Sixth Sense

" Zi, would'ya calm down? We've been gone less than a week."

" Tony, how can I possibly remain calm? I am a mother!"

" That's a terrible excuse! Look, Tony's 18, he's smart, he's confident, he's-"

" Very, very like you!"

" ...Okay, fine! Point taken. But still, Abi would keep him in line, surely?"

" I don't know, Tony. I just worry. I have a bad feeling. Like a sixth sense."

" I noticed. Look, we'll get in, they'll be in bed, it's nearly 1 in the morning, everything will be fine. It's not as if they'll have taken down the house or...Oh Lord."

There was silence as the car pulled up the street, to the house on the end. The house that had every light on, and the garage open, and some kind of dance music blaring from inside, with what looked like half the neighbourhood inside.

" You know, everything'll be fine, dear."

Tony winced at her words, watching as she exited the vehicle and slammed the door with a certain malice. He cursed under his breath, turning off the engine and silently praying for his children's welfare. It wasn't that he wasn't angry. It was just that he had been that rebellious teenager, and in their position. That said, his mother hadn't been Ziva. He hadn't even had a mother by that point.

Ziva stormed past several drunken guests and pushed her way into the house, Tony appearing behind her several moments later. The house, in short words, was a mess. Bottles and cans littered the hallway and stairs, purses and clothing lay just about everywhere; it looked as though a tornado had picked up the house, turned it upside down and given it a good shake. Ziva clenched her teeth, taking in the sight, before one beady-eyed, probably most sober, party guest noticed she was there, and quickly pointed it out. There was a quick hush of voices, which quickly spread to the entire house, the music silencing, and all eyes turning on them. In a matter of seconds, a rather red-faced Tony was pushed to the front of the crowd, his eyes quickly avoiding his parents. Ziva took a deep breath, before pointing to the crowd before her.

" By the time I reach 3, I want all of you... OUT OF...MY...HOUSE."

The response was instantaneous, with the party goers quickly crowding to the front door, pushing amongst themselves to ensure that they were not the one left with the angry parents, and the wrath that would ensue. Once she was satisfied the house was empty, at least of drunken teenagers, Ziva slammed the front door shut, rounding on her son, who swayed ever so slightly where he stood.

" Anthony...Jethro...DiNozzo..."

Even Tony shivered slightly at her tone. It was her special 'I-Will-Kill-You' tone, reserved for those special occasions, such as a forgotten wedding anniversary. The use of the middle name too. The kid was going to get it. Junior swallowed, shuffling nervously.

" It was only a couple of people..."

Ziva stared incredulously, waving her hand around at the disorder.

" A couple of people? You had half of your school here!"

" It got sorta out of hand..."

" I'd agree with that!"

In amongst his wife's yelling, and his son's timid replies(he wouldn't intervene unless necessary, Ziva was often better at handling the boy punishment-wise), Tony's sharp mind cottoned on to something. His son hadn't been left alone. His paternal senses tingled, something not settling right with him.

" Another thing, young man, we leave you for a couple of days-"

" Ziva."

" A couple of days and-"

" ZIVA."

" WHAT, Tony?"

Her husband put a finger to her lips, turning to his eldest son, suddenly serious.

" Where is your sister?"

Ziva raised an eyebrow, looking towards his eldest, who mused for a moment, then shrugged.

" She disappeared like, 15 minutes ago? Her and Jamie went ups-"

He suddenly went silent, realising the implications of his words. Ziva's mouth form a small 'O', as Tony let out something between a snort and a feral snarl, turning to climb the stairs, hopping two at a time.

" Oh, did they now."

Ziva closed her eyes, muttering several words in Hebrew, glancing at her son.

" You had better hope, somehow, that your father doesn't find what we both know he's going to find! For your sister's sake!"

Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair.

" I didn't meant it! It just slipped o-"

" DAD, WHAT THE... NO! DAD!"

The bang of a door and several roars from Tony, and a terrified-looking Jamie scrambled down the stairs, hastily pulling a pair of jeans on, as said DiNozzo stormed behind him, fire in his eyes. The teen stumbled long enough to allow Tony to catch up and send him head first out of the door with a rather vicious shove, accompanied by a string of insults. A tearful Abi rushed down the stairs, re-buttoning her blouse, and aimed a hand for her father, screaming at him. Tony was quick enough to grab it, two pairs of identical blue eyes locking, one face tear stained and panicked, the other furious.

" WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?"

" I'M NOT A CHILD, DAD!"

" YOU'RE 16, YOUNG LADY, YOU'LL DO AS I SAY, UNDERSTOOD? I'm sure I made myself clear, HE was not to BE HERE."

" We were only talking-"

" Like hell you were only talking! I wasn't born yesterday!"

" We were doing NOTHING wrong!"

" Last time I checked, you were 16, and little Jimbo was 18. Sex with a minor is illegal, in case you weren't aware. He's damn lucky I'm not marching him down to the station and-"

" We weren't even...! We were doing NOTHING!"

" Wouldn't go quite that far. Ten more minutes, and we'd have seen how that played out."

" It's nothing to DO with you!"

" Don't you dare! I am your father, madam, and as long as you're living here, it's my rules, understand? If I say no, that's what goes!"

His daughter closed her mouth, taking a deep breath and swiping angrily at the tears on her face. Ziva chose this moment to step in between the pair, looking at Tony pleadingly until he relented and released his grip of Abi's arm.

" Alright, time out. Tony, I think you made your point, enough."

" Oh, I'm just getting sta-"

" Enough."

Ziva placed a hand on his chest, glancing up towards him with eyes that both agreed with him, but warned him against pushing any further. Tony glanced from her, to Abi, before turning and stalking into the kitchen, muttering under his breath darkly, and it was several seconds before there was a slam of the back door. Abi sniffed, wiping away the remaining tears, before even risking a glance towards her mother, who was, as guessed staring at her. Tony Junior took the hint, and left mother and daughter, headed to his bedroom, with a swift promise from Ziva of punishment in the morning. There was silence again, before she spoke.

" What were you thinking, Abigail?"

Her daughter sniffed again, preferring to intently stare at her twisting hands. Ziva waited for another moment, before sighing, and reaching over to pull the girl into her arms. Abi immediately began sobbing again.

" I d-didn't mean...I...I'm sorry, I...I..."

Ziva pulled away, putting hands on either side of her daughter's face.

" It was wrong of you. Your father doesn't lay down many rules, you know, he is quite fair. It might seem harsh to you, but he has good intentions."

" H-He's a hypocrite though! All the s-stories, from when h-he was young, and he treats me like-"

" Have you never stopped to consider that perhaps he is trying to stop you from making the same mistakes that he did?"

There was silence again, as Abi considered her mother's words. Ziva paused, before continuing.

" Besides, remember, he is a man. He sees everything in a completely different way, simply because he is male. The kind of girls in his stories, what do you really think his opinion of them was? Do you think, perhaps, he had any real respect for them, the flings, and one night stands, anyway?"

Abi considered it again, before shrugging, giving a soft shake of her head. Ziva nodded approvingly.

" Exactly. And remember, he was that moody seventeen year old boy, with his brain in his pants and his head in the clouds. I question whether he still is sometimes. Therefore, would he allow his own daughter, the daughter he adores, his beloved little girl, to be viewed like that? To earn a reputation that many of his...friends had?"

Abi shrugged again, mumbling.

" I guess not."

" Ah, you more than 'guess not'. You're a smart girl, sweetheart."

" I lo...I really like him, Ima."

" I understand that. But get to know him first, at least a little more. At the end of the day, you're your own woman, and you'll do what you want. But sometimes, maybe we say things, speaking from experience, to try and save you the hurt of learning the lesson the hard way. Your father loves you, he wants the best for you. That will never change. To him, you will always be his little girl. Always. When you meet a man, and marry him, and have children of your own, it will still be the same. He will still phone you, and worry over you, and warn you, and probably threaten your husband that if he hurts you, he'll have him killed. Trust me on this one, I have experience by the bucketload."

Abi giggled, sniffling. Ziva smiled, kissing her gently, before letting her go.

" Go and rest up, my darling. Things will be better in the morning, you'll see. Besides, you and your brother have some real tidying to do. Don't think this will be forgotten."

Her daughter groaned, but gave in, climbing the stairs, pausing as her mother didn't follow her.

" Are you not tired, Ima?"

Ziva laughed softly, winking at her.

" Of course I am. But I have a moody seventeen year old outside that I need to deal with. Being a mother to four children is hard work, you know."

There will be a follow up to this one, with Tony and Ziva's conversation, published in maybe an hour or so, because I have the perfect theme for it, and I didn't want this to be too long.

As always, thank you for your reviews, comments, criticisms and reading!

mprmusings: Firstly, I'd like to admit that the last one was the first one that I've written that I did have issues with, personally. I really conflicted portraying Tony as I did, because I think it a) did come out slightly wrong and b) I always hate picking flaws with characters. I think Tony would have supported his son, but struggled to know how, at least until Timmy gained a little confidence and actually confided in him properly. I think it would have more been a case of Timmy being scared of confiding in him for fear of being laughed at, or not understood, and until he felt more comfortable in his own skin, sticking where he was comfortable. But like I said, I think ( and know ;) ) once that bond had been strengthened, the two of them would have got on, possibly better, than Tony and Little!Tony. I would also like to admit that I had only watched half of the most recent episode ( it's not being shown on TV here yet, and it's difficult to get ahold of time to watch it online) and after watching it, I think I would change Tony, or at least play about with it. If I ever get around to revamping these, this one would be top of the queue, so far.

On a side note, I admire your little boy (: I was an ADHD child(still am a child a heart) and know just how hard it can be with that alone. My heart goes out to him, and you 3

To all my readers, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your time and effort. It really does mean the world to me.