Chapter Six

Tali quietly crept out of her room, her backpack slung over her shoulder and her black converse in hand. She padded down the hallway and set her shoes and bag down by the door. Then turned around, walked through the kitchen, then to the left when she got to the garage door, and entered the basement. Before she could leave she needed money, which meant that she was going to have to use her college savings. Ever since Tali had started getting an allowance her mom had ingrained in her head the importance of saving money, and supporting yourself, blah, blah, blah. Anyways, this meant that she had managed to save up close to 800 dollars that was sitting in a shoe box in a safe in the basement.

Tali hopped off the last step, walked over to the old work bench the safe was sitting on and dialed in the combination. The locked clicked open and she pulled the door open, shuffling the contents of the safe around until she found the shoe box. Tali took the cash out of the box, folded it in half, and wrapped a rubber band around it, placing it in her pocket until she put it in her bag upstairs. She put the box back in the safe and was about to close it back up when something caught her eye.

Shoved to the side of the safe was a small booklet that appeared to be a photo album. Curious Tali took it out. It was a simple, small, black photo album, not too interesting from the outside anyways. She opened it up and studied the first picture. It was of a group of people in what looked like an office building. On the very left were her mom and dad-no she couldn't deal with that yet, she couldn't picture him as her dad, not yet. Tali shook her head continuing to study the picture. Her mom was grinning widely, this was the happiest she had ever seen her and Mr. D's arm was resting on her mom's shoulders his smile was huge as well. Tali continued down the line. Beside her parents was another couple, and a rather odd couple at that. The man was thin and lanky, his arm was around the waist of a very odd looking woman. She had jet black hair pulled up into to pigtails, tattoos here and there, a black shirt and plaid mini-skirt lay beneath a white lab coat and she had on the tallest boots Tali had ever seen. Next was an older man, his smile wasn't as broad as the others but it was still there. He too wore a lab coat and the ID hanging from his pocket read Dr. Mallard, her eyes traveled back to the other woman but her ID was flipped backwards. Next to Dr. Mallard was a middle-aged gray-haired man, his smile was barely there and it appeared that he would rather not be wasting his time with a group picture. Then last in the group was a red-haired woman, she had on a small smile and by the looks of her suit and the way she held herself in the picture she was in charge.

Tali carefully slid the pictured out of the album, and flipped it over. Her mom had written on the back as usual. Me, Tony, McGee, Abby, Ducky, Gibbs and Director Sheppard (NCIS).

"NCIS?" Tali said aloud. "What's that?"

She put the picture in her pocket, then put the album back inside the safe. After closing the door tight, Tali headed back upstairs to her room and logged onto her laptop. She pulled up the internet and typed NCIS into the search box on her Google homepage. Several websites popped up and she clicked on one that looked the most reliable. On the homepage under the four letters was Naval Criminal Investigative Services, explaining the name. After reading more she found out that it was a federal agency in Washington D.C. and that the woman in the picture Tali had found in the safe was still the director there. Tali glanced back at the photo on her desk then back to the screen, realization slapping her in the face. Her mom and Mr. D had been federal agents, just one more thing her mom had decided to keep from her. Anger coursed through her once more and Tali closed her laptop, left her room and came to stand in front of the door. She slipped her shoes on and grabbed a light jacket off the coat rack by the door. Tali slung her book bag over her shoulders and walked out the door, shutting it carefully and quietly. Once outside in the pitch black night, she walked down the sidewalk with purpose towards the bus stop a couple blocks away.

Four hours later Tali had arrived at her destination, after taking a bus to the airport she got on a Greyhound bus that took her to Washington D.C. and she was now currently standing inside an elevator inside NCIS. Though when she had taken a taxi to NCIS and requested to see the director she had stirred up some things and was now being accompanied to the director's office by a security guard. Tali glanced around the elevator. She stood towards the back with the middle-aged security guard, while there was an older gray- haired man in front of them and a woman about the same age as the guard beside him. They stopped on the third floor and the woman got off. The man took a swig of his coffee and he seemed familiar, Tali tried to get a better look at him. She attempted slyness as she studied him, after bending down to 'tie her shoe' she stood up a little bit closer to him than she had previously been standing. As she studied his face the picture she had found in the safe, which was sitting in the back pocket of her jeans, flashed through her mind and she recognized him.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. The man, who at this point she had figured to be Gibbs, dashed out of the elevator only pausing momentarily to look at the same area where Tali realized the pictured had been taken. He took the steps beside this area two at a time until he had reached the top platform and entered an office. Tali and her guard took the same route albeit a bit slower up to the director's office. Once inside the guard uttered a few words to the secretary and motioned for Tali to take a seat in one of the chairs pushed up against the wall. She tapped her foot in anticipation, trying to figure out exactly what she was going to say when she did get to see the director.

A Few Seconds Earlier

Gibbs entered the familiar office and passed the secretary ignoring her protests that he couldn't see the director, he had heard it hundreds of times before so he continued into the director's office. It took Jenny a moment to realize who had entered her office but when she had her face was a mix of shock and confusion.

"Gibbs? What are you-where have you been?" She asked.

"That doesn't matter, I need to talk to you about McGee and Abby I think that…"

"Doesn't matter?" she asked incredulously. "Jethro, you've been gone for over a decade and you think it doesn't matter?"

"Not compared to what I've found out." Jenny stared back at him, a look he had gotten many times before. "Fine Jen, if it's that important I've been pretty much all over the country trying to figure out where Abby and McGee are."

"What are you talking about? Jethro, Abby and McGee are dead. There was a bomb, there were bodies." Tears sprung up in her eyes.

"Bodies that were unrecognizable, bodies that we all assumed were them." He countered. "Jen, I've got proof, please would you just…"

He was interrupted as her secretary's voice came over the phone's intercom. "Director, there is a Miss David here to see you."

Gibbs' head snapped up as did Jenny's. Could it really be her? Gibbs thought.

"Send her in." she replied shooting Gibbs a look of surprise and confusion.

They both stared at the door waiting for it to open. Then it did and the person that came through the door was not who Gibbs had expected at all. As he studied the teenage girl, he remembered her from the elevator and as he looked at her he began to see familiar traits in her from two agents he had known well 14 years ago. Her chocolate brown eyes, the curly, sandy brown hair, the nervous look in her eyes, it was all familiar. Gibbs glanced back at Jenny but she was focused on the girl.

"Hello Miss David, what can I…"

"My name's Tali." She interrupted, fidgeting nervously with her hands. "And I need-I mean I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me."

Gibbs caught Jenny's eye and the two shared a look of confusion. "I can try Tali. What questions do you need me to answer?" she replied hesitantly.

Tali pulled something out of her back pocket, walked it up to the desk and laid it in front of the director. Gibbs leaned forward, looked at the photo she had placed on the desk, and then turned to face Tali.

"Where did you get that?" He could tell she was confused and scared, so he tried to ask as gently as he could.

"It's my mom's. I hadn't seen it until last night, after my mom finally decided to tell me who my father is." She paused leaning over the desk, pointing to Ziva and Tony. "Those are my parents, and I want to know everything about them."

A/N: Well, how'd ya like it? Send me a review!