Disclaimer: I don't own anything, NCIS' characters are not my property, I only intended to have fun writing about them.
A/N: This One-shot is not edited and corrected by a Beta, so forgive me for my grammar mistakes. English is not my first language. Mi primer idioma es español, en caso que quieran saber (My first language is Spanish, in case you want to know).
Tali said goodbye to Gibbs and her parents with a huge smile. The three watched them until the elevator doors closed. Ziva sighed, Tony squeezed Ziva's hand, and Gibbs smiled proudly. A few seconds passed, Gibbs went to his desk and took out two guns from the last drawer, then stood in front of his agents and gave them their official guns, each one received and accommodated.
- Are you ready for an update? - Both agreed - We have a lot of work to do, I hope you have not forgotten how it is done, bosses.
They laughed softly.
- Boss! Before we start, and I know we are behind on the case, I want to ask you an important question - Tony interrupted at the questioning eyes of Ziva and Gibbs.
- Yes, DiNozzo?
Tony sighed, stood in front of Gibbs and looked him straight in the eye.
- Boss, I know you are a father to Ziva and I'm glad that you are a grandfather to our daughter -. Ziva alternated the look between the two, while Gibbs narrowed his eyes at Tony who sighed - Leroy Jethro Gibbs, today I am here to ask for Ziva's hand in marriage.
Ziva sighed while tears filled her eyes and her heart exploded with excitement. Despite the reputation of a womanizer and fear of the commitment that Tony acquired in his thirties, Ziva from the beginning thought that they were armor to hide the true Anthony DiNozzo… over the years she affirmed that statement, as she began to meet the real Anthony DiNozzo. She met the unconditional man who cared that she was always happy, the man who had always had her back despite everything, the man who had tracked her three times around the world, the man with the kindest heart, the man who loves his daughter, the man who likes to be engaged and to be a daddy, the man who loves her above all else.
Gibbs could see the nerves and determination in the eyes of his best agent. The same man who had arrived hurt after his fiancée decided not to go ahead with the wedding, the same who had overcome the death of his partner, the same man who had fallen in love on an undercover assignment, the same who had lost the director under his protection, the same man who had traces his partner to the ends of the world, the same one who returned from Israel with a broken heart when Ziva decided not to accompany him, the same one who found out that he had a daughter of almost two years old when Ziva died, the same one who applied rules 3 and 8 tracking Ziva around the world until he found her and the same one who was now in front of him asking for his daughter's hand in marriage. What a cliffhanger!... Gibbs laughed and looked at Ziva, who had tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, then he looked a nervous Tony in the eyes.
- Well, DiNozzo, I must say that it doesn't surprise me and seeing how you make Ziver happy… - Gibbs extended his hand towards Tony, who extended his and they shook hands - Okay Tony, you have my blessing to marry my daughter - Gibbs reached out and hugged Tony -. You are a dead man the moment you make her unhappy, and I know she can defend herself, but I am a Marine, sniper, federal agent, father, and grandfather, DiNozzo - he whispered in Tony's ear as he swallowed hard.
- Yes, I copy that, boss.
They broke the hug.
Gibbs couldn't get the smile off his face, and he couldn't remember when the last time this had happened to him.
Tony turned to look at Ziva with a big smile, walked over to her, kissed her forehead, took her hand, and knelt in front of her. Ziva looked him in the eye as he pulled a small red velvet box from his jacket and opened it.
- Ziva, sweet cheeks, my crazy Israeli with impulsive issues - Ziva frowned with amusement and then shook her head -, my ninja, mother of our daughter and love of my life, will you marry me?
A tear escaped from Ziva's eyes, who nodded.
- Yes, Tony, I will marry you!
Tony placed the ring on her left hand, he kissed her hand, stood up to hug her, and then kissed her full on the mouth with all the love in the world. Despite the years, this was the first time they had kissed at their workplace, at the place where they had met fourteen years ago. And they were already engaged and had formed a wonderful family.
They stopped kissing and hugged each other again. Ziva first looked at the ring that rested on her left hand because she had only looked at Tony's green eyes during the proposal. A ring with a large olive-green diamond and diamonds around it adorned her hand. Ziva kissed Tony on the lips and rested her forehead on his.
- I love you, te amo, je t'aime, ti amo, ani ohevet otja - Tony smiled like an idiot.
- I love you, my ninja.
They kissed briefly and turned to see Gibbs; he was smiling. Ziva approached Gibbs and hugged him, he pulled her into his arms and kissed his crown.
- You deserve to be happy - he whispered in her ear -, congratulations, kid.
- Thank you, thank you for everything.
Ziva's eyes filled with tears again as she kissed Gibbs' cheek and they both parted.
- I'm so happy and so proud of you, I know you will be happy, and I cannot think of other people who deserve it more than you two. You have formed a beautiful family and I'm very honored to be part of it, besides - Gibbs pointed to his hair -, this combines with the title of grandfather.
The three laughed heartily.
Gibbs realized that he missed these moments of happiness, despite being immersed in a world of trouble and death, he missed Tony's ability to lighten the mood and Ziva's eloquence of finding an answer when all seems lost. Got damn! He missed his old team working in perfect sync. Although the arrival of the new members brought challenges, I would also miss them when they got to go. Well, they are more than his team, they are his children, the only ones he has left.
Tony took Ziva's hand and squeezed it in his.
- Boss, I think we have a pending update.
- Of course, we have a pending update, DiNozzo. We are a little behind, but this time it was worth it.
The three of them stood in front of the screen and through the control in Gibbs's hands the first image materialized. Gibbs slapped Tony on the head, he immediately turned to see him, his former boss was smiling and Ziva was laughing out loud.
- But boss!
- That was because you got my daughter pregnant, DiNozzo.
- I understand boss - Tony turned to look at the screen - but if we give you a grandchild again, I will not accept a head slap because now we are already engaged, and soon we will be married.
Tony took his fiancée's hand in his and kissed her knuckles. Ziva frowned and bit her lower lip because despite having been together for a few months, they had not yet put the topic of a second baby on the table.
- We'll cross that river when we reach it, Tony.
- Bridge, Zi, is "We will cross that bridge when we reach it".
- Will you never get bored of correcting me?
- Never - he replied with a malicious smile.
- Okay, bosses, the case.
- Yes, the case ... you can start, boss.
- Well, this morning three guards found a body in perfect condition in the port of Baltimore. The Baltimore Police, your old friends, Tony - Gibbs explained -,they arrived at the crime scene, secured it, and when they ran the prints they realized they had a Marine, then Baltimore P.D. called NCIS and they passed us the scene - Gibbs pressed the control and the Marine's file materialized on the screen -. I present to you, although you already know him, petty officer Matt Lewis, reported missing by his wife in 2009 at the age of 27. The petty officer had already completed two tours in Iraq and would go on a third tour, this time to Afghanistan in that same year, he was married and childless - Gibbs changed the image -. At the crime scene, a car was found with a briefcase inside, as you see it on the screen, but nothing indicates for now who, why or the weapon with which he was killed. At the crime scene Palmer could not determine the time of death because the body was very cold, according to him, they probably frozen him, but how you must remember that is only preliminary, we will have more information as he advances in the autopsy. Torres is alongside Kasie and the scene car in the evidence garage, now also accompanied by McGee and Bishop. That is what we have for now from this current scene - Gibbs passed control to Ziva -, future Mrs. David-DiNozzo, would you mind updating me on the petty officer's original case?
Ziva received control and laughed.
- Of course, I will, and for the record, it will be future Mrs. DiNozzo. - Ziva said without giving much importance, while Tony's smile did not fit on his face.
- Okay, future Mrs. DiNozzo, go ahead - said Gibbs.
- Petty Officer Lewis went missing in 2009, his wife reported it. At that time, one of the options we considered was that he had left voluntarily because when interviewing his wife, she told us that they had serious problems in the marriage because they had been trying to have children for three years and they could not. However, we cover all bases …
- How you taught us, boss. Rule number 8 "Never take anything for granted" - Tony interrupted, Ziva looked at him disapprovingly and Gibbs looked at him with a smile.
- Can I continue? - Ziva asked without removing her disapproving gaze.
- Yes, Zi - Tony replied swallowing hard since this was his second strike of the day.
- ... and we also thought about the option that his disappearance was not voluntary, so we tried to keep track of the petty officer with his credit cards through receipts, but that was a dead street …
- Dead-end, Zi, it's a dead-end - Ziva sighed heavily, ignoring Tony's correction, as Gibbs smiled again.
- ... but that was a DEAD-END. That's how the legal time passed and then we left the case as unsolved. However, we continue to investigate - at this point, Gibbs alternated his eyes among his agents, Tony returned his gaze raising his eyebrows - in my office in the spare time we had, but we stopped the investigation in 2012 at the request of his wife because she did not want to be stuck in the past and needed to move on. There is a relevant fact in what we found in our investigation, the petty officer had some good friends within the naval, among which petty officer Gabriel Burrows stands out. The two were partners on the two tours to Iraq and were going to go together on their third tour, this time to Afghanistan. According to the rest of the comrades, Lewis and Burrows used to be good friends - Gibbs raised their eyebrows -, yes, Gibbs, they used to be good friends because a few weeks before the petty officer disappeared they saw them arguing at the base; the rumor was that Burrows was attracted to Lisa, the wife of Petty Officer Lewis. We asked Lisa and petty officer Burrows about this matter, Lisa didn't seem to be aware of that and Burrows said they had argued for money; with Tony, we concluded that at least one of them was lying.
- Could you determine who lied?
- Not with evidence, boss, but my instinct told me that Mrs. Lewis was not lying - Tony replied
- My instincts told me the same thing, Gibbs… Maybe it's good that you interview Lisa too.
- Maybe it's a good idea, Ziver, but that's up to you, not me, rule 38.
The three of them started laughing, as Ziva turned around and saw some people approaching the bullpen, which she immediately recognized.
- Ziva David, the myth, the legend, it's a pleasure to see you again - Kasie exclaimed as she approached Ziva and gave her a hug, meanwhile Tony and Gibbs turned in the same direction as Ziva.
- It's also a pleasure to see you again, Kasie - they both broke the hug and Tony approached them -. Kasie, this is Tony DiNozzo my boyfriend and father of our daughter - Anthony laughed and shook his head -. Tony, this is Kasie, the great forensic scientist of this team.
Kasie extended her hand and Tony extended his hand, they both shook hands.
- It's a pleasure, Kasie, and I must thank you for all the help you gave to Ziva, that you gave to our family - Tony replied with a smile and they both left the handshake.
- It's a pleasure, Tony, and you're welcome, the three of you being together and happy is enough for me.
When Tony and Kasie stopped introducing themselves, Gibbs spoke up.
- Very well team, from now on Tony and Ziva are in charge of this investigation, Rule 38 - he explained to Nick and Kasie.
- Does that mean I should report my updates to you? - Kasie asked, addressing Tony and Ziva.
- That's right, Kasie… So, do you have any updates?
- Not really. I must put the car and the briefcase through more exhaustive tests, but Jimmy found some receipts, from which despite having been frozen, I will be able to extract information from them.
Tony frowned as Ziva smiled.
- So, you still don't have any results or updates, but you came up to say hi? - Kasie shrugged and Ziva laughed.
- I couldn't help it… But I also want to meet your daughter, where is she? Nick and Ellie told me she is the sweetest girl in the universe.
Tony smiled with pride, like every time someone congratulated him on his little girl.
- She is with Jack and Ducky for now - Ziva explained -, you can go meet her at any time ... And now team, we have a lot of work to do, we are going to start by dividing tasks - Ziva looked Tony in the eye, he understood what she wanted to say and nodded.
- Boss, you are going to autopsy, I have a feeling the gremlin will call at any moment - Gibbs's cell phone rang and he smirked.
- You still have good instincts, boss - Gibbs said and left the bullpen to go autopsy, Tony smiled with pride.
- Probie - Nick giggled and Ellie nudged him in the ribs -, you will help Kasie with the technological evidence of this case, which you will find in the evidence garage - said Tony addressing McGee, who snorted and then smirked -. What's up, McGenius?
- Nothing, Tony ... I'll say something I will regret in two hours, but I must admit that maybe I missed you a little.
Tony smiled as Kasie and McGee began to leave the bullpen.
- Special Agent Torres, dear Special Agent Bishop, you and we are going to interview witnesses. With the question in mind, why should the four of us go to interview the witnesses? The answer is very simple. Ziva and I were investigating this case on our own after the legal period expired and we had to file it as unsolved, then we need fresh eyes and ears, got it?
Ellie and Nick nodded, as Tony walked over to Gibbs' desk and pulled out the car keys from the first drawer.
- The boss is a creature of old habits - Tony explained to Nick, who was looking at him questioningly.
- I know, I spent a few days at his house and from that moment I have no doubt.
They both laughed heartily.
- Am I going to have to slap you two on the head for both of you to come to the elevator and we can get to work, gentlemen? Or should I remind you that I am a trained assassin?
Their smile faded at Ziva's serious voice. Tony gulped as Nick grabbed his gear and they both made their way to the elevator.
- Sorry, my dear, we were talking about the boss - Tony said looking his fiancée in the eyes when the elevator started to descend, Ziva patted him gently on the cheek.
- I know, but we have a lot of work to do my very Special Agent DiNozzo, plus Lisa deserves a fi ...
Ziva couldn't finish the sentence because a scream escaped from Ellie's mouth, who was pointing at the ring on Ziva's left hand. Nick immediately looked at what Ellie was pointing at and smiled because despite not knowing her a long time ago, that "kick-ass demon" known as Ziva David deserved to be happy.
A/N: First of all, thank you so much for every review, favourite and author alert; you are the best. Second of all, I'm sorry for the delay in updating the fanfiction, but these last few days have been crazy because of Covid-19 ... I thought I would have more time because I no longer have face-to-face classes at the university due to quarantine, but then I started to worry about the health of my family and friends ...so I was uninspired for several days. I hope all of you and your families are safe and sound, and please stay home. Thanks for everything.