A/N: Thanks for the reviews I really like feedback. If you don't like it though, don't read it. This might not go the way people think. I hope you do like it though.

Tony had been different since he came home with Tali. He'd been his loveable self with her, but there was a determination in his eyes that Senior didn't recognize. Maybe it was just a reminder that he didn't always know his son that well, from so much time apart, but he also thought it was the loss of Ziva that had truly broken him and focused him at the same time. It unnerved him though. Revenge shouldn't be Tony's sole priority. It would destroy him. He had to be there for Tali. Tali should be his sole priority.

Tony had left that morning saying he was running errands. That had been his standard comment when he wanted time alone. He didn't know where he went or what he did and he didn't want to know. So long as he came home safe and intact. Tony wouldn't let anything happen to Tali. He wouldn't do anything that could get her hurt. All Senior hoped for was that his son would also keep in mind that his daughter had one living parent. He wasn't going to be raising his granddaughter because her father had gone off and done something stupid. "Food," Tali announced, growing bored with her people-watching. She tapped on the glass and blew her lips against it, forming a fog cloud, which she then began to draw on.

He pushed up from the picture seat and went into the kitchen. "How long do you think we're going to stay here Tali? Grandpa is going to have to make some improvements." He got the impression they weren't leaving until their party was four, but he didn't say so to his son. Just in case.

Tali hopped off the picture seat and followed after him, her rainboots loudly clomping on the floor. She shrugged and pulled at a chair, which he hurried around to help her with. The look he got said she didn't need help. It was Ziva's scowl. He missed it. "Mine."

"Okay then, just thought I'd offer," he laughed. He studied her expression, grinning. "You look like your mother." Tali cocked her head, a little curl falling in her eyes. He brushed it from her face. "Your Ima."

Her hazel eyes lit up happily. "Ima!"

He smiled again. "Yeah. I knew your Ima." She blinked and then pointed to the picture silently. He nodded. "Very good."

Tali began to chatter. She was saying something about princesses. He allowed himself a brief moment to think about her mother. Must be a day for memories. Rain had a way of doing that to a person. Made you think. Ziva had been the only woman he'd met who had a personal relationship with his son. He didn't know if he'd feel any different of anyone else, which was moot since he'd never had the chance, but he loved her. She was feisty and independent and kind and beautiful. Tony needed a challenge and she was certainly that. The fact she didn't fall for the DiNozzo charms and tricks were why he loved her. He only hoped the short influence she'd had on Tali stuck and his granddaughter displayed the same ability to take care of herself that her mother had. He tweaked Tali's nose, bringing himself from his thoughts. "What do you want Tali?"

"Food."

"Yeah I got that, but what kind?" He walked to the fridge and opened it. It was so tiny, he'd forgotten European appliances and their general lack of space in everything. All it contained was some leftovers and juiceboxes. They didn't even have milk. "Well I can't feed you wine and cheese, so I guess we'll have to go out." Thankfully the rain was letting up and there was a café they'd been frequenting just a short block away. They wouldn't even need her stroller. "Let's get your raincoat on and get your umbrella."

Tali squealed, jumping up and running for her favorite outfit. The raincoat and umbrella matched her pink daisy boots and she excitedly jumped around the door while he helped her with them. "Mine, mine, mine," she chattered, like those birds in that fish movie he'd watched with her the other day.

"I know, they're yours."

"Where Abba?"

"Abba's working." He glanced at his watch. Tony had been away most of the day. He didn't know how long he'd be, but usually his errands didn't take long. He turned and scrawled a note letting him know where they'd gone, just in case he came back while they were out. Maybe they'd go to the bookstore that was beside the café, get Tali some more things. Tony told him not to spoil her, but what was a grandfather supposed to do?

Tali held up her umbrella. "Mary Poppins," she said clearly.

"Yes, one we get outside, but if we float into the air, remember, only laughing will keep us there." He'd become quite the connoisseur of children's movies of late. He drew the door closed behind them and took her hand, walking with her down the stairs and out to the street.

They found the café with little trouble, safe for Tali having to jump in every rain puddle she came across, but that's what her boots and plastic coat and umbrella were for. He settled her in the corner with a glass of juice and ordered her a croissant to keep her hands busy while they waited on their food. He scanned the café, seeing if there was anyone he knew. You met the strangest people in the strangest places sometimes. "Tali have I ever told you about how I became friends with a Saudi prince?" he asked.

"No."

"Well let me tell you, it was some of my finest business dealings."

"Bizniz?" she repeated. She tore at her croissant.

"Yes, business. You will be a fine businesswoman one day, I have no doubt about it. With your mother's looks and well, the DiNozzo charm, you'll be set. Plus you probably have my brains, I think they may have skipped your father."

She grinned. Then keyed back on something he'd said. "Prince!" She sighed. "Prince Pheep." He translated. Prince Philip. The prince from Sleeping Beauty, her favorite one.

He was about to explain about the Saudi Prince when he looked up, a funny feeling on the back of his neck. He glanced to the door and frowned. A man entered, looking remarkably like the Adam fellow from Israel. He moved closer to Tali. He wasn't sure about him. He looked over to who Adam was sitting beside and his mouth fell slightly. "What the hell?" he mumbled. He moved so Tali was out of view. He didn't want her to make a scene.

It was Tony. Wearing a baseball hat and generally looking incognito. He should know better, Senior thought, annoyed. His entire demeanor clearly stuck him out like an American. Didn't he teach his son nothing about the culture?

They conversed quickly and then stood up, leaving. He glanced instantly at his son's hip and ankle. There were two distinct outlines in both locations. He was carrying. Why was Tony carrying weapons like he was a cop again? Why didn't he share anything with them? He shook his head and looked to Tali, touching his hand to her soft hair. He smiled. She was safe right now, that's what mattered. His son knew better than to bring the danger to her. "You mad, Seener?" Tali asked, breaking into his thoughts.

Mad? "No sweetheart, Senior's not mad. Just curious. We'll pretend for now it's not our business and carry on with our conversation."

So they did and he did his best to not think of his son's activities. They left Israel a couple of months ago. It seemed fine. Paris was the next stop on the agenda, since "Ziva loves Paris", Tony explained. Present tense again. It wasn't too much for him. He referred to his dear Elizabeth in present tense for almost a year before he slipped and used past. That had been when he'd sent Tony to boarding school for the first time, out of state. At least he'd been close by the previous few months.

They'd left Israel after Tony had said "I found the answers I needed." He didn't think much of the various meetings and conversations he'd had with Adam, who he'd learned was just "a friend of Ziva's." Friend, hmpf, he thought with a huff. Adam seemed more than just a 'friend' in his opinion. Tony shouldn't trust him, but that was probably his father side talking.

"You were gone a long time."

"I told you it might take a bit Dad." Tony came out of his room. They'd transitioned from the first month in a hotel on the Med, in downtown Tel Aviv, which Senior had not been so ignorant to notice was very close to the US Embassy. They were now staying in a large home on the beach, in Haifa.

When they'd pulled their rental SUV up in front of the large compound, Senior had wondered who his son had managed to charm into giving it to them. He'd been stunned when Tony had punched the code into the box at the gate and said it was the 'David Family Homestead.' "Like Little House on the Desert Prairie," Junior snarked, stopping in front of the large stone house, with stunning views of the water. It was surrounded by trees, which he commented was nice, given that he always thought Israel was 100% desert. "It's a tactical advantage," his son said.

He didn't know much of Ziva's life, but from what he'd gleaned with visits from the Aunts and what Tony had let slip, she hadn't had the easiest of relationships with her family. It sounded like her father was a bit of a trial. Nettie and Yael had both commented their younger brother was very driven in his devotion to Israel and that it outweighed his devotion to his family on many occasions. "Or they became one and the same," Nettie had commented ominously on the last visit when he'd pressed further for information on his granddaughter's other grandfather. It seemed like 'tactical advantage' was something Eli David would consider when purchasing property.

They'd gone inside and he'd been surprised to see it was still kept up. "Ziva's uncle, I haven't met him, he lives in the north, near Kinneret. His name is Dov. Means 'bear' in Hebrew. Seems about right for a David. We'll see him at some point, I guess she took Tali there to look at his horses."

"He has horses?"

"Yeah, he raises Arabians."

"Well then we should ask him…"

"Dad." Tony held up his finger, warning. "Tali is not getting a pony."

"Well why the hell not son? She deserves a pony."

"No, she doesn't need a pony." Tali unfortunately heard this part of the conversation and burst into tears at the idea that she couldn't have a pony. She also had been very stressed when they'd gotten to the house.

"What do you think is wrong?" he wondered. "I mean, she was fine. You think she's sick?"

Tony opened the door to a bedroom and cursed in Hebrew. He gestured towards it and then took Tali away. She'd burst into tears and hadn't stopped crying. When he looked into the room, he found a very carefully decorated and cared for nursery, with pictures of Ziva and Tali, as well as a full dresser of baby clothes that she'd long outgrew. It was hard to tell when they last visited, but Tali clearly remembered. She'd spent the rest of the first week sobbing for her mother and rejecting them both.

When that happened, he stayed quiet. He'd tried once, to make it better, but Tony had yelled at him to knock it off, leave him alone, and let him deal. So he listened. Anything to make this better. When Tali cried for her mother, Senior knew that inside, Tony was crying for her as well. It took about two weeks before she started to calm and then before he knew it, she was better than she'd ever been. It was her home, she was home, and she knew it.

Today though, they'd been there almost another month. He knew something had been strange when Tony had Adam take their passports, only to show up a few days later with visas for 90 days. Tali, as a natural born citizen of Israel, could have stayed there as long as she pleased, but unfortunately needed someone to care for her. They weren't in any hurry to go just yet. "We can't stay in Israel forever," he said.

"Yes we can," Tony said. "I've got connections."

One of these days those connections might dry up. Trust me, I know. "Just so long as we don't end up in an Israeli prison," he said. "I am too old for that." He paused. Tony had been reading a bunch of things, using a Hebrew dictionary to break some sort of code. Tali was singing a Hebrew song beside him. He glanced at her. "Tali, that's enough."

"Nope, she has to keep singing it," Tony said.

"The song? It's about a goat, Tony."

"The Little Goat, I need her to keep singing, it's helping."

"Helping with what?"

"Answers," was all his son had said before asking Tali to keep singing.

They also took their time exploring in between his son's mysterious visits with Adam and a rather intense woman he learned was Orli. He shook hands with her and then made himself scarce. He'd never seen a more determined and analyzing look than the one Orli Elbaz gave him when they first met. "Who was that?" he'd asked Tony later on that evening. "Oh, the Director of Mossad," Tony said nonchalantly, while feeding Tali a bit of pita bread with hummus. Senior had almost choked. One of the only times he'd been put off by someone else.

Tony had taken Tali to visit with her Uncle Dov in the north, where he let her ride around on a pony and she got to play with goats, chicken, and sheep. She'd gone for a swim in the Sea of Galilee and they took her to the Jordan River. They visited Jerusalem, where he knew Tony was up to something, hunting around a patch of wall in a street until he found something he was looking for, discreetly tucking a small piece of paper he'd plucked from a crevice in the wall back into his pocket. He'd caught Tony looking at it later that day, annoyed at whatever the message held.

Today he'd announced they were leaving Israel. It had been over four months since they landed. Tony had gone from one end of the country to the next and it wasn't a large country. His son had kept things hidden from him, which he didn't appreciate. He didn't question it. A few times Tony had blurted out what he'd done. "I went to the burnt out house," he'd said once. Senior hadn't been sure what to do with that. Another time Tony was sitting on the floor with Tali and then said suddenly "Ziva used to twist her earlobe like that when she was thinking too." A few times he left them alone. They did their father-daughter thing and he relaxed on the beach, a nice break from being the doting grandfather.

He kept thinking of what Tony had said though, to Adam on one of those first few days. He was going to kill someone named Farsoon. He hadn't mentioned it to Tony. He wondered if his son did what he said he'd do. He kept putting it out of his mind. He didn't want to know. Today he was packing up some photos of Ziva he'd located around the house. The Aunts said he could take whatever he wanted for Tali to remember her mother. It was Ziva's house, they said. She was Eli's daughter, the next in line to get it. Now it was Tali's.

"I found the answers I needed and now we're going to Paris," Tony said. He dropped a few sheets of paper on the table. Senior glanced at them. Plane tickets. "In two days."

"A bit short notice, you could have warned me."

"I got what I came here for."

"Answers?" he'd echoed. Vengeance?

Darkness crossed his son's face. Then he'd smiled, like nothing was the matter. "Of course Dad. I got answers."

"Those answers happen to have a black eye and cut lip?"

"What?"

"Your knuckles." Senior nodded to Junior's knuckles, which were red and swollen. He shrugged, his voice soft. "Been fighting, son? You want to talk about anything?"

"Nope, I got it." Then he'd disappeared, off to play in the garden with Tali, laughing like nothing was the matter. Senior hadn't questioned it. His son had his things to do, he needed to process Ziva's death in a way that helped him, and so far it hadn't affected his relationship with Tali. So he'd gone about keeping his mouth closed. Paris then. Paris was a good city. He wondered what his son thought he'd find in the City of Lights.

"There's a good girl." Senior set Tali back on the ground after lifting her up to pass her chosen book over to the clerk at the counter. He reached into his pocket and removed some Euros to cover the cost of the set of Where's Spot? books she'd picked out. He'd had to convince her the English version he'd located would do, even if she insisted on the French ones. Abba would have to read her the French, since his son's language skills seemed to have markedly improved from when Grandpa DiNozzo tried teaching him Italian when he was two.

Tali took her bag, with her new books in it and insisted on carrying it with her umbrella. She drew her raincoat hood over her head even though it was no longer raining and held her umbrella aloft. "I Paddington," she said.

"You are like Paddington Bear," he said. He chuckled and took her hand. "My lady."

"My Seener." She laughed and then began to skip while he marveled at her. He was constantly surprised at how much she grew and absorbed. They'd only watched Paddington the other day and yet she was remembering. "Want Abba," Tali said, jumping into a mud puddle. Each splash grew angrier, more force exerted in her jumps to get more water over herself and any other passersby. She scowled up at him. "Want Abba now."

Damn. A tantrum. They didn't happen often, but when they did…he shuddered. "Not now, Tali. I don't even know where Abba is. He's been very secretive."

"Finding Ima."

He glanced down at his granddaughter. She had been a bit of a copycat of late. Testing words she heard. He shook his head. "What did you say? Where's Abba, Tali?"

"Finding Ima," she repeated, more stress on the words. She got annoyed when people didn't understand her. It was difficult. She combined Hebrew and French and English most days into an unrecognizable language known only to her. She jumped again into a puddle. "Abba love Ima."

"Yes, Abba loves Ima very much, but Ima's gone."

"Nuh-uh." Tali's stubbornness on Ziva's 'aliveness' seemed to only be compounded by her father's inability to believe in her mother's death. She was adamant. The tiny brow furrowed, daring him to disagree with her. "Ima!"

She was a little over two-years old. There was no way she had any understanding of what Tony may have told her. Senior shrugged it off. Whatever his son was up to, he was doing it himself. He kept walking and nodded to the apartment. "Do you want to go back upstairs?"

"Rides."

"The carousel? Well alright then." He took her by the hand when they crossed the street, going to one of the many carousels scattered throughout the city. The one they went to often was in a tiny park by the apartment. He helped her up into it when they got there and held on to her as she gripped the horse, her eyes dancing with happiness. "You're such a big girl," he congratulated her.

"Look me," she cheered. When she smiled, beaming at him, he saw Ziva's grin. He smiled sadly, an ache in the hollow of his gut. He missed that woman. He kissed Tali's forehead for good measure. Wherever Tali was, Ziva would be also. That was how the world should work. He didn't usually believe in those things, but for his granddaughter he would.

They finished with the carousel after several rides. Tali grew bored and walked the length of the park, but yawning and her dragging rainboots were clues she was ready for a nap. He carried her back to the apartment. Tony hadn't texted him at all and he hadn't seen him anywhere after watching him sneak out of the café with Adam. He contemplated making a phone call to Gibbs, but that man did not like him and Senior didn't want to get Gibbs involved with anything that Junior might be involved with. They may need a character witness with no knowledge of the crime.

"Your Abba is going to have to explain himself," he told Tali, who was mumbling something about her Kelev stuffed animal. They'd forgotten it inside. He hoped he could get it to her before she woke up without it. There was usually hell to pay when that happened. "All this time being gone, hanging out with that shifty Israeli…the only shifty Israeli he should be with is my Ziva."

"Ima," Tali mumbled into his chest.

"Yes, your Ima." He pushed open the apartment door, throwing the keys aside and carried her into her room. It was odd, but Tony's bedroom door was shut. He usually never shut it, since Tali had a habit of sneaking out of her toddler bed, neither of them knew how she did it, and into his in the middle of the night. He helped Tali up and into her bed, removing her rainboots and coat. She crawled straight under her covers and held Kelev up, asking for kisses in Hebrew. He obliged and gave her one too. "Sleep tight." He tapped her nose and smiled, leaving her to her nap. Grabbing the baby monitor on the way out, he gave his son's room one last look before shaking his head and going into the living room.

He set the monitor down and picked up the bag of books Tali dropped in the entry way. As he straightened up, the door opened, Tony stepping in, holding a few bags. "Where have you been?" he demanded.

"I'm not a kid, you don't get to ask me those things Dad." Tony had a deer-in-the-headlights expression. He glanced to his closed door, voice soft. "Tali here?"

"Well where else would she be?"

"She sleeping?" He dropped the bags by his bedroom door and gave it another look before he turned away, going into the kitchen. "I'm sorry I didn't get to put her down for her nap Dad, thanks for that." He opened a bottle of aspirin and took a swig from a sippy cup of juice sitting on the counter. He threw the bottle aside, leaning against the counter. He crossed his arms over his chest. "You saw me with Adam a few hours ago."

It was a statement. "Yes, I'm not going to ask you why you are carrying guns in a city not known for its hospitality to guns." Senior scowled at him. "What are you involved with? I thought we left Mossad back in Israel."

"Adam's Shin Bet, not Mossad."

"Well forgive me son, I thought we left all forms of Israeli spies, security, and intelligence services back in their home country. Unless you're looking for a new job?"

"Adam came to help me with something."

"Do you want to explain what you've been up to?" Senior had had it. He was done with the secrets. It had been months. He let his son wander around the world, but they had to start thinking seriously now. They needed to get back to D.C. Unless his son wanted to become a French or Israeli citizen. At least he had homes in Israel he could use. "Because I've been curious, especially since I heard you say you were going to kill someone."

"Farsoon was the terrorist who was paid $30,000 to blow my daughter's mother away," Tony snapped.

Senior drew back. He saw the pain etched into his son's face. His shoulders sagged. "Son, I know…it's hard, but you can't let that destroy you. Don't let it, believe me."

Anything he said went over his son's head. "Farsoon was paid to do it, but he didn't." Tony paused and shrugged, whispering. "There was something in the house that this guy Kort wanted destroyed. It would…call him out for selling secrets. Another guy needed it. End of the day, it was everyone who was laughing. Turns out the files that everyone wanted or wanted gone were already gone. Ironic."

He frowned. "What happened?" He'd never asked about the circumstances surrounding Tali's arrival in their lives. It was a blessing, he'd taken it as something good that couldn't go away, something which didn't happen to the DiNozzo Family all that often.

"Ziva gave them to Mossad. Whatever Mossad did with them…who the hell knows. Anyways…I was working with Adam and Orli to make sure the world knew the files were non-existent. They burned in a fire with a woman who might also know what they contained. This was just one case of one guy wanting one thing, but…they saw a bigger opportunity as Mossad so often does." He fiddled with the sippy cup of juice and took another sip, frowning at it. "This isn't bad. What is this? Combo of apple and grape?"

"We were playing mixologists this morning."

"Like Cocktail? Not my favorite Tom Cruise movie, but still one of the better ones before he went all Scientologist…"

"Tony!" he exclaimed. Now he was the one who needed answers. This wasn't helping. "Just get to the point."

Tony shrugged. "What point? Point is, Ziva got Tali out of the house before someone went after it. She needed to die. They had to think the only person who knew what was in her father's files was also dead. Two for one. Get rid of the files, but get rid of the person. Thing is, when I enlisted Adam to help me find Farsoon, we found him…but he was already dead." He lifted his head, eyes meeting. He chuckled. "It was pretty brutal, I'll spare you the details, but I know a ninja's kill when I see one."

Wait…what? "Ziva?" he whispered. He had heard his son make comments about her, but…he'd never considered the possibility that she'd actually killed anyone unless it was self-defense. Like Junior. It had to be self-defense. He straightened up. "Well she was probably threatened."

"Well she made sure he was silenced, that's for sure." Tony blew out another hard breath. "Anyways, best we can figure, and by 'we' I mean the Israeli brain trust of Adam, Orli, and Schmiel, is that he thought he'd do what he was paid to do, but while he was at it, he'd double-cross his boss and get some of the stuff for himself, but I'm thinking my little ninja mommy didn't like that. Especially if the baby ninja was also in the house."

Well that explained it. If Tali was threatened, of course she'd kill. He nodded. "Okay."

Tony shook the juice and took another sip. He shrugged again, sighing. He glanced away. "Point is, at the end of the day, she got Tali to me and she disappeared. She just didn't tell Mossad what she was doing and they don't like that. The world believes she's dead. We needed to confirm that. I also needed to make sure the world didn't realize there was a baby. Orli and Adam helped me there, along with putting out the word that any rumors to the contrary were false." Tony walked out of the kitchen and pulled his phone and keys from his pocket, setting them down on the desk by the door, his voice soft so he didn't wake Tali. "I found answers, like I said. I also had to start looking. She had to stay dead, so she couldn't be obvious, and draw attention to us. There'd be attention on me. We tracked her here, but the trail went cold."

"And earlier, with the guns?"

"Well there were a few people who followed us Dad. Don't ask questions if you don't want to know the answers."

"Is that why you got in that fight too?"

"What fight?"

"In Israel, before we left, your knuckles were bruised like you'd been fighting." He formed a fist. "You never punch the way you should."

Tony scowled. "It's not like you taught me Dad, but yes I got in a fight but it wasn't anything. I hit Adam a few times. It was fun, he got in a few good hits too."

"Why? I thought you were friends."

"We're not friends, not really." Tony shrugged and then frowned. "I'm not sure why we started fighting to be honest. Seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I think he said something about Ziva that annoyed me so I hit him. Then he hit me because I think I said something about his mother and I'm not entirely sure. We were a bit drunk too, it had been a hard day, but anyway, so that's that…" He waited a second. Then his voice dropped. He sounded like a scared little boy again. "Do you want to see something?"

Senior wasn't sure he wanted to see or know anything further at this point. He didn't know half of what his son did. He'd heard the basics from him on Ziva's role in spy intrigue and he figured enough from their brief experience undercover, but he didn't want to think of anything further about her being alive. He hadn't heard his son say once they'd confirmed she was alive and he didn't think it was possible anyway. The world didn't work like that. Tali's mother didn't up and leave her. If she was trying to get back, she would…unless… he looked up. "She couldn't get to Tali."

"She couldn't talk to Orli or Adam or reach out, it was too dangerous if someone was watching."

"So…how are you supposed to look for her?"

"Clues. Ziva's a master at the Hansel and Gretel impersonation." At his obviously blank expression, Tony shrugged. "Breadcrumbs Dad. A diamond transaction here, a diamond transaction there. An alias here, an alias there, that sort of thing. It just took time."

"So now what?" he demanded. He shrugged. "What do you want to show me?"

In silence, Tony walked over to his bedroom door and pushed it open gently, the hinge creaking ominously. He leaned back against it, his hand still on the door handle and gestured.

Senior wasn't sure he wanted to see what was behind the door. His heart thudding, he pushed down his hopes and slowly turned to look into the room. Tony had the room with the least bit of light, the peeking sun coming in through a thin sliver of a window with metal grating. There was a single bed in the corner. It looked like a monk's room. Lying on the bed however, was a fast asleep, clearly exhausted, and worn down version of Ziva David.