Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS….yeah yeah yeah. XD

A/N: I am so sorry for the slow updating lately! I've been distracted. I've been working on a collab fic, NCIS: Exposed, so if you want to check that here ( s/8348694/1/NCIS_Exposed) that'd be great! Thanks guys! :)

U- Once Upon a Time

As they always did around nine, Tony and Ziva began the daunting task of putting their five year old daughter Tali to bed. They usually alternated between bathing her and tucking her in, though each always made a point of saying goodnight, and telling her how much they love her.

Tonight though, whether it was because she missed her parents, or she knew they were tired and thus easy to manipulate, she was insistent on both of them putting her to sleep. The two relented easily. They had gotten home from a trying day at work, they missed Tali, and they genuinely didn't feel up to battling with her tonight. So once Tony bathed her and helped her put her pajamas on, Ziva went upstairs to join them. Tali grinned as she walked next to her parents to her bedroom, and Tony and Ziva couldn't help but smile back.

Soon Ziva was cuddled up next to their daughter and Tony sat at the edge of the bed, smiling down at the two most important people in his life.

"Daddy," Tali looked up at him with a smile on her face. "Tell me a story."

Ziva smirked playfully up at her husband and put her arm around her daughter, who in turn snuggled up next to her. "Yes Tony, tell us a story."

He grinned. "Alright. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. She had curly dark hair with gorgeous brown eyes. Everybody loved her. That was a problem though. You see, that princess was so pretty that an evil dragon took her all the way around the world." While Tali's eyes widened, Ziva knowing ones had a sparkle in them, and she had a small smile on her face despite the harsh memories that she knew Tony was referring to.

"Well," Tony continued. "The princess was stuck there for a long time. Soon though, a handsome prince and his family decided to go on a hunt to find the princess and get her back. You see, he had loved her for a really long time, but he didn't tell her."

"Why?" At this Tony glanced at Ziva again, who was smiling softly, more than she had before.

Tony smiled sheepishly at his daughter. "Well, he was nervous. It was complicated."

"Did they get her back?"

"Yes! They went to the dragon's evil lair, and they found the princess. The Prince and his brother and his father slayed the evil dragon and rescued her."

Tali smiled at that, and then she yawned. "And then what?"

Tony smirked at Ziva before turning to look at Tali. "And then the Princess was so happy and grateful to the Prince, that she fell in love with him. They became a family, the four of them, and they had another little princess, and they lived happily ever after."

At this point Tali was almost asleep, so Ziva slid from underneath her and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight tateleh."

Tony put a hand on Ziva's back as he said goodnight, and then softly and quietly he led her out of the room. After he shut the door gently, Ziva grabbed his hand and pulled him to their bedroom. He smirked as he kicked the door closed behind them and she backed him up against the wall.

"Just so you know…I am alright." He nodded in understanding. Tony was worried he brought up too many bad memories for her, but he listened to his gut and decided to run with it anyway.

"I'm glad Zi."

She smiled back at him and after a moment she spoke again.

"That was sweet, you know."

"I try."

They smirked at each other for a minute, the temperature in the room growing hotter by the second. Ziva leaned closer to Tony and whispered in his ear.

"She was grateful, you said?"

Tony grinned. "Oh yeah. Definitely. Completely. 100 percent. But, you know-"

"What?" Ziva again whispered in his ear before moving to look directly into his eyes.

"She could always show him again. And I'll bet he'd be grateful for it."

She chuckled as she winked at him and brought her face close to his, their lips almost touching. "You think?"

"I don't think, I know."

Now it was Tony's turn to wink at her, and in a moment their lips were on each other's in a passionate kiss, each of them fighting for dominance. Tony managed to turn around and push Ziva against the wall.

It's safe to say that they were both very grateful that their daughter inherited her father's sheavy sleeper genes.