Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.

This is more dramatic than previous chapters. It may be controversial for some.

Tony ran quickly into the apartment, followed by Tim. Ziva was on the sofa reading to Tali. The minute she saw them, Ziva knew something was up.

'Tony, what's going on?' Tony didn't respond, just simply pulled her up into a tight hug, let her go and then over to the window to close the curtains. Ziva looked over at Tim.

'Tim, tell me.' Tim knew better than lie to Ziva. So, he told her everything. How Gibbs' ex-wives one and two had been in town. How the crime scene at the diner had been staged to match the crime scene where Jenny died. How Mike Franks' death had been copied with a man of similar age, height and weight.

And then Tim explained about how Gibbs had been led to a roof top parking lot with Diane, how Diane had been shot, and how Sergei Mishnev declared check on Gibbs.

That, however, was not the hard part. The hard part was telling Ziva that amongst the surveillance photos of Gibbs and ex-wife number two, Rebecca, they had also found surveillance photos of herself and Tali, and that given Sergei's actions, it was possible, plausible that he could use Ziva and Tali as surrogates for Shannon and Kelly, and that Team Gibbs thought it would best for the two of them to stay inside the apartment until Mishnev had been caught.

Ziva stood, listening to Tim, watching Tony intently. He had gone to sit on a chair by the dining table. Tali was in the rocker by the sofa. When Tim had finished speaking, Ziva looked at him as if he was mad.

'You are telling me that Tali and I cannot leave this apartment until you catch Sergei Mishnev?'

'Ziva' began Tim. She could tell that he was worried by the tone of his voice. 'Sergei has Gibbs' personal file. He knows everything about him, everyone who was ever important to Gibbs. Sergei knew how Jenny actually died, and the three of us know that was covered up. If he knows that, Sergei certainly knows about Shannon and Kelly.' Ziva was starting to get angry. Tony could see it in her face.

'I have a job, Tim. One that I go back to next week, and a life outside these walls. What am I supposed to do about that? Tali has day care. Tony and I are trying to plan our wedding.' Tim went to answer, but Tony stopped him.

'Tim.' Tim could tell by how quiet Tony's voice was not to continue. This was something that Ziva and Tony needed to talk about, without him. Tony hugged Ziva, a little tighter than normal and left them.

'Tony, I…' Ziva's tone had changed from angry to scared.

'I don't know, Zi. I have never seen Gibbs like this before. None of us have. Not even when Kate or Jenny died. Sergei is targeting Gibbs for some reason. He has killed surrogate for Jenny, Franks and Kate, and the surrogate he used for Kate, was Diane, Zi. He was even stalking ex-wife number two.

'Tony, Tali and I cannot stay inside indefinitely.'

'Zi, you know the file. Shannon and Kelly were on their way to a safe house, we can't even move you and Tali to safe house. That's how Shannon and Kelly died.'

'He might not…' Ziva was grasping at straws, trying to find hope

'Do you really think that Sergei won't have considered it? Do you want to risk…?' Tony stopped talking. 'I cannot lose you or Tali. I won't risk it Zi. The two of you are my everything.' His voice broke with emotion and Ziva felt tears begin to well up.

Tali started making a noise, wanting to be held. Tony wondered if she could sense tension and fear like horses. Did he just compare his daughter to a horse?

Ziva went over and picked Tali up. It seemed to calm her down a little bit. Ziva looked over at Tony. The look of fear and worry on his face scared her.

'OK, Tony. Tali and I will stay here. On one condition.'

'Anything. As long as you two are safe.'

'The moment you catch Sergei, we get married. Not within six months, or within a year. Within two weeks of his capture.' Tony smiled and laughed weakly. He kissed Ziva, pouring every ounce of love for her into it. They broke, rested their foreheads against each other.

'Deal.'

Tali giggled happily, making her parents smile. Tony kissed the top of Tali's head, wrapping his arms around his family. However, for the first time in their lives, both Tony and Ziva truly understood the feeling of being terrified.

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Over the next days Tony, Ziva and Team Gibbs worked hard to put Ziva and Tali under protective custody until Sergei was caught. At first, they did their best to come up with a plan that would allow them to leave, but in the end everyone, including Ziva, agreed it was simply too risky to even try anything. The level of Sergei's vindictiveness had reached an all time high.

Plans were put in place at the apartment; new locks installed on doors and windows, and not just at Ziva and Tony's but for the whole of Team Gibbs. Tony also put up some blackout curtains at the front of the apartment so that it was not possible to see into it.

It was arranged with Education Restart that Ziva would work at home and Tali's day care place was put on hold. As Ziva was not leaving the apartment, she and Tony did not need to pay for child care.

'A silver lining' said Abby, hopefully. All Ziva and Tony could think about was that their seven-month-old daughter was under protective custody. That, in itself, was another silver lining; the fact that Tali was only seven months old. Ziva kept reminding herself that Tali was too young to remember any of this, and soon, it would become a distant memory for everyone. A third silver lining was that the building they lived in had a sort of private courtyard, almost like a quad. It was protected by all four sides of the building, and it meant that Ziva and Tali were able to get outside for fresh air.

Tony and Ziva started to argue a lot over the next few days. It had been a stressful first week, with this new situation. Ziva had been looking forward to going back to work, and found herself jealous of Tony whenever he left the apartment. Ziva distracted herself either with admin work for Education Restart or wedding planning.

The whole of Team Gibbs felt a certain air of tension around them. Gibbs had begun to isolate himself from the others, whilst anyone who wasn't an active agent with a firearm, was given protection. That included Abby, Ducky, Jimmy and Breena. Everyone was additionally concerned for Breena, given she was pregnant. Granted she wasn't close to Gibbs and neither was Jimmy, so the idea that Sergei might use them as surrogates for Shannon and Kelly wasn't as strong as with Ziva and Tali potentially filling those roles, but it was enough. Breena was also eight months pregnant, and no one wanted her to go into early labour due to stress, least of all Breena herself.

Ex-wife number two, Rebecca, and her fiance were also given additional protection, given the numerous surveillance photos they had found. Due to Diane's death and threats to Rebecca's life, ex-wife number three, Stephanie, was also warned about Sergei. However, Stephanie lived in Illinois, and she and Gibbs hadn't had contact in years, therefore the team were not as worried.

Gibbs found himself working late into the night, trying to find and capture Sergei. It was Team Gibbs' main job at the moment and everyone felt a sense of urgency, most of all Tony. The quicker they found Sergei, the sooner Ziva and Tali would be able leave the apartment, and Ziva and Tony would be able to get married

The next chapter might answer some questions readers have.

Hope you enjoyed reading.

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