Title: It's A Long Story
Rating: K+
Summary: —Tiva, one-shot— "You are the only people I know that these kinds of things happen to," Abby said, shaking her head, and Tony grinned weakly…They were unconventional. But he wouldn't have it any other way.
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.
Beginning Notes (PLEASE READ!): This is a one-shot for my story When It All Comes Down. I'm not going to lie — if you haven't read that, this is going to be extremely confusing. I mean, you can still read this, I'm not saying it's going to be bad because you haven't read WIACD. You just won't understand some of the things that come up. And honestly, WIACD isn't that bad, so if you have the time, I'd recommend it *shameless plug* Anyways, read on!
It's A Long Story
By FS-13
Some days were really good.
Days when he could go home to his beautiful wife and just lie in bed with her, holding her in his arms until they fell asleep…those were good days.
Days he woke up with no memory of falling asleep and he found his arms tied behind his back…those were what Tony DiNozzo classified as the bad days.
"Ow…" Tony groaned as he slowly came to. He wasn't in pain per-say — the position he was in just wasn't conducive to his poor back. "Aw hell…what happened?"
"I was hoping you'd know," a groggy voice spoke up, and Tony jerked his head around to look at McGee, who was lying in the corner, just coming around as well. Tony blinked a couple of times as he looked around…wherever they were. The first thing he became aware of was that there was a window set a little bit above their heads — and there was scenery moving past it.
They were moving?
"Okay," Tony mumbled as he sat up, still looking around. He saw a table tucked in the corner, a small door that was probably a bathroom, and a bed tucked in the wall opposite of where Tony was sitting. "I think we're in a trailer," he said after a minute, looking back at McGee, who was struggling to sit up as well. "We're moving."
"That's not good," McGee said, looking around as well. "How did we get here?"
Tony squeezed his eyes shut, thinking hard. The last thing he remembered…he and McGee had been going to talk to a suspect. The door of the house had been open, they'd drawn their guns and walked in…then everything went black.
"I…think we were gassed," Tony said finally, opening his eyes again. "Stupid son of a bitch, wait until I get my hands on him…" McGee was silent as Tony's voice drifted off, and he re-collected his thoughts.
"What do we do?" The younger man finally asked. Tony pushed himself up unsteadily, stumbling when the trailer went over a bump. The scenery that was flying by the window was woodsy, green and brown. Woods. That was never a good thing.
"I dunno, but if we don't do it before this trailer stops moving, I have a bad feeling this is going to become a body dump." He leaned against the wall, thinking for a long moment. He didn't know how long they had been out for, but he knew if Gibbs didn't know yet that they were missing, he would soon.
But would it be soon enough?
"Shit," Tony groaned suddenly, sliding down the wall. "Oh shit."
"What's wrong?" McGee asked concern evident in his voice.
"Ziva."
McGee didn't need to ask what Tony meant by that. "Gibbs won't tell her you're missing until it becomes absolutely necessary."
"Yeah, but I think she's going notice if neither of us are in the bullpen for a long time, she knows we were going to talk to a suspect." Tony closed his eyes, letting his head fall back against the wall of the trailer. "Oh man…she does not need any stress right now McGee."
"Gibbs will take care of her," McGee said as comfortingly as he could. He was trying very hard to ignore the memories of the "dark months," as he called them that were flashing through his mind. He didn't want to think about that. "Ziva will be okay, Tony. We need to figure out how we're going to get ourselves out of this mess."
Tony nodded, and after a moment he opened his eyes again. McGee was right. He'd worry about Ziva's psyche when he was there to take care of it. Right now he needed to figure out how he was going to save himself and McGee from being snacks for the forest creatures.
"All right, McGee. Campfire."
Gibbs huffed impatiently as he slammed the phone back onto the receiver with a bit more force than what was strictly necessary. It had been three hours since DiNozzo and McGee had left to talk to Kyle Hendler. It shouldn't be taking this long. Where were they?
"Something wrong?"
Gibbs looked up quickly at Ziva, who was just shuffling back into the bullpen. His eyes swept quickly over her swollen stomach before coming to a rest on her face; her expression was a mix of curiosity and concern.
"Nope. Nothing."
Ziva tilted her head a bit, turning to look first at McGee's desk, then Tony's. "They have been gone awhile," she said after a moment. She was trying to sound nonchalant, but Gibbs could detect a faint waver in her voice.
"Probably stuck in traffic, they had to take the highway."
Ziva made a face before making her way to her own desk. She winced when her back muscles seized; it had been happening off and on all day, though more on than off for the last few hours. She blew out a breath between pursed lips as she lowered herself into her seat. "You all right?" Gibbs didn't miss anything, of course.
"Of course," Ziva replied at once, grabbing her cell-phone off the edge of her desk. She found Tony's name in her contacts and opened a new text message, typing out a quick message.
Where are you?
She was well aware of how possessive she probably sounded, but in her defense, it really wasn't her fault. She hit send and set the phone aside, sighing. The sigh turned into a hiss when pain shot through her stomach.
Gibbs' head snapped up at the pained sound that slipped through Ziva's lips. He looked up just in time to see Ziva double over slightly, one hand rested against her stomach. "What's wrong?" He asked at once, starting to stand. Ziva shook her head, pressing her lips tightly together before letting out a long breath.
"Nothing…nothing."
"Ziva you're pregnant and in pain, that's not nothing."
Ziva leaned back in her seat, eyes closed, her breathing slow and deliberate. "I'm okay," she said finally. Gibbs knelt down in front of her, pushing a strand of hair back from her face, his hand coming to a rest against her cheek.
"Talk," he ordered quietly. Ziva opened and closed her mouth a few times, then gave in as pain once again wracked her body.
"I…I might be having contractions," she mumbled after a moment, her fingers tightening around the cloth covering her stomach. "But I…I mean, my water has not broken, and I am not due for another two weeks…"
"First rule of kids, Ziva," Gibbs said as he stood up, grabbing Ziva's jacket. "They aren't on your schedule, you're on theirs."
"Tony—"
"I'll call him after we get you to the hospital," Gibbs promised as he helped Ziva up, getting her jacket on. Never-mind that he hadn't been able to get ahold of DiNozzo or McGee for the last hour. He'd get that sorted out later.
First things first: Ziva needed to get to the hospital.
Tony raised his head to glare as the trailer door as it flew open, and a slightly smaller, fuller version of Kyle Hendler appeared. "Your friend is quite the sleeper," the man said, jerking his head at McGee's still form. Tony responded by glaring daggers at the man. The man smirked as he pulled a pocket knife out of his pocket. Tony recognized the knife; it was his.
"You're going to be screwed when my boss finds out about this," Tony said after a moment, and the man snorted.
"Who said your precious boss ever has to find out? You got lost, your car broke down, you got out and walked, got even more lost…happens all the time, you know.
Tony wouldn't admit that it wasn't completely unbelievable. Kyle Hendler lived in a very secluded area; his was the only house for miles. It was certainly plausible — the man was right, it happened all the time.
"Look man," Tony sighed as the younger Hendler walked around him, grabbing his arms and shoving him up, "You can't do this, I have a wife, she's pregnant, she's due in like two weeks…"
"Poor kid—"
The man's words were cut off as McGee swung his legs out, tackling the man and sending him crashing to the ground. Tony jumped into action as the knife flew out of the man's hand, but before he could move the man had thrown himself on top of Tony, effectively pinning him to the ground.
McGee struggled quickly to sit up, trying to pull the man off of Tony, but he kicked McGee in the stomach, effectively sending him crashing back to the ground. McGee's distraction was enough though. Tony jerked his elbow back, catching the man in the face and managing to shove him off of Tony's back. Ignoring the pain that came with a heavy object being dropped on top of him, Tony dove for the knife, catching it in his still-bound hands and turning just as the man propelled himself at Tony. McGee straightened up just in time to see the knife embed itself in the man's chest.
Tony blew out a long breath from between his lips as the man fell back. He twitched a couple of times before falling still. Dead. Two pairs of heads turned towards the window; the sun had just about finished setting by now. "Oh Christ," Tony groaned, closing his eyes. "McGee, c'mere."
McGee did as he was told as Tony awkwardly managed to work the knife out of the man's chest. "Ducky would kill you if he knew what you were doing," McGee said conversationally.
"Oh shut up and turn around."
"Try not to cut my hand off."
They managed to get the rope off of McGee's wrists, and Tony handed the knife over so McGee could do the same for him. "Come on," Tony said as soon as he was free. He scrambled up, and they quickly hopped out of the trailer…
Only to find themselves standing in the middle of the woods.
"…You gotta be freakin' kidding me."
"NCIS forensics lab, Abby Sciuto speaking."
"Need you to do me a favor Abs," Gibbs said without preamble.
"Gibbs! Sure, anything you need."
"Track McGee's and DiNozzo's phones." If Abby found the request odd, she didn't question it. There was a moment of silence, presumably as Abby did as she was told.
"Their phones must be off or out of range, I'm not getting anything," Abby said finally, her voice considerably more subdued. She knew that this was bad. Gibbs sighed, running a hand through his hair and looking towards the currently closed hospital room door. "Gibbs, what's going on?"
"DiNozzo and McGee are missing and Ziva's in labor."
There was a long moment of silence. "Oh god," Abby finally breathed. Gibbs wasn't sure which part she was reacting to. All of it, perhaps.
"Abby, are you done with all the forensic evidence?"
"Yeah."
"All right, I need you to come down to the hospital and stay with Ziva, I'm going to take a ride out to Kyle Hendler's place, see if I can figure out what the hell is going on with DiNozzo and McGee."
"Okay." Gibbs was just about to hang up when Abby stopped him. "Does…does Ziva know yet? I mean, that Tony is missing?"
Gibbs looked up as the doctor slid out of the room, nodding vaguely in Gibbs' direction. "I'm working on that part. See you in a few."
He flipped his phone shut and turned his full attention to the doctor. "So what's the verdict?"
"She's definitely in labor. Only a couple centimeters dilated though, it's going to be awhile yet before the baby's ready to come."
Great. That gave them plenty of time to figure out where the hell Tony and McGee were. "Can I go in?"
"Sure." The doctor stepped aside, allowing Gibbs into the room. Ziva was looking determinedly out the window when Gibbs walked in; if he looked closely, he could see a slight tremor in her body.
"Try not to look too much like you're going to your death." Ziva jumped as she turned to face Gibbs.
"Gibbs…"
"Easy Ziver," Gibbs said with a small smile, leaning in and pressing a kiss to Ziva's forehead before he sat down.
"Did you…did you find Tony?" She just failed to sound calm, casual. Gibbs could tell she was worried. He sighed; he wasn't looking forward to this. How was it that he was the one that always ended up delivering the bad news?
Oh yeah. He was the boss.
"DiNozzo and McGee are…missing."
For one split second there were too many emotions crossing Ziva's face to identify (though Gibbs definitely saw worry and fear), until it settled into a hurried mask of apathy. There were obvious cracks though. "Missing?" She repeated after a moment, her voice shaking a bit. "What…what do you mean, I thought they were going to…to talk to a suspect—"
"I can't get ahold of either of them, and when I had Abby trace their cells she said she couldn't find them. They must be off or out of range." Gibbs watched, concerned, as the color drained slowly out of Ziva's face with each word he spoke. After a moment he realized she was holding her breath. "Breathe, Ziva."
She did as she was told, forcing herself to breathe evenly. "W-What about Kyle Hendler, they were going to talk to him, as he…?"
"Abby's on her way here now, as soon as she gets here I'm taking off to talk to him." Gibbs was a bit surprised when Ziva shook her head.
"You should…go now; there is no point in waiting—"
"I'm not leaving you alone," Gibbs started to say, but Ziva cut him off.
"It is a two-hour drive to Kyle Hendler's, the longer you wait, the longer they are…the longer Tony is…" Her voice drifted off, and she closed her eyes, pulling in a shuddering breath. "I will be all right for a little while, I am sure Abby will be here sooner rather than later. I will be okay. Go."
Gibbs hesitated for a moment. She made a good point. He knew Abby wouldn't be too far behind. And the sooner he got going, the sooner he found DiNozzo and dragged his sorry ass back.
Because there was no way he was letting that idiot miss the birth of his first child.
To say Tony was pissed at himself was a severe understatement. How could he have killed the only man that knew how to get them back to civilization?
Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.
"Any luck with our phones?"
They'd found their cell-phones in the front seat of the jeep that had driven them out there. The downside? No reception.
"Unfortunately no. We must be really out of range."
Tony sighed as he turned in a slow circle, taking in their surroundings. It was black in every direction he looked. "McGee do you think these kinds of things happen to other law enforcement people?"
"No, I'm pretty sure we're special."
"We must be," Tony snorted as he climbed into the passenger's seat of the jeep that had pulled the trailer out here. They were going to be spending the night in the jeep; neither had any interest in sleeping within close proximity with a dead body. They didn't want to try driving out of there in the dark; it would have been far too easy to get lost, and once the jeep ran out of gas, they'd be screwed. "You know, I think Ducky will be pretty happy with this new innovation of ours — travelling crime scenes."
"Yeah, I'm sure he'll love it," McGee snorted as he held Tony's phone out to him. "Here, you got a text, must have received it right before we went out range."
Tony took his phone, sighing when he saw Ziva's name on the screen. His heart just about crumpled in his chest when he read the three words: Where are you? She must have been worried sick by now.
"So Ziva's due soon isn't she?" McGee asked as he leaned back in the driver's seat, turning off the overhead light to preserve the battery. Tony recognized the distraction tactic; he'd never admit that he was grateful for it.
"Yeah, couple of weeks. She's uh…she's pretty nervous. Not that she'll talk about it much, but she's worried. Ya know, she didn't exactly have role model parents. She's afraid she doesn't know how to be a mother."
McGee could see that. He knew Ziva, for all her bravo and strength, was fairly insecure. It wasn't a stretch of the imagination to think that she doubted her parenting abilities. "What about you? Any doubts about being a father?"
Tony seriously considered laughing and lying. But McGee would probably see through that. He was surprisingly insightful when he wanted to be. "Yeah…maybe a few. I mean, the only thing I learned about being a parent from my father was what not to do. Which will probably be helpful, but…I have about as much of a clue as she does about this entire thing."
"Well I think you guys will be fine," McGee said after a beat of silence. "Knowing what not to do is always helpful. Between your father and Ziva's father you can probably make a fairly comprehensive list. Can't say much about Ziva's mother, I don't know anything about her…"
"She's a piece of work," Tony said, and McGee nodded.
"All right. So between the three of them, they've taught you how not to raise a kid. The rest you just have to figure out on your own. Isn't that half the fun of raising a kid?"
"Fun," Tony snorted. "Right."
McGee smirked. Okay, maybe fun wasn't the right word, but still… "You and Ziva are going to be great parents. You know that, right? Kid's gonna be lucky to have you two."
Tony smiled softly. McGee's words were more reassuring than he'd ever let on. "Thanks…Tim." McGee couldn't help but smile as well. "Get some sleep, I'll take first watch."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, go ahead. I'll wake you up in a couple of hours."
McGee slid down in the driver's seat, closing his eyes; it only took a few minutes for his breathing to even out. Tony waited until he was sure McGee was asleep to pull out his cell-phone. He stared avidly at the background — a picture he had taken of the sonogram the doctor had done when Ziva was about three months along. Tony smiled, tracing his finger along the contours of the baby's head. They didn't know yet if it was a boy or a girl; it had taken a bit of strong-arming on Ziva's part to convince him that they wanted to be surprised. It had really just been easier to agree.
He stared at the picture for a long time before opening his photos folder and finding the picture he'd taken only a few days earlier. Ziva had fallen asleep on the couch while they'd been watching a movie, her arms wrapped loosely but protectively around her swollen stomach. He chuckled lightly as he stared at the picture. God she was beautiful…
"You can't just leave me in here, this is harassment, this is—!"
Gibbs rolled his eyes as he turned off the mike for the interrogation room and turning to look at Vance. "You think this idiot knows where DiNozzo and McGee are?" The director asked without looking away from the window. Kyle Hendler was still yelling, oblivious to the fact that he wasn't being heard.
"Oh I know he does. The problem is, he won't talk." Gibbs had spent the last three hours trying to crack the man. The result had been Gibbs wanting to smash his miserable face in. "We'll have to search his property."
"Two of your agents are missing and one's in labor. Who exactly do you plan on having help you search the property?"
Gibbs thought about this for a long moment. "Agent Conrad and his team still owe us a favor, we'll call them in."
"They'll appreciate that phone call," Vance murmured as he pulled out his cell-phone. Gibbs looked back at Hendler for a moment before taking out his own phone and dialing Abby's number.
"Hello?" Abby picked up after two rings.
"How's it going?"
Abby sighed heavily; it sounded as if she'd been crying. "Well Ziva just finished snapping at a nurse, she was trying to get her to let them give her an epidural, she really doesn't want to be drugged. The baby's heartbeat is too fast, they think Ziva's too stressed out…she's really worried Gibbs, and so am I. Please tell me you found them."
"Working on it Abs. Tell Ziva she needs to calm down. Stress isn't going to do her or DiNozzo or the baby any good."
"Right. I'll tell her that as soon as you tell the sun not to rise," Abby sniffed; Gibbs imagined she was rubbing her eyes. "Just find them Gibbs, okay?"
"Will do." Gibbs snapped his phone shut with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. He would find those two. He had to.
Failure wasn't an option.
Ziva looked up quickly as Abby re-entered the room. The hopeful light in her eyes died quickly when the Goth shook her head. "He'll find them," Abby said confidently as she sat down. "You know Gibbs, he can do the impossible. Remember the time he found you and Tony when you were locked in that box? He found you then. He's good at finding people. Especially when it's you or Tony. Have you ever noticed that you two go missing a lot?"
Ziva's weak laugh turned into a grimace of pain, her fingers curling into fists so tight, her knuckles turning white. "They're getting closer together," Abby murmured as she worked her hand into Ziva's; she regretted this decision fairly quickly when Ziva's death grip just about broke her fingers. But damaged bones were a small price to pay if she could be of some help to Ziva.
"There is still time," Ziva mumbled through gritted teeth as soon as she could speak. She leaned back hard on her pillows, squeezing her eyes shut. She loosened her grip on Abby's hand for a moment before tightening it again just a quickly, and Abby had to struggle not to cringe. It was worth it, it was worth it, it was worth it… "Gibbs will find Tony. He has to. He has to find him, I cannot do this…not without him."
Her voice broke on the last three words, and at the same time Abby felt her heart break. She knew that voice, that tone. She stood up, wrapping one arm awkwardly around Ziva, holding her as tightly as she could. "I cannot live without him," Ziva mumbled after a moment, and Abby's heart broke a little more. Unfortunately, she already knew that far too well.
"He's going to be okay, Ziva. Gibbs is going to find him, and McGee, and he's going to bring them home, and Tony's going to be here when this baby is born, and everything is going to be okay."
Before Ziva could call Abby on the fact that she couldn't really make that promise, a sharp pain shot through her stomach; she bit down on her lip to keep from crying out, but a sudden beep from one of the machines she was hooked up to betrayed her anyways, and Abby pulled back, concern evident on her face.
"What's wrong?"
"I…" Ziva started to push herself up, only to fall back on her pillow as pain all but crippled her. Abby didn't need any more incentive to hit the call button for the nurse.
Abby rubbed her eyes as she walked slowly into the waiting room. She was surprised to find two familiar faces waiting for her.
"Ducky…what are you doing here?"
The older man smiled softly before shooting a tolerant look at his sleeping assistant, then looking back at Abby. "We heard through the grapevine what was going on, thought we would come down and offer our support." He tilted his head as he took in Abby's upset expression. "Is everything okay?"
"No." Abby sighed as she dropped into the empty seat on Ducky's left. "McGee and Tony are missing, and Gibbs is doing his best but he has no clue where they are, and Ziva's really upset, and now something's wrong with her or the baby or both, I don't know, but she was in a lot of pain and the doctor kicked me out of the room and, and, and…"
Abby's voice drifted off, and a stray tear slipped down her cheek. Ducky sighed quietly as he held his arms out, and Abby all but threw herself at him, holding on tightly. She was worried, and she felt bad, because she didn't know if she was more worried about Ziva or the fact that Tony and McGee were missing, or the fact that McGee was missing.
Her head was starting to hurt.
"Everyone is going to be okay," Ducky said after a moment, and Abby pulled away to look him in the eye. "Gibbs will find Timothy and Tony, Ziva and the baby will be all right. It'll be okay."
"You think so?"
"You doubt Gibbs?"
Abby smiled weakly, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. As much as she hated it, she had to be the strong one for now. She had to believe that everything would be okay.
She had to believe in Gibbs.
"Screw this," Special Agent Tyler Stevens growled as he finished picking through Kyle Hendler's garage and turned to face his team's senior agent, Cassandra Gagnon. "Why the hell are we doing this, again?"
"Because as much as I hate to admit it, Agent Gibbs is right — we owe him a pretty big favor."
"For what?"
"Remember that time we killed one of his agents?" Tyler snorted under his breath.
"We didn't kill DiNozzo, a crazy drug dealer with a gun did."
"Either way, we owe Gibbs for taking one of his agents for over a month and not telling him about it."
"And that makes it okay for him to have the director drag us out of bed after midnight just to help him find two of his idiot agents?"
"Cassie, Tyler!" The two in question jumped as their boss called their names. "Outside, now!"
That didn't sound good. The two sighed as they went outside. Harry Conrad and Alex Wright were standing just outside the door, waiting. Gibbs was leaning against the wall to the left of the door, looking more than a little annoyed. "Alex found DiNozzo's and McGee's car a few miles down the road from here," Conrad explained to the arrivals. "Looks like they got lost and it broke down."
"Great." Tyler rolled his eyes. "So their car breaks down, they get out to walk to this dump, get lost, they're probably wandering around the forest right now."
Gibbs wasn't satisfied with that. "Why would they go wandering around the woods if they were lost? Why not stay on the street?"
"How should I know, they're your agents."
"Tyler," Conrad reprimanded his agent. He knew the younger man was in a bad mood, but that didn't excuse the way he was acting.
"I found something else too," Alex spoke up, and all eyes turned back to him. "It's around back, come on."
They were met with a strange sight when they walked around to the back; a car was parked a few feet away from the house, the back of the car pointed towards a window.
"Um…what the hell?"
"Kyle Hendler collects and fixes up antique cars," Gibbs explained, jerking his head towards a large barn set about a hundred feet away from the house. "I'm guessing there were more in there."
"Oh yeah," Alex agreed. "There's more though, look." He knelt down behind the car, picking up a hose that was attached to the muffler pipe. "All they'd have to do is slip this in the window…"
"He could have had all this ready when DiNozzo and McGee got here," Cassie spoke up. "Hang on a minute, I'm going to check something."
She ran around to the front of the house, letting herself inside. She came back about a minute later. "Carbon monoxide detectors in the house have been disabled."
"So he coulda filled the house, if he'd left the front door open a bit McGee and DiNozzo would have gone in to investigate, they would have been unconscious in minutes."
"Hendler's a pretty wiry thing though, isn't he? DiNozzo alone is a big guy, Hendler wouldn't have been able to take care of him on his own."
"So that means…"
"Someone must be helping him."
Gibbs turned to look towards the woods. There were acres upon acres upon acres of tree facing him.
Damn it.
"They're out there somewhere."
"If they're even still alive." Tyler flinched under the glares he got from his own team. "What? We're all thinking it."
But Gibbs shook his head again. "They're still alive."
"How do you know?"
"They don't have permission to die."
Before Tyler could question the logic of this, he looked up and saw that the sky was beginning to lighten. The sun was starting to rise. Gibbs pulled out his cell-phone to call Abby and find out how much time they had left.
Nearly twelve hours after going into labor, Ziva's water had broken. She was now eight centimeters dilated; the doctor had said she would have to start pushing soon. The baby's heartbeat was still faster than the doctor liked; but Ziva, despite the order she'd been given to stay calm, was worried.
Gibbs hadn't found Tony yet. She didn't even know if Tony was still alive. If he wasn't…if he wasn't…
Ziva lost her train of thought as another, painful contraction rocked her body. They were now roughly two minutes apart, give or take, and possibly the most painful things Ziva had ever felt — and that was certainly saying something. Abby brushed her fingers along Ziva's clenched knuckles, pressing her lips into a thin line. She wondered if Ziva was regretting the decision to not take any drugs.
"What did Gibbs say?" She asked as the pain from the contraction passed. Abby wondered if it was a good idea to relate everything Gibbs had told her.
"They're…still looking," she finally said. Keep it simple. It was better than going into the gory details.
Simple didn't seem to help at all though. Ziva blew out a long breath from between her lips, squeezing her eyes shut, and Abby could tell she was trying very hard not to cry. She failed when one tear managed to escape her generally solid control.
"It'll be okay," Abby said confidently, gripping Ziva's hand tightly. Never-mind that they were running out of time, that Gibbs had thousands of acres of woods to search to find Tony and McGee, and they might even be…be…
It didn't matter. Everything would be okay. It had to be.
"What if it isn't?" Ziva asked, forcing her eyes to open again. "What if Gibbs does not find them, or what if they are already…"
"Don't say it," Abby interrupted, her voice wavering a bit. "They're not dead, they can't be dead, they can't be…"
She ducked her head quickly when the pain of another contraction hit Ziva, distracting her from the fact that Abby was about two seconds away from having a meltdown. She was trying to be strong, really she was, but she wasn't good at this. She wasn't good at being the strong one.
Please Gibbs…please, please, please find them soon.
"Tony! Tony, wake up!"
Tony jerked awake as the sound McGee's overly excited voice reached him. He stumbled out of the car, rubbing his eyes as he moved to stand where McGee was standing.
"Find something McEager?"
McGee pointed to the ground, and Tony looked down. He quickly found what McGee was looking at. "Tire tracks."
"They're probably from the jeep."
"Which means…"
"We can follow them out of here!"
The two exchanged excited looks. "I'll drive," Tony said, grinning, as they turned to run back to the truck.
The drive through the woods was slower than Tony would have liked. It was hard, trying to avoid trees, and the bumps were miserable.
But they were finally on their way home.
I hope Ziva's all right. I can only imagine what this is doing to her…
"McGee lemme know when one of our phones gets reception, all right?"
"Right—"
"Freeze!"
Tony automatically slammed his foot down on the brake pedal as someone threw themselves right in front of the jeep, a gun pointed at the windshield. It only took Tony a moment to recognize him.
"Agent Conrad?"
Harry Conrad lowered his gun slowly when he realized who he was look at. "DiNozzo," he sighed as the man in question climbed out of the car. "Agent McGee."
"Um…hello Agent Conrad. What…?"
McGee's voice drifted off as a couple of forest rangers appeared behind Conrad, who was pulling a walkie-talkie off his belt. "Found your boys, Gibbs. Can my people go home now?"
Tony and McGee exchanged sheepish glances when Gibbs' voice echoed over the walkie-talkie. "Put DiNozzo on."
Conrad handed the walkie-talkie over. Tony silently said a prayer before pushing the talk button. "What's up, boss?"
"I'm going to kill the two of you. What the hell happened?"
"Uh…it's a long story."
"Yeah well figure out a short version, we don't have much time."
Something didn't sound right about that. "Um…what do you mean 'we don't have much time'?"
"I mean your wife is in labor, so unless you're not interested in seeing your kid being born…"
Tony just about dropped the walkie-talkie. "She…what? She's not due for another two weeks though!"
"The kid's in charge now, DiNozzo. You're on his or her schedule."
Tony gaped at the walkie-talkie for a long moment. Suddenly he let out a sound that was somewhere between a yell and yelp and he threw the walkie-talkie at McGee, who fumbled to catch it as Tony ran back to the jeep. "Um…okay, boss—"
"Move your ass McGee!"
"McGee!" Abby squealed as the three men rounded the corner into the waiting room. She threw herself at McGee, hugging him tightly. McGee stumbled back, barely managing to catch himself.
"Hey Abs—"
"Ziva?" Tony questioned impatiently, his eyes shifting every which way. He hadn't been able to hold still for the entire hour ride back to the city.
"Room two-oh-tree," Abby said without pulling away from McGee, and Tony took off without another word. Gibbs stared after him, smiling slightly, then looked back at the group gathered in the waiting room. Ducky and Palmer were sitting in a corner, the latter doing something on his cell-phone, the former staring calmly ahead. He nodded to Gibbs, smiling, when his friend caught his eye. Abby still had McGee trapped in her death grip; she probably wasn't going to let him go any time soon.
"So what happened?" Palmer asked finally, looking between McGee and Gibbs. There was a moment of silence, and finally Gibbs answered.
"It's a long story."
Tony froze just outside of Ziva's room when a pained cry reached his ears. She was really in labor. Not that he hadn't believed Gibbs when the man had told him, but…oh god. She was having a baby. She was having his baby. Their baby.
Calm down DiNozzo, Tony ordered himself sternly before he could panic too much. From what Abby had told him over the phone, Ziva had spent the better part of the last twenty hours freaking herself out worrying about him. The last thing she needed was for him to have a panic attack now. He had to be calm. He had to be strong.
For her.
He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
The eyes that found Tony as soon as he walked into the room were brimming with fear and pain and tears…and were still the most beautiful things Tony had ever seen. He managed to put on a weak, apologetic smile, and mouthed a single word: Hey.
"Is this your husband?" The doctor spoke up, effectively ending the moment. Ziva pressed her lips tightly together as she turned her attention back to him, nodding. Tony crossed the room quickly, sitting down on the edge of the bed and gathering Ziva in his arms, hugging her tightly.
"How ya doin'?" Ziva didn't answer, simply gave him a look of absolute disbelief, and he laughed. "That was probably a stupid question."
"You think?"
Tony laughed again, burying his face in Ziva's hair and pressing his lips against the top of her head. "Sorry."
"What happened?"
"It's a long story."
"All right Ziva, on the next contraction I'm going to need you to push, okay?"
Ziva nodded weakly as Tony pulled away, finding her hand and wrapping his fingers tightly around hers. She looked absolutely exhausted; Tony was surprised she was still managing to function.
That was Ziva though.
"Ready…push!"
Tony tried very hard not to wince as Ziva's grip on his fingers tightened, and he was pretty sure she broke at least one. He put the thought out of his head as Ziva cried out. "C'mon babe," he mumbled, wondering if she could feel his hand squeezing hers. "You can do it, Ziva, come on…"
"Tony," Ziva gasped as she fell back on her pillows, breathing hard.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
Tony laughed; he had to. He leaned in so his lips were next to her ear and murmured, "I love you."
"I love you too. Now shut up."
"Got it."
"The baby's crowning, I can see the head. One more push should do it Ziva, are you ready?"
Ziva nodded tiredly as she straightened up again. Tony wrapped his free arm around her shoulders to hold her steady.
"Okay, one more big push, come on now…"
Tony's head turned quickly back and forth between the doctor and Ziva, the latter of whom was shouting once more as she did what the doctor said, and Tony really didn't care what anyone said about this being natural; he did not like seeing Ziva in so much pain.
Suddenly Ziva's cries weren't the only sound in the room. The woman collapsed back into Tony's grip, sobbing quietly now as the louder shrieks of their baby overtook the room. Ziva raised her head, wiping the tears from her eyes, as the doctor carried the baby over to a waiting table. After a few moments the doctor turned back to the waiting parents, smiling softly as he handed over the blanket-wrapped bundle.
"It's a girl. Congratulations."
Tony just about floated away as the doctor set the tiny baby into Ziva's waiting arms. She was so small…
The baby fidgeted, whining a bit at the change of location, but relaxed quickly, already recognizing her mother's touch. The tiny tuft of hair that covered her head was clearly her father's color but there was a curly quality to it that just screamed Ziva. The face — the tiny, tiny face — was all Tony as well, though Ziva's nose was easily recognizable.
She was…perfect.
Abby was practically bouncing down the hall. It had been hours (or that was how it felt, anyways) since Tony had disappeared to find Ziva, and a nurse had finally come to tell them that they could go in. McGee kept a firm grip on Abby's hand to keep her from running into the room. No doubt the baby would not appreciate that.
"Ready?" Gibbs asked as they came to a halt in front of the closed door of Ziva's room.
"Open it!" Was Abby's impatient answer; the man rolled his eyes good naturedly before doing as he was told. Tony was lying on the bed with Ziva, one arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders, and in Ziva's own arms was…
"Ooohhh."
Tony and Ziva looked up quickly, smiling at the sight of their visitors. Abby was on her tiptoes, trying to get a better look at the blanket-wrapped bundle in Ziva's arms. "All right, who wants to go first?" Tony asked as he carefully took the baby into his own arms.
"Me, me, me!" Abby was said at once, bouncing up and down, her hands in the air. Tony looked back at Ziva, then at Abby.
"Sit down," he said finally. It wasn't that he didn't trust Abby…he did, really. They both did. But she was really bouncy…
Abby quickly did as she was told, and Tony carefully transferred the baby to her arms. She settled down considerably, though everyone could still see a faint tremor of excitement rocking through her body. The baby squirmed a bit, and after a moment her eyes cracked open to see who was holding her now.
"Oh wow…"
"She's beautiful," Gibbs said quietly, summing up what everyone was currently thinking.
"She looks just like Tony," McGee said, smiling a bit. "Poor kid."
"Well, all babies look like their fathers during the first year," Palmer spoke up. "It's a natural mechanism that's thought to keep the father from abandoning the child because he sees himself in it…" Palmer's voice drifted off when he realized he was being glared at. "Uh…congratulations Ziva, Tony."
"Thank you Palmer."
"So does she have a name?" Ducky asked. Everyone was surprised when Tony and Ziva sighed, exchanging annoyed looks. "I'll take that as a no."
"No, no, she does. It just…took a while to agree on one."
"Knowing you two, that's no surprise."
"So what is it?" Abby piped up, curious. It was Tony who answered, with a bit of a grin.
"Kayleeana Abigail David-DiNozzo."
Abby's eyes lit up as her mouth hit the floor. Gibbs smirked a bit as he leaned down, scooping Kayleeana from the Goth's arms. And with a suppressed shriek, Abby threw herself first at Tony, then Ziva, hugging them both tightly. She held on to Ziva for a little longer.
"You like it?" Tony asked, grinning, as he watched Abby all but strangle his wife. Ziva was surprisingly good-natured as she returned the hug; Tony knew she was exhausted, and would have given anything to be able to sleep.
"Thank you," Abby whispered in Ziva's ear, closing her eyes and resting her head on her friend's shoulder.
"I believe that is my line," Ziva whispered back, and Abby laughed, rubbing her eyes. At least this time she was crying for a good reason…
Gibbs smiled, a bit sadly, as he looked down at the baby in his arms. She was so small — Kelly had been bigger, he remembered as he traced a thumb along Kayleeana's cheek. She'd also been louder, he reminded himself with a slight chuckle. She hadn't stopped crying for hours after she'd been born. Gibbs looked up to see Abby finally pull away from Ziva, and Tony leaned in, pressing his lips lightly against his wife's. They reminded him almost exactly of how he and Shannon had been the night Kelly had been born.
"Hey, boss." Gibbs dragged himself quickly back to the present to find that Tony and Ziva were both looking at him now. "Believe it or not we do know how to agree on something."
Before Gibbs could question that, Ziva spoke up. "We would like you to be her godfather."
Well. He couldn't say he had seen that coming. "I would be honored," Gibbs finally answered when the moment of shock had passed.
Eventually Ziva, amidst the chatter and excitement and passing around of her daughter, fell asleep, exhaustion getting the better of her. Tony watched with a rapt eye as Kayleeana moved from Gibbs' arms to McGee's to Abby's to Palmer's to Abby's to Gibbs' to Ducky's to Abby's…
Eventually Abby was pushed out of the circle and forced to take the seat she'd occupied for so long the day before. She pouted as she crossed her arms, and after a moment she looked over at Tony, who was still sitting on the bed, Ziva wrapped tightly in his arms.
"So McGee told us everything that happened."
"Oh yeah?"
"You are the only people I know that these kinds of things happen to," Abby said, shaking her head, and Tony grinned weakly as he pressed his lips to a sleeping Ziva's forehead. They were unconventional. But he wouldn't have it any other way. "Unbelievable."
"You'd like us a lot less if we were normal." Abby rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Thank you," Tony said after a minute, and Abby turned her attention back to him, confusion alight in her expression. "For staying with her, I mean. Yesterday and…and everything. It means a lot to her that you were here. And me too."
Abby just smiled. "You don't have to thank me, I was glad to be here."
Tony detached himself from Ziva long to hold his arms out, and Abby threw herself into his waiting grip, hugging him tightly.
This was a good day.
For the first time in hours, it was quiet. Everyone else had gone down to the cafeteria to get food; Tony had declined the invitation to join, unwilling to leave Ziva alone while she was asleep. So now he was by himself, save for the company his beautiful little girl was providing him.
"Look Kaylee, Aunt Abby brought you a little stuffed hippo, isn't it cute?" Kayleeana babbled out something baby-like as Tony poked her forehead with the stuffed hippo's snout. Tony laughed quietly as he set the hippo down, pressing his lips against the baby's smooth skin. He may have been a little biased, but he was still pretty sure she was the most beautiful little girl to ever grace the earth with her presence.
A low whimper grabbed Tony's attention; his head snapped up to see that Ziva was twisting in her sleep, her formerly peaceful face twisted into a pained look. Tony stood up quickly, setting Kayleeana down in the plastic crib-thing one of the nurses had rolled in, and he quickly moved to Ziva's side, hoping beyond all hope that he could catch this nightmare before it progressed into the screaming stage.
"Ziva, Ziva, Ziva," he murmured, catching her in his arms and shaking her lightly. "Come on Zi, wake up, it's all right, wake up, wake up…"
It took a bit of coaxing, but finally Ziva jerked awake, a shuddering sound that was somewhere between a gasp and a scream escaping her lips. Her eyes flew around, wild and unfocused. "Hey, hey, come on, it's all right Ziva, just look at me, it's okay…"
Another long moment, and finally Ziva managed to make herself look up at Tony; her eyes were wide, still slightly disconnected, and Tony could tell she was still at least partly trapped in whatever world her cruel subconscious had created. Before Tony could say anything else, she'd buried her face in his shoulder, breathing deeply to combat the panic attack she knew would come sooner or later. Tony wrapped his arms around her trembling body, rocking her back and forth gently and murmuring words of comfort in her ear.
It took almost five minutes for the shaking to slow, for Ziva's breathing to return to normal. "Okay?" Tony asked finally, and Ziva nodded, pulling away, scrubbing her eyes.
"Yes…sorry."
"Don't be," Tony said at once, pushing a stray strand of hair back from Ziva's watery eyes.
"I thought I was over this."
"You don't have to explain yourself."
"I was just so scared…" Ziva's voice drifted off, and she squeezed her eyes shut, digging her palms into her eyes. "Nobody knew where you were, you could have been dead or dying or…or…"
Her voice broke as her hands dropped to sit in her lap, and Tony saw that she was crying now. Yikes. He knew women who'd recently given birth were a little more emotional. But did it usually happen this quickly?
"I'm okay," Tony said quietly, pulling Ziva back into his arms. Before he was quite aware of what was happening, Ziva was sobbing quietly into his shirt, her breath hitched and uneven. "I know yesterday was scary Ziva, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I'm so sorry…"
It took another few minutes for Ziva to pull herself together. "I'm sorry," Ziva said finally, pulling back and rubbing her eyes. She looked embarrassed now. "I do not even know where that came from, I was just…I do not even know. I'm sorry."
"Eh." Tony waved Ziva off with a smile. "I'm pretty used to the mood-swings right now. I think I caught the worst of it when you freaked out at me for moving the pizza menu, the rest could only be uphill from there, right?"
Ziva smirked, slapping him lightly upside the head. Tony pouted, pretending to look injured as he leaned in, pressing a kiss against the top of Ziva's head.
A sudden squawk of indignation had the two of them looking around. Kayleeana had decided she didn't like the neglect she was receiving. Tony laughed and stood up, quickly collecting the girl from her crib and sitting back down on the bed with Ziva, leaning back so she could see Kaylee's face as well.
"Sorry baby girl, didn't mean to ignore ya." Kayleeana squirmed a bit, and Tony could have sworn she was pouting. "Aw, sick of Daddy's face already? You wanna see Mommy instead?"
Ziva's heart fluttered just a bit as Tony handed the girl over. "Hello tatelah," she murmured, and Kayleeana relaxed, her eyes fluttering shut. It was hard to believe that this beautiful little miracle was theirs…she was their daughter.
They were a family.
Author's Note: So I was thinking about turning this into a one-shot series. I love family stories, and of course there's always the angst element that I can add considering this is connected to When It All Comes Down. Anyways, review, let me know what you think about this particular monster ~Sam