Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Once the elevator doors closed behind them, he hit the emergency switch and turned to her. She kept her gaze on the doors, trying hard to not make eye contact. "You requested this assignment, Ziva?" She glanced up at him, nodding, as he took the folder from her hands and stepped closer.

"I did."

"Besides Tim being Asher's birth father-"

She swallowed. "I needed to get away from Mossad for awhile." A moment passed, as she glanced at him before turning her gaze back to the door. Emotion began to well in her voice as she spoke of the little boy that had brought her so much happiness. "I needed... to get Asher away from the violence; I grew up around that, and it... it nearly destroyed me." She met his gaze. "And Tim... and Asher..." She bit her lip. "They saved me. They do not know it, but they did; they both did. Tim gave me a precious gift... what Ari said that night was true." She sniffled, struggling to remain in control.

"Asher has always been my first priority. I could... I could not let my son see the same violence. I could... I could not allow him to be... shaped as I was. I needed my son to be safe, because he was not safe in Israel. And he never would be. But here..." She swallowed. "Here, with Tim... with his father... he is. Because Tim has made it very clear, that he will do all he can to protect Asher." She reached up, quickly grasping her necklace. "I knew that the only way to get my son out of Israel and away from the violence, was to come to America; come to America, and find Tim, and... and make a life with him, and give our son the family neither Tim nor I ever got. I knew that America was the safest place I could think of."

"You believe what Ari said about your father-"

"No." She shook her head, meeting his gaze. "Maybe." She sighed, swallowing. "Yes."

Gibbs stepped closer, and she turned her gaze back to the doors, unable to hide the tears in her eyes. "Your brother was a Svengali, Ziva. No matter what good he did delivering your son- Tim's son- he was still a Svengali." She choked on a sob, the tears evident in her voice.

"Like father, like son."

"Does Mossad know you killed Ari-"

"No. They believe your report. Only you and I and Tim know the truth. For that, I thank you."

Gibbs nodded, understanding that she had told Tim because she had needed him at that moment, after the bullet pierced her brother's skull. "I trust you, you know that. But when we leave this elevator-"

"You start kicking my butt." He sighed.

"I don't kick butt." He hit the emergency switch before lightly tapping the back of her head. She stared at him, surprised, and he smiled at her. By the time the exited, Asher had come back downstairs with more drawings for Tim's desk, and was happily chatting with his father about something- something Tim obviously had no idea about, but was just going along to appease his son- as he tacked drawing to the corkboard. "Ms. David will be with us for a while."

"Don't you mean permanently since she's living with McDaddy over here?" Tony asked, chuckling as he watched Tim gently rub his son's hand; the boy had accidently tacked his thumb instead of the paper, and it stung. Tim, acting on pure instinct, blew gently on the sore skin before pressing a kiss to it, making the little boy smile. Ziva felt her heart flip as she watched Asher climb onto his father's lap, but he immediately got up and rushed to his mother when he noticed her step back into the bullpen.

"Ima!" He hopped off Tim's lap, rushing to his mother, who scooped him up and settled him on her hip with a smile. "I tacked my thumb, and Abba made it better." Her eyes widened in mock surprise as she glanced at Tim.

"He did?" Asher nodded. "Did you tell him thank you?" The boy nodded again. "Good." Then, she pressed a kiss to his head before setting him back on the floor. "Now, go back upstairs with Jenny, and Abba and I will see you soon." The boy did as told, passing Gibbs before stopping.

"Toda, Mr. Gibbs, for my desk!" The older man chuckled, nodding silently as the boy rushed upstairs. Tim sighed and sat back in his chair.

"He is quite the ball of energy." Ziva chuckled.

"Could you imagine having three of them? Driving you both up the wall." Tony asked, causing Tim and Ziva to share a startled glance.

"Why would we drive up a wall?" She asked, going towards the desk directly across form Tony's. Gibbs grabbed the back of her bag, stopping her.

"It's an expression, Ziva." Tony replied.

"That's Kate's desk. Yours is down at the end." She sighed as Gibbs pushed her towards Tim. She stopped at Tim's desk, leaning over it.

"He is a tough one to read." Tim chuckled, reaching out and laying a hand on hers.

"You'll find that most NCIS Agents are like that, Ziva; it's our training." One slender eyebrow rose.

"Is that a fact, Tim?" She leaned closer, meeting his gaze.

"Mmhmm. We never let other people know what we're thinking." She looked him quickly up and down, before taking his hand and pushing the sleeve up, exposing the tattoo for their son on his wrist. Gently pressing a soft kiss to the tattoo, she met his gaze, whispering,

"Right now, you are thinking of doing Page Fifty-seven with me." He raised an eyebrow, impressed.

"And how exactly-"

"I've read it, too, Tim. And I know you." She whispered, leaning close and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. He reached up, taking her chin in his hand and pulling her closer.

"So, you think we should... stop taking it slow?" She shrugged, even as he leaned over to whisper, "Because I'm all for that." He pressed a kiss to her head, before moving to kiss the space beneath her ear. She giggled, pushing him away with a look.

"Tim, we agreed to take it slow. For Asher, remember?"

"You can be a real killjoy sometimes, you know that?" She snorted, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"I thought that was one of the things you liked about me." She replied, moving away from his desk and dropping her things at the desk behind the partition next to his.