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Nick was, rarely for him, fast asleep, Ellie curled up right next to him. He’d never been much of a snuggler in bed - rarely even spent the night with a girl, but that had changed with Ellie. She seemed to be the cure for his nightmares, and when they had finally cleared the air, they’d also admitted their feelings for each other. With Gibbs away on a summer sabbatical in California, they had used the freedom to get to know each other - and fall deeper in love - as a couple. Neither was planning on hiding it when Gibbs returned. Nick was awoken from his stupor by a sharp knock at the door. He glanced over at the Echo dot on which illuminated on Ellie’s bedside table. 3AM. Ellie woke up slower, stretched.
“I’ll go,” she murmured.
“No way in hell,” he replied, pulling on a pair of boxers as he followed her to the front door.
“Who is it?” Ellie called through the door.
“Ziva David,” a muffled voice said.
Nick looked at Ellie, who, to his surprise, didn’t look as surprised as he thought she should have. Ellie checked the peep hole before opening the door to let the other woman in.
“Come into the kitchen,” Ellie said quietly. Nick retreated to the bedroom, careful to keep his gaze averted from Ziva’s, figuring a shirt would be appropriate for this conversation.
“Coffee? Tea? Water?” Ellie asked, gesturing to the table.
“Tea would be nice,” Ziva replied, “Herbal, if you have it.” Ellie pulled down her container of herbal tea, and added some water into the kettle.
“I’ll be right back,” Ellie said, going into the bedroom, where she knew her boyfriend would be waiting.
“What the hell is going on, Ellie?” He whispered.
“I don’t know,” she said, “Truly, Nick, I don’t. I knew she was alive, but she’s never come over like this before. She asked me not to tell.”
“How?”
“Through a note, left at her office. Hang on a sec,” Ellie went back into the kitchen.
“He can come in,” Ziva said before Ellie had a chance to open her mouth.
“Are you sure? He’s - trustworthy,” Ellie broke off, “I promise.”
“I know that,” Ziva smiled, and Ellie internally rolled her eyes at herself. Of course the other woman had kept tabs on Team Gibbs. Deciding not to feel awkward about the fact they’d been caught red handed breaking rule 12, Ellie nodded, smiled back, and called Nick through while she poured their teas. She knew that Nick would get a glass of water.
“Special Agent Torres,” Ziva said quietly, “It’s been awhile.”
“Yeah,” Nick said, “It has,” He sat next to Ellie, and enjoyed the surprised look on her face.
“What?” She asked, “You two…knew each other?”
“Years and years ago,” Nick said, “Undercover Op. My first, Agent David was still Officer David, liaison between NCIS and Mossad. We broke apart a prostitution ring.”
“Hmm,” Ellie gave him a, “We’ll talk about this later,” look.
“So…what’s going on?” Ellie asked Ziva.
“Gibbs is in danger,” Ziva said succinctly. Ellie and Nick listened while Ziva outlined her plan.
With permission from Vance, the three of them tracked down the syndicate who were out to get Gibbs. With the individuals involved finally behind bars, and Gibbs back on his now extended sabbatical, Tony had agreed to come back to DC as acting MCRT Leader.
Ellie picked Tony and Tali up from the airport. Ziva had not wanted to be reunited with them in such a public location, so they had arranged to meet at Ziva’s Georgetown townhouse.
“Where are we going, Bishop?” Tony asked as Ellie drove past the exit to her place, and wound her way through downtown DC to Georgetown.
“Your new house,” Ellie said, then added, “Hopefully.” Tony gave her a questioning look, but decided not to respond. Ellie pulled up outside the beautiful brick Georgetown townhouse, with its small front yard, and wide front porch, inviting rocking chairs lined up.
“Who paid for this?” Tony asked, “Did Senior finally have a successful investment?”
“You’ll see in a minute,” Ellie said evasively, “Just…Tony…Don’t freak out, okay? Listen first.” Tony eyed her suspiciously, but nodded, then got out of the car to wake Talia up and help her out of the backseat.
Ellie led them up to the front porch, and taking a deep breath, knocked on the door before opening it. Tony, carrying a tired Talia, entered into the foyer of the beautiful home. He saw a familiar silhouette in the kitchen, and looked at Ellie, his eyes widening. Ellie nodded. He held tighter onto Talia, and Ellie stood back as Ziva turned, walked towards him.
“Am I dreaming?” Tony murmured. The afternoon light illuminated Ziva’s outline. She had, Tony noted, new lines on her face - crinkles at her eyes, but that same spark, glint, that had always been there.
“No, Tony, you’re not dreaming,” Ziva told him. Talia woke up then, rubbed her eyes.
“Ima?” Her little, tired voice said, “Ima? Is that you?”
“Talia,” Ziva said, and Tony knew she was barely keeping it together. He needed to feel her - solid, real, and alive, so he wrapped her in his arms, holding Talia between them. Talia looked between her parents, clearly very confused.
“I thought you were dead,” Talia said to Ziva, but was looking at her father.
He nodded, “I did too, sweetheart. But I guess not,” he said, and now Ziva saw the tears sparkling in his eyes.
“I love you,” she told him in a rush, “I love you both more than anything in the world, and I’m so, so sorry, Tony…” She broke off then, crying herself.
Tony put a finger to her lips, “Stop it,” he said quietly, “Whatever happened, it doesn’t matter now that we’re all here, alive and safe. You’re here, you’re alive. I love you too. Zi, we’ve wasted so much time. Let’s not waste anymore?”
“No,” Ziva said quietly, “No. Let’s not.” She broke down then, buried her face into his shoulder, and he held Ziva and their daughter as closely as he could. Ellie was about to turn and leave, when she heard the pitter patter of little feet on the gleaming hardwood floors. Talia had scrambled down, and was running towards her, tears streaming down her face.
“Aunt Ellie,” she called out through the sobs, “Am I going to wake up? Is this just another dream?”
“No, sweetheart,” Ellie held the child, comforted her soothingly, “No. It’s not a dream. You are going to live here, in DC, with Ima and Abba.” She turned the child towards her parents, who were still holding each other. Tony kissed Ziva softly on the lips, then seemed to notice that Talia wasn’t there anymore. He gently released Ziva and turned towards Ellie.
“Come here, darling,” Tony called, and Ellie gently pushed the child towards her parents, watching as she joined them.
“I’m hungry,” she heard Talia say, and both her parents laughed.
“She gets that from you,” Ziva informed Tony, and he shrugged sheepishly, not able to deny it.
“Can we order pizza?” Talia asked, making Ziva laugh even harder.
“Sounds good to me,” Tony told her.
“I’m going to head home,” Ellie told the family, managing to keep her voice even.
“Let me walk you to your car,” Ziva began, but Talia tugged on her shirt.
“Ima, no. Ima stay here,” Talia said, whimpering.
“It’s okay, tatella. I’l be right back, I promise,” Ziva said, “Abba will be here with you.” Talia nodded then, reluctantly letting Ziva go and going into the safety of her father’s arms.
Ziva and Ellie walked to the front door, and down the front garden’s path. Ziva turned back to the house as they got to Ellie’s car, and sighed.
“It seems to good to be true,” Ziva said, “I wasn’t sure how Tony would react. We’ve got a long way to go, I know.”
“But you’re off to a good start,” Ellie said. Ziva wrapped her up in a hug.
“Yes, we are. Thanks to you. Seriously, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Ellie whispered, as Ziva let her go.
“Lunch soon? And Talia will want to see you, I know.”
“Definitely, on both counts. Take some time though, Ziva - with your family.”
“You’re part of that, Ellie. Go home. And tell Nick thank you too.”
“I will,” Ellie said softly, getting into her car.
She let herself into her apartment, to the welcoming smell of Nick’s cooking. Macaroni and Cheese. Her favorite.
“Hey,” he turned to her, didn’t say anything, just opened up his arms. Ellie went into them, holding him closely.
“It went well,” she told him, “They’re all there, together.”
“Long road ahead though,” Nick murmured.
“Yeah,” Ellie agreed, “A long road ahead. But they started on it.”
“And so have we,” Nick’s mouth was a whisper from hers as he spoke, and Ellie closed the short distance, kissing him.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you too.”