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sorry that this chapter is so short... but i wanted to get something out as a "thank you" present for all you amazing people :)

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disclaimer: stilll not mine.

Chapter 9

Dr Lawson walked in briskly at the call. He expected a similar scene as he had last time he was there, with Tony suffering from some kind of nightmare. He didn't, however, expect to see Tony sleeping peacefully, with the woman, Ziva, sitting up on the bed with him.

"You called?"

Ziva turned to him and smiled a bright smile, despite the dark circles that plagued the bottom of her eyes. This woman was clearly in love with this man. She was keeping nightly vigils by his bedside, and he had not seen her leave his side since arriving. And yet she had been quick to correct his assumption that she was not anything to Tony. If he was a matchmaker, he would be working to get the two of them together. But, he was a doctor. And right now, a doctor would be more useful to them, so he thought.

"He woke up!" she said smiling. And that was when he noticed the tube from the ventilator lying on the bed.

"Did you take that out?" he said alarmed. Those things could do a lot of damage when placed in the wrong or inexperienced hands.

"Yes."

"How?"

"Told him to breath out, and extracted the tube on the count of three," Ziva said without hesitation. The doctor had to admit, he was impressed with her medical knowledge, but he could not let this one slide. He had seen enough mistake being made when people thought they knew what they were doing because they saw it on the television, and then proceeded to do it on their injured loved ones, and ending up doing more harm than good.

"Even if you do have the knowledge, which you clearly do, maybe wait for a doctor next time?"
Ziva did not argue, but in her mind she knew that she would do the same thing again thing again in a heartbeat. Tony was in pain, and she rectified the situation. In her eyes, there was nothing wrong with doing that. So therefore, there was not a regret. She knew what she was doing, and she was not going to let her loved ones suffer.

The doctor made his way out, and as Ziva followed his motion out of the open door she noticed three other figures standing out there.

Gibbs walked in first.

"Found them in the lobby. Figured they were with you?" Gibbs grumbled. He clearly wasn't in a good mood, whether that was because of the unseasonably cold weather, or the fact that someone had shot his senior field agent, and his probationary field agent and forensic scientist seemed to not be getting anywhere with the case.

The drug and weapons trade that Tony and Kate had stumbled upon left a whole new Pandora's box open for the NCIS team. Now it wasn't just the case of the dead officer, which had been given over to Crewer's team. It was uncovered that the drugs they tacked to be from a shady deal between a business man and a supermarket executive, who had claimed that they received the drugs by post, which had been traced back to a cartel that had bought them off an illegal company south of the border, who bought them off… and that's where they lost it. There was no way of tracking the goods, and the crossing of the border meant that the rest of the alphabet soup were hounding them to take the case. Gibbs of course refused, so they had something to prove from the success of the case. Unfortunately, success was not in sight.

As soon as Gibbs spoke Ziva stood up. Which was a good thing, seeing as a few moments later she found the second figure in her arms.

"ZIVA!"

"Hello Tali," Ziva said chuckling to herself. She had wondered about how long it would be until her little sister made an appearance, closely followed by her other sibling.

Ari stood behind rolling his eyes and Tali's enthusiasm. Despite the fact that Tali was twenty-three, she still acted like a five year old when around her siblings. She was the baby of the family, and seemed to take her occupation very seriously. Hence, the childishness.

When Tali finally released Ziva, Ziva found herself in Ari's arms instead. Ari was like her father, in every sense other than the biological. He had looked after her from a young age, and now in his arms Ziva felt like she was five again, and her big brother could do anything and would do anything for her.

Gibbs stood awkwardly staring out of the window next to Ziva's head, trying his hardest not to intrude on the moment. It was strange how he was visiting his colleague who had just been shot, and yet he was the one scared to intrude. Tali and Ari had made themselves right at home, and knew exactly what they were there for, and where they were going. Having said that, it had not been the case a few minutes ago…

5 minutes ago.

"Ari! Where are we going?"

Gibbs pushed open the translucent door to the entrance of the hospital, one hand holding a bag full of take out, the other buried into his jacket pocket against the howling autumn winds. The temperature had dropped rapidly throughout the day, before hitting an all time low of the season. The gritters had been out on the roads, so the traffic was slow, and by the time Gibbs reached the hospital he was cold and annoyed.

As he entered the building, his gaze was immediately drawn to the scene in front of him. Two people, a young woman and a man were in reception, both seemingly frustrated with the receptionist.

"I would love to tell you where we are going, Tali, but someone is withholding information," the man said, turning to glare at the receptionist while still talking to the girl. The petit brunette receptionist seemed terrified of the man in front of her and the icy glare that he was shooting her way. And then it clicked. Gibbs remembered where he had seen these people before.

"Tali? Ari?" he asked. These were the people who had appeared on the plasma, back when Tony was stalking… or running a background check on Ziva. The picture had been old, but the girl and the boy from the photo were defiantly recognisable.

All three figures turned to stare at him, Tali and the receptionist looking relieved, and Ari looking guarded.

"Who are you?" he said suspiciously.

"Special Agent Gibbs," Gibbs said tightly, and Tali grinned.

"Do you know where Ziva is?" Tali asked, and Gibbs could not help but smile at her. Tali had a childish zest that reminded him so much of Abby. If Abby and Tali met, he would be certain that they would get on like a house on fire. And then proceed to set a house on fire. But of course, they would get away with it, because with Gibbs Abby could get away with anything. And Gibbs sensed that Tali also had Ari wrapped around her little finger.

Gibbs motioned towards the elevator, and the strange band moved towards the elevator and off to see Ziva.

Present

When Ziva was released from Ari's arms, Gibbs felt the need to add something to the conversation. Holding up the bag of takeout in his hand, spoke.

"Shall we?"

They sat on the hospital floor, enough food laid out to feed the five thousand. Gibbs' experience as being both a father and a team leader meant that he knew that they could never have too much food. Too little on the other hand would lead to a grouchy child. Or a grouchy team of agents. He couldn't figure out which one was worse. With this theory, he had bought practically the entirety of the menu, and when the young check out man had asked if he wanted that to eat in, Gibbs just gave him a look. Did it look like he could eat all of that food?

"So how is he?" Ari cut into the conversation, and Ziva's eyes lit up.

"He woke up, and the doctor said that he should be OK," Ziva said relieved, and Gibbs sighed in relief. Now the questions and doubts in his mind were fading away. He would have the opportunity to tell Tony how proud he was. No more regrets.

Gibbs moved out of the room to call the team about the progress in Tony's condition, but the conversation in the room continued without him. Ziva listened attentively to Tali as she talked at lightning speed about the studio and all the students. Tali taught there whenever she could, having been taught by the best (the best being Ziva, aged 16), and she was well loved by the rest of the teachers and the pupils. She was as immature as the kids, so fit right in with them, and would also flirt with the older male dancers. It kept them on their toes, all wanting to impress her. But Tali was not easily impressed, and when they looked to her for praise she would find faults in all that they did, and then proceed to execute whatever it was that they were attempting with poise and perfection. Sometimes when Ziva wasn't working she would watch the interactions form the doorway with an amused eye, but whenever Tali turned to hear her unsaid opinion, Ziva would pretend to look disapprovingly at her. But Tali did manage to spark a competitiveness in the guys, and suddenly they all redoubled their efforts in attempt to impress their teacher. Their young, pretty teacher. By the end of the lesson, a few would gain a "very good" from her, and as she walked off Ziva could see the lingering gazes Tali got. At first, Ziva had thought that Tali was oblivious to the effect that she had on them, but when Tali sent a cheeky wink to one of the guys, Ziva learned better. Apparently her baby sister was growing up. And she did not know how to take this.

Gibbs slipped calmly back into the room after hanging up the phone for the last time. The responses of Abby, McGee and Ducky had been expected. But he did not think that Kate would be as relieved as she was to hear that Tony was OK. It was strange, Tony and Kate fought like brother and sister on a good day, but clearly they cared for each other more than they would admit

Ari calmly ate next to Tali, the contrast in their demeanours as clear as day. Where Tali was life and hand gestures, Air seemed to radiate a soothing aura. Gibbs did not doubt the man's integrity, but somehow he could not bring himself to like the man. Gibbs did not forget the fact that Kate had commented that Ari was "handsome" when he had come for an interview with legal. That topped with the fact that Gibb's gut was churning at the sight of him made him dislike the man. It was as if Gibbs' sixth sense was tingling, like he knew that in another life they would probably be trying to kill each other.

Ari caught Gibbs staring and rolled his eyes as he motioned at the sisters. Gibbs smiled a crooked half smile, but there was nothing in his eyes that spoke of any kind of happiness. Ari seemed to understand this, so turned away to face the girls.

Tali had now moved on to talking about her band and the antics of all the boys. When Ziva had first heard about Tali joining a band, she could not think of a more impractical thing she could be doing. Yes, Tali sang like an angel, but there was no way Tali could get money from it. The only other job that Tali worked was working part time in for a bunch of charities, and while it was a noble and kind and totally Tali thing to do, it wasn't exactly the most practical employment of her time. But, so long as she was having fun and she still had Ziva to stay with, Ziva was not going to make her stop. That and the fact their brother was far too generous when it came to money meant Tali got by.

There was a spluttering cough from the bed, and Ziva shot up faster than any of the people had seen her move before. As she reached the bed Tony's eye lids flickered open and a hoarse voice emerged from his lips.

"Ziva?"

"Hey there," Ziva said softly, and Tali and Ari shot each other a look. Ziva was rarely this affectionate around people, even their family. And yet this man seemed to evoke this affection. Who was this man?

Ziva moved to take his hand to be taken in hers, but then she grew aware of the other presences in the room and their inquisitive gazes all fixed on her. So she did not take his hand, but instead chose to continue with her enquiry.

"How are you?"

"Who are you?" Tony winced, and Ziva's eyes widened in shock. Surely… he couldn't have…

"Just kidding. Hey Ziva," Tony said, groaning as he tried to push himself up into sitting position.

Ziva's heart began to return to normal rate after that sentence. But that did not mean that she was finished with him. Now the initial panic was addressed, Ziva had time to feel every other emotion that had gone through her since she heard the news. Starting with anger.

"Why did you go get shot for!" Ziva said.

"You can't be mean to an invalid. I feel like I've been shot."

"You think your funny, don't you?" Ziva shot back.

"Are you being mean? You're being mean. I'm going to go find a nice hot nurse who is going to be nicer to me."

"And how do you plan on doing that!"

It was at this moment that Gibbs thought to intervene. He moved to stand next to the bed, and as soon as Tony caught sight of Gibbs in his peripheral vision he visibly straightened up. A good solider standing to attention at his commanding officer's call.

"Boss."

"Tony."

Tony's eyebrows shot up at this. Gibbs never called him Tony. It was always DiNozzo, normally accompanied by a head slap, or said with "boy, am I pissed off at you" tone. Tony was a whole new story. And Tony was not certain why, but there was something nice about being called Tony. By the infamous Leroy Jethro Gibbs, of all people.

Tony's eyes began to droop, and Gibbs could see Tony trying to stay awake. His slinging match with Ziva clearly was taking his toll on him, and no matter how much he pretended to be fine, he had still just been shot. And no matter how much they all pretended, being shot hurt like a bitch. But still Gibbs smiled. Always the loyal one, not wanting to fall asleep when the boss was talking to him.

"Get some sleep," Gibbs ordered, and Tony's eyes fluttered shut.

Gibbs paused for a moment, partly hesitating over what to say, and partly to make sure that Tony was asleep. And then he spoke.

"Night, son."

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