Having been safely delivered back to his residence, Eli and Anthony sat in the study, another drink in each of their hands. "Eli, to be honest, you have me worried," his guest said when they were settled.
"I am sorry for that. It is nothing dire, but it is about our children," he replied. "I think we both have another thing in common. We both raised stubborn children."
"Now, whatever would give you that idea?" he joked, trying to alleviate the tension growing in the room.
"Have you heard from your son recently, Anthony?"
"We haven't talked in awhile," he said before pausing, "but I received a rather terse email from him saying Ziva had left the agency and America." Then he sighed. "It did concern me, actually. He sounded depressed, angry, tired. Not himself at all. If you know my son, happy-go-lucky is the best way to describe him."
"I do know your son. We have...crossed paths before under not the best of circumstances," Eli told him. He saw the look of concern in Anthony's eyes. "He killed an agent of mine, in self defense, but I did not think it possible. Who was he, a jock who made a joke out of everything, a ladies' man who moved from one woman to another without a taking a breath? Up against one of the finest agents I trained, I am sorry, but it should have been your son in the grave."
"Another family trait. Word of advice, never underestimate a DiNizzo," Anthony commented with a smile.
Eli tipped his head, a sign of agreement. "My daughter has had many trials for the last few years. She had come away, I believed, stronger from them, but they have taken their toll, weighed her down more until she could not bare it. So, she abandoned her career which had redefined her, her adopted homeland where she wanted to make her life away from all the pain. She returned to Israel, against all logic. She now is there, trying to repent for the sins she believes she has committed." Eli had to cover his mouth, brush his fingers over his eyes, to stop the emotions he was feeling from surfacing. "She was in danger not long ago and for a time, we did not know where she was. But it was your son who found her at last. And not for the first time."
"Tony is tenacious when he wants to be," DiNozzo said with great pride, "and I have never seen him more than he has been about Ziva."
"I know of this tenacity. It is the reason my daughter is alive."
Anthony seemed to know of what he spoke of. "Junior never went into it much, but it sounded like he put himself at risk for Ziva."
"He saved her life." Eli thought this father should know the whole story. "Ziva stayed in Israel after Tony killed my operative and I assigned her to the man's team on a mission in Africa. She was...captured and it was believed that she died in the service of her country. When her colleagues, her family, at NCIS learned this, they sought vengeance. A mission was put together to track down the terrorist responsible." Eli looked directly at Anthony. "Your son allowed himself to be captured and tortured so the target could be located. He was drugged with truth serum and questioned for hours about the whereabouts of the remainder of his team. And do you know what your son told him?"
"This isn't classified, is it?"
Eli smiled. "A parent has the right to know, the right to be proud of that child's actions," he whispered, as if sharing a secret. "He told this terrorist about his team, about Gibbs, about McGee, about Dr. Mallard, Abigail Sciuto, Leon Vance, about how all of them worked together to be at that place. The man became enraged, brought out a hostage he had, threatened to kill her."
"Ziva."
"Yes," Eli confirmed. "Then your son, he said, he was the wildcard, the one who looks at the situation, grim, hopeless and refuses to accept it." Eli sat back, seeing he had the other father's complete attention. "Then he told the man he had thirty seconds to live, that Gibbs was a sniper."
"I'm guessing this was the point where the bullet endeth the story?" DiNozzo Senior questioned wryly. "So, that's when it was, when he truly fell in love with her."
Eli stood. He was almost unwilling to go on, but he had come this far with Tony's father. There was no backtracking. "He was with her for some time at one of the family residences in Israel. Neighbors saw them together, in the olive groves on the land." Then he took a deep breath. "Ziva eventually sent him away."
"I gathered from what little he wrote is was an...unwanted parting."
Eli nodded. "I went to see my Ziva, to see how she was coping after the latest...incidents. She was...not well."
Anthony Senior jumped up, concern lacing his features. "Tony was shot at through the windows of his apartment. Was Ziva…?"
"No, in that way, she was fine," Eli assured him, with gratitude for the other man's concern for his daughter. It helped him continue with his story. "No, the illness...it was another." After that, he could not go on.
He could see Anthony grasping for an idea of what he was talking about. Then it seemed to click. "You don't mean…? I mean, I know Junior cares for her…" Something made him shake his head. "No, more than cares. It's been obvious to me from the moment I met her and saw them together…" Then a smile illuminated his face. "You're not telling me…?"
Eli held out his hand and the other man clasped it with great enthusiasm, so much it brought a tear to the hardened spy's eyes. "We are going to become family, Mr. DiNozzo."
"If that is the case," Tony's father said, "please, call me Anthony, Eli."
