Tim's POV

Tim's Apartment

It's been a week since Ziva died. Her records say that she committed suicide, but we all know better. We know that Tony killed her. He told us.

We support him all the way, if I'm being completely honest.

In this week, life has been both falling apart, and also back into place.

Erin permanently moved in with Tony, and Tony is trying to adopt her.

Speaking of Tony, his conversation with me has been haunting, yet reassuring me, at the same time.

I've decided something about the person that I thought I loved more than anything. The one that I was sure that I was going to marry and have kids with. Who I was sure was going to support me for the rest of our lives.

I learned that I absolutely hate Abby.

She betrayed me, and she hurt me. It was all of the sudden. I have no sympathy, respect, or love for her.

What I love is the memory.

Tony saved me again. Saved me from pain.

He is the big brother Tony told me about, and I wouldn't want it any different. Yes, he teases me, and yes, he can take it a bit far, but wow does he love me.

And wow, do I love him.

I remember all of the reassurance he gave me. When Kate died, yes he did try to make himself better, but come to think of it, it seemed that MY feelings were his priority. His best friend, his sister, died right in front of him. The warm blood coated his face, and he only acted nicely toward me.

I think that with Kate's death, he realized how much he cared for me, and the love and protection just followed.

Tony shouldn't be going through all of this.

My attention turns back to Alice.

From minute one, her primary concern was to help us. I know now why she went straight to Ziva. Not only was it the most logical explanation, but it was possibly meant to protect us. We had just lost a brother. We couldn't lose a father, too. Not Gibbs. Not then. Not ever.

Alice lost her mother and baby sister, Shelby, in the same year. She knows what its like to lose the most important people in the world to you with little time in between.

She tried so hard to protect us, and it worked.

I realize then that I never thanked her for what she did in the little time we knew her. Not only was she one of the main causes of Ziva's death, but she also protected us.

I want so badly to thank her.

If only she were alive so that I could.

With that, I realize just how much I love the people who care about me.

Gibbs, Ducky, Palmer...

Tony.

With a sudden need to see Tony, I race out my apartment, setting my brain-GPS to Tony's apartment.

Tony's POV

Tony's Apartment

"Erin, c'mon. We've gotta look at the apartments!" I yell.

I frown at the apartment. So many memories.

It saddens me, because I decided that since I have a daughter now, its time to relocate. Just, to a different apartment. I hope to stay in the same building and everything.

I'm just getting a more, child friendly place to call home. One with two bedrooms.

Realizing that Erin is taking a while, I go into Erin's "room" aka, I hate to say it, the closet, to see what she's doing.

"Her, Er. What ya' doing?" I ask her.

She looks up from her suitcase with guilt in her eyes, and she holds up a DVD.

"Mommy told me to give this to you if she wasn't able to. She told me that right before she left. I guess that she knew that she was on danger," She answers.

I take it from her, and she looks down at the floor.

"I'm sorry To- Daddy."

I smile. She's been trying to get into the habit of calling me "daddy," not Tony."

"Aww. It's alright, kid. If my mom gave me a DVD and told me to give it to some strange friend of hers, the DVD would be the last thing on my mind," I answer.

She smiles at me sadly.

"You aren't some stranger. You were mommy's best friend, and now you're my dad. Thank you."

I smile and nod.

"No problem, kid. I'm happy to have you here."

I walk over to the living room and pop the DVD in the DVD player.

"Still can't believe that you decided to pack the TV and DVD player last," Erin tells me, laughing.

I smile and shrug.

"Well, you know me. I was thinking, 'hey maybe we can squeeze a little Terminator 2 into the packing. Movie night with my little girl.' You can't say that that's out of character for me."

Erin smiles.

"Very true."

I smile back at her and nod to the couch, silently asking her to sit down. She obeys, I press play, then sit right next to her.

On the TV is Alice. She adjusts what I'm guessing is the camera, and takes a deep breath.

As she does, I just stare. She looked exactly like she did that last night. Her hair brought to one side, held there with, uh, Bobby Pins, I believe they're called. She had makeup on. Not to much, though. With that, a simple little dress.

I snap out of my trance, and she begins to speak.

"Hey, Tony. If you're watching this, then something happened. If so, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. For everything. For leaving you for Nick when we were kids. For all the pain I caused you. I know that I did wrong things outside of that tine, and I'm so sorry," she starts.

I stare at the screen and let a tear fall. This is it. Her final goodbye.

"I love you, Tony." She looks behind her, at the door, to make sure it's closed and locked, then she looks back at the screen, with a serious and sympathetic look in her eye.

"But that isn't what this DVD is for. After I picked you up at your mom's gravesite, I was determined. I needed to give you and I closure. So, when I dropped you off, I went to the FBI and I did some digging, and I found what I was looking for. Tony, I know who killed your mother."

My eyes sided, and she shows a picture of a scraggly looking foreign dude. Looks like he's from... uh...

I gasp.

Israel. Has a Ziva David resemblance.

"He look familiar? Well, he should. His name is Ziv David. Ziv. Not Ziva. Ziv. He was Eli David's big brother. He was Ziva's uncle, Tony." She explains.

My eyes widen.

"Ziva's mother was eight months pregnant, and they were broke. All of Ziv's friends say that Ziv would do anything for his family. Especially Eli. He looked for people in foreign countries who he could set a deal with. He found your father, and traveled to America to meet with him. They set a deal, but your dad conned every penny out of him. Ziv had also used Eli and Ziva's mother's last bit of money, sure that it would be an investment. However, like I said, your dad conned him. He was forced to stay in America since he couldn't afford the plane ride back, so in his free time, he came up with a revenge plot. He spied on you guys for a week, and he figured knew exactly when to get his revenge. The day came, and well, you know the rest," She explains.

I stare, shocked.

"See, Tony? It wasn't your fault. If it was anyone's fault other then Ziv's, it was your father's.

One Week Later…

With life slowly falling back into place, I finally decide to move on with my life. Let go of Ziva. Of Michael.

Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to let go of Alice, too. The problem is, I still see her everywhere I go. I'm haunted by her.

I canceled the apartment hunting with the real estate agent last week, but we're having it today.

I hear the doorbell, and I take Erin to the door and open it.

Behind it is a REAL hot woman, with no ring on her finger.

"Hello, I'm Marie. I'll be your real estate agent," she tells me as she smiles.

I smile my DiNozzo smile.

We'll be alright.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow! That's it. Thank you guys so much for reading this and staying with me all this time. I can't put into words my appreciation. I'll start with the series ASAP. You guys are great. Thank you.

-Anne Tutusuvich