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The Walls That Tell Our Stories
Post-ep for 21x02 "The Stories We Leave Behind"
What I think we all want to imagine happened after the doors closed on that elevator at the end of the episode.
Word Count: 1,365
Read on AO3
No sooner had the elevator doors opened, than a fiery ball of energy came slamming into his legs.
"Daddy! Daddy!" the little girl yelled, grabbing onto his hand and pulling. "Take a picture of me with the orange wall!" She yanked him forward, already showing signs of that strength she and her mother both shared.
Tony laughed, casting a glance at McGee.
"Sorry, she's heard a lot about these orange walls," he explained, fishing his cell phone out of his coat pocket and dutifully opening the camera app.
He knelt down, holding the phone up so she was in frame.
"Alright, Tali, say, 'NCIS!'" he said, and Tali repeated it, finishing with a big toothy smile and a wild pose she must have learned from her friends at school.
Once he'd taken a couple photos, he clicked the image gallery to check them, holding the phone out to show Tali.
"How's that?" he asked, waiting for her approval.
"Perfect!" she answered. "Now one at your desk!"
Before he could stop her, she darted off to the part of the bullpen he had called home for so many years. It looked a little different now, various personal items stashed on the desks and even some plants making it feel more homey, but it was still the same place.
"Honey, that's not my desk anymore, it's Uncle Tim's," he reminded her. It hadn't been his in a long time, and it was crazy to think of all that had changed since then.
A pouty lip came out, and McGee chuckled. There was a lot of Ziva in her, that was true, but when it came to her personality, she was just so Tony.
"It's okay," he said, giving Tali the go-ahead to sit in his chair. “That was your dad's desk long before it was mine.”
She ran around the edge of it, plopping unceremoniously into the swivel chair and looking around interestedly at everything.
“Dad, did they have computers back when you worked here?”
Tony felt her words like a blow to the chest, and he feigned having the wind knocked out of him. How old did she think he was? He could practically feel the gray hairs sprouting from his head.
“Do you want me to take your picture or not?” he asked, shaking his head, hiding his amusement behind squinted eyes.
She smiled for the camera, then did a few poses pretending she was working.
"How many kids do you know who's number one bucket list item is to visit the headquarters of a government agency?" DiNozzo joked as he snapped a couple more photos.
Tali had been begging them for years, but it had never been a good time. They’d needed some space to learn how to be a family when Ziva finally came home. And though they wished it had been under better circumstances, at least now they could show their daughter all the places she'd heard about in their stories.
McGee smirked, watching the energetic daughter of his two best friends as she clacked away at his keyboard.
"I'd expect nothing less from your kid, Tony."
After a moment, Tali looked up, an inquisitive look on her face.
"Which one was Ima's?" she asked, spinning her chair back and forth.
He knelt down in front of her, resting his arms on the edge of the desk, his chin atop his folded hands.
"Which one do you think made it easiest to stare at her all day with heart eyes, Tali-girl?"
She giggled, pausing so she could inspect her options, taking the task very seriously. She tapped her chin in thought.
"That one!" she said, brightening up and pointing to the desk directly across from his.
He grinned, thinking back to all the times he'd sat there thinking about her mother.
"Bingo!"
"Can I–?"
"Have a picture over there?" he finished, already knowing what she was going to say. "Ask Agent Knight if it's okay."
Jessica Knight was standing near the elevator with Palmer, and it didn't take long for Tali to get her permission. She ran back the short distance, looking triumphant in her return.
"Hey, where is your Ima anyway?" Tony asked as she sat down behind the desk.
"Here!" her familiar voice sounded, echoing in the largely empty bullpen. The door to the women's restroom closed behind her. "Your child is pushing on my bladder. I swear I cannot make it more than an hour without having to pee, these days."
As she approached, Tony tucked her under his arm, glancing around at the walls that held so many of their stories. This was the building that built them. Tali owed her existence to these ugly orange walls and the people that dwelled in them.
"Our daughter has been playing tourist and hitting all the great photo spots," Tony informed her, brows raised sarcastically.
Ziva turned to look at Tali, seated where she used to sit now more than a decade ago.
"I see that," she said, her lips pulled back in a smile. "Did you tell her about the time we were stuck in the elevator?"
Tony grinned. "Oh yeah, she liked that one."
"Ima, when can we go see the lab?" Tali asked eagerly, interrupting them.
Ziva looked up and saw Jimmy approaching, and she knew there wasn't time right now. She separated herself from Tony, gently tousling Tali's wavy hair. "Another time, baby, I think it's time to head over to the funeral."
Tali nodded, glancing down at her shoes.
"I'm gonna miss Grandducky," she said sadly, playing absentmindedly with an eraser she found on the desk.
"So will we," Tony said, swallowing back emotion. "Aren't you glad he came to visit us during his book tour last year? That was pretty special, huh?"
The littlest DiNozzo nodded again, cheeks widening in a smile. "He was the first to know about my baby brother!" she said, remembering it fondly.
At that, Jimmy looked to Tony and Ziva in mock indignation. "Hey, you told him before any of the rest of us?" he said.
Tony laughed, patting the autopsy gremlin on the shoulder in consolation. "He guessed pretty quick. I think if he'd visited a few weeks earlier, he would have been the one to break the news to us!"
Ducky’s globetrotting semi-retirement had been a blessing to them all. They cherished the few times they'd been able to meet up in recent years, remaining close despite the long distance. He was a part of their family; it was only right that their daughter know him and love him too. They were fortunate for the time they did have together.
Ziva glanced at the clock and sighed, placing a hand on Tony's chest, silently telling him they probably needed to get going. He nodded in response, checking that he had his phone and wallet still before taking her hand in his.
"Alright, well, we can keep sharing memories on the way. Tali? You ready to go?"
"We'll be back, right?"
"Of course," Tony answered. "We've barely scratched the surface here! I still have to take you to interrogation to figure out what happened to that batch of cookies Ima made last week ." He tickled her sides, causing her to erupt in giggles and run ahead of them toward the elevator. They followed, hand in hand, with Jimmy and McGee right behind.
"Squeeze in!" Palmer said, the entire group filling the elevator with little room to spare. The others would be meeting them at the cathedral for the service, everyone who knew and loved Ducky, there to say their final goodbyes.
As the doors closed, Tony leaned down and pressed his lips to Ziva's, his hand resting on her lower back to pull her closer.
"Ugh, guys, really?" McGee complained exaggeratedly, screwing up his face in a look of disgust. Tali put her hands in front of her mouth to hide her giggles.
Ziva looked up at Tony like he was the only other person in the elevator, and he beamed proudly, unashamed and unapologetic.
He squeezed her sides playfully, tucking his face into her shoulder and breathing her in.
"I've always wanted to do that in here."
-.-.-
Tag List (if you want to be tagged when I post Tiva stuff, let me know and I'll add you!): @benedettabeby @earanemith @happygirl-0408 @hopeless-nostalgiac @indestinatus @loudlooks @mrsmungus @nicolem194 @putthekettleon @slippery-soapbox @tivafanfic @tivajunkie @tonysziva
Gonna go out on a limb and also tag @wanna-be-bold @pro-bee @delicatefalice @harmandmac @benditlikepress @irish-trish idk who else I've seen active lately but yeah
#i really wanted to work in other characters but i spent too much time on this as it is#ncis#tiva#ziva david#tony dinozzo#my fanfiction#tony x ziva#tiva fanfiction#ncis fanfiction#tali dinozzo#ncis spoilers#21x02#the stories we leave behind#if you got tagged in this twice im sorry tumblr is acting up
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MCGEE AND TONY
A Mc-NAME
THE KNOWLEDGE THAT TONY STAYED WITH MCGEE AND THEY WATCHED A MOVIE
TONY’S REFLECTION ON BEING THE ONE LEFT BEHIND
AUTOPSY GREMLIN
I. AM. FREAKING. THRIVING.
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THIS tony dinozzo has found the love of his life three times also is a dad 🥹
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We also have the lives we touch while we are here, the people we leave behind. He had a good friend in you.
Tony DiNozzo, NCIS 21x2 "The Stories We Leave Behind"
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Alden Parker Style | NCIS 21x02 The Stories We Leave Behind
#alden parker#gary cole#ncis#ncis 21x2#the stories we leave behind#fashion appreciation#menswear#silver fox#handsome#tailored
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Tony came home and I can't stop sobbing about it.
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The Stories We Leave Behind
Finally got a decent antenna and a great TV, first thing I'm watching on CBS is NCIS episode where Ducky passed away. Great 😭
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Watching 21x02 of ncis hurts when your childhood was practically was watching ncis. I always loved ducky as a character and saying goodbye to him as a character knowing that he will never be here again feels unreal. R.I.P David Mccalum Thanks for being such a part of my childhood.
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imma be so real with you I did NOT care for all the cutesy ways they presented Vi and Cait's disbalanced social status in arc 3
#first off the parallel of cait arriving to let vi out of prison. but this time they ~have sex~. IN THE CELL THAT WAS UNJUSTLY HOLDING JINX#bitch why are you invoking THAT REALLY FUCKED UP SCENE right before such a milestone romance scene??? it's not cute??? JINX WAS JUST HERE#then the one thing cait tries to apologize for is MADDIE. GIRL. NO ONE CARES ABOUT MADDIE. WE CARE ABOUT HOW YOU KEPT DEMEANING#AND TORTURING ZAUNITES INCLUDING VI. but that isn't addressed bc vi needs to give her head. speaking of vi#VI WHY ARE YOU GIGGLING LIKE A SCHOOLGIRL YOU ARE IN A PRISON CELL. REMEMBER HOW YOU WASTED 7 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE IN ONE#then the way jinx believes vi should be with cait as an alternative to staying with her simply because she is too fucked up while cait make#vi happy. i am sorry but show me where did jinx see cait makes vi happy. then the show just rolls with that and says ''yeah vi should be#forced to leave jinx behind and choose piltover. this is a happy ending for everyone.''#and finally ''i'm the dirt under your fingernails'' WHAT A DEPRESSING FUCKING FINAL NOTE TO LEAVE YOUR RELATIONSHIP ON.#a zaunite is literal DIRT under a ruling class piltie's fingernails. and it's cute and means they are gonna be together forever. HELLO????#i don't know WHAT that thing is but that thing is NOT MY OTP#arcane liveblog#arcane spoilers#it's like they were planning to write a fucked up tragic romance story. like they were PLANNING to make cait the bad guy. IT IS CRAZY#they weren't let's be clear. but s1 was so deep and yielded to analysis so well. meanwhile if you look any deeper than shallow into s2 you#get interpretations like THIS#''finally a lesbian couple with a happy ending'' YEAH IF YOU IGNORE CLASS. IF YOU IGNORE CLASS BASED OPPRESSION. CMON GUYS WE DESERVE BETTE
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ripple effect legacy // my tears are becoming a sea, M83
#weaving parallels but god at what cost#something something luffy inheriting the will of a burnt out sun#something something the things we leave behind (broken promises. pain. little brothers. cool fire punch moves)#see the significance of ace is that he spends his whole life asking 'should i even have been born' and then through the positive#impact he has on everyone around him he creates a continuing cycle of change where people reach out a hand to help others#he said 'im not sure i deserve to live' and then became the most remembered and loved and sorely missed dude in one piece#like it's almost comedic how luffy keeps finding his big brother in the stories and best qualities of all the people he comes across vs.#people who knew ace and keep seeing pieces of him in luffy#anyway happy new year portgas d. ace trauma be upon ye~#one piece#op#portugas d ace#portgas d ace#asl brothers#yamato#wano spoilers#one piece spoilers#CJ's edits#amv#monkey d luffy#straw hat luffy#monkey d. luffy#portgas d. ace#CJ's op watch-through
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im so glad that we never get a clear picture of sophie’s background in leverage & i hope we never do. however i also really like making up various, often conflicting backstories for her in my head. perhaps they’re all backstories for an alias of hers, ones she laid to rest back in season two.
#leverageposting#leverage#sophie devereaux#particularly that one of or both her parents had to move around a lot for work & so she would change herself to fit in at every new school#or new town etc etc. and that whatever original identity she had was dropped due to some kind of really awful event and her bio family think#she’s dead. eg she got into some kind of extreme legal trouble for the first time & she faked her death & everyone she knew as a kid thinks#she’s dead too. like. astrid wasn’t the first person she left to miss/mourn her.#but also that she was a teen runaway at like age ~16 and pretended to be an adult (like. 18/19) cause theres not much you can do by yourself#as a minor like booking flights or renting an apartment. and so began her first proper alias. and she was a pickpocket until she could fund#her life fully through grifting & cons.#or alternatively her parents died when she was a teen & she was old enough to become an emancipated minor (everyone in lev is an orphan)#and she kind of just fell into crime from there bc she had no one#or perhaps she got married at 17 and realised how fucked it all was and stashed money until she could run away & leave it all behind. that’s#bc of a single vague sentence on john rogers’ blog saying she was married at 17 and in context it was quite possibly a joke or random#hypothetical example but i was like what if???? What If???????#i also like the hc that she’s trans which i’ve seen a few times#in some versions in my mind her parents were okay and in some versions they were awful and in some versions it was so complicated.#i think tara has heard one story and parker or hardison have heard another and nate has never heard any story. he’s never asked.#she is here now and that’s all that needs knowing. and sophie devereaux is her real name in any way it matters.#eliot has also never asked and she asked if he was curious once and he just asked if she was curious about What He Did and that was answer#enough for the both of them. just a mutual agreement not to ask and it actually solidified their bond.#i think she struggled for a long time about whether to tell her new family The Real Story but in much the same way we never hear her birth#name bc it’s not Her anymore… she never gives The Real Story. bc it no longer defines who she is. she’s so much more than whatever happened.#lvg
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anna x mary
#the story we all deserve tbh#annamary#marry winchester#anna milton#spn#supernatural#spn stuff#sapphicnatural#something something about mary leaving everything behind#something about her starting a life away from everything and meeting anna#something about the way dean and cas are basically mary and anna#but the cw fucked it up etc#moodboard#spn moodboard
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I am 0% ready for tonight.
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TIK TOK BOOM
he’s HERE!
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We also have the lives we touch while we are here, the people we leave behind.
Tony DiNozzo, NCIS 21x2 "The Stories We Leave Behind"
#tony dinozzo#ncis#ncis 21x02#jimmy palmer#ducky mallard#the stories we leave behind#21x02#rest in peace david mcCallum#queued post
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What is it with fantasy high and girls dying before their lives ever began. How we can never really know who they are, or who they could’ve been. Brennan Lee Mulligan I will find you
#ramblings#fantasy high#dimension 20#fhjy#fantasy high junior year#lucy frostblade#yea yea this is obviously about Lucy. but also..#um#penelope everpetal#(collective booing from the crowd)#(I am dragged off the stage)#jokes aside tho#they both have that quality of haunting a narrative (Penelope specifically in the seven and Lucy in fhjy)#they’re gone. their stories are over. and yet#they have a hold over the ones they left behind#we will never truly know Lucy past anecdotes and old stories#penelope was an array of false faces and honestly? we’ll never know her either. all we’ve got is that old picture of her and Sam#and obviously Lucy was kinder. she definitely didn’t deserve what happened to her#while you could argue Penelope got what was coming for her#but the fact remains#Lucy Frostblade and Penelope Everpetal we’re both teenage girls who we can only catch glimpses of. forever#in some ways#they’re the same. dead girls who never fully leave. their ghosts still visible in the corner of your eyes#anyway rant over I’m just obsessed with d20 girls and I can draw parallels from anywhere#I might make a more… comprehensive post about this one day who knows
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