Nuclear Family

8

News of another murder reached their ears the following morning.

Ziva went with them to the scene, silently watching with pursed lips as Ducky examined the dead man.

Tony went about his own business, interviewing the jogger who found the body, but he didn't miss Ziva's flinch when Ducky pulled up the victim's shirt to reveal the fresh inscription across the mottled abdomen.

Awfully strong reaction for someone like Ziva, he thought, but he shrugged it off.

The jogger hadn't seen anyone, or anything, for that matter.

Disappointing, but Tony hadn't expected the guy to break open the case.

They were soon headed back to headquarters, weighted down with full SD cards and boxes of potential evidence.

He and McGee hit up the break room for a late lunch from the vending machines.

"You pay any attention to Ziva this morning?" McGee asked in an undertone as they sat down with their wilted salads and lukewarm pops.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just thought... I thought she was acting a bit odd, just wondered if anyone else noticed."

"Yeah, I noticed." He did a lot more than notice, but that was too much to put into words. Wasn't break room conversation material, either.

McGee didn't say anything else about it after that, much to Tony's relief.

When they returned to the squad room, he saw that Ziva was gone, and fear spiked through him.

Surely she hadn't gone to find Tali. Surely she hadn't followed him to her school.

Surely.

No, he couldn't be sure.

He grabbed the phone from his desk and dialed Tali's school from memory.

Just as the secretary's voice reached his ear, Ziva stepped out of the elevator.

His heart settled back into position, though it continued to pound. He hung up the phone without saying a word to the poor woman on the other end.

"Where'd you go?" he demanded when Ziva got close enough to hear him.

Her brow furrowed. "Why do you care?"

Tony was well-aware of McGee's wide stare, but he ignored it. "Oh, my bad, you're right. If I didn't deserve to know we had a child, I definitely don't deserve to know where you were just now."

The moment the words left his lips, he regretted them. It was a low-blow.

But much to his surprise, Ziva's expression dropped. "I went out to get a bite to eat. Seeing as I wasn't invited to join anyone."

She had a point.

So he let it go.

Ziva crossed the bullpen to her borrowed desk in the corner and sat down.

He couldn't help but watch her a while longer – but only until Gibbs came back, his presence demanding quiet productivity.

***

Tony wasn't entirely sure why he did it, but he found himself fixing his tie as he walked down the hallway of Tali's school.

He was a little late – the classrooms were empty – but only by a couple minutes.

Finally he came to the room at the end of the hall.

He took a deep breath and then stepped inside.