Warnings: Spoilers for Season 7.

A/N: Yucky weather for the long weekend here means I've done a lot of writing in between spring cleaning. So, lucky for you it's been rainy, unlucky for me, haha.

Tony couldn't take sitting at home any longer. So, the day after bringing Kaitlin home he called the nanny to see if she would take her for a few hours. Of course, Gibbs had informed Jane that Tony was in no way, shape or form, to be coming into work.

"Jane," the young man tried to argue with her. "Gibbs just up and left. That's not like him! Not when a child is concerned!"

"I know all about Kaitlin's bout with Whooping Cough, and Jethro is right-she needs to be home with her daddy," Jane countered, firmly.

Tony tossed a glance at the baby, laying on her back in her play-pen, staring up at him. She had not been very active since coming home, but she was eating, and her cough had pretty much been reduced to tickles in the throat. She'd be fine for a few hours, wouldn't she? "I hate being left out. I have a job to do, as his second in command, to be there for him, to cover his six."

Jane sighed. "Anthony. I admired your unwavering loyalty to Jethro and NCIS, but what about that little girl? Yes, she might be feeling better, but you know the moment you step out the door, she is going to be in hysterics. I am sure that if Jethro needs you, he'll call. Just try to be patient, dear."

He had never been a patient person. And being shut out like this, it was killing him inside. Gibbs still was not answering his cell phone and when he finally got in touch with McGee, his partner informed him that everything was under control. It was Erin he'd cornered into giving up where Gibbs had gone, somewhat at least. While their probie stood her ground that she couldn't disclose why Gibbs had gone to Baltimore, she could only tell him that he did. "I'm not going to win this argument, am I?" Tony finally asked, dropping down onto the sofa.

"No. You are not," Jane replied with a chuckle. "Now. I left some left overs in the fridge the other day. Heat them up. Pop in a movie and make sure both you and Kaitlin get plenty of rest."

"Yes ma'am," Tony echoed, smiling before he hung up.

Kaitlin let out a fussy cry from her play-pen and demanded attention. Tony got up off the sofa and lifted her out of the crib. She snuggled against his shoulder and settled immediately.

Tony rubbed her back as he went to sit back down. "Nanny was right," he whispered to her, "I can't leave you right now. Guess it's nice to know that there are no substitutes for me, huh? Although, I hate it when Grandpa Gibbs leaves me out of the loop like this."

"Ibbs," Kaitlin repeated.

"Aw, look you learned a new word," Tony praised her which got him a grin. He kissed her cheek. "Let's just hope Ibbs isn't in too much trouble and Daddy doesn't have to go half way across the world to save his butt."

Gibbs snapped his phone shut after listening to the voicemail from Jane. He should have known that DiNozzo was going to snoop around and try to hand the baby off to the nanny so he could come into work. He was happy he'd warned her.

"Something wrong?" Ziva asked, softly by his side while they rode the elevator up to the main floor.

"No, just Kaitlin's nanny informing me that Tony tried to coax her into taking the baby for the day," Gibbs replied, shoving the phone back into his pocket. "I should have known that keeping silent and ordering him to stay home with her was a bad idea."

Ziva smiled slightly. "He is worried about you. I do not blame him. The last time you disappeared on him you were taken hostage by a terrorist."

Gibbs had not looked at it from that perspective. He sighed as the doors opened and the pair stepped off. Immediately being back in that office had an effect on Ziva and he wished she had taken him up on the offer to give her statement back at the shelter. He wasn't sure she was up for this.

She fiddled with her visitor badge and walked a step behind Gibbs as he escorted her to the conference room. She knew how to get there but she was no longer an employee of NCIS and thus, her role was different. As they climbed the stairs she glanced down into the bullpen and saw that Tony's desk was indeed empty, McGee looking at her puzzled, and a young, blonde woman hunched over some paper work paying no attention to them at all. "You did not tell them I was coming," she stated.

"Nope," Gibbs said as he strode to the conference room and pulled the door open. "I told McGee that I had to go to Baltimore for a follow-up on a cold case and that Tony was out and he was in charge until I got back. Didn't want him or Abby to suffocate you when you arrived."

"It is okay, Gibbs," Ziva told him as she took a seat. "I should probably speak to them. All of them."

He nodded and sat down next to her, placing his file onto the table. He popped it open and grabbed a pen. "Listen, I know that speaking about Mossad operations can get you in a lot of trouble back home, so...Vance and I have decided to leave your real name out of it. Instead we'll be using your new identity."

She raised an eyebrow. "How are you going to explain my presence on the ship?"

"You were a stowaway," Gibbs said with a little smirk. "Hiding so no one saw you, you escaped just before the ship went down."

"If Mossad ever gets their hands on this report, they will demand to speak to the witness, Gibbs."

"Cross that bridge if and when we come to it."

Ziva took a deep breath and nodded. "Very well. Cryor was on the ship with us. He made us immediately, as I did him. Regardless of what he'd done, he was still a marine and carried himself in such a way."

Gibbs jotted some notes down into the file. "How did he make you?"

"My necklace. He told me I should take it off. I told him...I told him I would rather die than take it off. Ironic now that it is gone."

"Did he give you up to the crew?"

"No. I do not think he did. I...I would have left him alive. It was...it was Malachi that killed him. He said we couldn't trust him."

"Officer Ben-Gidon, the one you sent back to Israel because he was wounded?"

Ziva nodded, biting back her tears. "Yes. I sent him back. It...I was only leading that mission to protect the baby from my father. I...already two men had died because of it...Malachi was my friend, Gibbs. I could not let him be killed for something I had to do. He tried to reason with me to go back to Israel with him. But I knew...if I returned unsuccessful...my father would destroy Tony by taking Kaitlin from him. I was prepared to die. I infiltrated the camp with nothing but death in my heart."

Gibbs stopped writing and reached out to put his hand over hers. "Your father...he raised you to be a cold, ruthless, soulless killer. Just like he did with Ari. The only difference is you got out before it ruined you, your brother didn't."

"I often wonder if Tali had lived...what my father would have done to her," she whispered, a single tear running down her cheek.

"Tell me more about Cryor and the ship. Were you and Malachi responsible for sinking it."

"No...that really was the storm. We wrapped their bodies in bags and tossed them overboard."

Gibbs made one final note on his paperwork and slid the paper towards her. He held the pen out to her, she grasped it in her fingers and paused ever so slightly before signing under her new identity, the final strokes to cutting all ties from her previous life.

"Ziva's here?" Abby questioned when McGee came down to the lab to tell her. "Something to do with our case?"

"I don't know. Boss was rather cryptic when he told me that he was going to Baltimore, not to inform Tony what he was doing, and that I was in charge," McGee replied with a shrug. " I had no idea he was going to the city to get Ziva, didn't know it until she walked through the door with him."

Abby chewed on her lower lip. "Daniel Cryor went AWOL and his remains were found in a trash bag in the Indian Ocean. Do you think...do you think Ziva had something to do with it?"

McGee frowned. "Ducky estimates his time of death was probably in May. She was still a part of Mossad back then so...yes...anything is possible. Look what happened to Tony."

"Does Tony...does he know she's here?" Abby whispered, nervously.

"No. Gibbs left strict instructions to keep him out of this," McGee replied, sadly. "I know he forgave her back in Africa but...they never really...talked about it...you know."

Abby swallowed and nodded. It had hurt when Ziva had betrayed them all back in May. Hurt even more when they thought she was dead and it was bittersweet when Tony and McGee got her back to the States but under the circumstances she could not rejoin them at NCIS. "They need to talk. She...she was willing to die to get that hit taken off of him!"

McGee felt his chest tighten just thinking about it. What if she hadn't taken that mission? Would her father have gone through with it? He was pretty certain that when Eli David made threats he saw them through to the bitter end. Perhaps, if Kaitlin hadn't been involved in the whole situation, Ziva would have let her father take Tony out. "He knows that Abby. He knows that if she hadn't taken the mission, Eli would have killed him."

"No...my father would not have killed him," Ziva's voice said, startling the pair. They turned to see her standing in the door. "He would have done something much worse."

Abby rushed to her and hugged her tightly. She had not seen her since returning from Africa. They had kept in contact through emails but Ziva had insisted she wasn't ready to see any of them yet. There were things that she needed to work out first. The scientist pulled back and immediately apologized, "I'm sorry! It's just...I'm happy you're okay."

Ziva smiled. "It is nice to see you, Abby."

"You said your father would have done something much worse," McGee reminded her, "How much worse could it possibly get?"

"He threatened to take Kaitlin from Tony," Ziva simply answered.

McGee felt the color drain from his face. Oh yeah, that is worse, he thought. Kaitlin had become such an important part of all their lives. He knew that if Eli had followed through on that threat, making the baby disappear forever, it would have killed the senior field agent. It would have destroyed their tight-knit little family. "Bastard," he swore and then looked sheepishly at Ziva, "Sorry...I know...I know he is your father."

Ziva shook her head, remorsefully. "It is okay, Tim. He is my father only by blood now. When he made that threat against a small, innocent infant, I saw him for what he truly was."

"Hey," Erin called, popping into the lab. "Gibbs is looking for you. We have to fly."

"Case?" McGee guessed.

"Uh-huh. Dead marine in a cornfield. Sounds like fun," Erin teased.

McGee chuckled as he followed her, stopped once to grasp Ziva's hand and give a squeeze then was gone. Ziva and Abby stood in awkward silence for a moment, until Ziva reached for the photograph of Kaitlin that she kept on her table. "She is getting big."

Abby grinned, looking at the photo of Kaitlin, sitting on a blanket at the park, grinning. "Yeah. She's crawling now, and pulling herself up into a standing position using furniture. Hasn't tried to take a step yet but...it's coming. Tony's dreading it. He's already chasing her around the house with her crawling. Oh...and she calls him Da. It's rather cute."

"She looks happy."

"Happiest baby I know."

Ziva willed herself not to cry, not to wish that she had a child, but the old feelings of envy took hold of her heart. She wanted a family, she wanted a baby to laugh and smile at her the way Kaitlin laughed and smiled at her father. She ran her thumb over the infant's grinning face.

Abby watched her for a moment before suggesting, "You should go see them."

"Yes," Ziva whispered, putting the photo back down on the table, "Perhaps I will."