Hello again! I am so sorry it's been so long since I updated this series, but between college and Covid it has been a struggle. But I am back now, and will hopefully be uploading a chapter a week
One
Ziva had had a shitty week. They weren't on a case at the moment, so they were doing their best to get through the piles of paperwork on their desks. And since Tony had the afternoon off for therapy with Paige before she left for her Christmas vacation, she had been stuck in the squad room to listen to McGee complain about paperwork, and watch Gibbs attempt to work his computer.
Ziva walked through the door, surprisingly early for a Friday night, even though it was Christmas ever. She closed the door behind her and toed her shoes off and dropped her backpack beside the couch. She walked into the kitchen to find Tony wearing an apron, and wielding a pair of tongs as he placed cookies onto a cooling rack.
"You bake now?" Ziva asked.
Tony jumped. He hadn't even heard her come in.
"Why are you home so early?" He asked.
Ziva laughed lightly. "Traffic was light. It is Christmas Eve after all." She said, stepping toward him.
Tony nodded, placing the tongs on the counter.
"Palmer gave me the recipe. And dad invited us all over to his place tomorrow." Tony told her.
"That will be nice." Ziva said. They had not seen Senior since they helped him paint some of the rooms in his new house almost a month ago, as cases had kept them busy.
Tony nodded. "I know you don't actually celebrate Christmas…"
Ziva interrupted him. "I have enjoyed celebrating your holidays with you."
Tony smiled. "I'd like to celebrate yours too."
Ziva nodded. "I think I would like that. We missed Hanukkah though." She said as she picked up a cookie. "Gingerbread?"
Tony nodded.
Ziva smiled brightly. "My favorite." She told him before taking a bite of the warm cookie. "These are good!"
Tony smiled. "That's good. I'm not usually a great baker."
Ziva held out her cookie for him to bite.
"Oh wow." Tony mumbled as he chewed. "Palmer really knows how to make a good cookie."
Ziva laughed. "I will tell him you said that."
Tony stuck his tongue out and laughed. He picked up a cookie of his own and led Ziva into the living room. They sat on the couch in silence for a moment, eating slowly.
"How was your appointment?" Ziva asked, shifting on the couch to face him.
Tony sighed. "It was fine." He told her. "Paige spoke to Doctor Oliver, the operational psychologist… she thinks I'm ready for field work."
Ziva was surprised. "Really?" She asked.
Tony nodded. "I just have to pass another round of psych evals, and the physical requirements."
"Are you sure you're ready for that?" Ziva asked slowly.
Tony shrugged. "I really don't know. It won't start until after New Year's anyway." He said. He shook his head. "Can we just talk about something else? You said we missed Hanukkah… I've never celebrated it… tell me about it?"
Ziva smiled. "Well, in my family, we made latkes on the first and last nights, and we always had sufganiyot for desert all week."
"Sufganiyot?" Tony asked.
Ziva nodded. "Jelly donuts, fried in oil."
"And the latkes?" Tony asked.
"Grated potato and onion, also friend in oil. I dip them in applesauce." Ziva told him.
Tony laughed lightly. "That sounds interesting."
Ziva nodded. "I will have to make them for you sometime." She told him. I have not made them since I left Israel."
"Really?" Tony asked.
Ziva nodded. "I never saw the reason to." She said. "Hanukkah in my family was full of tradition. Not necessarily religious tradition, it was about family. And after my mother died, and then Tali, and then Ari…" She trailed off, taking a deep breath. "And after everything my father has done, I have no family left." She told him sadly.
Tony wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her forehead softly. "I know it's not quite the same, but you've got a family. If you wanted to, I'm sure everyone would be happy to celebrate with you."
Ziva nodded. "Maybe I am ready to start bringing some of my holidays back." She told him. "Tali, Ari, and I always used to fight about who got to light the candles every night."
"Really?" Tony asked. "I thought Hanukkah was a minor holiday?"
Ziva laughed. "No, you're right, but it was one of the only holidays where the schools were closed for more than two days, so I suppose it seemed more exciting than it was."
Tony nodded. "Makes sense. Did your parents give you gifts or anything?"
Ziva shook her head. "No, we just spent time together as a family. Although my father would give us each fifty shekels, and we could choose whether we were going to keep it or give it to charity."
"And what did you do?" Tony asked.
"We usually gave up thirty-six and kept the rest. But there was one year we decided to keep it."
Tony laughed. "What did you do with it?"
Ziva chuckled, resting her head in her hand. "We went to the beach."
"The beach?" Tony asked. "There has to be a story behind that."
Ziva nodded. "Well, we went to Tel Aviv, and we did not tell anyone. We knew our parents would say no. So we took our father's car, and went to the beach for the day."
"Please tell me one of you knew how to drive." Tony said.
Ziva nodded. "Both Ari and I knew how to drive, but Ari was the one with the license."
"And when your parents figured out that you had taken the car?" Tony asked.
Ziva groaned. "We were lucky our father hadn't sent a team to bring us back." She told him. "It was such a bad idea. My parents took Ari's license away for a month, I wasn't allowed to do any sports for a month, and Tali wasn't allowed to watch television for a month."
"Was it at least a memorable day?" Tony asked.
Ziva laughed. "It was. We got there early enough that it was not busy for the first little while. The punishment was definitely worth it." She said. "You know, about a year later, Ari and I were volunteering at a hospital around Hanukkah, and he told me that after we had been dealt our punishments, our father took him aside and told him that he was impressed that we had gotten out of the house and made off with the car without him noticing."
Tony laughed. "Of course, he was. He had his own mini-Mossad sitting in the living room."
Ziva laughed. "I guess it was always meant to work out that way… just like you getting back int other field."
Tony sighed. "Before it wasn't a big deal. I was a cop, it was a totally normal, natural thing to me."
"And now?" Ziva prompted.
"It seems like everyone is making such a big deal out of it. Including me. Liking walking into a crime scene is going to give me a nervous breakdown." Tony told her.
Ziva nodded. "We do not think that though." She told him, bringing her hand up to run through his hair gently.
"Then what's the problem? Just let me go back to being me!" Tony said angrily.
Ziva sighed. "I know it's hard. Post-Traumatic Stress plays with your brain in ways that you sometimes do not even realize until it is too late."
"I shouldn't have yelled." Tony said quietly.
Ziva kissed his cheek softly. "Look at me." She requested.
Tony looked up at her, almost surprised to see the love in her eyes.
She smiled softly. "We just want to make sure that your mind can handle the added trauma of being shot at or attacked. We do not want you going out before you are ready and getting hurt." She told him.
Tony nodded. "I know, I don't want that either… I just don't want to be treated like I'm fragile."
"I will help you with physical requirements. We can workout, go running, and review self-defense, if you'd like." Ziva offered.
Tony nodded. "That would be good."
"And with all the noise in the gym, it might desensitize you to loud noises a bit faster."
Tony nodded. "Thank you."
Ziva smiled. "Do not ever think that I do not believe in you." She said, kissing Tony softly.
The sudden ringing of Ziva's phone on the coffee table startled them apart.
Ziva picked up her phone, glancing at the caller ID. She flipped it open. "Gibbs?" She asked.
"We got a case. Dead marine corporal, base housing, Norfolk." Gibbs told her.
Ziva sighed. "I will meet you there. I'll drop Tony at the office on the way."
Gibbs nodded. "McGee is sending you the address."
Ziva nodded. "Alright." She said before hanging up.
"Go put better clothes on." Ziva told Tony.
Tony sighed and stood up off the couch. "Be back in a minute.
XXXXX
Ziva pulled up outside the address McGee had sent her and walked up to the back of the MCRT truck, where Gibbs and McGee were gathering equipment.
McGee and Ziva followed Gibbs toward the front door.
"Ziver, talk to the cleaning lady. McGee, with me."
Ziva nodded and pulled her notebook out of the pocket of her bag and headed toward a police officer and a small Latina woman, who looked understandably shaken.
The police officer looked up as Ziva approached them, almost relieved.
"NCIS?" He asked.
Ziva nodded. He was clearly not used to murder. He looked like he was more concerned with consoling the crying woman than asking questions.
"I'll take her." Ziva told him.
He nodded thankfully and left the two women alone.
"What's your name?" Ziva asked.
The woman sniffled. "Maria. Maria Gonzalez."
Ziva wrote her name down quickly. "My name is Ziva." She told her.
Maria nodded. "Wh-why would someone do this to Miss Rosa?" She asked tearfully.
"That is what we are going to find out." Ziva told her. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"I was just coming to clean. I always come late on Fridays, and I wanted to drop off a Christmas gift for Miss Rosa, even though she doesn't celebrate… I went to unlock the door, and it wasn't locked. Not even closed tightly. I just pushed it open, and Miss Rosa was lying on the floor." Maria wept.
"Was she dead?" Ziva asked.
Maria blanked. "I-I did not even check; I just ran to call nine-one-one… what if she was still alive?"
"Do you remember how long it took the police to get here after you called?" Ziva asked.
Maria shrugged. "Three or four minutes."
"And she was dead when they got here?"
Maria nodded.
"She was most likely dead when you found her." Ziva told her softly, even though she knew it would offer little comfort.
Maria sniffled.
"What can you tell me about Corporal Sylvester?" Ziva asked.
"She was not usually home when I came to clean during the day, but she was always home Friday evenings. I came to do her dishes, so she did not have to let them sit until Sunday morning. She was always pleasant, she made a plate for me to take home every Friday. She always paid well."
"She did not say anything to you about having any personal problems?" Ziva asked.
"No, no, nothing like that."
Ziva nodded. "Can you just write down your phone number for me, so we can contact you if we have anymore questions?"
Maria nodded and did as she was asked. "I can go home now?"
Ziva nodded. "I can have someone take you, if you like?"
Maria shook her head. "No, it's alright, my car is just there." She said, pointing to a blue car across the street.
"Alright, I'll give you my card, call me if you think of anything that might be helpful." Ziva told her.
Maria nodded silently, and Ziva watched her walk toward her car before she walked into the house.
Corporal Rosa Sylvester was laying on the living room floor in a pool of blood, still wearing her uniform.
"Stabbed?" Ziva asked, looking over the body.
"Definitely a struggle." McGee said as he handed Ziva a camera.
"Possibly attacked when she arrived home?" Ziva suggested.
"McGee, check the bedroom, see if it looks like anything's missing." Gibbs said.
McGee nodded, gathering his bag to go look around.
"You think it was a robbery?" Ziva asked.
Gibbs shrugged, looking around the room. "Looks like pretty expensive stuff. Sixty-inch flatscreen?" He pointed out.
"Is she wearing her dog tags?" McGee suddenly called down the hall.
Ziva looked down at Gibbs, who was crouched down beside the body. He pulled the metal chain around her neck.
"Yeah, why?" Gibbs called back.
They heard McGee's footsteps coming down the hall, and he appeared in the doorway to the living room.
"Is her religion listed?" McGee asked.
Gibbs looked down at her tags, holding them out so he could see them.
"Jewish." He said, looking back up at McGee, whose face looked a shade paler than it had a minute ago.
"You guys might wanna come see this." McGee told them.
Gibbs and Ziva exchanged a look, but followed McGee back down the hallway anyway.
McGee was the first to enter the bedroom, stepping to the side to let Ziva and Gibbs in.
"Why can you not just tell us-" Ziva cut herself off, no longer needing an answer when she saw three, large, black swastikas spray painted on the walls.
She felt a strange mixture of fear, and anger, but also a sadness that she had not felt in a long time. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, and she picked up the camera hanging around her neck, making sure to take photos of every part of the room, marked and unmarked.
McGee went out to the truck to grab another camera, picking up where Ziva had left off in the living room.
Ziva walked out of the bedroom twenty minutes later.
"Nothing appears to be missing, no drawers rifled through." She told Gibbs as Ducky and Jimmy rolled a gurney through the front door.
"Well, what've we got here?" Ducky asked.
"Stabbed." Gibbs told him.
Ducky moved closer to the body, and Ziva heard him launch into a story as she walked into the kitchen to start photographing.
She noticed a knife missing out of the wooden block on the counter. She took a few photos before she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see Jimmy standing there.
"I heard McGee explaining to Ducky. Hate crime?" Jimmy asked.
Ziva nodded. "Possibly."
Jimmy stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Are you alright?"
Ziva nodded. "I will be fine."
Jimmy raised an eyebrow at her. Ziva shook her head. She and Jimmy had become close over the years. She had told him many personal things – how cases affected her, how she was settling into the U.S. when she first got there… her family. He had not had the same past with Ari that everyone else had. Sure, Kate had been his friend, and Ari had killed his friend, but Jimmy was the first one who had been kind to her. She had even expressed her feelings toward Tony to him, and he had told her about Breena before anyone else. They were friends. More than work friends, they were real friends, and Ziva appreciated his worry.
"It just hits a little close to here." Ziva admitted.
Jimmy nodded, not bothering to correct her. "You know where to find me."
Ziva nodded. "Thank you."
Jimmy flashed her a quick smile before he rejoined Ducky.
XXXXX
Two hours later, Gibbs, McGee, and Ziva walked into the squad room, McGee and Ziva almost dragging their backpacks as they carried evidence boxes.
"Bad?" Tony asked as McGee walked by.
McGee nodded, throwing a concerned look in Ziva's direction.
Tony stood and grabbed one of the boxes from Ziva's desk. She dropped her bag and picked up the remaining box.
"We should get these down to Abby." She said simply.
Tony nodded, and he and McGee followed her toward the elevator.
The elevator doors slid open outside of Abby's lab and the three agents walked across the hall.
Abby was standing at her computer, music blaring, as always. Somehow though, she heard the footsteps behind her and turned around.
"You brought presents!" She said as they put the boxes down on her lab table.
"I am not sure you'll be able to find much." Ziva told her.
Abby nodded. "If there's something to be found, I'll find it." She reassured the Israeli.
Ziva nodded. "Thank you." She said before turning to leave.
"I called her mother; she'll be here in the morning." Tony told Ziva and McGee as they walked into the squad room.
XXXXX
By one in the morning they had no information except that the Corporal had been killed around six p.m., and Gibbs had realized that they were not going to find anything new in the middle of the night, so he sent the team home to come back with fresh eyes tomorrow.
Ziva laid down with her head on Tony's chest and sighed deeply.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Tony asked slowly.
"I am angry." She told him.
Tony nodded. "That's understandable." He said simply, giving her the chance to continue.
"Did you know that I'm Polish?" Ziva asked.
Tony shook his head. "No, I didn't."
Ziva nodded. "My grandmother was born in Poland in nineteen thirty eight." She started. "Her parents gave her to a priest, and she was part of one of the last Kindertransports before they were forced into the Ghetto at Sosnowiec. She was eventually taken to Palestine, and my great grandparents took her in."
Tony pulled her close to him. "What happened to her parents?" He asked, even though he was sure he already knew.
Ziva shifted uncomfortably. "The Ghetto was liquidated in nineteen forty-three… everyone was deported to Auschwitz, and they were killed in the gas chambers." She told them. "There were very few people from the Ghetto that survived."
Tony kissed her temple softly. "I'm sorry Zi. I had no idea."
Ziva nodded. "We didn't either, for a long time… I was around twelve and I was doing a family history project for school, and I asked my grandmother where she was born… I was expecting Jerusalem, maybe Haifa… my mother didn't even know." She told him. "We were all shocked. We never even considered… all of my father's family was born in Palestine, so we always assumed my mother's was too. We knew about the camps, but we never… we never felt it until then."
Tony nodded. "It made it more personal."
"It made me angry." Ziva said. "That's when I decided I wanted to be Mossad."
"To hunt Nazis?" Tony asked.
Ziva nodded. "People were still talking about the Eichmann trial thirty years after it happened. We still do not know how many relatives died." She said sadly. "I wanted justice for all of them."
Tony's eyes suddenly filled with tears and he sniffled.
Ziva looked up at him. "Are you alright?" She asked, bringing her hand up to his cheek.
Tony nodded, and he took a deep breath. "I remember learning about the Holocaust in school but… I never thought it would have affected my family."
Ziva kissed his cheek softly. "Neither did I."
Tony nodded. "It's a personal case."
Ziva nodded. "I am used to being judged for my religion… being talked down to, having people spit at me… it just makes me sad sometimes."
Tony squeezed her tightly. "We'll get him." He assured her. "Try and sleep?"
Ziva nodded. Tony crawled under the covers and held his arms open to her. She settled into his embrace gratefully, and the couple fell asleep quickly.
