Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS

Tony rang the doorbell and waited for the door to open.

'DiNozzo?'

'Hi Fornell.'

'What are you doing here?' Tony bent down and picked up a large cooler bag.

'Ziva sent me' he said. Fornell chuckled and let Tony in. Even with his mind preoccupied with Emily's wellbeing after Diane's death, Fornell knew what was happening with Ziva and Tali. Fornell led Tony into the kitchen.

'Ziva's written reheating instructions and says there is more if you want it' said Tony as he placed the cooler on the kitchen work top.

'Thank her for me' said Fornell. 'How is Ziva?'

'Stressed. Tired. Worried. Scared. We both are.'

'Anything to keep Tali safe.' Tony nodded in agreement

They stood in the kitchen in silence. If they were talking about work, the it wouldn't have been a problem, but when it came to feelings, Tony and Fornell were the worst two people to have that conversation.

'I better go' Tony said eventually. 'Um, do you mind if I have a quick word with Emily?' Fornell shrugged his shoulders and pointed Tony in the direction of Emily's bedroom. Tony knocked on the door.

'Emily, it's Tony DiNozzo.' No response. It did not surprise Tony in the slightest. 'Listen Em, you don't have to say anything but if you do want to talk, Ziva and I are here to listen. I lost my mother when I was eight, and Ziva's mother died when she was seventeen. We know what it's like to lose a parent.' He paused. 'Bottom line, it sucks. If you ever want to talk to someone who knows what it's like, call OK? Your dad has our numbers.'

Tony was about to make his way downstairs when Emily's bedroom door opened and she stood there. It was obvious she had been crying; eyes red and puffy, the expression of pure sadness on her face.

'Hi' said Tony softly. Emily stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him, crying. Tony responded, hugging Emily back. His heart broke slightly at the sight of her crying, and he hoped that he would never see Tali this sad.

When Tony made his way downstairs, Fornell was standing at the bottom.

'Thank you' he said quietly as Tony walked out of the house.

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Ziva stood on the stool in her living room whilst Callie pinned a hem around the edge of the wedding dress. Tali was on the floor, playing with the wooden animals that Gibbs had given her for Christmas. Ziva had found her wedding dress before she and Tali went under protective custody. The two of them had been out with Callie and Arthur, when they walked past a vintage store and in the window was what Ziva described as her perfect dress. It needed some altering, which Callie offered to help with.

The wedding planning was going as well as could it be, given that Ziva could not leave the apartment and the fact that she and Tony did not have a definite date. They couldn't even give a month. One idea that Tony like, that got around the complications was that they simply got married straightaway in the apartment. It was where they had committed themselves to each other with the list, where Tali was conceived and where Ziva gave birth to Tali. The apartment had so many good memories, why not add another one.

And whilst it was very appealing to Ziva, and she understood why Tony had suggested it, Ziva wanted to get married without an air of tension surrounding them. She wanted to get married outside, with their daughter and family with them, everyone happy, and not worrying if Sergei would fire at them.

So, Tony and Ziva made a list of locations in DC, Maryland and Virginia that would be able to accommodate a small wedding party at very short notice. The legal matters of license and certificate had been looked into, but as they didn't have a date, the license had not been purchased yet. They had decided that Rabbi Reiss, the rabbi from Ziva's synagogue, would perform the wedding. They talked about the ceremony and what was important to them. Rabbi Reiss was also aware of their situation.

Ziva was never the girl who dreamt about her wedding, but she did have to admit that over the years there had been times where she thought abou it. When Jimmy got married, and Callie. When Ray proposed and Ziva had occasionly pictured her wedding to TOny long before he proposed.

'Is this going to take much longer?' Ziva asked Callie. She was growing impatient.

'Almost done. Do you want this hem straight or wonky?' replied Callie. Ziva chuckled.

'Straight please.'

'Then simply be patient for another couple of minutes.' Eventually Callie was done and Ziva was able to get down off the stool. She was about to take the dress off when the two women heard Tony's keys in the front door.'

'Hey, Zi. I've dropped off the food and, hey!'

'Tony, go away' called out Callie, as she pushed him back out the door.

'Why? What have I done?' he protested.

'Ziva is in her wedding dress.'

'Really? Can I see?'

'No, it's bad luck.' Ziva stayed in the living room, listening to Callie and Tony argue. The apartment had a little bit of a corridor entrance and so Ziva and Tony couldn't see each other.

'Callie, come on' said Tony, trying to appeal to her.

'Nope, Tony. It's not going to happen. You will see Ziva in her wedding dress on the day of your wedding. Not before. I am the bride's best friend and it's my job to make sure these things are held up. We're almost finished. Come back in thirty minutes.' With that, Callie pushed Tony out of the apartment and closed the door. She went back into the living room and saw Ziva with a massive grin on her face.

'That was hilarious' she said and started to laugh.

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Ziva peered at the clock through bleary eyes. 1.45am. Something had woken her up and she wasn't sure why. Rolling over, she found Tony's side of the bed empty. That was why. She also slept worse without him. Sitting up a little bit more awake, Ziva heard a murmured voice coming from the nursery. She climbed out of bed and went to investigate.

Tony was sitting in the chair in the nursery, with Tali asleep in his arms. He was talking ever so softly under his breath, stroking Tali's cheek.

'I will protect you and Ima, Tali. I will always keep you safe.' He turned his head and saw Ziva standing in the doorway.

'Hey' he said.

'Tony, what are you doing? We should all be in bed.'

'I wouldn't be able to sleep, so…' he tailed off and looked at Tali. She looked so peaceful.

'Tony, what is going on?' asked Ziva quietly as she perched on the arm of the chair.

'I had a dream.' He paused. 'More of a nightmare.' Ziva put her hand on Tony's shoulder and he kissed it.

'What happened?' asked Ziva. They both knew the best way to more past a nightmare was to talk about it.

'That it was you who died on the rooftop, not Diane. And it wasn't Gibbs who was there, but me.' Ziva draped her arm over Tony's shoulders and kissed the top of his head. 'Then it changed. You and Tali were both in a car and Sergei was aiming at the driver, like with Shannon and Kelly, and I couldn't get to you in time, no matter how fast I drove. I woke up, saw you sleeping and I needed to see Tali. She woke up briefly and then fell back asleep in my arms. I can't quiet bring myself to put her back in the crib.'

Ziva smiled. She knew how difficult it was to put down their sleeping daughter.

'I can't lose you Zi, or Tali. I need you to be OK.'

'We are OK Tony' said Ziva. She moved off the arm and crouched in front of Tony. 'But we need you to be OK too. We cannot lose you either.' Ziva stood up and gently took Tali from Tony's arms and put her back in the crib. 'Come on, let's go to bed.'

They walked back to their room and climbed into bed. Tony looked at the woman he so desperately loved.

'I promise you Zi, we will catch Sergei. Sooner rather than later.'

'I know Tony.'

Thank you for reading