Beautifully written.

Hi, I always thought Ziva looked on the edge of tears at the end, and this story explains why.
You've caught the dynamic between Ziva and Gibbs. Amanda, Kelly, and Tali - no easy answer.
Thanks and cheers!

Good story. Never apologize for not writing romance especially between Gibbs and Ziva or Gibbs and Abby or Gibbs and Kate or... they're all just wrong.

This is a beautiful rendition of how the time between the bus and the morning after and of Gibbs speaking to Amanda about her sister, Agent Michelle Lee. You brought out the anguished emotion Gibbs surely felt during that time. The decision he had to make that ended Lee's life. Looking into that little girl's eyes as he explained her sister would want her to have the badge. I love the idea of Ziva being there for Gibbs throughout that night. Those two, although very much 'father and daughter', they have had so many similar experiences in their lives and share a common bond from her brother Ari. They give each other strength because they understand each other so well. Great job!

So very, very well done. This is a lovely "fill in the gaps" to that episode - one that desperately needed to be written. I think you did a beautiful job of keeping both of them in character thoughout this. We don't very often see Gibbs as vulnerable, but the way you wrote it made absolute sense. Thank you for sharing this!

Good story. Very nice moments between Ziva and Gibbs!

oh i love "dagger" stories! very well done agent CH57!

Aw!Great story!That episode was really emotional :)

M x

This is very well written and very ngrats.

Great tag to Dagger.

Very well done. I agree, there needed to be something between the shooting and the finish. I like how you handled it.

Very nice. Poor Gibbs.

Beautiful, poignant story. You chose well in making ziva the one staying with Gibbs. There is a special bond between them that started with Ari's death, and she really understands him. Ducky was another possibility, but I doubt he really knows what it meant to kill Lee, so Ziva was really the best choice.

Good job! thanks for sharing.

An excellent fill-in scene for Dagger. Nice to see some friendship moments between Gibbs and Ziva.

Great job!

Amazing job ! Not only that you wrote every detail to match perfectly with the episode but you dove very deeply into Gibbspersonality and soul. I love his carachter, I love how he can be such strong even being broken. The fact that you are sure that he traces a perfect line between his wants and his duties, speeks lots about him and why he does his job as well as he does. Ziva was perfect to.

Thanks !