A/N – So, here is a new chapter. We skip through a little time here, but I think we needed to move the story along a little. I think we're almost done with Fall Consequences, but I will definitely do another sequel to this, because the story isn't done yet.

Disclaimer – I don't own NCIS or the characters.

Chapter 17

Monday, November 4, 2013

Ziva couldn't stop smiling. They had been let off of the charges. The charges against them were dropped. Parsons had no case and he looked pissed off about it. The judge saw that there was no reason to see that their marriage was falsified with so many people witnessing that they seemed real enough together and then there was the international espionage charges where he had no actual evidence to present and with the rape against Ziva it wasn't international espionage while she was in Israel burying her father.

Once they were in the elevator going back to NCIS Ziva turned into Tony's side and smiled into his chest, having waited for far too long to place her head there and enjoy the moment. No one said anything as happy tears streamed down her face. They were, of course, all confused, except for the two who knew what was going on with Ziva, along with A.J. Chegwidden, who had come back to celebrate (though Abby claimed there would be a better celebration tonight when they all were done with work).

They still had to find Rivera and get him into custody so they could all go home, finally, and live their lives. They were also left wondering why Rivera was going after them at all and why the timing worked out as it had. Was it because Parsons had dug something up on Gibbs in the process of trying to take out the team? None of them knew. But, for now they were celebrating the moment that Tony and Ziva were free from Parsons and what he had to throw at them.

They arrived in the building and noticed that Vance was smiling down at them as they sat at their desks.

"Dad?" Jen said suddenly. "I have two doctor's appointments tomorrow. One for the babies and one for my arm."

"I'll bring you. Anyone else headed out toward Bethesda tomorrow?" Gibbs asked.

"We are, boss," Tony said. "We already told you about that."

"That'll be cozy in the car," Gibbs said with a slight frown on his face.

Everyone else looked curious. Why were Tony and Ziva going to Bethesda? Ducky had a knowing look on his face and nodded slightly but went down to Abby's lab with her, thinking it was best that he just duck out of the room before saying something. Obviously those two were not sharing what they knew with them until a certain time and he would let them keep this secret if that was what they were choosing to do, and if that was what was the truth of it all, as well.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Ziva stood in the observation room of NCIS looking at the face of Alejandro Ramirez. Liat was on one side of her and Jen was on the other. Abby was behind them and Tony was next to Abby. Tony had one hand on Ziva's back. Kort entered the room. It was all of Ramirez's intended victims. All of them were important members to their agencies.

Malachi walked in talking to McGee and Ducky followed them with Gibbs next to them. He looked at his team. All of them were there and two Mossad Officers that he had not known he could make friends with.

"Tony, Ziva, you've got this one," he said quietly. "I know you two want answers as much as the rest of us and I know that you're cooperation with each other will come in handy there. Perhaps he'll see that there's no way to split this team up."

"Yes, especially when we are introduced as Special Agent DiNozzo and Special Agent DiNozzo," Ziva said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and crutching out with Tony next to her.

Out in the hallway, Tony stopped Ziva. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said. "I do not know why I am so frustrated today. Everything has gone wonderfully this week. We do not have anything from Parsons. We have Alejandro in custody. Our baby is growing perfectly. I do not know why I am frustrated, but I am very frustrated with everything today."

Tony pulled her into a hug and felt her melt into him. "I think we need a week off soon," Tony whispered in her ear. "The good news is, we can go home tomorrow if this sticks."

Ziva nodded into his chest and took her hands off her crutches, holding herself in place using Tony. Then, he led her into the interrogation room.

"Alejandro Ramirez. We meet again," Tony said. "I'm Special Agent DiNozzo and this is my partner Special Agent DiNozzo. Please, have a seat."

"Your sister?" he asked curiously.

"No," Ziva said quietly but firmly. "Sit."

"Ah, so NCIS does let their agents fall in love and get married. I did not think that old rat Gibbs would allow such a strange thing. And to continue being partners. Is that not a conflict of interest?"

"We will be the ones asking questions today, Señor Ramirez," Ziva said quietly as she sat next to Tony. "Tell me, why did you choose to go against NCIS?"

"I think that's fairly obvious," he said with a shrug. "One of your people took out my father and it is my intention to take out all of his loved ones. I started with that red-headed daughter of his, since she was supposed to die the day of that car crash so long ago. Then, I went to Abigail Sciuto. As much as I liked her I could see that Gibbs viewed her as a daughter, meaning that he needed to lose her as well.

"When I was done with that the two of you were on my list. It is really too bad that Tony here moved out of the way of the bullet, because I would have succeeded once if it had not been that way," Ramirez went on. "You are both children to him. That is also around the time that I learned of your operation, so I went after Trent Kort as well, hoping to throw you off for a while.

"Then, I lost track of you until that phone call came into your cellular telephone, Ziva," he continued. "That is when I knew where you would be staying and you would bring someone you did not trust any longer. I hoped to make it look like that Mossad Operative was the traitor. That did not work when I accidently hit a Mossad Officer and the guy you were talking to in the process."

"You have many charges brought against you. Do you confess to the attempted murder of Ziva DiNozzo, Anthony DiNozzo, Jennifer Gibbs, Abigail Sciuto, and Trent Kort?"

"Yes," he said quietly. "I tried to kill all of them. I also tried to kill that Adam Eschel character along with that Isaac David, but that failed as well. You would think with as long as I have been in the drug trafficking business I would have had shooting figured out now. But, then, I was never a sniper."

Ziva and Tony shared a glance. This man was barking mad. And Ziva was sure she had that idiom correct in her mind.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted Gibbs to suffer as much as I am suffering," he said simply.

"You do not think that the loss of Shannon and Kelly Gibbs still haunts him?" Ziva asked. "Because, trust me, it does. Why now?"

"Because I got freed," he said quietly. "But, I can see that I will be headed toward an American high-security prison soon. Thank you."

Tony and Ziva got up and walked out. They had everything they needed from this guy and they knew that he wasn't going to give them more than that. They had evidence tying him to all the crime scenes and a confession from him that also places him at the appropriate locations and no alibi for the times when people were born or entered into the life of Gibbs or whatever have you.

Ziva stopped in the hallway outside of the interrogation room. There were tears in her eyes. Tony looked at her curiously. He put a hand on either shoulder and stared at her, waiting for her to say something.

"It doesn't feel like enough," she said quietly. "None of it feels like enough. I feel like I could do more to save Isaac. Like I could have done more to prevent this."

The tears were streaming down her face now. Tony had never seen her quite like this coming out of an interrogation. He had never seen her looking so broken over getting the guy that they were supposed to get. Little did either of them know that the entire team was watching this moment as they had already filed out of the observation room.

"You have done everything you can so far, Ziva," Tony told her. "Trust me. I've seen you. I know he's your brother and we are all working on finding him. Hell, we even have Agent Borin in on this. I suppose we could call in FBI and CIA if you want. I'm sure we can do that. What do you want Ziva?"

She shrugged and leaned against Tony, allowing her tears to fall. Tony wrapped his arms around her and that was when he noticed the rest of the team standing there curiously, wondering what had Ziva in tears and knowing that it was more than just feeling like she was failing her brother.

Tony shook his head at them, telling them to leave this moment alone, that she was feeling vulnerable and didn't want to be seen like that. Gibbs was the one who got the message and they all left the hallway, leaving Tony and Ziva alone together where they were.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

"Mossad's got him!" Liat said, coming back into the squad room from MTAC. "I have just heard from the Deputy Director, who is acting as Director at the moment, until we select a new one. They have Isaac David. Malachi just flew out to meet him at the hospital there. When he is checked and released he will be coming home!"

Jen smiled widely and so did Ziva.

"Now you can all go and enjoy your Thanksgiving!" she said.

"Why don't you join us, Liat?" Gibbs asked. "With Malachi gone, I'm sure the hotel room will be very lonely. Besides, there's nothing to do in DC on Thanksgiving and you'll be bored."

"Thank you," Liat said, blushing at the offer. "I think I will."

"Consider it a thank you for your help," Gibbs said. "I can't believe he'll be home in a few days."

"Me either, Dad," Jen said with a smile on her face.

Jenny was staring at Agent Borin as though something was wrong. There had been tension between her and Borin since the moment that they started working together.

Ziva elbowed Tony lightly and he turned. "What do you think? Love triangle?"

"That's what I was thinking, but who knows," Tony said with a shrug. "You know how much boss likes to talk about his love-life. But, he and Borin never had anything going, did they?"

"Not that I know of," Ziva said with a shrug. "I think Borin is probably more suited to him, as in style. But, I also happen to know that opposites work wonderfully together."

Tony smiled widely and so did Ziva. They were going to be late to dinner that evening, since they were doing dinner tonight at Ducky's house and early dinner tomorrow at Gibbs' house. It was a holiday and they were choosing to indulge with every member of the family involved.

Friday they would be at McGee's apartment and Saturday they would be going over to Tony and Ziva's new house. Something that Tony and Ziva were nervous about since they had already started buying baby items and setting up the baby's room. But, it was close enough now to the end of the first trimester that they didn't care if the others found out. They were actually considering sharing it on Saturday that they were having a baby, since Ziva was definitely showing now through her small frame. She was wearing baggier clothes to work and around with the others.

She had spent the last weekend buying maternity clothes, but didn't need them quite yet. She was not ready to wear them mentally and Tony had only bought her the best and the things that suited her style, of course. They were excited about telling the others and nervous at the same time.

They were so lost in their thoughts and non-verbal conversation that they didn't realize that everyone was staring at them now.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted and both of them looked up at him. "What time should we arrive at your house?"

"Five," Ziva said instantly with a smile on her face.

The decision was already set in both of their minds. They were going to share this weekend what was going on with them. Gibbs could see the change in attitude.

"I'm assuming we should wear something nice?" he asked.

Tony nodded and smiled. "Absolutely," he said quietly. "I would expect nothing less than a love-filled dinner from Ziva."

"And you, too, Tony," Ziva said.

"What are you making on Saturday?"

"I have not decided whether to go with something Israeli or something Italian. I was thinking something of each," Ziva said softly and smiled at Tony again who returned the smile.

"Gibbs, you allow this kind of behavior in your office? Before you used to jump when they looked at each other, now look at you!"

Gibbs chuckled. "Everyone go home. We've got dinners to make and things," Gibbs said with a smile. And they all filed out of the office and went off for their respective homes.