Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS

Ziva walked into the kitchen and found Tony on his hands and knees, wiping up food from the floor.

'Tony? What are you doing?' asked Ziva. She had been out all day at a photo shoot.

'Oh hey Zi.' Tony clambered up from the floor and kissed his wife.

'What happened?' asked Ziva as they sat down at the kitchen table. Tony ran a hand over his face.

'The girls have just been difficult' he said. Ziva noted how tired he sounded.

'Where are they?'

Eating pizza and watching Frozen. I know, I know, Zi' said Tony at the look on her face. They tried to avoid take out in front of the TV. 'But it was a difficult day and I was at my wit's end.'

'What happened?'

'Everything was alright until lunch. Then for some reason, Tilly refused to sit in her booster seat. Cried every time I tried to put her in it so I put her on the chair, but then she couldn't see her food so it ended up on the floor, the chair or on Tilly's dress. Then Tali got upset with Tilly which made Tilly cry. Neither of them had any sort of nap or quiet time, despite my best efforts and then when I was trying to sort out dinner, they got into another fight over some toy which ended up with dinner on the kitchen floor. Oh, and whilst we were waiting for the pizza to arrive, Tilly decided that she was going empty any kitchen draw that she could open.'

Ziva looked over to where Tony was pointing. Sure enough Tupperware containers and lids, child-sized drinking cups and anything else littered the floor. Ziva gave a weary chuckle as Tony reached for a slice of pizza. He offered the box to Ziva who took another slice. They listened to the sounds of Frozen. By the sounds of things, Anna had just met Kristoff and Sven.

Ziva turned to her husband.

'Do a swap with you' she said. Tony raised an eyebrow. 'You go an upload these photos to the hard drive and I will do bath and bed, and clean up after dinner.'

'Zi you're tired too.'

'Yes, I am Tony. We both are but I think if we do something different instead of the same thing it might be good. Though, that being said, I might forgo the bath bit entirely tonight.'

Tony smiled and chuckled.

'Deal' he said and they shook on it.

Ziva peeked through bleary, tired eyes to find her two-year-old daughter standing by the bed.

'Tilly? What is the matter?' asked Ziva.

'Play' said the little girl. She appeared to wide awake. Ziva glanced at the clock. 4.55 am. Ziva rolled onto her back, groaning slightly.

'What does she want?' asked Tony.

'To play' replied Ziva. Tony groaned.

'On three?' he suggested, raising his hand but Ziva batted it away.

'No. I'll go. You had them all day yesterday.'

Ziva climbed out of bed, found her robe and slippers, and took Tilly downstairs. Ziva sat on the sofa, watching Tilly play. She must have dozed off or something because the next thing Ziva knew was that she was lying on the sofa and her phone was buzzing. Callie wanted to talk.

'Hey, Callie' said Ziva.

'Woah. You sound tired' said Callie.

'So do you.'

'I have a four-month-old son who wants feeding. What about you?'

'A two-year-old daughter who will not sleep.' Callie chuckled. 'Tilly did not nap yesterday and it was a struggle to get her to go to bed last night.'

'The two-year-old sleep regression' said Callie. 'I remember it well.'

'The thing is I do not remember Tali having one.'

'Well, I suppose when Tali was two, you were pregnant with Tilly, went traveling for almost a month and moved house.'

'And Tony and I did not notice?'

'Maybe?' suggested Callie. Ziva chuckled. She heard Callie talk to the baby.

'How is Oscar?' asked Ziva. Oscar was Ziva and Tony's other godson.

'He's alright. The feeding has gotten better now that he's four months but it's always a struggle to get up for any of the night-time feeds. I had forgotten how much time breastfeeding takes.'

Tilly came over and handed a toy to Ziva.

'Keep hold Ima' she instructed. Ziva smiled and Tilly went back to her toys and game.

'Do you remember when we would go for runs at 5 am?' asked Ziva.

'Yes. I do' said Callie, sounding annoyed.

'Hey you were the one who said you wanted to run a marathon' said Ziva. 'I seem to recall you asking me to take you running three times a week.'

'I didn't mean at 5 am, Ziva.'

'Callie, you wanted to run a marathon. What were you expecting?'

Just then Tilly came over.

'Pee, pee Ima'.

'I better go before Tilly wets herself' said Ziva. 'We really need to start potty training.'

'Potty training and sleep regression. Such fun' said Callie. Ziva laughed and the two women hung up.

Ellie rang the doorbell. She waited for the door to open. A little face peeped through the window next to the door. It was Tilly. Ellie waved and Tilly ran away. Next thing, the door opened and Tony and Tilly.

'Hi, Ellie' said Tony, letting her in. 'What's up?'

'Is Ziva in? I need to talk to her.' Tony took Ellie down to the basement studio where they found Ziva sitting at the desk. Tony and Tilly left to go and play.

'What is Ellie?' asked Ziva. There was something in the blonde woman's face.

'Morgan Burke?'

'Missing sailor, now presumed dead. What about her? That case was years ago.'

'We found her ten year old daughter, Lily.' Ziva looked shocked.

'What? How is that possible? Morgan Burke is dead.'

'Apparently not' said Ellie. She paused before continuing. 'Torres and I found your files.' Ziva smiled.

'That's why here' she said. Ellie nodded.

'Is there anything else that you can think of that's not in those files?' asked Ellie.

Ziva stood up and studied her friend's face.

'Does Gibbs know where you are?' Ellie didn't respond straight away.

'No' said Ellie eventually. 'Torres does.'

Ziva studied Ellie again.

'I need to show you something' said Ziva.

Ellie looked around the small room. It was small garden house that Ziva had rented out as an office. Cupboards stood on one side, a couch near the door and a desk and chair opposite the couch. Ziva had opened the cupboards to reveal journals. Tens of journals.

'I wrote in them about the cases we worked. Thoughts, opinions, anything I could not put in the official report. I could take them out of my head, put them out of the way and keep my mind clear.'

Ziva first rented the space from Odette back in 2005 when she first moved to the US. Her apartment technically belonged to Mossad, who were paying the rent. NCIS was work and Ziva wanted something that was hers and not her father's. It became her sanctuary over the years, though she had not been there since 2013, when Ziva decided to leave NCIS for a more peaceful life. Tony was the only one who knew of her office.

Ziva picked up an old journal and opened it. She immediately recognised the entry.

For weeks it was darkness. I had stopped counting the horrors I had endured and then the monster lifted the hood. The light spilled in and I saw my friend. My heart saw him as if for the first time and I knew I could not live without him.

'Are you OK, Ziva?' asked Ellie. Ziva sniffed and nodded. It was odd being back in her office, reading that entry. Her journals were now filled with the antics her daughters got up to, not the horrors she endured.

Ziva went over to the cupboards and pulled out a journal. She handed it to Ellie.

'This is the journal I wrote for Morgan's case.'

'Ziva, no.' Ellie did not want to invade Ziva's most private and inner thoughts.

'Yes Ellie. It may help to find Morgan. That is what matters now.'

Ellie took the journal from Ziva. She pulled out her phone.

'Hey Gibbs. There's something I need to tell you.'

Ziva wandered down the hospital corridor towards Lily's room. Jack Sloane stood outside the door, watching Lily through the window.

'Jack' called Ziva.

'Ziva? What are you doing here?'

'Ellie told me.' Ziva was no longer an agent and couldn't help in the investigation.

'Yes, I heard you were the original case agent.' Ziva nodded and looked into Lily's room. She was in bed, talking to Ben, her biological father. It was scene that Ziva, Ben, and Morgan's mother, Liliana, never thought would happen. Liliana had unfortunately passed away years ago, and Ziva always felt guilty that she never was able to give the woman closure. Now that Ziva was a mother herself, she understood so much more. The idea of Tali or Tilly disappearing for a decade scared Ziva to her very core.

Jack's phone rang. Ziva saw that it was Nick calling.

'Hey Nick. What? Why? Ok. Thanks for letting me know.' Jack hung up.

'What was that about?' asked Ziva.

'Gibbs kicked Ellie off the case.'

'Why?'

'Something about rule ten.' Ziva gave a tiny chuckle of annoyance.

Rule ten. Never get personally involved in a case.

It was a rubbish rule that everyone always struggled with. It was one of the main reasons why Ziva started writing so prolifically. She always became personally involved in a case somehow. It was difficult not to. If it was a terrorism case, it reminded her of Tali. If it was murder or rape, Ziva felt a pull to help the victims and their families. Her mother had been killed by a drunk driver. Whilst it was not murder, Ziva still felt an affinity towards the families.

Ziva was not surprised that Ellie had broken Rule Ten. Nor was she surprised that Gibbs had kicked Ellie off the case, sending her home. However, Ziva knew that it wouldn't stop Ellie. The woman was going to see this through to the end, even if it meant losing her job.

'Ziva.'

Ziva turned her head and saw Gibbs walking towards her. She was still at the hospital, having the privilege to watch Morgan, Ben and Lily reunite. Meeting Morgan had been far more emotional than Ziva thought it would be. It didn't help that Ben was telling Morgan how it was Ziva who wouldn't drop the case, giving Liliana hope.

'What are you doing here, Gibbs?' asked Ziva.

Gibbs pulled out the brown leather journal and handed it to Ziva.

'I believe there's something you need to do' he said. Ziva took it, slightly surprised that Gibbs was doing this.

They stood watching the new little family getting to know each other. This case had a happy ending. Not many did.

'Rule Ten' began Ziva. 'It is wrong, Gibbs.' Gibbs went to say something but Ziva got there first. 'We are humans, with feelings and emotions. Things affect us, in ways we cannot predict. All of us have some sort of coping method. Mine was writing in my journals. I could - can get things out of my head. Keeping things in, it does not help.'

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear what Ziva was saying.

'It took me a really long time to realise that. Whether it is talking to someone, using a punching bag or journaling, it helps. Writing about our cases made me a better investigator, Gibbs.'

Gibbs nodded, listening to Ziva. He and Ellie had made up about an hour ago. Gibbs had Rule Ten to protect himself and his team. Taking things personally, a case or not could send you down the wrong path. Gibbs did not want that for any of his team. He did not want them to lose themselves in trying to solve a case, bring closure to the victim's family, and potentially failing. That was too much pressure to handle and Gibbs had seen how it could affect someone.

'Robert Hill had a heart attack. He's at Mercy Point, room 118. Do what you have to do.' Ziva smiled and placed a kiss on Gibbs' cheek, making him smile slightly.

Ziva got to her car when her phone buzzed. It was a video from Tony of the girls.

'Hi Ima' chimed Tali and Tilly together. 'We love you.' Ziva grinned. Tony came into frame and the three of them waved. Ziva instinctively waved back, even though they could not see her. Her phone dinged and it was a text from Tony. Ziva had been keeping Tony updated throughout the investigation.

I've got your six, Zi. Love you madly, my ninja.

Ziva drove away to read Liliana Burke's letter to Robert Hill, feeling a sense of contentment with life.

Hope you enjoyed it.

My sincere apologies for it taking so long. I wanted to make sure this chapter worked, that it fitted in with the rest of the story but also with the episode it's based on. It required lots of planning and rewatching of 16x13 She several times. I really like the episode and wanted this chapter to be as good as it could be.

Thank you for reading. See you soon.