Disclaimer: I'm not even going to bother with one.


Author's note: I'll admit I haven't seen Kill Ari in a while, so any inaccuracies are inadvertent.


Ziva stared at the photograph, bad memories rushing back.

Swimming at a hotel pool. A woman had walked in, matching the description she had been given.

"Mind if I join you?"

"One more lap and you'll have it all to yourself."

Innocuous-sounding words, used by each to identify the other. They hadn't known each other's names, knowing that secrecy was best.

"How's the water?" Is anybody following you?

"Lovely." Yes, but we go ahead anyway.

Her face was clearly emblazoned in Ziva's mind. Talia even looked like her.

Trying to help Ari because she loved him, was pregnant with his daughter…

She shook off the memories before they could overwhelm her.


Tony looked over Ziva's shoulder at the photo. He remembered her, too. She must have really cared about him. Ziva too, obviously. Even someone like him is loved…

He shook off the memories, too. He didn't want to remember.


Meanwhile, back at the lab, Abby was talking again. Or still.

"Apparently, Tali's mother went to Europe after… the whole thing, you know- and ended up in the Ukraine, where" –she checked a date- "three years, ten months ago, she died giving birth to Tali, who was promptly placed in an orphanage there, which is apparently where she's been living all this time."

"And what kind of parenting did she get in there?" Gibbs asked rhetorically.

"No wonder she's so scared." McGee looked over at her. "So what's going to happen to her? You going to take care of her, Ziva?"

Ziva laughed sarcastically. "No; I'm going to let my father turn her into a killer."

Tony stared at her. "You used a contraction. And sarcasm."

"Yep."

"Welcome to American life."

Abby broke in. "I don't want to kill the mood, but I traced the hacker, like we did before, you know, when the FBI hacked me…"

"The FBI hacked you?"

"Even worse. Mossad."

Ziva winced. "Crap."

"That's putting it mildly. As far as I can tell, they put an alert on Ari's DNA…"

"Which means they had a suspicion he had a kid, and now probably know about her." Gibbs sighed.

"I'm afraid so."

Gibbs' phone rang. "Gibbs."

They stood around awkwardly, glancing between each other, the screen, and Tali.

He closed the phone. "Dead Petty Officer."

"Let's get going."

They started walking toward the door.

"Zwiva…"

Ziva turned around and stared at Tali. The little girl was staring at her forlornly, like she was being abandoned. She probably thinks she is.

Glancing at Gibbs for his assent, she walked back to Tali and knelt down next to her. "I'll be back. Don't worry." It was impossible to ascertain whether she understood or not, but she looked a little happier. She reached up and put her arms around Ziva's neck, kissing her on the cheek. "Oh, thanks."

"That was sweet." Abby told Tali as Ziva and the team walked out the door. "Can I get a kiss, too?" Tali walked away from Abby, returning to her doll.

"I guess not."


Author's note: I know I leave you guys with cliffhangers (commercial break?), but I really want to hear what you think will happen next. (I like to see what different people think of the same story.) Speaking of which, did anyone notice something strange in Tali's POV last chapter?