Eli Talks to Ziva (Part 2)

Tony glanced at Ziva. She was definitely angry and had definitely sensed that Eli was trying, again to manipulate her. Tony was proud of her for standing up for herself and subconsciously stepped closer to her.

Gibbs was also staring at Ziva, not having expected such a strong reaction from her and a strong emotional response in the face of her father, who was Mossad and had trained her to hide away all emotions from every situation. He was proud of Ziva and he had a crooked half-smile placed on his face.

Eli, however, was taken aback by his daughter's words; so much so that he took a step back from the screen and his face showed the shock that he was feeling; which was a rare sight to see any emotions on his face. He looked at the two, studying them closely. They were standing very close together. Their hands were linked by they were leaning just slightly toward one another and he hadn't failed to notice Tony's protective step toward her and Gibbs' smirk at her tone with her father and the way she suddenly had confidence with Tony standing by her side.

Eli noted to himself that Ziva and Tony had the same ideas in their heads. They were going to get their way no matter what. He thought they were acting like a couple of spoiled children with this attitude, but he could see how much they depended on each other and he was disappointed in Ziva, because he had trained her to never rely on anyone other than herself.

"I need to ask you, Ziva. What do you see in the future with this man?" Eli asked, after composing his thoughts, finally.

Ziva looked a little shocked at the question, but didn't hesitate to answer it. "Happiness," she replied wistfully. She glanced sideways at Tony, getting lost in his gaze for a few moments and smiling quietly to herself, before allowing her eyes to return to her father on the screen in front of them. "I see complete happiness. I want to spend the rest of my life him and someday have his children."

Eli sighed heavily and looked down for a moment as he thought. He couldn't deny his daughter this happiness after all he had put her through. He really wanted to deny her the happiness she had right now, but he realized that he was losing this battle with two that were stubborn against him and Gibbs who was backing them. There was no way he was going to win this. He had already tried to manipulate her out of it and that hadn't worked.

But, Ziva wasn't done speaking. As soon as Eli's eyes returned to her, she stepped forward, pulling Tony along with her and standing closer to the image of her father shown on the screen.

"My decision is mine alone, Abba," she continued quietly, squeezing Tony's hand as she spoke, knowing that her decision would be worthless without Tony making the same decisions in regards to her. "They are not your decisions. They are not Gibbs' decisions and he was graceful enough to allow us to continue working together as we always have when we told him about what was going on between us…."

"You are allowing this Gibbs?" Eli asked. "You are allowing them to work on the same team in a dangerous field while they are like this and being so protective of one another. Are you insane?"

"Maybe," Gibbs said with a shrug. "They still get the job done better than any other pairing I've ever seen. And, honestly, I've been around too long to not have seen many pairings or many inter-office relationships."

"I am not done," Ziva announced, calling the attention back to herself, so she could finish telling her father off for the day. "As I was saying, this is my decision. Abba, if I am being completely honest with you, any man that you do not like is probably a good man for me, since the ones that you have liked for me so far have ended up being untrustworthy and traitorous men who try to control and abuse me the way you always did. I trust Tony. I trust him with everything! I love Tony and would not want to live without him as an essential part of my life!"

Eli's jaw dropped as he looked at Ziva and heard what she was saying. It took a moment, but you could literally see his face changing as her words sank in. He went from insulted, to hurt, to understanding in a matter of seconds.

"Fine," he said looking straight at Tony. "Fine, that was all," he added, looking at Ziva.

Eli hung up on his end and there was completely silence in MTAC for a moment as they stared at the blank screen, temporarily lost in their own thoughts.

Tony was glad that it had worked out in his favor, and although it wasn't a blessing, exactly, it was better than a flat out refusal. It was better than anything he had hoped for, which was good for him and Ziva. He was going to accept it one day and everyone knew that.

Gibbs was smiling at the way Eli was squirming while facing Ziva and Tony. They were like a force of nature and nothing to be messed with. Gibbs nearly chuckled as he remembered Ziva's comment about how he was compared with how the men were that he had chosen for Ziva.

Ziva was confused. Why had they been talking in MTAC of there was no case that involved Mossad or came even close to potentially involving Mossad. She wondered if Eli had called them or if they had called Eli. Eli was unhappy, that was sure from his face and his actions. So, Ziva figured it must have been either of them calling. She didn't know why either would call, though, she knew they knew what he had done to her and they were protecting her over and over again.

A/N – So, that went well, I think. Yea! Two chapters in one update, because that conversation was definitely lacking details in my story of "Forbidden". I think I like this version better. Review and let me know what you think.