Tony sits in his hotel room, staring at the photograph of him and his father on a fishing trip when he was young.

"First Mom, and now, you… It's not fair."

He jumps slightly as he hears a knock on the door of his room. He couldn't imagine who it could be at this hour, especially since housekeeping wouldn't be around for another couple of hours at least.

He gets up and goes to answer the door. Upon opening the door, he half smiles, almost puzzled.

"What are you doing here?"

"I took the red-eye out of Dulles this morning. I thought you could use a friend and I just couldn't stay away."

Tony reaches out and pulls Ziva into a hug. He didn't even try to pretend he was okay. He was anything but okay.

"Thank you."

Ziva breaks the hug. "Tony, you have been there for me when I have needed someone and I want to be there for you and help any way that I can."

"I appreciate it."

"The hotel has a room for me, but it will not be ready till later today."

"That's alright." He steps aside from the doorway. "You can put your stuff in here till it is."

"Thank you," she says as she proceeds into the room. "So, uh… How are you doing?"

Tony ducks his head and looks downward as he sits down on the foot of the bed. "I'm alright, I suppose… I…"

Ziva sits down across the room. She knew he wasn't alright, but she didn't want to push him to talk. She nods her head in understanding.

"Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, I'm not very hungry."

"Tony, you need your strength… I will buy."

He looks over at her and then, back at the picture in his hand. "I suppose you're right."

He gets up from the bed. "Just give me a few minutes to change."

He grabs some clothes from his suitcase and heads for the bathroom.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tony pauses for a moment at the door of his father's apartment. He takes a deep breath and then, puts the key in the doorknob. As he opens the door and steps inside, he pauses, looks around, and sighs.

"Your father had a nice place."

"Yeah…" Tony suddenly feels a lump in his throat.

He shakes his head. "Uh…"

He starts toward the bedroom. "I think his papers are here in the bedroom closet."

He quickly rummages through the closet and stumbles upon two plastic filing boxes.

"Would you like some help going through these?"

Tony hands her one. "Yeah, if you like. You can go through this one."

"What am I looking for?"

"Copies of his life insurance policy, his will… And if you see anything that resembles a bill of any kind, hold that out, too."

"Alright." Ziva starts going through the box and comes across something that resembles a birth certificate. She grins, but the grin on her face quickly becomes a look of confusion. Her eyes narrow as she reads.

"Tony? I thought you said your mother's maiden name was Paddington."

"It was. Why?"

Ziva hands him the paper.

"My birth certificate." He reads over it and then, his eyes raise when he comes to Mother's Maiden Name.

"What the…! Cherise Mayfield?!"

He pulls the box that Ziva was going through over to himself. "Where'd you find this?"

Ziva hands him an envelope. "It was in this envelope in the front part of the box."

He briefly looks at the envelope, lays it down, and vigorously thumbs through the box. He stumbles upon another envelope and finds it to say: "Junior's New Birth Certificate". He takes the birth certificate out and looks at it.

"Mother's Maiden Name: Paddington, Lucy Katherine…" He scans over it, lays it down, and digs vigorously through the box.

"This doesn't make any sense. Who the heck is Cherise Mayfield?"

"Did she change her name, perhaps?"

"Well, I guess she…" Tony shakes his head and continues digging. "No, something's not right here…" He pulls some papers out and looks them over.

"Divorce papers…" He reads through them and his face falls. He picks up some other papers and reads over them. His eyebrows raise and his mouth slightly hangs open.

"What the…?"

"What is it?"

"My… My mom, she…" Tony pauses as he fumbles over his words.

"The woman I knew as my Mom, she… she wasn't my birth mother. Apparently, when my father and birth mother divorced, my father got sole custody of me and later, the woman I knew as my mom, adopted me."

Tony continues staring at the papers in disbelief. "All this time… I…"

He slams the papers down. "I have to get some air."

Ziva's eyes follow him as he takes off. It pained her to see the look on Tony's face, a look that said he was more hurt than angry.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tony knew his father could be secretive, but this, of all things, he never expected in a million years. What happened? Did she walk out on them or what? And why didn't his father tell him about it?

As Tony stood outside his father's apartment building, these questions and more flooded his mind-questions he needed answers to.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As Ziva lies awake in her hotel room later that night, she thinks back on the relationship she had with her own parents. She, too, lost her mother at a young age. Her relationship with her father had been anything but peachy. Although her father hadn't been an ideal father, she still loved him and believed, in his own way, he loved her.

Within seconds, her thoughts are interrupted by her ringing cellphone.

"Hello, Abby."

"Hey, how's Tony?"

"He is not doing very well."

"Aww… Poor guy. I was really concerned about him, but didn't know if it was a good idea to call him. So, that's why I called you."

"Well, this has hit him hard… and I think a lot harder than he expected."

"Yeah, especially since they've been working on rebuilding their relationship. I'd give anything to still have my father."

"Yeah."

"Well, listen. I'm really glad you're there with him. Give him a hug for me."

"I will, Abby."

"Bye."

"Bye."