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The attack on the farmhouse was very concerning, as Ziva wasn't sure if she was the intended target or perhaps it was her father. The concept of a coup was not far-fetched; even the position of Deputy Director was coveted; and because of that she was reluctant to contact Mossad headquarters, for fear of what she may find. If there had been a coup, she could also be in danger. That final number she had called had been his personal line, one that had always stood the test of time. For it to be discontinued now could only be for one reason, and she was not ready to concede to that inevitability just yet. If her father was dead…Ziva shook her head, unwilling to consider the possibility.
She also couldn't go to the Israeli Embassy, if her passport was to be believed. According to the document she was an American citizen. American! She had assumed at first it was a forgery, although she had never used the United States as a place of origin in the past. The expiration date was listed as Nov 10, 2020, ten years after it was issued, and the address listed for herself was in Washington, DC. Scrutinizing the record, she felt goosebumps at its familiarity but she passed it off as be taken from something she had read in the past, most likely for this fake ID. Still, she didn't feel comfortable contacting the American Embassy either. Found to be in possession of a fake passport was a serious matter, and not something she wanted to test.
The only way for Ziva to go forward at this point was to treat this new situation as she would any op: it was time to go on a fact-finding mission, and gather intel; and for that she would need to find a computer and start searching for answers. In her mind it was 2004: it was time to uncover the missing pieces of the puzzle that was the past twelve years of her life.
Disclaimer: I should own them, but I don't
Beer Sheva, Israel. David Family Farmhouse- June 5, 2016
Tony walked slowly up to the entrance of the last place he had spent any time with Ziva, the memories flooding over him as a runaway river. At first, she had not been pleased to see him, which had upset him but he did understand that she was only really mad that she had been found, not that it was he, Tony, standing there in front of her.
The next few days had been spent in futile attempts to bring Ziva home with him, to start a new life together although in retrospect he allowed that he probably hadn't been as clear on his intentions as he should have been. Whether she truly didn't believe she was worthy of him, or anyone for that matter; or she doubted his sincerity was a moot point: she stayed, he left, and in the midst of all of it they created a beautiful little girl, their daughter Tali.
Tony hadn't really considered until the day before that all of Ziva's property, money and belongings now legally belonged to his soon-to-be two-year old daughter. Orli hadn't really discussed Ziva's estate with him and he hadn't thought to ask. There hadn't even been a proper funeral or memorial for her yet, at least from him; it didn't seem appropriate to even broach the subject had it even occurred to him. But standing here now he knew that no matter what, he would bend over backwards to keep this home for Tali.
It was the home where her mother was born, the home where her parents declared their love in an almost Romeo and Juliet fashion, hungering after each other as they knew that their time together would be brief. And finally, it was the home where Tali had been conceived. Tony took a deep breath, memorizing the importance of this simple home and how it had impacted all of their lives. He did not want to keep this place as a maudlin memorial to the love of his life and the mother of his daughter. No, he wanted it to be a place of love and light, and everything Ziva had meant to him.
"Ima?" Tali tugged at his pants leg, sitting patiently in her stroller and peering at the home with interest. Tony smiled and stooped down beside the toddler. She knew this place and that gave him hope, that there was light at the end of this dark tunnel.
"Yes, Tali. Mommy and Daddy were here together. Mommy and Daddy loved each other and now we have you. We love you so much." Tony caressed her light curls, his tone upbeat to mask his emotions, but keeping away from the happy, singsong voice Palmer had introduced him to when speaking to children. He had also all but dropped the Hebrew monikers for Ziva and himself, praying that he was not making a mistake in that respect.
"Mommy?" Tali looked at him, her innocent smile melting him and making him feel bad at the same time. He couldn't do it; he couldn't take away the name Ziva had given herself to her child. She would always be Ima. But Tony would not be Abba, he firmly decided. It was his right to have his daughter call him the name he wished, unless of' course she came up with her own name. Not needing to be said was his distaste for the word as he would always associate Abba with Eli David. His daughter may be his grandchild, but Tony was no part of him in any way. He suddenly thought of Ducky laughing about that show…what was it? Oh yeah, "Downton Abbey". The poor grandfather was humiliated to be called "Donk" by his eldest granddaughter. Ducky of" course also thought it absurd and Tony now worried over what strange label Tali could think up to call him…
He sighed over his silly thoughts, taking Tali out of the stroller so she could walk around. "Ima." He said firmly, smiling even though his eyes were moist. "She will always be Ima, Tali. Just as I will always be Daddy." She hugged his legs and looked up at him, the love and adoration in her eyes overwhelming him. There was no way she could show so much love to a man she barely knew; Ziva had done a wonderful job making sure that Tali knew her father as a person, not just as a picture, and for that he would always be grateful.
He walked her through the house, pointing out where he and Ziva had sat and talked about…things. How they stood by the window and Tony had convinced her to write some new "wills" on her list. He stood at the entrance to the bedroom, just the same as he had remembered it. Those last few days together had been stressful and full of sorrow and for Tony, a sense of futility; but he would always remember the love they had shared as he spoke to her of the future, her resolve wavering but in the end remaining steadfast. He put Tali on what he considered their "marital bed", for in truth Tony had fully committed himself to Ziva David even though the words had not been voiced. As he watched her eyes start to droop, he sat silently, trying to make sense of the past, the present and the future.
When he left Israel, Ziva had made him promise to not contact her for a while, to let her take the lead on things, and he had reluctantly agreed. He hadn't heard from her for three agonizing months when he got a post card from Malta of all places. Schmeil was doing research there and had asked Ziva to join him as his assistant and for a change of scenery. He frowned as he remembered the card. She had certainly known she was pregnant by then, yet none of the letters he had just read through asked if he received the postcard or mentioned Malta or Schmeil, until that last one.
And he had written her back, taking it as an invitation that communication could now commence but she was calling the shots regarding the form it would take. He didn't want to appear as desperate as he felt, so Tony had waited before he responded to her communication. He had eventually reciprocated by sending her a postcard from Marseilles, which he had bought in the airport before he headed into the local NCIS office and all of that craziness ensued. His words were light and he took great pains to hide how messed up he was since she had left. Obviously he hadn't mentioned the pregnancy since he knew nothing about it. She never questioned his lack of inquiry and now he wondered if she had ever received it. He tried to remember the return address, where he had mailed his card; he sighed in frustration at his lack of recall but he knew if wasn't the farmhouse where Ziva resided with Tali, where Ziva…
Tony had no idea that place ever existed, so he must have mailed all of his communications to Ziva to either here or her PO Box in Tel Aviv; and he supposed any efforts by the rest of the team also went to that address. He tried to remember what else he had actually received from Ziva during their separation…ah yes! He next received a birthday card, which he now realized was not too long after the time Tali had been born. There was no note included, just a simple "Happy Birthday, Love Ziva" scrawled inside. He wondered if she felt she couldn't include Tali in the sentiment, a thought that made him sad. In return, he sent her a jokey card a few weeks later, complaining about "McGoo" but he refrained from telling her about the new girl. He wasn't ready yet to admit that Ziva would not be returning so in his mind her position was still open.
He didn't hear anything for a while, so he sent her a birthday card in November. By January, Tony and Zoe were dating steadily, and Tony thought back to that moment in October of 2014 when Abby had demanded that he let go of Ziva; and he had reluctantly made the effort to put all thoughts of Ziva aside and he put her, and her Star of David necklace in his desk drawer and closed it shut. That made Tony wonder again just how much Abby knew about what Ziva had been going through with Tali and he shook his head at her duplicity and lies if she had indeed known the truth.
Tony's eyes stared blankly at the bare, plastered wall; wondering why he had received those few, cherished communications from Ziva when the letters, those important letters, had been held. The first postcard held the key: it was mailed from Malta and not the tiny post office in the village that woman controlled. He tried to think where the other cards had been mailed from but gave up. He had received them, not knowing what he had been denied. Ziva had mentioned when they parted that she would be moving around a bit, but never really said where she would be at any particular time. But the letters were an enigma: why did this woman prevent them from being delivered? How could she possibly know what they were about or did she also read them? No, Tony shook his head. He could tell that they had not been tampered with. For whatever reason, this Irena Katz woman refused to send on the correspondence of Ziva David and held it hostage in a small room.
Tony had already contacted Orli and requested that she meet with him tonight when he and Tali had returned to the hotel. As soon as he saw the letters he felt Mossad had to be involved. Whether or not this Katz woman was Mossad he doubted Orli would admit, but he needed answers and wasn't going to listen to any more of her vague responses.
Tony rubbed his face, disbelief at what had happened still overwhelming him. Taking one last look at his sleeping daughter, he left the room and stepped out onto the patio; the same patio where he was sitting when he had been contacted by Gibbs and McGee, lying about his success in finding Ziva. They knew he was lying; well, Gibbs knew. But he didn't call him on it, and for that Tony would always be grateful. Despite his earlier desire to not talk to anyone, he now felt the need to speak to someone who understood what he was going through. Taking out his cell phone, he did a quick check of the time in DC and made his call.
NCIS- Bullpen
McGee let the phone ring for several times before he could finally pick it up. "Special Agent Timothy McGee" he answered distractedly, his thoughts on his computer at the moment.
"McWorkaholic, put that keyboard down and relax for a minute." Tony's words filtered through to McGee's brain and his surprise at hearing from his former colleague quickly morphed into pleasure.
"Tony! This is a surprise; I didn't expect to hear from you so soon." McGee's demeanor turned serious and he looked around. "Did you find something?" He had lowered his voice to keep the conversation away from prying ears. He was alone at the moment, a rare occurrence considering the growing number of agents Gibbs was intent on adding to the team.
Tony leaned back into the chair, trying to decide how to answer that question. He decided honesty would serve him best. "I found…I found that there are a lot more questions than there are answers, Tim." He sighed loudly, sure McGee could hear it on his end. "Look, I got your texts…and Abby's. Not quite ready to handle Abby just yet, so keep this call on the down low, ok?" Tony decided to not mention his concerns regarding Abby and Ziva, as Tim wouldn't have a clue about it in the first place, he was certain.
Tim nodded knowingly, thinking he understood exactly where Tony was coming from. "You got it, Tony. Where are you?"
Tony glanced around, his eyes stopping at the doorway where Ziva had stood as he spoke to Gibbs and McGee that October afternoon. "Where am I? I'm at the scene of the crime, as it were. The first crime, that is. I'm at the house in Beer Sheva." Tony knew that McGee would understand exactly what he was referring to, but forgot that he also thought that was the place Ziva had been when the explosion occurred.
"Isn't that where Ziva…I mean, wasn't that the place…" Tony cut him off since he was having such a hard time even getting the words out.
"I case of mistaken identity, Tim; or in this case, residence. Apparently our little Ninja owns at least one more home than I was aware of. This place…I guess I'll always think of it as ours." Tony sounded so wistful that Tim sat back in his chair. An awkward silence ensued so Tim tried to change the subject.
"How's Tali doing? Are you having any problems handling her on your own?" Tim had been amazed at how good Tony had actually been doing taking care of a completely dependent little person. Tony had no experience with siblings and Tim wasn't sure if he had even ever held a baby before…
"Tali is doing much better than her father." The deeper intonation of Tony's voice brought McGee back up, knowing his earlier comments were a façade. Tony sighed deeply. "It's a lot to take in, to see these places, knowing she was there." He cleared his throat and took a sip of the drink he had brought with him. "I did meet with Orli. She finally admitted that she had lied about Tali being pulled from the house, but she wouldn't back down about Ziva."
Tim frowned at the new information. He didn't see the point of lying about how Tali was saved from the fire, but he also didn't think he should ask for details, especially since it appeared that the "Ziva is dead" mantra was still the accepted outcome. Not knowing what else to say, he muttered the standard response. "I'm sorry, Tony", wincing at how insincere it sounded.
"Me too, kid." Tony eyed the rows of olive trees, remembering where he and Ziva stood as he asked her to come home with him. The last thing he would do before he left with Tali would be to dig up the box Ziva had buried; the box that contained her list of "I Wills". It was something he wanted Tali to have, and he admitted to himself, it was something he needed as well.
"I'm meeting with Orli tonight back at the hotel in Tel Aviv. I've come into possession of a bunch of letters that Ziva wrote over the past years that shockingly never got delivered to their intended recipients; you, Gibbs and Abby included." The sarcasm and anger in Tony's voice was evident and Tim cocked an eyebrow at this new information.
"Really? And you think Orli had something to do with it?"
"Orli, Mossad…what's the difference? This may be one thing I can get an answer on. The woman at the post office disappeared the day of the attack, Irena Katz…" He could hear Tim typing furiously on the keyboard.
"Nope, nothing comes up. I can put out an international BOLO if you want, Tony." McGee waited patiently for a response but Tony shook his head.
"Let me talk to Orli first. She may have the answers we need without jumping through any hoops, although I'm not holding my breath. Do you have anything on your end?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Tony realized that he was no longer privy to the goings on at NCIS. Fortunately, Tim forgot that minor detail and let out his frustrations on his former Senior Field Agent.
"Not unless you call a wild goose chase trying to figure out why anyone would be using an old code that no one had never heard of in the first place! It's…" Tim lowered his voice, realizing he was getting a bit too loud in his annoyance. "It's frustrating, Tony. Gibbs and Vance are looking to me to figure this out but I've never seen anything like this before. No one has. It doesn't even make sense: just some drawings and meaningless words." His exasperation could be heard loud and clear. Tony was sympathetic, but there really wasn't anything he could do to make him feel better, except to try to make him laugh and feel less sorry for himself.
"Well, at least you never had to decipher the crazy code Ziva came up with. After Gibbs went to Mexico, we spent a lot of time together. Oh…I guess you didn't know that." Tony looked slightly chagrined at his and Ziva's clandestine meetings to get to know one another better outside of the office. "Anyway, she showed me the code she and Jenny used when they were on their op in Cairo. It looked like something a fifth-grader would make up." Tim by now realized that Tony was on a roll and let him speak. He returned to his computer, offering an occasional "uh huh" and "really" at appropriate intervals.
"I used to tease her by leaving my own coded messages on her desk. I remember this one I left that had me…I was a pony drinking a cup of tea…get it? Pony, tea…Tony; that's how crazy this code was." He didn't wait for a response. "So anyway, here is this tea-drinking pony and a big sun up in this tree. Get it? Tony and Ziva, sittin' in a tree…" His sing-song voice paused at the silence on the other end and Tony wondered briefly if the connection had been lost. "Ok, so I guess you don't get it."
"Tony! Did you say a sun?" McGee abruptly cut him off. As soon as he heard Tony describe his silly code for Ziva, alarm bells went off in his head. Tony frowned at the question.
"Yeah, McDeaf. Ziva's code for herself was a big sun, you know, for her name: Ziva means brilliance you know; and with a triangle inside. Why?" McGee was looking around frantically, hoping Gibbs had miraculously appeared.
"Tony, what else do you remember about this code Ziva used? Was there a candy cane?" At that, Tony burst out laughing.
"A candy cane? Oh, McIhavenoartistictalent. That wasn't a candy cane; it's a shepherd's crook, you know. For Jenny Shepard." Suddenly, Tim's question had new meaning, a meaning that caught Tony right in the solar plexus.
"Did the sun have an upright or upside down triangle inside of it?" Tony's voice had lowered to what Tim referred to his "Adult Tony Voice". It was serious, it was no-nonsense and every time he heard it, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Just as it was doing at this very second.
"Uh…upside down. Tony, are you saying this is Ziva's code? That's impossible! It was just left, well it was found about…" Tim suddenly shut up, not sure what he was able to relay to the former agent, and frankly, he didn't want Tony to go off on some mission on his own because here was possible evidence that Ziva may have actually survived the attack. "I have to go, Tony." He suddenly blurted out, but Tony was having none of it.
"Don't you dare cut me out of this McGee!" Tony hissed. "This is Ziva we're talking about. If nothing else, it may give us more clues to the bastards that did this. Don't you walk away from me." Tony was angry and desperate. Finally, a thread he could hang onto. His mind was racing at the possibilities this newfound message could mean. Or it could just be an old message that had just been located…at that his shoulders sagged for getting his hopes up, and he felt remorse at yelling at the Junior…oops! Senior Field Agent for not giving in to him.
"I'm sorry, Tim." Tony's voice was tired and emotional and McGee was conflicted. He didn't know how much he was allowed to say to Tony on this. Up until this moment, it had nothing to do with Ziva, therefore Tony would have no reason to know anything about it. Except for Tim's big fat mouth.
"Tony, I need to talk to Gibbs and Vance, ok? I don't know what this means, but I can't say anymore right now, I'm sorry." He winced at the tirade he expected in return but was only answered by Tony's much more quiet words.
"I get that Tim, I do. And no, I'm sorry, really. I can't think of any good reason Vance would read me in on this, except I have seen it before. Listen, I'll be back at the hotel around seven. Orli will also be there. Maybe saying Mossad will be on the other side of the table will give Vance an incentive to do a video chat with me. She may know something more about it, since Ziva used it in 2004 while on a joint Mossad/NCIS mission." Tony chewed on his lower lip, anxious to learn more about this development but cognizant of the fact that he was no longer part of the team. For the first time he wondered if should have taken a leave of absence while he sorted things out, rather than walking away without looking back.
McGee took a deep breath, wanting to assure Tony but also not wanting to give him false promises. "No matter what Vance decides, I'll let you know the outcome, Tony. You have my word. I won't leave you hanging." Tony closed his eyes and nodded, knowing there wasn't much more he could do at this point.
"Thanks, Tim. I appreciate it; I mean that." He cocked his head at a small noise from the bedroom, following by the pattering of tiny feet and a sweet voice calling out "DADDY!" Tony caught sight of Tali as she ran past the opening and then out of view.
"Whoops! Gotta' go, McGee. Tali is on the run." He ended the call and immediately got up and took off after his rambunctious daughter. He looked around and saw her trying to open the front door, all the while calling out for "Daddy". His heart clenched, still astounded by the love this little girl brought him. She turned at his call, still not quite awake from her afternoon nap, he light curls tousled about her face. With open arms and a huge grin, she ran toward her father.
McGee stared at his phone, taken aback by Tony's abrupt sign off. He shook his head at how completely different the life of Tony DiNozzo was, and he admitted to himself that he was slightly envious. He and Delilah had not spoken of children at this point, and he hadn't proposed yet…
"McGee! What's up?" Gibbs strode into the bullpen, noticing the odd look on his Senior Field Agent's face. McGee looked up in surprise, his own personal thoughts dissipating at once.
"Gibbs! I was just talking to Tony. Well…" McGee felt the need to explain a bit further at Gibbs' expression. "I mean…Tony just called and well…he happened to mention that Ziva used to have a code. Gibbs…" Tim typed a few characters and the enigmatic code appeared on the huge flat screen.
"Gibbs…this is Ziva's code. Tony knows what it means." McGee watched Gibbs stand in front of the plasma, looking at the code with new and curious eyes.
"Ziva's code." Gibbs' voice was quiet, almost flat. McGee could see the wheels turning in his head and McGee recalled a bit more that Tony told him.
"Well, yes…and Director Shepard's. This was the code they used in Cairo, when…" he stopped when Gibbs whirled on him, the question and pain on his face causing the younger agent to flinch.
"How did Tony know we were looking at the code in the first place, McGee?" Gibbs looked at him squarely in the face, even as McGee knew that was not what was really on his mind. At the mention of Jenny, he could see the change in his demeanor. Tim didn't think Gibbs was a part of that op, but then he knew next to nothing about Gibbs' undercover experience all those years ago.
McGee swallowed hard, preparing for the wrath he was sure Gibbs was about to rain down upon him. "Uh, well…Tony was, you know talking and he asked how things were…and I…kind of forgot that he…anyway, I guess I kind of said something…" Gibbs listened closely as McGee haltingly explained his lack of discretion, but Gibbs couldn't bring himself to slap him down.
Gibbs' gut was churning, and he worried about Tony and what this could mean. "Rule #39." He thought to himself, and glanced up toward the Director's office. He realized that McGee was still stuttering his apology for mentioning it to Tony and for the first time he truly missed his former Senior Field Agent.
"Forget it, McGee. We got some answers. I'll talk to Vance and see about contacting DiNozzo. He said Director Elbaz would be with him seven p. m. their time?" Gibbs looked at his watch. That would be noon for them; four hours from now and plenty of time to get things set up.
McGee watched Gibbs ascend the stairs to get the ball rolling and sank back into his chair, exhausted by the exchange. "What's up with you?" McGee whipped his head over to Ziva's…oops…Bishop's desk. He hadn't even noticed her return and quickly assumed an air of indifference to hide his inner turmoil.
"Nothing Bishop, just working on some reports. I think Reeves was looking for you." He had seen the way she perked up when the Brit was around and thought he would be good excuse to get rid of her for a while more. "He's with Abby." As expected, Bishop feigned a disinterest but immediately headed for the elevator. Tim rolled his eyes and rubbed his head, feeling a headache coming on. He had thought that things were finally starting to settle from the upheaval they had all been subjected to, but he now had a feeling a new eruption was about to begin.
So, another answer to the puzzle: the sun is Ziva and the crook is Jenny. It will be explained more in the next chapter. I know now that the Beer Sheva home was the one destroyed on the show, but for the reasons Tony gives in this chapter, I'm glad I made the mistake and kept it intact. I refuse to believe that Tony never contacted Ziva after she left, so I added the bit about the postcards, etc. Just a slight dig to the growing number of new cast members. And yes, that will always be Ziva's desk. Thanks again for your support and wonderful reviews.
