A/N: After I watched the season finale and the way Tony was written out (I kinda liked it btw, but I'm aware I'm in the minority on this one), I couldn't help but think about how his story would go on. Here are my thoughts on it. I don't know how long this is going to get, depends on how much interest there is, I suppose. Anyway, I hope you like it.

This is Tibbs Slash, of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.

Somewhere Along the Bitterness

Tony looked up from the tedious paper work that his job brought with it from time to time to catch a glimpse of the news that showed firemen trying to put out a blaze somewhere in DC. He felt his heart clench like every time he thought about how fires had changed his life. First his decision to join the force after he had rescued that boy when he'd been in college and then Ziva's death which brought him Tali.

As if she'd heard that he was thinking about her, she entered the living room right at that exact moment and sat down next to him. Sometimes it nearly hurt to look at her because she looked so alike her mother. Tali's long brown hair was falling in wild curls over her shoulders and her bronze skin looked like she'd just spent the whole of summer on the beach. It was only her eyes that gave away that she was his daughter, too. That – and the love for movies and talking.

"Hey Abba?" she started now, while chewing her gum. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, kiddo," he said, dropping the pen he'd been holding onto the coffee table in front of him. "What's up?"

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Uh-Oh. Was this the dreaded question about the birds and the bees that Tony had been afraid of for quite some time now? Sure, he had known that it was coming, Tali was already thirteen years old, but for some reason he had always wished she wouldn't ask that question until she was like thirty. Internally sighing, he trained his eyes upon his daughter, wishing that he'd have support in answering this. When Tali opened her mouth though, she didn't seem embarrassed which caused Tony to relax at least a bit. Maybe it wasn't about that after all.

"I know I never asked… but how did the two of you get together?"

Smiling softly, Tony leaned back, stretched out his left hand, took hold of a loose strand of Tali's hair and tucked it behind her ear. He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering Ziva's first day at NCIS and how they had loved and hated each other at the same time for a really long while after that. He decided to skip that part because it surely wasn't what Tali wanted to hear right now.

"You know your mom and I worked together, right?"

"Oh, I know about that," Tali dismissed it with a wave of her hand and a roll of her eyes.

"Stop doing that, I always think your mom's in the room when you do that."

"Good," Tali smiled.

Tony nudged her on the shoulder and then ruffled her hair affectionately, wondering why he had ever been afraid of having kids. Tali had grown up to be an intelligent young lady and while at times it hurt him thinking about how fast she was growing up, he couldn't help but to be proud of himself, too. He really had done well with her. But maybe he had just gotten lucky.

"But I don't want to know about Ima and you. Abby told me all about it. And Jimmy did. Even Victoria. You two are like an urban legend around here."

"We are?" Tony smiled again before running a hand over his face.

"Abby told me that all the time you wasted made her see that she should stop fooling around and get herself together."

"She told you that?" Tony asked somewhat aggravated as it hadn't really been Abby's story to tell after all.

"Sure," Tali shrugged. "Nothing wrong about it. Plus, I love little Pete and Cedric."

"Yeah, she's got some great kids," Tony agreed, thinking about the two little nerds he usually babysat on Thursdays on his day off. "And when did you get so smart?"

"Always was," Tali grinned and then made a gum bubble that promptly popped into her face.

"Maybe not that smart," Tony joked as he watched his daughter get rid of the gum on her face only to plop it back into her mouth.

"Are Pete and Ceddy coming over tomorrow?" she asked now, apparently realizing that it was already Wednesday.

"Sure are. You know you don't have to be here when they are, right? I know you're all grown up and all."

"No problem, Abba," Tali smiled. "They're great at computer games. Plus, Victoria said she wanted to come, too, if that's alright."

"Sure thing. Just have Breena or Jimmy call me to make sure she's allowed to come."

"Why shouldn't she?" Tali asked scrunching up her face in confusion.

"Oh, I don't know. How about last time the two of you were having a slumber party and she forgot to tell her parents?"

"I didn't know she didn't tell them," Tali defended herself but Tony held up a hand to stop her.

"I know that. That's why you didn't get to do the chores around the house, remember? Just make sure you always tell us where you are, alright?"

"I know," Tali sighed and Tony couldn't blame her.

They must have had that particular conversation about a million times already. Tony didn't know if he was being over-protective or if it was normal to feel queasy whenever he didn't know exactly where his daughter was. Maybe it was the fact that he had almost lost her in that fire, too. He would have lost her without even having known of her. While that fact still stung after all these years, he also knew that Ziva would have told him eventually. He was sure of that and he didn't hold a grudge against her. It certainly hadn't been her best decision but then again, maybe it hadn't been his best decision to leave her in Israel, either. But it had worked out for the best – or whatever best was when a child loses her mother so early.
Tony, of course, knew what it felt like but at least he had been able to get to know his mother, had memories to lean on while Tali didn't remember one single thing about her mother. It made Tony sad just thinking about it but he did his best to tell her as many stories about her mother as possible.

Thinking about that, he realized that they had gotten off track.

"Kiddo, what was it that you wanted to ask if it isn't about your mom?"

"I know how you and Ima got together and all," Tali shrugged, making herself comfortable on the old and worn couch. "I was talking about you and Papa. You never told me the story. I haven't even seen your wedding video. I know there is one because you guys always watch it whenever I'm supposed to be asleep."

"You really want to know?" Tony replied, absent-mindedly playing with the ring on his left hand.

"Sure. Why wouldn't I?"

"Don't want to hurt you, honey," Tony sighed and now really wished that he'd have support for the conversation, but her papa wouldn't be home for another few hours.

"Why would that hurt me?" Tali furrowed a brow and tilted her head a bit to the right to take a closer look at him. "I love him."

"I know," Tony gulped. "It's just that I always think that you'd rather have your mom here, that's all."

"I do," Tali answered softly, casting her eyes away from Tony's for a moment before returning her glance to him. "But that doesn't mean I'm not happy as things are. We've got a great family, you know that, right? Abba?"

"Yeah," Tony nodded, trying to keep the tears at bay.

He didn't even know why he was so touched by that simple statement. It wasn't like he hadn't known or that Tali hadn't ever told her papa that she loved him. It was just that she had never told Tony that she was indeed happy about it all.

"So, can you tell me?"

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "Story time?"

"Story time," Tali nodded as she snuggled into him as Tony brought an arm around her. He sighed contently, realizing that they hadn't had story time in a really long time.

"You know that your papa and I worked together, right?"

"Yeah, he was your boss, right?"

"Yup."