Tony groaned as a buzzing noise woke him. He reached over to his nightstand and felt around for a minute before his hand fell on the cell phone. "DiNozzo," he grunts but receives no response. The buzzing continues, making him jump since it was next to his face. He pulls it away and his mind registers that it's the alarm he had set the night before. He pushes a few buttons until the annoying vibration stops and then tosses the phone across the room. He's satisfied when he hears it clunk to the floor after hitting the closet door. He opens his eyes and glances at the clock, almost 0700h hours and he still had to get himself and Hannah ready. "Ah, sh-" he starts to say but when he looks over and see Hannah's body stirring he just extends the 'sh' sound while trying to think of another word to replace his previous choice. Hannah settles back down and a steady snore starts again. Tony lets her rest as he gets up to shower. He was going to be late, again. Hannah had to be dropped off at Ducky's and then Tony was supposed to swing by and pick up Ziva. After this had all begun to work out Ziva had emailed Gibbs and reminded him of Michael, the man that was following her every move. Another plan was easily constructed, after all it was just one more small obstacle. A certain blond maid (actually an NCIS agent who was willing to go along even though they had not filled her in) would be sent as a distraction to Michael's hotel room. Giving Ziva enough time to slip out and into Tony's car. Any sign of Michael going to Ziva's house and the shower audio would be played which would, hopefully, supply them enough to get her back to her apartment and through the bathroom window. Complicated but compared to the lengths they were going to in order to pull this off it seemed rather simple. "Hannah," Tony says twenty minutes later once he was showered and dressed, but the small girl registers nothing. "Hey Hannah you need to get up."
"Do not make me go to Savta," she says in a sleepy voice, in a pleading voice.
"You're gonna go to Ducky's. Okay?" She says nothing but just snuggles herself deeper into the covers. "Hannah, come on you need to get up," Tony continues to encourage her to wake up.
"Lailah tov."
"Boker tov?" Tony says as more of a question. He had either said good morning or good breakfast. Hebrew was a hard language to learn. Tony should know, he had been studying a few terms for a while now. "Damn it," he says when he sees how late he's going to be. Of all days at that. Tony just picks her up and grabs her back pack, rushing out to his car. "Last time I ever let a five year old stay up till eleven at night," he props her up, at which she finally opens her eyes, and buckles her in. He speeds towards Ducky's in a way that proved he had been riding with Ziva a bit too often. He pulled into Ducky's circular drive way and put the car in park not bothering to turn off the engine. The snoring signaled that Hannah had once again drifted into sleep so Tony takes the girl into his arms again. Using his elbow Tony presses the button to ring the bell and waits impatiently for Ducky to answer. The door opens slowly and to Tony's dismay he sees Ducky's mother standing there with a murderous look on her face.
"That is not my dog," she tells Tony and goes to shut the door.
"Wait, Mrs. Mallard! I'm here to see your son, Donald," Tony says and she reopens the door a little.
"He does not want any girl scout cookies!" she proclaims loudly. As though she was declaring some great event.
"I'm not selling cookies, Mrs. Mallard!"
"How do you know my name? Are you a gigolo?"
Tony sighs. He did not have time for this today. "Ducky!" he yells and trys to step into the house.
"You're Italian!" she yells in great excitement.
"I apologize, Anthony. Mother still answers the door even though I continue to instruct her not to," Ducky tells Tony.
"Donald, have you finished your homework?"
"I have not had homework in decades, Mother!" Ducky yells even though the woman was right next to him. "Her alzheimer's has worsened I'm afraid. As well as her hearing"
"Seems the same to me," Tony says recalling five years back when he been put on protection duty for the demented old woman. He smiled at the memory of her telling Kate to show her underwear. "If you don't mind, Duck."
"Oh, of course Anthony," Ducky says and opens the door wider allowing Tony to enter. "I see that you two were up late last night," Ducky observes as Tony carries the now half awake girl inside.
"Yeah, we had a bit too much fun," Tony says and lowers her onto the couch, propping her head up with a pillow.
"No such thing when you are young. I remember as a child that I would-" Ducky begins but Tony hands him Hannah's back pack and then begins to speak, cutting the doctor off.
"I'll see you tonight, Ducky," Tony says and starts to walk towards the door.
"Tony?" Hannah asks, now sitting up but still not fully awake.
"I have to go to work, okay?" Tony asks her and watches as her face visibly fall. He walks over to her and bends down to her level.
"You do not want me neither."
"I'll be back tonight and you can stay the night at my place again, but right now you need to stay with Ducky," Tony tells her using a gentle tone. "I'll be back tonight, Hannah."
"Ha'omnam'?" she asks and Tony recognizes the word to mean 'promise'.
"Ha'omnam'," he says imitating the word the best he could.
Hannah reaches out and places her arms around his neck, "Shalom."
"I'll see you tonight," Tony tells her and she retracts her arms from his neck. Tony leaves and jumps back into his car, setting off for Ziva's. She'll kill him for being late. Hopefully she'll understand when he tells her that Hannah had...Ziva still didn't know about Hannah did she? It seemed strange to Tony since all the others had known of Hannah for a couple of weeks now but Ziva was still unaware that she had a niece. Maybe that could distract so she wouldn't start naming all the things she could use to kill him with in the car. Tony hated it when she did that. Tony parallel parks and waits for Gibbs to give the blond chick the signal and then for him to give Ziva the signal. He waits for a few minutes until he sees Ziva walk out. Her hair was pulled back into a braid and she was wearing a pair of sunglasses along with a dark coat. "Trust me, Zi," Tony says as Ziva sits down in the car. "He isn't going to be paying any attention to you."
"You are late," she tells him simply not bothering to reply to his previous comment. She takes off her sunglasses finding them unnecessary in the cloudy weather.
"Yeah I had a bit of a delay this morning," Tony says and pulls out of the parking spot.
"We have missed a valuable twenty minutes because you had a delay," she says as a comment even though it should have been a question.
"Your first moments of freedom in days, and you use them criticizing me?"
"Yes," Ziva replies a hint of teasing in her voice.
"How's it feel?" Tony asks and stops at the red light, turning to face her. "Not having to worry about your father listening and everything."
"Temporary," she says, meeting him dead straight in the eye.
"You scared?" he asks using the moment when her guard was down to try and get her to open up. Instead of a response she turns back and stares straight ahead, however his eyes never leave her.
"I suggest you go," she says and Tony looks over to see that the light has changed to green. She lifts her sunglasses and replaces them on her face. Today she did not want him to read her and now that he had become so skilled in doing so, and she had become so sloppy in allowing him, it took more than Mossad training to hide her emotions. Tony glances back at her once more before slamming his foot down on the gas and making an abrupt left turn. The car remains silent for the few minutes that it takes in order to get to NCIS headquarters. Before Tony has even put the car in park Ziva has grabbed her bag and opened the door.
"Whoa hoa hoa. Where do you think you're going, Zee-vah?" Tony questions drawing her name out just to annoy her a bit. She does not say anything but just turns to face him, giving him a dirty look. Even though she was wearing sunglasses he knew what expression she was showing and she knew he knew.
"To work."
"What you gonna be all pissed off and bitchy at me because I asked you a question that you're too intimidated to answer?" Tony asks, baiting her although he knew she wouldn't fall for it. Not that easily at least.
"I am not intimidated by you," she tells him and Tony can hear the anger in her voice.
"Not by me, by the question. You can't admit it, but you also can't lie. So what does Ziva David do? She threatens me and glares at me, a lot. You're avoiding the question, Ziva," Tony says to her. He says it in almost of a mocking tone. The kind that angers her all the more.
"You do the same, yes?"
"Sometimes. Maybe I do," he admits partially. Perhaps he was being a bit hypocritical to her.
She scoffs and shakes her head a little. "You have as much of a guard as I do except instead of just dealing with it you act like a child. Hide everything behind jokes and your stupid movies!" Ziva has now shifted from the even, angry toned voice to one of a much higher decibel.
"I open up more than you do!" Tony declares, loudly. They were now in a full out screaming match. The stress, anger and frustration of the past few weeks all being forced onto one another. The only person they had to release it onto was each other.
"You do?" she says but in a much more condescending tone than a normal question would have.
"Yeah, Ziva. I do," he tells her and lets himself calm down some before speaking again, or at least tries to. "Because you know what? I'm scared as hell."
Ziva stares at him for a moment before he sees a single tear come out from under the dark sunglasses. "So am I," she confesses, a moment of deja vu going through their minds.
"Now was that so hard?" Tony asks a hint of a grin on his face. She gets out of the car wordlessly and Tony hurriedly shuts off the engine to catch up to her. Both go through security and enter the elevator, selecting the floor for Abby's lab.
"Yes." Tony looks at her in surprise and confusion. What could be so hard about admitting to fear? She removes the sunglasses revealing her bloodshot eyes and turns to answer the question that had not even yet been asked. "It is a weakness, Tony."
"Ziva that's not-"
"In my world, Tony, it is a weakness that you must never let anyone know of. Not your enemies, and especially not your allies. In my world, fear, it is something that will kill you." The elevator doors open revealing the pathway to Abby's lab. Their eyes stay connected for another minute before both turn and walk out.
"Ziva!" Abby yells when the two agents appear in the doorway. The forensic scientist runs and embraces Ziva, completely oblivious to the tension that existed between the partners. "I missed you!"
"Abby, I have already been back," Ziva reminds her praying for the girl to release her tight grasp that was beginning to cut off her oxygen supply. "We did this yesterday."
"Yeah, but that was Robot Ziva. This is you, Real Ziva, and I missed Real Ziva."
"I have missed you too, Abby," she says even though they had had close to the same conversation yesterday.
"Why," Gibbs starts, sending his Gibbs glare to both agents. "Are you two so late?"
"Sorry about that, boss," Tony says and Gibbs focuses his stare on the senior field agent waiting for a reason. "I ended up being a little late with dropping Hannah off."
Ziva's head quickly whips around and she clearly is shocked by his previous statement. Tony could not really be... He wouldn't, not at a time like this. Would he? She knew she was being ridiculous for writing that letter to him, revealing such things that were meant to be hidden, things that should not be told to anyone. Admitting her feelings to Anthony DiNozzo, she should have known it was a mistake. How could she have misread things so much? She thought that he had cared, not just that she may die but about her. She shook her head at the naivety she had fallen to. Tony liked meaningless sex. Not relationships with thoughts and feelings. He did not have the time to care about anyone besides himself. She was so stupid for making such an error in judgment. No wonder her father was so ashamed of her, she was ashamed of herself. Then Ziva finds herself giving a small, condescending laugh.
"Something funny, Zee-vah?" He really needed to stop saying her name like that or else she would very likely take her gun and...Well there really is only one purpose for a gun, yes?
"Just that you have managed to find a girlfriend while I am on death's list. Death's group? Death's..." Ziva searches for the correct idiom usage but can not think of it.
"Row?" McGee says as a question but decides he should shut up by the several glaring eyes being directed at him.
"Yes, thank you! I am on death's row and you are on a date. Typical Tony, yes?" Ziva wasn't sure why she would be dumb enough to be confronting him, and in the meantime basically admitting her feelings in front of everyone she works with and must see on a daily basis.
"So now you know what's typical of me and what's not? Is that you're saying?" he could just tell her that Hannah was her niece and that he was taking care of her until Ziva could do so herself. He could just tell her that he hadn't been on a date in months, because of one girl. The one that was standing in front of him and screaming at him for the second time that day. He could, but he didn't.
"I have been working with you for over three years, yes? I think I would know by don't you?"
"You've been in America for three years but you still are incapable of using American idioms correctly so I'd say you've still got more to learn, Officer David."
"I suppose I do still have things to learn," Ziva says her voice soft. Neither understood why they were so mad with one another. They really were not, they were mad at so many others and they just seemed like viable targets to one another. It was easy to just spill all your anger and hatred onto someone of which you love than it was to let those feelings be admitted onto someone that you hated, someone you did not trust. And that was exactly what they were doing with one another. Ziva turns and leaves, suddenly realizing the three others who had just witnessed her losing her composure. Not a common occurrence especially not on this particular subject. She was humiliated with herself, stupid Tony. She pushes the call button on the elevator. She did not know what shelter her desk would provide her but it must be better than sitting in a room where you could not cut the tension with a knife. She steps in and Gibbs runs through the doors just before they shut. Silence is the only thing exchanged between the two until a couple floors have passed and Gibbs flips the emergency brake switch. One day they really would break the elevator from doing this so often. "I am sorry Gibbs I-" she stops when she feels a hand collide with the back of her head. She smiles at the gesture, one of which Gibbs had not done to any of his agents since the team had been disbanded. Soon she feels the wetness on her face and next she knows she is sobbing. Gibbs stands and watches her as she has a much needed breakdown. The past few weeks had been so hard on the team but Gibbs could only imagine what Ziva has been, and still is, going through. Her father is trying to kill her, she had been ripped from the one place she has ever had security, memories were haunting her, and everything she had been running from had caught up to her. Engulfing her and taking over her life. A life that was being threatened and, at this moment, seemed like it was going to be taken. She was not able to handle it all on her own and that is exactly what she had been doing this whole time. Gibbs opens his arms and she gratefully collapses into them her sobs causing her body to shake. "Ari," she whispers and Gibbs' memory flashes back to when she had been in his hospital room, his arms sheltering her as she sobbed just as they were now. The name being said and memories of what had happened being relived.
"I know."
"How is this different? How am I different?" Ziva cries, begging for an answer. She had begun doubting her actions so much more ever since this had all begun. She wanted someone to tell her how she was different from her father. She had killed Ari and her father was trying to kill her. Ari was her brother, her assassin is her father. She is no better than him. He is no worse than her.
Gibbs doesn't say anything, not yet. Right now he would just let her cry and he would comfort her. Protect her like he wished he could have protected Kelly. She had become a daughter to him and it was a father's instinct to help his child, make the pain go away."You are, Ziver. You are." She continued to cry though, the comfort making her sob all the harder. He should not allow her to cry, then she would not be able to. But Gibbs did. He stood there with his arms tightly embracing her letting her feel safe and comforted for the first time in over a week.
"I do not know if I can handle much more of this, Gibbs," she confesses. All of these emotions and all of this torture, she wanted it to end finally. She would have much rather of had her father shoot her months ago than force her to go through this endless agony.
"There's this little girl and she's all alone," Gibbs says. "Her name is Hannah Haswari and she needs someone to love her. She needs you, Ziva," Gibbs tells her. The willingness to fight had to be there or else they would never end this. At least they would never be able to end it well.
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Sorry for the long wait! My computer has been acting up a lot lately but I think I finally fixed it. I hope. Anyways I made this chapter a little longer to make up for it. I'm a little unsure of it, especially the end but hopefully it was okay. Review! It makes me smile :) Have a good day!
