Thank you for all of the alerts, I'm glad to see there is interest! If you haven't read my story "Sins of the Father," now would be a good time to check it out (go ahead, we'll wait…). It's not absolutely necessary, but it's short and will give you the background of the Ziva/Eli relationship as it stands since this is set before Enemies Foreign/Domestic.

"It is okay now, metuka sheli. All will be okay."

Nobody in the bullpen moved for over a minute. They were all too afraid to jar this strange and surreal moment; any disturbance ran the risk that the apparition of this woman - of Ziva's sister - may vanish like a mirage in the desert. Gibbs and Tim exchanged a long look, silently seeking answers from one another that neither had. Tony's eyes, however, were focused on the tracks of tears that ran down Ziva's cheeks as she murmured foreign words. Whatever she was saying was repetitive, and he sensed it was spoken for the comfort of both women.

Gibbs was the first to risk breaking the silence, taking a tentative step towards them. "Ziver, why don't you two go to the conference room," he suggested quietly, placing a hand to Ziva's back. She nodded, following Gibbs but keeping a protective arm wrapped around the shoulders of the shaking and red-eyed girl.

Tony and Tim stared after them, mouths gaping. "What the hell…" Tim murmured after a long moment, his voice distant. Tony unfroze suddenly, grabbing McGee by the back of the shirt collar and dragging him unceremoniously towards his desk.

"Hey!" He yelled indignantly. "Knock it off!"

Tony pushed Tim into his chair and pointed to the screen. "Full background on Natalia Argandoña, RIGHT now Probie," he growled. McGee stared at him, eyes narrowing.

"You don't believe her?"

Tony scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to sort through the jumble that was his thoughts.

"I want to be damn sure that no one is screwing with Ziva."

"Tony…you noticed the second she walked in, same as me and same as Gibbs. She looks so much like Ziva it's uncanny…"

Tony glared at him, getting in his face. "Do it now McGee," he said through gritted teeth, storming back over to his desk. Gibbs came thundering back into sight a moment later, his movements stiff and agitated.

"McGee!" He bellowed. "I want everything…"

"I can find on Natalia Argandoña," McGee finished. "Tony has already set me on it boss."

Gibbs and Tony exchanged a long, hard look that conveyed they were both on the same page. Ziva would not recover if this turned out to be some kind of ruse.

"Didn't Ziva ever see her sister's body after she was supposedly killed?" Gibbs questioned the room at large.

"No," Tony supplied from his desk. "She was on assignment with Ari in Morocco when her father called with the news…" He trailed off as he met Gibbs' stare again. "Eli…do you want me to call and try to…?"

Gibbs shook his head. "That's a call Ziva will want to make. Let's see what we can find on our own."

For an immeasurable space of time, speaking remained impossible as the two women simple held on to each other. Ziva managed to reign in her own emotions long before Talia had a handle on hers.

"How are you alive Zizi?" Talia finally asked, pulling away from her sister's embrace.

Ziva raised an eyebrow, wiping a hand across Talia's wet cheeks. "I was about to ask you the same question! Eli told me that you died in a bombing in Israel."

Talia's brow furrowed and she cocked her head to the side in a way so familiar that Ziva had to choke back another wave of memories. She spoke slowly, her eyes unfocused as she recalled the painfully clear memory.

"I was reading outside a cafe in Jaffa when a bomb went off. I woke up in a private hospital five days later, badly injured but alive. I asked for you; I cried and asked papa why he didn't bring you home for me. He…he told me that you and Ari were killed in Morocco," she sniffled, and Ziva felt a knot tighten in her stomach.

"Abba said that his enemies were targeting his children – that they set the bomb to kill me and I survived only by luck... but you and Ari were not so lucky. I cried Ziva…I cried for days and days," she broke off, and Ziva squeezed her hand tightly. "He told me that I was not safe; that I would never be as long as I was the daughter of Deputy Director David. He told me that the only way to keep me safe was for me to leave Israel and my past forever. He set up my new identity as Natalia Argandoña and sent me to boarding school in London. He has not contacted me once in all these years. He gave up his last child to protect me…or so I thought…" Her brow crinkled again, and she looked troubled, as if a new thought had occurred to her. "Does...does papa know that you're alive? What about Ari?"

Ziva swallowed hard. There were countless implications racing through her mind at her sister's words. And she needed more time and a calmer head to sort through it all. She sighed and struggled to provide at least a simple answer to the questions posed to her. "He never thought Ari and I were dead. We finished our mission in Morocco and returned only to find our beloved sister murdered and already buried."

She closed her eyes, fighting the storm of emotions once more. "I do not know what is going on here, Tali," she said softly, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her sister's ear. "But I do know that we will figure it out together…"

When Tony entered the room half an hour later, she was leaning against the conference table; the weight of the world obviously resting on her shoulders. Tali had gone a second time that afternoon to splash water on her face, and Tony took the opportunity to check on his partner.

"Hey," he said softly. Convention would dictate that he ask how she was doing, but their partnership was anything but conventional. Besides, the tension radiating through her shoulders clearly told him she was a hairsbreadth from losing it.

Ziva must have sensed his musings. "I am fine, Tony," she said stubbornly. She was staring intently at one of the leather chairs on the far side of the table, and Tony had to wonder whom or what she was seeing there. She took a deep breath then, rocking gently back and forth as if she wasn't quite sure of her next move. Finally she stood up straight, digging her cell phone from her pocket. "Or at least I will be once I get my answers."

Tony cleared his throat as she punched angrily at the buttons and then held out the folder in his hands. "Here's everything we could find on Natalia Argandoña. Chilean, injured in a car crash when she was sixteen that killed her wealthy parents. Sent to boarding school in London. The cover is nearly impeccable, but McGee was able to ferret out a few inconsistencies in her records that indicate she's telling you the truth."

Ziva paused in her dialing to stare up at him. "You ran the background already?" She asked, her surprised expression giving no indication if she was appreciative or furious.

Tony bobbed his head once. "I mean, I know you would obviously know if she was lying or something, but we figured you would want all the info as soon as possible…" he offered awkwardly.

The indecipherable expression softened as her eyes warmed and a ghost of a smile flashed on her lips. She patted his cheek, twice. "You are a good partner Tony," she whispered before bringing the cellphone up to her ear.

The phone rang several times before someone answered.

"It's me," Ziva said simply in Hebrew, listening to a loud cough on the other end of the line.

"Ziva? What is wrong? Why are you calling me at three in the…"

"Tali," Ziva said simply, listening carefully for any changes in his breathing.

"What about Talia?" Eli asked, his voice steady. Had she not been trained by the best – by Eli himself – she would not have noticed the cautious undertone. "You are missing your sister?"

"I have missed Tali for seven years," Ziva said coldly, trying desperately to control her voice. "But not anymore, for she is in this very building!"

There was complete silence on the other end of the line. She could almost hear the wheels turning in his head as he quickly scanned for a way to maintain the lie. When none was found, she heard him heave himself out of bed and give a little bitter chuckle.

"How in the world did you find her?" He asked; mildly curious. Her blood boiled over instantly, rage pounding a fast tempo in her ears. She had not really expected an apology or contrition, but it stung nonetheless to have him carry on as if he had told harmless lie.

"THAT IS ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY!" She screamed into the phone. Tony grimaced, understanding the tone if not the language. He turned to look out the window, not wanting to feel like he was eavesdropping, but also not willing to leave her alone right now.

"Ziva, Tali was still an innocent and naive child. She was not cut from the same cloth as you and Ari," he said in a maddeningly calm and patronizing voice. Ziva bit back the retort that sprung to her lips that she and her brother were molded into killers by him. "After the bombing nearly killed her, it seemed sensible to remove her from the violence," he continued to explain matter-of-factly.

Even in her near blinding rage, the analytical part of Ziva had to acquiesce to that logic. She had spent countless dark hours over the years wondering why they had not done more to shield her - the youngest and most innocent among them - from the violence that consumed their family. But she would not let him rationalize the entire lie based on this one grain of truth. There was another side to the story that Eli would still have to explain; the true reason for her nearly uncontrollable anger.

"But why did you lie to us? You don't think we would have agreed to protect her by letting her go? It would have been better than believing she had died so horrifically!" Ziva countered. Abrupt silence greeted her, and for the space of just a few small seconds, she heard the truth in her father pause.

The truth. It rose within her, slowly at first, but with the building inevitability of an avalanche. She griped tightly at the chair in front of her and struggled to take a deep breath. "It was not just about Tali…" Ziva whispered, choking on the words. "You told me… my sister…was dead to make me a better soldier: focused, bloodthirsty. You TOLD me to continue in the fight that had claimed the life of the person I loved most in the WORLD!"

Her voice, like the torrent of emotions inside of her, was rising as she screamed into the phone. She could so clearly picture her father's face the first time she had seen him after Tali's supposed death. She could hear his words as he stoked the fire and anger and pain within her until she threw herself back into Kidon training with unrivaled focus and blind determination.

"I did what I had to do," Eli said, his voice suddenly cold and hard. She really shouldn't have expected him to further justify his actions; in Eli's mind, he was always above reproach. "I make no apologies for the lives we protected Ziva, including -"

The call cut off abruptly and Ziva was suddenly staring down at the phone with no conscious memory of snapping it closed. She tried to stop the short and desperate gasps that were emanating from her, but something was clawing up her throat. She let out a scream of fury, pulling her arm back and hurling the phone across the room. It smashed into the wall, cracking loudly, and fell to the floor in pieces. That felt good. So she pushed the chair out of her way, picking up a water glass from the table and repeated the action.

Tony's arms were around her from behind before the tinkling of shattering glass stopped. "Ziva," he whispered into her ear. She struggled against him, elbowing him in the gut but he held his grip. She turned towards him, and Tony knew that he would be down on the ground in a second flat, but he still refused to let go. She glared up into his eyes and he braced for the coming takedown, but instead she crumpled against him and let out another sob.

Tony wrapped his arms tighter around her while silently cursing Eli David to the deepest circle of hell. He pressed his lips to the top of her head and heard her repeating the same words.

"My fault. All my fault."

"Zizi!" Tali's voice called worriedly as she reentered the room with McGee and Gibbs trailing behind. Ziva pulled back abruptly from Tony's arms, taking a deep breath as Talia's hand came up to touch her cheek. Tony recognized that Ziva wasn't nearly done with her breakdown, but she was already dragging her brave mask back into place in light of her sister's worried face.

"What happened?"

"It is too much for today, sheli," Ziva said hoarsely, shaking her head. "I am sorry, there are countless more things to say and do and ask…but not right now…"

"Okay," Talia nodded, though still obviously concerned. "I have my sister back; for that alone I'm grateful."

Ziva gave her a small smile, kissing her forehead. "You look exhausted. You will stay with me, of course…"

"Talia," Gibbs interjected quietly. "After all that's happened, we can't forget that you witnessed a murder..."

Talia's eyes grew wide as she gasped. "I'm a horrible person! I all but forgot about poor Tomas."

"Understandable," Gibbs offered with a gentle smile. "But even so, until we catch the men responsible, you need protection. One of the four of us will be with you at all times. Ziver, why don't you and Tony take her by the hotel to get her things."

Ziva nodded once. "Thank you Gibbs."

Gibbs tossed the car keys to Tony, but Ziva intercepted them midair. Even Talia looked concerned.

"I certainly hope the years have made you a better driver," she joked, and Ziva laughed, genuinely.

"She looks like you," Tony whispered, taking a long sip of his coffee.

"She is the best of me in beauty and spirit." Ziva smiled softly, gazing into the living room at the sleeping form. They had spoken more upon arriving home and well into the night, but they were simple and easy questions, and Talia did most of the talking. Where was she going to school? (Just finished a summer program at NYU) What was she studying? (literature and publishing) Ziva had masterfully steered the conversation and deflected any difficult questions with the skill of a trained investigator. Despite her ordeal the night before and the sheer emotional exhaustion of the day, it was after ten before Talia finally succumbed to sleep mid-sentence.

Tony pushed a reheated cup of jasmine tea into Ziva's hands and steered her back into the kitchen.

"So what now?" Tony asked, watching her face carefully as she sank into a chair, legs folding beneath her. Her brow furrowed and she frowned slightly.

"I do not know Tony. I have never felt so overwhelmed and out of control in my entire life. How do I explain everything to her? She is still so optimistic and naïve. I am relieved to find her so…so unchanged after all these years. But what about me? How do I tell her the monsters that her family became?"

"You're no monster, Ziva," Tony corrected firmly, leaning forward. His hand twitched out from his cup and resting on the table a few inches from hers.

"The horrible things I have done and seen then," she shrugged, as if this were the same thing. "And what of Eli and Ari? How do I even begin to explain that to her…"

Tony sighed, looking down as he tapped his index finger gently on the back of her hand. "You'll figure out a way, Ziva, you always do, and you don't have to go it alone. We're here to help you. Besides, at the end of the day, your sister is alive and sleeping in the other room."

Ziva smiled at him again and nodded. "Toda, Tony."

I recognize Ziva is a little OOC in her emotions here, but that is intentional. I believe a fair chunk of Ziva's emotional distance came on the heels of Talia's death, so I'm enjoying the opportunity to explore how this would throw her for a loop.

Also, if you are curious at all how I see Talia in my head, type "Lily Collins" into google images and check out the picture of the actress in the gilded chair and the one with tousled hair looking over her left shoulder. For whatever reason, I see a little Ziva in her.

Thanks as always for reading and please leave a note!