Chapter 15: Deal

When they got back to the NCIS office in the afternoon, he felt lighter, simply because he knew that Joelle wouldn't go to jail for what she had done. It didn't mean she wouldn't need to face it, but simply that she wouldn't pay any more for the mistakes of others.

He found her sitting in the bullpen next to McGee, while Ziva and Tony were standing behind them, looking over their shoulders at the screen.

"No, you did it wrong," Joelle told McGee and typed something, he suspected she deleted something. "You have the one here, so you have the matrix in your head, you put the numbers from the right corner in, you solve the matrix that is hidden in here and then you get the password, which is..." she explained and looked expectantly at McGee. He thought long, then shook his head.

"I have no idea," he admitted.

"Ziva?" Joelle asked and turned her head to look at her friend.

"I was never good at decryption," Ziva couldn't solve it either.

"Twenty Five," Tony said suddenly and all the others looked at him in surprise.

"Very good, Agent DiNozzo," Joelle complimented with a slight nod and a smile that played around her mouth, but didn't reach her eyes. For a moment he felt like he was watching Ziva again when she had arrived at first. Tony smiled in victory and raised his arms in the air, celebrating.

"How did you do that?" Ziva asked and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm just good at math, Zee-vah," he grinned cheekily.

"Tony, you suck at math," McGee knew. "You need the calculator on your cell phone to check your receipts."

"There is no way you solved this," Ziva insisted and exchanged a look with McGee, wondering how Tony had done it.

"Whenever I solve a matrix I have to write it down and then solve it, underline the solution two times, like I learned at school. If I can't actually write it down, I fake write it with my finger onto the table. DiNozzo followed my fingers and read the solution from the table," Joelle finally told them and Tony gaped at her, surprised that she had caught him.

"I knew it! You cheated!" Ziva exclaimed, while McGee only snorted at the thought of Tony solving such a complex riddle.

"He did not cheat, Ziva, he was more observant that you two and got the job done. Sneaky man, this Anthony DiNozzo," Joelle let her friend know and the cheeky smile was back on Tony's face.

"Have to interrupt playtime, here. Joelle I need to talk to you," he spoke up for the first time and they all looked surprised to see him, except for his daughter who must have noticed him earlier.

"Where?" she only asked and got up, then straightened her shoulders. She was getting ready for another fight.

"My office?" he said and pointed to the elevator.

" Heard about that one," she muttered, but followed him anyway. He made a point out of locking his gun away in his desk before walking to the elevator.

"This ok?" he asked, not sure how she felt about being alone with him in the small room.

"Sure," she shrugged, but her eyes were darting through the elevator, taking in all buttons, switches and possible exits. He flipped the switch and the elevator stopped. They were alone.

"You won't need to flee, I have good news," he started. "Well, mostly," he admitted.

"Ok," she only said and looked at him.

"Vance and I had a talk with Eli David today," he said and saw how she stiffened when he mentioned the name of the Mossad director. "He agreed that Joelle Levi will be responsible for the murders, but sadly will never be found. Joelle Liv Sheppard however, will have never lived in Israel, but spent her last years at a boarding school in Switzerland, but is now back in the US," he let her know. She let out a long breath and seemed relieved.

"What's the bad news?" she asked him then.

"Why do you think there's bad news?" he asked back.

"There's always bad news," she knew.

"This time there's not. It's just news you might not particularly like," he shrugged. "Vance and I agreed on the drive here, that you will start seeing a psychologist for a psych evaluation and depending on his judgment you will attend therapy in whatever form he sees necessary."

"Ok," she said again, still looking at his with big eyes, waiting for the shoe to drop.

"You will also go back to school as soon as possible and finish your education," he went on and this time she let out an annoyed groan. "We are aware that you might be ahead in some subjects, but I guess you might have troubles in others. We will deal with that, too," he let her know. "Maybe, and I mean maybe, you can do an internship here at NCIS at the decryption unit, if you want and only when your stable enough," he pointed out.

"Ok," she accepted it.

"And you'll be staying with me," he told her finally and this one got a reaction. Her eyes got even larger and her cheeks flushed.

"What?" she asked loudly. "No!" she went on. "You said there were no bad news!" she exclaimed finally and he had to smile about that.

"That's not bad news, at least not for me. I'm your father and I want to get to know you without you sedating me or pointing a gun at my head," he said.

"Can't promise that," she muttered.

"Look, Joelle," he started and took a deep breath. "I know our past is all messed up and you will probably always hate me for it. But I think you know by now that it's not only my fault. Your mother messed up just as badly as I did and I say that, knowing I still love her." He paused for a moment. "But you're here now and you're my daughter and I want to help you and be there for you in all the ways I couldn't these last sixteen years. If you want to keep hating me then do that, as long as you're not trying to kill me again. But I won't leave you and I won't let you leave. You're stuck with me now, the way your mother originally wanted it, so deal with it."

"Ziva says you're like a father for her. The same goes for Tony, although he would never admit it," Joelle replied quietly. By those few words he knew that she and Ziva must have talked about him and maybe that was why she seemed suddenly so calm towards him. "My mother always said you're a good man and she never lied to me. We had a rule about lying, you know," she looked at him and tilted her head to the side.

"Yeah, I know. Rule seven: Always be specific when you lie," he knew.

"No, not your rules, Gibbs. Our own rule, rule number one: 'Never lie to each other. There are enough people out there who you are lying to and who are lying to you.'," she told him.

"That's a good rule," he acknowledged.

"I always know when people are lying, mom always said I got that from you. It would be fruitless lying to each other, don't you think?" she asked him.

"You're asking me to apply the rule for us as well?" he wanted clarification. He would probably say yes to anything at that moment, he knew, simply because he was so happy that his daughter was talking to him.

"Yes," she simply said, and seemed not to be one for long speeches either.

"Ok," he agreed.

"Just so you know: No white lies an no 'Not telling is not a lie' things either. You tell the truth, always, otherwise I won't be able to trust you," Joelle pointed out.

"Accepted," he told her.

"Deal," she said and he was surprised when she held out her hand to him.

"Deal," he said and shook her hand with a smile on his face. He couldn't help but tousle her hair when they pulled their hands back. "Glad to have you here now, kid," he said and started the elevator again.

When he stepped out of it when they had rode up to the bullpen again something black smashed into him and nearly chocked him to death.

"Oh god, you're still alive, I was so worried she would kill you in there. I mean, I know she's you daughter and all, but still, she's a ninja, like Ziva and she could kill you and you didn't have your weapon and she's so much younger than you are and with the drugs she gave you, you still don't have your full strength back and..." Abby went on and on, while she hugged him.

"Abbs, won't be alive for much longer if you suffocate me before," he told her and she loosened her hold on him. "Thanks, Abby," he said and hugged her back.

"Is she for reals?" Joelle, who was standing beside them, now with Ziva and Tony next to her, asked.

"Oh, yes, she's 'for reals'," Tony nodded. "That's Abby."

"Ah, the forensic scientist. Mom once told me she helped you dress for court. I didn't really get the problem back then..." Joelle trailed off and Abby turned around and looked at her for the first time.

"Wow, you really look like the director... former director I mean," she said and then hugged Joelle, who tensed. Just when Ziva wanted to intervene, scared Joelle would take down Abby, the girl relaxed though.

"I know. Except for my hair. Mom said my father had dark hair, not that one can really tell now," Joelle said with a side way glance at him. "She couldn't tell me where the curls come from," she shrugged.

"My mother had curly hair," he told her and they all slowly walked back to the desks.

"So, Boss, now that Joelle will stay, maybe you could tell us a bit more about Jenny and your story, I'm sure Joelle would like to hear it as well... being that you're her parents and all. When did you first meet her? And how did the two of you get together? Was it more in a Harry and Sally kind of way or more the Casablanca way?" Tony started asking questions, obviously thinking that now that Joelle was there and they were save for now he could get away with everything. He was wrong and just when they reached their desks a strong head slap shut him up. Just when he had been happy for a second, DiNozzo had to ruin it with his stupid questions.

"Sorry, boss, I got carried away," he apologized and rubbed the back of his head. He was glaring at him, until he heard something. It started quietly and then became louder. Joelle, sitting on the edge of Ziva's desk was snorting with laughter, looking at the two of them. He felt his chest fill with warmth at the sight of her smiling face and the sound of her laughter in his ears. They all stared at her, until Ziva started laughing as well. Her laughter was mixed with tears however and she hugged Joelle sideways to her and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I'm so happy to hear you laugh again, Livvy. It's been way too long," she said quietly and he noticed that Tony had taken Ziva's hand and gave it a small squeeze, obviously ok with being the source of amusement.

"If you ever Gibbs- slap me, dad, I'm gonna slap you back," Joelle grinned at him and then laughed again. "Tony, you should see your face when he slaps you, you go all..." Joelle giggled, but he didn't really register anymore what she said.

She was still scared, she was still in desperate need of therapy and he was aware that they had a long way lying ahead of them on her route to recovery. Some of her wounds would heal, others wouldn't and they would have to deal with that.

However, right then she was save, she was healthy, she was alive and she was laughing.

And she had called him, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, dad- and it made him happy and this was all that counted at that moment.

TBC