Okay, so I'm not 100% happy with the this chapter however I felt with Tali's age in the fix it was going to happen sooner or later. I tried to be as careful as I could with the topic as I didn't want to lose what I had already done with the story.

as always reviews are greatly appreciated.

2 years later, Abby's lab.

"Hey Abbs I got your call" Tony said "what's up? Got a lead on the case?"

Abby calmly took Tony by the shoulders, sitting him down in the chair in the centre of the lab. She had sealed the doors. She then sat down opposite him. "Tony, we've got to talk"

"Abby what's going on? Why are you interrogating me this time?" Tony was used to the Abby approach, the same thing happens anytime Abby needs to talk to anybody, or accuse anybody from stealing her cake or flowers etc.

"This is not an interrogation, in fact, a conversation, and you need to stay calm. While you were out at lunch to go pick up the suspect, I got a call. Tali asked me to come get her because her afternoon lessons were cancelled and when I told her I'd take her home she asked take her to the NCIS gym instead" Abby's face started to drop "she hasn't had to go down there in a long time Tony. She was obviously upset and didn't want to talk about it just yet but I could also tell that she needed to talk. I offered to take her out for a girls night and you, are going to be okay with that because this is what she needs, trust me I was a teenage girl once too" Tony's face froze, Tali never kept secrets from him, what could it be? She was happy, she had lots of friends, she was getting good grades, it was impossible to wipe a smile off her face.

"Yes she can go out with you, under one condition"

"Which is?" Abby asked

"You look after my little girl, she may be 15 and tall and strong but she will always be my baby and the thought that something is bothering her hurts me more that anything in the world" Abby could tell he was fighting against the tears "and you need to promise me to find out what's going on and either you tell me or get her to tell me, just make sure she is okay"

"I will, I promise"

Abby and Tali had just returned from their trip to the skating rink, they watched got some food on the way home and Abby picked out a movie, The Lion King. "Hey Tal? Do you remember the last time we watched this? You were so small!" Abby's heart warmed remembering the sweet memories of that night.

"Hmm, oh yeah" Tali said in a quiet voice "you want hot chocolate? I put the kettle on" she said trying to change the subject.

"Sure" Abby said, "there are marshmallows in the top cupboard"

An hour or so later the two were curled up on Abby's sofa, Tali resting her head on her aunts knee. Abby had never seen her like this before, it worried her. "So, you ready to talk?"

"About what?" Tali asked pretending not to know what her aunt was talking about.

"Tali, I'm not here to upset you, I'm here to protect you. I know it's hard when you don't have a mother to talk to, but you do have me. I also know there are some things you can't talk to your dad about, again, that's why I'm here. Please just talk to me baby, you look like you're holding in so much pain"

"Okay" Tali said "here goes"

A long conversation and some crying later the girl fell asleep, curled up with Abby and clinging onto ka-lev, the teddy that ziva had bought her. For once Abby knew she could help. Things would be okay.

Tony was waiting for Abby at the doors of NCIS, he knew she would drop Tali at school and make sure she had her lunch and a drink and all her work yet he was still worried. He was aware that he was by no means perfect but this was different, his and Tali's relationship had been the only thing that he had had problems with. He didn't want the problems to start now, she was the only thing he could rely on. "Hey Abbs, did she get to school on time? Did she take some lunch? Did she remembered charge her phone? Does she know where im going to pi-"

"She was at school ten minutes early, I gave her lunch money, her phone is fully charged and you are picking her up at the supermarket over the road. She is fine, but we need to talk"

Abby's sudden interruption shocked Tony, she was obviously in a hurry, is she always in a hurry? Of course she is she loves to get to work, maybe there's nothing to be worried about, but maybe there is and may-

"Tony" Abby was waving her hand in front of his face "Oi Tony snap out of it, I said she is fine, lets just go down to my lab to talk okay?"

"Okay"

"So Abby what's going on? I mean can you tell me? I don't want to make things worse" Tony said "but if me knowing makes things worse that is bad meaning I need to know so plea-"

"Tony, she knows I'm going to talk to you, she is fine with it, she just didn't know how to tell you herself"

"Okay, so what is it?"

Before we start, you," she said pointing at Tony, "need to promise me that you will not, under any circumstances get mad, or angry, or furious or any other synonyms I've forgotten" Abby smirked to herself, knowing the best ways to get a message across. Tony looked at Abby

"seriously Abbs, I could never be mad at you, I promise, now tell me what's going on, what's upset her?"

"A boy, from school"

"Wait what? Is she being bullied again? What's is name I'm going to ring the principle"

"No your not" Abby spoke calmly

"No offence Abby but this is my daughter and I'm no having her being hurt at school"

"Tony, your not ringing the principle because she isn't being bullied, she's friends with him, in fact, he asked her on a date"

"She is only fifteen she can't be dating"

"Tony I was dating younger than that in fact... By her age I'd already lost my... Wait you don't want to know about that. Fifteen now is like twenty in our years."

"Okay what do I do? Do I let her go on this date? Do I stop her? What would you do?"

"Tony, you need to talk to her. She doesn't want to date this boy, she likes him, she likes him a lot but she is afraid."

"Is he a bad person? Does she have a reason to be?"

"She has a reason, but it's not his fault. She... She is afraid to love. She thinks if she loves him he's going to leave or get hurt or die, like what happened to you and Ziva."

"Me and Ziva we, she, she did what she had to, this is nothing like that"

"Tal told me that you never dated again after that, she thinks if she uses up all of her love on this one boy, she thinks she'll never find that again"

"That's just ridiculous" Tony said to himself

"Think about it Tony, it's not that far off. Your daughter is afraid to love. You need to talk to her, comfort her. Don't tell her what to do, let her make up her own mind. She is smart and she will make the right decision but you have to make sure she has all the facts before making it."

"Okay" Tony's face said it all, he was in uncharted territory, he'd never been in this situation before and wasn't sure how to handle it "I'll talk to her tonight"

Later that evening, Tony arrived home. Tali was curled up on the couch watching les miserables for the one hundredth time. Tony went straight to the kitchen, he put some fries in the oven and went and sat next to his daughter. He didn't say anything, the film was about to end and he knew how much Tali hated it when people interrupted mid song. As the movie ended Tali shuffled over to Tony's side of the couch, leaning against him still not making eye contact.

"Abby spoke to me" Tony said calmly "and it's okay, I'm not mad, or upset. Just tell me what you need"

"I like him, I, I just don't know if I'm ready"

"That's okay, you don't have to decide straight away" Tony said, fully believing his own advice "tell me about him"

"Samuel, his names Samuel, but everybody just calls him Sam and, and, he plays football, and he likes boxing like me and we've been friends for a while and I really like him, I think you would too"

"If you like him, so do I. I think I'd like to meet him one day, when you're ready" Tony smiled at his daughter.

"Can I, I mean is it allowed, if I tell him I still need time to think about it? Then I'm not saying no, but I'm not saying yes either, just that I need time."

"That sounds like a brilliant idea" Tony said, in a way he was relieved his daughter may say no, but more importantly, she made the decision that was right for her.

"Okay, I'm going to ring him now. Abba? Is it okay if I ask him to come round on Saturday? Just for you to meet him?"

"That is a great idea, let me know what you want to eat and I'll sort it all out"

Tali left the room smiling, she was so happy, and seeing her happy, well, that made Tony happy too.

Please review!

Also to any greys anatomy fans yes, I did name Samuel after Jackson and Aprils baby :)