XII. Hope For a Miracle, But Don't Rely On It.

"I can't believe this!" Tony said, pulling the curtains to against the bright light reflected from the thick blanket of snow outside.

"McGee is unable to get here?" Ziva raised her eyebrows.

"Even I don't want to try and drive in that. I doubt McGee will step near his car." He scoffed. "Looks like we're stuck here."

"Do the girls have winter clothing with them?" Ziva asked, checking on the sleeping infant.

"I think Elsie might have a coat. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that they have been stuck in here for four days and probably want some fresh air. I know I do." She sighed. "I hate being on protection detail."

"Too dangerous." Tony sighed, knowing exactly what she meant. He looked at his watch. 0600. He stretched his arms and rolled his neck, groaning. "Anyway, she only has one coat. If it gets wet and we have to move, she won't have anything to keep her warm." He kissed Ziva's head as she walked into his arms, tilting her chin up with two fingers to kiss her properly. "You're restless."

"Yes." She leaned her head against his chest. "I do not like being trapped."

"You're not trapped." He chuckled quietly.

"Really? We cannot leave!" She pointed to the door. "We are not allowed to open the windows! Tony, this is the definition of trapped!"

"Ok, so maybe we are trapped. At least we're trapped together." He smiled, trying to placate her by stroking her hair. "At least there's no imminent danger, not like the last time we were trapped."

"On the Chimera?"

"No, I was actually thinking about the time in that freezing cold metal box you got us locked in, but the boat is a close second."

"The container? Yes, that was…eventful." She sniffed.

"You never did tell me how you got those carpet burns." Tony shrugged, kissing her nose and walking over to the fridge, taking out the bottle of milk and pouring himself a glass.

"You still want to know, Tony?" She smiled, standing behind him.

"Mmmn, I think I'm good. I don't need to know." He shrugged.

"Suit yourself." She grinned, tapping his cheek and walking over to the couch where she sat down and picked up the book that Tony had read to Elsie the night before. "I do not understand why children's books are such nonsense. Caterpillars do not eat cake."

"Nor do they talk." He shrugged. "It teaches children about life and morals and how to read and how to speak properly." He paused and looked at her, his face lighting up. "I know how you can get better at English!" He grinned. "Children's books. It's how kids learn to speak so I don't see why it won't work for you." He explained sitting down next to her.

"Because it is not the Basic English that I have problems with, it is the sayings that I have issues with."

"I disagree, there are many times that you have made mistakes with basic linguistic techniques." He said, grinning.

"You enjoy making fun of how I talk, do you not?"

He bit his lip, trying to come up with a decent reply and landing on "No."

"Yes you do." She shrugged as he sat next to her.

"You would be upset if I didn't. Much like Gibbs slapping the backs of our heads, it is an expression of affection." He grinned charmingly at her scowl.

"You can talk your way out of anything." She shook her head and laughed.

"It's a gift." He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. "You need to think about booking a doctor's appointment." He smiled, placing a hand on her stomach.

"I would like to finish this case, first." She placed her hand over the top of his, their fingers locking together.

"Gibbs says that we should keep the baby a secret for as long as possible."

"Yes, he told me. I fear Abby will be our biggest problem in that respect." They both chuckled. "She is very excited about it."

"You think she'd be this excited if she was pregnant?" Tony asked, frowning.

"I do not know. I think she uses excitement to mask her fear."

"Or she's just very excitable." Tony laughed. "The happiest Goth you will ever meet." Just then the door to the bedroom opened and Elsie padded through, rubbing her eyes and climbing onto the sofa in between her two protectors, nestling into the gap.

"Good morning." Ziva smiled as the little girl tilted her head back and giggled, her short hair messy and sticky-upy. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mmhm. It's cold in here." She shivered dramatically.

"It'll be a cold day today." Tony said, pulling the blanket from the arm of the chair and wrapped it around the child.

"I'm not allowed to play in the snow, am I?" She sighed.

"Sorry." Ziva shook her head. Elsie sighed.

"It will snow again next year." She shrugged and stood up on the couch, climbing over Tony's legs and leaning over the arm to look into the travel cot to watch her sister sleep. "Can we build a fort instead then?" She turned and looked at the couple.

"I like that idea." Ziva grinned.

"Can we have breakfast first?" Tony asked, his stomach growling. "I think Gibbs left some porridge here yesterday."

Elsie and Ziva both rolled their eyes. "Why are you always hungry?" She asked, grinning.

"Well, because big boys are always hungry!" Tony laughed as he picked her up and carried her to the kitchen area. "What do you want on your porridge?"

"Honey, please." She grinned as he sat her on the countertop.

"Ziva?"

"Banana." She smiled, pealing a banana and slicing it. "Do we know when somebody will be able to get here to take over?"

"It's still snowing." Tony sighed, passing a tub of baby formula over to Ziva as she handed the honey and the bowl of sliced banana to him. "I doubt anyone in their right mind would drive the road up to this place."

"So it will be a while." She scoffed and shook her head.


"McGee!" Abby hugged her best friend as he walked into her lab.

"Whoa! Abby, why are you so happy?" He laughed, unwrapping her arms from around his neck when he started to lack oxygen.

"It's a good day." She bounced.

"Not for Tony. He's stuck at the safe house." Tim shook his head. It had taken him three times as long as it normally does for him to get into work. There was no way he would have been able to drive up to the bungalow.

"I think even Tony will be happy today." Abby grinned.

"Yeah, I'm not to sure." He frowned at her.

"He will, I know it." She was beginning to scare him. She was up to something.

"Hey, Abby, have you seen Ziva?" He asked as she walked over to her computers.

"Yeah, she's with Ton…" She covered her mouth, turning back to McGee.

"I know about Tony and Ziva, Abby." He laughed. If that was all she was happy about then there was no need for him to worry.

"Oh, thank God." She breathed. "I have been wanting to talk to someone about it but Gibbs and Ducky refuse. Why didn't you tell me you knew?"

"Because I was sworn to secrecy. And anyway, it's Tony and Ziva, I doubt it is going to last." He shrugged.

"But McGee, neither of them would do that to the poor little baby! They're going to be parents. That means something to even them!" She said expressively, trying to get through to Tim.

"Wait. Back up, rewind, reverse… What?"

"Ah. You didn't know that part." Her eyes widened.

"Wait, Ziva's pregnant?" He said, frowning.

"No…" She shook her head, not even convincing herself with the lie.

"How come you know?"

"Know what?" She smiled innocently.

"Abby." He exhaled.

"Look, they can't know that you know, and if they do know that you know they can't know that you know because I told you. Okay?" She pleaded with him.

"I'm confused." He ran it through his head a few times.

"You can't tell anybody. I wasn't even allowed to tell you." She balled her fists up and furrowed her brow. "Gibbs is gonna know that I told you."

"Yeah, Abs."

"Gibbs!" She pulled McGee in front of her, using him as a shield. "I didn't mean to tell him, I mean, I thought he knew…" She started backing away as Gibbs laughed.

"I'm not the one you have to worry about." He smiled. "Ziva."

"I…I…I'm dead…" Tim stuttered.

"Well, you have until they get back from the safe house to come up with an explanation." He smirked, handing a Caf-Pow to Abby. "Or to escape the country." He muttered under his breath, grinning as the younger agent's face fell. "The director is not to know." He grew serious.

"Er, why?"

"Because as soon as the director finds out and it becomes official, Ziva is put on desk duty."

"Of course, I understand boss. We would be less affective in the field without Ziva."

"No, McGee. It's gonna be hell working in the office with her whilst she's not allowed to do what she loves and we still can." He looked at him.

"I didn't like to say." He nodded and swallowed.

"Have either of you doo-dahed the thingy-majig on the lieutenant's computer?" Gibbs asked, ignoring McGee's last comment.

"We're getting there. Gibbs, it's gonna take a while."

"The rest of his laptop and files are those of a technophobe. From the skills displayed in those, he wouldn't have been able to encrypt the file to the level that he did." McGee explained. "It doesn't make sense."

"No. None of it does. I have a dead navy lieutenant and his wife who nobody seems to know anything about and their two children who had their lives threatened. I can't find a single motive and I can't find a single suspect!" Gibbs yelled, walking out.


"Duck, what do you got?" Jethro asked as he walked into autopsy.

"Nothing more than in the Autopsy report performed by the last ME, Jethro. Lieutenant Carlin died from a fall from a height of about 50 feet."

"Pushed? Poisoned?"

"No, Jethro. He fell. I can find no evidence to suggest foul play."

"Except his whole family is either dead or in our protective custody, Duck." The silver haired man sighed.

"I'll have Abby run more tox-screens, but I don't think we'll find anything. Maybe it was just a freak accident."

"Is that what you call being shot in the head?"

"No. I would agree with our expert in these matters and say that Mrs Carlin was killed by a professional." Ducky said sadly.

"And who would our expert be?" Gibbs smiled.

"Our dear officer David, who else?" He chuckled to himself.

"Don't know, Ducky." He laughed, walking over to the doors. "Oh, McGee is aware of 'our expert's' … condition, just so you know." He looked at the pathologist.

"We are still keeping this a secret from our higher powers, I presume?"

"Hit the nail on the head, Doc." He raised his disposable coffee cup and walked out.


"Are you excited for Christmas, Tony?" Elsie asked as the agent fixed the last blanket over the back of the sofa.

"Yeah! I love Christmas! How about you?" He grinned as he admired his creation.

"The best time of the year!" She laughed loudly, crawling out from the soft fortress.

"Shhh." He put his finger to his lips and picked the child up, pointing to Ziva, who was lying asleep on the floor with Mina asleep on her torso. "Ziva's very tired."

"Why?" She whispered quietly.

"Because she was awake all last night." He smiled, tapping her nose and placing her on the ground.

"Weren't you?" She asked.

"I got some sleep last night." He said. "Ziva said that she would stay awake and I could get the sleep." He smiled. "Are we going to put cushions and pillows in there?"

"Mmhm." She ran into the bedroom and came back with a pile of pillows in her arms. She wobbled and fell, landing in the sea of soft, padded cushions and stifling a giggle. He scooped her up, making her laugh more. "I'm hungry." She said in between chortles.

"Well, I think we have peanut butter. How about a PBJ sandwich?" He asked, carrying her over to the kitchenette and opened the fridge, removing the components when she nodded. He made two sandwiches, placing one plate in front of Elsie where she sat at the table and taking a bite out of the other one, watching Ziva sleep as he did so. Her hair was splayed across the lilac pillow that her head was resting on, with one hand next to her face and one on the infant's back. The child had her head turned and nestled under Ziva's chin, her tiny hands balled into fists. Her little body rose and fell gently with the rhythmic expansion and collapse of the Israeli's torso, the soft sounds of their breathing synchronised. It was like a snapshot from the future. The not too distant future – he reminded himself. 'You don't have to joke about it, it's alright to admit you're scared.' Ziva's words echoed around his head. Except, he wasn't scared, not anymore. He would admit that the idea of having a kid had been rather daunting at first, but he had warmed to the idea. He smiled. He, Anthony DiNozzo, Junior, was going to be a father, and he would do anything it took to be a better father than his own.