She stares at him, surprised to find him at her door. She leads him in.

"What are you doing here?" she questions.

"I just came to check on you, make sure that you're alright."

"I am fine," she lies.

"You have been crying."

"It's complicated."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I couldn't."

"Ziva... there are things that you do not know."

"You were not married," she points out.

"No I wasn't," he takes a seat on her couch. She takes a seat on the coffee table. He stares at her, waiting for her to say something. Her hair is damp. It's dark, and wavy. Her eyes are red, from crying. She wears a white long-sleeved t-shirt, and a pair of navy blue sweat pants. The sleeves of her shirt are pulled down over her hands. He searches her face, and knows to choose his words wisely.

"You should tell me, about it."

"What is there to tell?"

"You loved him. Start with that."

"No. I do not care to relive the past. The past is, is just that."

"You were married for four years. You let a car accident take away your ability to love?"

She looks up at him. "I never told you that," she points out.

"I'm not good at staying in the dark," he replies.

"What do you know?"

"Everything, more than even you know."

"I doubt that."

"You lost everything in that accident, but it wasn't an accident."

"What?"

"Ziva... what did Gabriel do for a living?"

"He was a security consultant."

"Who signed his paychecks?"

"M & D security. Why does it matter? Why are you bringing this up?"

"And Mossad?"

"Mossad? Gabriel did not work for Mossad. He hated Mossad. He hated my father, they did not get along."

"Ziva... Gabriel did not meet you by chance."

"Tony, this is unbelievable. You are trying to sell me some theory of yours? I hope you don't think that it is going to make me feel better."

"It isn't a theory. It's a fact. I did a lot of research. Your father met Gabriel, before Gabriel met you."

"What are you saying? That my father set me up?"

"He needed a believable cover. If the two of you were married, then Gabriel would have a reason to move to Israel."

"You can't be serious. I loved him. He loved me, that was real."

"I agree. He did fall in love with you."

"But?"

"He did also work for M & D security, but he also worked for Mossad. He exposed vulnerabilities so that Mossad could exploit them."

"You're wrong."

"I am not trying to hurt you."

"This certainly does not help me."

"I know that you loved him. I know that he loved you. I also know that he didn't want to lie to you anymore. He didn't want to do what he was doing anymore, because he did love you. He thought that you deserved to have what you wanted."

"But someone had him killed? Is that what you think?"

"The accident was planned for months before it happened. It was the only way that he could get out, but it didn't go the way it was supposed to."

"Tony... this is ridiculous. How do you know all of this?"

"Some serious hacking."

"McGee? You brought McGee into this?"

"No, Abby."

"You told her?"

"No. I didn't. I asked her to do me a favor, and not to ask questions."

"She agreed?"

"Reluctantly. She did ask questions, but I refused to answer."

"I do not understand this."

"Some things, they are unforgivable. There are some wrongs that cannot be made right."

"What are you saying?"

"It was too late for him to call it off. It was too late to undo the plan that was already in motion. It was too late to change anything, even though he wanted to. He didn't know that you were going to tell him what you did."

Her eyes fall. His hand touches her leg. She doesn't remove it, she simply allows him to continue.

"And how do you know all of this?"

"He confirmed it."

"He is dead."

"No. Gabriel Paxton is dead, but Gabriel Lucas, he is not."

"Excuse me?"

"Gabriel intended to fake his own death, and after a predetermined amount of time, he would return. He would tell you the truth, but there were things that he did not plan."

"Are you telling me that he is alive?"

"Yes. He didn't want to face you again after what happened."

"This is all very hard to believe."

"It is hard for me to believe that you were married."

"I was."

"It is harder for me to believe that you considered leaving Mossad, back then."

"I did."

"It's hard for me to believe that you fell in love with a US Marine, and eloped, at eighteen."

"I did."

"I can't believe that you never told me."

"I do not like it when people feel sorry for me."

"So that is why you left out the other part?"

"The other part?" she replies coyly.

"The reason that Gabriel stayed dead, to you. The reason he couldn't come back, and face you. He knew that if you knew the truth, you would never forgive him."

"Tony..."

"He knew that you would kill him if you found out that he was responsible for planning the car accident. That he was responsible for the reactions that he caused."

"Tony you don't know what you're talking about."

"That's why when we were undercover, you told me not to imagine you pregnant. I didn't know. I would never had said anything."

A single tear burns her cheek.

"I was stupid to think that I could have it all. That I could ever have a normal life."

"It wasn't stupid. You wanted a husband, and a child, that is not stupid."

"Look around, Tony. Do I have any of that?" she looks around the apartment, "No. I just have bad memories. I think that it was stupid."

"No. He was stupid."

"He is really alive?"

"Yes."

"Can I kill him?"

"You're asking permission?"

"An opinion."

"There is no doubt that you can."

"Will you hate me if I do?"

"No, but he hates himself enough for the both of you."

"How do you know?"

"He's been married four more times," DiNozzo pulls pictures, he hands them to her. "None of them were you. He now lives on a ranch, in Montana with all the cattle, and booze a broken hearted man could want."

Ziva flips through the pictures.

"He got the look, but he could never get the personality."