Merry late (very, very late...) Christmas and Happy New Year! Okay, so sorry about my super long delay. The holidays tried their hardest to kill me but no, here I stand. So you get an update, finally!

The sunlight coming through the window is what woke Ziva the next morning. She stretched a little, but not so much as to wake the man lying beside her. Turning over in his arms, she watched him sleep for several minutes until she was falling asleep again. The sudden cool of the air on her naked body startled her, he had moved and his green eyes fluttered open.

She gave him a small smile, "Shalom."

One corner of his mouth pulled upwards, "Hey."

They stared at each other for a couple of minutes until Tony cleared his throat and sat up. "I'm gonna shower," he told her, "We need to get packed up and get the hell out of here." Ziva watched as he walked into his bathroom and closed the door, only to return a few seconds later, "Water still isn't on."

She pressed her lips together, but then spoke softly, "My room."

He nodded and walked over to the suitcase, pulling out a pair of boxer briefs and a t-shirt. She stood from the bed, grabbing her clothes off of the floor and slipping them on her body. The two walked to Ziva's room without a word. She put her suitcase on the bed and began to clean up a little while she heard the shower turn on in her bathroom.

There was a knock on her door and she walked over to it slowly, her ninja sense on high alert. "Andy." She said, genuinely surprised, "What are you doing here?" She opened the door wider for him to come in and he did, walking over to the bed and sitting down on it.

"I just wanted to tell Tony that I am sorry. Do you know where he is?"

She nodded, "He is in the shower." Andy let a smile cross his face and Ziva rolled her eyes, "His water is not working in his room."

He nodded, "Uh huh, sure."

Ziva stood to her full form and gently smacked the kid on his head. "He should be done in a few minutes." She returned to packing, "How did you know where we were staying?"

"Tony told me about how crappy this place was and I knew it was the only one around here."

Ziva nodded, "This was not the best choice," She agreed, "But it is much better than some of the other places we have stayed on assignment." She made a face of disgust at the thought.

Andy laughed and looked up at her, "Have you ever been shot?"

Ziva looked at him at the sudden change in conversation. She swallowed, "Yes, I have."

He stood and walked over to her, "Where?"

Ziva bit her bottom lip, "I have been shot several times."

"Did they hurt?"

She nodded, "Yes, very badly."

"Has Tony ever been shot?"

She nodded again, "Yes."

"Wow." He walked over to the hotel's dresser and picked up Ziva's badge, "I thought you only carried this when you were on assignment."

Ziva shook her head and continued folding her clothes, "No, I am technically on duty. So I have to carry it with me."

"Where is your gun?" Andy asked her.

Ziva smirked, "Somewhere safe."

"Can I see it? Please?"

She shook her head, "No, it is very dangerous for a person who does not know how to handle a gun to hold one."

He looked down at the ground, "Aw man, I'll be careful."

She chuckled, "If you are so interested in guns, perhaps you should be a police officer when you grow up."

Andy nodded quickly, "Mom wanted me to be a doctor, but I think I have seen enough of hospitals. I think I want to be a secret service agent, like you and Tony."

She smiled, "Tony and I are not secret service."

Andy furrowed his eyebrows, "Same thing, though, right?"

Ziva was now pulling out clothes to wear for the day, "Yes, but we are way cooler." He laughed and she continued, "The secret service does investigate sometimes, but our job is to protect and serve the entire Navy and Marine Corps. We mostly solve crimes."

"Whoa, and you see like dead bodies and stuff?"

Ziva chuckled again, "Yes, almost everyday."

"That's so cool!"

She shook her head, and wiggled her finger at him, "Not as cool as you may think."

"You don't like your job?"

"Yes, I do, but it is complicated on some days. I am sure any job gets that way." Andy nodded and they both looked up when Tony emerged from the shower. He was only wearing a pair of jeans and had a towel over his head, running it over his wet hair to dry it.

"Hey Zi, do you want to…" He stopped mid-sentence when he removed his towel and saw the two of them standing in the room. "Andy." He said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Ziva collected her clothes she sat aside to wear for the day and motioned towards the bathroom, "I am going to shower and let you talk." She told them, and walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Andy stuck his hands in his pockets, "Will you let me hold your gun?"

Tony furrowed his eyebrows together at the strange question, "Will I do what?"

He sat down on the bed again, "Ziva said I couldn't hold her gun because it wasn't safe or something, but you're really cool so I thought…"

Tony shook his head, "No, she's right. It's dangerous and not a toy."

Andy rolled his eyes, "Fine."

Tony laughed and slipped on a t-shirt. He sat down next to him on the bed, "So you came here to see if you could hold my gun?"

He shook his head and looked down at the floor, "I did it."

Tony was confused, "You did what?"

Andy sighed and stood from the bed and stuck his hands in his pockets, "Mom told me that she knew without a doubt that you weren't my Dad, but I didn't want to listen to her. I just hoped I could change things."

Tony put his large hand on the kid's shoulder, "So you had her call me even when you knew I wasn't your father?"

Andy nodded, "Yeah. I didn't want to live here anymore. And Mom told me you lived in DC and I thought it would work."

Tony was sure his heart broke into a million pieces. He knew exactly what Andy felt like, his mom dead and a dad that sucked. He felt the same way most days back when his own mother died. He squeezed Andy's shoulder to make him look at him again, "Hey, I know how you feel. Things will get better kid, I promise."

Andy looked into Tony's green eyes, "I miss my mom."

He nodded, "I know you do. And you know, that feeling never goes away, but it does get does get easier."

"Did you love her?"

Tony looked down at the floor for a second before meeting his eyes again, "Yeah, a long time ago."

"She was a great person." Andy replied.

Tony nodded in agreement, "I wish I would have kept in touch with her after college." Andy only nodded back at him.

There was a long silence between them and Andy sighed to get his attention again, "I have to go."

Tony nodded and stood, "Okay. But you're welcome to hang out with us if you want."

Andy shook his head, "Can't. Mom's funeral is in a little while."

He nodded, "Oh, okay." He thumped the bill of his baseball cap, "You're a lot braver than I was when I was in your spot."

Andy smiled, "So you'll let me hold your gun now?"

Tony laughed and reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet, "I'll tell you what, take my card. If you need anything at all, you call me, okay? And when things calm down, talk with your Dad and see if he'll let you come hang out with me for a week or so in DC. I'll take you too a shooting range."

Andy's face lit up and he grinned from ear to ear, "Aw man really? That'd be awesome!"

Tony laughed, "Yeah man. We'd have a blast." He walked with the kid to the hotel room door, and the two turned to look at Ziva when she emerged from the shower, a towel over her body and holding her hair up.

Andy grinned at Tony again, "Can she stay with us?"

Tony hit his shoulder, "Do you need me to take you home?"

Andy shook his head, "You are avoiding the question, and no thank you. I have a cab waiting on me."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows together, "You are twelve, how do you have a cab wait on you this long with the meter running?"

"I have Dad's credit card." He grinned and Tony lifted his eyebrows.

"Does he know you're here?"

Andy shook his head, "No, but I told him I was going to a friends house."

Tony turned his head, "Andy…."

"Which is the truth, right? You are my friend."

Tony had completely forgotten his long lecture about telling parents the truth. He looked down at him, "Of course." He squat down and gave the boy a hug, and with a last goodbye watched as he walked to the cab.

Ziva walked over and stood next to Tony as they watched the cab drive away. Without taking his eyes off of the road, Tony spoke to her softly, "He's a brave kid."

She nodded in agreement, "Yes he is. Smart too."

Tony finally took his stare off the road and sighed, "I'm gonna go back to my room and pack and you've clearly got to get ready."

Ziva nodded, "Yes."

"Okay, we'll grab some food before we get on the plane. Sound okay?"

She nodded again, "That sounds fine."

"Okay." He left her side and walked back over to his room, sticking the card key in and waiting until it beeped before opening the door. Ziva stared at the closed door for a few seconds before turning and walking back into her own room.

What a week.