AN: I finally get to write the bit that's been in my head since Chapter 2. I am going to try like hell to get this up today and maybe at least start on the next chapter because I have 3 long days in a row at work starting tomorrow (for the 3 busiest days of the week) so I don't know if I'll be conscious enough to write again until Monday after the family's Memorial Day BBQ. For reasons that will become rather obvious, we formatted the rotation of timelines and points of view just a little differently in this chapter.

MN: I know I was complaining about wanting to write fluffy one shots, but AJ and I have come to an agreement. Today we will work on this and one of Tel Nok Shock's oneshot prompts. Our CM oneshot is getting rather lengthy so we're going to put it on the back burner for the day. If we manage to get this and TNS's story done, we're going to start on Chapter 10 of this.


Abby practically ran to Palmer and Ducky as they appeared in the hallway where she waited. She looked over their shoulders then make eye contact with Palmer.

"Sorry, Abby. We couldn't find him. He wasn't any of the places he usually is and he's not answering his phone."

Ducky shook his head. "We even called his home phone but his father answered and said that he had left for work as usual this morning."

She nodded glumly. "Thanks for trying. But anyway, I think they already started so we need to get in there!"


Tony glanced at the screen as he silenced his ringing cell phone once again. This time the display showed his own home phone number instead of 'Palmer', 'Ducky', or 'Autopsy' as it had for the last hour. Great, now his coworkers were enlisting his father in their attempts to track him down.

As he shoved the phone back in his pocket he shifted. A concrete floor wasn't the most comfortable place to have been sitting all day, but now that he was here, he couldn't seem to bring himself to leave.

He had come here fairly often after she had first left, but at some point, the memories became too painful and he had stopped. He was actually surprised when he'd gotten here and the storage unit wasn't empty. He had assumed that by now the Marshalls would have collected the rest of her belongings to deliver to her, wherever she was.

When it really came down to it, he didn't really care why her property was still in the storage unit he and Gibbs had moved it to. Right now what he cared about was that the blanket in his lap still smelled like her and he was surrounded by all of her favorite things and it made him feel close to her. For now, that was the best it was going to get.


Ziva shifted in her seat. It was becoming a struggle not to start tapping her foot impatiently as the judge read over the file. He had only been handed the updated information as she had entered the courtroom. Because of her original status as a protected witness, the courtroom had been cleared before her arrival. She knew that by now the Marshalls that had been guarding the door had been recalled, but no one would have a reason to come in anyway. With only herself, Judge Williams, a guard, and a representative from children's services in the room, it was eerily quiet. So quiet, in fact, that she could hear the breathing of the woman across the aisle.

Finally, Williams raised his head, his gaze settling on the social worker. "Miss Jones, is there anything you care to add to your notes in the file?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, Your Honor. After I wrote my assessment I did have the opportunity to sit down with the child. I have to say, talking to him did ease my concerns quite a bit. He seems to be very well adjusted at this time. He is speaking fairly fluent English, talked about starting Kindergarten in the fall, and referred to Ms. David as 'Mom'. While I stand behind my other concerns, I am no longer worried about the depth of the relationship between Ms. David and Ori."

The judge nodded as she spoke and glanced back down at the file. "Thank you. I think I might like to speak to the boy as well. Would you please go get him?"

"Yes, Your Honor." With a brief glance in Ziva's direction, the woman crossed the room and exited into the labyrinth of hallways and rooms behind the courtroom.

She shifted again as he looked to her. He removed his reading glasses, laying them on the wood in front of him. "Ms. David, you're sure you don't want to wait to do this? To consult an attorney?"

She shook her head. "No, Your Honor."

"Alright. In that case, let me express my concerns. And I do have several, Ms. David. Probably the largest question in my mind is how you feel you can raise not one but two children working the hours of a Federal agent, by yourself?"

At his words she reflexively brought a hand to rest on her bulging abdomen. She opened her mouth to reply, but the judge continued speaking.

"You have no family. You aren't married. From what I am reading in your file, you haven't even been in a steady relationship in years. I'm not sure of your abilities to provide the kind of nurturing environment a child needs to your own baby, let alone Ori. You're due in three months and, at the moment, you don't even have somewhere to live. What makes you think that you can do this completely alone?"

Once again she opened her mouth, and once again she was cut off, this time by a voice behind her. "She isn't alone!"

Ziva turned toward the voice, he jaw dropping when she saw Abby moving up the aisle, Palmer and Ducky following behind.

"Who, exactly, are you?"

Abby pushed through the swinging gate that served as a barrier between herself and the front of the courtroom as she answered the judge's question. "We're her family. Part of it anyway."

Ducky placed a hand on Abby's shoulder to quiet her and stepped forward. "Your Honor, Donald Mallard. May I have a moment of your time?"

Williams shook his head in obvious surrender. "As long as you explain what is going on and who you people are, you may have two."

"Thank you. What my dear Ms. Sciuto was trying to say is that Ms. David will not be raising any children alone. We are her friends and colleagues. We're close enough to consider one another as family. And we support her completely."

The judge's face softened at Ducky's words and he shifted his gaze back to Ziva. "None of that was in your file. Tell me more about this support structure. I'm willing to consider it." He flipped a few pages in the file in front of him, seemingly looking for the information about her team.

Ziva was now flanked by her friends, Abby having settled into the chair next to her. As she drew in a breath the young woman's hand reached over and squeezed hers. "I don't have any blood relatives left. But I have found a new family. Ducky, Dr. Mallard, is like the grandfather I never got to know. He's wise and kind and gives me honest advice."

"Agent Gibbs, can come across as gruff, but in reality he's been more of a father to me in the last eight years then my real father ever was. He doesn't show it much but he has a big heart and he protects the people he cares about above all else."

"Abby, she reminds me so much of my little sister. Despite what we see on cases she is a shining light in my life. She always finds the good in the world and shares it with everyone she can."

"And McGee and Palmer, they only know how to love with their whole hearts. They commit themselves completely to both their jobs and their loved ones. I wish they really could have been my brothers. And Jimmy's wife, Breena, she has become part of our little family too. She accepts us all for who we are and what we mean to him."

While she was talking, Palmer and Ducky had both placed a warm hand on one of her shoulders. Now, as she waited for the judge to respond she focused on their hands to keep herself from crying.

"And what about Agent DiNozzo? You didn't mention him. He's listed here as your partner."

She had skipped any mention him intentionally but now she didn't have a choice.


He returned her kiss, tangling his tongue with her own for a moment before abruptly pulling back. "Ziva, this is a bad idea."

She nodded in agreement. "It is. But if I am leaving, I don't want there to be anything left in the dark between us, Tony. I love you."

For as long as she'd been trying to figure out if it was true, the ease with which the words slipped from her in Hebrew confirmed it. Before she could gauge his reaction his mouth was back on hers.

There was a fire in his kiss that matched her own consuming need. She lost herself so completely in his taste and touch that when she realized they were in the bedroom she'd been staying in she wasn't even sure how they'd gotten there.

When she felt his fingers brush the bare skin below the fabric of her t-shirt the sensation resulted in goose bumps and she groaned against his mouth. Once again he pulled back, his eyes locking on hers. "God, Ziva, I want you. But if you're not sure, please tell me now or I won't be able to walk away."

In simple answer, Ziva stepped back and grasped the hem of her shirt then pulled it over her head.


Tony glanced down at the screen of his phone. Great, now he had a text from McGee to accompany the four phone calls in the last three minutes. He opened it and sighed at the simple message.

*Rule 3. Never be unreachable.*

Almost immediately the phone rang again and he answered it. "Yeah."

"Where are you? You know what, it doesn't matter. You need to get here. Now."

Tony was confused. He didn't even know where McGee was. "Where is here and why do I need to be there?"

"The courthouse in Arlington. She's out of the program. Which means she's in the middle of trying to finalize a single parent adoption without the pull of the Marshall's service. Gibbs is testifying at Thompson's trial and I'm next. We sent Abby to help her. She called in Ducky and Palmer for backup but no one can find you."

His words had Tony jumping to his feet. He hurried to close and lock the storage unit, glad he was barely twenty minutes from the courthouse plaza. "I'm on my way. I'll be there in fifteen."

He turned to run down the hall but froze halfway to the exit at McGee's next words. "Tony, there's something you've got to know. She's pregnant."


AN: Okay, this really isn't where we were gonna leave this but if we kept going it was gonna be really freaking long so we shall keep working on what was gonna be the rest of this chapter to be the first part of the next chapter.

MN: So, mark this day on your calendars. That angsty Tony/Timmy bit at the end? That was actually MY doing. I know, freaky.