughter was the target, and Devlin got in the way. The police interrupted before he could finish the job, but he got away. The girl will be in our protective custody until we find him.", Gibbs explained quickly.

The elevators opened, and Gibbs and Ziva went to the hospital while Tony and McGee went to process the crime scene. "If Devlin is in a coma, why are we here?", Ziva asked in confusion when they arrived at their destination.

Gibbs sighed but answered. "Her daughter is here, because there is no next of kin, and she is now a protected witness in the case. She has refused to speak to anyone, but we need to find out what she knows."

"Is her husband still deployed?", Ziva asked.

"Killed in action two years ago, but you never top being a marine or marine's spouse." Gibbs said the words as if to emphasize that he was not to be contradicted, and they would be taking the case. They entered the hospital and were directed to a room with a security guard standing watch outside. "Ziva, you're going to talk to the girl, since she will probably relate better to a woman."

Ziva swallowed nervously. "You are much better with children than I. Perhaps you should talk to her.", Ziva suggested hopefully. She wasn't bad with children, but she wasn't good either. Gibbs had always done well with children who were at NCIS for various reasons. He always knew when to be gentle and fatherly or when to use tough love, but she wasn't as sure of herself in that situation.

"A man nearly killed her mom in front of her, so she will probably be more responsive to you.", he answered.

Ziva was still not convinced. "I am sure the nurses tried speaking with her. If she is in shock, I do not know how I can help anymore than trained professionals." She knew she would be going into the room anyway, so her argument was becoming less resolved and more stalling the inevitable.

"You're not interrogating her. You're making her feel comfortable, so she'll want to talk to us and not be afraid when we have to take her back to the navy yard with us. Now go. You can do this, and it's not an option or up for discussion." Gibbs' words were final, so Ziva gave up her fight and stepped past the security guard into the room.

Her first sights were of a bruised woman barely clinging to life in a hospital bed, and she knew this girl would be an orphan soon. The girl was sitting on a small couch across from the bed, and she looked terrified when Ziva entered the room. Ziva smiled but didn't move toward the couch."Hello, my name is Ziva. I am an NCIS agent. Do you know what that is?", she asked. She was trying to get the girl to communicate in some way. The girl nodded to say that she did know what NCIS was. "That's good.", Ziva said. "You are very pretty. I am sure you have a very pretty name. Would you tell me what it is?", she asked.

The girl watched Ziva as if assessing whether or not she could be trusted. She seemed to have made up her mind and answered. "Hadara.", she said timidly.

Ziva was suddenly struck with a realization. Hadara looked very middle eastern, but her mother was a blonde haired, blue eyed Caucasian Perhaps her father was from the middle east. "That is a pretty name. It is Hebrew for 'splendor', which is also what my name means." Ziva was trying to build a connection and trust with Hadara. "How old are you?", Ziva asked next.

Hadara had smiled when Ziva told her what her name meant and didn't wait as long before answering Ziva's second question. "Seven." Her voice was quiet and unsure when she answered the question.

Ziva couldn't resist asking the question. "Does your dad look like my color or your mom's?" She looked like her father much more than her mother, so she couldn't say whether it was suspicious if Hadara looked more like her father than mother.

Hadara's head cocked to the side in confusion and thought for a moment. "My mom." Ziva concluded that Hadara was either adopted or kidnapped shortly after birth.

She didn't voice her thoughts, because Hadara seemed unaware that she may not be biologically related to her family. "Are you hungry? I heard you have not accepted food from anyone, but I could take you to the cafeteria to get something."

Hadara watched Ziva through her chocolate brown eyes and brushed away a piece of her long, dark brown hair. Her stomach growled at the mention of food, and it seemed that she had just realized she might be hungry. She nodded and slowly stood from the couch but looked at the bed where her mom lay. Ziva saw this and said, "We can bring our food back here and eat with your mom if you would like." Hadara nodded again and took Ziva's out stretched hand.

Gibbs looked up at her when she stepped out of the room and smiled a little when he saw Hadara with her, but she could tell he had come to the same conclusion as she had about Hadara possibly being adopted. "Hadara, this is my friend Gibbs.", Ziva introduced when they reached Gibbs.

He knelt down to Hadara's level and smiled in fatherly manner to her. "Hi.", he said. Hadara hid behind Ziva's leg but peeked out at Gibbs from her hiding place. He chuckled softly and handed her a stuffed animal. "Someone told me you dropped this, and I thought you'd like it back." Hadara took the plushy bear from his hand, so that she was holding Ziva's hand with one and the bear with the other.

Ziva told Gibbs what she knew quietly and then took Hadara to the cafeteria to get food. Normally she would have gone to get the food alone, but she was worried someone would go into the room and scare Hadara back into her former shell. They got sandwiches, jello, and milk from the hospital cafeteria and then returned to Casey Devlin's room. Hadara ate silently but quickly, and Ziva merely picked at her own food. "Hadara, do you remember what happened to your mom?", Ziva asked carefully.

She watched for any signs that she had started the hard questions too early but saw none. "Yes.", Hadara answered. Hadara had still answered with no more than one word at a time, but Ziva hoped that would change.

"Did you see the man who hurt her?" Ziva was trying to be gentle. This is why she hadn't wanted the job of talking to Hadara. Ziva David could stare death in the face without flinching, but talking to a people was not her forte.

Hadara's face contorted into an expression of fear and anguish as she remembered the traumatic night that brought her to where she currently was. "Me and mommy were playing with my toys.", she began. As she spoke, she clutched the bear tighter to her chest. "Mommy had my bear and I had the lion, but someone knocked on the door, and she left."

Ziva wanted to take Hadara in her arms and hold her, but she didn't want to frighten the child recounting such a horrifying experience. "Who was at the door, Hadara?", she asked.

Hadara had long since abandoned her jello, and a tear leaked onto her bear's head. "The m-man." She was watching her bear as if waiting for the toy to save her.

"Can you tell me what he looked like? Maybe what he was wearing?"

Hadara thought back to that night. She remembered exactly what the man looked like and what he was wearing. "He had brown eyes and black hair. He was very tall, taller than daddy. He was dark like he went to the beach, and his voice was mean. He wore dark jeans and a brown shirt."

Ziva was impressed by Hadara's memory and glad they wouldn't have to worry about chasing a vague description. "What did he say?", she asked.

"He asked where I was, and mommy told him to leave, but he didn't. And he...he hu-rt her, and I c-call-ed the police like mo-mommy taught me." Hadara tried not to cry but couldn't hold back her tears as she remembered the man beating her mom to try to get to her. "She hurt him back though.", Hadara added quietly.

Ziva's ears perked at that. "Your mommy hurt the man? How?"

"Mommy always has a knife, and she hurt the man when he tried to get in. That's when...he got mad and hit her more."

Ziva was about to try to console Hadara when she received a call from Gibbs saying he was done with interviews and was ready to go. "Do you remember my friend Gibbs?" Hadara nodded. "Well both of us are helping to find the man who hurt your mommy, but we need you to come with us, so we can keep you safe."

Hadara looked at the hospital bed and held her bear tighter. "What if mommy wakes up, and I'm not here?", she asked worriedly.

Ziva felt her heart breaking at the sight of the young girl putting her mother's feelings before her own. "We will come back if she wakes up. I have more friends that you would like very much, but they are at my work. Would you like to meet them?" Hadara nodded and Ziva led her out of the room. She and Gibbs went back to the navy yard and waited for Tony and McGee to finish processing the crime scene.

So tell me what you think so far!