A/N: Hey guys! Here's the new chapter! We need to have a heart to heart. First, the latest NCIS episode? With Tony's new fling? I love it! Especially the part with Abby and Tony in her lab? I was BAWLING. What about the Castle episode? THEY'RE FINALLY MARRIED! After seven seasons it finally happened! The whole episode was great, the ending was perfect. AND THE SONG! It was just...wow. What did you guys think about either of these episodes? PM me. I'd really like to know.
"Alexis!" Tony exclaimed. He had not expected to see the college kid, he thought see was at school.
"Tony!" she gave him a hug.
"You look all different, quite mature actually, it's freaking me out" he told her, causing her to laugh.
"I come bearing gifts" he held up the bag as he walked inside. He saw Liz, playing with her toys and talking to another girl around her age. Martha was nowhere to be found. Tony turned to Alexis and said, "So they put you on babysitting duty?"
"Uh, no. I actually volunteered," was her reply.
Castle told Alexis the story with Ziva and Tony and was eager to meet little Tali. When Tony showed up at the door, she really wasn't expecting it. But of course, Alexis liked Tony and hasn't seen him in a long time. She tried to come up with a cover story about Talia but it seemed that she didn't need to.
"I see Liz is on a playdate," Tony said.
"Oh, uh, yea. Her parents went out and they had no babysitter"
Liz hadn't yet noticed her godfather so she continued playing with her friend. Tony inspected the girl. She looked vaguely familiar but Tony couldn't place where she had seen someone who looked like her.
"Lexi!" Liz turned around to speak to her sister. She spotted Tony and her face broke out into a grin."Tony!" she yelled, laughing and waddling towards him.
"Hey kiddo," he laughed and picked her up. She'd gotten heavier since he last seen her. When she noticed what he had in his hand, she squirmed in his grip.
"Toys, toys! Look Tali, toys!" Tony froze. The other girl's name was Tali? As in Talia? That was Ziva's sister's name. It had to be a coincidence, he thought. Tali came over to Liz and they started looking through Tony's bags. Alexis stood there, shocked. She seen Tony's reaction to Tali's name and thought that he had realized who Tali really was. She needed to call her dad.
"I'll be right back, Tony" Alexis told him. She ran into her dad's office and locke the door behind her. She picked up Castle's office phone and called him.
"Hey Alexis," Castle greeted.
"Hey, Dad, where are you?" she anxiously asked.
"I'm at the precinct with Ryan and Esposito"
"I think we have a situation here." she told him and she started explaining what happened.
"Is that why you're calling from my office phone?" he asked when she was finished.
"Yes"
"Ok, just making sure. I'll be right there" Sure enough, 20 minutes later there he was, bursting through the loft's door.
"Castle," Tony said, surprised. He was supposed to be on his dinner with Kate, wasn't he?
"What are you doing here? What happened to the dinner?"
"What dinner?"
"That dinner you and Kate are supposed to be on."
"Oh right, I just came back to get the keycard for the hotel room. I forgot it."
"Ah," was all Tony said. He's been an investigator for almost 15 years, he knows when someone is lying to him.
"So this dinner, at which restaurant did you say it was at again?"
"Oh, I didn't. It's at this place called La Salle's in Midtown." Castle had an amazing ability to think on his feet. If Tony knew he was lying, he didn't let on.
"You should be getting back then, wouldn't want to leave Kate all alone now." Tony told him.
Castle nodded, he went up to Liz and Tali and kissed them both goodbye. Tony found it odd that Castle would go around kissing children that weren't his on their forehead. As Castle was leaving Alexis hissed at him, "Thanks so much for your help, Dad"
"Anytime sweetheart, it was obvious you had everything under control" was his reply as his daughter closed the door on him.
Now this, is a problem, he thought.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Ziva get down. He's here." Kate exclaimed. She ducked under the table so Tony wouldn't see her. Kate decided to take Ziva to this new bar called Excelsior. They have n=been having a good time just until Tony walked through the door.
Ziva instinctively pulled out one of her hidden knives. "Kate, what's wrong?"
"Ziva, put that thing away and get down here. It's Tony" She looked towards his direction and noticed he was talking to the bartender.
"Kate, I don't think he can see us, it's safe to come out." Ziva started laughing. Of all places, this is where she sees him. He looked... nice. She was surprised. It's been two years since she last seen him, since she broke his heart. She started wondering about how he's been the past couple of years. She watched him talk to the bartender and walk away, back to the streets of New York. When he was gone, she called Kate back up. "Well, crisis averted" when she said that, both women started laughing. They couldn't stop.
"Okay, okay, so I acted a little rashly," Kate said defensively.
"A little?" Ziva begun laughing again.
"Are you okay Ziva? I know seeing him must have been hard for you." Ziva thought about the question. She was conflicted on her feelings, she still loved him but she thought that he moved on. After all, it's been two years. He probably had a girlfriend. However, it still felt good seeing him.
"So... what's his girlfriend like?" Ziva asked Kate. Now it was her turn to laugh.
"C'mon Ziva. You know that he's been hung up on you these past two years right? Sure he acts all happy all the time but it's just a mask. Deep down, he's pretty depressed. I think if it wasn't for NCIS and his team I don't know where he'd be right now. That's why I think you should come clean. I think that this would be great, not for you, and not even for Tony. But for Tali, Ziva, you're a mother and you should be thinking for not only yourself, but for your daughter." Kate had thought about this for a long time. It felt good to finally let it out.
"Of course Kate, you're absolutely right. I just don't know if it's the greatest idea, I mean with everything going on with Bodnar's group, The Dominates, I don't know if it's the right time to bring Tony into our lives. I don't know how he'll react, especially with Tali. I don't if he'd even want to get back to gether with me. I don' know Kate! I just don't know." Ziva didn't realize she was crying until she felt Kate hugging her. She sobbed into her shoulder, not caring if people were looking at her. It felt good to realease everything she's been feeling, all that stress and all her emotions just poured out.
"Ziva, it's going to be okay. Things are rough now and that's understandable. But after this, you have to stay strong. Keep yourself going because things could either get better, or worse from here, it's up to you to figure out how you're going to handle it. Even when you're not feeling brave, just fake it. It really is helpful to just pretend." Ziva knew that she was right but right now, all she wanted was to hold Tali in her arms.
"Can we go home?" she asked Kate.
As they paid the bill, Kate saw that Castle had called a couple of times. She decided to not call back because she felt that it wasn't right to Ziva that she would talk to her husband while she was having an emotional breakdown. When they got to the loft however, Kate realized that she made a horrible mistake by not calling Castle.
