AUTHOR'S NOTES: Next chapter, Tony and Ziva talk and we get a whole new spin on their relationship. Meanwhile, Ziva's mother makes an appearence and Vance interrogates Team Gibbs.

Chapter 3


Back in the squad room at NCIS, Tony, McGee, and Gibbs were gathered around the plasma screen as McGee went over what little they knew about Ziva's mother.

"Hannah David, born Hannah Kaminski," Tony said, bringing up the profile. "Met Eli David at an exchange student mixer in Tel Aviv in '71. Married in '78. Ziva's the oldest, born 9 months to the day after her parents tied the knot. Guess they didn't waste any time on the honeymoon."

After smacking the back of Tony's head, Gibbs said, "What else do we know about Hannah David?"

"Died in a car crash," McGee said, simply. Seeing Gibbs' look that he wanted to know what else, McGee shrugged. "That's it, boss."

"Like hell it is," Gibbs said, angrily. "We still have everything from Ziva's old apartment?" When he didn't get a reply, Gibbs raised both hands and smacked both Tony and McGee on the back of the head. "Hey! Do we still have Ziva's stuff down in the evidence lock up?" Gibbs repeated.

"I'll go check," Tony said, heading for the elevator.

"I'll check and see if Ziva ever rented storage space somewhere," McGee added, going to his desk and firing up his computer.

Looking at the picture of Ziva's mother, Gibbs could see the resemblance. Ziva had her mother's eyes and smile…

When his phone rang, Gibbs answered it and was surprised to hear Vance's voice. "MTAC. Now, Agent Gibbs."

"Yes, sir," Gibbs said, hanging up and heading up the stairs and into MTAC where he stopped dead when he saw Eli David on the screen.

"Agent Gibbs," Vance said, ice in his voice as Gibbs put on a headset. "Deputy Director David was just asking me for an update on Ziva."

"She's awake," Gibbs said, simply. "There's some memory loss, though."

"How bad?" Vance asked.

There was a part of Gibbs that didn't want to tell either of the men anything but at the same time, he also wanted to know how Leon Vance and Eli David would handle the information. And there was another part of him that didn't care about anything else other than getting Ziva back to full strength. But in the spirit of buying time and trying to oust some answers, Gibbs decided to fudge the facts some. "There's some confusion. For starters, she thinks her mother is still alive."

Watching Eli David, Gibbs noticed the other man stiffened slightly at this news. "Hannah died when Ziva was 12," Eli said. "Ziva attended her mother's funeral."

"Any reason why Ziva would think otherwise?" Gibbs asked.

Eli shook his head, quickly. "Hannah is dead, Agent Gibbs," Eli insisted. "When can I see my daughter?"

"Not yet," Gibbs said, quickly.

"She is my daughter, Agent Gibbs!" Eli said, angrily. "You cannot keep me from her."

"Ziva's confused right now, Director David," Gibbs said, calmly. "She knows she's an NCIS agent but we're not sure yet if she knows that she's Mossad."

"How'd Ziva end up in Somalia?" Vance asked as he started chewing on a toothpick.

Looking at Eli David, Gibbs replied, "She said you sent her there."

Eli David looked upset at that news and said, "Agent Gibbs, are you suggesting I allowed my daughter to be captured by those… pirates?"

"I'm just telling you what Ziva told me," Gibbs replied, hoping to get out of here soon.

Turning to Gibbs, Vance said, "Agent Gibbs, keep me informed on Ziva David's condition."

"Yes, sir," Gibbs said before excusing himself and heading out of MTAC.

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"Why was he looking at me so strangely, Ducky?" Ziva asked when Gibbs and the rest of the team had left.

"You mean Gibbs?" Ducky asked, sitting down next to Ziva's bedside. "Or were you referring to Tony and McGee?"

"My… Gibbs," Ziva replied, still feeling confused. Seeing Ducky's look, she said, "Gibbs… is not my father, is he?"

"No," Ducky confirmed. Leaning forward, he asked, "Ziva… Tell me about your mother."

"My mother is dead, Ducky," Ziva replied. "Isn't she? I-I don't remember."

"It's alright, my dear," Ducky assured Ziva who seemed to be getting agitated.

"They were asking about her," Ziva said, getting flashes of her captivity. Looking at Ducky, she said, "She is alive, isn't she?"

"Ziva," Ducky said, trying to think of how to phrase his question. "What exactly do you remember?"

"About what?" Ziva asked, still confused.

"About your life," Ducky replied. "Where were you born?"

"Haifa, Israel," Ziva replied. "When I got older, I would spend my summers there."

As Ducky asked Ziva questions, he became rather perplexed. She remembered details of her life in Israel but believed that she was an NCIS agent liaising with Mossad instead of the reverse.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Just as he was about to question Ziva further, Ducky heard someone behind and looked up to see a young man standing in the doorway of Ziva's room. Standing and walking towards the young man, he said, "Yes?"

"Gunnery Sergeant Tucker McElroy, sir," Tucker said with a smile. "Uh, you are…?"

"Dr. Mallard," Ducky said with a smile. "But my friends call me Ducky." After a moment, he said, "You are the Marine who found Miss David, yes?"

"My unit, yes," Tucker replied. Looking into the room, he asked, "How is she?"

"Beaten," Ducky replied with a smile. "But not broken. And I am certain she'd like to thank you."

Tucker nodded and stepped into the room, taking the chair Ducky had vacated. Ziva's face and head were still bandaged but she still looked significantly better than when he'd rescued her.

"Do I know you?" Ziva said, turning her head so she could see Tucker better.

"I saved your cute little butt," Tucker said with a smile, moving so he was more within Ziva's range of vision. "You look good when you're not covered in blood."

Ziva smiled at that. "Thank you."

"And before you ask, I'm Tucker."

"So what are you doing here?" Ziva asked, a bit confused.

"I wanted to make sure you were doing okay," Tucker replied. "I was worried about you." Seeing Ziva's look, Tucker blushed. "Uh, that didn't come out right. I, uh…"

"It was nice of you to stop by," Ziva said, with a smile.

"Take care, Agent David," Tucker said as he stood and headed out.

Coming back into the room, Ducky smiled. "He certainly seemed taken with you, my dear."

Ziva looked at the hallway where Tucker was walking away before looking at Ducky. "Prognosis, Dr?"

Ducky's smile faded a bit but he said, "You may need further surgery on your arm and leg, but you should heal nicely."

"What about getting back to NCIS?" Ziva asked, anxiously. Somehow she didn't get the feeling she'd be able to just bounce back from this.

"I wouldn't worry, Ziva," Ducky assured her. "If I know Gibbs, he won't rest until he sees you back at your desk."

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Hearing the basement stairs creak as he worked on his boat, Gibbs looked up and for the first time in his life actually thought about locking his doors when he saw Leon Vance coming down the stairs. "Help you with something, Leon?" Gibbs asked, as he lay his tools down and straightened up.

"I want the truth, Agent Gibbs," Vance said, overlooking Gibbs' use of his first name.

"Beer?" Gibbs asked, grabbing a bottle from the small fridge he kept under the workbench.

"No, thanks," Vance replied, narrowing his gaze at Gibbs who seemed completely unfazed. "Agent Gibbs, I understand that Jenny Shepard gave you some leeway. She let you have free rein over your team." Waiting until Gibbs looked at him, Vance went on. "I'm not Director Shepard. Whatever loyalties you have to your team don't matter to me because I am your boss. And as your boss, I am ordering you to tell me whatever you didn't say to Mossad Deputy Director Eli David."

Gibbs faced off with Vance and when the NCIS director didn't back down, Gibbs said, "David is lying about Ziva's mother. She's alive."

"You have proof of this?" Vance asked, knowing that this wasn't the whole story.

"Not yet," Gibbs replied. "McGee and DiNozzo are working on it."

"Anything else you want to tell me?" Vance asked.

"Nope," Gibbs said, taking a swig of his beer.

Vance knew he wasn't likely to get any more information and decided to try the other members of Gibbs' team as he headed for the stairs.

"Anything you want to tell me, Leon?" Gibbs asked, his tone icy.

Vance turned and looked at Gibbs. "What makes you think I know anything about what happened to Ziva?"

Gibbs looked down at the concrete floor, at the discoloration that had refused to come out, before looking up at Vance. "Because you were standing in the exact same spot Ari was when Ziva shot him." Going back to his boat, he added, "My team's loyal to me, Leon. Not you."

"We'll see about that," Vance said as he left Gibbs house.