A/N: Can Agent Ziva David be saved before it's too late? *Hint at relationships, violence, drug use, and sexual encounters* Reviews are welcome!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, but I enjoy playing with the characters. Story is purely my own creation.

-*Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo pulled her into his arms.*-

Ziva David let herself into her apartment, closing and locking the door behind her before absently tossing her keys onto the counter. Her dark hair was a mess, half spilling out from the messy pony-tail she had pulled it into earlier that day. Her eyes were red where she'd been crying, unusual for her normal stoic demeanor, rarely showing any emotion at all. She had only just managed to keep herself together until she'd gotten in her car and away from NCIS headquarters.

She dropped her bag on the floor and decidedly put one foot in front of the other, shuffling toward the bathroom and turning on her shower. It had been a hard month for her and she'd struggled to keep her stress from the work place, finding Gibbs glancing frequently over at her as if he were studying her. She'd dropped the ball several times on crime scene runs, drawing several heated elevator discussions as they'd returned to the bullpen, which she always seemed to space out of.

Today had been no different, and both Tony and McGee had approached her, asking if everything were okay. She couldn't tell them. She couldn't find the words to tell them what had her so spooked.

Shivering, she looked down at her clothed body, feeling as if she were staring at someone else. She felt numb, sick, disoriented. It had often felt like she was moving awkwardly through a waking dream over the past few weeks.

"Ziva."

She spun around, hearing what sounded like a very teasing whisper of her name sound directly by her ear. Her breath caught in her chest. She knew that voice. She knew the pain attached to that voice. "You are here alone, Ziva," she said aloud, looking at herself intensely in the mirror, trying to convince herself that she did not feel the hands pulling at her body. "There is no one here." Her voice broke and another tear slid down her cheeks.

"Ziva…" The voice sounded again, this time from her other side.

She shrugged away from the imaginary hands, climbing fully clothed to stand in the shower, trying to scrub the hands away. She cried freely, occasional sobs tearing through her body. It felt as if she were losing her grip on reality.

"Ziva!"

"Go away!" she cried, strangling on her own tears, redoubling her efforts to cleanse herself. "You…you are not real!"

A sinister chuckle seemed to echo through the bathroom and chills crawled over her skin, sending her stumbling from the shower to retch into the toilet, voiding what she'd managed to eat before leaving work.

"It is time for you to wake, Ziva. No more sleeping until I am finished with you."

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on the cool porcelain between her hands, keeping her grounded to reality. Hopelessness descended on her then, draping over her like a wet blanket.

Dizzy, she pushed herself to her feet, reaching unsteadily for the bathroom door. It grayed and seemed to shift before her. She knew these doors. She had to escape. She pushed out into the open room, turning on her heels as she seemed to reel, panic gripping her.

"No," she sobbed. "No, no, no!" She felt hands reach out, grasping her arms tightly to halt her movement. Her breath burned in her chest as she breathed in the familiar smell, knowing who held her as he paced around to stand in front of her.

His cold, calculating eyes seem to pierce her through, lined with cruel laugh-lines. "Welcome back, Ziva. I thought you were going to sleep all day."

Her legs gave out and she fell to the floor.

000010000

"Either of you get anything out of Ziva?" Leroy Jethro Gibbs asked, looking up as his agents, DiNozzo and McGee, reentered the bullpen. Tony sat his bag down by his desk.

"No, boss," he replied, "she wouldn't talk to me."

"Me either," McGee added, pushing a few buttons on his keyboard to shake his computer out of sleep mode as he took his seat.

Gibbs absently scratched his fingers through his short graying hair, looking thoughtfully over at the desk his newest probationary agent normally occupied. She had been so scattered that he'd sent her home after lunch, ordering her to sleep and to call him when she woke. Offended, she had protested, insisting that she could do her job.

"Boss?"

"It's alright, DiNozzo. She's supposed to call me when she wakes up." He stood, moving to stand at his senior agent's desk. "How are you feeling, while we're on the subject?"

"No more shakes, boss," came the reply as he flashed him a winning grin.

"Good. Finish the report on the Harrington case." He strode off toward the break room, making a coffee stop before heading up to MTAC.

Sighing, Tony pulled out his case notes and the file, reaching over to pull open a new document on his computer screen.

"Hey, Tony?"

"Yeah, Probie?" He glanced over at his partner, stifling the urge to pop off something smart as he saw the expression on his face.

"Ziva really hasn't told you what's bothering her?" he asked after a moment.

"No, McGee." His brow furrowed as the younger agent gave him a nod as if confirming something to himself before turning back to his computer, his fingers flying across the keys as he, too, took frequent glances over at the empty desk. Ziva had them all worried.

Returning to his own work, he decided he'd stop in to check on her before heading home. They'd talk tonight.

2100 Hours…

Tony climbed out of his car, relieved to find Ziva's parked outside of her apartment. She had made it home. He jogged to the main door and let himself inside, climbing up the stairs and knocking on her door. There was no answer. Frowning, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and hit the speed dial for her phone, listening at the door as it rung through. He could hear the ring coming from the other side of the door. She was home. He knocked again, this time louder.

"C'mon, Ziva," he grumbled under his breath, "Never be unreachable!" He knocked again, eventually searching around her door for her spare key. After a moment, he was able to let himself in to her apartment, cautiously looking around to make sure she wasn't aiming a gun at him from across the room. Feeling secure, he stepped inside and kicked the door shut, noting her keys on the counter and her bag by the inside of the door. He could hear the shower running. "Ziva!" He stepped around the corner, his eyes immediately finding her lying motionless on her back on the floor.

He swallowed his fear, finding himself immediately at her side, checking for a pulse, which he found going strong, easing his breath a little. Her clothes were damp and her body chilled. He realized she'd showered with her clothes on. "Ziva," he said softly, cupping her cheeks in his hands and lifting her eyelids with his thumbs, checking her pupils. "Wake up, Ziva."

She didn't stir.

Anguished, he gathered her into his arms.

-*He tried to still his racing heart, glancing around the apartment for signs of a struggle.*-

tbc...