Chapter 1 (Early April 2020)
The smell of eggs and coffee pervaded the kitchen in the early morning, as Tony and Ziva made breakfast for everyone. Tony put some coffee on as Gibbs walked into the room, followed by a sleepy Tali.
As Tali yawned, Ziva said, "Good morning, you two. Good sleep?"
"Ima, Ima?" Tali looked up at Ziva, whispering while she craned her neck, looking up to see what she was cooking, sucking on her thumb. She always felt comforted by her and Tony's presence, basking in the warmth of Ziva's motherhood.
Ziva looked down at Tali, then she removed her thumb out of Tali's mouth and stroked her head. "Tali, I can't pick you up right now. The omelets are about done. Why don't you go help your Abba set the table, please?"
"Food ready? Okay, I'll help Abba." Tali brightened up and nodded, rushing off to help Tony with the table while Ziva finished up cooking the omelets. The toast and coffee, milk, and orange juice followed seconds later.
Everyone sat down at the table and served themselves breakfast. Within a blink of an eye, Gibbs and Tony were eating their food with gusto while Ziva was tending to Tali while eating her meal.
"How is the food, everyone?" Ziva asked after a few minutes of eating. She had wanted to make sure everybody had a scrumptious breakfast for the day ahead.
"Wonderful, Ziver. Really hits the spot just right," Gibbs said as he continued shovelling the omelets into his mouth.
Tony nodded in agreement. "Ziva, when have you ever failed at cooking? Never, that's how good your food is. Tali seem to like her eggs too, right, Tali?" Tony answered, looking at Tali's plate when Ziva gave him a questioning expression.
"Yep, Ima makes the best eggs, I like toast too, Abba" Tali replied in a happy tone.
"That's good. All of a sudden, for some reason I am craving anything egg. Omelets, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, you name it." Ziva looked at Tali. "I think our little boy down there likes eggs as well. Every time I eat anything egg – just like Tali when I had her – he would kick. Tali did the same thing every time I ate eggs, maybe that explains why Tali loves to eat eggs?" Ziva laughed.
"Ah really? So that explains why every time I set a plate of eggs down in front of her, I take one look away and the eggs vaporize," Tony replied back with a smile.
Ziva laughed. "I would say so. Look at her, second plate and that omelet is gone in a flash."
As everyone finished up with breakfast, Gibbs's phone rang. Gibbs picked it up off the table and answered it.
"Gibbs." There was a short dialogue, then he said, "On our way."
"What?" Tony asked.
"Vance. Gear up, we need to head in." Gibbs said as he hung his phone up. "Meeting's still on. You guys ready to go?" Gibbs asked as he picked his keys up.
Tony looked at Ziva, and responded to Gibbs, "Yeah I think I am about ready. I think Ziva needs some help with Tali. Five minutes?"
"I'll be in the car. Five minutes." Gibbs walked off to his car.
Tony and Ziva managed to get ready and get Tali ready for the day and did a quick cleanup of the table. Ziva took a quick scan, as she always does before she leaves any building, after Tony and Tali walked out the door to the car. Closing the door behind her, she quickly hopped in the car, as Gibbs started backing out of his driveway.
At the NCIS building, as they pulled into their parking spot, they noticed the vehicle next to them.
"Oh, look, it's the McGeekiness coming in to work," Tony guffawed as he pointed to McGee getting out of the family van.
Ziva got out of the car, bringing Tali with her. "Hey, Delilah? Is it okay if Tali went with you and the kids for a while?"
Delilah craned her body closer to the passenger side door, still open, and shouted out to Ziva. "Yeah, she's more than welcome to come with us."
"Awesome. Tali, you're going to go with Delilah and the twins, how fun is that?" Ziva turned and faced Tali, smiling.
Tali perked up and nodded her head in delight. "They're lots of fun to be with, Ima!" She then turned and raced into the van where she took a seat up front.
"Seat belt!" Ziva called after her.
Tali grabbed the seatbelt and brought it across her close to the catch, where Delilah helped her get the seatbelt into the catch.
"Alright, McGeek, you ready to do some paper shuffling?" Tony ribbed McGee about the amount of paperwork they seem to be doing these days.
Tim raised an eyebrow and sighed. "You know it. The never-ending battle of paperwork, despite all the claims of going paper-free," he said, doing the air-quotes around the words "paper-free".
Tony guffawed loudly as the trio reached the elevator and got on. Once they got to the bullpen floor and the doors opened, Tony and McGee raced to the desks, with both of them heading for the same desk.
"Hey now, that's my desk, don't you remember?" McGee said.
"Why, I don't remember. It seems just like yesterday..." Tony said expansively, in a bit of a sarcastic tone.
"You boys, I didn't know there was a race to claim ownership of a work desk. You do realize that the desk belongs to no one, only to NCIS." Ziva smirked at them, raising an eyebrow. Every chance she could, she would play mind games and word games with them.
"Oh, well, I can't help but feel like this desk feels just like home," Tony said, patting his old desk, which McGee currently had. "And here Tim is, telling me that I can't have his desk back."
"Now you know I never said such a thing, Ziva." McGee's took on an expressionless look.
Tony guffawed at Tim. "Okay, so I guess my work area would be behind those stairs? No, that's too out in the open."
"Tony, the deal here is, if they give you the okay to work here, we can switch like we had it before, if Nick doesn't come back any time soon. We'll see how the meeting shapes up, Tony," McGee grinned.
"McGee's right. We wait until the meeting. That's when we find out where our working spots are." Ziva nodded to Tony as she leaned onto the side of Tony's old desk, facing Tony as he stood between the desks.
"Speaking of, we need to get those reports done right quick. Meeting's gonna be any time soon." McGee said.
Everybody took a seat at their respective desks, Tony taking Nick's desk for the time being, and Ziva taking the spare desk. They managed to finish up their reports on their computer in a short amount of time. As Gibbs came into the Squad room, he took notice that everyone was busy, working on their reports.
"Alright, status of the reports so far?" Gibbs addressed everyone.
Ellie looked up. "Just finished mine, and sent."
"Boss, we are finishing them up as I speak," McGee replied to Gibbs, looking at him while typing on his computer.
"Gibbs, the report is going swimmingly well. Feels great to really put a nail in it and stick it in there good. Better than, you know, sitting on a shrink's couch revealing all my darkest fears and secrets from this mission, right?" Tony ribbed Gibbs.
Gibbs looked at Tony with a "be-serious-now" look.
"While the men carried on about whose desk was whose, I had already completed my report and sent it in." Ziva responded with a sardonic look at Tony and McGee.
"Ah, just in time." Gibbs noticed movement on the upper level. Vance was heading towards his office. Gibbs stood up just as his phone rang.
"Yeah, Gibbs here." Gibbs spoke into the handset. After a moment, he hung up the phone. "Time for the meeting. Vance's secretary called for us."
Everyone walked into Vance's office, then Vance pointed the table for everyone to be seated. A moment later, the door opened and Nick walked in and handed Vance a medical form.
"Sorry to bust in like this, Vance, but I was told that Gibbs was here, but since you're here, why don't I hand you that?" Nick indicated the papers he just handed over.
"Glad of you to join us, Nick." Vance quickly scanned through the forms as Nick took a seat and waited. After a few moments, Vance snapped the forms shut and put them on his desk and picked up a short stack of folders and handed them out.
"Alright, first of all, I want to commend every one of you with how you handled this mission. You put a stop to a grave threat that Zulma posed our country when she hacked into the systems." Vance opened the folder he was holding. Everyone else followed suit. "According to this dossier, she had inside access to many of our databases, and what she did not have access to, she hacked."
"To what purpose?" Ziva asked.
Vance looked down at her, then continued with the debrief. "Nothing more than a grudge against Tony and Ziva. Apparently, they were trying to destroy the reputation of NCIS, just because we provided protection Ziva and her family, I have no idea, nor do I care." Vance snapped the folder shut. "What I care about, is that Tony, Ziva, and Tali are all safe again. We will always have your back."
"We're glad to be of assistance in any way with you," McGee spoke up.
Gibbs looked up from the folder he was perusing. "You know we always have your six. You are family to us. You can count on us to be there," he said with a small smile on his lips.
Tony made a show of turning his folder upside down, then sideways, then right side up. "Yup, clear as Swahili. I should know, I wrote it in Swahili, I guess." That earned a headslap from Gibbs. "Oof, I guess I earned that."
Ziva burst out in a short laughter. "Tony, nothing new with you." Tony smirked back at Ziva.
"Alright, thank you everyone for your reports. Now, on to other news. I want to let you all know that Nick Torres is being placed on medical leave, for an indefinite period of time, per doctor's orders. It is my wish that you all give him a show of support any time he needs it," Vance addressed the team.
The news came as a bit of a surprise to everyone seated at the table. They had known that Nick had ongoing medical issues from the torture that he endured recently, but didn't expect it to sideline him this soon.
"Well, yeah, you know me, I want to work, I really do, but these headaches I've been getting a lot of lately. Had to go in and see what's up. I did not realize that I was walking in a trap back there. I have been going to rehabilitation, you know, stuff like physical therapy, since my discharge from the hospital. Little things, I struggle with from time to time. Doctors told me to take it easy for now, and keep up with the rehab. If I am in the area, I'll try to stop by and see you." Nick took a good look at each and every member of the team.
"Torres, you done good. Take it easy. You're free to stop by for a visit any time," Gibbs said, patting his shoulder.
"Nick, Ellie, you are dismissed. Nick, you may go pack your things if you want. Ellie could help. We should be done soon," Vance said, walking and standing next to Nick's chair.
As soon Ellie and Nick left, everyone looked at each other wondering what Vance had in store next. Vance stood for a moment, in thought. Suddenly, he strode over to McGee and Tony.
"McGee, I would like to see you to be at your old desk. I am handing Tony these back." Vance held out his hands towards Tony. They held the gun and badge that he had while working for NCIS previously. "Tony will sit at your desk."
McGee and Tony flicked their eyebrows up then down, then looked at each other. Tony burst into a giggle, looking at McGee.
"You got that ElfLord look, McGeek!" Tony guffawed, then turned serious as he looked at Vance. "So, Vance, is that an offer for me to have my job back? I don't know if I could do it full-time," Tony spluttered, earning him yet another Gibbs head-slap. Ziva and McGee chuckled at the shocked expression on Tony's face.
"Nope, part time, working cold cases. My idea, Vance approves. McGee's backed up with current cases, needs some help on cold cases and maybe the occasional special case." Gibbs looked at McGee. "Other than that, nothing special. Oh, and no field time, it's all riding the desk."
Tony stole a brief look at Ziva. The look of relief on Ziva's face did not go unnoticed by Tony. She nodded quickly at him.
Vance must have also seen it, for he said, "One other thing. Ziva. How are we to fit you in this equation? You know the regs about couples working together."
"I am aware. Which is why I come to you with an offer. You are aware that I have one child, and am expecting another. So why not I work from home, more as a full-time mom, but on an as-needed basis for any foreign intel?" Ziva raised her eyebrows in a questioning way.
Vance considered this for a moment. "I see no problem in that, as long as you also stay out of the field."
"I don't think that will be a problem, what with being busy caring for children," Ziva replied to Vance. This was her best chance of still being able to work with Tony, after all.
"Alright, now that's settled. The meeting is adjourned," Vance addressed the team. As everyone got up to leave, Vance called out, "Gibbs." Gibbs stayed behind.
As Tony, Ziva, and McGee walked into the bullpen, they saw Nick packing his belongings, and Ellie helping. Nick turned to face them.
"Getting ready to take off, eh?" Tony gave Nick a once-over and shook his hand.
"Yup, gonna lay on some Mexican beach with two babes next to me tannin', getting my R and R, just like the doctor ordered," Nick laughed.
McGee chuckled at Nick. "You take it easy, and good luck and hope things work out for the better."
Nick nodded. "Yup, me too. These headaches don't get better all by themselves. I'm pretty sure that the beach life will be the answer."
Both Tony and McGee chuckled; Ziva smirked. Just then, Gibbs walked to his desk and sat down.
"Ziver. Papers for you to fill out." Gibbs handed some papers to Ziva, which was what gave her the clearance to work with NCIS part-time as an independent advisor, to work at an offsite location.
Ziva said, "Thanks, Gibbs," as she took the paperwork.
Gibbs picked up a set of car keys and tossed them to Tony. "Got the okay for you to have a loaner 'til you get a car or two."
Tony's eyes flashed in happiness, as if he was anticipating the keys to a Mercedes or a Cadillac, but knowing the keys were to a Crown Vic, by the feel of the keys. "Well, at least we got a set of wheels, right?"
"Yes. And I expect you to take good care of our "wheels", Tony. You and your lead foot." Ziva nodded at Tony.
"Hey, look who's talking, the one who drove that van like a maniac? Even McVomit couldn't handle it," Tony retorted with a laugh.
Gibbs cocked his head at Tony and took on a stern look.
"Only way you two could work together is this way. Don't screw up."
"Try not to," Tony muttered, looking at Gibbs.
"So I guess we are ready to go?" Ziva asked Gibbs as she walked to Gibbs's desk.
Gibbs nodded and said, "Car's down in the garage. Call it a day, I'll see you home in a few minutes."
"Right on, we'll see you back at the house," Tony said to Gibbs while slinging on his backpack.
"Sounds good," Ziva replied as she gathered her things from the desk. Tony, McGee, and Ellie were already halfway to the elevator waiting for Ziva to catch up with them. As soon as the elevator doors opened, they all got in.
After dropping off McGee and picking up Tali, they picked up some Chinese takeout and headed to Gibbs's house, where they sat down at the kitchen table and helped themselves to the takeout.
"What a day. Nice to have a few moments alone with this family for dinner, even though Gibbs will be home soon." Ziva said to Tony as she took a bite of her meal.
"Yeah, I agree. I look forward to the day where I could be in front of the big-screen, watching classic movies. Look, Gibbs is still stuck in the turn-dial TV with no remote past, not even 1080p High-Def, where you can see the flaws in the makeup." Tony stretched.
"You making fun of my TV set?" A voice spoke behind him, causing Tony to jump and turn around.
"Oh, no, not intentionally, Gibbs. Just, you know, not my idea of squinting at a tiny screen while watching classic movies in all its glory." Tony grinned.
Ziva indicated the bag of takeout still on the table, waiting for Gibbs. "There's some left for you. Should still be warm."
After everyone finished dinner, Tony cleaned up after Tali while Ziva got Tali cleaned up and ready for bed. Once Tali was ready, Ziva walked Tali to her bedroom, where Tony met them a moment later, when Tali was already in the bed, Ziva sitting on the bed beside her.
Tony leaned over and whispered softly to Ziva, "Aw my sweetcheeks, I love it when you are cradling our beautiful daughter."
"Mm, I am just glad today was over with. Now I get to be a mommy and work here at my pace. That way I am always close to the children," Ziva spoke gently as she cradled Tali.
"Tali, how was your day? Did you have fun today?"
Tony asked Tali, while snuggling on Ziva.
"Yeah, I had a lot of fun today, we played a lot, had McDonald's for lunch, then we went to a park then we went to McGees' home and watched some movies until you guys came." Tali rambled on in her usual happy six-year-old babble. This made Ziva giggle softly under her breath, because it reminded her so much of how Tony sometimes rambled on.
Ziva stroked Tali's hair back from her eyes. "That's good to hear. I think we had a good day, too."
"I love you, Ima and Abba," Tali said, smiling at them.
"I love you to the moon and back. Here's your scarf, and you have the nightlight on, and the music going." Ziva stroked her hair from her eyes, and kissed her top of head.
Tali snuggled deeper under the covers, then closed her eyes. Ziva got up to tuck Tali in for the night, then turned the nightlight on. Tony quietly pulled the door to as he followed Ziva. Tony and Ziva said their good nights to Gibbs as he stretched out on the couch, then they headed on to bed.
They got into bed, and then sighed contentedly. When Ziva got settled in to bed, he turned the light off.
"Good night, Ziva, my sweetcheeks," Tony whispered into her ear as he cuddled up to her.
"Mm, good night, hon," she muttered.
"You ready for tomorrow?" He got nothing but a snoring sound in reply. He shook his head, then laid down to sleep. "Yup, asleep at the drop of a hat."