Caught you off guard with that last chapter, huh? :) Don't worry, it'll all make sense soon... This is a short chapter but it explains a lot. Enjoy! I do not own NCIS...

Chapter 7: This Child Changes Everything

As her mind raced, she heard the heavy steel door unlocking, and her hands instinctively moved down to shield her baby. The door opened, and as the two men walked in, the color drained from her face.

Ben-Ami smiled at her, "Why Ziva, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Ziva jumped to her feet, confused and angry, her hands never moving off of her abdomen.

Eli David put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "No kiss for your father?"

~NCIS~

Ziva stood and faced a man who looked exactly like her father. As she clutched her stomach protectively, her mind tried, and failed, to process what she was seeing. She remained in a shocked silence, and finally Eli broke the silence.

"I know this is a hard thing to understand, my Ziva. Let me explain." He then turned to Ben-Ami and said, "Calev, please excuse us." He waited until Calev left and then took a step toward Ziva. She remained still and silent, her hands still clutching her baby, and waited for his explanation.

"Being the Director of Mossad is a dangerous job, Ziva. Fifteen years ago I hired a man named Eitan Betzalel... off of the books. I hired him to be my body double. It is amazing the things that money can get you, yes? In the beginning he was extensively altered, and over the years he has had additional surgery to age as I am aging. For fifteen years he has studied my personality and mannerisms. He was the perfect double. He even had you fooled. He's stood in for me here and there over the years. Then I found out Ilan had turned on me and wanted to kill me. So I let him."

Eli then paused, which proved to be an unhealthy move on his part. Two tears ran down Ziva's cheeks, and when he briefly stopped speaking, her mind flashed back to the night "Eli" was murdered. Her photographic memory now saw a scar on his hand that the real Eli did not have... The hypocritical toast that he gave about family at the Vance's dinner table... Of course! She felt so stupid for missing the clues that were right in front of her. Hindsight is always 20-20. Without thinking twice, she pulled her right hand off of her stomach, reeled it back, and slapped him across the face as hard as she could. The look on her face was of pure disrespect and contempt. Eli was not expecting the strike, and put a hand up to his stinging cheek and stepped back.

"Ziva, please listen..."

"NO, YOU LISTEN!" Ziva's eyes flashed with anger, and she fought with every ounce of strength in her body to maintain control. She had never wanted to kill someone so bad in her life. "Jackie Vance died in that shooting! Her children are 12 and 14 years old! How is it fair that they are the victims in all this?!"

"That was not supposed to happen..."

"BUT IT DID HAPPEN! And what? You sent... A STRANGER... to try to rebuild our relationship?!" Ziva asked incredulously.

"Please Ziva... Just let me finish. Eitan did not know that Bodnar was after me. I did not think Bodnar would catch up to him until after he left the U.S..."

"WHY DID YOU BOTHER SENDING HIM TO ME AT ALL?"

Eli tried to embrace her, but she quickly moved out of his reach. "My Ziva... I knew that Bodnar thought that Eitan was me, and that Eitan was going to die. When Eitan died, I had to die as well, it was only logical... Everyone thought it was me... I sent him to see you because it was not safe for me to come see you... and I wanted to you have one last, good memory with your father before I left. So I told Eitan to visit and try to reconcile with you, and to meet with Arash Kazmi. Those peace talks were real. I did it for your own good, Ziva. You got your inheritance, which is enough to last three lifetimes... But I did not plan on telling you that I was alive. I had planned on living out the rest of my days on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere, and letting everyone think that I was dead, including you..." Eli then shifted is gaze to Ziva's protruding abdomen, that she was fiercely protecting, and said, "But as you know, things change."

"How did you know I was pregnant?"

"Ziva, my Ziva... You are the only child that I have left. I have eyes on you to keep you safe."

"HOW THE HELL IS ABDUCTING ME AT KNIFE-POINT KEEPING ME SAFE?"

Eli glared at her and started raising his voice. "Ziva, this child changes everything. It will be born and raised in Israel, trained as Mossad, and someday will take the Director's Chair. We must do it for our family... and for Israel. You renounced your Israeli citizenship, and betrayed me by doing so. I will not let you make the same mistake with my grandchild... MY GRANDCHILD!"

"THIS IS NOT YOUR GRANDCHILD!" Ziva snapped fiercely. "This is my child and Tony's child! This is Gibbs' grandchild, not yours! You are dead! I buried you, I grieved for you... and now... I AM OVER YOU. This child will be born where me and Tony say, and raised how WE see fit. Not you."

"Oh Ziva... I am sorry but you do not have a choice. You cannot fight, or you risk harming the child. You cannot get away. We will be leaving for Israel in the morning. You and the child will get the best care and accommodations that money can buy. And we will find it a new father."

"MY CHILD ALREADY HAS A FATHER! A BETTER FATHER THAN YOU COULD EVER BUY!"

"We are leaving in the morning Ziva," Eli said again, "The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can all be happy."

Ziva glared at him with a look of hatred that he had never seen from her before and said, "This will not end well for you. I promise you that."

TBC...