This is something that has floated around in my head for a while. It grew out of watching (numerous times) "Kill Ari, Parts 1&2", "Last Man Standing", "Aliyah" and "Enemies Foreign and Domestic". I did enjoy the character of Eli David, even when he was an outright bastard. He was cold, manipulative, arrogant. But he did show he loved Ziva, regretted his choices and did try to seek her forgiveness. I don't believe that he did not know the truth about Ari, that is was Ziva who pulled the trigger, (Leon's knowledge of the truth is my evidence of it), but I do think it would be something he would cover up in shame. This story, covering these snapshots, is also partially inspired by the characterization of Eli, even if it takes a different tenor with the character, in the wonderful fanfiction "Hiding in Plain Sight" written by darstar. I encourage all of you to read it.
A few notes: It is stated in "Hiatus, Part 1" the the Deputy Director of Mossad is a David, like Ziva. I figure that between the events of that and "Last Man Standing" he got the promotion. I did get the idea for it being Ziva's idea to liaise with NCIS, not Eli's, and that she arranged it all before leaving with Ari's body. I make direct reference to one scene in particular, trying to mimic it exactly and I start off with something Ziva states to Gibbs in "Silver War" that makes no sense with everything that played out. Also, I used the return of Rivkin's body to Israel for the return of Ari's body. Both were similar in that they didn't die entirely honorably, but it was not going to be acknowledged by the Israelis. And as he was at least nominally Muslim, I have tried to describe Muslim funerary rights, but there is only so much you can glean from Wikipedia, so if I am wrong, I apologies. And I mean no disrespect if I have Ari's sister there for the burial, as I believe it is not usual for women to so present. But he is also the son of the Deputy Director of Mossad and I think he would use that to insist on Ziva's presence.
I hope you enjoy this little bit of family angst. It was an underlying saga of NCIS that at times took sharp rights and lefts and, like much of the whole TIVA story, didn't have a satisfactory ending, at least canonically. But then, that's why we have fanfictions.
He read over the report three, four times and it never made sense to him. Had Agent Gibbs had a hidden gun under the stairs and managed to get a dead shot off before Ari had even tried? When had Ziva arrived at the house? Nothing was clear to him. He had questions but the only one with the answers was still two hours out from Tel Aviv. But when that plane landed, he would get his answers.
Eli David would find out the truth about his son's death, even if he feared it.
When the plane finished taxiing the runway, the back had opened, the coffin was brought out and behind it was a dour-faced Ziva. She did not see him at first, her attention entirely on the coffin as the Israeli flag was placed over it. Despite what might have become of Ari in the end, he was still seen as a loyal officer of Mossad and, as such, accorded all the hours that went with it. An iman, an old family friend of Hazima's, said a few short words and the coffin was carried and placed in the hearse.
When that was completed, only then did his daughter's eyes meet his. She walked up to him and he held out her arms, Ziva falling into them. But there were no tears, which was not unexpected to Eli. She was strong, she had endured the loss of Tali and her mother with the same stoicism she exhibited now.
When she finally pulled away, Eli spoke. "The burial will be tomorrow, Iman Abdullah has informed me. It is very early, so I think it best we head home, yes? You must be exhausted."
"Yes, I am," was all she replied. The car took them back to Eli's flat in Tel Aviv. Eli kept three spare rooms, though one was his home office for all intents and purposes. But there was one for Ziva. It was not as it was when she was a child, but it still held many of her possessions, many of the things she treasured. It was a little past noon, so Eli went into the kitchen a fixed a plate for he and Ziva, as she dropped her bags in her room.
When she returned and sat at the table, he had to ask her the question he had since he read the report filed by NCIS Director Jenny Shepard. "Did he admit to kill Agent Todd?" Ziva only nodded. "Why? That is what I do not understand."
Almost robotically, she answered, "He needed to prove to his cell his loyalty to them. Killing an American Federal Agent was the price, especially one he had told them he had come to have feelings for."
"Feeling?" This was the first Eli had heard of this. He knew Ari had made contact with Caitlin Todd on a few occasions, but where had these feelings come from? Had his son lusted over the woman? It did not make sense, especially knowing Dina was in a relationship with him. Briefly, Eli thought of the young trainee doctor. She knew someone had been sent to tell her of Ari's death. He hoped she would be able to move on with her life, now that his was over.
"There are many things about my brother that will remain a mystery," Ziva replied. "What is fact is now, he is dead and we shall never know the answers." Then her eyes fell upon him, like she wanted to ask him something.
Eli understood the look. "You have questions about Ari's mission?"
Ziva was about to ask them, but stopped herself. "No. I recognize much of it is above my clearance level. But now the Al-Qaeda cell in Washington DC has been stopped. In the end, that was his objective, yes?"
Eli nodded, but knew there was more. "Yes, it was, and he completed it."
The rest of the day, it seemed Ziva was avoiding him. The size of the flat, while not enormous, enabled her in that. They took supper together, then the jetlag seemed to finally take it's toll on her and she we went to bed.
He stayed up late, as usual, going through dossiers and files, but every so often, his eyes fell upon a picture on his desk, of a young Ari, Ziva and Tali. It was then that it hit him that he had only one child left. It was the one who was in fact quite rebellious, who tested him even more than Tali, though in a different way. He prayed he would never be separated from her again.
That thought brought a great sadness to him, but compelled him to seek out one more picture. From his desk drawer, he pulled out another image of a young man and woman, their arms around each other with broad smiles on their faces. It was then he broke down, the image of an idealistic version of himself, with the woman he loved by his side. He had never cried much in his life, not when Tali had been killed, not when word reached him of Rivka's death. But the last time this level of emotion surfaced, it had been in the privacy of his own home, as it was now, when Ari coldly informed him the strike ordered in retribution for the attack that killed Tali had claimed his own mother. After his son turned his back on Eli and he heard the door slam, Eli had let go of any restraint he had held on to.
Now, just as then, the tears flowed, for a life not able to be lived. He loved his daughters and their mother as much as he had Hazima and Ari, but she would always be his first love, and he his firstborn.
The service the next morning was brief. The body had already been washed in DC, but Eli stood back as Arab members of Mossad and the few maternal relatives of Ari's enshrouded the body. Then the pallet was carried to the cemetery where the prayers were said. Though it was generally against practice, Eli had asked permission to allow Ziva to stand with him beside the grave. He knew that no one would deny the request of the deceased's father, the Deputy Director of Mossad, and his daughter was with him, her head covered and her eyes facing the ground. He wore his black kippah, as his religion proscribed and stood there as his son's body was placed in the grave.
Then it was over. His son had lived a mere thirty years. His end had come at the end of a gun fired at him by an American, a man who had vowed to kill Ari for some vendetta because of the death of his agent. He did not know if he would ever meet this Agent Gibbs, but if he did, he was not sure if he would be able to control himself.
Eli and Ziva were taken back to his flat and once more, the silence between them was loud enough to make him wince. She had not even spoken to him before they left for the burial, but once more, he saw her questioning eyes glare at him as they were together at opposite ends of the living room, he seated and her standing.
"This is intolerable. You have questions, ask them," he ordered at last.
He could see Ziva's mind working, as if determining what to ask. At last the question came. "Did you love Mother?"
It was not what he had expected. Even though they had not seen each other from the time of Tali's funeral until her death, she was always on his mind. It had pained him when she had left him and taken the girls. He had confided as much to Hazmina, that he had come to love Rivka more than he had thought. "Yes, I did love your mother, but that is a strange question to ask in light of our latest loss."
"When Ari stormed out of here telling you of his mother's death, I came in here to see how you were and you were crying," she stated. "I did not think it was my right to intrude on your privacy, which I know you guard fiercely, so I did not come to comfort you. But you did not cry like that when Mother died."
Eli thought about that, thought about his answer. "There are different kinds of love, Ziva. I'm sure you know that. Hazmina was first love, one that was never to be. We knew that instinctively, that is why we both treasured Ari so." Then he leaned back in his chair. "Your mother, she was different. I was different. And even with her, I knew it would not end happily."
It was a vague non-answer, and one he hoped she would understand. She came closer to him, then sat on the far end of the sofa. "Before he died, Ari told Agent Gibbs he had been conceived with one purpose and one purpose only; to be a mole to be placed with those against Israel."
"Bah!" Eli sounded out. "There is no truth in that. Where did he even get that thought? Ari had been the one who came to me about joining Mossad." It had been months after Hazmina's death, and he said at the time he wanted to remain closer to the parent he still had left. Eli had been contented to have a doctor for a son, one who aided those in need beside his mother, also dedicated to helping people.
"That is what he said," she repeated.
Then it occurred to him. "You were there!" She merely nodded to the affirmative. "Why did you not try to stop it? Why did you not try and save your brother's life?"
"Because he was guilty. He was guilty of all the crime they accused him of." The sentence was uttered with an unnatural calm.
Eli shook his head. "No, I do not believe it."
"I heard it from his own lips, Father," Ziva said. Now she was looking directly at him, a stark expression on her face, emotionless, even cold. "He killed Agent Todd, he targeted the NCIS team that Gibbs leads. And he said he did it because of you."
Now it was Eli who stared at Ziva. "You are making no sense."
"He said Gibbs reminded him of you and he wanted to destroy Gibbs, because he would never be able to destroy you. In the end, he hated you." She gave him a knowing look, indicating what she was talking about.
It was in that moment Eli relived the night of Hazmina's death. The angry words Ari had shouted at him, the accusations he had tossed like pipe bombs, all because he believed the camp his mother had been at had been target for that reason. "And here I am, Father," he spat out that title, "safely ensconced here with you in Tel Aviv. Tell me, did you tell the generals my complete itinerary? How long this visit would be?"
"Ari, what you say is not true. I did not know where they would strike. We do not work in concert with the IDF," Eli had replied, as a worried Ziva looked on at the two of them, her eyes bouncing as if watching a tennis match.
"And you believe that!" His laughter had stung like poison. "How can such a fool rise so high?"
Eli had insisted he listen, but it was not to be, at least that night. The next time he saw his son, Ari was calmer, more focused. He wanted to join Mossad, "join the family business," he said as he looked at Ziva standing next to him. She had been so pleased by the change in events and Eli believed she was the one who recruited him.
It was painful, the truth that was now staring Eli in the face. Had his son played him like a virtuoso? Had this been his plan from that moment, to join Mossad, betray Mossad, betray him and his sister? Where had the boy who wanted to be a doctor gone?
"It was I who killed him." That statement drew Eli out of his musings. Had he heard her right?
"The report said-"
"The report is wrong, to cover up the guilt. He was in Gibbs's basement, had out Gibbs' rifle, was about to fire. But I was upstairs. I heard the entire confession. He believed he had been used, by you, his entire life. He believed you had his mother targeted for the kill. He wanted to destroy you, and I stopped him." A single tear dropped from her eye.
Eli knew his daughter spoke the truth. It all made such terrible sense now. When Ari had left that night, all those years ago, he thought he had lost his son. In the end, he had been right.
"I would like to be transferred to NCIS. I have spoke with Director Sheppard and she sees the benefit of a liaison officer working in their agency. She has signed off on it, and I need only the approval of a superior in Mossad."
"Ziva…" He whispered his name, unsure if he heard correctly.
"I need...to be away from here. To be away from Israel, Mossad. You have crafted me into the image you wish for me since I was eighteen year old. Now, I must look to see if I can find who I am," she said, her voice part pleading, but ordering. "I need anyone's signature, but I would like it to be yours. Father, I need to be away from you."
"You want my blessing on this...this adventure?" He wanted to deny it to her, but knew she would get it, in the end. And at this point in time, he could not deny her anything. Ziva left the room, only to return a few minutes later with a paper written in English. It had the NCIS letterhead and already been signed by Jenny Sheppard.
Eli took a pen and held it over the spot where he was to sign. Then he looked up at her. "Is this what you truly want? Who will you be working with, if I give my approval?"
"Director Sheppard said she will place me with Agent Gibbs. He taught her all she knows, so it will be excellent experience for me," Ziva told him.
"And what if this Gibbs and his team do not accept you? They know you are Mossad, they know you worked with Ari," he argued.
"Director Sheppard said it would not matter. I will be working under Gibbs. There is nothing he has to say about it."
It seemed final then. The decision had been effectively taken out his hands. His approval wasn't even needed. Ziva was going to America, to work with their naval police force. He could see the benefit in that. Maybe she would even come across his old friend Leon Vance. Yes, there were advantages to this arrangement.
He looked at her once again, saw the tension in her body. "One last question, if you will allow it." She waited wordless, for him to ask. "Will you still come home to visit your Abba? You are all I have left of my family."
"You still have your sisters, and Uncle Dov," she told him.
"That is not the same," he replied. "Please, will you still come and visit?"
At last she whispered, "Yes, I will."
With a flourish of his pen, he added his name to the order and handed it back to Ziva. She said a simple thank you and turned to leave, but he called out to her. "No kiss for you father?" She turned back to him, bent down and gave him a peck on the cheek. Before she could pull out of his grasp, he reached for her face, took it in his hands and angled it down so he could kiss her forehead. Then he released her and she stood, holding his gaze for a moment, before departing.
Eli felt like he had lost his last child that night. Tali had been gone for a few years. Ari was in the ground, so all he had left was Ziva. And she would be going back to Washington DC, to this Agent Gibbs. He knew about the man, read the profile gathered on him. He knew he garnered loyalty from those he commanded and served under. Eli wondered if Ziva would fall under his sway.
Eli was tired. It had been a long day and he had been given time off for mourning his son, which meant he had not much to do. He decided he needed to talk more with his daughter, learn more about what exactly had transpired in that basement. He would ask her in the morning, with both of their heads clearer.
But when he awoke the next morning, all he was greeted with was a card saying she was taking some time before she was to report to Washington, that she needed to reflect on everything that had happened in the last few days. She asked not to be contacted, that she would signal him when she was ready.
That was when it was confirmed for him he was now childless.