Ok I am sooo sorry about how long this chapter has taken but it is exam period soon so revision has been my main priority. Thanks for the reviews though. I appreciate every single one of them. hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 36 – Discovery

Tony let out a relieved groan as he unlocked the front door to their apartment and stepped inside dropping the heavy bag he had been carrying with a grunt "home sweet home" he proclaimed and Tali giggled as she shot towards her bedroom to check that all her toys were where she had left them.

Tony turned to grin at Ziva and Gibbs as they dropped the bags they had been carrying with relieved sighs. "Well it's good to be home" Tony said "not that it wasn't nice staying at yours boss but damm I love this apartment" Gibbs nodded "well I'll miss my girls but I can't say it isn't a relief to be rid of you DiNozzo" he said. Tony frowned and opened his mouth affronted before he saw Gibbs eyes twinkling and he scowled.

Ziva smiled as she looked around their apartment. It had been a week since she and Gibbs had returned from their secret trip to Israel and so far she had not seen any sign of her father's spies. She had been on high alert wary of any retaliation but so far there had been nothing. Their apartment had finally been refurbished and after redecorating it they had finally decided to move back in.

She let out a content sigh at the site of her home before she turned to face Gibbs. "Thank you for everything you have done for us these past few weeks" she said as she hugged him and he chuckled hugging her back "no worries Ziver and any time; I really am going to miss having you around" she smiled before she pulled away "Tali" she called "come say goodbye to grandpa Gibbs."

There was a small thump before Tali came dashing out of her bedroom and launched herself into Gibbs' arms "bye bye grandpa" she mumbled as she hugged him and Gibbs smiled "bye bye sweetpea I'll see you soon ok" Tali nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before he lowered her to the ground and she ran to Tony who grinned as he caught hold of her playfully making her giggle.

Ziva smiled as she followed Gibbs to the door "thank you" she said again and he nodded "be careful Ziver" he said and she nodded before she closed the door. As she turned she felt Tony wrap his arms around her stomach "home sweet home" he murmured and she smiled as she leaned against him "mmmm" she murmured looking around "it is good to be home" she agreed as he kissed her neck "I'll unpack" he said "you sort Tali out" Ziva nodded looking at the clock before she headed into the bathroom to run her daughter a bath.

Once it was warm she chased her excitable daughter around before she lifted her up laughing and squealing into her arms and carried her into the bathroom "no bath mommy no bath" Tali giggled and Ziva laughed as she kissed her cheek "yes bath aheva" she said as she set her down "you're all smelly baby" Tali pouted as her mother began to help her out of her clothes before she lifted her into the bath.

Once in Tali began to kick and splash playing happily with her toys. "Blow bubbles mommy" she exclaimed and with a smile Ziva complied and blew bubbles which Tali happily tried to pop laughing at her until it was time to wash her hair.

Tony grinned as he listened to Tali playing in the bathroom as he began to put all her toys and clothes away in her bedroom. He was glad to be home where he could spend quality time with his wife and daughter. He hoped Ziva would settle down now they were home. She had been on edge ever since the fire, very jumpy and distracted. She had said she was just stressed about their situation but he could tell that something else was up; he didn't want to question her though. But he was becoming concerned.

She had settled a bit after her trip to France, it seemed to have helped her relax and he was glad that it had helped. He and Tali had missed her terribly but it had been fun to have Gibbs' house to himself. He just hoped Gibbs didn't notice that they had had to replace the saucepans after the pasta stuck to the base. Or the fire extinguisher after they had gotten distracted whilst cooking bacon.

He finished up in Tali's room and moved back into the lounge to grab the bag that belonged to he and Ziva. As he did so though he knocked Ziva's backpack over sending the contents spilling across the floor. "Shoot" he muttered dropping the other bag and falling to the floor to gather the contents of the files up.

As he did so he noticed a file he hadn't seen before. He wouldn't have minded apart from it was stamped with the symbol for Mossad. Frowning he picked it up and slowly opened it and his eyes widened when he saw the pictures inside it.

Hand shaking he sifted through them feeling his stomach clench as he saw pictures of his young daughter being observed by special forces from Isreal. "Tali" he whispered "what on earth…?"

"Tony" he heard Ziva call "can you get Tali's pyjamas for me please" "yeah" he said slowly placing the pictures back in the file and shoving it and the others back into Ziva's bag before he moved slowly into Tali's room to find some pyjamas and slowly he moved to the bathroom where Ziva was kneeling behind Tali who was wrapped in a soft fluffy towel whilst her mother was carefully towelling her hair dry.

"Here" he said quietly holding out the pyjamas "thanks" Ziva said with a smile looking up at him before the smile slipped from her face "Tony what's wrong" she asked and Tony hesitated before he looked down at Tali who was looking up at him confused. "Nothing" he said quietly before he moved back out of the room unsure of how to react.

He couldn't keep his eyes away from the backpack though, knowing what was in it. He continued to put away there things as Ziva came out of the bathroom with Tali in her arms "say night night to daddy" she said and Tony forced a smile onto his face as he reached out and caught hold of her pulling her into a big bear hug making her giggle.

"Ah night night princess" he murmured and Tali giggled "Night night daddy" she exclaimed as he kissed her cheek "sleep tight lovebug" he said before he handed her back to Ziva avoiding eye contact with his wife whilst she read Tali a story and settled her down. When she came out he was sitting on the sofa flicking through the TV channels trying to figure out what to do.

Slowly she came over and settled on the sofa beside him wrapping her arms around his chest. Automatically he had put his arm around her before he had even registered the movement. "You are awfully quiet this evening" Ziva commented and he shook his head to focus "yeah just glad to be home" he said before he looked down at her "so I realised recently" he said "that with everything going on, all the refurbishing the apartment and work and looking after Tali, I never really asked you about France"

He felt her stiffen slightly before she hid her surprise and relaxed. "Not much to tell really" she said "we went to the conference, everyone argued for a while before they agreed, Gibbs sat there in stony silence which made his point very clear. Once it was sorted we went out and enjoyed the city just like you told me." She looked up at him "we even had breakfast in the very same restaurant that we did that time when we went" she said and Tony felt a small smile slip onto his face as he remembered that little café they had eaten breakfast in before going to pick up their witness. He remembered clambering onto the little bike with Ziva clambering on behind him. He still remembered the thrill he felt as her arms had wrapped around his stomach and he had felt her lean into him as he had sped off down the road. The thought now sent tingles down his spine.

He forced a smile onto his face and looked at Ziva "so nothing I need to know" he checked and she frowned before she slowly shook her head "Tony? What's wrong" she asked. "Nothing" he said lightly "come on let's finish putting everything away" he said and he quickly stood and moved over to the last bag. He could sense Ziva watching him from the sofa before she too rose and began to pull some clothes from the bag placing them in either the clean or dirty pile.

Tony slowly picked up his coat and Ziva's jacket. As he did so he felt something stiff in Ziva's pocket and with another frown he reached inside and pulled out the ticket from an airplane journey. Slowly he unfolded it and his eyes widened as he saw that it was a connecting flight and it was the where from that made his heart stop.

"Ziva" he said quietly and she looked up at him "what is this" he asked displaying the ticket and he heard her breath catch in her throat. For a minute they just stood there staring at each other before Tony moved over to her bag and yanked out the file again. he grabbed one of the surveillance photos of Tali and moved over to her. "Where did you get this" he asked quietly and he saw her tremble at the sight of it. "Where did you get it" he asked again in a sharper tone.

"Mossad" she said quietly and he felt a thrill of fear rise inside of him at the mention of the Israeli special forces. He looked back at the ticket stub. "You went to Israel whilst on that trip to France didn't you" he said and without looking at him she nodded "yes" she whispered defiantly.

"Why" he asked struggling to remain calm "because I had to" she said sounding very defensive of herself and her actions "WHY" he shouted making her start slightly "keep your voice down Tali is trying to sleep" she snapped at him and he clenched his jaw trying to calm himself. "Why did you have to go to Israel" he asked and she lowered her head seemingly deliberating.

"Because my father tried to kill you" she said and his eyes widened "what" he breathed and she looked up at him and he saw that her eyes were shining "he set that fire" she whispered "he sent two of his agents to torch the place when I wasn't in there, when I spoke to my father in Israel he told me that he wanted to kill you, Tali wasn't a target, he wanted you to die and for me to return to Israel with Tali so that I would return to Mossad and he could train her."

Tony's eyes widened "you spoke to your father" he said trying to get his head around what he was hearing. Ziva nodded "I confronted him, I threatened him. I told him to leave us alone or I would reveal some of his secrets. I told him to withdraw his spies or I would make it public what happens inside Mossad."

"Spies" he interjected "hang on there have been spies?... and you knew?" "yes I knew, I am trained to know" she said sharply "he has been sending spies, how do you think he got all those photos you are holding"

Tony looked down at all the photos in his hand staring at them in horror before he looked up at Ziva "they have been spying on us" he said and she nodded "and on Tali" she said quietly and his eyes widened "They were stalking Tali at her school… son of a bitch…" he hissed "why the hell didn't you tell me"

"Because I knew you would react exactly how you are now" Ziva warned "I knew you would be mad." "That doesn't give you the right to decide what I do and don't know" he said before he frowned "wait does Gibbs know? He went to France with you didn't he." She nodded "he came to Israel too" she said "who else" he asked struggling to stay calm.

"McGee and Vance" she said "McGee knew but you couldn't tell me" he exploded "yes because I knew he wasn't going to lose his temper like you are now" she shouted.

"You had no right to keep me out of it" he shouted "its my life Ziva, my life that was being threatened and I didn't have a clue, I didn't know they were after my, I didn't know they were stalking Tali. She's my daughter too Ziva, you can't just leave me out."

"I was trying to protect you" she yelled and he could see her eyes burning with anger and he could feel a similar rage burning up inside of him "by lying to me" he yelled back "you had no right"

"I had every right" Ziva shouted "I was trying to keep you from getting yourself killed, I didn't want you finding out and getting all mad and then trying to stop Mossad yourself, they would kill you without blinking Tony. The less you knew the safer you would be, I was trying to protect you."

"No" he snarled "you were just doing what you do best; shutting people out and do everything by yourself" she blinked at his hurtful words and instantly looked wounded but he had found his voice and he wasn't going to stop.

"You shouldn't have gone to Israel, it was so stupid, what if your father had killed you huh? What if he had kept you there, you didn't spare a thought to what would happen to Tali and I if you didn't come home did you?"

"Of course I did" she screamed "I didn't want to go Tony, but it was the only option, he threatened us and Tali, I knew it wasn't going to stop. I knew it was the only way. I hated being away as much as I hated lying to you, but I had no choice"

"Everybody has a choice Ziva" he yelled "you just didn't look for another one. You need to start realising that we are a family, that means we don't lie, we don't keep secrets and we don't risk our lives like you did"

"Tony we risk our lives every day in our job" she shouted "but that's different" he yelled "we have each other's backs, we can protect each other and be there for each other and Tali; that is what being a family is all about…"

Ziva looked like she was about to go into another shouting tirade but before she could a small voice called out "mommy? Daddy?" and they both looked over to see Tali standing in the doorway to her bedroom wide eyed looking scared with Bernie under her arm "mommy daddy what going on" she asked.

Tony closed his eyes and took a steadying breath to calm down before looked over at his daughter and forced a smile onto his face "nothing is going on princess" he said as he moved over to her and scooped her up into his arms "mommy and daddy were just talking, come on lets get you back to bed so you can get some beauty sleep ok" he carried her back into her room without looking back at Ziva and he quickly placed her in the middle of her bed between all her toys kneeling beside her to gently pull the blankets over her.

"You and mommy were talking really loud" Tali whispered looking nervous and he smiled weakly "I know princess we are sorry we woke you, everything is fine just go back to sleep ok." "Ok" Tali whispered "night night love you"

"Love you too" he said quietly kissing her forehead before he rose and made his way out of her bedroom shutting the door behind him. When he turned he found Ziva standing exactly where he had left her with her jaw clenched. As he came out of Tali's room she looked up at him. "I did what I did to try and protect my family" she said "I was trying to keep you safe Tony because I love you"

"Do you" he asked quietly "because right now Ziva I don't know whether anything you say is true or not; you lied to me and you shouldn't have done so" "what do you want me to do" Ziva asked "apologise? Because I will apologise but I don't think what I did was wrong Tony, if I had to do it again I wouldn't do it differently."

Tony looked at her staring at him pleadingly trying to figure out what to do. "I need some air" he said abruptly and her eyes filled with tears, if he wasn't so angry he might of felt guilty but right now, every time he looked at her all he could see were the lies she had told him.

He turned and grabbed his keys, phone and wallet "don't wait up" he said before he walked out of the door shutting it harder than anticipated before he stormed off out of the building.

The moment the door shut behind him Ziva let her strong walls collapse and she sank onto the sofa letting out a sob as she did so feeling tears slide down her cheeks. She felt awful and wished Tony would come back so she could truly apologise for what she had said. But he was gone and she didn't know when he was coming back.

"Mommy" came a little voice and she slowly looked up wiping away her tears as Tali came shuffling out of her room again. "Hey baby" she whispered managing to force a smile onto her face "come here honey." Slowly Tali shuffled over with her head buried into Bernie's neck "why you crying mommy" she asked reaching up to touch a tear on Ziva's cheek "why you sad." Ziva smiled weakly as she reached out and lifted her daughter up into her arms, placing her on her knee so that she could hug her tightly. "I did something silly" she whispered resting her head on Tali's and closing her eyes to breathe in her sweet scent. "Oh" Tali said quietly cuddling close "where's daddy gone" she asked and Ziva squeezed her eyelids together to stop more tears from falling.

"He went for a walk aheva" she whispered "he'll be back later ok" "ok" Tali said and Ziva swallowed before she adjusted her grip on Tali and then stood "come on to bed" she said as brightly as she could before she carried Tali into her room again settling her back down trying to remain strong before she moved back into her bedroom and after slowly changing into her nightwear she clambered into the bed and curled up letting the tears at last come trickling down her cheeks.

She didn't know how long she lay there before she felt the mattress sag and she looked up hoping that it would be Tony. But it wasn't. Instead Tali was clambering onto the bed and crawling over to her. She instantly cuddled up to Ziva and placed one arm around Ziva's waist making her mother smile weakly at her daughter trying to comfort her before she pulled her daughter close and kissed the top of her head as Tali closed her eyes and was soon fast asleep again.

Ziva lay there for a while hugging her daughter waiting to hear Tony come in. But the night dragged on and he still didn't return and slowly hating what she had done, she drifted off to sleep praying that everything would work out in the morning.

XO

Gibbs didn't look up as he heard the front door slam shut, nor when the door to the basement opened and he heard Tony storm down the stairs. "Forget something DiNozzo" he asked from where he sat whittling away at a design for his boat "or have you come to tell me what happened to the saucepans and the fire extinguisher"

"Why did you lie to me" Tony asked and Gibbs could hear his voice trembling with anger "why have you and Ziva been lying to me?"

Slowly Gibbs sighed and put down his tools carefully before he looked up at his agent who was standing glaring at him. "You know about Mossad and Israel" he said and Tony nodded "I found the ticket stub and the file filled with surveillance photographs of my daughter and I" he said hotly "you have been lying to me for months Gibbs, you and Ziva. I trusted you and you lied to me. What gives you the right"

"I am your boss DiNozzo" Gibbs said sharply "I have every right, and Ziva is your wife. We were just trying to protect you"

"That doesn't mean you should lie to me" Tony yelled "I thought we were a team Gibbs, I thought we had each other's sixes. What are those rules you make us follow huh? Rule 1: never screw over your partner. Ha yeah I think you both screwed me over. Rule 15: Always work as a team? Yeah well you failed there."

"I was going with Rule 18" Gibbs interjected "It is better to seek forgiveness than to ask permission" he looked at his agent "we did what we thought was best" he said "tell me Tony, if you had known that Mossad was trying to kill you and your daughter how would you have reacted?"

Tony opened his mouth to protest before he thought about it and realised that he would have been mad, he would have wanted to stop Mossad from laying an finger on his precious daughter. He would have been mad and he wouldn't have been easily stopped. "You see" Gibbs said obviously knowing what he was thinking "we knew that the only way to protect you would be to hide everything from you. There was also the worry that as we knew Mossad was watching you, if they knew you knew they might try to kill you again."

"It still wasn't right" Tony objected. "What part of any of this is right DiNozzo" Gibbs interjected "they tried to kill you just so Ziva would take her little girl back to Israel where she would be trained to become a ruthless assassin, they tried to kill you and nearly killed at least 70 other people in the process, there is nothing right about this, so don't go getting all mad at Ziva and I for doing what we thought was right in a limited space of time."

"Ziva is my wife Gibbs" Tony said "what the hell would have happened to us if she had been killed in Israel hmm, what if she had never come back, how would I have explained to Tali that I didn't know why her mommy was dead or missing because she hadn't told me anything. How the hell do you think we would have coped losing her."

"Well how the hell do you think Ziva would have coped losing you" Gibbs growled leaping to his feet to stare Tony directly in his eyes "all she wanted to do was keep you safe, why the hell are you getting mad at her for doing that"

"Because she could have been killed" Tony yelled before he stopped realising why he was so mad. "She could have been killed" he whispered.

Gibbs remained silent before he moved over to him and took his shoulder "go home Tony" he said "you need to calm down, you aren't seeing this straight" "I can't go home" Tony said "not now, I can't be there with her" he saw Gibbs jaw tighten. "Yes you can" he said and he shoved him towards the door "go home DiNozzo I mean it go now, sort this out."

Tony stared at him angrily before he turned and marched up the stairs slamming both doors to the house loudly. Gibbs sighed and rubbed his eyes. 'Things had better be sorted out before tomorrow' he thought 'otherwise it was going to be a long day that was for certain.'

XO

McGee was awoken by a loud banging at his front door and a voice shouting "come on McLazy open up will you." Frowning he unlocked his front door to find Tony standing there. "Tony" he said "what are you…" Tony cut him off with a raised hand "don't want to talk about it McSnoopy but just so we are clear I am still mad at you for lying about Mossad and Israel to me but out of you, Ziva and Gibbs I am the least mad at you" he pushed past him into the apartment and flopped onto the couch "got any beer" he asked in a dejected tone.

McGee frowned ignoring the last questing knowing that alcohol was the last thing Tony needed right now. "What happened" he asked sitting on the couch beside his co worker "I found the ticket to Israel" Tony said "I found out about Mossad" McGee gulped "you know" he checked and Tony nodded angrily "you are not forgiven by the way" he said "Tony we were…" McGee tried but Tony cut him off "just trying to protect me I know, save it McGee that is all I have heard tonight. You guys seem to think I can't take care of myself" "not against Mossad you can't" McGee said before he shut up at the glare Tony was giving him.

"So you just ran out" he asked and Tony sighed "after a heated screaming match with Ziva yes, I stormed out, I needed time to think, I still do" "what about Tali" McGee asked "well she was woken up by the screaming…that is the only reason we aren't still yelling" Tony said "I knew I needed to calm down so I left"

"What about Ziva" McGee asked "well she lied to me McBlivious" Tony said "I don't want to see her right now" "but she's your wife" McGee said. "And married couples fight all the time" Tony said looking at him "we are just being a normal couple McGee"

McGee frowned "Tony nothing about you and Ziva is normal, that is why I am worried, when you two argue, you really argue, how will you get past this?" Tony sighed "I don't know McGoo I really don't but listen it has been a really long day, can I just crash on your couch please."

Slowly McGee nodded "sure" he said "but you need to sort this out Tony, if not for you and Ziva, then for Tali" Tony sighed "I know McGee" he said quietly "I really do."

McGee waited another few minutes before he found Tony a blanket and pillow before heading back into his room. Once Tony had gotten comfortable on the couch he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet containing a picture of Ziva and Tali. He gazed at it feeling a small smile slip onto his face as he stared at their happy smiling faces before the smile fell away as he gazed at Ziva "What did you do" he whispered "I don't know what I am more mad about; the fact that you lied or the fact that you risked your life, I can't figure it out…" he sighed before he looked at Tali's smiling face. He knew he had to sort it out for her. But he honestly didn't know how to.

So with a heavy heart he replaced the wallet in his pocket and rolled onto his side and tried to sleep wondering what he was going to do tomorrow…

Sorry again for how long this took. Please forgive me.

Hope you liked it though. It took me a while because I wanted to figure out how they would argue and yeah :P

If you have any suggestions please don't hesitate to let me know ;)

And please review. I promise I will try to update faster if I get lots of reviews.

Thanks

Mysticgirl