Out To Get You Chapter 21 Begging and Breathing, a ncis fanfic

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Chapter 21 –

It was hard when it was time to leave, Ziva clung to her daughter's hand desperate to stay with her, she couldn't leave her not now, not after staying with her as much as she was allowed when being held by Dayan, never letting her go, she felt tears as Gibbs took her by the shoulder "come on Ziver you can see her again soon" she didn't listen she just stared at her daughter, it was only when Tony got up and crouched down next to her stroking her cheek, gently pulling her face to look at him, "Zee" he whispered, she lifted her eyes to look into his, greenie gold ones, "come on" he said softly, crying gently she slowly pulled herself to her feet and hugged her husband, slowly they were taken back to the elevator and then back to Tony's room, she refused to go back to her own room, instead she hugged the father of her child, the only one who would be in the exact same pain as her "Tony" she sobbed "why her, why our Tali, she was so brave she did not deserve that bullet"

"hush Zee, I know, I don't understand either, she did not deserve that bullet, I wish it had been me Zee, it should have been me, I am her father I am meant to protect her, keep her safe and take chances for her, oh Zee it should have been me" he had his own tears running down his cheeks now and now he had let out that guilt he had been trying not to show he felt it, he felt the guilt now it was out. He remembered her words, those words that meant so much to him, as he had held her the day before her supposed to be death, when he had told her pretty much what he had just told Ziva

'Daddy, you will always be my hero'

He let out a sob and tightened his grip around his wife, it took him a few minutes to bring himself back under control and when he was and he had taken a few deep breaths he began to try and comfort Ziva again, he was the man of the house, always there for his girls, he was their rock, their anchor, he had to be the one to keep them steady. "it is going to be ok Zee I promise you, Tali is going to be fine, and do you know how I know that" he felt her shake her head "because she is a little you and you are the strongest person I know, you don't give up ever and neither will she" Ziva hugged him closer, she seemed to be bringing her tears back under control now.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

They stayed there together eventually Ziva fell asleep in his arms, when the doctors came back to try and take her to her own room, he snarled at them to leave her and that she was fine, Gibbs and the rest of the team had been forced to go to work, but Gibbs came back and heard Tony trying to make the doctors let Ziva stay with him "please" he said "you said she is fine and that she is being released tomorrow and she is finally asleep" the doctors conferred for a few minutes before probably remembering what they had been told about Ziva and realising she would probably kill them if they tried to make her leave. Once they had left Gibbs came in "hey boss" Tony said "what are you doing here" "work is over Tony, I came to check on you before I went home, you know you really should try and stay in the doctors good books, they are the ones in charge of your pain medication.

Tony stroked hair out of Ziva's face "I would rather have her here, relaxed and happy than pain meds" Gibbs smiled "the doctors are releasing Ziva tomorrow huh" he said "yeah" Tony said "but she is gonna stay here for a bit, I get out in a couple of days, I don't want her to go home to an empty house" Gibbs nodded, "well" he said regretfully "I am exhausted so I am off home, get some sleep DiNozzo" he clapped his agent on the shoulder before walking out, he decided to go home, but he didn't go to bed, he went down stairs and began to work on his boat, he had started this one after finishing his other one Kelly, he hadn't built any until Tali had been about 5, he was working on it a lot more slowly than his others but it was nearly finished.

He carefully worked on it sanding it down thinking about the case, but as he worked another memory of Tali flashed before his eyes.

Tali aged 6 sitting on the step of his basement watching him work, sanding the beams into the correct shape, Tony and Ziva had been caught in traffic on the way home from an interview so he had told them to pick Tali up from his house, she watched her head to one side slightly like her mother when she tried to figure something in the English language out 'uncle Gibbs, why do you build your boat in your basement' she asked 'so even when it is raining I can work on it because I wont get wet' he told her, she frowned 'how do you get it out' she asked, he looked up at her and smiled 'that is a secret' he said.

She watched him for a little bit longer before jumping down and clambering into the boat watching him work 'do you want to help sweetie' he offered, her face lit up and she nodded and he carefully stood her on a upturned bucket and handed her the sander, then he carefully place his larger rough hands over her small soft ones, he carefully began to sand with her, smiling at her wide eyes and big grin, she continued to stand there allowing him to guide her hands up and down the beam until her parents arrived.

At first she hadn't even noticed them, she had been to engrossed in helping, it was only when Tony had said 'please no not another boat Gibbs' with a smile on his face that she noticed 'daddy' she had exclaimed, Gibbs carefully lifted her off the bucket and set her on the ground so she could run over, Tony scooped her up to give her a hug, 'wow look at you covered in sawdust' he commented 'daddy I been helping' she said proudly making Tony and Ziva smile 'I can see that, what are you building princess' he asked 'a boat' she said proud of what she was making 'wow aren't you a big girl' he said before setting her down 'go thank uncle Gibbs for looking after you' she ran over and Gibbs set down his tool to pick her up so she could give him a sloppy kiss on the cheek 'thank you uncle Gibbs for looking after me and letting me build your boat' he chuckled 'any time sweetheart' he set her down and nodded at Tony 'thanks boss' he said as Ziva scooped her up murmuring to her in Hebrew gently 'any time Tony, I enjoyed having her help'

He watched the family mover up the stairs and Tali had finally realised how tired she was, was leaning her head on her mommy's shoulder as she was carried up the stairs, she looked down at her uncle and waved sleepily, and with a smile he waved back.

He looked at the beam that they had stood and sanded that night, after that she had often come to his house if her parents were running late or they wanted to go on a date, she was intrigued by how he built it and once the sanding was done and they moved on to the more fiddly jobs she was happy to sit and chatter to him and hand him his tools.

Together he and Tali had built this boat; he had made a lot of things for her including her crib in which he had engraved her name into the side. He smiled as he looked at it, after years of work it would be finished soon, he hoped.

XOXOXOXOXO

He woke up lying on the boat, he groaned, and then pulled himself to his feet, he showered quickly before grabbing some clothes and heading to the hospital, Tony and Ziva were not in their room, and he didn't need many guesses to guess where they would be.

He went to ICU and sure enough he found them with Tali, they were talking to her gently willing her to pull through, he listened as Tony talked "hey ninja" he was saying softly "I love you, and I am so proud of you, I cant believe how lucky I am to have a daughter as brilliant and as wonderful as you, you really are the best, I was scared when I learned I was going to be a father, I mean ask anyone I am not the most responsible person you will meet now am I " he smiled and stroked Tali's cheek "but when I first held you after you were born, I wasn't scared any more, it was as though all my fears were wiped away, I wasn't scared, I was proud, proud that I had the most beautiful daughter on the planet, and it has been an honour to watch you grow up and a privilege to be your father"

He paused "when we were in that cell you told me something, something that meant so much to me you don't understand how much it meant to me ninja, you told me I was your hero, I am proud to be your hero baby girl and I am just sorry that I didn't protect you like a hero should" he stopped then and his grip around Ziva tightened, she had tears running down her cheeks, but not tears of pain, they were tears of happiness and love, she leaned against her husband before whispering to their daughter "I was scared when I realised I was pregnant Tali, I wasn't scared of being a mom though, I was scared of letting my child down, I was scared that I would not be able to cope with having a child, but you changed my fears, you were perfect, a child made for us, and you cant let go now tateleh, I cant loose you, I have lost so many people in my past I would not be able to cope with loosing you too, my darling"

Their pleas to their daughter were so loving and so heart felt it brought tears to his eyes, he slipped in then and greeted them "no change" he asked with a heavy heart, they shook their heads "but she seems to be getting stronger" Tony said hopefully "so maybe, maybe soon" he nodded and then noticed Ziva was wearing jeans and a loose top "you been discharged Ziver" he asked, she nodded "at 0900" she said "but I am staying here" she added almost defiantly, "I would expect nothing less he said with a smile.

He looked over at Tony and was surprised to see that he was frowning, "what is wrong DiNozzo" he asked but Tony put a finger to his lips, they all fell into silence and listened, that was when they heard it;

Rasping breath in, rattling breath out

They all looked at the girl in the bed, the pump that was previously forcing air in and out of her lungs was not still, the beeping on the monitors became louder

Rasping breath in, rattling breath out

Again and again, this happened and they stared, all of them with tears in their eyes as, Tali fought, forcing herself to breathe, battling to survive "oh my god" Ziva whispered "Tali, you are doing it" she sobbed in delight "that is it tateleh you are doing it don't stop now" Tony was hugging her, tears of joy running down his face.

Gibbs shouted for Dr Stevens, who came running along with some nurses, they all stared in amazement "oh my" one nurse breathed "I cant believe it, she has done it" they all ran over and began to check her over, Tony and Ziva moved out of the way, both now crying with delight, Dr Stevens looked at them and then beckoned to them, "come call her talk to her see if you can wake her" instantly they were there calling out to her, telling her how much they missed her and wanted her back, Gibbs stared at his goddaughter's face, his eyes widened as he saw her eyes lids flicker briefly.

It is getting harder and harder to fight, I am so tired, it would be nice to just stop fighting, to relax, to let go, but a part of me screams 'no Tali you have to fight, not for you for your family' yes I need to fight for Ima and Aba, I manage to pull air into my lungs once, twice and then exhausted I cannot continue and it is done for me, I know that I have to do it myself though so I keep on trying.

I can hear people talking to me, my Ima and my Aba, they are telling me how much they love me and how proud they are of me, I can't let them down. There are other people who care for me too, Uncle Gibbs, Uncle McGee and Aunt Abby and Grandpa Ducky too, they all want me to pull though, I am hurting them while I lie here. I here my Ima say 'I cannot loose you, I have lost so many people in my past, I would not be able to cope with loosing you to my darling' I don't want to cause her pain she is my Ima, my mom.

I have fresh determination now, I pull air in and force it out, again, and again and again, I focus solely on that in, out, in, out, until it comes naturally to me suddenly, suddenly I hear my mom sobbing 'Tali you are doing it, that is it tateleh you are doing it don't stop now' I don't stop, I continue to make sure I breathe, I hear people moving around and then my parents again 'Tali' my dad says 'hey ninja can you hear us, if you can it is time to wake up now' 'come on' my mother says desperately 'you are doing so well baby girl it is time to wake up and get back on the donkey'

I sighed and tried to open my eyes still my mom hadn't got that one, she really needed to learn that one at least.

'The term is get back on the horse Ima'

I forced my eyes open

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