I trust you completely

A/N: This story is set in season 7,somewhere after "Damokles", but before "Jetlag". It is rated M for sex in chapter two and mentions of rape and torture. I will not go into graphic detail, but if you are sensitive when it comes to these topics I suggest to skip this story.

This is my first NCIS story and English is not my native language, so I'm a little nervous about posting this. I hope you guys forgive me a few Ziva-isms in my story.

If you are curious about Ziva's date dress: There is a picture of it in my profile.

Chapter 1

The little black dress she wore made crystal clear where she wanted the evening to end and Tony hated it. It had been four month since they had rescued Ziva from Somalia and since then he had wanted to tell her how he really felt about her, but he had never had the guts. He was happy that they were back to the level of trust and friendship they had had before he had shot Rivkin.

But it was nearly killing him to see her all dressed up in a dress that screamed "let's skip dessert", ready to meet some other guy.

Tony disguised his feelings with a low whistle and looked Ziva up and down. "Nice dress. This Sam guy must have planned something big that you dressed up like that."

Ziva shrugged nonchalantly. "Just a light dinner and then to this new club for a drink or two and maybe some dancing."

"Dancing? That's what you call it nowadays?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mind your own business, Tony and go do what you usually do on a Friday night."

"Watching old movies with a pizza and a beer?" McGee asked.

"To your information: I have a hot date today, too. Like I do most Fridays. I'll pick her up in an hour."

"Sure, Tony. If that were the case you would have bugged us with your plans all day," Ziva answered, looking right through him like always.

"Unlike some people here, I don't parade around the bullpen in my 'I'm gonna get laid tonight' outfit and tell everybody about my date," Tony answered.

"Yes you do. And I didn't tell everybody. I told Abby, Abby told McGee and he told you. Have fun with your pizza and your movie," Ziva said and left with a "good weekend" for McGee before Tony could come up with a comeback.

A little more than two hours later Tony had settled on his couch with a Hitchcock movie, a pizza and his third bottle of beer - sometimes he hated how well his coworkers knew him. Tony tried to concentrate on the interaction between Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery on the screen, but he soon realized that he wouldn't win this game. His thoughts were with Ziva. She must have finished her meal and moved to the club by now. Were she and her date discussing if they were going to his or her place? Or was this asshole (Tony just knew he was an asshole) so impressed with Ziva's outfit that he had suggested to forget the club and go home right after dinner? In this case Ziva was probably already screwing the guy.

Tony was just considering to switch to something stronger than beer when he heard a knock on his door.

Surprised Tony stopped the movie and answered the door and was even more surprised to see no other than Ziva standing in front of him. She looked as hot as she had two hours ago in her short black dress, but her hair was a mess, her lipstick was smeared and she looked like she was trying very hard not to cry.

"Sorry for interrupting your hot date," Ziva said sarcastically and tried but failed to give him a cocky smile.

"Oh, she cancelled on short notice. I really hate it when chicks do that. But let's not talk about my date, Sweetcheeks. Looks like yours didn't go so well. What happened?" Tony asked in a compassionate tone that didn't fit his flippant words.

"I'd rather not discuss this standing in your door-frame, Tony. Can I come in?" Ziva asked.

"Of course. I was just going to get myself a drink. Would you like one, too?" he asked, because Ziva looked like she needed one.

"That's the best idea I heard tonight."

A moment later Tony returned with a bottle of Tequila - remembering that she preferred it over Jack Daniels - and two glasses and resumed his seat on the couch. He filled the glasses and waited for Ziva - who had sat down next to him - to start talking, but she didn't. She just sipped at her drink and stared into space.

"Ah, I see. You want me to make use of my extensive knowledge about dates to guess what went wrong. Well, Sweetcheeks, I have much experience with dates, but not with bad dates, considering that I'm very skilled when it comes to pleasing women in- and outside of the bedroom. But you're lucky that I'm a great investigator, too. Let's see. You had your dinner reservation two hours ago, so that probably means that dinner went well. Judging by the early hour and the state of your hair and make-up I am making the educated guess that you two skipped the club and moved the date to the bedroom. So, was he that bad?" Tony asked, trying hard to keep his tone joking as if the thought of Ziva in bed with another guy didn't bother him at all.

"We didn't have sex." Tony was glad that Ziva seemed too lost in thought to notice his relief at that statement. "I was going to sleep with Sam tonight, like you already noticed when you saw my dress. But I couldn't."

"Why not?" Tony asked confused.

Ziva inhaled deeply and empties her glass with one big sip.

"You weren't so far off with your assumptions. Sam and I flirted throughout the whole dinner and when we were done eating he suggested that we go to his place and I agreed. As soon as we were in his apartment he pressed me against the door and pulled up my dress. He was rough. I never minded rough, but tonight..." Ziva couldn't finish her sentence and Tony noticed that she tried very hard to blink away the tears in her eyes.

Instinctively Tony moved closer to his partner. He took the empty glass from her shaking hands and brushed her hair out of her face, causing Ziva to meet his gaze.

"You can talk to me, Ziva," Tony said in a gentle tone.

"When he touched me... it all came back suddenly. Everything that happened in Somalia... and I panicked. I told him to stop but he didn't. He said I had been teasing him all night and he wouldn't take a no as an answer now. I kicked him in the balls and left and the next thing I know is that I was standing at your doorstep," Ziva admitted.

Tony tried to process everything Ziva had told him and he suddenly felt sick when he thought about what she was hinting at. He had known that Ziva had been tortured in Somalia, but he had never allowed himself to even accept the possibility that they might have violated her.

"Ziva... were you..." Tony took a deep breath and forced himself to say the word. "Did they rape you?"

Ziva just nodded because she couldn't speak anymore. She had finally lost the fight against the tears and was sobbing violently.

Tony had never felt so helpless in his life. He wanted nothing more than to take Ziva in his arms and comfort her, but he didn't want to scare her by holding her tight. Tony decided to test the waters by gently rubbing Ziva's back and to his surprise instead of flinching at the touch Ziva moved closer to him and started crying on his shoulder. Tony didn't hesitate any longer, but pulled Ziva in his arms and let her cry while he stroked her hair and back.

Eventually Ziva calmed down enough to speak. She moved out of Tony's embrace and started talking, but didn't meet his eyes. "The first two weeks they tortured and questioned me, but they soon found out that I couldn't tell them much of value. But two weeks of torture and truth serum was enough for them to find out who my father was. They contacted him, wanted to trade me for secret information and incarcerate terrorists. My father declined. The Mossad doesn't negotiate with terrorists. No exceptions. I thought they would kill me now, but they didn't. Saleem said that I wasn't worth much, but that I had a pretty body and he and his men were bored. That's when the raping started. Saleem raped me every day and sometimes he passed me on to his men. On these days they took turns taking me. Sometimes there were four or five men a day and most times they didn't even allow me to clean myself afterwards. I prayed every day that they would finally get tired of me and kill me. But they never did."

Tony wanted to say something, anything to make her feel better, but he had no idea what. Finally Ziva looked up, probably searching for his reaction in his face because of his silence. So many emotions rushed through Tony and he wondered which ones Ziva could see when she looked at him. Blind rage, disgust and hatred for Saleem and his men. Compassion and hurt because of what Ziva had to go through. And finally this damned helplessness.

Ziva must have misinterpreted his signals, because she looked away in shame. "I'm sorry, Tony. I shouldn't have told you that. You must be so disgusted with me."

"Ziva, look at me!" Tony demanded, just to mentally kick himself because of his sharp tone a second later. But it worked, Ziva looked up to meet his gaze. Tony slowly raised his hand and gently brushed Ziva's tears away. "I could never be disgusted with you. You are the most amazing, brave and strong person I know and I'm proud to be your partner and friend. I'm just so damned furious at Saleem and his men. A bullet in the head was far too good for that pig. I want to break every single bone in his body and I hate that I can't do this and that even if I could, that wouldn't take away all the pain you have endured. I wished I could do something, anything to make you feel better. What can I do, Ziva?" Tony asked desperately.

"Sleep with me, Tony."

Tony thought he had somehow misheard. "Sorry, what?"

"I want to have sex with you, Tony. I need to get over Somalia and I tried to do it by sleeping with this guy tonight, but I just couldn't. But I think with you, it would be different, because I trust you, Tony."

For the second time this evening Tony was speechless. He had wanted Ziva from the moment he first saw her and even more when he started to fall in love with her. But he never made a move on her (except for his usual flirting) because he knew that it would change everything. He didn't know if he could go back to their comfortable friendship and partnership after making love to her. But no matter how loud his mind screamed "bad idea" he knew that he wouldn't deny Ziva her wish. He would do anything for Ziva.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tony finally asked.

"I want to get over this, Tony, I need to get over this. I want to be able to live a normal life and to sleep with a man again. I don't want to let Saleem win by breaking me," Ziva stated firmly.

"He didn't break you, Ziva. You are far too strong for that. But even a Ninja needs time to get over what you have been through. Maybe it's just too soon."

"That's not it. I don't think it would change anything if I waited a few more months. I still wouldn't be able to sleep with Sam or some other guy. But you're not some other guy. You're my friend and partner who has always had my back. I trust you and I know you would never hurt me."

"I'm honored that you trust me so much, Ziva."

Ziva gave Tony a weak smile. "Is that a yes?"

"How could I turn down that offer by such a beautiful lady," Tony answered with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

Ziva smiled again and leaned in to kiss Tony, but he stopped her before their lips met.

"Not like this, Ziva," he told the confused woman in front of him. "I usually treat a lady to dinner before I sleep with her. Are you free next Saturday? I would cook for you. I'm not such a bad cook, you know."

"Now I must test that statement. Is seven o'clock okay?"

"Perfect." That would give Tony a week to arrange everything and plan a romantic evening for Ziva. She deserved more than just sex and he would do whatever he could to help her get at ease and enjoy the evening.

"Okay. I guess I'll see you at work on Monday then," Ziva said and was about to get up before Tony stopped her.

"Wait. I know how you drive when you are sober and in a good mood. I don't dare to imagine how you drive after a bad day, a glass of Tequila and probably a few glasses of wine with your dinner. Why don't you stay here tonight? We could watch a movie or two and when you get tired you can sleep in my bed. I'll take the couch," Tiny offered.

"I'm not really dressed for a DVD evening, Tony," Ziva protested weakly.

Tony just smiled and rushed to his bedroom and a few minutes later he returned with one of his old College Sweaters that would be longer than the dress Ziva currently wore on her.

Ziva thanked him and went to the bathroom to change and wash her tear strained face. When she returned Tony had put another movie in the player and a fluffy blanked on the couch. He had also refilled their glasses and placed a selection of snacks on the table.

Ziva smiled and got comfortable on the couch next to Tony, wrapping the blanket around herself. "What are we watching?" Ziva asked and Tony gave her his best boyish smile.

"This is clearly a case for a bad date movie and you're lucky that I have just the right one. 'Blind Date' with Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger. You'll like it."

Tony was glad to see Ziva actually smile a few times during the movie. He loved her smile. At the end of the movie - and several drinks later - Ziva had fallen asleep against Tony's shoulder. Tony marveled at the fact that after all Ziva had been through, she was still comfortable being close to him and letting him touch her. He really hoped that Ziva was right and her trust for him would stop her from being scared when he slept with her. He couldn't bear the thought of his Ziva being frightened or disgusted by him.

Tony scoped the sleeping Ziva in his arms and wanted to pick her up, but she stirred and opened her eyes sleepily before he could stand up with her in his arms.

"It's okay, Ziva," he whispered soothingly. "I am just carrying you to bed."

"Tony, I can walk on my own," Ziva protested.

"I know that. You're my Ninja, you can do everything on your own. But you don't have to. It doesn't make you weak to let somebody take care of you from time to time."

"Okay," Ziva agreed, probably too tired to argue and snuggled back into Tony's embrace, closing her eyes. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom and gently laid her down. Tony tugged Ziva in and caressed her hair until her snoring told him that she was peacefully sleeping. "Goodnight, Ziva," Tony whispered and moved to the couch, letting the door to the bedroom a crack open to make sure that he heard Ziva if she had a nightmare. But to his relief she didn't and Tony hoped that was because she felt safe with him.

A/N 2: The next chapter will take place next Saturday. I'm not sure if I want to stick with Tony's POV or switch to Ziva's, so I would like to hear your opinions.