Recap: Continues where last chapter has left off. Sorta.
~ Sunday ~
As he looked into the rear view mirror, Gibbs was reminded of his last moment with Kelly. His little girl running after the truck, calling out to him, desperate for him not to leave her.
Though Ziva didn't uttered a sound, she had the same expression on her little face. Silent tears running down her cheeks as she stood in front of the Mallard estate.
In the rear mirror he also saw that his old friend had come to a halt next to the upset girl. However as his friend laid a comforting hand on the young kid's shoulder, she only whipped her nose with the sleeve of her shirt before she turned around and run inside the M.E.'s house. Completely ignoring the friendly gesture and consolation of his friend.
"I'll be back first thing in the morning, Ziv," he vowed, hoping that his little agent would be okay.
(Later - Gibbs' House)
"She alright?" Tony greeted him as he reentered his house.
"Within time," Gibbs answered, his reply a mere whisper.
"We could do this another time."
"No." The agent sighed, "She needs to learn that nothing bad is going to happen if she's away from me for some time. Agent Jardine has found a preschool where she can go a few days a week while I work. There Ziva learns English while being able to speak Hebrew too."
"But if she's afraid to be away from you it won't happen," concluded Tony.
"She knows Ducky, she'll be fine," assured the team leader, also his gut told him otherwise.
(Mallard estate)
After Ducky had followed Mini-Ziva into his house, he found her standing right inside of his foyer, her back turned to him.
"Ziva," he gently called her, aware that the small girl's emotion were running high at the moment.
When all he heard from her was a sniffle though, Ducky swiftly made his way into her line of vision.
"Here, my dear," he gave her his handkerchief, which she accepted after a moment.
"Gibbs will come back early tomorrow morning," he reassured, while Mini-Ziva kept looking doleful at the doctor.
"Let me show you the house and then we'll see about what to do next."
Ducky held his hand out to the little girl, progressing to tell her numerous stories as they walked through his house.
Though Mini-Ziva's attention span wasn't long and he had to stop mid-story several times due to it, he didn't minded it at all.
After all the M.E. knew that no kid at her age was able to listen for long. The fact that he was too happy to have someone staying with him - someone who hadn't heard about his adventurous life yet – added further to this.
(Park bench – Not far from Gibbs' house)
"Tell me about Jaz," Gibbs prompted after he had gotten them some drinks from a nearby stand.
"There's not much to say."
"You getting serious with the girl?"
"I don't know," mumbled Tony, picking on the label of his coke, "It would be weird..."
"How so?"
"I'm supposed to be 40, right?"
The team leader squinted his eyes, his tone serious, "Your mind and body aren't 40. "
"So it wouldn't be weird?"
"Why should it?"
"Every time I meet McGee and Abby they act as if they know me for ages and as if my current state isn't changing anything. It's like they want me to act like my older self. But I don't know how!" Tony nearly screamed the last part, his frustration finally surfacing, "I'm not sure if I want to act as an adult anyway..."
Gibbs grinned, remembering his agent tendency to be childish from time to time, which was his way of dealing with stress or boredom, "They are adjusting to the situation, too. Give them some slack."
"But..."
"Tony you're 16! Act like it, enjoy your time," Gibbs rolled his eyes, "Let me worry about the others."
The teenager grinned widely, "You saying that I could do whatever I want?"
"Within bounds. If you commit a crime or kill yourself, I'm gonna slap you silly."
Tony laughed, "I'll try my hardest."
"Good," Gibbs let his gaze wander over the lake on which they were sitting, "You know how to use contraceptives, right?"
Tony chocked on his drink, "E'cuse me?"
"One thing we can't deal with is you leaving a girl with kid behind."
"I'm no virgin or dumb," muttered the teenager.
Beside him the team leader smirked, "I know, just wanted to remind you."
"That the life I have now will be over and done with in a few weeks or months?"
"Yeah," Gibbs watched his agent intently, "That's the other thing what's bothering you lately."
"The more people I meet and the closer I get to them..." Tony trailed off, "What will they be told? That I left them without a word? Or worse that I'm plainly dead?"
The bitterness in the young man's voice didn't went unnoticed by Gibbs, "You could write them letters or e-mails, maybe McGee can help you come up with fake phone conversations."
"I haven't thought of that," Tony quietly admitted.
"You're a teen. You don't have to think of everything."
"So you would be okay if Jaz and I..."
Gibbs grimaced against the image, "You would do it with or without my consent anyway."
"Maybe," a small smile stole onto Tony's face.
"Just promise me one thing," Gibbs looked his agent into the eye, "Don't use my innocent car for your amorous tête-a-tête."
"Amorous tête-a-tête?" Tony gave him a funny look.
"You know what I mean, DiNozzo," Gibbs growled amused, head-slapping the teenager.
"No car, got it." Tony grinned, "What about my room?"
"Only with the door firmly locked. And with Ziva and I are at least one level away."
"Seriously?"
"Better than you getting shot by Jaz' dad."
"How did you..." Tony trailed off, "You checked her?" His eyes were wider than normal.
"I had to," Gibbs stated calmly, meeting the teenager's gaze once more, "We can't risk a security breach."
"So I need to be careful of who I hang out with?" On Tony's face appeared a frown.
"No," the team leader voice was firm, "You are a teen, enjoy yourself and let us do the worry."
After a brief silence Tony finally nodded, "Okay."
(Meanwhile at the Ducky's house)
-"Histalek,"- An irritated Ziva screamed, trying to open the heavy front door of the Mallard estate.
Ducky knew that it was the best to leave an agitate child alone or at least ignore it when said child threw a tantrum, but the risk of Ziva mysteriously being able to open the heavy door, was a risk he didn't want to take.
Preparing himself for what came next, he swiftly walked over to the enraged child. Careful to render her arms useless, he wrapped his own arm around hers and lifted her in a way so that his other arm was under her knees, making sure to hold her legs away from his body.
-"Lo, Ducky!"- Kicking her legs widely, Mini-Ziva tried to squirm out of his grip.
With a sigh he carried her into the lounge and gently set her back on the ground. To his surprise she didn't run back to the door but tried to stare him down. Her chest rising and falling rapidly as she breathed heavily.
As he calmly went to sit on one of the creme colored couches he could see, out of the corner of his eye, that the expression in her eyes turned murderous.
A few seconds of silence followed before Mini-Ziva suddenly stomped her foot with all her might to the floor, causing Ducky to wince.
As a medical and from own experience he knew that this must have hurt without having shoes on. As if to prove him correct, he saw her face screw up for a second before the angry expression was visible again.
Debating with his profiling side, his medical side won and he slowly stood up to console her, "Ziva. Let me look at your foot. It must hurt you."
But the little girl's fury was only fueled anew as he made a step towards her. With a sudden motion she swirled around, knocking a nearby vase over in the process.
With it's shards soon littering the floor before her, Mini-Ziva looked wide-eyed at the broken pieces.
"Do not step into it," Ducky warned gently as he covered the last few meters to her.
The little girl briefly looked at him before turning around and leaving the room through the side door.
Ducky wondered if she would try the front door again, but as he looked through the double doors and saw her climb the stairs, his fears were calmed instantly.
"Better have Gibbs talking to her," mused the older man and went over to his phone, before taking care of the broken vase.
(Somewhere in D.C.)
They were on the way to the movie theater when Gibbs' cellphone rung. Parking the car on the sidewalk, he retrieved the ringing object. A safety habit he had picked up ever since driving with his shrunk agents.
"Yeah, Gibbs."
'Jethro, I'm sorry to bother you but...'
"Kid wants to be home," finished the team leader the sentence.
'Yes, I really tried to convince her but when she noticed that you wouldn't get her today and she was supposed to sleep here, she got really upset."
"That's ok Duck, I'll be there soon."
'Alright,' Ducky managed to say before he was greeted by a dial tone.
Tony, who have listened to the conversation, gave Gibbs a bright smile, "Actually I wouldn't mind a child-friendly movie."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."
"Ok, then let's get Ziva and we'll rent a movie." The team leader made a not so legal u-turn.
"Why not watch one of mine? I mean from the older me," Tony asked as he grabbed the dashboard for support.
"I doubt there are any films suitable for her to watch," smirked Gibbs.
"I saw Disney movies among them."
"You want to watch one of those?"
"Hm... I don't know, do you think we could find those in Hebrew? We could enable English subtitles?"
Gibbs smiled at his agents suggestion, proud that he would stand back from watching an actual movie in the cinema and swap it for a night at home.
"Call Abby, ask her to find a store or whatsoever who sells those movies."
"On it," grinned Tony as Gibbs accelerated once more.
(15 minutes later)
"Hey duck," the team leader greeted casually as Tony and he stood at the older man's doorstep.
"Jethro, Anthony, I didn't expected you to arrive for another ten minutes."
"You know my driving."
"Ah yes," Ducky chuckled as he let them indoors.
"How did it go?" The gray-haired agent asked, letting his gaze wander around the lower floor.
"Well, our young friend surely knows how to throw a tantrum," Ducky gave the two men a small smile.
Gibbs frowned, his gaze resting on an empty spot on the floor where a vase sat only hours ago, "Duck?"
"It's alright Jethro." The M.E. followed his friends line of vision, "One thing less to catch dust. I never liked the vase anyway."
"She should know not to break things just because she's angry." Gibbs muttered.
"Oh I believe she does." Ducky intervened the musings of his friend, "She didn't meant to break it and it was the last what happened before she went upstairs on her own accord. The house is quiet ever since."
"I'm gonna check on her then," the agent sighed deeply and went to the guestroom Ziva was staying in.
"Anthony, would you like some cake? Ziva and I baked it in the morning."
"Sure." Tony's gaze resting worriedly on the disappearing agent.
"Do not worry my dear boy. They'll be alright. Come now."
(Guestroom)
The sight that greeted Gibbs made him pause momentarily. He had expected to find Ziva sulking in a corner but not lying asleep on the bed.
He quietly went to sit on the edge of the bed, studying his shrunk agent. She was lying on her stomach, her hair spread widely. But what stuck out the most weren't her posture or rumbled clothes but her flushed face, which showed him that the small girl must have cried herself to sleep.
"Ziva," Gibbs gently roused her.
It took her a few minutes but she finally opened her eyes fully, revealing brown eyes surrounded by reddened conjunctiva.
"'ibbs," the stress of the last few hours suddenly broke lose and her whispered word soon turned into gentle sobs.
The urge to take her into his arms was very strong that moment but Gibbs knew that they would need to talk first.
He gently pried her hands from where she had grasped his shirt, "Ziva, we need to talk."
-"Lo."-
The agent heard her quiet reply but pretended to not have heard it.
"Ziva," he lifted her chin, gently wiping a few of her tears away with his thumb, "You were pretty angry a few minutes ago," he said and signed slowly.
Getting no response out of her but still having her eyes on him, he calmly continued, "We don't do tantrums. They aren't appreciate behavior. We don't scream, kick, break or hurt anyone or anything just because we're angry."
Mini-Ziva furrowed her eyebrows.
"You know what we do when we're angry?"
The little girl shook her head, negating the question.
"We say 'I'm angry'," he smiled at her, all the while thinking that he surely doesn't say it himself but instead acts when he's angry. "Can you repeat it? 'I'm angry.'"
"You no say I'm an'ry." Ziva stated matter-of-factly, in her broken English, as she crossed her small arms in front of her chest.
"Busted," thought Gibbs, momentarily stunned at being caught in a lie by a soon to be 4-years-old.
"You are right," he admitted with a small smile, "But I act angry to scare bad people, so they tell me the truth about what they've done."
The little girl in front of him seemed to contemplate his reason, "Aba do it."
Gibbs cringed inwardly. He definitely didn't liked the comparison at all, though for Mini-Ziva's sake, he swallowed his hatred towards her father, "So he does. But not you. You say 'I'm angry'."
"Why?"
The innocent question nearly made him groan aloud. "Leave it to Ziva to start to question his reasons at a moment like this."
"Cause you don't have to deal with bad people. So you have no reason to act angry. You say 'I'm angry' then everybody will know that you're angry. Now, can you repeat 'I'm angry'?"
The little girl stuck her bottom lip out and Gibbs was for a moment sure that she would refuse when she lowly repeated his words.
"Very good," Gibbs praised.
Mini-Ziva just gave him a grumbled response, which he decided to let slide too. Not wanting to agitate her any further.
"I told you that I would get you in the morning, right?" Gibbs gently inquired, still signing at the same time.
-"Ken,"- she started to sniff again. The memory of his departure all to fresh in her mind.
"Where you afraid that I wouldn't return?"
Mini-Ziva shrugged, quietly whispering that she had missed him.
"I missed you, too," Gibbs smiled before his expression became serious again, "Did you meant to break Ducky's vase?"
The little girl immediately tried to explain what happened - yet not in English.
With a sigh, Gibbs held his hand up, momentarily stopping the flood of foreign words, "English," he sternly ordered, the next moment wishing that he had said it more gently as she slightly jumped.
"No," Mini-Ziva mumbled after a brief pause, her eyes downcast as she fiddled with her hands.
The agent gently lifted her chin again with his finger, making sure that she saw what he would sign next.
"Remember, you don't break things or hurt people when you're angry or upset, okay?"
The little girl nodded slowly, frowning as she replayed the 'hurt part' of the sentence.
"Is this a yes?" Gibbs inquired smirking.
Mini-Ziva gave him a unamused look, "Yes."
With an accepting nod, Gibbs finally drew the little girl into his embrace, "Good. Now come on, let's go home."
Upon hearing his words, the little girl's eyes lit up and she was about to jump out of the embrace and off the bed when Gibbs stopped her.
"After you apologized to Ducky!"
"Me?" Ziva looked at him with her brown eyes. A picture of complete innocence.
"You," confirmed Gibbs, having a hard time to resist her gaze.
With a crestfallen expression the little girl walked out of the room.
As Gibbs followed her, he noticed that she had stopped just in front of the kitchen where Ducky and Tony were.
Gibbs leaned down and laid a comforting hand on Ziva's small shoulder, "Ducky loves you. Like the rest of us does. And I'm sure he isn't mad at you. But you need to apologize."
Mini-Ziva looked up at the agent, the unsureness of facing the doctor slowly fading as she listened to Gibbs' words.
With a small nod she walked to the open door, receiving an encouraging smile from the team leader as she looked back at him once more, before stepping into the kitchen.
"Ducky?"
Gibbs could hear his agent's quivering voice, which was filled with regret.
"Yes, my dear?"
The older man's voice was gentle and soft, with no traces of anger like Ziva might have had suspected.
"Sowry." The little girl sniffed, now standing right in front of the M.E..
Despite his protesting knee Ducky knelt in front Mini-Ziva, "I accept," he smiled at her before pulling the still sniffling child into a hug.
"Would you like some of the cake we baked?"
Feeling her nod against his chest, he first stood up himself, before lifting the small child up on the counter.
"You too, Jethro?" Ducky asked without looking at the door.
Gibbs chuckled, "You have to ask?"
(Early evening - Gibbs' house)
"No sleep!"
"Ziva," Gibbs sighed, sitting back on his heels.
After having managed to give Mini-Ziva a bath and carrying her to her room, he was yet to persuade the little girl to fully changed into her pajama.
-"Lo shenah!"-
"You don't need to sleep, yet. Just change into your PJ. You'll feel much more comfortable when we watch the movie. Tony and I will change, too."
Ziva regarded him suspiciously, her street clothes still clutched in her hand, "P'o'mise?"
"Yes," he smiled at her, "I'm sure Tony's already finished and downstairs setting everything up."
As if she only now remembered that they were going to watch a movie, her expression changed from stubbornness to urgency.
"Yellow or purple?" He held the PJ's up with a smirk.
Mini-Ziva grabbed the purple one and let the upper part of it drop to the floor, next to where her street clothes had landed. With a little struggle she wriggled into the bottom half, sending Gibbs a glare as he laughed at the scene.
Hands held up in mock surrender he immediately stopped laughing and grabbed the PJ top from the floor, "C'mere."
Soon after he had her dressed and her hair tamed into braids.
"All done," Gibbs declared, playfully scrutinizing his hair-work, "Go downstairs. I'll get dressed and then join you downstairs."
-"Ken,"- she giggled happily as the agent briefly tickled her, dashing from the room as soon as he had released her.
"Slowly," Gibbs called after her as he saw the little girl turn to the stairs with too much speed.
The gray-haired agent had just finished changing and was on his way downstairs, when he heard someone knock on his front door.
"Must be Tim," mumbled the team leader as he opened the door to reveal said agent.
"Hey boss, just came to give you this." McGee handed him several DVD cases, "I'm supposed to tell you that Abby wants to be there when you guys watch 'One Hundred and One Dalmatians'. And she'll take it personally if you watch it without her."
Gibbs laughed, "Abby's comment is noted. Thank..."
"McGee!" Ziva dashed past Gibbs to the agent.
"Hi there," Tim grinned as he scooped his shrunk partner up.
Gibbs smirked at the scene in front of him, "Like I was going to say, thank you for bringing the movies over. Tell Abby the same."
"No problem, boss."
"You want to join us?"
"I would like to, but I promised Sarah to have dinner with her."
As McGee tried to transfer Ziva back to Gibbs, the little girl refastened her hold around his neck.
"No go." She exclaimed as the team leader pulled her to him.
"I can't stay today. But I'll visit you tomorrow, okay?" McGee straightened his jacket from where Ziva had crumpled it and gave her a wide smile.
"No go," she mumbled into Gibbs neck, looking sadly at Tim.
McGee was torn between staying and going to dinner with his sister. Gibbs, having picked up on his agents hesitation, gave him a subtle nod to leave, "We'll see you tomorrow. "
"Thanks, you guys too."
With a wave of his hand he left them, much to Ziva's dismay.
"McGee! No go."
"Ziva," Gibbs sighed, shifting her in his arms, "He can't stay tonight."
As response she only stuck her bottom lip out, looking remorsefully at the now closed front door.
"You're really crotchety today," thought the team leader with a smile tugging on his lips.
"You okay kiddo?"
Mini-Ziva just shrugged and snuggled into his chest as the agent first walked to the DVD player to insert a random DVD from the stack, before he walked over to the couch where Tony already had made himself comfortable. The DVD remote firmly held in the teenager's hand while a big bowl of popcorn rested in his lap.
"You gonna clean the mess up if any of that ends up on the couch," remarked Gibbs with a smile, leaning back on the couch as he propped up his feet on the coffee table.
"Sure," Tony managed to say around a mouth full of popped corn, hitting the start button on the remote a moment later.
As the first tunes of the theme melody of Disneys' Lion King filled the silence of the room, Mini-Ziva still lay snuggled against Gibbs' chest. The light from the TV illuminating the three figures in front of it.
It wasn't until the giraffes appeared on the screen when Ziva suddenly sat up, her hands on the team leader's chest, supporting her as she stared transfixed at the TV.
Gibbs chuckled slightly as the little girl squirmed out of his arms and went to sit right in front of the TV.
Beside him, Tony slightly grumbled, since his view to the TV was now partly blocked.
"Can't see?" the older man smirked, leaving the room momentarily to fetch one of the warmer blankets.
A minuter later a shriek filled the living room, causing Tony to grin widely.
"Thanks Gibbs!"
The team leader just shook his head, quietly instructing Mini-Ziva to stay on the blanket in order not to move too close to the TV.
(Half a hour later)
Gibbs sat back up in order to look over the couch table where Ziva lay, the blanket now partly covering her.
"You want to watch another movie, Tony?"
"What?" The teenager looked confused, "It's not even close to the end yet."
"Kid's asleep," Gibbs stated in a whisper while he went around the table, gently picking the slumbering child up from the floor.
"Oh," the teenager looked thoughtful.
"We don't need to, but I think watching it further in Hebrew..."
"Could we watch it in English? From the beginning?" Tony interrupted.
"If you want to, sure," the team leader smirked, "I'll be right back."
(Upstairs)
Gibbs had just pulled the heavy curtains close, effectively shutting most of the early evening sun out of the room, when Mini-Ziva woke up.
"'ibbs," she protested sleepily as the agent tucked the blanket more firmly around her.
"Sleep," he smiled at her, gently stopping the girl's attempts to throw the covers back, "You can watch the movie when you wake up."
"P'o'mise?"
"Yeah," Gibbs grinned as Ziva yawned widely again. Her eyes shutting against her will.
"Stubborn," he chuckled before planting a kiss on the child's forehead, who was already fast asleep.
With a last glance, the gray-haired agent went back downstairs.
(After the movie had ended)
"Do you miss our older selves?" Tony wondered aloud, having seen the look in the older man's eyes as he had returned from bringing Ziva to bed.
"Yes," Gibbs answered him honestly.
The teenager felt suddenly out of place at the agent's house, "Oh. Well..."
"But I can't say that the current situation isn't nice," the gray-haired team leader clarified with a smirk.
"Really?" Tony looked at him surprised.
"Both of you hadn't such a great childhood. Might as well use the second chance to give you a better one."
"I'm not a child!"
Gibbs scoffed at Tony's protest, "Could have fooled me the last years," making sure to emphasize the years.
"What do you mean by that?" Tony narrowed his eyes.
"Playing pranks on your coworkers, annoying them and having lots of fun with it, joking around..."
"Oh."
"Relax, Tony." Gibbs' lip turned upwards, "They like you anyway and respect you. You are everything what I told you but also an responsible and caring person, who has matured a lot over the years."
"Why do I get the feeling that this means a lot coming from you?"
Gibbs didn't answered him but just smirked even more.
"What did you meant by 'not such a great childhood'?" Tony asked after a few minutes of having contemplated over it in silence.
"Well..."
~ FIN ~
Histalek = Go away!
Ken = Yes
Lo = No
Shenah = Sleep