Stay With Me

Tiva Fanfic for the "Elevator Speculator" Bet thing on tumblr;)

A/N: Thanks to a VERY cool bet that I could not resist doing, by Sammyonair on tumblr, I decided to try writing one. I had a really fun time writing this, so I hope you guys enjoy it.

Note that anything in between the cuts is part of the case scenario. It is assumed that Gibbs, Abby, and Tim are relatively okay. This story only focuses on the TIVA aspect of the situation.

Disclaimer: consider this fic "DISCLAIMED" because I can't even own their autographs:/

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Her heart pounds erratically in her chest, almost echoing her quick hand movements, as they move from door to door, knocking, as she shouts for everyone to get out of the building. Her mind flits to the image of her sister, Tali, lying on the dusty ground, blood pooling around her still form, dead. She winces uncomfortably, and shakes her head roughly to clear the thought.

"Everyone please move out of the building! It's not safe here!"

She can hear Tony's voice behind her, as he checks the rooms on the other side of the hallway. She can hear the fear in his voice, and is reminded of the way her mother ordered Tali and herself to hide themselves in the basement, and wait for her to return when it was safe. She never did.

Ziva makes a quick glance over her shoulder, to make sure that Tony is still behind her. She pauses until he reemerges from one of the rooms, pulling some people out and ushering them towards the staircase. She turns back to the last few rooms and continues to call out the remaining agents. "Everyone out!"

Tony's hand is warm against her arm. He tells her in a quiet voice, that it's her turn to go. He lets go of her hand before he turns around to head in the opposite direction. The sudden thought that she may never see him again makes her more scared than she's ever been in her life. She grabs his arm out of desperation, before he steps any further away. "No! I'm not going without you!" She trusts Tony now, and she's NOT going to lose him too.

He hears her running from door to door, and wonders for a second, if she missed anyone. He doubles his own speed to pick up the pace, double-checking all the rooms. From far, he could see his partner falter slightly, as she paused and shook her head, as if convincing herself of something. Something tugs at his heart and he has the urge to run forward to comfort her. "Everyone please move out of the building! It's not safe here!"

He thinks of the time he spent in Baltimore PD, and gets the sickening feeling that at this rate, Ziva and him may not get out of the building in time. Bomb squad was too far away, and there were too many rooms left to check. He enters a room where there a father and son were having an interview. He ushers them out and is reminded that he may never see his father again. An unsettling feeling settles into his heart, and he races after her.

"Everyone out!"

He reaches for her arm and calmly tells her to go. It's not fair for her to suffer, when she's already been through so much. He remembers Somalia, how defeated she looked when she laid eyes on him. She had given up on life then, and let's wore never to let her do that again.

He turns back to check the other rooms that he missed, and finds himself restrained by Ziva. Her chocolate brown eyes were cast in worry and immense fear, and it made him pause, because the sudden fear in her eyes scared him.

"No! I'm not going without you!"

Before he could respond, Tony finds himself being dragged by his arm, towards the elevator. He tries to shake her off at first, but her determination is laced with such pain, that he gives in. He wasn't going to let her stay behind for his sake. He had lost her once, and he's NOT going to lose her again.

###

The small space plunged into darkness. Loud crashes and clangs of the metal walls echoed in the elevator, as it hit the sides of the shaft. Papers were strewn all over the place and covered almost everything in sight. Small glass shards littered the floor, from the broken lights from the elevator ceiling. An eerie silence fell over the entire NCIS headquarters, as the last shard hit the metal floor with a soft 'ping', and the elevator screeched to a stop.

The mess effectively covered the two bodies huddled together in a corner of the elevator. Her right arm was pressed against his back, hugging his body tightly against hers. She had leapt upon him in a effort to protect him, the moment she felt the initial blast.

His left arm was wrapped tightly around her waist. He had moved to pull Ziva towards the corner of the elevator, so that they could hold on to the railings, but the sudden drop of the elevator caused them to fall to the ground. Their hands were intertwined, gripping each other as if they were hanging on to the other's lifeline. From an outsider's point of view, they looked like a pair of lovers in their last embrace.

Ziva opened her eyes hazily. The entire place looked like a tossed up crime scene. Retracting her arm from around his back slowly, she began to brush away the remaining glass shards covering her and Tony's bodies. An electrifying pain shot up her arm, catching her by surprise, and she took in a sharp intake of air. As best as she could figure, her arm had probably been crashed against the wall when she was trying to shield Tony.

As far as she could tell, both her and Tony's bodies had not been pierced by any glass shards. So, she gently touched his shoulder to rouse him.

Thankfully, it was not as difficult as she had thought it would be. For, at her touch, Tony let out a soft groan and moved to touch her hand with his. She gave him a small, tired smile, and placed her hand lightly over his, where it belonged.

"What is it with us, and dangerous situations?" He asked with a hint of a familiar smile.

"Are you okay, Tony?" Ziva asked softly.

"Yeah." He grimaced and gave her a side glance to please her, but his tone told Ziva that he did not really care whether he lived, or died. That scared her.

"Are you sure? You do not look like yourself." She became more worried at the thought that perhaps he had more serious injuries which she did not spot, and moved closer to him.

"Well, we just went through an explosion, Ziva, what do you think?" He shot back sarcastically. He did not mean it, but the stress of the entire situation was getting to him.

She felt her heart grow cold at his answer, and shifted her body away from him, letting go of his hand. She missed the warmth, but she refused to admit that. She shifted her weight to one side, and started crawling along the floor, testing the floor to make sure it was safe to move about.

He knew he should not have snapped at her like that, and he felt guilty about it. He watched her go about the small space, and listened to the echo of the metal walls as she knocked on them. Her movements were favoring her right side, and too rigid for her not to be in any pain.

"I'm sorry, Ziva. I went overboard. I know you're just being concerned, and I'm fine, really." He said, breaking the tense silence between them. She did not reply, nor turn towards him, so he continued. "I know you hurt your arm."

"It does not matter, Tony. What matters now, is staying alive until rescue comes," She finally spoke, but her back was still facing him and she continued to inspect the walls. "which means that we need to conserve our oxygen supply."

"Hey. You're alive, okay? We're alive." He reached out, took care to take her left hand, and pulled her towards himself. He noticed that she carried her other arm in a slightly more ginger manner than usual, which confirmed his initial suspicions.

"I know." She said simply, and allowed him to put his arms around her. She sighed softly, and went willingly into his weak embrace.

"Thank you for not giving up on me." He spoke quietly, carefully watching her hurt arm. She finally lost a bit of the previous tension in her body, and leant back into him.

"We are partners, Tony. I will always have your six," She whispered into his chest. "even when you do not realize it."

Her statement made his arms tighten their grip on her body, which suddenly seemed so fragile and vulnerable. He wanted to protect her, shield her from whatever enemies she had, for the rest of his life. "We'll get the bastard who did this, Ziva."

She finally turned to look at him, her eyes betraying the feelings that she had hid so adamantly before.

"I know."

###

Gibbs had disappeared again. Both Tony and Ziva could have guessed where he'd gone, but they said nothing. Tim was still in hospital getting treated for his multiple wounds, and Abby had gone to accompany him. Jimmy Palmer had returned to Washington safely, and had taken over for Ducky temporarily, while he too, was in recovery, in the hospital.

Ziva had gone to the washroom to freshen up. The squadroom was silent, as most agents had taken the director's advice to stay home and rest for a few days. Tony stopped typing on his computer to recall the events that happened earlier.

Before Gibbs left, they had been chasing down a suspect, who had recently been in contact with Harper Dearing, right up till before the attack against NCIS headquarters. Turns out the guy had been about to run away, so he open fired when he noticed them coming. Tony ducked behind the car and fired three shots in his direction, but Ziva ran straight towards him with her gun drawn. She didn't even bother using the trees as cover.

Of course, Ziva being Ziva, she managed to somehow, cuff the guy without getting hit. However, what made Tony so disturbed, was that she had completely disregarded any notion of her own safety, as well as the rules and regulations. He knew something was up, because the Ziva he knew, would never do something so reckless and stupid. He pushed his chair backwards and ran towards the ladies' room.

###

He opened the door just as Ziva stepped out. The confused look in her eyes turned to questioning, when she met his angry gaze. However, she willingly walked back towards the sink and turned to face him, as he checked the bathroom stalls and locked the door.

"I could have saved you the trouble. All the stalls are empty." She could feel the anger directed towards her, and knew that she wasn't getting out of this one. Seeing as he was unsure of how to deal with it, she bit back the thought of teasing him that his idea of cornering her in the washroom was terribly unoriginal. "You can say what you want. I am listening."

"What the hell was that back there? Why did you disregard protocol? You could've gotten KILLED, Ziva!" Tony spat. His voice echoed in the spacious room, making it sound harsher than he originally intended.

"He was a lousy shot. I could not have gotten hit even if I tried." Her voice was nonchalent, and did not betray the tightness she felt in her stomach. She made an effort not to look at him, because she knew that she would not be able to handle his emotions, as well as hers, right then.

"Are you saying you did?" His voice dropped lower, becoming more menacing than concerned.

"I am not saying anything. Even if I was, it would not matter. I am still alive, while so many other people are dead." Ziva replied, her voice remaining calm, even though Tony was getting more agitated by the moment.

"Okay listen, Ziva. I don't know what kind of punishment thing you've got going on here, but knock it off!" He rarely raised his voice at her, ever since Somalia, and his sudden agitation surprised her. "You've been given a second chance at life, and all you're doing is wasting it!"

"I deserve to suffer like everyone else." She said, masking her fear with bitterness instead. Her cold gaze struck a chord in Tony's heart, and her eyes narrowed as she continued. "I did not ask to be saved."

"Stop pitying yourself, Ziva!" He stepped closer, until he stood right in front of her. He invaded her personal space, just like what she had used to do to him, when she felt that he was not himself. He softened his tone to a whisper. "Perhaps we've been given a second chance, so that we can do something that we previously missed out the chance to."

"You do not have the right to say that to me, Tony. Did you ever think that perhaps, this is what I wanted to do? That perhaps, you do not know me as well as you think?" She shot back quickly. The words tumbled out on their own, even though she didn't mean most of them.

"You're right. I don't. It's your life, not mine. If you want to waste the rest of it, go ahead." The anger in his face fell, and he shrank away from her as if she had just slapped him. As he retreated, he reminded himself once again, that she was Ziva, not some damsel. She did not need him to rescue her.

He quickly left the bathroom, leaving Ziva alone with the echoes of her own thoughts, and memories. She rubbed her hurt arm subconsciously as the dull throbbing that had previously disappeared, returned.

###

"Fix it."

Those were the last words that came out from her team leader that day, and they were addressed to her. She was in the midst of typing up her case report. He grabbed his coat and raced off, probably to chase a lead regarding the infamous Harper Dearing, who had once again escaped from their clutches, leaving her and Tony alone in the bullpen.

They continued their work in silence for about ten minutes or so. The fight from a few hours ago still fresh on their minds. It was not long before Tony got up and pushed in his chair, swung his bag over his shoulder and turned off his table lamp. He walked towards the exit without uttering a goodbye, leaving Ziva on her own, pretending to do her work.

It was not the first time she worked late by herself, but she found her eyes traveling slightly above her computer top, hoping he would look her way. He never did.

She only hesitated for a second.

He forced himself not to look at her as he walked towards the staircase. He passed by the taped up elevator with a sign that said "Out of Order", and shivered involuntarily. The experience of having the elevator collapse, during the bomb blast, with him inside, still haunted him.

He gave a last weary glance at the sign, before going down the staircase. The question on his mind all day was, Ziva was a trained Mossad agent. She would have known that protocol stated that during evacuation, no agent was to utilize the elevator. So, why would she intentionally drag Tony to the elevator with her? For a split second, he wondered if it was because she wanted to be nearer to him if anything happened, but shook it off. He knew that Ziva only liked him as a teammate, and nothing more.

She reached out and grabbed his shoulder, to stop him from leaving. Her breathing was slightly quicker than normal because she had ran to catch up with him. He turned to look at her expectantly, all the anger drained from his eyes. Suddenly, Ziva found her mouth dry, and her throat hoarse, forgetting what she had been about to say. He stood there for a moment, waiting for her to say something. Finally, she spoke.

"I am sorry, Tony."

It was in a rough and low voice that sounded nothing like the confident and playful Ziva that he knew. He didn't know how to respond to that, except a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. At least he wasn't leaving, Ziva thought. It gave her much more confidence than any award or recommendation she had attained.

"I understood what you said, just now in the bathroom." She paused again, and Tony motioned for her to continue.

"I-I.. It is not that I do not WANT a relationship. I am simply too broken to handle one, right now; and honestly, I do not know if I ever will be." Tony opened his mouth, as if to interrupt her, but she put her hand up to stop him. She had to finish this conversation at all costs.

"Tony, in what you would say, is the worst case scenario, I would like you to remain as my partner. If that is okay with you." She was not looking at him again. However, this time, Tony knew that it was because she was nervous.

He could barely grasp onto what she was saying, that she's still afraid that everyone whom she trusted, would abandon her. On the bright side, he thought, at least she thinks of him, as her friend.

"Ziva, you're the strongest person I've ever known, be it when you're chasing bad guys and ninja kicking them, or when it comes to matters of the heart." He said, but she still looked unsure. "Look, you don't have to worry about that, ever. We're partners. I will always have your six, whether or not you realize that."

When she finally looked at him, she gave him a sad smile that seemed to reflect her regret over the situation. Her eyes were shiny, and she had an odd look in her eyes again. However, Tony did not have the heart to say anything about it this time, so he remained silent.

"Thank you, Tony. I am...very glad to hear that."

It was as if everything had already been said in the duration of their short exchange. Tony gave her a lopsided smile before saying he'd better be getting back, and Ziva simply watched his retreating back for a second, before sighing to herself.

For someone who regularly chased bad guys, and had been trained in Mossad, her courage had failed her for the first time. She desperately wished that she had the courage to let him know that she loved him too much, to try anything that might hurt him.

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Thanks for reading everyone! Leave me a review to let me know what you think :D

Have a great week ahead guys!

Until next time,

~Lianna