XVII. Orphans Are the Only Ones Who Get To Chose Their Parents, And They Love Them Twice As Much.

"Tony, what is that?" Ziva gasped as she jolted awake to the humming coming from outside the cabin.

"I don't know." He said as he wrapped Elsie in her coat and scarf. "We're going to be real quiet, ok?" He smiled at the child as the colour faded from her cheeks.

"It sounds like a helicopter, coming from behind us." Ziva whispered, bundling Mina up in blankets to keep her warm. She zipped her light jacket up and un-holstered her gun.

"Here." Tony handed her his coat.

"No, Tony. You only have your shirt." She shook her head.

"And you only have your jacket. Put it on." He said and she didn't argue with his stern tone. "Thank you."

"Where are we going?" Elsie asked quietly.

Ziva sighed and crouched down in front of her. "I do not know. But we have to be very quiet, and we have to stay together. We are all going to stay safe."

"I'm scared." The child whispered quietly, voicing what nobody else wanted to say, as Tony unlocked the door and took hold of Elsie's hand, carrying Mina in his other. Ziva stepped out in front of them and inched forwards, keeping to the side of the house where the snow was thinnest. The helicopter had stopped and there was silence as they crept as carefully as possible in the opposite direction, freezing when the crunch of footprints grew louder in approach. Mina began to whimper and Tony tried to quell the soft crying. He looked apologetically to Ziva as she crouched down to Elsie and hugged her tight. She looked back at him.

"I love you." Ziva whispered quietly as tears began to slip down her face. She had always though that she would die in some dank, dungeon like room being interrogated and tortured, not in such beautiful white snow, surrounded by the clean smell of fir trees and the bright sunlight.

"I love you, too." He whispered back. "I'm so sorry. I should have done a better job of keeping us safe." He crouched down next to her and wiped her tears away. She shook her head and closed her eyes. So this was it. This was the end.

"It is not your fault, Tony." She breathed, rocking backwards and forwards in a worthless effort to calm Elsie down as the child began to quiver, unable to tell whether it was due to the cold or the fear.

"Hey, DiNozzo! What do ya think you're doing?" Gibbs yelled from the other end of the cabin.

"Boss?" They looked up, grins spreading across their faces.

"There a reason you're all sat there crying?" He walked over, frowning.

"We thought that you were coming to kill us." Ziva chuckled shakily.

"Nope, just to take you home." He shrugged, holding his hand out to Ziva to help her up.

"Home?" DiNozzo's grin widened.

"Sure." He shrugged again, picking Elsie up.

"You brought us a helo?" Ziva laughed.

"Yeah, it's in the clearing round the back." Tony and Ziva breathed sighs of relief as they looked at each other. "Well what are you waiting for, go pack your things."


"Mmm, good to be back in the office." Tony smiled, kissing Ziva as he handed her a bottle of baby formula. She sat on the corner of her desk facing the centre of the squad room, holding Mina in her arms.

"DiNozzo, I liked it better when you two thought I didn't know." Gibbs said, handing him a cup of coffee.

"Gibbs, can I not have a cup of coffee?" Ziva asked.

"No." Tony and Gibbs both replied. Elsie ran up behind them and Gibbs picked her up, spinning her in the air.

"Hey, boss, who's that with the director?" Tony asked as the redhead stepped out of the elevator with an older, greying man.

"Don't know, DiNozzo." He murmured quietly, placing Elsie down as the two walked over to them.

"Agents Gibbs, DiNozzo." Jenny said, stopping.

"Ziva?" The man said, standing in the entrance to the squad area.

"Abba?" She turned around, staring at her father. Tony inched closer to her.

"This is Director of Mossad, Eli David." Jenny said, smiling.

"Tony DiNozzo, good to meet you." He stuck his hand out, wincing as Ziva twisted his other wrist back and scowled at him.

"Abba, what are you doing here?" She frowned, forgetting the child in her arms.

"You are not even going to try to explain?" He pointed to Mina.

"You first." She handed the infant to Tony, nodding slightly at him. He walked over to his desk and sat down, watching the confrontation discreetly from the corner of his eyes.

"I have a conference with your Sec-Nav." He smiled charmingly.

"We have been protecting them." Ziva nodded to the two children, meeting her end of the deal.

"You could have just said that."

"So could you." She shrugged, ignoring her father's smile. He nodded cautiously and walked over to Gibbs.

"So you are the man who has stolen my daughter?" He said light-heartedly.

"She's a good investigator." He smiled and shrugged.

"My secretary has prepared a pot of tea." Jenny said, flipping her phone shut. Both directors nodded and smiled as they walked up to her office. There was a quiet as everybody allowed the dust to settle. Then Ziva stood up from her perch on the corner of the desk and walked around to her chair, sitting down and placing her head in her hands. Gibbs shook his head at Tony as the younger agent began to stand up. He sat back down again, understanding Ziva's need for a moment to think.


"I love you." Tony smiled as he kissed her.

"So I have been told." She grinned and kissed him back. They stood in the corner behind the stairs to the balcony that overlooks the office area. It was surprisingly quiet for midday, Ziva thought as she ran her hand through his hair. "Where is everyone?" She asked as they broke apart.

"A lot of the schools 've been closed due to the snow, so the director sent all agents with children or those who live far away home." He explained quickly, going back to kiss her. He took the hairband out of her hair, allowing it to fall softly over her shoulders.

"What is your fascination with my hair?" She laughed quietly.

"I think it was the first thing I noticed about you when you first arrived here." He shrugged.

"I believe the first thing I noticed about you when I arrived was…" She laid her hands on his shoulders as he placed his on her hips. "That you were having phone sex with a co-worker."

"I wasn't, I was talking to a dead friend." He pouted.

"Of course." She grinned.

"It only happened the once." He tilted his head and frowned. "Possibly twice." She laughed and shook her head.

"I love you." She smiled, kissing him again and freezing when she heard a cough that she had heard many times as a child. They both looked up at Eli as he stood on the stairs, glaring at Tony. "We are dead." She whispered in his ear as they both turned to watch her father walk down the stairs towards them. Her hand found his and they stood side by side, hiding their clasped hands behind her back.

"Director David." Tony nodded, smiling.

"Agent DiNozzo." He did not smiled back.

"We're all going to be having dinner tonight, I'm sure you'll be welcome to join us." Tony said, ignoring Ziva as she kicked him in the shin.

"I do not want to intrude." Eli shrugged.

"Oh, I'm sure you won't be." The agent grinned, putting on his most charming face.

"Well, if you are sure." He shrugged again.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can be Jenny's plus one." Ziva turned to Tony and glared, looking at her father and smiling softly, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Er, social services is here, and there's a slight…problem." McGee rounded the corner, looking to the three people before him.

"What problem, McGee?" Ziva asked, moving forwards.

"Er, Elsie refuses to leave." He shook his head. "Gibbs thinks you might be able to handle the situation better."

Ziva nodded and followed McGee. "My Ziva, good with children?" Eli raised his eyes at Tony.

"You'd be surprised." Tony looked her father up and down and walked off in the same direction as his two colleagues.

"But what if I don't like them?" The child pouted as she sat sideways on Ziva's lap.

"I am sure you will." Ziva smiled, brushing the child's hair out of her eyes.

"But why can't I live with you and Tony?"

"We have been through this." Ziva chuckled. "Me and Tony do not have a spare bedroom."

"What if you bought a new house?" Elsie scowled.

"We cannot buy a new house at the moment. Anyway, we are not allowed to take you home with us." She sighed.

"Please?" The child begged, pleaded. Ziva looked up at Gibbs from the windowsill where they sat. She picked her up in her arms and carried her to her desk, placing her down in the chair and handing her a box of coloured crayons and a pad of paper. She nodded to Tony and they both walked over to Gibbs and the social worker.

"She wants to come home with us." Ziva stated.

"I can't allow that, neither of you are registered foster parents." The social worker spread her hands out.

"We know that." Tony looked at her. "Not only that, but neither of us have the room for two children."

"I do." Gibbs shrugged. They all turned to look at him. "And, I believe I'm still a registered foster parent."

"Why are you a registered foster parent, boss?" Tim frowned.

"A case, long time ago." He shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"You can't work and look after the two children." She shook her head. "Not allowed."

"Well, it'll only be for tonight until you can find a better home." He shrugged, waltzing over to the little girl at Ziva's desk. "Hey, how're you doing?"

"I don't want to go to another home." She mumbled.

"Well in that case you won't want to be coming home with me tonight." He shrugged and straightened up.

"No, wait." She looked up at him. "I'm allowed?"

"You and Mina can stay with me for one night." He said.

"Thank you, boss." She saluted and he grinned, tousling her hair.

"That mean dinner at yours tonight, boss?" McGee asked.

"Long as Ziva and Tony are cooking." He shrugged.