Summary: Set in S13 finale “Family First.” What if Ziva didn’t die in the farmhouse bombing? What if after the bombing was announced and when everyone was trying to find out if Ziva had made it out or not and what happened, Ziva showed up at Tony’s apartment? How will Tony react to her sudden appearance and the news that Tali is his and Ziva’s daughter, but she never told him because she didn’t want to be interfering in his life?
It was a nebulous night at the farmhouse in Israel, as Ziva woke up and through on some clothes, getting a feeling that something was about to happen. Then she grabbed an already packed bag for instances like these and got Tali dressed and grabbed a bag she always kept together for Tali for instances like these and picked Tali up. Then she left out the back door of the farmhouse. She couldn’t afford herself or Tali to be followed if her feeling was right, which it usually was.
Just as they got a few steps outside, the farmhouse blew up, making her get thrown to the ground. Despite getting hurt though, she used herself as a shield to protect Tali.
Afterward, she got to her feet and grabbed both bags and Tali and went over to her car she’d parked farthest away from the back of the house and got Tali buckled into her car seat. Then, after getting the bags in the passenger’s side and getting into the driver’s seat, she drove as quickly as possible away from the scene, ignoring the pain from her injuries. She couldn’t stop. After what had just happened, she had to keep going and get to Tony. She had to tell him about Tali now and get help. Israel was her home but it was no secret that she had enemies in even Israel who would rather see her dead. She had thought that she was safe in the middle of nowhere, but she was wrong. Now she had to go back to NCIS and Tony for help. It wasn’t just her anymore. Her usual tactic of running and keeping a low profile wouldn’t work anymore. If she tried that, something could end up happening to Tali. She couldn’t live with that.
It was in the middle of the afternoon in DC, as Tony stood silently, looking at the big TV screen that was broadcasting the news of the farmhouse bombing. He was holding Ziva’s necklace in his hand, trying to have hope that she was out there somewhere alive. He hated waiting. He couldn’t just stay in DC and wait for the news. He needed answers. She was Ziva David, a trained Mossad assassin and the best NCIS agent he’d ever known. She couldn’t be dead. He knew without a doubt that Ziva would go down fighting, no matter what. So far though, there were no bodies found in the rumble from the bombing, which gave him some hope. If she’d been there, she’d gotten out.
After Gibbs brought him back to the present, Gibbs sent him home, which Tony didn’t like, but did anyway.
A few hours later, when he was deep in thoughts and memories, worried about whether he would ever see her again, he heard the doorbell ring.
He got off the couch and opened the door, only to see the one person he had been praying to be alive, plus one.
“Ziva,” he said with a smile.
“It’s good to see you, Tony,” she greeted back. “Can we come in? We have a lot to talk about.”
“Of course.”
He stepped aside to let them in.
She walked in and he closed the door behind them. She set the bags down.
“Who’s the plus one?” he questioned.
“Tony, this is our daughter, Tali. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you until now, but I didn’t want to intrude on your own life.”
“Abba,” Tali said, recognizing him from pictures and from Ziva telling her about Tony.
“She knows me,” he stated. “If you had told me that you were pregnant, I would have come no questions asked. You wouldn’t be intruding on my life. We’re family,” he said.
“I know. I just wanted you to have a life of your own for a while before I told you, but everyday I told her about you. I wanted Tali to know you from me in case something happened to me,” she informed him. “It’s been a long trip. I think Tali should get some sleep.”
“She can sleep in my bed,” he replied.
After getting her to sleep and once she had closed the door and had sat down on the couch, he couldn’t help but be the first to say something.
“You’re hurt,” he stated. “What happened? The farmhouse is all over the news. We’ve all been worried.”
“I know. I got hurt on the way out of the house,” she replied and then told him everything.
“You know what we have to do. You need to get checked out and we have to let them know that you’re alive. Tali can stay here with my father. He’s been staying with me. He’ll be here soon.”
She smiled for once in a long while.
“Sounds like a plan.”
Once his dad got home and was informed of everything, Tony took her to the hospital to get checked out.
After she was taken care of, they went back to Tony’s and sat on the couch together after dinner.
The next morning, after they’d all eaten breakfast and gotten ready for the day, she and Tony went to NCIS with Tali to tell them everything and to let them know that she was alive and they had a daughter together.
The next day, the bad guy was caught and Tony and Ziva decided that Ziva and Tali would stay at his apartment with him.
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