#tali david dinozzo | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

le-amewzing · 2 months

Text

All We Have in the End

Absolutely had to write the Paris POV of receiving that news. ;w; *Note: Set during s21e2, "The Stories We Leave Behind."

-----

Fic: "All We Have in the End" [FFN] [AO3] [pfio]

Pairings/Characters: Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David, DiNozzo Sr., & Tali David–DiNozzo, with a cameo from Timothy McGee

Rating: K+

Words: ~1,580

Additional info: family, tragedy, hurt/comfort, 3rd person POV

Summary: Their day is winding down in Paris, and the David–DiNozzo family gets a call from McGee just like any…other…day…

-----

"I've decided: I am not a fan of the unseasonably warm winter," Tony announced as Ziva joined him on their balcony late that February afternoon. They had the big double doors thrown wide open, and a chilly breeze caught the curtains, pulling the fabric outside, trying to wrap the couple in a warm embrace as they looked out on the twinkling city below.

She chuckled beside him and leaned against his left arm while he rested on his arms on the balcony railing. "So we've not had much snow, Tony. Personally, while I miss the winter wonderland D.C. can be this time of year…I won't dismiss that this is nice, too."

"But the hot cocoa! The s'mores!"

"You whine as though we've not done all those things still," she reminded him with a gentle poke to his side.

True. He nodded at that, although he wanted to bring up snowball fights next…then again, he wasn't getting any younger. Bending down to scoop up snow and play with Tali and her friends and their families was, uh, not as easy as it used to be. Even compared to a year or two ago.

Ziva rested her chin on his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek, moving her arms around him. "Besides, I find I am quite partial to this weather. Soft sweaters and," she murmured, leaving her thought go unfinished.

But Tony glanced at her, his grumpiness ebbing. He turned in her arms, drawing her close, because he actually knew what the rest of that thought was, now that they had several years under their belt, here.

Together. In Paris. With Tali.

Tony hadn't remarked about it. Not before, because he hadn't wanted to scare Ziva off, and not now, because he didn't want to piss her off. But now, setting down roots here, Ziva clearly was comfortable—in a new home, in her own skin, in showing her love and affection. He was proud of her, but—more than anything—he was happy for her, and Tony reminded her of this as he pressed a kiss to her temple as well as one to her lips.

"WE'RE HOME, ABBA, IMAH!!!" Tali yelled from deep inside the flat, and the front door closed behind her a moment later.

The parents chuckled and Tony rolled his eyes as they walked inside. "Indoor voice, Tal, indoor voice."

The ten-year-old grinned and dropped her schoolbag on the nearest chair before rushing her mother for a hug.

Tony glanced at his father behind Tali. "How was the walk home?"

"Fantastic," Senior said. He shed his coat and draped it on the back of the chair where Tali left her bag. "You know, that teacher from Tali's school, Madame Dumond, she always has a bright smile for me whenever I pick Tali up from school…"

Tony's face fell. He had to be imagining that twinkle in Senior's eye—oh, God, he was hallucinating that cocky twinkle in his eye, right?! "Dad, please tell me you didn't."

"What? I haven't done anything, son. We just exchange hellos, and she's incredibly patient with my broken French."

He rubbed his forehead, sensing a headache developing, and he didn't appreciate the snickers on his right. "…don't encourage him, Zee."

"What? I have seen the way Madame Dumond looks at your father. It's cute."

Thankfully, a familiar series of chirps sounded in the other room. Tony did a double-take before he realized he'd left his laptop in his and Ziva's room-slash-home office. Given the time difference, he didn't have high hopes it was McGee calling from the start of the workday, but a part of him wished for his friend's ear, because at least McGee might sympathize with him. So Tony ducked into the room, grabbed the device, and returned only to catch his daughter's eye as Senior split a chocolate éclair with her. "Hey! No spoiling your dinner."

"What's for dinner?" Tali and Senior asked in unison.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Undecided. But, Tali, homework first."

The curly-haired scamp didn't protest, but she did shove her entire half of the éclair in her mouth before scooting off to her room with her belongings.

Ziva snickered. "And, knowing you and your talk of s'mores earlier, we'll be heading out to that specialty dessert restaurant tonight," she quipped.

Tony's cheeks warmed, because his partner…wasn't entirely wrong. "Yeah, yeah…" Before the video caller gave up, he opened his laptop and the app—and was relieved to discover his wish had been answered. "McGoober McCheese! Have some crime-solving only we can assist with from across the pond?"

McGee opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Tony furrowed his brow. He glanced at the app's settings…no, the volume was up and everything appeared to be running just fine…and the video feed wasn't frozen… Tony's good cheer vanished, his smile forced. "McGee?"

McGee struggled to meet his eyes. When he did, Tony saw: They were red.

…aw, hell. This—This was like three years ago all over again. But if the shock of Bishop's treason (which, as Tony and Ziva had discussed between themselves, made zero sense without someone pulling serious strings…) and then the brief terror of Gibbs' supposed death had made McGee pale and a mess that reverted him to his probie self, then what…?

Tony dropped onto the family sofa like a sack of potatoes.

Oh.

Someone…someone was gone. For real, this time.

Ziva drew near and placed a hand on Tony's left shoulder, her fingers curling into him, strong, as she reached the same conclusion. Senior sat down in the armchair, looking from his son to the screen.

Finally, McGee got enough breath in him, and his words came out in an exhale: "Jimmy found Ducky."

Tony winced. Not from Ziva digging her nails in, not from hearing his father's gasp—he winced, because the news…the news hurt. The news was a blow.

Ducky.

Ducky—he was someone who was supposed to live forever. If he could survive wartime battlefields and being attacked on the job and even that damn heart-attack after Dearing's attack on NCIS headquarters, then surely Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard was some breed of invincible man, not far removed from Gibbs himself. He was supposed to live well into his hundreds, into his two-hundreds. He— He— He—

Ducky didn't just pass away in his sleep. Ducky was supposed to be around forever.

All the while Tony's thoughts jumbled, McGee kept talking, about organizing things and trying to help Jimmy and just—everyone there trying to hold it together.

Ah. Right. There…was still an agency, a team mourning their friend.

Ducky wasn't theirs alone.

"What can we do to help, Tim?" Senior offered.

His question caught both McGee and Tony by surprise, and both looked Senior's way. "…uhh, nothing, Mr. DiNozzo, sorry. We've got our hands full, and I'm in the middle of calling you all first." He paused to swallow a lump in his throat. "I called Gibbs before I called you. …Abby's next on my list."

"Thank you for letting us know, McGee," Ziva said.

He nodded by way of parting, and the video cut out a second later.

Ziva studied Tony—he felt her eyes on him—and she pulled the laptop from his grip. "Tony…"

He closed his eyes, though. He knew they all mourned Ducky, but there was…this was different. Ducky belonged to everyone, yes, but also—he didn't. The team originally had been Gibbs, Tony, Kate, McGee, Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy.

But Kate had been taken too soon. Then Tony, Abby, and Gibbs left. And now McGee and Jimmy… Tony rubbed that same spot on his forehead, his headache arriving as he tried to hold back his tears as well as a confusing mixture of grief and other emotions he couldn't quite name.

Ziva passed the laptop to Senior as she sat beside Tony. She pulled him in and held him, tight, without saying a word.

The first one to break the silence was Senior, a few minutes later. He piped up, "I can book you on a flight back to D.C. that departs in an hour. It's cutting it close, and you'll have a layover, but it'll make do."

They both turned to him. Tony gawked. "You—"

Senior shook his head. "Tony, you know you've gotta be there. I'd love to go and pay my respects to my fellow Sherlock, and I can tell Ziva would love to go, too," he said, and Ziva gave him a wet smile, "but you have to be there."

Tony faced Ziva. "But—"

She shushed him. "Tali's still in the middle of the school year. Your father and I can man-handle the fort while you're gone."

Relief bubbled up in his chest, pushing down the urge to chuckle at and not correct her Zivaism. "Zee, Dad—"

But Senior was having none of it. He got back to clicking on the airline's site. "Tim said there wasn't anything I could do, but I like to prove you kids wrong even now. So go pack your nicest suit, Tony, and represent all of us."

Ziva nodded at that, and she pecked Tony's cheek. "Being there is one thing you can do, so give them our love," she said. "Remind them that they're not alone. It's what we can do."

Tony watched as Ziva laced their fingers together, clasped his hand. Strangely, that mix of emotions didn't threaten to overwhelm him anymore. "…yeah," he agreed, "it's what we can do."

-----

Hi, hello, still a wreck after that final scene in s21e2. The mellow version of the theme song, the nods to all the other offices (they didn't forget about NOLA! TT-TT), and just…a lot of details in general had my entire family teary-eyed throughout the ep. But then. THE TONY CAMEO. And not a dry eye could be found in the mew household, folks. Ngl, it made it hard to pay full attention to Hawai'i after, *lol*. X'D So…some things. First, the title comes from a passing line of Jimmy's at the end of the ep; he refers to the stories left behind as what we have in the end, altho Tony corrects him, about the "the lives we touch"—and I like that take, implying that what we have still is each other. :') Second, with this story, there's deffo a big nod to my previous fic, "Stand-In," bc it's hard not to see the parallels in terms of McGee reaching out with Bad News™ to tell the David–DiNozzo family. But, here, more time has passed, and Tiva truly are more comfortable in their lives here…altho, receiving this call and thinking about a) the OG team and b) his age, it's implied that this is a bit of a wake-up call for Tony, too. Things have been changing for a long time, but things feel far more permanent now. This Tony is much more aware of his mortality now (which, as a Marvel fan, is not a fun sentence to type, ouch ;w; *has cross-fandom feels again even tho it's been yrs*). ANYWHO. I just wanted to give us all a peek into how the Tiva fam prolly is doing (spunky little Tali! Senior still up to his charming old ways!!! Tiva being Tiva!!!!), and to reflect a bit on the ep. Actually rly happy they had a lot of great flashbacks for the ep from across the seasons… RIP, DM and DM.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to: leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link, comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, or comment via the pillowfort link also at the top, especially if you enjoyed this!

~mew

#ncis #tiva #tony dinozzo #ziva david #dinozzo sr #tali david dinozzo #fanfic #mew writes too much #timothy mcgee #have the paris pov of part of s21e2 #have some feels #the feels man the feels

9 notes · View notes