Author's Note: Thank you all once again for the amazing reviews, I truly appreciate you taking the time to read this story and letting me know what you think. Here is the next chapter, I hope you all like it. Please let me know what you think, thanks.
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING BUT TALI!
Abby had appeared in the bullpen just as Vance and Eli took their spots in the center of the bullpen. Abby had shot a nasty glare at the Director of Mossad for having such total disregard for his daughter, her best friend, and had headed over to Ziva's desk to retrieve Tali. The little girl had immediately ran to her, her sticky, chocolate hands coming in contact with the tail of Abby's lab coat. Ziva had immediately shot to her feet as she grabbed tissues from the box sitting on her desk, apologizing profusely to Abby. Abby had shaken her head and chuckled, assuring Ziva that if chocolate was the worst thing she got on her in a day she was happy.
The amusing little scene between the three had made everyone in the bullpen smile but Eli. Instead of his attention being focused on Ziva's horrified and slightly embarrassed expression or the tiny chocolate handprints on Abby's lab coat, his attention had been drawn to his daughter's stomach and the protrusion that indicates another Dinozzo child. As he looks at her now as she once again sits hidden behind her desk he can see that her face is slightly fuller than usual but other than her stomach there really is no indication that she is carrying another child.
"I know a joint investigation isn't something that anyone enjoys but in this case it's inevitable." Vance's voice snaps Eli out of his thoughts and back into the bullpen.
Tony and Ziva share a quick smile at the mention of the world 'inevitable' but the smiles quickly disappear as they look at McGee, all three of them confused by what is going on. The explanation that follows does little to help clarify anything. In less than two years time there have been six cases that involved a dead Marine and a dead Mossad Officer, the first case involving Noam Golan which Gibbs' team had worked. The case had not been closed because essentially there had not been enough evidence. Four other crime scenes had been stumbled upon and different teams had been assigned. The last case however is the case that Team Gibbs is now working on.
While Vance continues explain how the cases have been handled Tony, Ziva and McGee exchange looks. It is now clear why Director David is standing in the bullpen because not only has his presence been requested by SecNav he is also trying to protect Mossad. Tony sends a worried glance at Ziva but her eyes do not meet his, instead she looks into the middle of the bullpen where Eli is now informing them of the Intel he has collected. Tony can see the anger flash in her eyes at the man that she has not spoken to in several years. Ziva, her years of Mossad training kicking in or perhaps it is just where she knows her husband, turns her attention to him. For a very brief moment Tony can see the pain in her eyes as her brown orbs meet his green ones and all he does is offer her a reassuring smile.
The debriefing continues as Fornell takes center stage. He hands out a thick file to each member of Gibbs' team that contains what he claims is all of the information that the FBI has gathered on the cases and then proceeds to explain the identity of the third person that had been found just a few yards from the dead Marine and dead Mossad officer at the latest crime scene. The man, a FBI agent by the name of Ian James, had been working undercover to help catch a local drug cartel that over the past few months has grown into a rather dangerous, deadly group. The FBI, along with NCIS and Mossad are now crossing jurisdictional lines in a hope of solving these crimes that are more than likely a result of the Marines and Mossad Officers extracurricular activities in drugs.
After all things have been explained and all questions answered Vance heads back up the stairs, his parting words encouraging everyone involved in the investigation to be sure to act as professionally as possible; he doesn't want to deal with the repercussions of crossed lines. Once he is up the stairs Gibbs begins barking orders to his team, giving Tony and Ziva the task of calling and verifying all information they have on the victims while McGee is instructed to help Eli. Gibbs and Fornell then head out of the building and to the homes of the victims. McGee slightly gulps as the Director of Mossad walks over to his desk, his hands coming to rest upon the top of McGee's desk as he looks down at the agent.
"In the file Agent Fornell gave you there is a list of locations that all of the Mossad Officers have visited in the past eighteen months, I would like for you to make sure that these accurate." Eli's voice is low as he speaks to McGee. McGee simply nods and flips through the file until he finds the list; all seventeen pages of it. He sighs exasperatedly then turns to his computer.
Tony has rejoined Ziva at her desk. He is once again perched on the edge of it as she types away at her keyboard and he holds the phone to his ear while waiting to be taken off hold. Eli does not glance at the two as he breezes past them but he cannot stop himself from making a comment.
"Another baby is on the way I see; I hope this child is not denied its heritage as Talia has been denied." Eli then continues on his way, disappearing up the stairs.
McGee quickly turns to Tony and Ziva, completely flabbergasted by the comment. Tony has a familiar, angry look on his face as he glares after Eli but he doesn't hold onto the look for too long, his attention quickly going to Ziva. The tension is obvious as Tony looks at her but she refuses to meet his gaze, her eyes locked on the computer screen. Tony takes a quick glance at McGee and shrugs hopelessly.
After a couple of hours of talking with the family members of the victims Gibbs and Fornell breeze back into the bullpen. Tony and Ziva are still working on verifying all the information while McGee continues to confirm the locations of the Mossad officers. Tali has rejoined the team but is now tucked into a pink and purple butterfly sleeping bag as she naps beside her mother's desk.
"My daughter used to sleep by my desk in her sleeping bag," Fornell comments as he passes Ziva's desk, stopping for a moment to look at the slumbering child as she clutches her hippo.
"We both find comfort in it," Ziva says to Fornell as she glances up from her work, giving him a small smile.
"Cherish every moment, they grow up too fast." And then Fornell moves away from Ziva's desk, the moment of parents sharing the bitter sweetness of quickly growing children over as quickly as it began. McGee and Tony share shocked side glances but are stopped as Ziva's icy glare finds them.
"A child sleeping in the floor; I am assuming you will have her sleeping in a box next, yes?" Eli's voice grates on Tony and Ziva's nerves as he enters the bullpen, a very thick file in his hands.
"Well ya know what they say, when you assume you make an as…" Tony begins in a thickly sarcastic tone.
"Dinozzo, go see if Abs has found anything from that jacket we found in the alleyway." Gibbs barks, interrupting his Senior Field Agent. Tony shoots Ziva a quick look and she simply nods, assuring him that she will be all right. Ziva's attention then returns to her work while Eli makes his way to Gibbs and Fornell.
Ziva, in need of a break from her desk and computer screen, enters the break room. Her eyes scan over the selection of snacks the vending machine has to offer and she mentally strikes off each item as her eyes pass over them. Placing her hand on her stomach as her unborn son moves she smiles slightly.
"What would you like AJ?" Ziva asks her stomach. The baby continues to move and her smile grows as she continues to talk. When she had been pregnant with Tali the thought of talking to her stomach had embarrassed her but once she had felt Tali move and realized that there was in fact a human growing inside of her she had talked non-stop to her stomach, several agents, usually the men, had given her strange looks but she had just continued on. This time Ziva had began talking to her stomach well before she could feel the baby move, finding it calming to have a one sided discussion with the child growing inside of her.
"So it is a boy?" Eli's voice does not startle Ziva as he stands in the doorway and he can't help but smile slightly. Even if his daughter has grown too soft to be a Mossad Officer she has definitely not lost her observation skills.
"This child is none of your concern." Ziva states simply and drops her money into the machine then delivers a hard and furious jab to the buttons.
"It is my grandchild just as Talia is." Eli's voice also remains calm as well, refusing to let his weak daughter get the best of him.
"Biologically they are; there is nothing that can be done about that. However Tali and this baby are Gibbs' and Ducky's grandchildren." Ziva continues to talk as she bends and retrieves a chocolate bar from the slot.
"Talia and this child can call whomever you chose for them to call Grandfather but they have my blood in their veins, just as you do." Eli still remains in the doorway but instead of shrinking back from the powerful man looming before her Ziva simply breezes by him, the chocolate bar being crushed in her tightly clenched fists.
Gibbs has tried his hardest to keep Tony and Ziva away from Eli because even though he knows his agents will try to be as professional as possible he is aware that there are more lines being crossed here than just the lines of jurisdiction. Overlaps between agencies are expected even if they are strongly disliked but this case has crossed many other lines. After seeing Ziva sway slightly when she had stood from her desk Gibbs has sent her to Abby's lab to rest for a few minutes while waiting for the results on the bullets that Abby has promised would be ready in fifteen minutes. With Ziva out of the bullpen that has left only Tony for Gibbs to keep a watchful eye on as Eli flitters back and forth between the bullpen, Vance's office and MTAC. However when Gibbs is summoned to Vance's office, both his and Fornell's presence required, Gibbs simply throws a warning glare at Tony as Fornell and he head for the stairs.
"Daddy, pease!" Tali says from Ziva's desk as she holds up half a chocolate bar that has been forgotten in its wrapper. Tony looks at Tali for a moment, squinting at the little girl as he weighs the consequences of Tali eating more chocolate.
"A young woman needs to eat healthier foods than that Talia; you want to grow up to be strong and fast, yes?" Eli's intrusion into the conversation forces Tony to grit his teeth, trying his hardest not to say anything to Eli because he knows that it will do nothing but upset Ziva and cause problems for the case.
"TAL-EEEEE!" Tali corrects Eli, her eyes narrowed at the man. McGee doesn't even bother to bite by a chuckle and Tony's face erupts into a proud smile. Eli shakes his head, once again reminded of just who the father to this child is.
"Princess you can have that but no more chocolate, ok?" Tony smiles at Tali sweetly, McGee unable to keep the smile off his face at the completely childish act of spite his co-worker has just committed.
"Toda Daddy." Tali smiles at her father then is grabbing the chocolate bar from the wrapper, her fingers once again being stained in the sweet, dark treat.
The bullpen once again falls into silence as Tony, McGee and Eli all work on the case and Tali sits in Ziva's chair devouring the chocolate bar. Eli sighs heavily from the seat he has taken at the back desk and stands. McGee does not offer the man a second look as he passes by him and Tony only sneers but Tali, having finished her chocolate treat runs straight into Eli's legs, her chocolate covered hands flying out in front of her to prevent herself from slamming face first into his legs. McGee's eyes widen in horror at the scene while Tony teeters between worry for his daughter and amusement at what has just happened. Eli glances down slowly at Tali, his anger flaring as he looks at the chocolate marks that start around his knee and continues down all the way to the hem of his light colored pants.
"You should be more careful Talia, this is a place of business and you must not act so foolishly." Eli's tone is harsh as he picks Tali up.
"DOWN!" Tali screams, the shrill, piercing sound echoing through the bullpen and the agents in the surrounding area turns to face them. Tony is quickly in front Eli, his hands shooting out as he pulls Tali from Eli's hands.
"Never touch my daughter again!" Tony's voice is tense and laced with hatred and anger, and his face is red and tense.
"The daughter you are raising to be soft like you. If she did not look so much like her mother I would question if there was a drop of David blood in her." Eli spits the words at Tony trying to provoke him as he can see anger dance in Tony's eyes.
"You ok Princess?" Tony asks Tali as he forces himself to think about her and not about the pompous man that stands before him. Tali does not answer, instead she simply nods then rests her head against Tony's chest. "It's ok Princess, Leah will be here in a few minutes to get you so you can go home." Tony pats Tali's back as he talks to her, the look of disgust growing more apparent on Eli's face.
"You are doing her no favors showering her with affection and indulging her every want. She needs to learn that the world is a rough place; not a place where you receive kisses and chocolate just because you are cute." Eli glances at Tony and Tali once more then shakes his head, disgusted with the way that a grandchild of his is being raised. Tony holds onto Tali tighter, trying his hardest to protect his daughter from Eli but Eli simply shakes his head once again at the coddling of Tali and heads to the elevator. "You will regret that choice one day when she winds up dead." The words shock both Tony and McGee and before McGee can say anything Tali is plopped down into his lap and Tony takes off towards the elevator, sliding between the doors before they close.
"What are you doing Agent Dinozzo?" Eli asks, his patience growing thin as his disdain for his daughter's choice in husbands mounts. Tony does not answer right away but instead flips the emergency switch and the elevator stalls as the lights dim.
"You bastard; you smug, arrogant bastard!" Tony furiously runs his hand through his hair as he paces back and forth in front of Eli. Eli merely chuckles at the sight before him and once again cannot understand why his daughter chose such a pathetic man as a husband.
"You Agent Dinozzo will never learn; acting emotionally will get you nowhere. Did you learn nothing from murdering Officer Rivkin?" Eli's words are cold and pointed as he speaks to Tony and for a moment Tony stops in mid-pace.
"Throwin' around his name isn't gonna get you anywhere; Ziva and I moved past that a long time ago."
"You and Ziva are both foolish! Both of you are too stupid to see that the only reason you are together is because no one else would tolerate you and your inability to make sacrifices." Eli's response is short and curt and once again Tony just stands staring at Eli.
"Our inability to make sacrifices?" Tony scoffs. "Ziva made sacrifices her entire life to be the daughter that you thought she should be. She sacrificed several of her dreams trying to amount to what you deemed the 'perfect daughter' and when she went against your wishes you disowned her. So what the hell do you know about sacrifices?"
"I know…" Eli begins his voice loud and angry but he stops himself and regains control then continues. "I know what sacrifice is; I have made many more than you ever will. I have had to sacrifice many loved ones to protect my family or others. I have sacrificed more than you will ever know to protect my children!" Eli's finger is jabbing at air as he speaks, his words heavily accented as he speaks.
"Yeah you sure sacrificed your kids all right; your youngest daughter was blown to bits in a terrorist bombing because once again a daughter tryin' to please Daddy David. Your son hated you so much he killed people to get back at you and your precious Mossad and Ziva you left for dead in some God forsaken hellhole, so yeah Director Da-veed you have sacrificed your children plenty." Tony's hands are tightly clinched by his sides as he finishes speaking, his eyes locked onto Eli's face as a vein begins throbbing on the side of his head.
"I do what is best for everyone not what is best for one, even if that one is my child. You will never understand because you are raising your child to live in a world that simply does not exist; a world that will crush her when she no longer has you there to protect her!"
"Tali will always have me; I won't abandon her just because she doesn't fight hard enough or isn't colder than ice or because she loves and shows emotions." Tony's blood is pounding through his veins as the anger keeps bubbling inside him and for the first time he notices Eli now has his fists clinched tightly by his sides.
"You are setting her up for failure; you are setting her up to be crushed by this world and when something terrible happens to her it will be your fault. You will not have been man enough to teach your daughter about the cruelty of the world and her blood will then be on your hands!" Eli's words finally send Tony over the edge. His fist connects with the side of the wall, his face has gone three shades of red darker and now the vein at his temple is throbbing.
"You damn bastard. You've crossed every line imaginable but this is the vilest thing that I've ever heard come out of someone's mouth. If I wanted to show Tali how cruel the world is I'd let her spend time with you, let her see what a son of a bitch her Granddaddy David really is. That right there would show her a helluva lot when it comes to cruelty in the world. You could teach the coldest, hardest person a thing or two about not giving a damn about hurting others and you could rival Joan Crawford for parent of the year award. You're a cold hearted bastard that left his daughter to die in a Somalia terrorist camp and later when you knew that she was alive, that she'd been through hell because of a mission you sent her on, you sent one of your vultures in to make sure that she didn't get a clean start here, that she was returned to you like the property you always thought of her to be. You're such a great, stand-up dad that your daughter was walked down the aisle by her boss on her wedding day and you've been such a great Dad that your granddaughter has never heard of you, doesn't even kno…"
"It isn't my fault Talia doesn't know me, it is you and Ziva that have kept her from me." Eli's voice echoes through the elevator, his temper as well reaching the boiling point.
"Of course we've kept her from you, we don't want you anywhere near you. You are a d…" Tony is interrupted mid-rant as he hears banging on the elevator doors.
"Damn it Dinozzo get these doors opened now or I'll you kick your ass!" Gibbs' angry voice booms from the other side of the door and for the first time since stepping on the elevator Tony remembers where he is. He shoots one more hateful, disgusted look at Eli then flips the switch, the lights coming back on and the doors opening. "Stay!" Gibbs growls as he points at Tony. "Eli Vance needs you in his office." Gibbs says to Eli as he enters the elevator. Eli doesn't respond to Gibbs but steps off the elevator, casting one more nasty glare at Tony before he leaves for Vance's office.
"Boss I…." Tony begins but is stopped as Gibbs' hand connects with the back of his head.
"I know Dinozzo, Eli's a bastard but you can't do anything about that. You're gonna have to suck it up and be professional." Gibbs looks straight ahead at the elevator doors as the elevator begins making its way to the lab.
"But the things he's done to Ziva, the comments he's made…" Tony shakes his head in frustration as he thinks about Eli and all the things he has said and done.
"He's crossed the line too many times but you can't stop him and you can't change what he's done."
"Then what can I do Boss?" The look of anger and hatred that have filled Tony's eyes for most of the day is now replaced with a look of hopelessness as he looks at Gibbs.
"All you can do; be a better Dad to Tali than Eli was to Ziva."
The two men remain silent for the rest of the trip to the lab and when they step off the elevator Tony goes over to Ziva where she is sitting on a stool. He wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her temple before leaning his forehead against hers. For a moment she is confused by this sudden show of affection but when they are not met with a pointed look from Gibbs she relaxes into his arms and gives him a quick kiss. Tony continues to stand with one arm draped around Ziva, a feeling of protectiveness washing over him. He knows that there are many lines that have to be crossed on this case but when it comes to his family he will not allow Eli to cross lines, even when those lines come in the form of chocolate handprints left by his child, a child that he will gladly show affection towards and indulge her on occasion.
