Rafi Aman begins to become unhinged as the search continues. The DiNozzo family adjusts to its newest member and Tony and Ziva struggle to find intimacy.

Content warning: this chapter contains smut.

There are two Hamilton references in this chapter. Bonus points if you find them.

They had gotten absolutely nowhere with this search.

Every source they talked to, everyone who had ever been in contact with Ziva David had turned out to be a dead end, and they'd tried with the intimidation tactics, and the federal agents from both Mossad and NCIS had all but laughed at them when asked for information. No, they'd merely reported the contact to their next higher-up, and the Americans had gone ahead and heightened the search with every attempt to make contact.

It absolutely infuriated Rafi Aman, and he was not one to be trifled with. Why was it that they could not see his vision? Why was it that the Americans could not understand the merits in taking out this dire threat to the future he could almost certainly grasp in his fingers, if only they could take out Ziva David?

Killing the source had been nothing more than a release of frustration, but he needed these Americans to understand that he meant business, and he wasn't sure they really did. Sure, they were looking for him, he knew that… but the Americans seemed to think so poorly of him. That he was a madman; a psychopath. I am no psychopath, he thought to himself, his anger rising. I am a visionary, a man with a plan to eliminate the American foothold. He and his men had killed the source, yes, but she had only been a message: He was not giving up on Ziva David.

Sokar, however, had chosen to adjust their plan just a little bit, by getting the American agencies to leave them alone to search. His plan to have Micah Karim take the fall for everything had been brilliant, but Aman was struck now with the fear that the Americans wouldn't know who truly had been the master, the genius behind it all. He wanted all of them, from even the tiniest soldier or policeman, to know that Rafi Aman was the driving force behind their pitiful nation's downfall. Oh, he would still be after Ziva David, and when he found her, he would be sure to let everyone know that they'd fallen for this ruse and that it had cost them their agents – and so much more.

At the moment, however, his three most experienced operatives were standing before him, each watching apprehensively as he took several long drags of his cigar, none of them daring to so much as cough when he blew the smoke directly in their faces. Ayaz Sokar sat in a chair in the corner of the room, appearing to all who noticed him as though he was entirely bored of the proceedings. He fiddled methodically with the trigger of his gun, smirking when it clicked forward, releasing a reverberating echo that made each of the three men standing before Rafi Aman startle.

Good.

"How is the search coming along?" Aman asked, though he knew the answer. It wasn't. They'd searched nearly a quarter of Africa and turned up nothing. Nothing but some aboriginal tribes, all of whom were much of a much darker complexion than the people they were looking for, didn't speak a lick of any language his people could understand, and seemed to have absolutely no information.

Letting them live had been a gift, one they probably didn't even understand they'd been given. Had Ziva and her partner been hiding among them, they would have stood out, and therefore Aman was certain that the two Americans were not hiding amongst any tribes throughout Africa.

None of his men wanted to speak, Aman noted without surprise. To admit their failure to him would certainly piss him off, and none of them particularly enjoyed pissing him off.

"It's not," Daniel finally said, after the silence had gone so thick that he couldn't stand it anymore. Surely, the boss knew that they'd turned up no new leads. Sokar continued to sit in the corner, watching disinterestedly.

"I… am… aware," Aman said slowly, standing up and pointing at one of them as he spoke each individual word. He leaned forward menacingly, practically growling at the incompetent men before him. If these were his best, then what other pathetic excuses for men did he have in his operation?

"Why are you having so much trouble with this task? It is just a woman and a man. Two people. We know roughly when they left, and from where. Surely you cannot be so incapable that you cannot at least determine which DIRECTION THEY WERE HEADING?"

All three men leaned backward as Aman raised his voice, recoiling in their own ways. They'd all seen his anger before, but never this close and personal. No, usually when Aman flew off the handle, he was yelling at a significantly larger group of people, typically in a large building with quite a bit of space between them, not this tiny office with little for acoustic buffering between the three operatives and their very annoyed boss.

None of them spoke, knowing better than to open their mouths at this point. If Rafi Aman wanted to yell at them, then he would do so, and no one would see fit to interrupt him. "Where the hell is Ziva David?"

Again, none of them spoke, watching warily as he paced before them, the tension in the room so thick that it practically settled on their shoulders. "You will find her. Do you understand me?"

Daniel, Levi, and Tamir stood like statues, and Aman continued, taking out a knife and running his finger along the tip of it. All three of the men before him tried not to flinch at the motion, though each one inwardly hoped that the knife wasn't headed for their own guts. "I grow tired of these games. This has gone on long enough. Find her."

All three men nodded resolutely. Aman stopped in front of Levi, looking him up and down. "You," the leader said, and Levi gulped audibly, a fact that seemed to please Aman, judging by the way he smirked in response.

"Where were you last looking for Ziva David?"

"Southern part of Somalia… sir," he said, clearing his throat lightly before swallowing another nervous gulp. He started to open his mouth to explain why they had changed course and started looking there, but Aman spoke again before he had the chance.

"Did you know," Aman said, not acknowledging the words his operative had uttered, nor stepping away from the nervous young man, who was doing everything in his power not to anger his boss whenever he asked him a question. "That Ziva David was held captive in Africa about… four, maybe five years ago? In Somalia, I believe it was." Aman paused, turning and looking at his other operatives, who all stared forward wordlessly.

"From what I hear, Saleem Ulman – you may have heard of him, you might even be fans of his work – did not treat her with a whole lot of kindness. If it hadn't been for her stubborn American friends, she would have died there, you know." Levi knew this, and he knew that his partners knew this. They'd had the same intel on Ziva David that their boss had had access to, and they'd gathered much more information on her in the time that they'd been looking for her.

"Now with that information," Aman drawled, finally stepping away from Levi and looking over at Tamir and Daniel, his eyes narrowing angrily as he spoke, his voice raising more than a few decibels, "DO YOU THINK THAT ZIVA DAVID WOULD WILLINGLY TRAIPSE BACK INTO SOMALIA?"

"All respect sir," Tamir said meekly, praying inwardly that he wouldn't get his head bitten off, "Mr. Sokar gave the order." He noted how both Sokar and Aman's eyes narrowed at his attempts to pass the buck, and he continued quickly, rambling. "We thought she would be aware that we knew that, and that we'd think it would be the last place she would ever go, so it would be the perfect place for he to hide out. That's why we–"

"SHUT UP!" Tamir shut his mouth immediately, straightening up, his eyes wide open.

"What you think you know about her is clearly irrelevant now, isn't it? Stop looking for her in Africa. She isn't there."

Daniel gulped, then took a deep breath and spoke, fearing that he might also get his head bitten off but proceeding regardless. He looked at Sokar, who didn't even have the good grace to look guilty for having sent them in the wrong direction. "Do you have information?"

Sokar said nothing. Aman narrowed his eyes at Daniel but didn't step toward him, merely looking in his direction. "My information," he said, lifting the knife up and pointing it in his general direction, "is that she's not in Africa. I have been watching the Americans, apparently much better than you have. They've begun looking for David and DiNozzo, but it hasn't been in Africa. Their search has led them to the South American continent. Now that they are not looking for us, they will lead us right to them. It is now a race between us and them," he finished, picking up his cigar and taking another long drag before speaking, feeling as though he was beginning to sound more than a little repetitive.

He looked at Sokar, who seemed as surprised as the other three men in the room. "Spread the word, gentlemen. She is not on this continent, and to continue looking here would be a waste of our time." He twisted the knife between his fingers as he spoke, as casually as if he were twiddling a pencil.

"Now go find her."

Tali was sitting on the bed next to Ziva, her back leaning against the wall behind her. Ziva was cradling Ashina, who was nursing quietly. Now that the baby had been born, Tali was completely fascinated by her, and always wanted to be nearby. "She adores her sister," Tony remarked as he watched from across the room, smirking as Tali reached over and poked Ziva's boob.

"I had worried about that," Ziva murmured, quietly running her hands over the baby's soft head of hair, then smiling as Tali mimicked her motions, patting the baby gently with her chubby fingers. She looked up at her mother and smiled, her teeth showing brightly as she looked up at her mother proudly.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to be surrounded by so many girls."

Ziva looked up and snorted. "You expect me to believe that? When we met, you couldn't be more than three feet from a woman who was hanging on your every word."

"Well this is different."

"You can admit that you never pictured yourself as a family man, Tony. It's all right. It took me quite a while to picture you as one myself."

"Hey!" He feigned offense, but he knew that she hadn't said it maliciously. Still, he crossed the room, sitting down on the bed and scooting back to the wall, sitting neatly beside Tali and taking Ashina's hand, watching as her fingers curled around his much larger finger. He knew it was a reflex that all babies had, but it never ceased to amaze him, this connection between him and his flesh and blood. His daughter.

"We have been so fortunate, you know," he said after several minutes of silence, reaching for Tali and settling her down on his lap. It was getting late, and she would probably be ready to fall asleep soon.

"We have," she agreed, sighing contentedly. Not for the first time, she wondered if they'd have all this if they hadn't moved out here. Moved out here, she thought to herself. Like there had been any choice. Like there hadn't been a group of terrorists that were –

Her eyes went wide. The terrorists. The whole reason they were out here, and she'd almost forgotten that they should have been her solitary focus. Oh, god. "What's wrong?"

"Tony I have practically forgotten about Widow in these past few days. I cannot believe I have been so careless. They are surely still after us, and I'm sitting here talking poetically about how lucky we are to be here like we decided to move away from DC and start a family."

Tony shrugged. "And? You've been exhausted from giving birth. Is it so terrible that you were focused on being a mother first?" She pursed her lips, but didn't respond. "I'm sure we'll be fine. It's been more than two years now, at least. They haven't found us yet. Maybe they've given up." Even as he said it, he knew it was a lot to hope for. Two years was nothing in the grand scheme of things, and if what Ziva had told him was true, Widow probably wouldn't have given up quite this quickly.

"They haven't."

He knew this, but he still couldn't help asking about it anyway. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I know these men. Or at least their leader. He will not give up." She stopped, drawing a breath, slowly enough so that she didn't wake up Ashina, who had fallen asleep. "The babies, Tony. What are we going to do if Widow arrives? We have so much more to lose now."

"We will fight."

"But Tony, the moment they see that we have children they will have more ways to hurt us." A panic unlike any she had ever felt before began to take over her, and she felt the need to get up and run, run far away, something that was not an option with a baby currently asleep against her skin and another child who followed her anywhere she went. Sure, she had thought of this before, when Tali was born, but somehow all rationality seemed to escape her at the moment in her anxiety. What would they do if they were found now? "We will both need to fight if they find us. It's not like one of us can run off with the children while one of us stays behind."

"I would let you run, you know. You and the children. We could designate a place for you to hide, so I can find you when it's all over. Maybe the cave," he suggested, referring to the cave where he'd dug up the clay so long ago.

"No. I refuse to let you sacrifice yourself for me, for us. We're a team, Tony, and I need you to help fight. More than that, I need you to be alive."

"You're so sure I would die?"

She looked at him incredulously, unsure that he understood the magnitude of what could come. Sure, they'd been training, but he was in no position to singlehandedly take out Widow if they all came at once. "Do you think they will just bring a couple of men? I would not be surprised if they brought more than a dozen men with them, all armed to the teeth and more than willing to kill us on the spot if we give them the chance. They will not hesitate to put a bullet in… all four of us." She choked on the words, practically unable to give them a voice. It was unspeakable, unimaginable, and she found that for the first time in her life, she really had something worth losing.

"We just have to keep training then. We'll have to keep our guard up. It's hasn't been that long since Ashina was born, and I didn't think you would be up to sparring just yet since you've been so tired." She glared at him, but she didn't say anything, and he continued, ignoring her annoyed expression. Ziva would be stubborn for all of eternity, and even though he could tell she was tired from having gone through childbirth and now the lack of sleep that having two toddlers entailed, he knew that she would be terribly unlikely to admit it, despite her progress toward being more open and vulnerable.

"Relax, Ziva. If it takes that long, we'll teach the kids to handle weapons, too. We will fight, Ziva. I've never wanted to fight for anything more." He reached to her cheek and wiped a tear away, pulling her to him and allowing her to cry on his shoulder.

"I guess there's one good thing," she mused into his shirt, noting that both of their daughters were now fast asleep, Ashina in her lap and Tali in his.

"Hmm?"

"At least I am no longer pregnant, and therefore in much better shape to fight." She smirked, rubbing her belly absentmindedly. For now, anyway, she thought to herself. Last time, it hadn't been that long before she'd gotten pregnant again. They'd really have to work on that. There had to be some way of making condoms out of something out here.

"Well if they arrive tomorrow, I'll know that we'll be okay then."

"Don't even joke about that," she whispered, finally lifting her head off of his shoulder and slowly sliding off the bed, taking care not to wake Ashina as she set the baby down in her bed. It wouldn't be long before she woke again for another feeding, but they could put Tali to bed and at least try to get a couple of hours of sleep, if that was even possible with all the new things she now had to worry about. It wasn't like the thought of Widow had entirely disappeared, it was just that the threat had somehow seemed more distant in the weeks since Ashina had been born.

Tony slowly slid off the bed too, helping Ziva get Tali settled. "You know," he began, wondering if he was going to incur her wrath by bringing it up, "maybe we should have bought some guns anyway. Just to have them, for no other reason than to use if Widow were to find us."

"I had thought about that," she mused, leaning forward to kiss Tali's forehead as she stirred slightly, and then stepping away and sitting down on the bed. "But it is not easy to buy guns in many countries. Most are not like the United States, where you can go to a gun dealer and get one in a matter of minutes and no one will pay you any mind."

"I guess I never really considered that."

Ziva smiled slightly. Tony was more worldly than most Americans, but he still had some naivety when it came to the world outside of his home country. "The viewpoint that everyone has a right to own a firearm is something uniquely American. Here, we would have had to jump through considerably more hoops. There is a black market, but we did not want to be memorable. All it would take is one dealer who wanted to make a quick fortune. Widow has almost assuredly put our faces out to everyone they could. We'd have been found."

"But isn't that a risk we took everywhere before we made it here?"

"Well yes," she said, trying not to speak loudly enough to wake the children, "but being remembered for walking through an airport or a Sunday market is far less likely than being remembered buying a gun."

Tony mulled over that, accepting the answer for the time being before responding, "Fair enough." Stifling a yawn, he walked over to where she sat on the bed, taking his shoes off and stuffing them underneath it before climbing onto it.

"Do you think they'll sleep tonight?" he asked, this time not bothering to try to keep himself from yawning.

"Will you even wake up if they don't?" Ziva teased, and Tony shrugged sheepishly. He'd always been the sounder sleeper of the two, which he often regretted. He wished that there was something he could do to help Ziva with the babies, but since they didn't have any bottles for him to assist with feeding she had often allowed him to just sleep, unless he woke up. And in that case, she'd allow him to handle the diapers, which he had always been surprisingly okay with.

"You could wake me," was all he said, but she shook her head, and he smiled in response. They'd had this argument more than once, but similar to the way in which he had always been reluctant to interrupt her sleep, so too was she.

Tony yawned again, catching Ziva's eye as he did so, and she yawned as well. She wasn't terribly tired yet, if she was being honest, but there was something to be said for snuggling up under the covers with her husband. "Come on," she said, sliding under the cover and lifting the blanket up to motion him inside. He didn't hesitate, crawling into the cocoon of her warmth.

Wrapping his arm around her waist, he scooted toward her, leaning in and kissing her hungrily, eliciting a surprised moan of pleasure.

He always loved the way her body felt pressed up against his, and tonight was no exception. Even through the clothing they both wore to bed, the heat between them was intoxicating, and he trailed his hand up her back to her neck and slowly into her hair, using his hand to guide the angle of their kisses.

"Mmm," Ziva moaned against him, shifting her weight so that she lay more on her back than on her side, taking him with her. "Thought you were tired," she breathed against his lips, and he merely responded with a hum of his own before taking his lips in hers again, feeling himself stirring to life at the way she melted into him.

"Is it too soon?" he asked huskily when he pulled apart, and Ziva shook her head. Ashina was just over seven weeks old now, and she felt no trepidation about sharing intimacy with him again, only longing.

"Maybe we can take it… slow…" she cooed, licking his ear as she spoke. She delighted in the way he twitched against her at that, and she threaded her fingers through his hair as she pulled his mouth down upon hers again, gasping for breath between fast, frenzied kisses.

Tony rested his hand on her hip, trying his hardest to simply enjoy this slow burn building between them, but it was so hard to resist simply devouring her. She drove him crazy, every move she made, and he couldn't imagine a moment in time when he wouldn't find her irresistible.

He ran his thumb slowly along her hip bone, teasing her there before shifting slightly, trailing his fingertips along her torso with as he did so, loving the way she hissed at the contact between them. "I wanna touch you," he breathed softly, punctuating his statement with a small kiss and feeling her nod between them.

Slowly, he worked his hand underneath her underwear, trailing his fingers through the coarse hairs there, feeling the heat already building between her thighs. Ziva sucked in a breath at the contact, her skin sensitive to even this slightest touch, and relaxed as he began to graze his thumb between her legs, rubbing gently through her folds and pausing to stroke at her clit.

Ziva sighed softly, then moaned as his touching became more insistent. She was already beginning to feel that familiar tightness in her body as she started to become wound up, his strokes igniting the desire long dormant after the rigor of childbirth. Parting her legs further to give him better access, she canted her hips against him, rocking slowly toward his touch, shuddering as a chill went through her, causing her to gasp against his ear.

"I feel like it's been so long," he breathed into her hair, and her core clenched as his words only fueled the desire between them.

She responded only by grasping the back of his neck and pulling his mouth to hers, parting his lips with her tongue and taking him roughly into a thorough kiss. She bit and nibbled at his lips as he caressed her slick folds, allowing him to swallow her deep moan when he entered her with one finger, slowly gliding into her and teasing her insides.

Ziva's moan awakened something primal in him and he fought the urge to rip his pants off and surge into her. His cock was already painfully hard just from the moment he'd reached into her panties and now he desperately wanted to feel her around him, wet and tight and pulsing him into oblivion.

"Touch me," he begged, wanting to feel her hand wrapped around him, the loving caress that only she could provide. Tilting her head to allow his mouth access to hers again, she ran her free hand up his side, wrapping that hand around his neck as well and keeping his mouth anchored to her own. She groaned again as he drove his fingers deep inside of her, then ran her hands slowly from his neck to his shoulders, stopping to dig her nails into his skin as he crooked his fingers and hit that spot, causing her toes to curl and her vision to blur momentarily.

Undeterred, she resumed her movements, sliding her hands down his arms, rocking her hips toward him as he continued to work his fingers inside her. When she reached his elbows she moved her arms to his torso, planting her hands along the taut skin there and sliding slowly downward, hooking her thumbs underneath the hemline of his pants and pushing them down just enough and chuckling when his cock sprang free.

The cabin air was cool and it was a shock to his newly exposed member, but soon the chill of the room was forgotten when Ziva snaked one hand around to the front of his body to stroke him, wrapping her fingers tightly around the base of him and twisting her way to the top, thumbing the tip and rubbing the precum around the head of his cock, causing him to gasp.

"I want you, Tony," she breathed softly, her words low and seductive despite the fact that she was barely speaking above a whisper, "but you cannot come in me this time. Not until we find some sort of birth control."

He pouted in protest, but only for a moment. Ziva was right. They couldn't keep up this pattern indefinitely. If they were going to have more children, then they'd need to relocate first, preferably back home.

"I just need you," was all he said, giving his agreement to her statement, and he hissed as she resumed stroking him, her legs spreading further to allow him better access. He groaned when she tightened her grip on his cock, her expert strokes driving him absolutely crazy as he panted against her, his fingers moving to the rhythm of her hand.

"Lie back," she instructed, and he rolled off his side and to his back, lifting up his hips to allow her to pull his pants all the way down and off of him. As she crawled her way back up so that she could kiss him, she reached between their legs, rubbing the head of his cock along her slick center. "Oh, Tony," she breathed, her voice hardly above a whisper as she shivered with anticipation.

He pulled her head down to meet his, despite the fact that she was still teasing him along her entrance. Kissing him hungrily, she slowly sank down upon him, causing both of them to gran deeply. "I love how much you want me," he gasped as she sat upon him their hips pressing into one another, his toes curling at the way she felt wrapped tightly around his aching member.

"I will always want you," she breathed, leaning forward to kiss him deeply, slowly rocking her hips as she did so. She swallowed back the deep moan he uttered at her movements, biting his lip before gasping out her own pleasure. "So good," she breathed against his lips, and he thrust upward in agreement, causing her to cry out.

Tony drew her head closer to his so that he could whisper in her ear. "Quiet," he admonished, and she bit her lip and tried to resist another loud groan as he bucked his hips upward again.

Rocking her hips in time with his own movements, she traced her hand along his jawline, grazing her thumb along his bottom lip. "You make it very hard," she said coyly, punctuating the statement with a definitive roll of her body and he cried out, forgetting his earlier warning to be quiet.

She was on fire and the only thing that could put her out was Tony's scorching touch. Every movement, every caress, drove her further into a maddening inferno from which the only respite was in his arms. "Faster?" he asked, his eyes darkening as he looked into hers, a lust overwhelming his senses as she tortured him with each roll of her hips.

"Mmm," was all she said, picking up the pace, but only slightly. His hands were everywhere: in her hair, on her face, scratching down her back, grabbing her ass, and he was kissing her everywhere he could reach. He couldn't get enough of her, no matter how much he touched, no matter how much he tasted.

A small peep came from the other side of the room, and Ziva stilled, her face turned toward the basket where Ashina lay. "Is she…?"

"Shh," he breathed, caressing her hip and urging her to continue. "She'll sleep. Please don't stop," he begged, rocking his hips up and into her to convince her to keep going. Ziva stayed in place for another moment, waiting for any other signs that their daughter had woken but heard none, and she heaved a sigh of relief, leaning forward onto her elbows.

"Where were we?"

Tony grinned, licking his lip as he grasped her hips tightly and pulled her into him. "Right about… here…" he answered as he reached between her legs to rub at her clit, causing her to hiss at the contact.

"Oh," she gasped, clenching around him as he teased her with his fingers, rubbing her exactly the way she liked. "Oh… you're so… good… at that…" she gasped, her pace increasing as her release began to build. She was gasping for breath now, her entire body aflame as she chased her pleasure, desperate to fall apart and let Tony catch her.

"Ah," he responded, pausing to kiss her slowly, biting her bottom lip between his teeth. "But the way you ride my cock is perfection," he countered, sliding his free hand up the side of her body and reaching into her hair to tangle his fingers at the back of her neck. She shivered, rolling her hips into him and gasping at the shift in angle, then cried out as he thrust up into her – hard.

Just then a quick, short wail came from the other side of the room, and both of them stilled. "Shit," Ziva muttered under her breath, feeling her breasts begin to tighten as she sensed her daughter's awakening.

"I'm so close," Tony practically whined, momentarily slowing – but not entirely stopping – his ministrations. Ashina let out another wail from her side of the room and Ziva huffed out a heavy sigh of frustration, puffing her hair off of her face as she slid up and off of him, giving him a quick kiss as she reached for something to put on.

"We will have to finish later," she said, unable to hide the regret in her voice. He had felt incredible and it had been so long, but she couldn't in good conscience continue making love with her husband while her daughter lay there crying and helplessly hungry. Sex would simply have to wait.

Tony pouted a little, but he understood, though he wished they could have finished. He was still painfully hard and Ziva bending over as she picked up his pants did nothing to calm his raging hard-on, but the baby had to come first.

He reached for the pants Ziva had tossed on the bed as she stepped over to Ashina's basket, bending over and cooing to her gently as she picked her up. Almost immediately the child settled, and Ziva moved her shirt out of the way so that the baby could feed, sitting down at the table in the kitchen area rather than sitting next to her tightly-wound husband.

Sharing such a small space definitely had unfortunate awkward consequences. "Wait for me," Ziva said softly as Ashina took her meal, and Tony settled back into the bed, facing the wall. As much as he loved Ziva and found her alluring at almost every occasion, there was something weird about watching her feed their child while simultaneously being rock hard. He opted not to stroke himself, choosing instead to wait for Ziva to return so they could finish what they'd started.

Ashina didn't take long to feed, and soon enough she was again drifting off to sleep, her cheeks plump and rosy as she sighed in contentment. Ziva cleaned her up and gave her a quick change before setting her down with a kiss, whispering, "Good night, my little dove." She shivered with the anticipation of getting back into the bed with her husband and feeling him inside of her once more, and she pulled off the clothing she'd been wearing before sliding back into the bed and reaching around Tony's waist and kissing his shoulder.

"Tony," she breathed, her voice low and seductive, but he didn't stir. That bastard, she thought to herself as she realized he had fallen asleep. "Tony," she said more insistently, shaking him roughly and reaching down his pants to stroke him, but he didn't budge. Frustrated, she groaned out loud, uncaring whether Ashina, Tali, and Tony would wake. "Damn it, Tony," she said, her voice sounding pitifully like a whine, but she didn't care. He'd gotten her tightly wound up and somehow fallen asleep, despite the fact that she knew he'd been just as high strung as she had.

Heaving a deep sigh, she sank back down on the bed, her head hitting the pillow as tears welled in her eyes. She didn't know why she was so upset, after all, it certainly wasn't the first time she'd been sexually frustrated, but one thing she'd learned since becoming a mother was that she didn't necessarily need a reason to cry anymore. She wiped at her face with the back of her hand, then reached her hand between her legs, deciding to finish herself off if that was what it took, when suddenly Tony spun around quickly and practically tackled her, kissing her deeply and causing her to yelp with surprise.

"Damn it, Tony!" she said again, trying not to raise her voice too much as she smacked his shoulder in frustration.

He grinned as he rocked his hips down and toward her, feeling her back arch to lean toward him as he rubbed his still-clothed erection against her aching core. "You thought I fell asleep?" he teased, rhythmically rolling his hips toward her and making sure she could feel exactly how awake he was.

"Just take those pants off and get in me, please," she begged, moving her hand down to help him with the offending garment. He wasted no time in doing both things, and soon he was joining with her, eliciting twin groans of pleasure as they finally began to pick up where they left off.

"Are you close?" he teased, pumping into her expertly, and she nodded, lacking the words to adequately describe just how tightly wound she was. She'd known sexual frustration, yes, but having to stop in the middle of sex – and as close as they'd been – brought it to an entirely different level. She lifted one leg up to wrap around him and he began to thrust even more forcefully, causing her to gasp with each thrust of his cock. The bed was creaking heavily, its frame hitting against the wall of their cabin as they moved, and soon her own cries were starting to ring out along with it, silence be damned.

"Please," she begged, her toes starting to curl as he shifted slightly, a new angle bringing her that much closer to the edge. "Touch me," she ordered, reaching for his hand and dragging it down to her clit, letting him work his own particular magic, the likes of which always had her seeing stars.

Her nails were digging into his skin when he grunted, signaling that he, too, was close. Ziva's eyes shot open, meeting with his, and she reminded him, "Remember… you can't…" she trailed off, and he nodded, his face knotted in concentration as he rode her to oblivion.

"You'd better…" he began, his voice sounding strained, his entire body feeling hot and tight with the release that was almost certainly soon to come. He was trying to hold off so that she could come first, but she felt so good and he wasn't sure if her orgasm would trigger his own before he could pull out. "You need to come, Ziva," he begged, his thrusting growing erratic as he felt himself on the verge of exploding.

"I'm right there," she breathed, lifting her head to look down and seeing them joined; watching the way his cock repeatedly entered her as he rubbed his fingers through her clit. The visual did it, and she threw her head back, crying out his name as she felt her entire body quiver with pleasure. Tony gave only a few more thrusts to help her ride it out before he quickly pulled from her, rapidly pumping his fist as he shot his release across her stomach, collapsing on top of her and panting heavily.

"That was too close," he said softly, turning to kiss her lazily as he struggled to catch his breath.

Her own voice was breathy, her body shivering as she clung to him in her weakened, post-orgasmic state. "I know," she replied, her voice a puff of warm air against his ear. "But we can't…" she said, and he nodded slightly, not needing her to continue. They couldn't have another child, not here. Even today had been a risk, as it was entirely possible to still get pregnant with pulling out.

"We will find a way," he assured her, kissing her gently again before reaching for his pants. With his pants, he wiped the mess off of her stomach and slid out of the bed to grab a different pair. That task completed, he stepped back into the bed, pulling the covers up and over them and sliding his hand around Ziva's waist before kissing her neck and saying, "Good night."

"Mmm," she said, leaning into him for warmth. "Good night, Tony," she whispered, and settled against him and into a deep, satisfied sleep.

It seems Widow finally has a bead on our agents. Who will get there first?

Thank you again for reading and for all of the kind things you've been saying. Look out for Chapter 26 on Wednesday.