Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Thanks to Reader, torontogirl12, Guest and McTivaRusher for reviewing 7.

Sarah sat back, sipping her coffee, watching as Ziva swiped at her eyes from across the table in the break room. She'd listened to both sides of the story, and now, set her cup down, leaning across from the woman she hoped would someday become her sister-in-law. "Ziva, can I be-"

"Prank?" Ziva suggested, sniffling. Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"Frank." Ziva nodded, silently filing it away for later. When the older woman didn't reply, Sarah continued. "I think, Ziva, that you and Tim..." She bit her lip. "You're both acting like idiots, honestly. You're going at each others' throats, when you should be solving Jace and Tina McKenna's murders and taking care of that little girl." Ziva sniffled.

"I hate the McGee honesty." She whispered, staring into her coffee. Sarah chuckled.

"Yeah, it can get pretty annoying. But then again, it can be useful. When it comes to Timmy and I... we tell each other pretty much everything; we kind of stopped telling our parents everything not long after Timmy turned ten. That ended up being for the better." She sighed, running her finger over the rim of her cup. "Anyway, back to you and... the girl. Why are you afraid of her?"

Ziva took a deep breath. "When I was a girl... my family lived in an apartment in Tel Aviv. There was a girl that lived two doors down from us; Varda, was her family's only child. She was one of my best friends. We did everything together. But... when we turned ten, Varda lost her sight. We had been playing outside on the street, there were riots, to protest the drone strikes, and someone fired a gun. My older brother was with us, and he managed to push me to the ground, but Varda..." She swallowed, sniffling.

"Take your time, Ziva."

"Varda was hit. The bullet pierce the occipital lobe of her brain, and... went straight through the portion that controls eyesight." Sarah listened, tears slipping down her cheeks. "They could not save her sight. Her parents blamed me, and they moved not long after she came home from the hospital..." Ziva took a deep, shaky breath, choking on a sob. She met Sarah's gaze. "And they were right. It was my fault. I cost Varda her sight..."

Before she could think of anything to say, Sarah got up, going to Ziva and wrapping her in a hug. "You didn't, Ziva. It was an accident, it wasn't your fault-"

"I cannot be around Mychal, because whenever I see her, I see Varda, and how I..." She broke down completely then, clinging to the younger McGee, face buried in Sarah's dark curls. The younger woman held her close, glancing up, to see Tim standing in the break room doorway, watching them.

"Where's Tim?" Gibbs looked up as Sarah brought Ziva back into the bullpen.

"Hi!" Mycha turned towards the new voice. She was still perched on Tony's lap, playing with the sharpies he had in his desk. Tony, unable to get up and forced to relay the information he'd found from his desk, was getting exceedingly uncomfortable, every time the child turned to face him, marker in hand. He'd had to shield his face from her eager drawing skills more than once. Sarah gave the girl a small smile; she loved kids, and every chance she got, babysat for friends or families that she lived in the same apartment complex with.

"Hi, you must be Mychal." She said, going to the child and leaning over the desk. It was then that Sarah saw that the child was indeed blind, and her heart tugged. She remembered Jace McKenna- the smart-talking, funny, adventurous boy with the brown jacket and messy hair. The child tilted her head towards Sarah's voice, brow furrowed. "I'm Tim's sister, Sarah."

The child reached out, taking her hand. "You know Uncle Tim?" Sarah nodded.

"Yep. He's my big brother." Mycha's mouth formed a small 'o' of surprise, and she set the markers down, climbing off Tony's lap. Ziva had since taken a seat at her desk, watching as the child rushed to Sarah and threw her arms around the younger woman's waist. By then, Tim had returned, information in hand.

"Boss, I-" He turned to glance at Tony, only to stop at the sight of black, red and blue marker on the senior agent's face. Tony raised an eyebrow.

"What're you looking at, McStare? Something funny?" A moment passed, before Tim shook his head and turned, going to Gibbs and handing him the information. I went to Bethesda and asked for information on Tina McKenna- turns out, the accident wasn't an accident, it was deliberate. The attending doctor said that Tina was brought in with a severe skull fracture-"

"That's not uncommon with car accidents, Timmy." Sarah said, scooping Mychal up. Tim turned to his sister.

"No, I know it's not Sarah." He said, going to her and taking Mychal from her. "But the bullet wound in the back of her skull isn't common with car accidents."

"So... so you think that Tina-"

"Was murdered." Tim whispered, pressing a kiss to the child's temple. They all turned when Gibbs got up. "Boss, where are you-"

"Be right back." They all watched as he headed down towards Autopsy, before Tim turned back to Tony. Sarah burst out laughing. Tony glared at her.

"What's so funny, McMini?" He asked, getting up. Sarah shook her head, raising her hands.

"Have you seen your face, Agent DiNozzo?" This sent Tony up and racing for the bathroom, and even had Ziva smiling. Once he was gone, Tim turned to the Israeli. "Timmy, you and Ziva have to talk. You have to understand why she's so-" She nodded towards Mychal. "Go. I'll watch Mychal. But you two need to talk before you both do something you're going to regret. Reluctantly, Tim handed Mychal over to Sarah, before going to nodding towards the elevator. Sighing, Ziva followed, glancing at Sarah, who gave her a big smile and a thumbs up.