Hi Everyone! Hope you are all sticking with me. Next Chapter is here, I still don't own

Gibbs was reeling from the death of Rivka David. He saw little Tali run into the room, screaming for Rivka, and fall over her mother, sobbing hysterically. Gibbs sat nearby and watched the scene, feeling an array of emotions. He could see the parallels between the deaths of both of Ziva's parents, with Tali crying over Rivka and Ziva crying over Eli. When would Eli get there to comfort his daughter? When the door opened, he was shocked to see that it was just Ziva, alone.

"Zivvey!" Tali's voice was like a child's, and the two girls fell into each other. Ziva pulled Tali into another room. "They will be here soon. We will be safe soon. I am here now, you will be alright."

"Ima…."

"Shh, shh I know."

"She is dead!"

"I know. It will be alright. I am here."

Tali pulled out of the embrace and looked Ziva straight in her eyes. She seemed to be waiting for Ziva to continue and Ziva understood. "I will protect you now, Tali. I promise that you will be safe as long as I am here. Abba is not going to make you do anything. I will make sure of it."

"You promise?"

"I promise. I promise that nothing will happen to you."

The lights flashed and Gibbs expected to see the funeral, but apparently Mercy wanted to really show that the death of her mother ended her childhood. The next thing he saw was Ziva sitting at the wheel of a car. An officer he didn't know sat next to her. Gibbs laughed as the officer went through the ins and outs of driving a stick shift.

"Try to go a little bit."

Ziva somehow got the car around the lot, despite being jerky and stalling twice. All in all, it wasn't bad for her first time and her age. Her instructor was patient and helpful, and answered all her questions. That is, things were going well until Eli David walked up to the window of the car.

Mercy was next to him in the blink of an eye. It's been a month since Rivka died. Ziva is handling it pretty well, because she's good at pushing her emotions down. She's angry that Eli isn't letting her anywhere near the investigation into Rivka's murder, and she has to stay strong for her sister. Eli stopped the affair with Orli after the murder."

"Why would he stop now?"

Mercy rolled her eyes. "He cheated on his wife with her. For him, the affair was casual at most, because his marriage was falling apart. When Rivka died, all the old feelings came back. You don't stop loving people, and he felt guilty that he tore his family apart. Staying with Orli is just a reminder of his guilt. So he ended it."

Gibbs turned back to the car, where Eli was lecturing Ziva. "You are having a lot of trouble, I see."

"I am getting used to it."

"Take a lap and show me."

Ziva nodded and started the car flawlessly. Her lap was perfect in his eyes, slow and steady and careful. When she parked again, she wound down the window, smiling. Eli was not.

"That was no good."

"Why?" Her voice had shot up, and she looked embarrassed that she showed emotion over her father's lack of approval. She cleared her throat. "Why?" This time, her voice was level and calm.

"You need to drive faster. It is your best way of avoiding possible IED's and ambushes. You are not an American teenager driving to the shopping mall. You are driving through war zones, start acting like it."

The instructor looked bothered by the inquiry. "Director, it is her first time, it is better she learn technique first. She can learn speed later." Gibbs was impressed that the man had spoken on Ziva's behalf. Eli was not. He fixed the man with a steely gaze. "I would like to continue my daughter's training please. You understand why, I am sure."

He didn't look like he understood but he wasn't going to argue with the director twice, so he got out of the car and Eli got in. Gibbs got in the backseat to watch what was going to happen next. He wasn't surprised when Eli wasted no time. "We are going to drive into down."

Ziva looked down, and Eli looked displeased. "What are you doing? Did you hear me?"

"I did, but..."

"But what?"

"I know nothing about driving in traffic and if I drive fast I might hurt someone."

"Well, you sitting there is not going to help you learn how to drive is it? Go, turn left out the gate." Ziva rolled her eyes, casually, and Eli caught it, though he didn't respond. Ziva started the car and turned out the gate.

By the time she drove the car back into the parking lot, Gibbs was wondering how she had never died on driving alone. She hadn't seemed to learn any traffic rules or regulations. Instead, she had twisted and wound around the streets of Tel Aviv, dodging people and vehicles and buildings, slipping onto the sidewalk and using the opposite lanes if the right ones were full. In conclusion, she drove the same way she drove at NCIS.

The car screeched to a stop and Eli smiled. He actually smiled. "Who is going to attack your car when you drive with such skill?"

Ziva didn't answer, and Eli looked annoyed. "What is wrong with you today?"

"You are not with Orli anymore."

Eli looked surprised, and then annoyed at her change of subject. "No, I am not. You know that."

"Why?"

"Ziva, this is not your concern…."

"WHY?" She gripped the wheel so hard her knuckles turned white and he sighed heavily. "Rivka was killed. I cannot be with someone else after that happened to her."

"Did you love her?"

"Rivka or Orli?"

"Both. Did you love them?"

Eli rubbed his face, exhausted. "I loved Rivka, dear Ziva. She was my wife and I will always love her. Orli was a distraction. She is a good woman, and beautiful, and will be a good wife and a better agent. But no. I did not love her, not like I loved Rivka. Does that answer your question?"

Ziva nodded, and Eli looked almost fond of her, as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "My Ziva. You are growing up so fast. I wish your mother could see you."

"What is the word on the investigation?"

His face closed off and Gibbs knew the conversation was over. "This is not your concern. Go home. Get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day."

The light flashed, apparently, to the next day, and he was back in the Mossad gym. He was slightly worried, but also a little excited to see how Ziva had improved in the last three years. In other scenes and moments of her life he had saw evidence in the form of black eyes and bloody knuckles of long hours in the training gym, but now he would get to see it firsthand.

"Ziva!" He saw her spine stiffen as Ilan Bodnar approached her. Ilan glanced at her attire, sweats and a tank top, and smiled. "You are looking ready to go."

"Who is my final test?"

He smiled. "You have a lot of people to get through first. We have a system." He jerked his head towards a random Mossad trainee. "He is first."

Mercy was sitting next to him, and Gibbs turned to her for an explanation. "What do they mean by final test?"

"Ziva is almost to the point of getting her first mission. She has field training and things to go, but this is her evaluation on combat skills. If she passes today she sets a Mossad record for her age. She has to get through about 20 people first."

"Are they trying to pass too?"

"Some are, some are seasoned officers. You'll know at least one face in the mix. Now, sit back and watch, this is a proud moment for her."

Gibbs watched, part of him feeling proud of her skill and ability, and some disgusted by it. She breezed through the men. Each seemed to fall sooner and sooner, groaning, red in the face from the embarrassment of it all. She had grown leaps and bounds since her last time fighting the men, and they seemed to have to hesitation in punching an 11 year old girl.

When she finished off man number 19, a two year veteran of Mossad, Ilan Bodnar pushed the last man forward. Gibbs froze. It was a familiar face. It was Malachi Ben-Gidon,the man who had abandoned her in Somalia and then tried to pin the death of a marine on her. Here he was, looking to be about 18, around 7 years older than Ziva.

Introductions were made, and they shook hands. The bell rang, and neither wasted any time. Malachi ran at her, and she slid under his legs, flipping him off the ground, where she punched him in the face three times before he flipped her onto her back and punched her four times. The gym was cheering, with the loyalties divided between the two of them, and the fight didn't seem to be ending. They rolled, got back up, and went down again. Neither had the upper hand long enough to finish the other off. No one in the room seemed to be getting bored, as the fight got more and more violent.

After 10 minutes of intense back and forth, Ziva jumped up, wrapped her legs around his neck, and jerked him down. Before he could react, she delivered a final, hard blow to the face, and he was out. Ziva had won. People clapped, and she jumped to her feet. Eli shook her hand. She had passed one stage of her training.

The light flashed and Ziva was in a hospital room, sitting by a bed holding Malachi. He was smiling as she walked in. "I heard you also passed your weapons exam."

"I did." Gibbs wondered why he hadn't seen it, but he really didn't need to. He knew what she could do with a gun and a target.

"You got a perfect score."

"Yes, that is correct."

Malachi smiled again. "You do not need to be so humble. I am impressed, and it is a big accomplishment. Why look so sad?"

"I gave you a concussion. And I broke your hand."

"I broke it last year when I punched a wall too. They heal quickly. It was a good fight and you are limping and wincing every time you move, so you did not exactly get away free either. Like I said, we had a good run of it. I knew half way in that you would win, but I still tried."

"Either of us could have won."

"You know, I am not being trained to be an assassin." He changed the subject rather abruptly, but Ziva went with it. "No?"

"They want me to be a commanding officer one day, with rank and maybe a team of my own. But you will never have rank or have people who report and listen to you. You will just assassinate solo and serve on various teams. Are you bothered by it?"

Ziva sat down on the edge of the bed, looking like she was thinking hard about the question. "I am good at what they want me to do, so I will do it. But no, authority was never something I craved. I can have respect based on character and not job title."

Malachi looked impressed by her answer. "You are a strange child, Ziva David."

Her eyes flashed and she stood up. "I am not a child."

"No, I guess you are not." They stared at each other, their eyes communicating more than words ever could, and she sat back down. Gibbs knew that this was the moment they became friends.

That's it! Almost to the exciting stuff now.