"Was Lauren okay? Is she happy to stay down there?" Pennie asked as soon as Ziva was in sight. She smiled gently.
"Abby and LJ will get on like a house in flames."
"Do you mean 'house on fire'?" Pennie asked confusedly, looking from Gibbs to Tony as Ziva took her seat.
"Ah yes, that one." She booted up her computer while Tony mouthed 'see, preschooler' at Pennie making her chuckle. Ziva glared playfully at them both before turning to Gibbs. "How far have we gotten?"
"Far enough to get the director to issue a warrant for his arrest." Pennie leant heavily on the cabinet beside Tony's desk.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly, turning his body towards her. "What is it?" She shook her head.
"This is really happening isn't it?" She suddenly looked very scared. Tony took her hand in both of his own, waiting for her to face him before replying mutedly.
"You're safe, LJ and Ethan are safe. It's all going to be okay." She smiled and nodded.
"Gonna see the director, won't be long." Gibbs announced as he bounded up the stairs. All four of them watched him go before turning back into the bullpen.
"Did Gibbs ask you to stay last night Zi?" Tony asked casually. Ziva's fingers froze halfway through her sentence before she regained composure.
"Yes." She told him; the closer she kept it to the truth the easier it would be to convince him. "Why?"
"Nothing, no I just saw your car when I picked Pennie up and then again when I dropped her off. Just wondered why that's all." Ziva nodded, flicking a suitably grateful glance at Pennie for not telling him their news. "So…?"
"So what Tony?" She asked exasperatedly, rolling her eyes for good measure. She hated lying to him, but this was a conversation they should both have with the team.
"So, why did he ask you to stay?"
"LJ has bonded so well with Ziva that I asked Jethro to ask her to stay. Lauren is too preoccupied with trying to support me to come to me with a problem; I figured she might go to Ziva." Pennie looked at Ziva fleetingly; just long enough for them to exchange a smile that said far more to them than was visible before turning back to Tony. "Besides, you know how hyper Ethan is; sometimes I feel that Lauren gets left out, though she'd never complain. I knew Ziva could give her the attention she deserves." Ziva's smile had nothing to do with the fact Pennie was lying for her. She was suddenly very aware that she and LJ had made a very strong connection; she loved that little girl and
got the feeling that was mutual. "Thank you for that by the way." Ziva realised she was being spoken to.
"For what?"
"LJ told me that you took her running this morning, and that you read with her last night." Pennie smiled while both men looked from Ziva to each other, neither used to 'Maternal Ziva'. They both knew she was there, but she was so rarely seen it was still a shock whenever she came to visit. "I'm not able to do that since I have Ethan. So thank you. You make her feel very special." Colour burned Ziva's cheek bones as she smiled.
"She is a very special young lady." They exchanged a smile before Ziva ducked her head and covered her face with her curls. Pennie sat on the edge of Tony's desk, facing him while he worked and Tim ignored the slightly left out feeling he was experiencing and got back to his own work.
Jenny was in meetings all morning that not even Gibbs dared interrupt which meant that by lunchtime they had made no headway in arresting Shaun.
"Alright to go to lunch boss? Sarah's in town, and asked me to meet her." Tim was the first to ask. Gibbs nodded.
"Yeah, go 'head, all of ya." Pennie, Tony and Ziva turned to each other.
"Ziva, why don't you go see LJ? I'm sure she'd be more impressed to have lunch with you than her mom." Ziva looked slightly sheepish.
"Are you sure?" Pennie nodded without hesitation.
"Tony and I are going to take Ethan for lunch anyway. LJ is more than welcome to join us, but I have a feeling she'd prefer lunch with you." Ziva smiled.
"Okay. I'll see you in a bit then." Pennie nodded.
"Bye daddy." Gibbs looked up from the sheet he was reading.
"See ya soon." Tony held up a hand, a gesture that was reciprocated, before they went to the elevator. Ziva grabbed her badge and gun out of habit, as well as her lunch before standing in front of Gibbs' desk. "Can I help you, Ziva?" They both smiled.
"I just wanted to make sure you are going to stop for lunch in a minute." Gibbs rolled his eyes and Ziva dropped her voice to a whisper. "It is for purely selfish reasons that I ask, Jethro. You need to keep your strength up." That caught his attention. He put down the sheet and focused his full attention on her.
"Oh?" He matched her volume but couldn't keep the cheeky undertone out of his tone. She raised an eyebrow, caught her lower lip in between her teeth and nodded slightly. Gibbs barely contained the growl as his eyes dropped to where her teeth worried her rosy lip, to the curve of her neck and the swell of her bust before making eye contact again. "Over your 'can't do it with Pen in the house'
thing then huh?" She rested her hands on his desk and leaned over slightly. She knew she was playing a dangerous game but she couldn't help it. She smirked internally when his eyes predictably left hers to appreciate the cleavage her rich purple shirt gave her.
"I will see you later, boss." She smiled as his eyes snapped to hers at the husky undertone to her voice before she walked away swinging her hips slightly more than was strictly necessary knowing his eyes were glued to her ass.
Ziva placed a redundant knock on the open office door alerting Abby and LJ, who were both deeply enthralled in what looked to be the most well matched game of chess she'd ever seen, to her presence.
"Two seconds Zi." Abby replied distractedly as her hand hovered over her knight. She swiftly took out LJ's castle only to be taken herself by her queen.
"Check." LJ smiled, waving enthusiastically at Ziva over Abby's shoulder. Ziva chuckled and unpacked her lunch before sitting at the side of the board to watch the last few moves.
"Umm." Abby deliberated before swiftly moving her king straight into LJ's ambush. With a rather unnecessary flourish of her wrist, LJ captured the piece.
"And checkmate." LJ called, beaming. "Hey Ziva." Ziva chuckled before turning to Abby.
"How many times has she beaten you?" Abby smiled.
"Ten to two. She's wicked at chess." LJ smiled bashfully. "I only beat her the first time because one of the probies from Roberts' team came in for evidence and distracted her while she was making a move."
"The second was all her though and we are a very good match, she's been on my metaphorical tail the entire game." LJ and Abby high fived, much to Ziva's amusement before Abby bounded up to her desk to get both of their lunches.
"Lab floor picnic sound good to you LJ?" She nodded, accepting her lunch with a smile.
"Sounds great thank you. Are you joining us Ziva?" She nodded.
"Yup. Your mom and Tony are taking Ethan for lunch and said that, while you are welcome to go with them, apparently you would find it more fun with us." LJ smiled.
"I like Tony. I think he'll be good for my mom." Abby looked from Ziva to LJ, lost.
"Tony and Pennie are dating?"
"They have been on a date. This is their second." Ziva supplied. "But he seems to be falling for her."
"Mom's falling for him too. They were kissing on the porch." Abby grimaced overdramatically, making her laugh before Ziva turned to her, eyebrows raised.
"You had been in bed for an hour when your mother got home, you should have been asleep." Abby held onto her smile. Ziva's 'mommy mode' was new to her. LJ looked down at her hands and Ziva recognised the look, it was the same one in the elevator earlier. She felt vulnerable, unsure of how much she should ask or say. "Tateleh, what is it?" LJ shrugged.
"I had been asleep. I, I had a nightmare alright?" Ziva tucked a loose strand of fire red hair behind her ear tenderly.
"Was that the nightmare that had you awake when I came down this morning?" LJ shrugged again.
"The same nightmare but it was the second time I'd had it that night." Ziva looked over at Abby quickly. She held up her hands with a shrug. Ziva fitted her hand around LJ's cheek and gently lifted her face so she could look her in the eye.
"Tateleh, you know if you have a nightmare you can come and wake me? I will not be angry."
"But what if I wake Gibbs?" She asked quietly. Ziva smiled.
"He would not be angry either." Ziva gently stroked her cheek bone with her thumb. "We could talk about them, if you would like, it helps, sometimes." Abby knew Ziva was talking from personal experience. She'd had her fair share of three am phone calls from a crying Ziva post-Somalia. They, of course, would talk about anything but, but she didn't need to tell Lauren that.
"I, I don't want to." LJ practically whispered, refusing to meet her eye again. Ziva nodded.
"Then we will not. But please remember that we can, day or night, okay?" LJ nodded. "Okay." Ziva pulled her into a hug, which was quickly reciprocated, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before releasing her. "Now, shall we eat?" LJ nodded, more than happy to get off the subject. Abby gave Ziva a subtle thumbs up and Ziva smiled in response. They ate in silence for only a few minutes before Abby broke the tension, as per usual. Chatter flowed easily after that for just under an hour when Ziva returned to the bullpen and Abby and LJ went back to entertaining themselves.