Yes then!
wow, that was a LOT of reviews from last chapter! you people are crazy awesome!
so many of you bet that Eli was suffering from cancer or something, so this chapter will see how right you are. I'd love if you reviewed at the end of the chapter! :D

DISCLAIMER: disclaimed

Chapter 21

"You should pick up two of those, McSlimTim. You're becoming the "I" in NCIS."

Tony's words were greeted be a shaking head, as McGee pressed the button on the staff vending machine and bent down to retrieve his sweet treat. He had been cutting back the junk food he ate, and he had been spending more time at the gym. But the occasional Nutter Butter never hurt anyone.

The break room was unseasonably quiet, despite the hour. Tony and McGee were the only ones who inhabited the smattering of tables, illuminated by the bright light of the early morning sun. Gibbs had gone out for the first coffee run of the morning, meaning the team were free to run riot. Kate had gone off somewhere to visit Abby, leaving the boys to go and hunt for food.

As the boys pulled back their chairs, another figure entered the break room.

"Ari," Tim said politely, and Ari nodded in his direction.

"McGee, Tony," he replied. Ari fed his own dollar bill into the machine and got his own food, before joining the boys at the table.

"So how is legal treating you?" McGee said. Tony wouldn't have admitted it, but he had forgotten that Ari worked in legal. But Ari's presence alone reminded him of what Kate had said so long ago.

"It is very nice, thank you. Michelle is giving me a hard time, but I am prepared for it," Ari replied smiling, "and how are the wedding plans going, Tony?"

The groan that Tony emitted was all Ari needed.

"That bad?" Ari joked.

"Worse," Tony said, and then at Ari's look he elaborated, "The combined forces of your mother, Tali and Abby seem to be drowning out everything that Ziva wants."

"And what does Ziva want?" McGee interjected.

"Ziva wants everyone to have a good time. And she wants what they want."

"Then what is the problem?" Ari asked.

"I want her to have the wedding she dreamed of. But she is too willing to allow Rivka and Abby's free reign."

"Should I talk to my mother for you?" Ari suggested amused, but Tony's wild eyes were clearly not amused.

"I like my balls the way they are," Tony muttered, flashing back to when Ziva had told him that her mother would likely re-arrange his balls for him if they were to elope. The crazed look in McGee's expression suggested that Tony should expand on his statement. However, he was cut short by two very familiar figures walking into the break room.

"Fornell?" McGee asked, and Fornell tipped his balding head towards the younger man. The scene was strange, the FBI never set foot so deep into NCIS. If they were ever at the navy yard they normally limited their path of destruction to the squad room and interrogation. However, there must have been something that lured them so deep into the depths of the NCIS building. And the serious expressions on their faces did nothing to relieve the tension that was mounting due to the alien presence.

"We're here to ask Haswari a few questions."

At Fornell's words both McGee and Tony turned to look at Ari, whose expression shed no light on the situation.

"What is this about?" Ari said standing up.

Fornell shared a look with his more built more stoic FBI counterpart, who was clearly trying to judge whether Tony and McGee could be trusted. But at a nod from Fornell, the silent figure spoke.

"We're here to inform you about the death of Director Eli David," the agent said in a deep uncomfortable voice. And it was in that moment that the playful camaraderie was over, and there was deathly silence in the break room. Tony's eyes never left Ari, who seemed to take the information indifferently. But there was something in his eyes, something that was completely unreadable.

"Eli David is dead? How?" McGee asked, not quite believing it, and needing certification. A grave nod from Tobias answered his question.

"We believe he died of a heart attack. And we would prefer if as few people as possible knew. We don't want to start anything between Israel and America," Tobias said, and McGee nodded in understanding. An incident like this, if not handled carefully would not be good for the already tenuous relationship between America and Israel.

"What was the director doing here?" Tony asked seriously. Had the situation been lighter, McGee would have commented on how it was the most serious that he had seen Tony all day. It was only this morning that Tony was laughing as Kate sat down on her chair, which promptly collapsed from underneath her.

But no-one was laughing now.

"That is the thing," Tobias said, and the frustration that he had hid so well was beginning to show, "He shouldn't be in the country. He if not here on official business and his own people don't know that he is here."

Ari, who seemed to have only recovered from the shock then spoke.

"Who knows about this?"

"The FBI higher ups, and now you," Fornell's companion replied. And then a thought hit both Ari and Tony at the same time.

"Do Ziva and Tali know?" Ari voiced.

"They have been informed, yes," Tobias said, and before anyone could say anything, Tony rushed out. His destination was clear.

The rest of the room was left in silence.

"So, you have questions," Ari said, and Tim left Ari with the officers. Someone was going to have to tell Gibbs…

oooOOOooo

Tony almost lost control of the car as he sped through the streets of the city. All the way he was swearing under his breath over and over again. He had finally thought that his relationship with Ziva was settling down, that they were finally going to be normal, and do what normal couples did. But there was nothing normal about who they both were. He was an immature mess, who had met the scarred scared woman while investigating a murder of her friend. And somewhere along the way he had been shot, and had broken her hand. Yet they were somehow together, despite all the factors that had torn them apart. But now this had hit Ziva, he didn't know if Ziva would push him away or break down.

Tony swung open the door of the studio, and greeted the blond woman at reception.

"She's in studio D," she said, even before Tony could ask the question. Tony smiled gratefully; he hadn't trusted himself to speak, and he wouldn't have known what sound would have come out had he attempted to.

Tony pushed open the heavy sound-proof door, despite hearing the music coming from the room. The overly happy tune about a bumble bee seemed inappropriately cheerful for his current mood, but looking in he could see a small child dancing her heart out, and Ziva's face break in a smile. But even if the encouraging smile was convincing her student, it wasn't convincing him. He could tell that she had been crying, he could see the tired exhausted look in her eyes. Those dark eyes flickered to him, and as the music came to a close, she spoke.

"I will be done in half an hour," she said, and if Tony had missed the sadness in her eyes, he would have picked up on it then. Her voice was empty, too soft of the strong woman she was. But despite the lack of force behind her statement, Tony only nodded and backed out of the room.

Ziva watched Tony's retreating figure as he left the room, and she fought every instinct she had not to run to him and catapult herself into his arms. Her father was dead. The truth had still not sunk in, and the fact that despite the news she was still in the studio made the situation even more surreal. Two FBI agents had come to question her that morning, and she had only just managed to hold herself together throughout their questioning after they gave her the news. And then as soon as the two agents had left, Jess had come in for a private lesson for one of her solos, leaving Ziva with no time to compose herself, or have a moment alone. But she had to last. She had to wait it out, those thirty minutes that she had to concentrate all of her attention on this little girl. This girl deserved her full attention. No less.

"Is that your boyfriend?"

The small voice pulled her out of her thoughts, and Ziva had to smile sadly at the child's inquisitive nature.

"That is my fiancé," Ziva said, "but that doesn't matter. What matters is that you don't fall out of your turns like that again, or if you feel you are going to fall out, you get out of it gracefully."

Tony had never felt the time go as slowly than in that moment. He had no interest in the brightly coloured dance magazines that were spread out before him, and even if he had tried to read it, he would not have been able to concentrate on the words. He idly thought of what McGee was doing back at work, and prayed that McGee had the mercy to cover for him in his absence. Not that it mattered. Nothing mattered, other than Ziva.

Ziva's mind was racing. There was a small section counting down the minutes until she could be in Tony's arms, spotting the large clock in her peripheral vision. Another part of her mind was categorizing every mistake that the little girl in front of her was making, remembering to give as feedback. And another part of her mind was trying so hard not to cry.

Mercifully, there was someone out there who thought that Ziva's misfortunes were too great to make her suffer any more. Some higher power believed they had punished her enough for one day. But whatever it was, Jess' mum turned up early, and pulled her out of her lesson five minutes early. Which meant that as soon as Jess left, Tony entered the studio. And as soon as she saw him, she ran up to him and fell into his open arms.

She breathed deeply into his soft worn coat, and felt his muscular arms encase her body. This was what she needed. This is what she craved, the moment that the FBI agents had told her the news. She wanted to be held up when she couldn't stand on her own. She wanted to be dependent on someone. For once in her life, she didn't want to be the strong one. Her father would tell her that she should not show weakness… the mere thought of her father pushed the tears that were so close to falling out of her, and onto the soft cotton of Tony's jumper.

Ziva pulled her head out of his jumper and opened her mouth to say something. But before she could push the words out the door of the studio opened, and two figures stepped in. As soon as Ziva saw Tali's figure in the doorway, she let go of Tony and Tali ran into her arms. The sobs that raked Tali's body could be heard from where Tony stood, and his heart clenched as she watched the sisters. Ari walked into the room next, and Ari nodded wordlessly at him.

Ziva was smoothing Tali's hair soothingly as she cried into Ziva shoulder, and just as a mother would, Ziva whispered soothing words in Hebrew in her ear. Ziva's own eyes began to prick with tears as she felt the pain of her sister. Her father had never been a good man. He had grown into a monster, one who sent his twelve year old daughter on a suicide mission. He had crafted Ari into a mole for his own gain, and had damaged the man beyond repair. But somehow they were tied, by flesh and blood, and that emotional bond that could never be broken. That hope that she would somehow gain her father's approval, the desire to please him. And that weakness alone meant that she could not be indifferent when he died. She could not think of all the good things that could come with his death. All she could think about was the man who had been her father, who had once upon a time helped her ride a bike, who had hugged her when she threw a knife for the first time. Suddenly all the good memories were in the front of her mind, and she was mourning the monster who she had once loved.

Tony could see a battle going on, behind Ari's dark and unwavering eyes. There was something there, something that Tony could not read, but the conflict in Ari's eyes was undeniable. Tony would have put it down to the conflict of whether to mourn or celebrate Eli's death. But there was something more. Something dark, and scary. Something that Tony did not understand.

The girls stood there interlinked for some time. But a noise from the other side of the room caused all four of them to look up, and two men who Tony instantly placed as agents walked into the room, with grave, unreadable expressions on their faces.

"Miss David," one of them said. He was a tall blond haired man, who seemed too stoic and too cold for Tony's liking. Regarding the rest of the people in the room, the man felt the need to introduce himself.

"Agent Barnett, FBI," he said, flipping out his credentials, "this is Agent Yules."

"I thought I answered all of your questions this morning," Ziva said, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the heels of her palms, trying her best to look composed, but keeping her arms looped around Tali.

"Yes you did," the other agent spoke.

"Then what are you doing here?" Ziva asked, pulling Tali closer to her, as if trying to protect her sister from these men, who she didn't seem to want to trust. But Tony could not blame her.

"We have new information that Director David did not die from natural causes," the first agent said.

"It wasn't a heart attack?" Ziva asked, shocked.

The shakes of their heads answered Ziva's question.

"Well," she said uncomfortably, "thank you for informing me."

"That isn't why we're here," the second raven haired agent said, sounding somewhat uncomfortable, "we're actually here to talk to Mr Haswari."

All eyes turned to look at Ari, who looked back at the FBI agent.

"Why?" he said slowly and carefully, his dark eyes darting between both agents.

The next few words were not expected by anyone. Those next words turned Ziva's world upside down, and made her question everything from then on. Those next words that meant that nothing would ever be the same ever again.

"We need to bring you in. We have reason to believe that you murdered Director David."

:O did you see that one coming?! i know this poses a LOT of questions, but these will be resolved in the next chapter! please review... the more reviews the faster I update ;D