Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS

Tony walked into Gibbs' house. Gibbs was folding clothes, putting them into his rucksack, which was sitting on the dining table.

'Hey.'

'Hey. Going somewhere?' asked Gibbs.

'Well, I heard you're heading to California.'

'I'm taking a personal day.' Gibbs looked at Tony. 'You're not coming with me.' Tony laughed slightly. 'I know.' He waved the bag he had in his hand around. 'So, this is called a garment bag, and in light of all the nice new clothes you have, theoretically what this does when you travel, is it keeps clothes wrinkle-free. I had an extra one lying around.' Tony handed the garment bag over to Gibbs. He took it, but Tony wasn't sure if Gibbs found the whole situation funny, or was genuinely going to use it. It had been a bit of a ruse to get in. They stood in the lounge, in silence. Tony felt awkward.

'Iraq' Tony said after a while. 'I mean, that was pretty screwed up, right? Were you ever going to talk about it?'

'It's not about Iraq. It's about you. Where are you, DiNozzo?'

'What do you mean? I'm right here, where I always am.'

'Well, then let me ask you something. Is that what you want?'

'Do I want to be here? Yeah, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't what I wanted?' Tony was a little confused.

'Years ago, you had a shot at your own team. You turned it down.'

'Yeah, that was my decision. If had taken that job, I wouldn't have Ziva or Tali. They're my world.'

'Do you want to be a leader or not?'

'You mean, do I want to be you?' Gibbs paused for a moment.

'You led this team for four months, whilst I was gone. You helped lead the hunt for Daniel Budd, and caught him. But at what cost Tony? You, being away from your wife and daughter, missing Tali's first steps, your marriage taking a hit. I know what that is like, Tony. The day I joined NIS, all I had was a reason. Things change, but the reason stays the same. It's always with me. Never leaves.'

'Shannon and Kelly.' Gibbs nodded slightly.

'What is your reason for doing this job, Tony?'

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Tim was standing by the vending machines in the break room, trying to feeding some money into the machine for a pack of Nutter Butters. Tony came around the corner and headed straight for the coffee. As he waited for the Nutter Butters, Tim turned to Tony.

'Is everything alright with you and Ziva?' he asked.

'Yeah, everything's fine. Why?'

'Bishop mentioned that you and Ziva were going through a tricky patch.' Tony turned to Tim.

'It's not a bad as it sounds. The added pressure of the past four months just finally caught up to us, and we're playing catch up. We didn't have the summer that we were going have. Ziva had some photography gigs, but we had to cancel our vacation in Wilmington.'

'No one got vacation really' said Tim.

'Exactly' agree Tony. 'Honestly, Tim. Ziva and I are fine. We're just getting back into our groove.' Tim laughed but he understood. When Delilah worked in Dubai, the two of them had a sticky patch. Tim remembered when his father would come back from deployment and it took time for his mother, sister and himself to readjust to having another person in the house. Tim had seen that those four months with Gibbs recuperating took its toll on Tony's and Ziva's relationship.

'Come on' said Tony, fetching Tim's Nutter Butters out of the vending machine. 'Let's go and spy on some murder suspects.'

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It was Saturday, and Tony was sitting on his bed, Tali on his lap. Tali's memory box sat opened next to them.

'Who's this Tali?' Tony showed her a picture of Senior.

'Papa.'

'Yes, that's Papa. And do you know this person?' It was a picture of his mother. 'This is my mom, Nana Joy.'

'Tali Joy' cried Tali, pointing to herself.

'Yes, you have the same name. Nana Joy would have loved you so much little one.' Tony pulled out another picture. It was of Abby and Ziva, taken not long after Ziva joined the team.

'Bab. Ima.'

'Abby. Can you say Abby?'

'Babby.'

'Close enough.' Tony pulled out another photo. It was of Ziva's parents on their wedding day. 'What about these people?' Tali looked up a Tony, her eyes big and wide. 'This is your Savta.' He pointed to Rivka. 'She was a very good cook apparently, and she would have adored you.' Tony pointed to Eli. 'This is your Saba.' He paused, a little unsure how to describe Eli David to a fifteen-month-old. 'He wasn't the easiest person to get on with, and not my biggest fan.' Tali laughed. Tony assumed it was a coincidence. 'But he loved his children and he would have been your biggest fan.' Tony tickled Tali, making her giggle.

'Do you really believe that? About my father?' Tony and Tali looked up to see Ziva standing in the bedroom doorway.

'Ima' said Tali, happily. Ziva smiled and joined them on the bed.

'Yes, I do' answered Tony. He stroked Tali's hair. 'He loved you the only way he knew how to Zi. You, Tali and Ari. I cannot imagine a father not loving his children, not even a little bit.' Tony kissed the top of Tali's head.

Since Tali's birth, both Ziva and Tony had come to the realisation that their fathers did love them, but due to many circumstances, Eli and Senior struggled to know how to show their love. Unbeknownst to Tony, Senior had been mourning Joy's death for over thirty years, and Eli only knew two worlds: espionage and war. They did not speak the same languages as their children, which meant that communication was difficult, leading to strained relationships.

'How was the shoot?' asked Tony.

Ziva had just come back from her fifth paid photoshoot. Back in June, an analyst at NCIS, Alexa, got engaged and paid Ziva for some engagement photos. Word started spreading a little and another agent at NCIS also got engaged made a booking, and then the daughter of a friend of a friend, was starting drama school and needed some headshots. Carlos at Hope Rises Homeless Shelter had also called on Ziva's talents, this time paying her for some headshots of staff for their website, brochures and welcome wall.

On top of that, Ziva had also shadowed Bob the photographer at a wedding he shot in early August. Tony had been home this time, and enjoyed spending the day with Tali. The shoot today was a maternity shoot for a couple expecting their first child, oddly at a wine vineyard.

'It was good' said Ziva, smiling. Tony had noticed whenever Ziva came back from a photo shoot, paid or otherwise, her smile could not be hidden. 'It was a little strange, to be the one who had more experience of babies.'

'Did she ask you for some advice?'

'A little. Mainly about Tali's birth and what it was like straight afterwards.'

'What did you tell her?' asked Tony, a smirk on his face. Did people really want to know?

'The truth Tony. Why would I lie?' Tony shrugged his shoulders. Tali picked up a photo from the memory box and handed it to Ziva.

'Thank you Tali.' Ziva turned it around and saw it was of Tony, Gibbs and Tim at Thanksgiving a few years ago. 'Who is that?' asked Ziva, pointing to Tony in the photo.

'Dada.'

'Yes, and who is this?' Ziva pointed to Gibbs.

'Gib.'

'Yes Tali' said Tony, tickling her slightly, making her laugh. 'And who's this?' He pointed to Tim.

'Mag.'

'Mag?' asked Ziva.

'Mag' replied Tali, pointing to Tim in the photo.

'McGee' added Tony, and he and Ziva laughed.

'Why do you have the memory box and photos out?' asked Ziva, as she collected a couple that were trying to escape.

'Oh, just thinking about family. It's been a while since I looked through these.' Tony gestured to the photos in the box. However, he didn't tell Ziva how Gibbs' words rang through his mind.

What is your reason for doing this job, Tony?

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