Following Tali

2 - Paris

Tony and Tali finally landed, Tali had slept a lot over the last few days and her energy was catching back up with her so while Tony was tired and trying to keep everything in order she was bouncing up and down, trying to run around. Once they had picked up their luggage, they didn't have a lot because they didn't know where they where going to be staying or for how long, Tony tightly held Tali's hand and pulled the luggage out the airport. This time Tony had booked a coach to their hotel instead of a taxi, Tony sat Tali by the window so she couldn't run up the aisle and he sat on the aisle next to her. The coach ride was only half an hour or so, Tali looked out the window the whole way there amused by all the new surroundings. They had one day till the day on the back of the photo, he really hoped that it was Ziva's message. Tali got his attention after a few minutes of him staring in to space, thinking. He was completely oblivious that they were at their stop or that the woman across from them was watching them "Ok Tali let's go" Tony said coming out of his daydream and getting out of his seat, he held Tali's hand and picked up her backpack. They went inside the hotel, Tali running ahead almost tripping a few people over and Tony following behind with a backpack and their suitcases. They where staying in the same hotel that Tony and Ziva stayed in last time although this time their room was on the opposite side of the hotel.

For the rest of the day Tony took Tali on a walk so she could burn of a lot of energy, she picked out her red converse style trainers, her black leggings and a long sleeved pale pink top to wear while they where out. They walked along a long dirt road in a calm part of Paris, it was quite rare to find a place like this in the area but when Ziva came here before she had found a few of these places for running. Tali quite happily walked and ran along the path babbling to herself and every now and then calling to Tony (Abba). On the way back to the hotel Tony bought Tali an ice cream which she got everywhere, her face was covered and sticky so we're her clothes and hands but she carried on running around happily. Back in the hotel Tony bathed Tali and dressed her in another pair of blue whale pyjamas.

This hotel had a much nicer room or rooms, Tony and Tali's rooms where conjoined by one large door frame, Tali's room had yellow walls and a single low bed Tony had unpacked a few of her toys, Tony's room had a largish double bed and a closet his walls where white. Tony found a children's book at the bottom Tali's go bag so after she was changed he ordered their dinner from room service then filled one of her bottles with weak juice, he read the book to her while they waited for room service to bring up their food. By the time they had eaten and finished the book Tali was yawning so Tony helped her brush her teeth then put her to bed.
Tony took the photo out of the frame again but this time he noticed something else.

In the wooden frame there was a slightly blue area, it looked as though someone had skill fully removed a tiny part of the frame and replaced something else. He carefully pulled apart the frame, just enough to be able to slide the blue part out. It turned out to be a small memory card, he turned his laptop on and inserted the small card. All that was on the card was the same picture as was in the frame, he and Ziva used to send each other messages encrypted in photos all the time so he downloaded the image and using http://mozaiq.org/decrypt he put in their normal password which revealed a message

"Hi Tony, Sorry I had to leave you like that but Kort was after some information my father had unless I left he would have gotten me. The reason I left Tali there was mainly because I didn't want her to have to come under the radar with me or for you to believe you had a dead daughter. If I ever see you again I will explain more, just know that I am truly sorry, Z. 17"

He sat there processing the new information for a little over an hour before falling asleep.

In the morning he had pretty much lost all hope that Ziva would be at the same place as in the photo but he dressed Tali and went anyway, they waited at a cafe just out of shot from where the photo was originally taken. They sat under a shade, Tali had pancakes with cranberry sauce and Tony had a platter of croissants. They waited all day at the table buying breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks but Ziva didn't turn up, Tali spoke in a mix of French, Hebrew and English throughout the day because of being brought up around languages. Tali sat at the table with a coloring book and her doggy while Tony sat opposite her looking out for Ziva and playing games on his phone. Eventually the cafe closed and they had to leave, Tony carried Tali back to their hotel room in silence.

When Tony woke up he sat in bed for ages trying to decide what to do and where to go, he couldn't stay in Paris as he didn't understand the language and he couldn't go back to Washington, there were too many criminals that wanted revenge on him there and it was a similar situation about Israel. He thought about moving to Spain or Italy as he could speak both languages but ultimately came no closer to deciding.

A/N - I will update when this part gets 5 votes
Please comment where you think Tony should move too