Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS

Tony unlocked the door to their apartment, letting in Ziva and Tali. They finally had gotten home from work, after picking up Tali from day care. Tali, of course, had fallen asleep on the way home, and her parents had spent ten minutes trying to figure out whether they should wake her or not. Fortunately, they managed to extract her from the car without waking her up.

'Tony did you leave the light on?

'No. I switched everything off. Always do.'

'Then why, oh.' Tony quickly joined Ziva, to see what had happened. Senior was sitting on the sofa, glass in hand, listening to what Tony recognised to be his break up mix.

'Dad, what are you doing here?'

'Building manager let me in. Don't worry, I didn't sleep with her.'

'Are you listening to my break up mix?'

'Since you're my best man, I wanted you to be the first to know. She left me, Junior. The wedding's been called off. Linda left me.'

'Oh boy' Tony whispered under his breath as he and Ziva exchange glances. What were they going to do with him?

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Ziva rolled over and check the time. 1.45am. Her insomnia was back. It was a symptom of the waves of anxiety that Ziva experienced from her ordeal in Somalia. Nightmares, then insomnia. A noise from the nursery made her sit up. Tali must have woken. Ziva dragged herself out of bed, hoping that Tali would go back to sleep reasonably quickly. She knew from experience her own sleep issues would resolve themselves eventually. Walking in to the nursery, Ziva saw Senior holding Tali.

'Hi' she said, tired.

'Hello my dear. I heard her wake. You can go back to bed if you want.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes. Go get some sleep.'

'Sleep' thought Ziva. 'As if.' She wandered back to bed, but as she had expected, sleep did not come. After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, but in fact was only thirty minutes, Ziva decided to go and get a drink of water. She walked into the living room and saw Senior was still awake.

'Senior?'

'Oh, hi Ziva.'

'Did Tali fall back asleep?' Senior gave her a small smile.

'Yes. She's angel Ziva.' Ziva sat down on the armchair in the living room.

'Are you OK?' she asked.

'Yes, I'm fine. I' he paused. 'I just miss her.'

'What happened with you and Linda?' Ziva asked. Senior sighed.

'She met someone else.'

'Oh.'

'An architect. Bought her a ticket to Acapulco.'

'Acapulco?' repeated Ziva.

'Apparently that is what she wants.' Senior paused. 'Why didn't she just ask me to take her to Acapulco?' It was a rhetorical question. Ziva couldn't give an answer anyway. Linda's decision might not have had much to do with Acapulco. Senior turned and looked at her. 'Why are still up?'

'I could not sleep.'

'Oh.' For some reason, Ziva felt that she could continue.

'I have nightmares. Have done for years. They lead to insomnia.' Senior looked very concerned.

'Oh, my dear' he whispered, reaching out for Ziva's hand.

'It eventually goes away, but takes a while.' They sat in silence, not sure where to go or what to do at 2.15 am. Eventually, Ziva broke the silence. 'What are you going to do now?'

'I don't know' replied Senior. 'I suppose go back to New York at some point, though I'm not sure if there's anything there for me at the moment.' This made Ziva wonder about Senior's life in New York. It wasn't that he didn't have people to talk to, or friends in the area, but she did wonder if he felt lonely, with herself, Tony and Tali living in DC.

'I am going to make some tea. Would you like some?' she asked, getting up and going to the kitchen.

'That sounds like a very good idea' replied Senior, following her.

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'Ziva's nightmares' began Senior. He and Tony were standing in the kitchen, clearing up after dinner. 'Do you know about them?' Tony paused for a moment.

'Yes, I do. She's had them for years.'

'Has she seen anyone about them? What are they about?' Senior sounded very concerned. Tony paused again. Did his father really need to know about Somalia?

'Yes, she has.' Tony started to feel a little awkward, but had a feeling Senior would not let it go. 'Years, ago Ziva had a mission to take down a terrorist in Somalia. The mission initially failed and Ziva was held captive.' Senior looked shocked. 'Her nightmares tend to be about that. Not always, but usually.' Senior went to say something. 'Dad, listen, it is great that you care, but Ziva and I have thirty years of combined military and law enforcement experience. We both have plans in place for when our nightmares get too much for us.'

'Our? Do you have nightmares Junior?'

'Yes, I do.'

'About what?'

'Things I've witnessed. Not being able to stop them. Somalia.'

'Somalia?' interrupted Senior. 'You weren't with Ziva, were you Junior?' Tony paused, confirming Senior's suspicions.

'Not for the whole time. McGee was with me as well.'

'What were you doing there?'

'Rescuing me.' The two men turned and saw Ziva standing at the entrance to the walked over, put a couple of things on the counter and then over to Tony. Tony pulled her towards him, as Ziva explained how Tony, Tim and Gibbs rescued her.

'I would do it all over again, if I had to' said Tony very quietly, staring intently at Ziva. Senior heard all the same.

Most people would say that they would go to hell and back for their loved ones, that they would do absolutely anything for them. But saying something and the actually doing it, were two very different things.

Tony, however, had gone to hell and back for Ziva. Ziva had held out for three months of horrendous torture, refusing to give any information about the agency and people she cared so much about. Senior knew that they always had each other's backs. They would say it often enough, and Senior had laughed at Tim's joke about the obstacles Tony and Ziva had to overcome to be together, but he didn't really know what it meant. Now, for the first time in Tony and Ziva's relationship, Senior truly understood the depth of the trust and love between them.

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Ziva stepped off the elevator and walked over to Tony's desk.

'Hey, what are you doing here?' asked Tony, giving his wife a kiss. 'Where's Tali?'

'With your father, who said he will baby sit for us tonight.'

'Meaning?'

'Meaning we have the night to ourselves.' Tony grinned and kissed Ziva.

'Jeez, get a room.' Gibbs had just walked past.

'Sorry boss. Goodnight boss.' Tony grabbed his rucksack and coat, and he and Ziva left the building.

After very nice meal out, Tony and Ziva were walking back to their apartment, the scenic route. They had parked at home, then walked to the restaurant. Now, they were walking along the Reflecting Pool by the Lincoln Memorial. Ziva was chatting away about the GED group that Education Restart ran. There were eight students this time round, and all eight passed their exams, by quite a bit. Tony smiled as he listened to the pride in her voice. Ziva was now helping one of the students, a man who struggled with addition issues, to apply for college.

They walked past a group of musicians who were playing. They weren't the same musicians who played at their wedding, but Tony and Ziva couldn't help but be reminded of that day. Tony took Ziva's hand and twirled her around, before pulling her close to him. As they swayed to the music, Ziva could not but feel that she was falling in love with Tony, all over again. They had become a lot closer since their wedding.

'Tony' said Ziva, as they continued dancing

'Yeah.'

'I think we need to talk about your father?' Tony looked a little sceptical.

'Why? What's he done now?'

'It is not that. I was just thinking that we might drop a couple of hints of him perhaps moving here.'

'Zi, my dad is not moving in with us.'

'I was not suggesting that Tony. It, he was just was so low and, yes, New York is not that far, but it might be good for him to be near us.'

'I don't know Zi.'

'If he does move, we'll have a permanent baby sitter nearby.'

'I'll think about it.'

Thirty minutes later, Ziva and Tony walked into the apartment, to find Senior asleep on the sofa, with Tali asleep in his arms. Ziva could not resist the opportunity and took a quick photo with her phone. Tony went over and eased Tali out of his dad's arms. Senior woke up slightly.

'Hey dad.'

'Junior. You and Ziva back?'

'Yeah, just now.' Tony carried Tali to the nursery.

'She fell asleep when I was reading to her. I must have dozed off as well.'

'It happens' said Ziva. She showed him the photo she had just taken. Senior chuckled.

'I suppose I better get some actual sleep. I'll be going tomorrow' he said.

'Oh?'

'Yeah, helping on the case with Junior has given me some inspiration. Thought I would go to Europe, see if I could revive some old contacts.' Ziva smiled, happy that her father-in-law was cheerier. Tony came out of the nursery, and Ziva left to give father and son some time to make up. A few minutes late, Tony climbed into bed next to Ziva.

'Everything OK?' Tony nodded.

'Perhaps we could upgrade the sofa to a proper sofa bed. Give dad something better to sleep on?' Ziva smiled.

'Sounds like a good idea.'

I was a little unsure about this idea at first. When watching the show, I do wonder how much do the parents of Team Gibbs (Tony and Ellie especially) know what their children do. I wanted to show Senior getting a deeper insight and understanding of Tony and Ziva's relationship.

I can't believe this is chapter 30! Thank you to everyone who has read this, left reviews, has followed and/ or favourited this. It means the world to me. If I follow my plan, we're just over half way through.