This little one-shot is inspired by a quote I actually picked up from another TV-series, but is not related to it otherwise. This is TIVA, but in a sad way, I guess.

Very mild spoilers for 7x07 (Endgame), and other season 7 episodes.

Disclaimer: Don't own the rights of NCIS or any of its characters, only my imagination which has come up with this storyline.

The last thing Ziva needed was a Chad Dunham, that's what she'd said some time ago. Because he lived the life of a nomad. She came to NCIS to settle down.

Yes, after everything she had to endure, after everything she went through, she really wanted to settle down, to make a home for herself. This included the typical suburban house, the white picket fence, the loving husband and the children.

In reality the life of Ziva David was different. While she would eventually get the man she loved, it wouldn't be the usual way. Their time together in this life would be limited.

At first things really started to brighten up and work out just fine. It had been some time now since she'd become an American citizen, she no longer was a probationary field agent. Ziva had started to relax. She was safe here, and for the first time free – free of her father, Mossad and the rules that came with it. Now she enjoyed her time at NCIS amongst friends.

She even started a quite serious relationship with a certain Marine ex-Corporal Damon Werth. The two of them even moved in together.

It was then that the quick pace towards her goal, the settling down, slowed. Somehow it didn't feel right. Ziva couldn't name it, Damon was great, he adored her, they were equals on so many levels, but still something felt off.

Now she was alert. But still she kept it going, telling herself that she was over-reacting, probably panicking. Never before had she had the chance to be so intimate, so committed in a relationship, but now that was what she wanted, right?

Not long after getting doubts, she found herself at one of their many crime scenes. There was nothing special about it, but something happened on that day that would change her life drastically.

She found herself in a dark, small corridor of the house, where a murder had taken place, taking photos. Then Tony came in from the front door aiming toward the back room with the dead body. With the corridor being so narrow Ziva pressed herself with her back to one wall in order to let Tony through. As he went to slip past her, their fronts touched briefly. At the feeling of this light, yet somehow intimate touch, they both stilled, eyes locked. In that moment, something unspoken passed between them. Something that had always belonged there, but never had a chance before due to bad timing.

Coming home later that day, Ziva broke things up with Damon. Old feelings had emerged when her body had touched Tony's today. She wasn't holding much hope that this time it would actually be different with him, but she didn't want to lie to Damon. She felt like betraying him, when she would be with him, while knowing her heart – still, after all this time – longed for someone else.

Despite Ziva's negative thoughts, things were different this time. Tony had long realised that Ziva was the woman he wanted to have in his life forever, that she already was in his heart. Even back at the time she was captured in Somalia, during that horrible summer, he knew he couldn't live without her, it wasn't long after this, while being immensely jealous of Damon, that he finally admitted to himself just how much he depended on her, how deep his love was.

Now that Ziva was single again, they picked up their love dance once more. Yet this time it was different. Not so much bickering, it wasn't about the sexual tension, no, it was about feelings, love.

They would go out for lunch together and talk, really talk about their lives, their past, anything really. Accidental touches would leave them suddenly shy and sometimes they would just look at each other across the bullpen, softly, in their own world. Not stare, as they did often before, just look. Even though they never announced anything (and in reality hadn't admitted it to each other yet either) everyone knew that they were taken, that they belonged inseparably together now.

They shared their first kiss at the office. It was late at night and the team was still working a case. Gibbs had gone for a refill and McGee was down at Abby's lab. The lights in the bullpen were off, except for the small lamps at their respective desks. To take a break and stretch the stiff muscles of her neck, Ziva got up and walked over to the window, looking over the illuminated city. It was quiet and peaceful and she was tired. She didn't know how long she'd been standing there, but suddenly she realised Tony's presence next to her. He didn't say anything. Just standing next to her, alternately looking out of the window and at her from the corner of his eye.

The tension increased, but it was not uncomfortable, it was just a given fact to which both of them subdued. Finally Ziva turned towards him and whispered: "Tony…" They found each other's eyes, saw the same emotion of deep care and love in them and slowly leaned closer. Their lips touched in a light, but lingering kiss. Tony brought his one hand up to stroke Ziva's cheek and she rested her hand over his heart.

When they parted, their eyes locked again and gentle smiles came onto their faces.

The next days went by as a blur for the two of them. They were bathing in their new found happiness, each one secretly dreaming about a future together, while on the outside they took things slow. They had time, after all.

However, as cruel as fate can be, it had other plans for them.

Maybe a week after their first kiss, everything ended.

Life for Tony and Ziva ended.

Many years later, on the anniversary of that fateful day, McGee sat in Abby's lab and they both talked about what had happened that day, to their friends.

Tony and Ziva had been showered in a bullet hail as they checked out a warehouse that was used by terrorists, it was a trap. In one awful second they realised that they could loose the one they love any moment and so instead of running for cover they were running towards each other….

McGee sighed: "Maybe Gibbs had his rules for a reason. Co-workers should never be in a relationship, their focus changes, for them it is more important to watch over the other than to look for their own safety. Because sometimes even your partner can't save you. You have to hide." "O Timmy, you know that's not true, even if they wouldn't have been together, they'd still had feelings towards each other, so they wouldn't have acted any differently. Tony and Ziva were some of the best agents I've ever met, what happened did happen, nothing could've prevented this. At least they were happy during their last days."

Smiling sadly they both left the lab together, in their ears still ringing the wise words Gibbs had spoken at Tony and Ziva's funeral:

"They didn't get to settle down. I know that Ziva wanted to make a home for herself. This included the typical suburban house, the white picket fence, the loving husband and the children. She didn't get any of this.

We are federal agents. We do what we do, so that the others can have the house with the fence, the husband and the children."

The End.

Hope you enjoyed it. If you did you are welcome to leave a review. But no negative reviews please. I'm just doing this for fun...