AN: It's been a month or so since I last updated this story, sorry! And yes, I've been working on it all this time, lol! I hope you guys enjoy, let me know your thoughts! This is a bit of a filler chapter really, before things start picking up again in the upcoming chapters. Hopefully, now that school's let out, I'll be able to update more often :)
Disclaimer: Here's what I've offered: My acai-blueberry-pomegranate vitamin water, my blue sparkly pen, AND my new pack of 24 crayons! Plus, I'd throw in a cookie if they accepted the offer and still. NOTHING! They just won't give it up! :'( ...At least Ilana (E-yana) is still mine.
Chapter 4: Silent Promise
Was there a way to change things? Get rid of the gut feeling… Maybe… Maybe that is why… Her daughter… He could possibly prove to Ziva that he could do it! Prove to her that… He wouldn't let her down again! He refused! Ziva's last wish was that Tony took care of her daughter and that is what he would do… But, Ziva wasn't there for him to try and prove her wrong with this new task… Now what?
He looked at the small digital clock on the car's dashboard, near the radio, "7:39pm… And they said… I had until 8pm before their flight went back to Israel and the poor kid would be placed under Eli David's care and turned into a soldier just like he had done to her mother…" He whispered to himself as he began pondering what he was about to do.
However, he continued talking to himself, "He'll turn her into another Ziva, not that it's a bad thing, but she'll probably be emotionally stunted and turned into a robot assassin by 20. Never leaving a real childhood, or…" Tony just shook his head to himself and stopped talking.
That was when the Italian man secretly promised to make sure that this little girl had a real childhood. Try and give her everything he would give or want his own kid to experience. Try and show her what Ziva would want her daughter to know… But wait, how would he know what Ziva would want her daughter to know? Oi vey! Oh well, it was worth the thought…. No! No, you're going to get out there and you will try to do this the way Ziva would! She had to have pointed you as the kid's guardian for some reason, let's find out why.
Tony looked at the card Officer Tight-Pants and Officer Stick-Up-His-Rear -End had given him and saw the address to the Hilton Hotel next to the airport. He looked at the clock, "7:43… Damn!" He cursed and turned on the car and sped off.
He was currently thanking anyone who was listening that he had taken the sedan from work. Turning on the sirens, Tony drove quicker down the highway as the scattered cars that were on the road moved over to the side to let him through. He'd feel guilt for doing that later, right now he had to go make sure that he didn't fail Ziva again. The hotel and airport were nearly 25 minutes away from the law firm he had been at; however, he thanked Ziva's insane driving skills that he'd been able to get there in just ten minutes flat.
He left the car carelessly outside of the Hilton hotel. The valet boy tried to stop him, telling him that he couldn't park there like that or whatever, nevertheless, Tony waved his badge in the 18year old's face quickly before running into the reception area. The overly-cheery, blond receptionist looked up at Tony with a wide grin, "Hello! Welcome to the Hilton Hotel, how can I help you?"
Under normal circumstances, Tony would've flirted his little heart out with the cute blond who had beautiful blue eyes and a v-neck blouse that was so short he was near positive her supervisor would not approve of. Tony shook away any remnants of that particular thought and focused on the task at hand. He flashed a quick DiNozzo smile, "Hi, my name is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo from NCIS; I was wondering what rooms Officer Michael Levy and Joseph Cohen were staying?" He paused momentarily when he realized they probably hadn't used their names in making the reservations.
"Err… I mean… Two, big, bulky guys with black suits, black ties, really scare looking… Like they just came out of the most recent version of the Men in Black?" He tried to describe with various hand gestures.
She looked at him blankly and blinked.
Tony sighed, "Too young to know what that is, got it… They had a cute little girl with them. She had brown curly hair my skin color…. I… She was…-"
"She was serious and she wore a black dress jumper thing with a white under shirt blouse with some black shoes? Plus shades on?"
"Yeah!" Tony smiled at the thought that maybe, just maybe, they hadn't left yet.
"They just walked out right now and are waiting for the valet to get their car." The girl behind the desk said and pointed to outside.
Tony turned to look and saw the four of them standing there, waiting for the valet to bring their car and one of the men in the black suit carried a duffle bag. Just then, the valet rolled in with their black, government issued sedan. Tony's eyes went wide and he began running for the door, "Thanks!" He quickly through over his shoulder as he ran.
"Welcome?" The girl called out then went back to filing her nails, sighing.
"Officer Levy!" Tony called as he got closer to the small group, slightly out of breath.
They had begun entering the car, the munchkin already inside as were the three other men and Officer Levy was in the process of getting inside. Officer Levy stopped and looked back to see who was calling him. "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Nice to see you again and here we thought you wouldn't make it." He said, a smirk tugging the corners of his mouth as he began getting out of the car again.
God how Tony hated the smugness of most Mossad officers! He flashed him a phony smile, "Heh.. Now why would you think that?"
"We just thought you would not have the guts to fail someone else." Levy shot at him then said, "Besides, we thought you'd be too afraid to look after a small four year old." He said bitterly, but gave a tight smile to feign friendliness to the child that had now stepped out of the car as well, along with the other men.
Oi! Poor ego! Tony sighed and easily dismissed the comment, once more becoming focused on the task at hand. "Look, I'm really not in the mood to play this little game you're looking to play. I'm only here to pick up the ki-Ilana. Not have a damn tea party with you," replied Tony in a serious expression.
Agent Cohen turned and looked at Tony, trying very little to hide the shock on his face. ""Wait… You're… Actually going to do it? You have really decided to take Ilana and raise her?" This was the first time he had spoken.
"Yeah, I have. So are there any-"
"-Why?" Cohen cut Tony off.
Tiny tried not to show how annoyed he was becoming with them, "Because Ziva left her to me. She didn't leave her to her father or mother or her aunt or anyone else. She chose me and she must've thought that I'd be the best person to watch over her. She must've taken a long time to think it over and-
"Or she was drunk when she decided.." Muttered Levy under his breath, but Tony ignored it and continued saying: "Why she chose me is completely beyond me and I'm just as shocked as you guys are and I wasn't sure if I could or can do it but… Who am I to question Ziva's judgment?"
Cohen nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. He then snapped his fingers at the other suit, who was holding the little girl's hand and quickly said some stuff to the man in Hebrew and the suit nodded and bent down to speak with the little girl at her eye level. He spoke to her lowly and gently in Hebrew and she nodded and her gaze would travel slowly up to Tony, then back down to the man in front of her, nodding at his every word.
Tony took in the little girl's appearance and she was most definitely going to be a heartbreaker. She had fair/light-tanned skin and large ringlet curls that littered her head and were a little bit past her shoulder. She had a small birthmark on her small face. It looked as if someone had taken a small fine-point brush and some black ink and then strategically placed the small black dot on the child's cheek, just below the bone, near the crease of her nose.
Her face was, once more, the way Tony had seen it before, practically emotionless, save for a hint of a smile that tugged on the sides of her lips. She was like a mini version of Ziva. She looked so much like her, except for her light brown hair and sparkling green eyes. Oh yes, total heartbreaker. Just like her mother…
"Hi, Mr. De-Deee-Know-Zoo…" He heard her say and then looked down at her again, her voice having brought him out of his thoughts.
He chuckled a bit at her failed attempt to say his name, "You can call me, Tony, kiddo."
"Okay. Hi Mr. Tony." She smiled at him.
Tony returned the smile warmly, "Hello, Miss Ilana."
She beamed at the fact that he called her 'Miss'. Tony looked up at Cohen and Levy, "Soo…Is there anything I should know about her, anything that's life-threatening or-"
"Here." Levy said and handed the NCIS agent a yellow manila envelope that looked like it contained a dictionary and then some inside.
"What's this?" Tony opened the flap but Levy stopped him, telling him not to open it there.
"Records. Ilana's records. Birth certificate, school transcripts, medical records, stuff like that…"
"School? But she's only like.. Four…" Tony blinked and looked at her for confirmation and the little girl nodded.
Officer Levy shrugged, "Ziva wanted her daughter to have the best education and I'm guessing she pulled some strings so that her daughter could get into school early. She attended a private school over in Israel. She was in grade 1."
Tony sighed and nodded, "Alright…."
Ilana looked between the two men, looking like she was going to cry at the sound of her mother's name. They'd been very blunt with her and told her that…
"And what else is in here?" Tony asked curiosity getting the best of him.
"Just the rest of her files, oh! And her schedule… You need to get her schedule…" Levy said and the man in the black suit handed Tony a small PDA.
"What the hell is this?" Tony turned it back and forth, inspecting it.
Levy sighed, "It is a PDA, Agent DiNozzo. We didn't think you were that stupid."
Ilana gasped and frowned, "That is a bad word, Mr. Levy!" Her small eyebrows furrowed.
Levy quickly apologized and then said, "She lives by the schedule in there, so don't lose it, alright? Or else you'll be in big trouble with her… How do you think you'll take care of a child if you don't even know how to work her schedule?"
"Hey, buddy! Let me figure that out, alright? You try dealing with all of this on your own." He nearly snapped, getting tired of the man's antics.
Cohen stepped up, to keep the argument from going any further, "Alright. So, and there's a parenting book in there and a English/Hebrew dictionary we thought would he useful for you. This is her duffle bag with enough clothes to get her through the rest of this week and next, until all of her things arrive from Israel." He handed Tony the duffle bag as well.
Tony nodded a thanks. And then Cohen asked, "Did you get a car seat?"
"Car seat?" Tony echoed.
They sighed, "Of course not. We don't have any more use for ours anyway, so I suppose we could give it to you." Cohen went into the black car and took out a big, pink car seat that had small printed flowers all over it, "We'll take you to your car." He said.
Tony nodded again, "Yea sure. This way…" Tony began leading them to where he had parked his car a few yards behind them, in front of the hotel.
He led them to his own government issued car and opened the back door so that Officer Cohen could install the small chair in the back seat and then waved over for Levy to put Ilana into the car. Ilana blinked as they neared her to the car and frowned, shaking her head and spoke quickly in Hebrew, sounding as if she was almost begging them. Tony was putting the stuff away in the trunk, after putting the PDA in his pocket and closed the trunk. He walked back to them, "We're all set?"
He saw Ilana practically crying and speaking in Hebrew at Cohen and Levy, nearly begging. His eyebrows furrowed, "Is she okay?"
Levy sighed and shook his head, "She doesn't want to stay.. She does not know you… So she's a bit shy. But we have to leave. Our flight leaves in half an hour. It is not as if we could stay. And you agreed to keep her so we cannot take her back."
Tony bit his lip and bent down in front of the little girl. He tapped her shoulder gently so that she could look at him, "Hey, Ilana? C'mere…" Tony squatted down in front of her as the little girl turned.
She looked at him with a tear-stained face and her small button nose looking like Rudolph. Tony felt his heart ache again; squeezing tightly once more, almost prohibiting him from breathing. He had ruined this little girl's life by not protecting her mother. That was when Tony made the silent promise to make it up to her. Suddenly, he was completely smitten with her and felt this new warm feeling wash over him and he wasn't too sure what to think of it.
"Yes, Mr. Tony?" She whispered in a small voice, her Israeli accent very apparent and much thicker like her mother's once was.
"What's wrong, pretty lady? Why're you crying?" Well, that's a stupid question, Tony. He thought to himself.
"Cause…Cause…I…I…" She began sobbing again and speaking in Hebrew quickly.
Tony's eyebrows furrowed. He didn't understand not a word that came out of her mouth, but he didn't think that really mattered as the little girl was just standing there, in front of him, sobbing her little eyes out and nobody was doing anything to comfort her. He took her smallness into his large arms and hugged her close, rubbing her back, "Hey, hey… It's okay… Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine, okay? Everything will be fine, I promise, okay? Trust me, Ilana." He whispered and hugged her closer.
That's when it took him a bit by surprise when Ilana's small arms wrapped around Tony's neck and she hugged him back, "O-okay…" She hiccupped and sniffed, but refused to let go.
Sweet moment there at the end, eh? So, how do you think everyone will react to this little girl walking into the office with Tony...? How will GIBBS REACT? Yeah, I myself am not sure yet, what do you guys think? Let me know! :)