Ziva felt the tenseness that ran through Tony, saw it amplified in the set of Gibbs' shoulders but she didn't feel the fear she would have expected. She trusted both of them and her own abilities to keep her safe. The knife at her waist gave her further comfort. Stepping forward she took a silent breath of relief as Gibbs stepped to her side but didn't stop her approach. "Eli. I would have expected you to be working rather than visiting someone assumed dead and gone."

Gibbs fisted the hands that had landed in his pockets doing his best not to take the gun at his waist and kill the man before him. Instead he took his lead from the cool collected woman by his side. She looked every inch the woman she had been. The bruises had long faded and the scars that remained visible only made her look stronger to anyone who didn't know their cost.

Tony stood just steps behind Ziva. The gun at his waist rested against his palm hidden only by the lightweight jacket he wore.

Eli David had expected a woman far more broken then the one in front of him. The rumors he'd heard had forced him to the states to see just how far she'd fallen. He would never admit the shock he felt at the strong woman that stood before him much as she had not so long ago. She was far too much like her mother, knew too much about him and add to that couldn't be controlled. She was in essence a liability for him. Yet she stood alive, well and nothing close to broken. If anything her strength seemed a slap in the face of all he'd hoped to accomplish months earlier.

"Are you going to invite me in?" he expected her to hesitate instead she pulled open the screen door without the slightest hint of hesitancy.

"Of course we were just about to have breakfast. " Ziva gave a clear glance to the guards that accompanied him to remain outside.

Eli felt the brush of pure hatred as he stepped between the two men who had remained silent sentries. It wasn't comfortable but he needed Ziva back in the fold. He had regrets they bit at him, the fact she lived. She was the child he'd controlled until the loss of Ari then, she'd been lost to him. Now he had too much to lose with all she knew. He accepted the cup of coffee she'd poured for him grateful he'd watched her drink from the same batch she'd given him.

"You look well Ziva."

"Thank you my honeymoon treated me well. "

Tony watched the gauntlet Ziva threw down settle in the other man. The chill as he registered what she said had Eli standing straighter. He saw Gibbs' look knew they needed to take their lead from Ziva but as Eli's infuriated gaze landed on him he wasn't sure how long he could remain silent. That cold gaze shifted to Ziva full of hate and anger. "Marriage Ziva? I did not think a woman such as you would find such an arrangement."

Gibbs couldn't hold back his voice in any longer. "Not an arrangement Eli, a meeting of souls…an undeniable connection. One that took far too long to recognize." The only reason he could say such words in mixed company was the knowledge that he would catch Eli off guard. That it would give Ziva the reminder that he had no doubts.

"Tony is not my husband. Jethro is, has always been, my choice." She saw the anger her father tried to hide.

"You need to return to your home Ziva. " he set down the coffee cup purposely ignoring the fact no one had sat down even after they had moved to the kitchen.

"My home is here with Jethro. As my husband I choose him." Ziva felt her words resound off the walls, comfort the men at her side and startle the one she'd spent most of her life trying to please.

"The desert makes us do funny things Ziva. In a year from now you may not feel the same. Israel, I…am your home."

Gibbs stepped closer to Ziva taking her hand in his. He knew that her limits were being reached but he wouldn't shame her front of the man who had cost her so much. "Ziva is a US citizen and my wife she belongs with me. She is mine and mine alone. She goes only where she chooses."

Ziva clenched his hand tightly anchoring to his strength and the knowledge that her papers had come through. The shock in her father's eyes was worth whatever this moment might cost her later. "I have no intention of ever returning to Israel and should I ever end up there everyone here will know it was not of my own will."

Eli started to step towards her, his anger so raw and unchecked that at first he forgot the men that surrounded her. Even more he forgot how capable she was; especially when she'd determined that someone wasn't to be trusted. And as she looked at him he knew she no longer considered him trust-worthy.

"You should leave now Eli. I am sure you will continue to have business with NCIS; however I will not be a part of that business. I have no desire to have any further contact with you." She looked down into the coffee cup. "I have learned something from my time in the desert."

Gibbs felt the faintest shake of her hand before she was pulling away from him and moving a few steps closer to Eli. That simple closeness was nearly his undoing but if she could tolerate it so could he.

Tony watched Ziva stand taller, shoulders straight and a sudden grim smile on her face as she stepped just a tad too close to her father. Somehow he kept his temper in check as she lifted her chin to face him.

"I learned contingency plans are necessary. Having a failsafe in place is important. A hard lesson learned but one I have taken to heart. I've learned a lot through my years, about my friends, enemies, family…. Thankfully I have made sure to keep this knowledge safe somewhere. Just in case something should happen to me, at least I know that all that knowledge won't go to waste."

Gibbs watched a shudder of fear run through Eli and had to fight the glance that would ask Ziva just what she had on her father. Silence threatened to break them all as Eli took in a deep not so silent breath before nodding.

"If you have no wish to see me again it can be easily arraigned. But, then you will do to remember you will never have my aid should you have need of it." He saw something close to revulsion on Ziva's face then she smiled a look more dangerous than he'd seen before.

"I have not had that in years Eli; there will be no further misconceptions about you in the future." She followed casually behind him as he walked to the door. "Good by Eli, I will remember all you have taught me and put it to good use should the need arise." The warning followed her father as he walked out the door of what was now her home. Only when she heard the car drive off could she truly breathe again.

She stood against the door breathing deeply, fighting the nausea that had taken hold the moment she's seen her father standing in the doorway. It took effort but she managed to look at Gibbs and Tony. "I'm alright. I was caught off guard but I am ok." She fixed Gibbs with a pointed look. "I am still going to NCIS with you. I do not intend to work but I need to speak with Vance and a few other people."

Gibbs knew she expected his argument. Instead he nodded. She was ready. More than that she needed something he could give her. It was the very least he could do for her.

Ziva stepped into NCIS as everyone was returning from lunch. It took more than she was willing to admit to step off the elevator. On the outside she knew she looked mostly the same. She was thinner, her hair was longer and there were more scars but otherwise she was mostly the same woman. Except for the fact almost everyone casually watching had at least an idea of what she'd endured in the hell that was desert and dark places. She managed a smile she knew would pass, caught unawares by how naked she felt. Only when she thought she might turn and run did she feel Gibbs hand in hers stroking her ring and bringing that very hand to his lips.

Gibbs saw her surprise when he let his lips stroke across the top of her hand and the ring he had placed there only weeks ago. Things had shifted so dramatically he no longer cared who knew. She was his choice and he was damn sure going to make sure she knew it without a doubt. He followed the simple gesture up with a brief kiss on her lips then despite how difficult it was he let go of her he turned away and headed for his desk, showing her the best way he knew, that she was stronger than she knew.

Ziva couldn't fight the smile as Gibbs moved toward his desk. His confidence in her gave her the push she needed to ignore her former desk and instead offer the occasional nod as she made her way up the stairs to Vance's office. She waited for entry and only when she'd made small talk with his secretary and finally in his office did she finally feel the slightest bit relaxed.

Vance bit hard on the small piece of wood in his mouth. He'd long ago gotten past his craving for nicotine. But, now it was a habit he couldn't shake, far healthier to be fair. He waited quietly as Ziva assessed his office reacquainting herself with his it after her time away. She managed a smile his way before shoving her hands in her pockets.

"Thank you for the paperwork. I know you had to.."

"It was no hardship Ziva. Please sit down." He took his own chair first trying his best to make her more comfortable. Gibbs hadn't given him any details in fact he knew only the teams basic debrief. It had been left at that and he wasn't about to sit across from her and ask more. If one looked closely enough it was all there to see. Not just the scars but everything else that had taken her from the woman he thought too jaded to be part of a team to the one nervously sitting across from him now.

"Still at the very least I owe you a thank you for that and so much more." She took a deep breath before trying to find the words she didn't know how to say. "I cannot, am not ready to return to work. At this point I do not plan to at all. Instead my focus is on other things."

"You're always welcome back Ziva but I didn't plan on asking. Right now your focus should be on you." He watched with something a step beyond shock as tears welled in her eyes. They moved him more than he might have thought, so much so he was forced to move to the chair beside her. Carefully because he wasn't a fool but close enough she wouldn't feel so vulnerable. "I want you to do what you need right now, but I don't want you to feel you aren't welcome here."

Ziva worked at wiping away her tears annoyed but not entirely surprised that she couldn't fight them. "Right now I want to focus on being me, a wife and maybe someday a mother." She watched him pause, look down at her fingers nervously dancing along his desk and then the smile that split his face.

"Congratulations Ziva. I always wondered when you and Gibbs would figure it out."

"He told you?"

"No, neither of you had to. I saw it a long time ago. When you were gone….I wondered. When I found out you all went to Hawaii I figured it might happen." He settled back in his chair taking a moment just to breathe. "He wasn't the same when you were gone. None of them were."

"A lot of my actions led to what happened Vance, I have no illusions."

"Maybe, but you didn't deserve what happened to you Ziva. In no way was what happened right. And I know that husband of yours has told you that at least once. My wife… she survived an assault years ago, before she met me. And I know for a long time she blamed herself. I can't stop you from doing that but I can tell you that no woman deserves what you went through." He took her hand when the tears flowed just that much more. "I don't need to know your secrets, or you're the details, that's yours but if you ever need to talk my wife has asked, closer to demanded for the chance to talk with you. Now that you're back, fair warning she may show up one day on your doorstep."

"I would not want to bring it back for her. I would not want her to relieve those memories." Ziva shuddered and without realizing time had passed took the glass of water Vance offered her.

Vance bit back the fact that nothing truly erased the memories and instead focused on the qualities Ziva would recognize in his wife. "She likes to help Ziva, she likes to nurture and if she can help you in any way it will be no hardship for her. But there is a bigger issue we should discuss first."

Ziva rid herself of her grief and straightened her spine. "My father. He came to our home this morning."

Vance clenched his fists around the wood of the chair doing his best to ignore the fear she tried to hide. He managed a nod and let her continue.

"I made it clear I wanted no further contact with him. That should however have no influence on your dealings with him. Israel must continue to be an ally with NCIS."

Vance had a thousand protests, so many words that wanted to spew forth instead he forced himself to nod in agreement. He saw her smile, a real smile that warmed him for the briefest moments.

"Thank you."

"For what Ziva, agreeing to continue to work with a man that lacks any and all integrity?"

"For trusting me to know how the world works and what is really important. Israel needs all the help it can get. My father might not be a good man, but he loves his country and would obviously do anything he thinks is necessary to keep it safe. It is the one, the only thing we can agree on." She stayed quiet for a moment. "I would appreciate any warning that you have when he will be in town if possible. And if you would tell Jacki that at some point…I don't know when maybe we could have coffee I would appreciate it." It hurt to say it all, to admit her hurt and the fact she might need help. But she knew the effort would pay off in the end.

Vance stood when she did, hiding his shock at her statement. She offered her hand and very slowly he moved for a hug instead. He wasn't a demonstrative man but she accepted his very gentle and brief embrace without hesitation. "I'll tell her and if you need anything let me know."

Ziva knew he meant it and managed an equally assuring nod. She walked out of his office toward the elevator and rode her way down to the morgue where she knew Ducky waited. As she stepped out she knew he'd be waiting for her. Palmer was gone and the morgue was as quiet as one might expect. Somehow the tea was nice and hot and as she sat next to him he didn't hold any anger or recrimination in his eyes.

Ducky laid his old eyes upon her and saw the guilt she was fighting. He didn't bother to argue it; instead he let her work through it on her own. He saw the marks around her neck, the ones around her wrists as she reached for the fine china he indulged in even in this macabre place. She wasn't the woman she had been, instead she reminded him much of the deer his family had hunted. Watchful, and skittish just waiting to be torn down in a moment.

"I wanted to see you sooner." Ziva managed those words and nothing more before she sought refuge in a sip of early grey and the slightest bit of sugar. The fact he'd remembered almost had tears working her again.

Ducky smiled. "You needed time dear. I understand that." And he did there was no upset or judgement when he looked at her, not even when he recognized the ring on her finger as one that matched the rumors that had drifted down to him only an hour earlier.

"I couldn't…" she took a long ragged breath before she could continue. "I knew you would see it all and I couldn't let that be all you'd see of me." This time the nausea overruled the tears that warred within her and she had to swallow multiple times before finding her way to meet his eyes.

"I just see you Ziva, the woman I always knew. You are not the same exact woman that is true. But I see past the scars and all that happened I see you. And everything else I don't need to know as long as you promise me you have or will see a doctor." The tension in her slight frame eased and he too was able to relax.

"Jethro took me to a doctor. I will see her again in a week." She shook her head. "I know he has likely shared my file anyways."

Ducky shook his head, "No Ziva, Jethro has shared nothing with me whatsoever. That, I can promise you." The way she looked at him told him she clearly hadn't expected that.

"He didn't?"

"I just thought."

"From the ring you're wearing and the rumors I've already heard my guess is that you have no need to worry about your secrets when it comes to Jethro."

Ziva bit hard on her lip nearly drawing blood before she finally found the will to speak again. "The doctor I heard her tell Jethro that it was equally important that he talk to someone about all that has happened with me as it is for me. I will tell him as I am telling you now. If he wants to talk to you I have no objection. Anything he wishes to discuss…you have my permission. I do not think he would go to a stranger any more than I would. But if he should choose you may tell him…" her words trailed off as her throat closed in anxiety.

"Ziva should he come to me you should know nothing he shares with me will ever go any further nor will it change how I see you." She nodded but he wasn't entirely convinced. "We've all survived our own hell my child, and it's never easy to come back from. But when we do we're all the stronger for it."

Ziva nodded knowing he spoke from his own hurts. She didn't ask just as she knew he would never ask her even if Gibbs never came to him. She stood and gladly accepted the tight hug he offered. "Thank you Ducky, one of these days things will return to normal…"

"Not normal Ziva. That's the advice I feel comfortable giving you. Not normal or at least not the normal you knew. But you will find your way that much I can tell you. It will get better you just have to give it time."

Ziva took his words to heart as she rode the elevator back up to a world now long lost to her.