The doors of the train opened, letting on a new group of commuters, and letting another group off. A teenage girl stood from her seat to allow a young woman holding an infant, heavy bag over her shoulder, to sit down.
"Thank you so much," the woman said gratefully, readjusting her grip on her child and setting her bag on her lap.
"You're welcome," the girl replied, smiling slightly at the baby and her mother. "She's adorable," she added, pointing to the child.
"This is Lizzie," she responded, nodding toward her daughter, who was sleeping contentedly. "Where are you headed, sweetie?"
"Navy Yard," came the girl's answer. "You?"
"Anacostia. Now that I think of it, shouldn't you be in school?"
"I'm not, uh, from here. We've got a day off because our heater blew."
"I see. Where are your parents?"
"I'm going to meet my mom there. She works at NCIS."
"Woman in the male-dominant profession of law enforcement. That's refreshing."
"Yeah. She's a very independent woman."
"Good to know that there's more of those in the world. There's your stop, hon."
"It was nice meeting you," she murmured, clutching the nearby rail tightly as the train slowed to a halt, the doors opening. She made her way off of the car and pushed through the crowds. Reaching street level, she made her way toward the building she was looking for.
She reached security, getting a few strange looks from the guards. An agent who introduced herself as Agent Johnson escorted her upstairs via elevator.
"Who, exactly, are you looking for?" inquired the agent.
"Special Agent Ziva David."
They elevator doors slid open and she took a deep breath, bracing herself for the inevitable. She stepped out of the box, entering the bright orange squadroom. She noticed that only one of the desks in the MCRT's area was occupied. Johnson led her over to that desk.
"Miss Parker, this is Special Agent DiNozzo, Agent David's partner."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Parker." Tony extended a hand to shake the fourteen-year-old's. "I can take it from here, Agent Johnson. Thank you." The female agent nodded and took off. "So, you're looking for Agent David?"
"Yes, sir," the teenager answered.
"You can call me Tony. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Not unless you know where Agent David is."
"May I ask why you're here?"
"Yesterday, in the hospital, my foster mother passed away. On her deathbed, she gave me a box. In that box were a necklace and a piece of paper. On that necklace were five charms…" The girl tugged a chain from her basketball sweatshirt. She showed him each of the small silver charms in turn. There were three cursive letters, the Star of David, and a cross. "And on that paper was a name. And that name is Ziva David."
"What does that name mean to you?"
"I did some research. I found my birth certificate. Her name was on it."
Tony's felt his heart stop for a moment, but he kept his cool. There was no proof that this was Ziva's daughter yet. And if this girl were desperate enough, she would use any connection she could find to anyone who might help her.
"Uh… and who's… who's your father?"
"That is the question. There was no name. I don't know if she even knew."
Tony nodded slowly. He looked at the girl. She had wavy brown hair, green eyes, and tan skin. She was clad in a navy blue basketball sweatshirt, gray field hockey sweatpants, and sneakers. She was approximately 5'3", and had a dark blue backpack slung over her shoulders.
"I know this is probably going to be Ziva's decision, but our forensic scientist could do a DNA test to check that she's your biological mother. And she could run your DNA to see if it checks out with any other database. Maybe we could find your father."
"I'd like that. Oh, I never told you my name. It's Gianna Ahava Parker."
Tony almost gasped. When he and Ziva had gone out to dinner a few weeks previous, he'd won her a stuffed ninja bear from the crane machine that the restaurant had to entertain children. And she'd named the bear Ahava. Tony had found the name on the Internet, to learn the meaning of the name.
"Ahava," he began. "That means love in Hebrew. And Gianna means God is gracious in Italian."
She nodded.
"How do you know that?"
"If I had a daughter, I always wanted to name her Gianna. I love that name. And Ziva named the teddy bear I gave her Ahava. I guess you really are her daughter."
"Hmm…" Gianna muttered. "My own foster father doesn't even know what my name means. You'd be a lot better dad than him." At that precise moment, the Israeli-American in question entered the bullpen. The fourteen-year-old turned to see her.
"Hello," Ziva said, handing Tony a coffee from her tray. She placed the other two on Tim and Gibbs's desks, setting the last on her own. "Hi," she greeted the girl.
"Hi," Gianna replied quietly. Tony jumped in, sensing the girl's hesitance.
"Ziva, this is Gianna Ahava Parker. She's been looking for you."
"Gianna Ahava…" she murmured. She couldn't help but flash back fourteen years. She had looked into the beautiful green eyes of a baby girl as she sat, exhausted and tearful, in a hospital bed. She looked back and forth between Tony and Gianna, eyes wide. "Tateleh…"
"Hello, Ima," Gianna replied. The next thing Tony knew, the two women were embracing, tears flowing down their faces. Tony gently rubbed his partner's back, comforting her. They both pulled away soon, wiping away their tears.
"What are you doing here? Where are your foster parents?"
"My foster mother just passed away. Her husband, well, he is… abusive. I couldn't stay with him any longer."
"I am so sorry, tateleh. I was trying to save you from my life. I did not want you to be Mossad as well. When I discovered that I was having a child, I had just been sent to America. I was five months along before I actually found out. You were born two and a half months later. I had you put up for adoption so that you could have a better life in America. I wanted you to keep your innocence as long as possible. I did not want you to be a killer so young, or meet the fate of my sister."
"I understand," Gianna replied, nodding. "I know that you didn't have much of a choice. I was just wondering… there was no paternal name on my birth certificate. I just wondered if… if you knew?"
"I am sorry, but I do not remember. I was drunk at the time, and all I remembered is that his name began with an A and that he was Catholic. That is all that I can manage to decipher from these bits of words and images I get."
Gianna nodded.
"I may have mentioned," Tony began, "that Abby could do a DNA test, just to be sure that you are her mother, not that any of us have any doubts. It might help should there be any disputes about custody with her foster father. I also suggested that she might cross-reference some of our databases to see if we have her father on record."
Ziva nodded, looking at the teenager.
"Okay. We should give her a blind test, though. She should take DNA from Gianna and see if Abby will check it against the NCIS databases first, then expand it to all of those she can think of."
Tony nodded.
"Should we take her down to Abby?"
"We should."
The three made it to the lab.
"Abby?" Tony called. Abby came through her sliding door and met them at the door.
"Hey. Who is this? What can I do for you?"
"This is Gianna Parker," Tony introduced the girl. "She's fourteen. We need you to run a DNA test for her."
"Sure. What do you want me to run it against?"
"Start with the NCIS database. See if you can find her parents, specifically her mother. Then expand to all the databases you know. How long do you think it will take?"
"To cross-reference with the NCIS database will be a few hours. Depending on how many different databases I need to use, it could be a day or so."
"Thanks, Abbs. Call us when you get something, kay?"
"Got it. I'll need to take a DNA sample."
"This doesn't involve needles, does it?" squeaked Gianna.
"Oh, no, I just swab the inside of your cheek."
"Good," she sighed in relief.
"How, exactly, are you going to tell Gibbs?" Tony asked his partner.
"I seriously do not know. I figured I would just come out and say it and see how he reacts."
"Do you know what you're going to do?"
"No," she whispered. "I mean, I know nothing about my own daughter. I do not know how to deal with children. Gianna was… she was an accident that happened fourteen years ago. And while I would not change what happened, because she is my daughter and I love her, I just wish that… I wish that I could have been a part of her life."
"I get it," he replied quietly. "I'm here for you, you know."
"Thank you."
"I mean it. I know that you've used up a lot of your leave time lately and that Gibbs needed you here as a translator for the case. I can take some time off and take Gianna back to my place. I know you don't have an extra bedroom. If you'd like, you can both come and stay with me. I usually fall asleep on my couch anyways. You can have my room and Gianna can have the spare. She'd probably like to take a shower, get settled." Tony lowered his voice. "You know… someone's father isn't necessarily their dad. Your father is simply your biological parent. Your dad is the person who teaches you everything, who cares about you above all else. Ziva… I started caring about this girl from the moment I met her. I saw you when I saw her. I saw the hair, the same build, the same stance, and the same skin. She's just like you."
"Except the eyes," she murmured. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she had your eyes. Green, a little hazel, kinda foggy…"
Tony smiled a little, pushing one of Ziva's loose curls behind her ear.
"I'll talk to Gibbs and see if I can bring her home. I want you two staying with me. Okay, Zi?"
"Why are you doing this for us, Tony?"
"Because I care, Ziva. And she should have some kind of father figure in her life. Since that's not going to be either her foster father or her biological one… well, I think that I can do at least somewhat better than either of them did. You know I'd never leave you guys or hurt you. I really care about you both."
Ziva smiled up at him, and stood slowly, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Thank you so much, Tony. You don't know how much this means to me."
She pulled back slightly and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.
Tony wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.