She was staying off of HaHalcha interchange, maybe 10 blocks or so from the university. Quiet, but there was the occasional honk of the horn or siren of an authoritative vehicle. The apartment building was off of the larger Pinkas Street and located on a tinier street called HaNesi'im. Tony could recollect some of the landmarks while being driven to the building, from his time in this town three years ago; of course, most of his time was spent searching for the woman that sat next to him in the backseat of a black Cadillac Escalade. The back 5 windows were tinted. Tony assumed this vehicle was issued by the Israeli government due to the uniform the driver was wearing and the numbers written on the side of the car, near the back of the SUV.

The only conversation that took place in the car was directed towards Tali, who was placed in a navy blue car seat, between the two of them. Ziva would comment about the funny or intriguing things Ziva has caught Tali doing, Tony would just listen and marvel; he could see Tali had changed her, this was a side of Ziva he never saw in those 8 years. He remembers how Ziva wanted (but never admitted) that that something permanent meant having a child, a life with purpose and meaning. Tali gave Ziva something permanent and something Tony could have only felt within the past week with Tali, something changed within Tony, as well. He remembers the conversation Gibbs and he had in his basement 4 days ago:

"And in that moment, I didn't want Trent Kort dead. All I wanted was to stay and take care of Tali."

"You take care of yourself and your family, DiNozzo."

They pulled up to the side of a four-story building and got out, Tony was holding onto a luggage and a backpack; Ziva got out Tali and her bag then exchanged a few words with the driver before he drove off. As they were walking towards the lobby door, Ziva commented about how nice her neighbors are since moving in.

"So, how long have you lived here, Zee-vah?"

Ziva let open the door to the building, holding it open for Tony.

"Oh, maybe …one month, now. Sounds about right, yeah, I believe a month."

She got out her keys from her pants pocket and pushed the button to the elevator.

"I am on the third floor." Tony stepped in.

Tony started connecting puzzle pieces in his mind, ok, she knew. She had to have known about the attack before it happened. He thought to himself all of those tiny clues didn't line up to what was being said. Tali's go-bag didn't have a smell of smoke, it smelt more like Ziva than anything else. Tali was breathing normally, no damage to the lining of her lungs, but he was told she was pulled from the rubble? No way. Mortar fire leaves a white phosphorus cloud of smoke when struck and usually mortar attacks happen during the day; nevertheless, he knows Ziva wouldn't have torched her child-hood house. She's a lot smarter than some Pakistani mercenary looking for some extra cash for an in-direct assassination, funded by Kort.

An hour later, Tali was finally taking a nap and a man from Mossad had stopped by giving her a two-inch binder of paper work, two new passports, and some medications in a white pharmacy bag. The man left after giving Ziva a big hug, he said that it was nice to see Tony here with Ziva. Tony really wanted to know who the hell he was and why was he bringing her all of that.

"He's a mutual friend, Tony."

Ziva knew what Tony was going to ask her as she sat on her couch next to him, she started looking through the papers.

"Well, that's what I thought, Zee-vah. What's all this? Are you leaving?"

"Actually, yes, Tony, I am." Ziva could see worry cross his face. "I was hoping I would have company when I do."

Tony started to regain some confidence. "Well, now, with who would that be?"

Ziva smiled at him and looked back at her papers, she then gave them to Tony to look at.

"This should explain everything that has happened in the past three years. I told you, you would get your answers, so I have come prepared."

Tony glanced at Ziva and then back down to the papers. He started skimming and going to one page to the next, putting the puzzle together. "Ziva, this is…this is beyond what I expected." Tony flipped to the next page, "These are transcripts regarding nuclear deals, Mossad worked with MI-6? Jacob Scott was in contact with you…"

"Yes. Jacob Scott contacted me in April, he needed my help. With my father's passing, I was put in charge of all of my father's more personal dealings. My father had a fondness for the man, and I did want to help him."

"What happened?"

"Well, you know that in 2002 Jacob was framed by Kort..."

"Yeah, he was found guilty of treason, selling nuclear information to Turkey. His wife died in the cross-fire…. But what does this have to do with you?"

"Well, that led to Kort hiring that mercenary from Pakistan, the house being burnt up. I had known, as you can imagine, him wanting me dead. It would have destroyed his entire game."

Tony placed the pages down and sat back on the couch just listening to Ziva explain.

"When I found out I was pregnant, it had been almost 6 weeks since you had left. My first instinct was to tell you, but I needed to have at least a few weeks just processing this, this information, myself. You, of all people, Tony, would understand that." Ziva paused, and took a deep breath. "The final months of that year was when things started…" Looking for the right American word, she paused, looking to Tony for the right word…

"Things started happening? Were they snowballing?"

Ziva snapped her fingers in recollection, "Yes. That's it! Snowballing. You can see from the report that there was a stabbing in Samaria, she was a civilian and on November 13 in Afula, a soldier. This soldier was a close friend of mine, her mother was friends with my father back when he was a soldier himself."

"I am so sorry Ziva." Tony put his hand on Ziva's shoulder, Ziva appreciated the gesture but she still was not done. She had to do this for Tony.

"It is alright, now. The last week of December, a civilian at the time, was killed by a sniper strike, the attack originated from Nahal Oz, from the Gaza Strip. I had known him as well. He was one of the 3 people, originally, that had known about my situation. While I was still at NCIS, the Israeli government had captured over a hundred people linked to terror plots, like kidnapping and IED activity…Most of them were captured and were interrogated. They led them to east Jerusalem. Apparently, I was on a hit list."

"They wanted you dead. Why? because you pissed someone off?"

"Yes…and no. I am the daughter of a much known man, Tony. My father had pissed off a lot of people, I believe you know this as much as I know that."

"Well, your father has a way with guests. I couldn't imagine why someone would get so annoyed with him" Thinking back about that time Eli David interrogated him about Ziva, he remembers the man's manner with strangers.

"The next two years, there were a large number of abductions and killings, some were Mossad control officers and some were much more …powerful…Orli and I had gotten closer, did she tell you?"

"Yeah, uh, I guess you found some common ground?"

"One thing that always connected us was the love we both had for my father." Ziva half-way smiled, remembering the man's memory he left engrained in her brain.

"I know, Ziva. I really wanted to be there for you, but you pushed me to go back to NCIS"

Ziva took a deep breath, she had to feel him against her. Ziva started to tear up and she leaned over Tony, wrapping her arms around him. Tony started to feel sympathetic towards the woman, yet warmth filled his core, a love for the woman that was farther into him than he had felt before. Ziva leaned back and looked in his eyes.

"Those years I was forced into hiding, I told you, I had to do what I had to do. My intentions were for you to be able to see your daughter, but I wanted you to see her alive, Tony. We lived off the grid because we had to, not because I wanted to. The only contact I had was with Orli and a few others."

"You were alone, God, Ziva, I wish I had known…"

"Believe me Tony, you didn't. I tried so hard to make time go by faster so I could see you again. I didn't want anyone to know I had a daughter. Do you know how that would put not only my life at risk… but your daughter's life?" Ziva waited a few seconds before continuing, "While you were here, in Israel, there was a bounty out for someone I worked with when I was still a Mossad control officer, a PIJ fugitive named Mohammad Rabah Asi was in charge of the operation but he was killed very soon after Orli found out about the impending attack. It turned out that the two cases between the PIJ, Hamas, and Kort were linked; they wanted control, in different ways, control over the flow of information to protect their own asses. This is what happens when you know information that gets people killed."

"I know. I mean, I understand, now, Ziva. What can I do to help? Is it safer now?

Ziva smiled at him, "Well, you are here now, that's all that matters."

"Do you want to come back to the States?"

"Actually, I was hoping to do that as soon as possible. I have Tali's passport along with my own now, and as you can see… I am so…so grateful that you are here, but Israel is a part of my old life. I want to start a new one."

Tony put both of his hands on her sides, "That's what I want, Zee-vah. I was hoping you would say that".