The precinct was a madhouse when Abby and Ziva walked in and talked to the Sergeant at the front desk. They asked to speak with Captain Marsden and were shown to his office. They introduced themselves and the Captain invited them to sit.

"How can I help you two?" he asked.

"Actually, Captain, we'd like to help you. I'm a forensics scientist and there's nothing about ballistics I don't know. Ziva is a trained investigator with special skills we won't go into today. We'd like to help with the investigation of Kira McKensie's shooting."

"NCIS? You work with Tony." The Captain stated.

"Yes, we do. We can help you with this case." Ziva told him.

Studying the two women across from him and looking at the departments case load, he picked up the phone and called Detective Ramirez into his office. Mark walked in and looked from his Captain to the two women sitting in the chairs.

"Yes sir?" Mark questioned.

"Take Ms. Sciuto here to the lab and tell Robbie that she'll be helping with the evidence on Kira's shooting. Then walk Officer David through what we have so far. They will be helping us on this investigation." Captain Marsden informed him.

Not wanting to question the Captain in front of two women he had never met, Mark nodded and held the door open for them to go ahead of him.

"It's Abby, by the way. No one calls me Ms. Sciuto unless I'm in court." Abby told him and shook his hand.

"Mark Ramirez, but please call me Mark." He said and turned to Ziva.

"Ziva David." She told him, shaking his hand.

"Ziva." Mark said. "Please, follow me." He turned and led the way through the desks and down several halls to get to the lab.

Stepping through the door, he waved his hands to get Robbie's attention. The lab tech turned his music down and turned to Mark.

"Robbie, this is Abby Sciuto. She's going to be helping you with the evidence from Kira's case." Mark told him.

Abby and Robbie sized each other up, recognizing in each a kindred spirit. "Come on in. I'll show you what we've got." Robbie said.

Leaving them to their work, Mark led Ziva back to his desk. "This is what we've got so far."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Gibbs arrived at the hospital, Kira was just being moved to a bed in ICU and Tony was waiting to go in to see her.

"DiNozzo!"

"Boss? Who called you?" Tony asked, then remembered that Ziva was going to ok their working the case with Gibbs.

"What have you found out?" Gibbs asked.

Tony filled him in on everything and Gibbs said, "They'll take care of her here, Tony. She's strong, she'll come through this fine."

"Gibbs, you don't have to reassure me. The doctors are hopeful, but I know that these first few days are going to be critical."

Nodding, Gibbs met his gaze and told him, "I've contacted the Director and she has you out on personal leave. Take all the time you need here. We'll find who did this, Tony." Gibbs promised.

At that moment, Tim came up with coffee and the nurse called Tony in to see Kira for a few minutes.

"Tim." Gibbs acknowledged.

"Boss." Tim said and handed him the regular coffee. When Gibbs raised his eyebrows, Tim explained, "You once told me to anticipate and I'll have less work to do. When Ziva told us she was going to call you, I knew you'd be here before long."

With a smile hidden behind his coffee cup, Gibbs told him, "Good work, Tim."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tony stepped into the cubicle and stared at the small woman lying in the hospital bed. He hadn't seen her since she graduated early two years before. Her brown hair was brushed away from her face and her skin was whiter than the sheet she was covered with. He looked at all the machines she was hooked up to and remembered when Gibbs was hurt not that long ago. Kira had called him then. Asking how he was and if there was anything she could do to help them out. Of course, at the time, there was nothing anyone could do but wait, and it was the same this time. He would wait, at her bedside for as long as it took. Even if it meant postponing the work he was doing for the Director.

He sat down beside her bed and took her hand in his. "Kira, it's me, Tony. I'm here, little one. And I'm going to be here until you get better, understand? I'm going to warn you though, according to Ziva and McGee, my conversation skills are limited to movies and TV shows. I think they're wrong, but you can let me know when you wake up. I'm going to be right here as much as the nurses will let me. I'm not going anywhere until you open those blue eyes again."

Finishing his speech, Tony sat in silence just holding her hand and watching the monitors.