A/N: A big THANK YOU to everyone whose been reading along and hanging in there with me, and especially to those who have taken the time to leave reviews along the way! This is my first time publishing a story of any significant length, so I very much appreciate knowing that people are out there enjoying it!

Like I said last time, I'm posting Chapter 11 and the Epilogue together...so here we go!

Late that night, Gibbs rolled over in Tony and Ziva's guest bedroom and heard soft piano notes creeping through the open door. He lay on his back in the dark for a few minutes and just listened to the clumsy, barely audible sounds, following one after the other like rain drops at the end of a storm. Sliding agilely across the bed, he got to his feet and padded gently into the hallway, pushing the basement door open cautiously and shutting it behind him with matching care. He descended the steps silently, pausing at the lower landing when he caught sight of Tony seated on the piano bench. The hunched figure of his former Agent was no surprise to Gibbs, nor was the way the younger man's fingers whispered their way about the keys, picking out a tune that was no tune, unplanned, and yet somehow still beautiful.

Taking the last few steps, however, he was surprised to see that Tony was not alone, as he had expected. On the couch against the wall beyond the piano, Ziva and Adi were curled together in sleep, wrapped in a quilt that looked like it had seen newer, but not better, days. Even more careful to be quiet now, Gibbs crossed the distance to the piano. Tony looked up at him briefly when he was only a few steps away, and Gibbs half-smiled as he slid onto the polished wood bench beside the younger man.

"Adi couldn't sleep," Tony murmured, his eyes remaining fixed on the piano now as he continued his improvised tune. Gibbs didn't press DiNozzo to say whether Adi had been the only one; he didn't need to. After all, Adi was not the one that was still awake.

"She loves the piano," Tony continued without prompting. "She plays it better than I do," he added with a grin. A few moments passed without talking, but the piano notes marched on. "Ziva's grandmother used to play the piano late at night in their house, when Ziva and Tali and Ari were young...she says it helped them forget the noise of the streets in Tel Aviv, noise that was not always so pleasant. Ziva still remembers the songs she played and she's teaching them to Adi now, one by one. They're beautiful songs, beautiful lullabies, but I can't remember a single one of them, and Ziva is morally opposed to writing them down."

"Whatever you're playing seems to have worked just fine," Gibbs commented, glancing over his shoulder at the two figures fast asleep on the couch. Tony took what was meant to be a quick glance as well, but his eyes lingered on Ziva's face, on Adi's cascade of dark hair.

"Yes," he admitted softly as he turned back to the piano. "It does."

"And when do you get to sleep?" Gibbs wondered, after a few minutes of silence had passed between them.

"Says the man who is still building boats by hand," Tony answered, without looking up. "How many has it been now?" Gibbs didn't dignify that question with a response, but he saw Tony's point. What was it Ziva had once said about the pot calling the cauldron black? Gibbs felt the corner of his mouth lift briefly in a half-smile.

"You're not me, Tony," Gibbs reminded him softly.

"Is that supposed to be an insult or a compliment?" Tony asked casually.

"Tony," Gibbs said, turning his body to face the younger man slightly. "I always hoped you'd have a better life than I've had, that you would become a better man. And you have." Gibbs detected an abnormal hitch in the rhythm of Tony's notes, but they picked up again with stubborn resolve, and Gibbs went on. "I didn't have a chance to save Shannon and Kelly, but even if I had I sometimes wonder if I could have." His throat felt thick and heavy, but he pushed on resolutely. "I saw nothing but red for months after they left. I don't know if I could've done what you did today. I don't think I would've had the control."

Tony's fingers stopped, his hands hovering above the keys for a moment before he brought them to his side and turned to look Gibbs in the eye. "You'll never really know about that, will you?" Tony said, "But you'll know this: you did save Ziva and Adi. I couldn't have done that without you."

In a sudden need to avoid Tony's face, Gibbs looked around the room instead, taking in the carpet and the couches and the big screen TV. The surround sound system and the shelves full of DVDs. The small refrigerator, counter and sink tucked away beneath the stairs. His eyes roamed until they settled again on Ziva and her daughter, and Tony followed his gaze.

"I'm glad you get to have this life," Gibbs whispered. "The life I didn't get to have. Knowing that you and Ziva and Adi are here together and happy and alive, that helps me sleep at night."

"Good," Tony muttered, turning back to the piano and striking a few soft notes. "Because you deserve that, and a whole lot more."

Gibbs stood, resting his hand on Tony's shoulder for a moment before heading for the stairs. The piano notes picked up again as he made his way back to the guest bedroom and settled under the covers again. He lay awake for a few minutes listening, and then smiled widely to himself when the tune died away into silence. He imagined Tony pulling a second blanket out and wrapping himself up to sleep on the couch that neighbored Ziva and Adi's, positioning himself so that he could see them easily just by opening his eyes. And then closing them and finding peace.

A/N: Wondering what the Epilogue will hold? Well, just click on through and there it is!