Before I start this chapter I'd just like to say thank you for understanding about the lack of updates. Mum's home from the hospital now. However, when visiting her I found a Penny in the bed next to her. And not just any Penny. A Penny who reads this story and loves it. So, Penny, I hope that you're well after your operation, and thank you for keeping my Mum smiling when visiting hours were over. I would have told you I wrote this story when you said about it but you were on plenty of morphine my dear and probably wouldn't have believed me. Anyway, this entire story is dedicated to you, for being such a star even though you had your own family to miss. Thank you!

Chapter Twelve: I Didn't Do Anything

He found himself closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before he was ready to leave the elevator. On the ride up to the squad room he'd realised why Abby had once felt so safe in there. There was something comforting about being shut off from everything else, knowing that just for a moment, there was no bad news that could reach them inside the elevator. He had Penny hoisted up onto his shoulder, as he had done all that morning, and she was hanging onto him silently. In fact, it was much like the first day he had found her, only this time she was awake and refusing to let go of him. Her usual enthusiasm had been shot down ever since the previous morning, when he'd had to tell her that her mother had died. Ziva was beside him in the elevator, and he was thankful for that. She stood tall beside him while he slouched under the weight of the little girl that was causing his shoulder to ache. They'd driven in seperately, but arrived at the same time and they were the only people in the elevator. She didn't fill the air with useless assurances that things would be okay, because she knew that he didn't want to hear that right now. She just stood beside him, and stayed by his side. Partners, even in a situation far beyond their work.

Eventually, the doors pinged open, and he stepped out into the squad room. It felt strange knowing that he would be leaving here again shortly. Even when he came into work feeling sicker than a zombie he'd end up staying for at least six hours until he was sent home kicking and screaming. They went into the bullpen, Ziva settling her bag on her desk and going about her usual morning routine of turning on her computer and checking her phone messages. Tony, on the other hand, was silent as he turned to his desk. It was a drastic change from yesterday, when he and Penny had walked in side by side, her holding his hand as they bickered about whether Incy Wincy Spider was a better song than New York, New York. Now, he struggled to get all of their things from his drawers into any available empty space in his bags with one arm, whilst still holding Penny securely with the other. It didn't take long for him to sigh, and look around him for a moment, seeming rather lost.

"Penny," he told her, putting his hand on her back. "I need to put you down for a minute."

She made a little squeal and tightened her arms around his neck.

"Penny...please..." he begged, his voice sounding as broken as it had done the day before.

"No, Daddy," she protested.

He sighed again, looking around helplessly. He couldn't keep holding her, but it seemed he couldn't put her down either. She was only going to cling tighter and tighter to him every time he attempted to put her down. A hand on his shoulder startled him, and he turned to see Ziva standing there. She nodded towards Penny. "How about Ziva?" he asked Penny. "Will you go to Ziva for a minute?"

Penny thought about it for a moment, then she whispered against him, so that he felt her answer rather than heard it. "'kay," she murmered. Then, as Tony began to pass her to Ziva, she lifted her head from his shoulder.

Ziva settled the young girl on her hip, and her revealed face showed fresh tracks of tears running down her cheeks. Ziva smiled softly at her. "Let us wipe away those tears, Tateleh," she told her, not in an upbeat voice but there was a tenderness there that Tony hadn't heard from Ziva until Penny showed up. He watched how she handled his daughter, almost fascinated by her instinctual movements as she took him over to McGee's desk, stealing one of the tissues from the box on the shelf behind it, wiping away Penny's tears with a reassuring smile. "That is better, we can see your pretty face now," Ziva told her, gently stroking her cheek with her finger.

Penny put her head down in Ziva's shoulder, hugging her tightly as she had done Tony. "I want my mommy, Ziva," she said, in a heartbroken tone that caused every part of Tony's body to ache.

"I know, Penny," Ziva told her, as she rocked her gently. "But you have your father."

"And you?" Penny asked her.

She smiled again, unseen to the little girl, but Tony saw that this was more a smile of content. "Yes, you have me as well," she assured her.

Penny's arms tightened around her again. "I like that you're my friend, Ziva."

Ziva's smile grew, despite the circumstances. "I like that too, Penny."

The moment brought Tony back to their undercover operation, where they'd posed as assassins Jean Paul and Sophie. When they'd discovered Sophie was pregnant at the time of her death, he'd tried to picture what Ziva would be like with children. His first thought, obviously, had been of many miniature versions of her, each holding paperclips and advancing on him with sparkling eyes and threatening smiles, but he'd seen through that after a moment. He'd been able to picture her standing over a baby, stroking their face and whispering lullabies in a way that seemed so unlike her usual self that he barely believed it. Now, however, as she held his daughter closely, comforting her in her mother's absense, he realised that he had been right. Dealing with children was different than dealing with murderers and criminals. Children needed care and love, things which were never involved in their work so he'd never been able to see Ziva as he was seeing her right now.

He turned to his desk, guiltily realising that Ziva was easily doing a better job at comforting Penny than he was, and he was supposed to be her father. He swept everything into his bag, regardless of whether or not he would need it later, and as he tried to shove the bag closed he realised that he really didn't need to take his stapler with him, so he fished that out and threw it back into the drawer. As he closed the desk, finally able to close the bag without various things popping out of it, the Director came down the stairs. She walked into the bullpen and, upon seeing Tony, she stopped.

"Aren't you supposed to be on leave?" she asked him.

"I'm just getting our things," he explained quietly.

"Do you have a moment?" she asked. "I'd like a word in private."

Tony looked over at Penny and Ziva before he answered Jenny. Ziva, who had heard the Director's question, nodded to him, assuring him that Penny would be fine with her. "Yeah, sure," Tony nodded.

He followed her up the stairs and into her office, trying to return the gentle smile that Cynthia gave him on the way past but he soon realised that it came out as nothing more than a grimace. Jenny shut the door behind him, and gestured for him to sit at the conference table. He remained standing for a moment, the couch catching his eye; the same couch he'd sat at yesterday. He broke his daughter's heart on that couch. He snapped his gaze away from it, and sat down at the conference table. Instead of sitting opposite him, Jenny took the end seat so that she was facing him sideways.

"How is Penny coping?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Quietly," he told her. "She uh...I don't think she knows what to do. She keeps asking for Alicia. Every time I have to tell her that she's not here I have to see that look on her eyes all over again..." he broke off, seeing that look in question and taking a breath.

"And how are you coping?"

Tony was silent at this. People kept asking him that question, and he kept avoiding it. "Penny's the one that matters here, not me," he said emotionlessly.

"You know that isn't true, Tony," she told him gently.

"She lost her mother."

"You lost her mother, too," she reminded him. "Regardless of your relationship with her more recently, you must have been close to her at some point for her to have had your child."

College days where she was his entire world flashed back to him, and he nodded. "Yeah, we were close," he murmered.

"Then you have your own loss to mourn."

He half-laughed at this, leaning back in the seat. "You sound like Ziva," he told her, earning a questioning glance in return. "She uhh...she stayed last night. I don't know whether she slept or where she slept, but she was awake when I went to bed and awake when I got up."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Is there anything I should know, Agent DiNozzo?" she asked him, a formal tone in her voice.

He shook his head. "No. No, Ziva and I aren't in a relationship," he assured her.

"I didn't think so," she said, her smile returning. "I believed she was still seeing Leutennant Gellar."

"Yeah, he gets back soon," Tony remembered from their conversation that morning, fighting to keep the discontempt from his voice.

"I'm sure she's pleased. However, we aren't here to talk about Ziva," Jenny told him.

"I thought not," he nodded slowly.

"Have you given any thought to the funeral?" she asked him, as gently as he'd ever heard her voice sound before.

"I..." The funeral. Alicia needed remembering. Arrangements needed to be made. Alicia's life needed to be remembered well. "No. No, I haven't," he admitted.

"Has she any family members who can arrange the ceremony?" Jenny asked him.

"Her father and her stepmom but...well, I'm sure you know about what they did to Penny."

She nodded. "Yes, I know, and I have passed the matter on to Jethro for investigation."

Tony looked up sharply, meeting her eyes for the first time. "What?"

"NCIS investigates on behalf of agents families as well, Tony. Penny is your daughter, and child negligence and abuse is a crime."

He leaned forward on the table, placing his head in his hands. "I should have done something about that. I didn't think..."

Jenny reached out, putting her hand on his shoulder. She'd always considered DiNozzo much like a younger Gibbs, but there were moments where she was reminded of a lost little boy when she looked at him. "You were overwhelmed with a situation you weren't prepared for," she told him slowly. "It's understandable."

"No, it's not," he said, raising his head to look at her again, a haunted look in his eyes. "She'd been hurt and I didn't do anything. They're supposed to be her family and they hurt her. They hurt my little girl and I didn't do anything about it." He returned his head to his hands and took a shaky breath.

"You got her out of there, didn't you?" she reminded him. He realised that she was right, releasing a deep breath through his hands. "Are there any other family members who need to be notified about the funeral?" she asked, getting back to the task at hand.

He shook his head. "I don't think Alicia would be bothered about them being there, to be honest," he realised. "They treated Alicia the same as they did Penny. Both of them were burdens, so I don't think her father will be planning anything."

"Which would leave it to you."

"I guess so," he said, staring off into the distance. He fell into silence, realising that he didn't understand a single thing that he needed to do. He smirked ironically. "You know, I've been to so many funeral, but I've never organised one before. I never thought I'd have to. My mom...Kate...Paula...now Alicia?"

"If this is something you don't feel you can handle, Tony, I'll make the calls for you myself," Jenny offered.

"I can't ask you to do that," he said, even though his mind was screaming for him to accept, for some of the pressure to be taken from his shoulders.

"You don't have to," she assured him. "Funerals are time consuming. You'll need to arrange a location, transportation, what sort of funeral you'd like for her, not to mention flowers and other costs. All of this on top of getting to know your daughter will be hard, even for an NCIS agent."

"You're the Director of NCIS," he said, as though it presented an argument on his behalf.

She smiled sadly at him. "It's arguable which of us has the more challenging task at hand right now."

"Are you suggesting I can't do this?" he asked her defensively.

"No," she shook her head. "But I can see from the look in your eyes that you don't want to."

"I don't want to have to bury her at all," he told her. "I don't want Penny to have to see a cold slab instead of her mother."

"Tony," Jenny said gently, putting her hand over his. "I will make the calls for you as soon as you let me know anything you would like to be a part of the ceremony," she told him.

"You'd really do that?" he asked her in disbelief.

She nodded. "Just tell me when you're ready."

He looked at her, a little stunned. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled. "I was also wondering if you had any family you could call to help you over the next few weeks, seeing as you won't be here," she asked him.

He shrugged that idea off quickly. "I don't get on well with my family, Director. What's left of it, that is."

"What about your father?" she asked him. "Have you considered calling him?"

He stiffened in the seat. "Me? Call him?"

"Yes, Tony, it wouldn't hurt to talk to him about this," she pointed out.

"We don't know that," he told her. "Besides, we don't need him. My real family is here at NCIS, so is Penny's."

"I'm sure your colleagues would be very touched to know that, Tony."

"Yeah, they probably would," he agreed, standing up. "If there's nothing else...?"

"Of course not," she said, standing along side him. "I wish you the best with getting to know your daughter, Tony. Let me know about the funeral arrangements and if there's anything else I can do to help."

He smiled a little, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Thank you," he said, moving to the doorway. Before he left, however, he turned back. "Director?"

"Yes, Tony?" she asked, as she sat back down at her desk.

"I wasn't just talking about the team when I was saying about family," he told her. "She already calls you Auntie Jenny thanks to Ziva."

And before she could react to that, he was gone, leaving the Director of NCIS with a smile on her face that didn't disappear for quite some time.

--

Back in the squad room, Ziva had sat down at her desk. Penny was perched in her lap sideways, still holding onto her neck with one arm as Ziva checked her emails. "Where's Daddy gone?" Penny asked, when Tony had been gone for several minutes.

"He is upstairs speaking with Auntie Jenny," Ziva told her.

"Why?"

"I do not know, Tateleh, you shall have to ask him when he returns."

Penny sighed, snuggling her face into Ziva's neck. "When will that be?"

"Soon," Ziva assured her.

"Promise?"

Ziva looked down, smoothing back Penny's dark hair so that she could see her eyes, before settling her palm on her cheek. "Penny, your father will be back in a moment. I promise."

"'kay," Penny muttered, snuggling closer again.

After a few more minutes, Tony came back down the stairs. Penny looked up. "See, here he is," Ziva told her.

"Hey," Tony murmered at them, before walking straight over to Gibbs' desk. He put his hands on the edge of the desk and leaned in to his boss. "Director gave you the case," he said simply. It wasn't a question. Gibbs turned away from his computer and looked at Tony. "Penny's grandparents."

"Yes, she did," he said.

"I want to be a part of it."

Gibbs shook his head. "No, DiNozzo."

"She's my daughter," he pointed out.

"Which is exactly why you can't be a part of it," he reminded the younger agent. Tony sighed again, dipping his head as the feeling of helplessness flodded over him yet again. "I'm not going to let them walk away from this, Tony," Gibbs told him. "They hurt an innocent girl."

"MY girl," Tony corrected with a fierce protectiveness. "They hurt my girl."

"And I'm going to give them Hell for it," Gibbs said simply, turning back to his computer to signal that the conversation was over.

"Good," Tony nodded, determined to have the last word as he straighed up and went over to the side of Ziva's desk. "Ready to go home?" he asked Penny, as she reached out her arms for him, nodding. He bundled her up into his arms, and looked down at Ziva. "Thanks for watching her, Ziva," he breathed.

"It was no trouble," she assured him. "I hope this afternoon is better than yesterday for you both."

"So do I," he agreed, as he grabbed his bag from his desk and threw it over his other shoulder. "I'll see you guys soon."

"Yes, you shall," Ziva smiled. "Goodbye, Penny,"

"Bye," Penny said quietly, waving to Ziva with her tiny hand as father and daughter moved back towards the elevator.

--

"I'm hungry."

He grimaced, as she told him yet again that she wanted food. They were standing in the kitchen, staring at the cupboards that had revealed nothing but the end slices from the loaf of bread which had been used for breakfast that morning. He'd checked the fridge, but it had nothing but the milk that had gone out of date the day before and he couldn't gove her that. Instead, he just stared at the emptiness of the kitchen.

"Me too," he agreed, as his own stomach rumbled.

"We don't got no food, do we?" Penny realised.

Tony was about to answer, but a knock on the door interrupted him. He left the kitchen, Penny following him obediently and hiding behind his legs as he opened the door to reveal their guests. He frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"It is good to see you as well, Tony," Ziva replied, leaning against the doorframe so that she could see the little girl hiding behind his legs. "Shalom, Penny."

"Shalom, Ziva. Shalom, Auntie Jenny," Penny said, greeting their visitors with more grace than Tony had done.

"May we come in?" Jenny asked.

Tony stepped back, still in shock as he realised that the Director of NCIS was about to see his messy, empty apartment. The two women stepped in, both with different reactions. Ziva was unphased by the mess, but Jenny raised her eyebrows at the stacks of unwashed clothes and pizza boxes.

"Daddy fired the maid," Penny told her.

"Thank you, Penny," Tony said, shutting the door behind everyone. "So, uh...what brings you to our humble...trashpile?"

"Shopping," Jenny said simply.

"Shopping?"

Ziva nodded. "Shopping."

"You're going shopping?"

"We are going shopping," Jenny corrected him.

The shock continued to mount. "As in...me as well?" he asked hesitantly.

"Unless your kitchen has mysteriously filled with food since this morning, yes," Ziva confirmed.

"Oh," he said simply. "Right."

"We goin' out, Daddy?" Penny asked him.

"I think so," he murmered, distraction taking hold of him. Shopping. He hated shopping.

"I get my shoes," she said simply, tottering off down the hall.

"Shopping?" Tony asked again, once she had disppeared.

"Penny needs more clothes and you need food," Jenny pointed out. "She'll also be needing a bedroom. We're here to help with that."

"Shouldn't you both be...working?" he reminded them.

"We're covered for," Jenny told him.

"Does Gibbs know about this?"

"It was mostly his idea," Ziva told him.

Tony laughed, not believing this for a second. "Gibbs let you leave work in the middle of the day to go shopping?"

Jenny raised a stern eyebrow at him. "Jethro is not Director, Tony. I am."

"Of course, Ma'am...uh...Director," he stumbled. "And uh...thank you, I guess."

Penny came back up to them, shoes shoved onto the wrong feet with the laces dangerously untied. "Ready, Daddy," she told him. "I got my dollar too," she said, holding up the bill.

He frowned at her. "Where did you get a dollar?" he asked her suspiciously.

"I found it in the couch," she told him, pointing at the massive pile of mess. "Can I spend it shoppin'?"

He nodded. "Okay. We better sort your shoes out first, though."

As Tony bent down to put the sneakers on the right feet and then tie the laces so she didn't trip, Penny looked up at him. "Are we goin' to the mall?" she asked him hopefully.

"Uh..." he trailed off, looking to the women beside him for confirmation.

"Yes, Penny, we are," Jenny confirmed.

Penny's eyes widened, sparkling for the first time since yesterday morning. "I never been to the mall before."

Please don't stop reviewing just because the story's getting going now. This is going to be a long story, and I didn't get half as many reviews for the last chapter as I usually do (although I thank you for your kind wishes for my mum). Please keep reviewing, your comments shape the story and inspire me. Let me know if there's any randomly cute things you'd like to see, certain interactions with characters, involving Tiva, McAbby, Jibbs...let's see what we can include for the loyal fans of this story, eh?