Sorry (I know it's a rule against it, but, an explaintion is needed) I've been down in North Carolina, a place where there's no internet! So I just got back, but I had plenty time to write so enjoy!


The Sun Doesn't Shine In Hell

She awoke as the sun was starting to come up.

Somehow her body always woke up just in time to see it.

She slowly removed the comforter that she didn't remember going to bed with and the covers before walking over and taking a seat on the edge of the window seat.

Her fingers lightly traced over the stained glass.

The sun, it slowly pulled up over the horizon as she let out a slow sigh.

"Beautiful, right?"

She looked over her shoulder, Tony stood behind her with Rylin asleep in his arms.

"I suppose."

"It's only six. Don't you wanna sleep so more?" Tony asked.

Ziva shook her head, "My body always wakes up around this time…as a child my mother used to wake me up to see the sunset, ever since then…"

Rylin scrunched up her face and wiggled closer to Tony's chest.

"Um…you wanna hold her?" Tony asked cautiously, clearly the position he was in was uncomfortable.

Ziva smiled, "She is my daughter, remember?"

Tony nodded, "I know…"

Ziva stood up and they carefully slid the baby into her arms.

"I, uh, made you some tea…"

Ziva nodded, "Alright." She said as she followed him out the door.

"Where is Gibbs?" she asked as she sat down at the counter.

"He went to the office-"

"To chew Vance out?" Ziva finished.

Tony bit his tongue before answering, "Yeah, pretty much."

Ziva smiled and reached over, picking the pink and purple pacifier off the counter.

"Yeah, I don't think she likes that thing." Tony commented and Ziva nodded, "I can tell."

The steaming hot tea was carefully placed inside a finely-designed glass cup, which he slid next to her.

She took a sip and then ran a hand on Rylin's hair.

"So…"

"I am…sorry about last night-"

Tony shook his head, "You were under some stress. I should have thought it through."

Ziva looked up at him, "Do you think…I'll ever be the same? Will I be able to…to play in the snow with my daughter but not fear that I'll be violated over and over until I pass out?"

"I think you. You're Ziva David; I've never known you to be a quitter."

Ziva licked her lips and took another sip, "Last night…I remembered."

"Ziva."

Ziva shook her head, "I will not pour my heart out to you…I just remember, Elijah, and Kai and the woman, they helped me get through it. If they had not been there, I probably would have killed myself….see my sister again."

Tony put his hand on top of hers, "I'm sure Tali would love to see you again, but, I think she'd want you to watch over her niece, first."

Ziva smiled and nodded looking down at Rylin, "Tali said, no, claimed the name Ava. If she were ever to have a child…"

"Did you choose a name?" Tony asked.

Ziva nodded, "I claimed, Shyloh."

Tali looked down at Rylin, "She could be a Shyloh."

Ziva chewed on the inside of her lip and shrugged, "When I do her birth certificate, I suppose."

Tony nodded and it was quiet between the two, only the glass cup clinking against the countertop every time Ziva took a sip, until the phone rang.

Rylin, a person who liked to sleep in, was not happy that she was awoken and let out an ear-piercing scream.

"Ah! God!" Tony shouted as he fell to the floor clutching his ear.

Ziva laughed and leaned over the counter to look at him, "You should see your face right now."

Tony groaned and stood up, "Oh, man. That's not funny."

Ziva shrugged and lifted Rylin onto her shoulder, lightly patting her back and murmuring comforting words to her, "Just answer the phone."

Tony picked up the receiver and stuck his tongue at Ziva as he answered, "DiNozzo…Yeah, boss…right. Okay, no I'll tell her…okay…sure….bye."

Ziva raised her eyebrows as she soothingly rubbed tiny circles in Rylin's back.

"What did Gibbs say?"

"Um…He said Abby was stopping by, if you wanted…"

Ziva nodded, "No. No. She can come."

"She wanted to take you and, uh, Rylin out."

Ziva's face dropped a little, "Where?"

"A baby store?"

Ziva sighed, "Okay…what time?"

"10." Tony stated.

"Alright." Ziva said standing up. "Now that she's up." She said, turning toward her bedroom.

"Where ya going?" Tony called.

"She needs a bath."

"Well, how ya going to do that?" Tony asked.

Ziva smiled and returned with a small tub-looking item. She set it in the middle of the living room.

"And what's wrong with the sink?"

Ziva smirked, "She's three weeks old."

"So?"

'Okay, now he's joking with me.' Ziva thought.

"Would you like to help me?" she asked.

Tony shrugged, "Sure."

He walked over and picked up the tub.

"How much do I put in here?"

"I thought you knew."

"Why would I know? I don't have any nieces or nephews!"

Ziva bit her lip and then they both looked at each other.

"Internet."


"Aren't they supposed to scream?" Tony asked. "That's what happened in all the movies."

"Don't put it into the atmosphere." Ziva shushed as she slowly poured water over Rylin's head, with her hand across Rylin's forehead.

"Alright, so what can I do?" Tony asked.

Ziva smirked, "Well first. You can roll up your sleeves, because you're gonna get wet."

Tony nodded, "And?"

"Can you, take handfuls of water and slowly wash over her chest." Ziva explained.

Tony rolled his sleeves, "Okay."

"I am going to go and get the lotion, a diaper, and some towels." Ziva said as she stood up and Tony took her place.

Rylin, who had been supposedly calm immediately, began flailing her arms and splashing water everywhere.

"Rylin! Rylin! R.J. Okay, R.J." Tony said.

He heard Ziva laugh from her room as she gathered up all the items.

"Rylin Shyloh Jennifer!"

Rylin froze and stared up at him.

Tony sighed and shook some of the water from his hair before taking a handful of water and washing Rylin with it.

"Okay…so you don't like having your full name shouted…I'll remember that." Tony muttered as he repeated the last step again.

"Hey, you know what? I think you'd look great with a Mohawk." Tony said as he pushed the tips of Rylin's hair upward.

"What are you doing?" Ziva asked as she sat down next to the tub.

"R.J. and I were experimenting with hair styles, thank you very much."

Ziva grinned, "She looks like a boy, now."

"Well, you know she's kinda missing one, little important thing.'"

Ziva rolled her eyes, "Stop, please."

Tony held up in his hands in defense, "Alright. You're all done R.J."

"What'd you call her?" Ziva asked as she picked up the towel.

"R.J.?"

Ziva smiled, "Like Robert Wagner?"

Tony shrugged, "That or Rylin Jennifer, your pick."

Ziva playfully shook her head before slowly scooping Rylin up from the tub and wrapping her up tightly in the towel.

Rylin began sobbing and wiggling in the towel.

"Sh, sh." Ziva murmured.

"She's pissed you messed up her Mohawk."

Ziva rolled her eyes, "Yeah, well, Uncle Tony can build you another one."

"Whoa, whoa, since when do you build a Mohawk, a Mohawk is sculpted my little Israeli friend." Tony said in a horrible English accent, while he pretended to smoke an imaginary pipe.

"All right, baby lotion." Ziva instructed.

Tony quickly squeezed some lotion onto his hand and they quickly achieved their goal of having a clean baby after only…two and a half hours.

"I don't think it was supposed to take this long." Tony stated as he sifted through the bag of clothes Abby bought.

"Well, you have to input the amount of time from the internet."

Tony shrugged, "Guess so, thank god for BabyCenter."

Ziva smiled and simply picked up a pick and purple 2-in-1 outfit and slid it over Rylin's head, "She is not going to meet the president Tony, you do not need to spend twenty minutes picking out an outfit."

"Hey, if she's gonna be around me she's gonna be a fashionable person." Tony said as he shoved the rest of the clothes into the bag.

Ziva rolled her eyes, "Maybe a restraining order would be best then."

Tony scooped Rylin into his own arms, "Say no, no restraining order…no."

Rylin giggled and stuck her hand in her mouth before staring up at Tony.

"You wanna watch Disney Channel?" Tony cooed. "Yeah, let's watch Nickolodeon. What do you wanna watch? You wanna watch Victorious? My favorite character is Beck, you know, his hair is just so…flippy."

Ziva sighed and shook her head, "When was I given the responsibility of watching 2 children?"

"About the time you joined NCIS." Tony said as he and Rylin sat in front of the TV.

"Tony, don't sit in front of the TV, it is not good for your eyes." Ziva said as she cleaned up the mess.

"Gee, thanks mom."


"Ziva!" Abby squealed as she entered the hotel room.

Nobody answered back, so she walked further into the room.

She stopped at the living room and smiled.

Both Tony and Ziva were passed out.

Ziva was on the couch with Rylin, resting, on her chest.

Tony was lying next to the couch, smelling like baby lotion and empty bottles spread around his legs and body.

Rylin was wide awake playing with Ziva's curls.

Abby held back a laugh, "You wore them out didn't you?" she whispered as she slowly lifted Rylin from Ziva's chest.

"Hi Rylin, remember me? I'm your Auntie Abby." Abby said quietly, bouncing the infant in her arms.

"I think she remembers." A groggy voice said.

Abby smiled as Ziva sat up and rubbed her eyes, like a child.

"Ready?" Abby asked.

Ziva blinked before shaking her head, "Her bag has to be packed, and I still have to change."

Abby looked around the room, "Geez, what happened?"

Ziva chuckled, "Never let Tony babysit your child, ever."

Abby nodded, "Agreed."

Ziva stood up, "I'll go get dressed." She stated before walking and shutting the door to her bedroom.

"Hey Rylin, pretty girl, why'd you do that to mommy? Hmm? And Uncle Tony?" Abby murmured as she pulled together items for their trip.

"Cause she likes to see me squirm." Tony muttered as he sat up.

Abby stifled a laugh, "Are you okay?"

Tony shook his head, "I think I have a formula hangover."


"Do you think she'll like this one? What am I saying, she's a baby?" Abby said as she looked over a pink and blue one-sie outfit.

Ziva gave a short laugh as she picked up a pair of purple striped pants, "Oh, you'd be surprised."

"Really?"

Ziva nodded, "Yes, that's one of the reason's we had that issue at the house, Tony apparently put on an outfit, she found….distasteful. After I already put one on that she liked."

Abby raised her eyebrows, but continued to look through the pile of clothes, "Alrighty then."

"Yes." Ziva said as she eyed Rylin as she slept in the carrier that was attached her chest. "She is…her own self, a different personality."

"Maybe she'll die her hair blue." Abby joked and Ziva smiled.

"Tony already attempted to give a Mohawk."

"Did she like it?"

Ziva nodded, "Too much. She became angry when I had to dry her off."

"You gave her a bath! I can't believe I missed it!" Abby shrieked.

Ziva smiled and shook her head, "She will have one again, quite soon, trust me."

"You better call me, this time." Abby said with a pointing finger.

Ziva chuckled, "I will."

"Good." Abby said, perky again.

Ziva shook her head and rubbed Rylin's now, extremely dark hair that was covered by a pink newborn cap to protect her from the cold.

"So, Tony sure packed a lot of stuff."

Ziva nodded, "Yes, he did last night also."

"Where'd you go last night?" Abby asked.

Ziva shrugged, "Dinner."

"Ziva, you know I don't mean to-"

"It was just dinner." Ziva corrected.

"That's not what I was gonna ask."

Ziva smirked at her, "Yes it was, you were just gonna put it in a complicated way of words."

Abby opened and shut her mouth before finally nodded, "Pretty much."

"I love her. Rylin that is. But I am glad that he is…gentle with her, and makes her laugh." Ziva said quietly as a group of woman cooed over her baby.

"What's her name?" one of them asked.

"Um, Rylin."

The woman smiled, "Pretty. You and your husband are very lucky."

Ziva nodded, "Thank You."

The woman smiled and then left with her friend.

"I'm shocked she didn't ask if we were together." Abby muttered as they walked toward the cashier.

"No comment." Ziva replied.

Abby nodded and paid for the items and then they left quickly and walked over to Ziva's rental.

Ziva slowly and gently removed Rylin for the carrier, careful not wake her, and strapped her in before climbing in next to Abby.

"Not too bad of damage." Ziva commented as she looked over the bill.

Abby snatched the bill from her, "You're not supposed to see the bill." She hissed.

Ziva smiled, "I can't help it."

Abby nodded, "Well, try."

Ziva rolled her eyes and nodded, "I'll try."


"I'll just set her in there." Tony strained as he carried Ziva into the bedroom.

Abby nodded as she held Rylin in her arms; surprisingly the baby was still asleep after an almost forty-five minute car ride.

"Yeah, she's knocked out." Tony said as he shut the door and walked over to the kitchen.

"Rylin, too." Abby said as she sat down on a bar stool.

"When was the last time she ate?" Tony asked.

"Um…." Abby said as she thought it over. "Maybe two hours ago?"

Tony nodded and reached into the fridge, pulling out a bottle, "She'll need to wake up soon, anyway." He commented.

"I thought Ziva didn't wanna use formula." Abby said.

Tony nodded as he placed the bottle in the bottle warmer, "She doesn't, she pumped this, this morning." Tony explained.

Abby pursed her lips and nodded, "Right."

Shortly after the bottle warmer went off and Tony removed the bottle, and reached for Rylin.

Abby placed her in Tony's arms and he smiled, "R.J. R.J. Come on wake up." Tony murmured as he placed the bottle's nipple to her lips.

Rylin's eyes tightened and she began squirming in his arms as she was awoken.

"Oh, somebody doesn't wanna be woken up." Abby said with a smile as Rylin finally accepted the bottle.

"Once she figures out it's food she's fine." Tony said.

"She doesn't get confused? Like between the bottle and Ziva breastfeeding?"

Tony shook his head as he looked down at the baby, "It's all food to her."

Abby nodded, "She's been around you long enough."

It was quiet between the two until Rylin finished her bottle and Tony began burping her, "So, when is Ziva doing the birth certificate?" Abby asked.

Tony shrugged with his free shoulder, "I don't know."

"Do you know who she's naming…?"

Tony shook his head, "She's only mentioned adding Shyloh to her name. Nothing about…the father."

Abby rubbed her nose, "How would you feel if she asked you if your name could be on the birth certificate?"

"She could leave it blank."

Abby nodded, "She could, but she won't."