"You killed him!"

"If I hadn't, you'd be having this conversation with him. But perhaps, that's the way you'd prefer it?'

"Perhaps, I would!'

Ziva crashed him back into the croncrete, her gun against his chest. She saw the look in his eyes and then the blood that began spreading around the area where the gun muzzle was pressed into Tony, directly over his heart with her own body holding him down.

When Ziva started to come around, Gibbs gave her hand a light squeeze. Her facial features looked as though she were having a nightmare and when she finally flashed her eyes open the first word out of her mouth was, "Tony!" In a whispered shout as her vocal chords were once again irritated by intubation from surgery.

Her nightmare had been a mesh of realities and memories. From their last trip to Israel where they'd fought over Rivkin's death and her gun barrel pressed into his chest, to the most recent, where they'd been standing in the same courtyard only to have someone actually shoot Tony exactly where her gun had been pressed before and now it wasn't their bullet that was killing him, but hers.

"He's alive." Gibbs answered her quietly with a soft head nod and a smile. "You saved him." He held her hand in both of his now taking a deep breath to see her beautiful dark eyes full of life once more. "He's there." Gibbs nodded with head and pointed with his eyes across the room to where Tony was now lying in another bed.

Ziva slowly turned her aching head to look in the other direction and could see Tony's profile lying in a bed similar to her own. The soft whooshing of the ventilator and sporadic beeps on the heart monitor coming from the machines surrounding him showed signs of life to her but also the realization that he was in bad shape. McGee was sitting next to his bed, smiling softly over at Ziva.

"It's nice to see you awake." McGee smiled feeling choked up and trying not to let the tears well in his eyes remembering how afraid he was in seeing them pinned down and bleeding out like that.

E.J. and Director Vance had taken up residence on the small sofa in the corner of the room. E.J. had finally fallen asleep, each having taken a shift of vigilance over the two while also resting. Her head now lay against the Directors shoulder where he was struggling to stay awake now as well.

"David," he smiled slowly blinking at her, not wanting to get up and wake E.J. "I am happy to see you've managed another miracle."

Ziva didn't speak, her throat hurt and her head felt heavy like lead, but the corners of her mouth curled slightly at seeing them all unharmed. Her gaze fell back to Tony's face and she squeezed Gibbs hand more tightly with fear.

"How…bad?" She croaked out softly in barely more then a whisper, not taking her eyes off the unconscious man she loved, seeing him supported with machines to keep him alive and breathing.

McGee and Vance's eyes flashed back to Gibbs, waiting for him to answer her knowing that this kind of news should come from him.

"They had to remove the upper lobe of his left lung. The damage there was too severe. The bullet ricocheted off his sternum after going through your hand." Gibbs looked down to where her hand was stabilized through Ziva never took her eyes off Tony. "Your hand on his chest… saved the direct hit to his heart, Ziva." He added quietly. "He lost a great deal of blood and his lungs are struggling. He's unable to breathe on his own. With the previous damage from having the Plague…" He swallowed hard at the disheartening development of how seriously Tony had been injured, "He's having a tough time." He admitted honestly knowing she wanted the truth and he wouldn't lie to her, "He's stable as long as he's on the machine. They are keeping him in a medically induced coma. Trying to give him time. They went ahead and put in a Tracheostomy Tube," Gibbs looked over to where the ventilator breathing for Tony was connected directly through a hole in his neck. "They said he will be needing the vent for quite awhile and it's the best way to cause the least amount of damage to his throat."

By the time Gibbs was finished speaking, silent tears were running in constant streams from Ziva's eyes; over the bridge of her nose and into the pillow as she refused to turn her head away from looking at Tony. Her heart was breaking at the sight of him. Never had she seen him in this way. So still. So silent. So fragile looking and it terrified her. She had to touch him, feel his warmth. Immediately she pulled her hand away from Gibbs and reached for her covers, pulling them back and trying to sit up, swallowing a cry in the process and biting it back as both McGee and Gibbs surged forward.

"Whoa there, Ziver." Gibbs held onto her arm to keep her in bed, "Where do you think you are going?"

"I need to see him." She answered in merely a whisper with raging tears, refusing to tear her eyes away. "Please?" Ziva pleaded with Gibbs to let her go.

"Then let me help you." Gibbs answered knowing there was no way to stop her from going to Tony so he may as well help her lest she injure herself more. He moved around the bed quickly and stood before her. Extending his one hand to her good one to hold. "You're shot in the thigh." He informed her incase she hadn't known, being that she was in shock once they'd gotten her inside just before she passed out. "You are going to need to lean on me for support. Go slow." He instructed her looking deeply into her eyes, "No rush. We'll get you there." He smiled softly and finally saw one creep into her eyes with a soft head nod that he wasn't fighting her on this. "Count of three, Ziver and I'll help lift you up." Gibbs leaned forward slightly and wrapped his other arm under the one of her's that had been shot, holding firmly onto her around her ribcage for support. "One, two, three." He counted and then lifted as she pulled towards him. He heard her inhaled cry of pain through clenched teeth and saw the flood of new tears but she was determined.

Ziva took a moment to slow her heart after the moment of seering pain and balanced her weight on one leg while Gibbs readjusted their position. She tried to take one step towards Tony's bed and stopped abruptly with the shockwave of pain through her thigh. Tears immediately surging forth at not only the pain but also her inability to get to Tony.

"I can't." She shook her head speaking in a whisper.

Gibbs took one look at her face and the look of defeat and it broke his heart. He turned around and nodded at McGee to come help him. With McGee holding onto her IV pole, Gibbs reached around Ziva and gently lifted her off of her feet again, carrying her slowly the ten feet between their beds and set her carefully back down again beside Tony's bed with McGee moving her IV pole beside them.

"Thank you." She whispered with a grateful tear filled smile to him and then reached slowly for Tony's still hand lying on the bed. His finger was attached to a pulse monitor and she carefully wrapped her hand around his as not to disturb it. New tears filled her eyes to feel his warmth and she wanted so badly to lean over and kiss him, though knew she couldn't. She had no balance without the ability to stand on one leg or real use of her arms; one without strength having been shot through the muscle and artery and the other with no use of her hand as it was strapped to a stabilizing board. "I want to kiss him." She cried softly admitting out loud her frustrations and upset. Holding back a shaking sob as she looked at his face.

Gibbs sighed heavily, hitting the button on Tony's bed and lowering the rail. He stepped closer, holding on supportively to her upper arm and a hand to her waist he leaned closer to her ear, "Go ahead. I've got you." He nodded at her with a soft smile to kiss Tony. That he would hold her up and keep her balance.

Ziva was grateful with tears rolling down her cheeks, she leaned in slowly crying softly as she kissed his lips and then his cheek and then temple. Resting her forehead with his and closing her eyes as she cried at what had happened. "I love you." She whispered over and over along with her apologies, "I'm sorry." She shook her head feeling overwhelmed and guilty knowing that he would not be in Israel or where he was now if she hadn't come back to this place he hated and was trying to love for her sake. The reasons why they were there only bringing more tears. Liat. Who was still out there and in grave danger and needed them. Ziva began to cry quietly and within moments it turned into sobs. She had done this to him. Once, she had warned Ducky not to get too close to her as those who did almost always ended up dead. She should have known this would happen.

Gibbs carefully pulled her back, turning her into his chest and wrapping his arms around her, tucking her head into the crook of his neck and letting her cry.

The sight was too much for McGee who also now had silent tears streaming down his cheeks as did Vance, who steadfastly ignored them seeing how upset Ziva was and having heard her quiet apologies to Tony. That she felt guilty for his being shot.

E.J. had woken to the sound of Ziva's cries and now sat silently beside Vance watching her breaking down in Gibbs arms. Ziva cried for several minutes until she could cry no more with Gibbs simply holding her tightly and giving her quiet comfort. There was nothing any of them could say that would make this any better. They knew the tremendous guilt she felt for Tony's being injured even if she wasn't at fault. She loved him and there was no reasoning with love and pain.

Gibbs picked her back up and moved her back to her own bed, laying her back down with McGee shuffling the IV pole back into place. "You need to rest more, Ziver. Tony won't be going anywhere. Neither will we." He assured her pulling the blankets back up over her bare legs. "You need to sleep. It is the only way you're going to heal." He sat on the edge of her bed gently touching her face with the backs of his fingers, carefully of her wound there. "Sleep." He looked intently into her eyes, "I promise to wake you if anything happens." He assured her seeing her eyes flash to Tony with concern. He leaned forward, kissing her forehead in a long lingering kiss, "I love you, kid. Even when you scare the hell out of me." He whispered with a smile that somehow she always managed to get into situations that had his heart pumping.

Ziva returned a hint of smile through tear filled eyes and couldn't fight her exhaustion anymore. Just getting out of bed and crying on top of everything she'd already been through was enough to drain all her energry having such a low blood volume. She didn't say anything to anyone as she found the hand clicker for her pain pump and clicked it twice, dosing herself with a good shot of morphine to ease the aches and let her fall asleep once more. The pain was relentless.

Gibbs moved back around the bed again and reached for her hand, holding it tightly and only then did Ziva's eyes begin to fall shut again, her fingers never relaxing and afraid to let go. He was content to be her safety net if that's what she needed to fall asleep. His gaze drifted over to Tony's still form in the bed across the room. He knew this changed everything with how they were going to proceed.

Looking back at Ziva now, already asleep so exhausted from the ordeal, he feared that as soon as she regained her strength her resolve to go it alone would also return, not wanting to put any more of them in harm's way on her behalf. Whatever pact she'd made with Tony on the plane had gone out the window the moment that Bodnar attacked, having Tony shot instead. He was doing exactly as Cruz had said he would. He was going for her heart, not just physically, but emotionally. She would do anything to protect those she loved and having them target the man she loved, in an effort to get her to proceed alone, had been effective. He saw the guilt in her eyes for however briefly she would maintain eye contact with him. Gibbs knew she was trying to hide it by avoiding his penetrating gaze, but he knew. She'd already made her mind up in the first seconds of being awake and seeing Tony as he was, that as soon as she was healed, she was going on alone.

Gibbs only had a limited amount of time now, to figure out how to go around Ziva and change her mind or if he couldn't… how to minimize the damage and protect her.

When she woke again three hours later, Gibbs was right where she'd last seen him. Sitting beside her, and holding her hand. She gave him a small smile in response to the one he'd given her seeing her eyes fluttering open once more.

"How you feeling, Ziver?" He asked quietly leaning forward more to be closer.

"Like I really have to pee." She admitted and caused an unexpected chuckle from Gibbs at her bluntness.

"Yeah, I suppose you might after all the IV fluids you're receiving. I'll get you a nurse." He shook his head with the same smile and stood, leaning over to kiss her forehead.

"No nurse. Please?" Ziva asked with pleading eyes not wanting to be doted on again after just getting her liberty back. "Just help me to the door of the restroom and I will be fine."

"You always are." Gibbs sighed at her use of 'fine' yet again. Some things about Ziva would never change.

"How is Tony?" She asked turning her head to the side to look aross the room at him at him as a flash of the past blasted before her eyes. The urgency to pee reminded her of she and Tony locked in the shipping container for hours on end, discussing Koch Koch Hota Hai and then flying forwards to the morning of their engagement. Lying over his chest and watching the same film. Everything had been perfect then.

"The same." Gibbs answered honestly as there had been no change in his condition. He moved around the bed to lift her out once more. With McGee standing on instinct to help again without Gibbs asking, he reached for her IV pole. Not bothering even to set Ziva on her feet this time, Gibbs carried her over the short distance to the restroom door in their room and then set her down once she could hold onto the wall for support. "I'll be right outside the door." He assured her he wouldn't leave.

Ziva looked at her predicament now facing the toilet and conceded defeat. Without the use of both arms and one leg presently, she needed help. She tapped on the door and Gibbs opened quickly.

"It seems that I am once again in a state of Hump a Dump?" She looked at him trying to remember what Tony had described her as before when she'd been broken and in need of repair.

"Hump a dump?" Gibbs looked at her in complete confusion not following at all. Not sure if it was from Ziva's pain medication or she was just using the incorrect phrases again in her use of English.

"I think she means Humpty Dumpty, Boss." McGee looked at her smiling softly.

"Yes! That egg man who had been broken and in need of repair." Ziva used her one good finger to point at McGee hearing him say what Tony had called her and she had a difficult time remembering. "He needed assistance." She sighed and looked down. "To add salt to injury, it seems I too, am in need of assistance…again."

"I'll help you." E.J. smiled pulling herself off the couch and smiling widely to hear another Zivism and the slight return of her spunk, even if it were do to the copious amounts of pain drugs she'd been receiving. "I think you meant to add insult to injury." E.J. corrected her, remembering what Ziva had said about wanting Tony to do so in order for her to learn.

"They both burn. Yes?" Ziva looked at her slightly confused and frustrated, "I do not see the difference. Not being able to use the restroom alone again feels like salt in my injuries."

"I suppose salt to your injuries works too." E.J. smiled chuckling softly, not at the frustration Ziva was feeling over her sistuation again, but at her reactions to the pain medication that had certainly made her feisty.

When she was finished Gibbs was prepared to help her back to bed but Ziva had other ideas. Her mind flashed back to wishing Tony could curl up beside her when she was stuck in her hospital bed after having her first surgery and there wasn't enough space for him to lie beside her. She was determined to fix that now.

"I want to lay beside him." She announced staring straight at Tony in the bed, "Can you carefully slide him over?" Her eyes nearly pleading with Gibbs and McGee to help her. "Please?" She added with her big doe eyes and they couldn't refuse. Ziva didn't care if Director Vance was in the room or not; or if this were professional or not. All she cared about was lying beside Tony. To feel his body next to hers; alive and still breathing even with the aid of a machine.

Gibbs nodded at McGee and to Vance and all three stood on the same side of the bed, holding onto the sheet Tony lay on and carefully, in unison slid him over enough so that there was room for Ziva to lay beside him. They all knew the nurses and doctors likely wouldn't like this idea at all, but Gibbs decided he knew what was good for his team and right now, it was keeping Ziva and Tony together as much as possible. Hoping the contact would help Tony heal faster and also maybe change Ziva's mind about leaving alone.

He walked back to where Ziva was waiting by the restroom door with E.J.' support and then swooped her up again in his arms, with E.J. bringing her IV pole behind them. He lay her down carefully beside Tony and Ziva rolled onto her side. Laying her arm with hand strapped to a stabilizing board carefully up against her own abdomen and snuggling into his side as close as she could get. Her good hand curling up to lay with palm over his chest.

"Ziver, you okay like this?" Gibbs asked readjusting her own tubes and wires and pulling a blanket over top of her. Her thigh and upper arm that had both been shot were now free of all pressure but the way her hand strapped to the stabilizer was pinned up between their bodies didn't look comfortable to him.

"Yes…it is actually taking the pressure of my leg and upper arm." She answered quietly, staring at Tony and thankful to feel his heart beating beneath her palm, to smell him and feel his body's warmth against her own again. "I cannot feel my hand anyway." She answered truthfully. There was no idea for her to know if this was permanent or not from the bullet's damage or if they'd done it on purpose to keep the pain away.

"Okay," Gibbs relented stepping back and pulling the railing up behind her to keep them safely inside. "Let me know if you need to move." He moved back across the room and pulled the chair that had been beside her bed, next to Tony's so that both him and McGee were stationed on either side. Keeping their vigils.

The poor younger man hadn't slept at all and given the way he was staring at Tony and Ziva now, both injured and in the same hospital bed, trying to read Ziva's reaction, he knew that McGee wouldn't be sleeping any time soon. He was seeing the same thing in her eyes that Gibbs had. A quiet resolution in those big dark eyes of hers' as she looked at Tony, that once she was able to, she would go on alone after Bodnar, not willing to risk any more of those she loved. Gibbs could see the actual moment McGee had realized this when the man's eyebrows knit tightly together staring at them.

"Ziva…" McGee began to speak quietly about to address the very concern he was having when Gibbs shook his head quickly sitting behind her that said, 'not now.' And he sighed, swallowing hard and realizing Gibbs was right, now was not the time. She just needed to have this time with Tony, to physically hold onto him after what they'd been through. A moment of peace. They would have given them privacy if not for the fact they were too concerned for their lives to leave their sight.

"Yes…McGee?" Ziva asked a moment later when he never finished whatever he wanted to say or ask. Her fingers now tracing absentminded patterns over Tony's chest gently, feeling the pad of gauze beneath that covered his bullet entrance wound.

"It's okay. It's not important now." McGee answered quietly, seeing her eyes struggling to stay open again.

"Gibbs," She spoke after a moment, gaining his attention, "I want to move him. As soon as possible. He is not safe here." Ziva felt the same protectiveness over Tony as they felt over her.

"Where to, Ziver?" Gibbs asked softly with finger grazing over his lips with eyes flashing to Vance, both sharing a look of understanding. However she answered this question would give insight as to what she was really thinking.

"My house." She answered quietly after thinking for a moment, thinking of Tony and the others in the room, "We can set up whatever he needs there. It is the only place that I know that is safe for us all. The only place I can trust." Ziva went quiet a moment looking at Tony's face as the soft whooshing of the ventilator filled the silence. "I want him moved as soon as possible." There was a tinge of both fear and anger in her voice as she spoke. Another betrayal stung deep at how she could have lost him. "I need to call his father." She realized she needed to let the man know what happened to his son with Tony in such bad shape.

"Already have. He's on his way here with Schmeil now." Gibbs answered her softly, "Malachi is having them brought directly here from the airport. Ducky as well. They should all be arriving around the same time."

Ziva nodded in response staring at the tube sewn directly into Tony's neck and swallowing hard feeling her own body start to complain with pain again. She knew she needed to sleep as the only real way to heal. She'd learned that lesson painfully clear when she was shot in the chest and pushed herself too much. Recovering from such blood loss was getting more difficult with each horrific injury she'd endured the last several months.

"When Malachi arrives, please tell him that I want Tony moved to my house and to make necessary arrangements immediately." She found her pain pump and gave it another two clicks, feeling the tingle of the morphine instantly dripping into her veins.

"Okay, Ziver." Gibbs acknowledged her request quietly as they all stare at her eyes falling shut again after self-medicating with the pain pump. They knew that for Ziva to willingly take any kind of narcotics for pain, it had to be considerable. The woman didn't even like taking Tylenol for a headache. No one said anything else as Ziva fell back to sleep, snuggled into Tony's side.

It was nearly two hours later when Malachi arrived at the door with Schmeil, Ducky and Anthony DiNozzo Sr. beside him. He only softly acknowledged them all with a head nod knowing that the sight of Tony as he was, would be a shock to his father. He however, was not prepared to also see Ziva in bed with Tony and the two of them lying there as they were.

"She insisted." Was all the answer Gibbs gave to Malachi's questioning look, knowing that would be sufficient given Ziva's state of mind when she insisted on something.

Tony's father cautiously approached the side of the bed opposite of where Ziva lay. His eyes welling with tears as he slowly looked them both over from head to toe, inspecting every visible inch. The sight of Tony so fragile and vulnerable was hard to take. It was one of his worst fears coming true. After losing his wife, he had pushed Tony away in fear of losing somelse he cared for and now, all he wanted was to make up for the time lost. Finally, they were starting to do that and then this happened. He'd nearly lost his son. The stillness of his body and the way the ventilator mechanically filled his lungs with air and then released them with a soft woosh brought it home that Tony was only being kept alive right now with the aid of machines.

Tenatively, he reached out and found Tony's hand, giving his fingers a soft squeeze he hesitated only a moment before leaning over and kissing his son's forehead. He linger for just a moment over Tony's face and then moved to do the same to Ziva, placing a gentle kiss to her forehead as well.

"I don't understand how this could happen. Again. Can someone please tell me now, why are you all back in Israel if someone here is still trying to kill Ziva?" Senior asked as Schmeil came to greet the two in the bed as well. Leaning over to kiss Ziva's head first and then Tony's. "I tried to ask him," He nodded towards Malachi, "In the car but he refused to answer. Saying I should speak directly to you, Gibbs. So what is going on here?"

"Liat was taken by the man who shot Ziva here in January." Gibbs began his quiet explanation.

"This Bodnar fellow?" Senior asked for confirmation remembering that name.

"Yes, he took Liat to bait Ziva, forcing her hand. Liat is Ziva's full sister. We never knew until the morning after she was already taken what her real relation to Ziva was." Gibbs sighend scrubbing his hand over his face and encouraging Schmeil to take his seat beside Ziva, knowing the older man wanted to stay close to her for a while. McGee offered his seat to Tony's father as well. Giving him the access to hold Tony's hand if he wished and still remain beside him.

"How is she her sister?" Schmeil asked slightly mortified with concerned eyes. "I have known the…" He trailed off and gasped with hand going to his mouth as he stare off into space in realizing something, "The baby…" His eyes flashed up to Gibbs, "The twin that died… Tali's twin?" He asked quietly.

"Yes," Gibbs answered with a curious gaze of his own, "Liat and Tali were faternal twins. Eli had Liat taken at birth and placed within another Mossad family to raise as part of his training program. Ziva's mother was told the other baby had died in birth."

"My God," Schmeil shook his head in astonishment and quiet rage. "Is this part of that Genetics Program he was working with?"

"You know about that?" McGee asked with widening eyes at the older man and then swallowed hard to see the look Gibbs was giving him.

"Yes, I know about that…I met Ziva's grandmother…her namesake, Ziva, for the first time when we were children. She was two years younger then I, nearly three. We grew up hearing our parents speak quietly of how Ziva came to be in this world through the Nazi's participation in this Genetics Program."

Schmeil shook his head looking down, "Poor little Ziva was teased mercilessly as a child by the others who knew her father had been an SS Guard. They would say horrific things to her. About her mother, Elise and about her family in general. Children can be so cruel at times. I became very protective of Ziva in those days. Eventually, her mother married and the man, Adam, too Ziva in as his own. The family moved away so that no one would know the true identity of Ziva's father and live a more normal life. Our families kept in sporadic contact over the years. I saw Ziva again when we were both teenagers. She was the most beautiful sixteen year old girl that I had ever lay eyes upon."

He smiled looking up and then over to the younger Ziva lying in the bed, just as beautiful in his eyes. "I had fallen in love instantly. The beautiful little girl I once defended with my fists had all but stolen my heart with her first smile at me then. We dated that summer our families spent together. It was a wonderful time in both our lives. I was going off to school in the fall but we had planned to stay together. When I returned home, Ziva was devastated. She had told me that she was pregnant, that she'd had no choice in the matter. Another young man had appeared into her life shortly after I left. Ziva said that at first he seemed charming and sweet and when she refused to sleep with him, he forced her. She became pregnant. She was only seventeen. Her parents were beside themselves at what to do when she said, a small group of men appeared at their house and told them this was meant to be. This baby was part of the same Genetics Program her mother had been involved in. That they had two choices in the matter: they could keep the baby and raise it as their own or they could hand it over to these men at birth." He shook his head again with traces of tears welling in his soft and gentle eyes, "Having gone through the same thing with her own child, Elise couldn't bare to think of them taking the baby after birth and said they would raise the child with Ziva. They would help her. I offered to help in whatever way I could."

Schmeil smiled softly again, "When Lady Rivka was born, she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. Just beautiful." He marveled, "I did the best I could to help Ziva with her but as the years went by and I worked longer and farther away on Mossad assignments, the distance took its toll. I wanted to marry Ziva but she steadfastly refused, saying she could not do that to me. That I deserved better." He shook his head once more, "Stubborn woman. Would not realize that she already owned my heart as did her beautiful baby Rivka. I did not want to marry another woman, I just wanted her. So she refused to marry me and I refused to marry another." He gave a sad smile looking over at the beautiful young woman asleep in the bed. The others in the room couldn't help but think of what Asa had told them about Liat's reasoning for not marrying him. They were the same as her grandmother's for not marrying Schmeil.

"When Rivka was eighteen she'd been studying abroad in Paris. Her mother and grandmother had wanted her to experience life in France as it was still very much home to Elise having lived there before the war." Schmeil continued on in the story, "And there, she met and fell in love with the young and rising star of Mossad."

"Eli David." Gibbs guessed quietly and Schmeil nodded softly.

"He'd been stationed there on assignment though I never trusted their meeting was purely coincidental. He was nearly ten years older then Rivka at the time and had already had a child that he said was the result of a mission. I was warying of every man that had approached Rivka. Not just because of my own fatherly instincts where she was concerned, but also because of what had happened to her mother and grandmother before her. I knew they were interested her in bloodline. A man from the House of David, showing such interest could not be merely coincidence, especially given his aspirations in Mossad." Schmeil sighed, "But there was no convincing of Rivka to stay away from him. She had her heart set on Eli and that was it. Once she made her mind up, there was no point in arguing against it. So I did what I could, and kept an eye on them given my limitations. They married a year later when Rivka was nineteen and Eli was twenty-nine." His eyes glanced slowly at Ziva and couldn't help but smile, "Our dear Ziva was born the year after." He stood once again and looked down at Ziva, his soft old hand smoothing down the side of her head and stroking back her hair, "The first child in a long time that had been born from love rather then a forced assault. She was the princess to everyone at first sight and for her mother, and grandmother and great-grandmother, Ziva was the chance for a new beginning. A chance to leave the sorrows of the past behind them." He leaned over and kissed Ziva's temple again with new tears and a soft smile to think about the happiness those three generations of women felt at Ziva's birth.

"Rivka hadn't planned on having another child. She said that she and Eli were already blessed with two very healthy children, a boy and a girl and that was enough. She was afraid to, what is the saying? Rock the boat? With another?" Schmeil looked at Gibbs who nodded that was the correct saying. "Rivka loved Eli's son Ari, as if he were her own. She understood all too well, what it was like to grow up with a strange parental situation and she was happy that Eli wanted so much to be apart of his child's life. So she welcomed his son with open arms and wanted to include him into their family as much as possible. And he was, Ari was included and he doted on Ziva from the moment she was born. She had him wrapped around her little finger. He was a good big brother." Schmeil sighed looking down at Ziva and thinking about how badly it turned out for Ari in the end and for Ziva who had to kill him. Schmeil knew that secret of Ziva's as well.

"I had been away for the first few years of Ziva's life. Had missed her birth while I was working in a deep cover, but when I first met her…she was the most brilliant toddler I'd ever come across. Not just intelligence and beauty, but the way she could light up a room…" Schmeil smiled with pride, "It was clear from a very early age that she was something very special…and I know that all parents and grandparents must feel this way about their children and grandchildren…a certain bias, but Ziva," he stroked her hair back gently again, "was a true gift from God. She had brought the light back into the family. Rivka said she couldn't ask for anything more so it was very unexpected when she learned she was pregnant again; and very unexpected when it was twins. The overwhelming sadness in her eyes for months after the birth, was unbearable to both her mother and I. Hearing that one of her daughters had died in birth, was as though a piece of Rivka's heart had been stolen and would never return. She became all the more protective of her children after. Even from Eli has his power within Mossad began to increase and he changed."

Vance shifted uncomfortably in his seat on the sofa hearing these details and knowing the man was speaking about Eli in the same time frame that he'd come to know him. Hearing him speak of his wife leaving him and taking his two daughters on their mission in Amsterdam, he knew that was coming shortly given that Tali was only eight at the time.

"Rivka began hearing things from Eli in regards to what his plans for Ari had been and his future in Mossad. She could do nothing to protect him as he was not her biological child, Eli had complete control over his life, but she did have a say in her daughters' lives. She feared them growing up to become like their father, knowing that eventually he would bring them in as well." Schmeil shook his head sadly, "So she took the children and left him. In less then a year's time, Rivka was killed and Eli had complete control over Tali and Ziva." His eyes failed to blink back a solitary tear this time that rolled down his cheek, "Eli had her killed didn't he?" He turned slowly from Ziva's sleeping form to Gibbs seeking confirmation, "I always suspected…always feared he was behind her untimely death after she'd left him."

Gibbs nodded sadly confirming his fears and Schmeil swallowed hard, turning his attention back to Ziva, "Rivka was only two years older then Ziva is now when he had her killed. Just thirty-two years old. Still so young. With so much life ahead of her." He reached up to wipe the fallen tear, "Rivka mentioned something to her mother before she died…that she feared Eli's involvement in the Genetics Program. That she feared for Ziva given his new interest in testing her abilities. Her mother tried to calm her fears as any mother would do. Tried to remind her that her Ziva was created in love and that Eli loved her as well. That he would never harm them because of that love." Schmeil sighed, "After Rivka was killed, Ziva…my Ziva," He referenced the woman he had loved his entire lifetime, Ziva'a grandmother and namesake, "Was too heartbroken with the loss of her only child. She was never the same again. And after her mother passed a few years later, Ziva followed soon after. The doctors could not understand how someone so young could simply pass away in her sleep as she had. I had told them, her heart was too broken to go on." He wiped at another fallen tear. "Some loves and their losses… you can never recover from. I did my very best to keep an eye on Ziva and Tali after but it wasn't good enough. You cannot stop death when it is your time." His mind flashed to Tali and he had to ask, "I could never believe that Eli had something to do with Tali's death…never believing he could harm his own child in such a way. Did he…have something to do with her death as well?"

"No," Gibbs assured him as far as what they knew, "Not that we know of. She was killed by a suicide bomber. We were told from another source," Gibbs thought of Ray Cruz, "That Tali was the one child of his he'd planned to shield from Mossad and the lifestyle. The one child who would be free."

"And the one who ended up dying in the violence." Schmeil shook his head at the irony.

"So what does this have to do with Ziva and my son, coming back to Israel? Even with Liat being her sister? I don't understand why? Why would they want Ziva back if they'd already tried to kill her?" Tony's father asked still in shock from everything happening.

"They want Ziva for her bloodline. One they've been working on for years. When she refused to accept her position as the new Director of Mossad, taking over from her father, she also refused her seat within the other group. The man trying to kill her wants that position and he's willing to do whatever it takes to get it." Gibbs informed him as best as he could understand it all himself.

"What do you mean they want her bloodline? How and why?" Anthony asked again confused about what that meant exactly.

"They want her children, Anthony. To be used in the future for their gains…just as she was used and her mother and grandmother before her." Gibbs informed him and watched the older man's eyes grow wide.

"Her bloodline carries a significant power and weight in this group." Schmeil added quietly, knowing all too well exactly what they wanted with Ziva, "The combining of what was called the perfect genetics."

"What is this group, Gibbs?" Anthony asked quietly looking over at Ziva with fear for her and for his son, knowing that Tony would do anything to protect her. Their current situation was proof of that and he feared for the future if they wanted Ziva's children…children she would undoubtedly have with his son. His grandchildren that weren't even born yet were already being threatened.

"They call themselves The Council." Vance answered quietly as the only one in the room with such knowledge what they these people were actually called.

Anthony DiNozzo Sr. was visibly pale and mouth slightly hanging open. The shock on his face was clearly evident to everyone. He recognized this name and this group and there was no hiding it in his features.

"You've heard this name before. What do you know about them?" Gibbs asked crossing his arms over his chest looking intently at the man. DiNozzo senior had been traveling the world with the rich and famous, he shouldn't be surprised to learn the man may know of this group but he was.

Still stunned to hear this group had anything to do with the current situation of his son and future daughter-in-law, Anthony admitted in barely above a whisper, "I am…one of them."