"Good morning, team." I walk in through the doors, humming to myself quietly. "I seriously hate Mondays. If they didn't exist, I really wouldn't mind."

With a toothbrush dangling off his lips, Tony greets me with a grunt. "Have you met our newest addition?"

Looking back, I see Ziva sitting at Kate's desk.

"We've all met Ziva already." I roll my eyes. "Also, I picked up coffee." They each take a steaming hot cup.

"Hold on. . ." Tony steps out from behind his desk, eyeing me suspiciously. "How are you not shocked by Ziva's sudden appearance? And how did you know to bring four cups of coffee instead of three?"

I merely shrug. "Ziva texted me."

"Since when have you had her number?"

"Since you left me alone in front of the hotel."

That prompts an awkward laugh from him, to which I cock a brow.

"Someone. . ." He reaches a gentle hand to my cheek, "had to stay behind. Keep an eye on her." The smile on his face quickly turns to a glare.

Wrapping my fingers around his wrist, I tilt my head to the side. "And why couldn't you stay behind? I was freezing to death while you were driving off in a heated car with Gibbs." And with that, I rip his hand off my face.

"You still didn't answer how you weren't surprised by Ziva." Tony calls out just as I walk back to my desk.

"Easy." I prop my feet up on my desk. "Jenny told me she's our new liaison officer from Mossad."

"Did Gibbs tell you anything?"

Shit.

I sit up in my chair, my attitude immediately changing. "You don't think. . ." Tony looks up at me, his eyes widening in fear. "Jenny wouldn't. . .not without. . ."

"She might have."

Damn it.

Before any of us could say anything else, Gibbs steps out of the elevator. Ziva walks off to greet him, leaving me with the guys.

"Anyone bring popcorn?"

Smack!

Not even a minute later, Gibbs heads towards the staircase while Ziva silently returns to her desk, muttering something along the lines of donkey's butt.

Since we don't have a case — a rare occurrence — the four of us are left with nothing to do except lounge around in the conference room.

Of course, Tony uses this time to catch up on some GSM reading, which prompts Gibbs to chuck a paper ball at the back of his head.

Ziva quickly stands to her feet. "What's the verdict?"

"Pack your trash." He stops in front of her desk, nodding towards her bag beside Kate's desk.

"Not a problem." She simply obliges, grabbing the rest of her few things. "Most of it doesn't arrive till next week."

With her bag thrown over her shoulder, Ziva looks back at us once more. "Nice seeing you again, Evaline." I nod my head. "Tony. McGee."

And she's gone. Just like that.

But Gibbs follows after her. And brings her back.

"Miss David will be with us for a while." Gibbs announces before leading her to an empty desk.

While she situates herself in the new environment, I stop by the window, looking at the trees and leaves glistening in the sun.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Tony comes to stand behind me, his gaze following my own.

A short sigh escapes my lips, thoughts and memories filling my head. "Just hoping she stays for longer. Much longer."

My mind drifts off to Kate. The fun we shared, the cases we worked. How quickly a person can be there one second and gone the next.

"Yeah." He presses his lips to the side of my head, letting them linger for a few moments. "I miss her, too."

McGee receives a call with a case at the Smithsonian, and we leave soon after.

"Stop playing around with the fake bear, Tony."

"I'm not playing around with the fake bear, Eva." Mimicking a boxer in the ring, he bounces up and down on his toes. "I'm fighting it."

I snap another picture at his request. "Fine. Stop fighting the fake bear." Ignoring my words, Tony simply poses a few more times.

"Is this what it is like at a crime scene?" Ziva mutters from beside me.

"Only when you're with Tony."

"You and me, two years ago, Alpha Foxtrot 29000, President's desk."

"So you're telling me I've been putting up with you for two years?" I wrap the camera strap around my neck, letting it hang. "Think there's a medal for that?"

After we report back with our findings, Gibbs leaves with the casket and Ducky. This leaves the four of us with the truck.

Which Ziva insists on driving.

"Hey, not so fast!" Tony clutches onto his seat for dear life.

She swerves through the lanes, crossing other cars on the road. "I always drive fast." The car on our right nearly crashes into a pole. "It is the best way to avoid possible IEDs and ambushes."

"Here in America —" My body slams against Tony, who's now squished to the side of the vehicle. "We don't need to worry about that."

"Poor McGee's either soiling his pants or puking all over the equipment." Tony tries to catch a peek through the small window, but we're both lurched forward.

She makes a left turn, only to end up on the other side of the road. Tony and I — and probably McGee — scream at her to get back on the road.

Only after Tony throws up in the passenger's seat.

"I said I was sorry." Ziva attempts to keep a straight face, although it's gone the second I burst out into laughter.

"It's not that funny."

"Oh, it totally is."

At headquarters, we confirm the body's identity to be Staff Sergeant Warren Sorrow, although he is not from the Civil War era. Ducky even determines his cause of death: suffocation.

The next morning. McGee meets with Abby to work on the cellphone found in the casket. Ziva joins them down in Forensics, which means Tony and I are left upstairs.

Alone.

I stand by the fax machine, awaiting a copy of papers that explain Sorrow's Union soldier uniform.

"Tony, this is not the place for that kind of stuff." His hands continue to roam over my hips. "Gibbs is gonna walk in here any second, and he won't be too fond to see two of his agents making out in the middle of the squad room."

His breath against my ear sends shivers down my back. "But we aren't making out. Not yet."

"Why is this fax machine taking so damn long?"

Apparently, Sorrow had been part of a local CWR — Civil War Reenactment — group, which explains his uniform and possibly the musket ball in his jaw.

McGee and Ziva return from the building site where the casket was found. Only Ziva is covered from head to toe with dirt while McGee is still clean.

Of course, that changes when they visit Sorrow's bank locker to find a valuable map. A man guns them down in front of the bank, taking the map and leaving them to scrounge for their weapons at the bottom of a fountain.

So now, McGee's soaking wet.

As soon as Tony matches a name to the man who attacked Ziva and McGee, the team leaves for the Manassas Battlefield Park.

"This bring back any memories, Tony?" I smile in amusement as he scowls. "Honestly, this looks like a lot of fun."

Tony glares out onto the field. "Not when you had to do the job little Anthony DiNozzo was given. Poo Boy."

To this day, the thought of Tony's job back then pricks tears of laughter to my eyes.

"Kears is out here somewhere dressed as a Union Sergeant." Gibbs struts down the edge of the line. "You two, with me." He waves to McGee and Tony.

I clear my throat in an obvious manner. "And?"

"You and Ziva, see if you can match up any of the landmarks on the map."

And with that, he and the guys are gone.

Ducky and Dr. Burns start down their own path, and Ziva and I take another. The two of us climb through bushes and compact trees, trying to follow the map to labelled dig sites.

"This is. . .pretty steep." I heave out, clamping my hand around another rock.

But before I can take another step, my right foot slips from underneath me. In a split second, Ziva latches onto my arm, pulling me back up.

She looks down at the rocky fall I would have fallen down. "You alright?"

I nod my head, slightly breathless from the feat. "Thank you, Ziva." She kindly smiles, and we are on our way again.

Once we catch up with the two doctors, the four of us pass a graveyard, only to stop when we hear a drilling noise. With guns in hand, Ziva and I move closer to the sound.

There stand two men, one dressed in a reenactment uniform and the other covered in dirt. The noise stops as they break open a casket.

We hold them on their knees at gunpoint and call for Ducky.

"Ducky. . ." Dr. Burns steps out from behind some bushes, "can't answer right now." The barrel of her gun is pressed against the back of his head. "Drop the gun. Now."

I keep my gun trained on the men while Ziva shifts to the doctor.

"Last time I ask. Drop it!"

But before anyone can open their mouth, Ziva bends to the ground, surrendering her gun. I follow blindly, not wanting to question her method.

"You three are going to be the unfortunate victims of scavengers." Her shrill voice annoys the crap out of me. "Scream. No one will hear you from out here."

She pushes Ducky onto the ground in front of us, knocking the wind out of his lungs. I notice Ziva's hand move to the small of her back, her fingers wrapping around a knife.

"My thoughts exactly." I grab my gun off the ground, firing it into the air, just as Ziva throws the knife straight into Dr. Burns' heart.

Moments later, Gibbs and Tony arrive on scene.

"You're a little late, boys."