FAMILY AND LOSS

DISCLAIMER: NCIS and characters do not belong to me.

SUMMARY: Ziva and Tony have been dating in secret for a few months. No seems to know. Something happens and secrets are exposed.

CHAPTER 12: CANCER TREATMENTS & STRESS...

A FEW WEEKS LATER...

Tony and Ziva had taken a little time off.

Tony had told Ducky, Gibbs, Tim and Abby about Tali's brain tumor.

Operation had not been an option, so now it was Chemotherapy.

Todd would often ask when he could see Tali, Tim and Abby told him what they thought he would understand, that Tali was sick.

Todd being as smart as he was knew something really bad was happening to Tali.

Ducky, Gibbs, Tim and Abby; all supported Ziva and Tony.

Everything the oncologist, Dr. Naomi Russo told Ziva and Tony. They would pass on to their NCIS family.

Tali had by now started Chemotherapy and now looked far from being the happy, healthy child she had once been.

There had been a couple of times that Gibbs had shown up at the hospital, then sent Ziva and Tony home to rest.

The relationship between Ziva and Tony became strained. They were both stressed and worried about Tali.

Tony and Ziva barely talked to each other now and when they did, it would turn into a fight.

"Tony..." Ziva said, one evening when Gibbs had sent them home to rest.

"What, Zee?" He asked hoping this would not turn into a fight.

"I think Tali's giving up. What if we lose her?" Ziva asked and began to sob.

"Ziva, listen to me." He said as he pulled her down onto the couch and wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't want to lose her, Tony. I have lost so much..." Ziva said as she fought back tears.

"Talia is a fighter. Just like us and she will make it. We have gone through a lot to get to where we are now and I know she will fight to stay with us." Tony told her, with determination in his voice and he just hoped he was right.

They sat there a long time and then Tony felt her crying into his shoulder. He was trying to fight back tears of his own, but in the end his tears began to fall as well.

Everyday they watched as Tali went through the Chemotherapy and he had also noticed that Tali seemed to be getting weaker. She was still fighting, but seemed so sick.

After a while it seemed Ziva had fallen asleep. He picked her up and put her in their bed, then lying down beside her.

He covered them up and fell asleep.

TIM AND ABBY...

It had been a couple of hours since Tim and Abby had put Todd to bed.

Gibbs had called to say he had sent Ziva and Tony home.

Tim just sat at his typewriter, but he wasn't typing anything. Abby was sitting on the couch and after a while of silence...

"Tim?" Abby asked.

"What?" Tim asked as he turned to face her, he had been trying to work on his book.

"Do you think they will make it?" Abby asked.

"Ziva, Tony and Tali?" Tim asked and Abby shook her head.

"Do you think Ziva and Tony will make it through if Tali dies?" Abby asked wanting to know an answer to the same thing everyone seemed to be thinking.

"Abby..." Tim began as he went to sit beside her.

"Tali's getting weaker, Tim. Ziva and Tony are trying to stay strong for her..." Abby said as she felt a few tears slip down her face.

They heard a shuffling of feet and Abby quickly wiped her tears not wanting Todd to see them.

He came over and crawled up between her and Tim.

That's when she noticed Todd was crying.

"Bad dream?" She asked and Todd nodded.

Every since Tali had been admitted to the hospital and they found out she had a brain tumor, Todd had been having nightmares a few times a week.

Abby thought back to a week before when the three of them had been sitting on the couch.

'Am I going to get sick like, Tali?' Todd had asked Tim and Abby assured him he wouldn't.

"What was this one about?" Tim asked.

"She went to sleep, but wouldn't wake up." Todd told them.

"It was just a dream." Abby told him.

For a while Tim and Abby sat there with Todd until he fell asleep. Then after Todd was put back in his bed, Tim and Abby got into their own bed.

Abby still sometimes wished that she could sleep in her coffin, but when she had become pregnant with Todd it had been hard to get out of and then she had put it away. Though she hoped one day to go back to sleeping in her coffin...there were times she wondered if she ever would.

THE HOSPITAL...

Gibbs sat just outside the room and looked at Tali asleep in the bed. She was so sick and so weak.

He had noticed how hard it was on Tony and Ziva to see their daughter so sick.

He knew they all remembered how healthy she had been...then things had changed.

Tali was now going through Chemotherapy and so sick. Every time any of them looked into Tali's eyes they saw many things...

Most of the time she seemed tired and scared, but she kept fighting.

Gibbs hoped she would be able to pull through. He didn't want Tony and Ziva to lose their daughter, because he what it was like losing both Shannon and Kelly.