It had been a pretty quiet evening in the bullpen. Tony and McGee were engaged in a lively conversation:
“I’m telling you, I’m the one she was smiling at”
“She looked me in the eyes when she handed me those letters Probie and her hand brushed mine in the process. She was totally smiling at me”
“Why do you care, you’re out of the game anyway”
“What do you mean ‘I’m out of the game’ ?”
McGee cleared his throat and said with his most serious face:
“I mean that nobody would be crazy enough to take the risk to flirt with Ziva’s man”. McGee continued with a victorious grin “you had your time. Now your place is on the sideline… bench warmer boy”
Tony jumped from his seat, obviously offended:
“I’m not on the sideline, I am still very much on the field” he scoffed “Tony DiNozzo ? Out of the game ? Ah! You wish ! I can still flirt if I want to and actually, if you wanna know… a lot of women are flirting with me probie !”
McGee smiled and chanted:
Tony’s eyes widened, he jumped and turn around:
Nobody was there. Tony turned around upset but relieved that his physical integrity was still safe. He bitterly let out:
“Very funny McHilarious… I’m laughing my ass off…”
McGee walked back to his desk chuckling with pride.
He asked as he sat on his chair:
“By the way, where’s Ziva ? We haven’t seen her all morning”
Tony, still not over the prank that McGee had just played on him, answered:
“Her presence has been requested by Director Vance.”
McGee’s eyebrow raised, Tony continued:
“Her father is visiting for official purposes. She’s been anxious all night yesterday, she hasn’t slept much and this morning she was already gone when I woke up. I really hope he’s not gonna mess her up again”
“Well.. we’re to find out”
With that he nodded in the direction of the elevator from which Ziva had just stepped out. She was not wearing her usual cargo pants, today she was wearing more strict clothes and a pair of heels. Tony’s body stiffened as she rushed inside the bullpen.
For only answer, Ziva barked:
Tony walked closer to her desk while she threw her heels inside one of her desk drawers and took her usual boots out.
“I didn’t ask but I’m glad to know that you’re fine. Who do we have to be upset at ?”
Ziva slammed the drawer and jumped from her chair:
“Don’t want to talk about it!”
And with that she disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.
Tony let a long sigh out and said to McGee:
“It’s going to be a great day…”
Tony was slowly driving his car through the jammed traffic of D.C.
On the passenger seat, Ziva was quietly looking at the city passing by through the car window.
On the back seat, Tali was squealing as she watched the street lights dancing outside of the car.
Tony could not stop himself from glancing at Ziva, worried about what might be troubling her so deeply.
“Still don’t wanna talk about it ?”
Ziva let a long breath out and answered, her eyes still lost in the void:
It was only when she felt Tony’s hand grabbing hers that she finally glanced at him. He looked at her with a light smile and whispered:
“Come on.. I thought we were past this..”
She kept looking at him, knowing deep down that he was right. They had agreed to tell eachother things. Things that mattered.
To encourage her, he let his thumb brush the skin of her knuckles. She took a deep breath and finally said:
She left her words hanging, as if she was actually still processing them.
“Wow… that’s… big but.. isn’t that good news ? I thought you would be happy about that”
“It is… it’s just… he came with that woman…” she had insisted on the word ‘that’ “… and I know why she’s here…”
Her mind slowly shifted back to her memory from the evening
“I was in this room surrounded by all those important personalities. SECNAV, CIA director, Secretary of State, Vance… I just felt trapped when I saw him walking in with her. I could not run, I could not show my anger, I could not say anything.”
Tony gave her time to set up her mind before he dared to ask:
“Orli Elbaz. She’s the reason why my parents got divorced… among other things. My father he..”
She paused and quickly brushed her cheek. Tony didn’t flinch and stayed focus on the road in case she was discreetly wiping a tear from her face:
“…he had an affair with her.. of course he was too blinded to see how ambitious she actually was”
She paused again to organize her thoughts:
“You know I always thought that she was the one..”
She paused, swallowing hard before continuing:
“My mom, I always thought that no matter what happened, she would remain the love of his life, the last person he would think about when his time comes”
She stopped herself as she felt things becoming too hard.
Tony tightened his grasp on her hand which took Ziva out from her thoughts. She looked around and realized that the car was now parked in front of their place.
Tony kept his eyes locked on hers for a moment, knowing that she was silently suppressing her own fear that someday he would find someone else to be the love of his life.
He was not talking but his eyes meant more than words ever could. He was there for her, no matter what.
He was about to speak when a shriek raised from the back of the car. Tony glanced at Tali on her car seat., she threw him her most charming smile. He couldn’t help but chuckle. He turned back to Ziva, kissed the back of her hand and said:
“Come on, let’s go home. Someone is getting a little bit impatient”
——————————————————————————
The team had been busy all morning with their current investigation. Tony, Ziva and McGee were standing in front of the plasma screen in the middle of the squad room, debating on their potential suspects, when movements on top of the stairs caught Ziva’s attention.
Her father was standing on top of the stairs, discussing with Vance. Ziva looked at the scene with concerns. The squad room soon became quiet as both Tony and McGee were glancing at Ziva. Her eyes soon turned darker when Orli joined her father. Her jaw clenched as she noticed her father’s arm brushing Orli’s back. She hated to see them together but more than that, she hated to see any kind of affection gesture between them.
As Ziva saw them walk down the stairs, she tried her best to get her attention back on the plasma screen. McGee’s voice called:
“Yes.. yes McGee I’m fine, sorry… continue”
She wished she could have just disappeared when she heard her father clearing his throat a few seconds later.
Ziva’s embarrassment was obvious. She reluctantly walked to her father and hugged him before she said:
“Aba.. I’m sorry we are in the middle of something here. Can we…”
“I won’t disturb you long. I just wanted to invite you and Tony for dinner tonight..”
Ziva glanced at Orli. She felt the anger rising in her chest.
She knew why her father wanted to set up a dinner.
She knew that he was planning on announcing to her that Orli was not here only as his deputy director, she was here because she would soon become the new head of Mossad.
Things had not been made official yet but she was not stupid.
“Aba, we have a lot of work to do… I don’t think…”
“Come on Ziva.. It’s Shabbat. I want to celebrate it with my daughter and my granddaughter. Please. Let this be the first stone that will pave my retirement path”
Ziva looked at him for a long moment before she finally took a deep breath and said:
Eli smiled and landed a kiss on his daughter’s forehead. He nodded at Tony before turning on his heels.
——————————————————————————
The car stopped in front of the big house. It was a pretty house with a porch, but nothing fancy. It was looking exactly like the other houses in the neighborhood and it was actually the point. Tony looked at the house and scoffed:
“Vance knows how to accommodate his guests. That house must cost more than the entire NAVY Yard annual salary”
On the passenger seat, Ziva was quiet, lost in a void. Tony glanced at her. She had been strangely quiet all day. One could have thought that this was a good thing but Tony knew that her quietness was hiding something deeper.
He knew her enough to know that Ziva had two ways to deal with her anxiety. Most of the time, he had seen her upset or angry, behaving like a lion in a cage, ready to jump at the throat of anyone who would dare to make a sudden move. And the one he had seen the least, the one when she was withdrawing into silence. It was the one he was dreading the most because what she could say out loud could never be as bad as what was happening in her mind.
He grabbed her hand on her thigh and said:
“You have one word to say and I’m driving us back home”
And to his great surprise, she smiled. It was faint but it was there. Her right hand covered his and she said:
“I’m fine. I have to do it… For Tali”
He admired her. Her capacity to put her own feelings aside for the people she loved was unconditional. Her love for their daughter was unconditional.
She grabbed the handle of the car and opened the door to exit when she was dragged back inside. Her gasp was soon muted but Tony’s lips sealed on hers. She made the kiss last for a moment until they both needed some air. She opened her eyes and Tony whispered:
He could not assure her that she would feel better after tonight. He could not promise her that things would be alright. But at that moment, the only thing he wanted her to know was that his love for her was undeniable.
Her previous faint smile grew wider.
Tony grabbed an impatient Tali on the car seat and they walked to the safe house porch. They stopped in front of the door.
“Do you have a secret knock or a secret password to make them open the door ? Something only ninja like you are passing from generations to generations ?”
“Yes, but if I tell you, I’ll have to kill you”
With that, Ziva simply knocked on the front door and waited for someone to open.
Tony’s disappointment was written on his face. He grumbled:
“You could have at least pretended”
The door opened on a man in a suit. Tony stepped inside but was soon stopped by the man’s arm on his chest. He said with a strong middle east accent:
The man remained impassive.
Tony mouthed: “don’t” as if he knew what was coming next, but the man ignored him.
As Ziva tried to walk past him, his hand grabbed her arm.
Tony gasped and shook his head, knowing how upset this would make Ziva.
Tony hid Tali’s eyes to prevent her from seeing her mother’s wrath.
Ziva looked at her arm, still in the bodyguard’s hand and leveled her gaze to his. She said in hebrew:
“If you want to use that hand again, I suggest you take it off and let us in. Now!”
Ziva kept her death glare on him until a man’s voice barked in hebrew.
“Avi! Let them come in ! It’s too cold outside for a child”
The man jumped and released Ziva’s arm.
As he past in front of the bodyguard, Tony placed Tali’s diaper bag on his hand and gave him a tap on the shoulder:
The bodyguard stayed dumbstruck in the middle of the hallway with the diaper bag in his hands.
——————————————————————————
Ziva came back from the kitchen with Tali’s bottle in hand. She froze when she saw the scene happening in the living room. She stepped behind the wall to keep looking without being seen. In the living room, Eli was playing with his granddaughter, chasing her around and making her squeal with excitement. Her walk was still unsteady but she was getting more confident with every step. She still needed to grab furniture to keep her balance sometimes.
Her little body swayed and she grabbed the nearest table leg, still giggling with excitement. Her eyes stopped on the chessboard that was displayed on the table.
Eli grabbed one of the knights and showed it to her.
Tony, who was looking at them from the sofa, adjusted his position and said:
“Hm.. haven’t played in a while to be honest..”
Eli grabbed the chessboard and Tali’s hand and walked back to the sofa:
“Oh come on.. how do you Americans say that… it is like a bike, right ?”
Tony chuckled at Ziva’s similarity with her father:
“Like riding a bike, yes”
Behind the wall Ziva smiled. She looked at her father, placing Tali on his lap and carefully explaining to her how to play. Tali was surely not understanding what he was telling her, but she was not missing one bit of her grandfather’s words. She was mesmerized by it as if he was telling her the most beautiful story she had ever heard.
Eli moved one of his pawn and said:
“my youngest daughter, your aunt, she was very good at this. Your mother, not so much” He laughed “She did not have the patience for that. She needed action. Some things never change, right ?”
Tony chuckled. Patience was surely not one of Ziva’s biggest qualities.
“Oh yeah, my Tali was great at this game. She was very clever, you know. Always reading books and learning new things. I’m sure you will be as clever as she was. You have that same look on your face. One day, I will teach you how to play chess and you will be even better than me and your dad”
On the other side of the wall, Ziva smiled as she saw her daughter being so captivated. She had to admit that he was right. Tali had that same amazed look on her face that her younger sister had. She was curious just like her sister was and already very clever.
Ziva sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek.
Tony who was still not seeing Ziva coming back, called:
“Ziva ? Are you okay ? Do you need a hand ?”
That’s when Ziva reappeared with a baby bottle in hand.
Tali’s eyes enlightened as she saw her mother walking in. She raised her arms in her direction when she noticed the bottle.
“uh.. greedy are we ? That’s your DiNozzo side, am I right ?”
Tony smiled. Ziva sat on the sofa next to him and sighed:
Ziva held the bottle to Tali, still on her grandfather’s lap.
As Eli was focused on Tali, Tony placed a hand on Ziva’s thigh and whispered:
He was not a fool and he could still see Ziva’s watery eyes.
She kept her eyes on her daughter and nodded with a smile:
That scene was something she never thought she would be able to see and at the same time, something she had been craving to see, her entire life.
——————————————————————————
The evening unfolded. Tali had been covered with gifts from her grandpa, but not only. Old friends, distant family members or old coworkers, everyone wanted to offer a little something to Ziva David’s daughter. The announcement of Tali’s birth had been like a little event for everyone knowing her.
Eli checked his watch. The sun would soon be setting. He invited Tony and Ziva to go to the dining room.
There, a beautiful table was set, with a white tablecloth, gold under plate and silver cutlery.
At the end of the table were sitting 2 challahs and 3 candles on beautiful candlesticks.
Ziva noticed that one was significantly shorter than the other ones.
Eli walked to his chair at the end of the table and stood behind it. He looked at Tali on Ziva’s arms and said:
“One day, you’ll be old enough to light the candles and say the prayers. But for now, your ima will take care of that task. Ziva…” He pointed at the candles “Would you give me the honor to light the shabbat candles?”
She swallowed hard. It has been a while since the last time she lit the shabbat candles up or did anything related to religion. The last time she did, her little sister was actually sitting in front of her at the dinner table. She grabbed the box of matches and took one out. She looked at it, still not sure if she could do it. She looked at the candles for a moment and she understood. All three candles had a different size. One for Ziva, one for her sister and one for her daughter. The past, the present and the future. Three different candles, soon linked by the warm light of a flame. Ziva struck the match and lit all three candles. She moved her hands over the candles and then covered her eyes to recite the blessing. Eli looked at his daughter with great pride and closed his eyes to pray.
——————————————————————————
As the blessings were done, the dinner started.
Tony and Eli talked about various subjects. Only Ziva remained silent and Tony had noticed it.
On her high chair Tali soon yawned and rubbed her eyes.
“I should go put her in her bed. Is there a room I could use to set up her bed ?”
“Yes sure, Avi will show you the way”
As Ziva stood up, Tony jumped from his seat:
“No, stay… I’m gonna take care of her”
She knew what Tony had in mind. She sat back as Tony picked Tali up from her chair.
The little girl waved her hand and chanted:
Tony leaned forward to let Ziva kiss her daughter and he disappeared.
As Tony exited, Eli started:
“She has her father’s smile..” she sighed “... and she already knows how to use it”
“I could never resist yours or your sister’s smile and I often got in trouble with your mother for that”
As Ziva remained silent, Eli grabbed her hand on the table:
As he saw her astonished expression Eli continued:
“Having my family gathered around a table for shabbat, this is everything I always wanted to see.” He paused “This is for those moments that I am retiring Ziva”
Ziva swallowed hard, her body tensed. Eli let a long pause set as he saw it:
“I guess that you know why Orli is here”
Ziva did not say a word, she was avoiding his look.
He knew Ziva’s low esteem for Orli, but he continued:
“She will be perfect for the job. She will continue the work I have started. I know you have your reason to dislike her but.. ”
“This has nothing to do with what I think about her. You know how ambitious she is, you knew she could never say no to you, and you know that by choosing her, you will be able to keep taking decisions through her.”
But Ziva did not let him finish. Even though she was keeping her composure, she needed to get things out of her system:
“You are lying to yourself if you think that you’ll be done with Mossad after you retire, you are lying to me. You’ve said it to me when I was young ‘you can never step away from a job like this'’”
As he heard Tony coming back, Eli rubbed his daughter’s hand and let out:
“Well, I am only asking you to give me a chance to prove you wrong”
Tony entered the room and collapsed on his chair:
“Well, she was exhausted, she was already asleep by the time I turned the third page of ‘goodnight moon’. What did I miss ?”
Eli grabbed the bottle of wine to pour some in Tony’s glass and said:
“Nothing, Ziva and I were just.. discussing future and how Tali got your smile”
“The DiNozzo's smile, uh.. And did Ziva tell you how much she can’t resist it ?”
“That is very rich coming from you, who can’t resist anything she does”
“What can I say, I’m weak when it comes to my daughter”
“We all are” said Eli “When that one was only 5” he pointed at Ziva ”she asked me for a pony. I said, ‘no Ziva, you can’t have a pony’, she looked at me with her eyes full of tears for the entire day..” he sighed “2 days later, I was coming home with a pony. You should have seen the death glare her mother threw me”
“Oh I think I can picture it, just fine”
Ziva’s phone suddenly cut short to the conversation. She looked at the name on the screen and said:
“uh-oh.. That’s not good”
“Yes Gibbs… uh-uh… okay, fine”
“The Navy butcher ?” asked Tony
“Yes, they found a new body”
Tony sighed as he stood up:
“damn, I just put Tali to bed ! Serial killers really don’t have respect for anything!”
“It’s okay, let her sleep, you can come and pick her up tomorrow”
“I don’t think this is a good idea..”
“Come on, Ziva, I can take care of her, I already took care of David girls, I’m sure I’ll be fine”
Ziva was about to argue when Tony whispered:
“Come on Ziva, she’ll be fine, she won’t even realize we left”
Ziva took a moment to think. She was definitely not fond of the idea of leaving her daughter here but they did not have many possibilities anyway. She finally agreed:
“Fine, but you call me if anything happens okay”
Eli could not hide his smile:
Ziva and Tony grabbed their jackets and rushed to the car. Ziva could not resist shouting her father:
Eli waved from the threshold and walked back inside.
——————————————————————————
A flash of light broke the darkness of the night. Tony looked at the picture he had just taken and took another picture of the dead body that was just taken out of the water. The cold breeze made him shiver. He grumbled and took another picture. His attention was soon dragged to Ziva, standing a few feet away from him. She had been pretty distracted since they arrived at the crime scene or actually since they left her father’s safe house. She was checking her phone, her body betraying her current state of nervousness.
Tony glaced at Gibbs to make sure that he was busy and he walked to Ziva. He started with a soft voice:
“Gibbs’ not gonna like this, you know”
Ziva barely took her eyes from her phone:
He could feel in her voice that she did not care about Gibbs at the moment. He continued:
“It’s my father… he’s not answering”
Ziva always had that anxiety when it came to leaving their daughter with someone she was not used to being with.
He walked closer to her, his shoulder pressed against her and said:
“And he’s not answering because contrary to us, he’s probably asleep by now” he paused, seeing that his words were not making her feel less anxious . “Come one, Tali is okay. She’s asleep in her comfortable bed with her favorite warm blanket, having the sweetest dreams and the faster we are done with this crime scene, the faster we’ll get back to her and go sleep in our comfortable bed”
Ziva stayed quiet. She hoped that Tony was right, but she could not get that weird feeling out of her chest.
She followed him back to the dead body when her phone rang.
She took it out of her pocket in a swift movement and opened the newest message.
Tony instantly recognized that faint smile that grew wider on her face. He walked back to her and looked over her shoulder:
“See… what did I say ? Comfortably sleeping in her bed”
On Ziva’s phone, a picture of Tali was displayed. She was asleep, holding tight on her blanket with her thumb in her mouth.
Ziva glanced one last time at the picture and got back to work.
But that heavyweight never fully left her chest.
——————————————————————————
The body had just been removed from the crime scene but a big crowd of investigators and forensic analysts were still milling around to find any kind of clue that could lead them to their serial killer.
The NCIS van gave way to a black SUV that was coming in and it finally pulled away, his flashing lights lighting up the night.
McGee looked at the black SUV and the man who just walked out of it:
“What is Vance doing here ?”
Tony and Ziva turned to look in the SUV direction.
Vance was now engaged in a conversation with Gibbs.
“Well.. it’s the third body that we’re taking out of the Potomac in one month.. I don’t think SecNav is gonna let him sleep soundly until we catch the guy.. and that means neither will we”
Ziva looked more closely at Vance's attitude and that’s when he quickly locked eyes with her. He instantly made sure to avoid her look. It was only until Gibbs did exactly the same that she felt her heart stop. She took a step forward:
“He’s not here for the case”
She rushed to them, leaving McGee and Tony behind, not sure of what she meant.
She planted herself in front of the director and did not give him a chance to talk. She almost barked:
But she was not inclined to listen to him.
Tony and McGee who were now behind her were listening.
Vance tried to keep his voice as neutral as possible in those circumstances:
A rush of adrenaline overwhelmed Ziva. She didn’t know what exactly happened but she knew that her entire world had just collapsed.
Tony, who was trying to process Leon’s words, asked:
“What ? What happened ? Where’s Tali ?”
The look that he then saw on Vance’s face turned his blood to ice.
Vance could not bring himself to say those words. He simply said:
“We’ll do everything to get her back, I promise”
The only word that came out of Tony’s mouth as he realized that his child had been abducted was a desperate:
Tony’s mind rushed in every direction. Ziva was standing stoically. She had not said a word and as everyone knew, it was never a good sign. The calm before the storm.
And the storm finally hit right away. Without a word, Ziva rushed to her car. Gibbs tried to call “ZIVA!” but in vain. There was nothing that could stop her now. Tony followed her and jumped on the passenger seat before the tires started screeching.
Vance looked at Gibbs. They did not need to talk to know each other’s thoughts. Vance only nodded and Gibbs and McGee rushed to their car to follow Tony and Ziva.
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