"I am sure Gibbs will make sure I am monitored. He probably has McGee making up some locating device as we speak. I am not as worried about being there as I am about being able to come back home, here."

Tony held her face and kissed her deeply. "If it should come to that, I will come and get you; to hell with Vance and Gibbs. You are the love of my life. I will not lose you again."

Ziva smiled. "How much time do we have?"

Tony smiled. "How much time do we need?"

Ziva pulled him toward their bedroom. "Just enough. You can welcome me back properly when I get back home."

NB: The bold italics are Hebrew translation.

Vignette Five- Part Two

Israel

Malachi met Ziva at the airfield. She looked around. "It is only you?"

"Yes, I told you I called without the knowledge of the Director. I could lose my job over this." Ziva glared at him. "Just take me to my father."

They arrived at a private facility. It was clearly a medical center, but more like a place for the rich and famous. Malachi answered her thoughts. "It is safer here. No press, no probing eyes from strangers." Ziva frowned at that, but followed him into the building.

They got into an elevator and Malachi inserted a card key into a slot. "This will take us up to your father's floor."

"His floor? He needs a whole floor?" Malachi just looked at Ziva. She rolled her eyes. The doors opened onto a white sterile hallway. "Lead the way. I am the stranger here."

He took her to the end of the hall and opened the double doors, again using his card. Inside were seated two Mossad agents. They stood when they saw Malachi and Ziva. They spat at Malachi. "The Director said not to involve his daughter!"

Malachi shrugged, as if he had no control over Ziva. "She has involved herself. We will see the Director now." Clearly angry, the older of the two Mossad agents led them to another door and opened it.

Ziva walked in. The room was darkened. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the light, but once they did, her heart almost stopped. Her father, the great Eli David, was lying in bed, multiple IV's attached to his thin frame. Some were obviously surgically implanted, but Ziva did not know the term. A nurse was seated in a chair by the window. All she knew at that moment was that what Malachi had said was true…her father was dying.

NCIS

Tony was pacing the floor, checking his watch every 30 seconds. "Come on, Tony. You're making me dizzy. Ziva said she would call when she got in."

"Really? Well, she should have gotten in an hour ago, even with…" Just then his cell rang.

"Ziva?"

"Yes, Tony. I am sorry I did not call sooner. I had to see my father first before I made any calls."

"And?"

"And it is true…he is dying. He is asleep. I have not spoken to him yet."

Tony swallowed and sighed deeply. "I am truly sorry, Ziva. I didn't like the man, but he is your father. How are 'other' things over there? Are you getting any weird vibes?"

Ziva shrugged. "I am not sure yet. I have only been taken to this facility where he is being treated. It is not a public hospital and he has a whole floor to himself."

"The two Mossad agents guarding his room were not pleased to see me, but they told Malachi this was because they said Eli said not to involve me in this."

"Ok, I'm going to have McGee test your sensor, hang on for a second."

They had implanted a finding sensor much as they use on pets in Ziva's neck, just at the hairline. Tony jokingly called it her "Scully alien implant."

After Tim gave him the thumbs up, Tony returned to Ziva. "Ok, it's a go here. Take care of yourself and call as often as you can. You are not on a mission, so there should be no objections to you calling your hu…boyfriend or boss to check on things. Ok, love you too. Bye."

Tony looked quickly at Tim to see if he caught his almost giveaway, but genuinely felt bad she would be losing her father more than likely. "But she'll have me, and the rest of us." Tony reassured himself.

Private Israeli Healthcare Facility

Ziva had dismissed the nurse, who left under protest. She then sat by her father's bed for several hours before he finally started to stir. At first, he did not recognize her, but once he did he became anguished. "I told them not to involve you, not to bring you here. You should go home, Ziva. Go back; to your Tony and your Gibbs and your NCIS and forget I ever existed."

"Abba, do not say such things. If I can help you, how can I not be here?" She was startled to see the tears in his eyes.

"It is because you cannot help me, Ziva. No one can. They are all gone."

"What are you talking about? I am here." But her father was shaking his head. She suddenly got a sick feeling in her stomach. "What are you saying?"

"Ziva, Ziva. I did what was best for you, for your mother. I made a promise. I fulfilled it. But I can expect nothing in return from you."

Ziva stared at her father. "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?"

Eli David turned away, but Ziva forced him to look at her. "Are you saying that you are not my father, that I am not…I am not your daughter?" Eli tears streamed down his face now, as he weakly nodded his assent.

Ziva sat back stunned. "She was not the daughter of Eli David; she was not the daughter of Eli David…"

She looked coldly at the Director of Mossad. "Tell me. Tell me the truth."

Eli sighed. "Your father was a member of my team. We were best friends, even though he was not Israeli." That startled Ziva. "Her birth father was not Israeli? Who exactly was she?"

"I was often at your house. You were such a sweet child; so full of fun and laughter. Your mother and I were also friends, but she was the wife of my best friend, nothing more. Your father made me promise that if anything should ever happen to him, I would take care of his family."

Eli coughed as he struggled to catch his breath. Ziva gave him a sip of water. "Thank you. We were on a mission. You were barely two years old. Things did not go as planned. Your father was killed."

"So you lived up to your end of the bargain and moved in with my mother?" Ziva was angry.

"Ziva, it was not as simple as that. Your mother was aware of the promise and knew I would keep it as she had also promised her husband. I took care of her and of you. We got married and we had Tali."

"And once your 'real' daughter was born, you saw your opportunity to mold me into a Mossad assassin, taking away my fun and happy childhood." Ziva was pacing the room. "I was always so hurt that you never could seem to make it to my ballet recitals, yet you were at every one of Tali's, your daughter. Now I understand."

"Who was my father?" Ziva demanded. Eli shook his head. "He requested that I never tell you his name, and I will not break that promise."

"What? Why?"

"He wanted to protect you, to keep you safe. Your mother was Israeli."

"And therefore she was also Jewish. Let me guess: was he German?"

Eli shook his head. "Austrian, from the southern border near Italy. I can tell you no more about it. But there are no other siblings. You were his only child, Ziva."

"And I was never yours. You were right. I was wrong to come here. Good bye, Director David." Ziva turned and walked out.

Malachi stood up as she came out of the smaller room and followed her into the large corridor. "Malachi." She whispered. "I need to get out of here, now. I will be calling my Director to set up an extraction." Malachi's eyes widen at that. "You will not stay to help?"

She looked at Malachi, unshed tears in her eyes. "He is beyond my help."

NCIS

Vance answered the buzzer. "Yes?" "I'm sorry, Director. It's Agent David. She insisted I put her through to you."

"Send her through." He took a breath, wondering if this was going to be the bad news that his friend as dead. He picked up his phone on the first ring. "David?"

"Director Vance, I need Tony and Gibbs to come now and get me."

Vance frowned. "What?"

"I said I needed Tony and Gibbs to get me out of here!" This time Ziva sounded like she was crying. Vance didn't like crying women. He couldn't handle it when Jackie cried and sure as hell didn't know what to do when an ex-Mossad Assassin sounded like she was crying.

"Hold on, David. I'm going to get Gibbs and DiNozzo up here. I'm putting you on hold."

He called Gibbs. "Director." Gibbs answered drily. "Get yourself and DiNozzo up to my office now. David's on the phone."

Gibbs couldn't understand why Ziva would call Vance instead of himself or Tony but immediately got up. "Tony, with me. Now!"

Tony frowned but got up and followed his Boss up the stairs. "What's going on?" Gibbs looked at him. "I don't know Tony, but Ziva is on the phone in Vance's office."

Tony felt sick to his stomach. She would only call Vance and not him, or Gibbs, if something had happened, if something was really bad wrong.

"Director?" Gibbs huffed as he and Tony practically ran into his office.

Vance had the phone to his ear. "David, I'm putting you on speaker. Gibbs and DiNozzo are here." They could hear a soft sob over the line. Tony and Gibbs looked at each other concerned. Before Tony could say anything, Gibbs spoke.

"What's wrong, Ziver. It is your father?" They could almost hear Ziva shaking her head.

"I told the Director that I need you and Tony to come and get me."

Vance interrupted. "Agent David, you're exact words were you needed DiNozzo and Gibbs to get you out of there. Are you in danger? Has something happened?"

"Yes! I need an extraction and I need it now. I am no longer safe here. I WANT MY HUSBAND AND MY FATHER TO COME AND BRING ME HOME!"

Almost as a single unit, Vance and Gibbs turned to look at Tony. "My 'Husband'? Something you care to share, DiNozzo?" If Gibbs wasn't so worried about Ziva, Tony was sure he would have been kicked into the middle of next week.

Tony looked at Gibbs; he didn't care what Vance thought. "Maybe when we get my wife back!" Tony did not stand down.

"Ok, David, we will get you the details. They are on their way." He looked up and nodded at Gibbs and Tony. Tony bolted from the room, not so much as to get away from Gibbs but to grab the things he knew he was going to need.

He couldn't understand it. The last he heard from Ziva was she had just been waiting for her father to wake up so she could speak to him.

Gibbs was right behind Tony. He ran over to his desk, updating McGee. "Tony and I are flying to Israel to bring Ziva back."

"Is something wrong, Boss?" McGee stood up.

Tony answered. "Yes, but we don't what it is yet. We'll keep you informed. Get Abby on board."

"Tim," Gibbs interjected. "You keep us informed of Ziva's location at all times. We are not losing her." Tim almost heard the "again" at the end of the statement.

"On it, Boss!"

Tony and Gibbs got in the elevator together, both facing the doors. Tony was waiting for Gibbs to hit the switch but he never did. Tony looked sideways briefly at Gibbs, but immediately looked forward again. Gibbs smiled slightly.

Rescue Flight

The plane they were on reminded Tony of when they all went to Israel to return Michael Rivkin's body; the same trip in which Ziva did not return with them. He let out a small shudder.

"Bringing back bad memories, DiNozzo?" Tony looked at Gibbs, then look straight ahead again. "She didn't come back with us that time, Boss."

"Oh, she'll be coming home with us this time, Tony; if only so I can rake you two over the coals for getting married and not telling me."

Tony sighed. He really wanted to explain it all with Ziva there, because he knew Gibbs would take it better.

"Tony, how could you get married and not tell us? Not invite us? Not…"

"Have you walk her down the aisle?" Tony asked softly.

Gibbs looked stunned, then looked away for a second.

"The thing is Boss, you all did know, you all were there and you did walk Ziva down the aisle."

Gibbs looked at Tony like he was delusional. "What?"

"Our Williamsburg OP?" Tony looked at him.

Gibbs still stared at Tony, almost sadly like Tony was living in a fantasy world. But then that would mean that Ziva was living in that same world with him as she had called him her husband.

"That was a fake ceremony."

"Well, not as fake as we thought. When we got the marriage license three weeks later, Ziva and I got a big kick out of it, joking about putting it in our undercover scrapbook-well, Ziva actually said that. I don't scrapbook, Boss."

"The point, DiNozzo?"

Tony now looked uncomfortable and worried. "Well, everything happened so fast, McGee was shoving papers at me, telling me to fill out forms. Ziva was whisked away to find this, most amazing gown." Tony smiled in remembrance, and actually, so did Gibbs.

"Anyway, McGee gave me the license to fill out, so I did. Then I picked up Ziva from the Bridal Salon and she filled in her part, we went to the courthouse and paid the fee and that was it. Easy as pie."

Gibbs was starting to get the picture, but let Tony finish. "So anyway, we get this legal marriage license, and we are reading it and…"

"Let me guess: Anthony DeMarco and Ziva Davidson were not listed on the marriage license; instead it named Anthony DiNozzo and Ziva David as lawfully married in the state of Virginia on December 28, 2012."

"Guess you've seen one of those before, huh, boss?

"You think, DiNozzo?"

"We never realized we were putting our own names on there. In fact I I'm not even sure we knew our undercover last names at that point." Tony frowned, trying to remember.

"Ok, so you realize that you were in fact legally married. What did you do then? Go out and buy champagne?"

"That's not fair, Boss. Ziva and I were both stunned and scared beyond words. I think it was two or three days before we could even talk about it and what we wanted to do about it."

"So what were your other options, since you obviously decided to stay married."

"Still not fair, Boss. We're not wearing rings, we are not doing anything differently than we did before all of this happened. Well, that's not quite true. Ziva and I are living together, which you already know, but we made that decision while we were on the Williamsburg Op. You know she moved into my apartment two days after we got her out of the hospital. Being legally married had nothing to do with it. We didn't even know it yet."

Gibbs just shook his head. "Well, you've kept it quiet and out of the office, I have to give you that."

"Thanks." Tony responded. "So anyway, back to your question regarding our other options. I may not be an active practitioner, but I am Catholic, Boss. Marriage is very sacred to me, and I don't ever want to get divorced. No offense."

"None taken." Gibbs chuckled.

"So as far as I was concerned, that was not even an option. Ziva didn't argue with me about it, and I don't really know what the Jewish faith says about divorce. Like me, Ziva is not devout, but I know she has a strong faith."

"I may have joked about wanting a divorce after our first undercover assignment together, but we were pretending to be married anyway, there was no ceremony and certainly no legalize involved."

"The other alternative was annulment, a viable option. Although there are many valid reasons for an annulment, the one my father drilled into me was that a marriage can only be annulled if the union was not consummated. I know now that is not true, but to me, that is the only requirement for approval for an annulment."

Gibbs smiled at Tony. "Are you trying to tell me that you and Ziva consummated the marriage?"

"Hell, we consummated before the marriage. You know that, or you should."

Tony took a deep breath. "So we just basically ignored it and went on as if we are just living together. When we decide we want to get married, and notice I said when, not if; we will have another ceremony, of our own choosing, where we want and Ziva wearing the gown of her dreams and me giving her the rings I want her to wear."

Gibbs sat silently for a while. "You know, you could have told me, DiNozzo."

"Yeah, right." Tony laughed. He looked at Gibbs, who was looking at him seriously. "Look, Boss. We didn't purposely keep it from you; we kept it from everybody. And for the record, I was just a shocked when Ziva referred to me as her husband as you were. We do not play 'married couple' at home and refer to each other as husband and wife. She must be really stressed for that to have come out."

Gibbs nodded, agreeing with Tony's assessment of Ziva's frame of mind and accepting his explanation regarding their marriage.

The plan was for Malachi to have Ziva waiting for them at a private airfield. Vance had gotten the approval for the plane to land as a ruse for refueling for a longer flight.

"Getting ready for our descent." The voice came from the cockpit. Tony and Gibbs both got out and checked their guns. They knew that the simplest of plans could go seriously south in a hurry. They were both wearing flak jackets and head gear. Tony was very worried that Ziva would not be protected.

Gibbs used his headgear phone. "Where is she, McGee?"

"She's at the airport, Boss. Since we only have a sensor on her I can't tell if there are others with her."

"Got it." Gibbs ended the call. "She's there." He called into the cockpit. "We do not know if target is in hiding, or in a car; but seriously doubt she is just standing in the open airstrip waiting for us to come pick her up. Eyes open for probable structures or cars and get as close to them as possible. Out."

The landing was a little rough, but Tony took a deep breath of relief that at least they were that much closer to Ziva. Once the plane rolled to a stop, Gibbs and Tony got battle ready, waiting for the back of the plane to open.

As it slowly dropped down, Tony could just make over the top edge a car speeding toward them. As it got closer, he could see Malachi at the wheel, but no sign of Ziva. Before the back of the plane was fully down, both Gibbs and Tony were off the plane.

The car skidded to a halt feet from them. They both raised their guns at Malachi. "Ziva! Where is she?" Just then, the trunk popped opened. Tony beat Gibbs to the back of the car.

His heart sank at the look on her face- she looked heartbroken, angry, afraid, and relieved all at the same time. Without a thought, Tony reached in and lifted her out of the trunk and ran with her in his arms to the plane.

"Tony, put me down, I can walk." She protested. "I am not letting you go." Just then a shot rang out, and Tony fell, taking Ziva down with him.

"You Son of a Bitch!" Tony grabbed his upper arm. Malachi had his hands raised as Gibbs had his gun trained on him. "I am sorry Tony, but I must protect myself." He turned to Gibbs. "You must shoot me. Just not anywhere too serious. It cannot look like I helped in anyway."

"Let me shoot him, Boss!" Tony yelled as Ziva was tying her scarf around the wound. "I have just the spot!"

Malachi paled at that and Gibbs grinned. "Glad to oblige, Malachi." He barely finished the sentence when he put a round in his left thigh. "This way, you can still drive yourself out of here; that is if you don't bleed to death first."

Gibbs turned and ran to Tony and Ziva and helped them both back into the cargo plane. The engines had already started and they barely got inside before the back of the plane started to close. They almost didn't get strapped in before the plane was airborne once more.

Ziva was busy fussing with Tony's arm until he couldn't stand it anymore. He grabbed her face and kissed her so hard they almost fell over. Then he held her in his good arm and never let go of her.

Gibbs came over to check on Tony's injury. "It looks through and through, Tony. You should be ok." He turned to Ziva and brushed back her hair from her forehead. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

Ziva shook her head, meaning she wasn't hurt, but she was far from ok. Tony let go of her long enough for her to fall into Gibbs' arms. "No, I am not ok. I do not know if I will ever be ok. But I have the two men I love the most with me and I know they will take care of me." Gibbs kissed her head and gave her back to Tony.

He knew that when Ziva was ready to talk about it, she would. In the meantime, he was satisfied that his family was safe and that they were going home.

There will be short prologue to this, but basically this is my take on that spoiler, that Ziva will find out she is not the daughter of Eli David. As far as her finding out she's pregnant, which is also swirling around out there and I almost wrote into this story, I just don't see the show going there, unless CdP is already preggers or planning on it, in which case they would write it into the show.