Thanks for the reads, follows, faves and reviews, glad you're enjoying this!

Thanks to my beta, HarmonFreak1!

For those of you following Finding Home, the next chapter will be posted Monday afternoon or evening.

Chapter Two

Vance's cell went to voice mail so after leaving a terse message, Gibbs called the Director's office phone and got voice mail again. He growled; they did not have time to wait for calls to be returned. He went through his contacts and found the number he needed. Luckily that person was there and listened carefully to what Gibbs had to say and then to Ziva's message from Bashan.

"Everyone's together? "

"Yeah in the house; Ziva believes they won't make a move until sunset."

"All right, I'll get the locals on it and then get busy. Stay low and safe and we'll get help to you and get the wolves away."

"Thanks Tom." Gibbs felt marginally better when they disconnected. Within 45 minutes a sheriff's car and 2 dark SUVs pulled up as close as they could to the back door. After carefully checking the badges of the sheriff and one of the deputies, they were allowed in. "Agent Gibbs, I've been briefed by Homeland; my orders are to secure your safety here in the house."

Gibbs nodded, "Appreciate that Sheriff, got my whole family here. Come on, you can meet them."

The deputy stood guard at the door while Gibbs and the Sheriff walked to the living room. The drapes had been pulled and the lights were off but there was enough natural light coming in from the other rooms that they could still see but not enough so that they were casting shadows against the drapes. The Sheriff nodded at the prisoner who was now also wearing a gag as well as the ankle and wrist cuffs.

"He get out of control did he?"

Tim who was guarding their spy spoke without looking up. "Tried. It was either gag him or…never mind, he's gagged."

Gibbs phone rang and he sighed as he looked at the id. "This is Gibbs. Yes sir, the Sheriff's here and he's got deputies outside. No sir, Homeland is working on it…sir, would you repeat that please?"

He listened and then thanked his caller and hung up. He spoke to the room, "SecNav says State is on it, they're working with the Israelis to resolve the problem."

Ziva spoke angrily in Hebrew and eyes widened on everyone but Sarah, Rob and the sheriff who was still caught up in the words 'SecNav', State and the Israelis.

Tony looked at Ziva, "Who does Mossad report to?"

Ziva spoke, "The Knesset, it is like the American Congress."

"Mossad…these people after you are Mossad?" The sheriff swore only to be surprised by chuckling around the room. Gibbs patted him on the shoulder, "Ziva is a Mossad agent who works with us. Her father is the one after us; he's the Director of Mossad."

The sheriff's eyes widened even further, "You said…SecNav…that the Secretary of the Navy?"

"Yep, our boss."

"Holy moley, who are you people? The Secretary of the Navy calls you; you have the head of a powerful foreign agency after you…"

"First of all, this house belongs to Admiral Davenport, the Secretary of the Navy. He loaned it to us after some…problems we've had lately."

"With Mossad?"

"No, a rogue director of the FBI."

The sheriff looked around to see where the hidden cameras must be; surely he was being 'punked'. Except the weapons these people had on them… geez, were they all wearing knives and carrying Sigs?

One of the taller men shook his head, "We're not kidding or scamming you, sheriff. That one came about because we were helping a friend of ours, an FBI agent."

"And you people are…?"

"NCIS."

The man relaxed a bit, "Of course, connected to the Navy and Marines. I'm a former Marine myself." That brought nods from the older man and the stockier guy who turned out to be a Marine Lieutenant no less.

The sheriff and the deputy took the prisoner and hauled him away in one of the SUVS. They left the sheriff's car behind, parked prominently in front of the house, along with the other SUV and three deputies. Sunset was still a couple of hours away so they got to work on better securing the house.

Gibbs and Tim pulled Sarah and Rob aside. "When we tell you to or if any shooting starts, you two are to head up to the attic and stay there until we come to get you. Got that?" They were both scared but confident that more help was on the way. Tim led them in a practice run to the attic and had them add pillows, blankets, water and food up there. Sarah looked around, "There's one major thing missing."

"I know, a bathroom, right?"

She nodded.

Tim shook his head, "Best I can do is a couple of buckets, Sari. But you shouldn't be up here for long…if you're even up here at all."

The three of them walked back downstairs and noticed several new security measures the others had put together. As the sun sank behind the cliffs, Gibbs' phone rang again and everyone froze. He pressed the speaker button as he answered the call. "Agent Gibbs."

"Gibbs, it's Tom Morrow. Is Officer David listening in?"

"Yes, you're on speaker."

"Very well. First of all, after being given direct orders, Mossad has recalled its operatives from the mission, we have confirmation of that. All the operatives were contacted and in front of witnesses, David gave the order to abort the mission and they've left the area. We had to bring Officer Bashan in to help us but since he was the one who gave the warning, we decided we could trust him with this and the Israeli Ambassador vouched for him."

Ziva blinked as she replied to Morrow. "Yes, you're right, the warning was an extraordinary thing, I've never heard of that happening before. He risked his career and freedom to do that."

Morrow spoke, "I believe he will be all right, Officer David." He paused before continuing, "The Israeli government has promised a full investigation which I'm told Director David is protesting since he cooperated by rescinding the orders he never should have given in the first place. So you can stand down and go back to enjoying your vacation."

There were sighs of relief from everyone. "Vance is on his way to my office, he wanted to speak with you but with the sun setting, I figured you'd be loading weapons and I didn't want to wait."

Gibbs had a question, "Any idea how long this investigation will take? What kind of guarantee do we have…I mean the U.S. as allies…that David won't pull the same thing again? He's got a lot of power and covert operatives all over the world."

They heard a noise in the background and then the voice of their director. "Gibbs…Gibbses, are you all right?"

"Yes Leon, we are."

"Good. I'm sorry this happened, sorry I wasn't available, didn't know until…that's not important. I'm grateful you're unharmed and I'm very grateful to Director Morrow, the Israeli Ambassador, Officer Bashan and the State Dept. for getting this taken care of so quickly. I can't have my best people at risk when you're supposed to be relaxing and having fun!"

"Thanks, we were doing okay this morning and we're very happy to hear Mossad is out of the picture, at least for now. But what prevents David from finding some other way of attacking us? Are any of us safe? He's targeted our family; he's been bullying his daughter and she's resisted. So he changed his game plan and came after all of us, using the resources of his agency for a personal vendetta. How do we know it won't happen again? He has a lot of power; I'd feel a lot safer if they'd taken stronger measures against him."

Morrow sighed. "You're right of course Jethro. But from their perspective, Eli David has been a big part of keeping Israel going. They've trusted him for years so now, and I'm speculating here, they must feel he's owed an investigation."

"Good for Israel but Tom, that doesn't help us here. We'll be standing guard tonight, Directors, with him still in power and just waiting for an investigation that could take what? Days, weeks…months? He may have other resources, heck he may even feel he has nothing left to lose! We'll stay here because we have a better chance of surviving in the house than on the road in multiple vehicles. We're not just NCIS agents, my two youngest are here… civilians. Haven't they been through enough?"

"Jethro…"

Vance interrupted whatever Morrow had been about to say. "He's right Tom and I won't have them held hostage by this situation. The reluctance of the Israeli government to remove him from office is allowing Eli David to hold my agents and their family – U.S. citizens – captive. Eli is a very shrewd operative; he runs covert operations all the time. If he's flipped out this much, what's to prevent him from arranging another attack? I would say that David still having access to Mossad resources presents a clear and present danger to our citizens."

"What would you suggest we do?"

"Make a complaint to the United Nations, ask for an immediate sanction."

There was silence on the line while Morrow presumably thought it through. "All right, Leon, let me get working on this." Gibbs agreed to a call back when the two Directors had news for them. In the meantime, the sun had disappeared below the horizon and with Ziva, Geordie and former sniper Gibb's advice, the deputies deployed around the area.

XXX

In Washington, Deputy Director Morrow contacted the State Department and relayed their fears and once he had their interest, made a shrewd proposal. State eventually agreed and once again called in the Israeli ambassador. She thought she'd been horrified at what she'd already learned today but what she was told was about to happen would be far worse and she asked for two hours to come up with an alternate solution. She was back in just under an hour with the news that the State Dept. and everyone else had hoped for.

XXX

Gibbs' phone rang a little after 2300 and the family, gathered in the darkened living room, tensed. Gibbs answered and put the call on speaker. "Gibbs."

"Jethro, it's Tom and Leon and we have news. Are we on speaker?"

"Yeah."

"All right, you've always been a bottom line kind of guy so here it is. Pending the investigation, Director David has been placed on administrative leave and is sequestered at his home; he is under the guard of the Israeli Army over which he has no authority, never has, all his electronic devices have been removed, computers, phones, cell phones, a stash of burn phones, everything. All members of Mossad have been given a direct order to avoid contact of any kind with him. Assistant Director Elbaz has been named Acting Director of Mossad and she spoke directly with our Secretary of State. There will be no further threats, no actions taken against any of you or anyone else in the US, including Ms. David. Jethro, you were right… Elbaz confirmed that while there are no longer any Mossad operatives in the state, there were three operatives on their way from DC and she hinted they were Kidon. They were intercepted, she personally spoke with them, giving them direct orders to stand down; they are currently being held in secure quarters by Officer Bashan at the Israeli embassy; they will be shipped home on the next flight. Your concerns were valid; they admitted they were operating under orders given to them by former Director David after he told his bosses that he'd called off the mission."

Gibbs shook his head. "Unbelievable." He looked at his kids; they were in varying states of anger, relief and fear. He wasn't ready to trust that the danger was past and neither Vance nor Morrow argued with him. The guards stayed in place for the night.

The family spent the night in the living room. The agents, permanent and temporary, patrolled the interior of the house, rotating three on duty and two off the entire night. Sarah and Rob spent the night huddled between whoever was not on duty but they were the most comfortable with Tim and Geordie.

When dawn broke the next morning, Tim thought he'd never been so happy to see daylight. He and Ziva made breakfast and some of it was actually eaten, but no one had much appetite. Their guards had checked in with them when their replacements arrived; Director Vance had contacted Commandant Ellison of the USMC and he'd sent two squads of his finest. While Gibbs was grateful for the protection, he was horrified that the men and women they'd sworn to protect were now protecting them. The morning dragged on, no one was willing to step onto the beach. Shortly before noon, Gibbs' phone rang and everyone once again gathered close. It was Vance with news.

"Elbaz conducted a check of all her operatives and has accounted for all of them including the Kidon. The Israeli government has permanently removed Eli David from office; he has been arrested for crimes against the state of Israel."

Ziva gave a strangled cry and Tim gathered her in his arms and moved them away from the group.

Leon finished with his news and answered a few questions from his agents. Finally Gibbs was ready to call it done. "Pass along our thanks to everyone, Leon, Tom? Oh and tell SecNav that his house is fine, no bullet holes."

"Yikes, yeah ok, Gibbs, I owe you that one!"

Gibbs disconnected, looked at his family and held his arms open. Ziva was first in, still shaken and relieved by the news. Tim and the others piled in after her and they huddled together for a bit. They pulled apart with a laugh when Rob's stomach growled. Geordie and Tony fixed a light meal and they ate it on the front porch, waving to their Marine guard as they packed up. It wasn't until the enlisted men had gone and just their CO remained that Geordie would emerge from the house. The two lieutenants looked at each other and nodded, they'd served together a few years ago although neither would say where. Geordie introduced him to his family and they thanked him for the help.

Although the crisis was over, it took a couple of days for everyone to relax again. When they finally did, the fun resumed and they enjoyed their stay, falling into a pattern of playing in the water until lunch, then heading out for various adventures. They spent a few afternoons on the boardwalk with its games and shops. One day they rented ATVs and had fun with those, taking care to stay within the area outlined for the vehicles. Once they had them on the beach, a race or two was inevitable, although they took care not to knock down their assortment of sand castles, now complete with surrounding villages. Ducky and Maisie, Jimmy and Breena joined them over the weekend; that was a tight squeeze but they figured it out. Another day they rented a boat large enough for the whole gang and went fishing, Tim confident in his ginger root and seabands seasickness remedy. By the time they packed up and headed home, they were an almost disgustingly relaxed bunch and even Tim had a bit of a tan. When Damon saw them sauntering into the house in their flip flops and carrying sandy beach bags, he just laughed. They ignored his laughter knowing full well they'd have to jump back into their 'regular' lives soon enough.

XXX

Tim and Ziva groaned as the phone alarm buzzed, waking them for their first day back at work. It was Tim's turn to make breakfast so he stumbled off to his shower while Ziva smiled smugly and drifted off to sleep again. Her boyfriend woke her again, this time with a kiss and then grinning at her, headed for the kitchen just as things were getting interesting. She muttered to herself as she forced herself out of bed and into the shower.

The week passed quickly. The team was at full strength with Tim finally cleared for the field and a couple of back to back cases kept them busy. By Friday afternoon they'd collared the bad guys and were starting the interminable task of report writing. They worked diligently until 1800 and then Gibbs stood. "Wrap it up and pack it up for the weekend." He didn't have to say it twice; he could swear he felt a breeze as the three raced for the elevator. He chuckled as he packed his own gear and headed out. He'd see them all at dinner on Sunday.

XXX

With the removal of Eli David and his threats from their lives, Tim and Ziva's relationship grew even stronger. Ziva told Tim what obstacle they faced to their life together: Mossad rules. Mossad officers had to have their supervising officer's permission to marry and it was rarely given unless both parties were Mossad and had never been given if one of the parties was a non-Israeli.

With that challenge firmly in mind, they spent a lot of time talking about their future and finally developed a plan that would allow them to share that future together. Realizing he needed some help,Tim confided in Gram about his plan to propose to Ziva and his need for a unique ring, something that fit her fire and determination as well as her sweetness. Gram sat him down and told him that since the "Discovery" as the family called Tim and Sarah's reappearance and discovery of Tim's paternity, she, Penny and Jack had had several conversations about the children. One of their favorite topics, she said, was the various rings and jewelry belonging to the Stirlings, Hubbards, Langstons, McGees, Gibbses and Baxters, the latter being the family of Tim's paternal grandmother Anne.

In anticipation of this happy occasion the three grandparents had consolidated the various jewelry items into one safety deposit box, to which each had a key. So one bright morning Gram and Tim took a trip to the savings deposit box where Gram carefully laid out the envelopes with each family's collection of rings, covering up the names. She removed the engagement rings from the three envelopes and laid them out on the table and Tim's eye was immediately drawn to one particular ring. The centerpiece of the setting was a stone Tim wasn't familiar with but it had a topaz on each side and the end pieces were diamonds. It was a beautifully unique ring and reminded him so much of Ziva, he knew it was the right one.

He looked at Maisie who smiled, "That was your great-grandmother Baxter's engagement ring." She removed a piece of paper, folded very small, from one of the envelopes and gave it to him. Opening it up, he recognized the handwriting as Jack's and read the note aloud:

"This engagement ring belonged to Sarah Abigail Hoines Baxter, the mother of my late wife Anne Baxter Gibbs and maternal grandmother of Leroy Jethro Gibbs. The middle stone is citrine, her birthstone and the topazes represent the alternate birthstone for November. Citrine is a very scarce form of quartz; the alternate birth stone for November is Topaz. Both stones have meanings associated with fire and brilliance.

Sarah Baxter was born in 1900 in Shamokin Pennsylvania and met her future husband and Anne's father Robert Walter Baxter when as a teen she was sent to help her aunt with a new baby. Sarah died in 1965 and willed her jewelry, along with Robert's wedding ring, to Anne, her only surviving daughter. I know my Anne would want one of her grandchildren or great grandchildren to have this ring and hopefully keep the history alive. With love to my family, Jackson Gibbs"

Tim had tears in his eyes as he read. This was his history, his family and it was perfect for Ziva and not just because of the ring. Bereft of her own mother and sister, estranged from her father, he hoped she would see this as linking her with Sarah Baxter, giving her a strong familial connection through the ring. He wanted Ziva to be and feel surrounded by love and secure in the knowledge that she belonged with them, all of them.