Velvet

A grey ocean swelled before the gaze of Ziva David. Her doe brown eyes reflected the restless tossing of the waves as she looked upon this battle of sand and sea spray with eyes that seemed unseeing. Florida as usually warm at this time of year but the solemn mood of the past day seemed to bring down the weather, making the sky grey and bloated with a spring storm, ready to assault the elderly residence of the shore line with a harsh onslaught of rain.

Ziva had been standing on the beach for a while now. Her dark hair danced over her shoulders and neck as some parts whipped her face as the wind guided it in all directions. She wore a dark long sleeved shirt which had patches of even darker on it from where the spray had dampened her, her jeans proved to be in the same state but with a coating of sand at the helm of the legs. She encircled her arms around herself in order to bring some warmth to her chilled bones as she tried not to dwell on the slash of memories of the past 24 hours that she knew would aback her in a rush of pain at any moment. She closed her eyes to the incoming storm and images flashed in her mind. The explosion, her partners unfocused eyes, Gibbs face as he gave them the news, the transporter flight here which was bumpy and silent of all communication. She opened her eyes as Tony's face floated in her mind. The live streak of blood down his face, she shook her self and tried to focus on the roaring waves and the darkening sky. She should head back to the hospital but she couldn't stand that waiting room any longer. It was just as well everything was close to the seaside here so escape was gained less than a kilometre away.

She inhaled the fine air, trying to preserve the calm before the storm both proverbial and literal. Her fingers clenched around nothing and she tilted her head as she glanced over her shoulder only to see someone nearing her. She turned back to observe the sea, waiting for him to reach her. His bare feet crunched against the sand as he paused just behind her side and remained silent. He was no doubt observing her. In reality he was drinking in her appearance. Her hair, her shoulders, and the way she stood, the way she miraculously still breathed. He wanted to reach out to her, for her to seek the solace she craved in him but something held him back. Finally she spoke, quietly and slightly melodically.

"Any news?"

He cleared his throat and took a few steps to her side so he now had an unobstructed view of the rolling grey. Their shoulders brushed and his knuckles grazed her wrist.

"Not yet. He's still out. Doctors are easing off the meds; wanna see what's under the hood."

He spoke so matter-of-factly she relaxed a bit at the normalcy of his words and his tone. She permitted herself to look at him, observe his profile against the grey of the sky resist not brushing his frown away with her fingers. A rare thought danced across her mind and she pushed it out in an attempt to draw her thoughts back to the simplicity of nothingness. He allowed her, her vote of silence for once and instead of doing what he did best, mainly talking, he remained still and quiet as she watched the ocean some more.

"It's all happening so… fast." She mumbled and wrapped up her fingers as a tremble went down her body both at the cold and the memories.

"Yeah."

Stupid really, that was all he could say, he mentally berated himself. His green eyes sought her face again as she struggled for fitting words.

"I-I don't know." She slumped in a defeated manner and her looked down and boldly touched her elbow, she turned to gaze up at him and he made the slightest move of her arm which she correctly interpreted and leaned in closer to him, her face meeting the missed spot of his neck she sought out so much. His arms encircled her in them and he closed his eyes as he rested his head on hers. She seemed to still be speaking though he couldn't hear anything coherent from her and presently she lapsed in to silence of breathing. He felt he could sleep like this, little rest in 24 hours found him desperate for a bit of oblivion. He seemed to find it when he trapped her, her at her very weakest point where we could wrap her up and keep her away from the billowing storm that billowed through their dysfunctional family and blew their old home up. He felt merely holding her wasn't enough? He wanted her to know how much pain he had gone through and how much he was fighting with himself especially now, because to tell her about the struggle to not blow up and panic in that elevator as he came to relies that losing her wasn't worth living through, her motionless for just lying there. And through it all she came out with just an out of place shoulder and some bumps and bruises and him with a small concussion? Some god out there had his eye on the family in D.C just not their leg here in Florida.

"It was near here he…"

Oh yes Tony knew what she was whispering about, she squeezed her tighter and her fingers began to pinch his skin as he gripped her eager for her contact and her heat beat which he could feel, quick like a little bird. It seemed so unlike them to be here embracing on the very beach Ducky had been found, Tony could picture it now even though he hated to. Palmer yelling at him to wake up as sand covered half on the M.E's face and his glasses lay discarded nearby his still form.

"I know."

Tony found his voice saying its own things now, and now his body was also taking over him, he actually let Ziva squirm out of his grip, she stood before him unable to make contact with his eyes as he saw something pooling in hers. Tears. Again he moved before he thought and her cheek felt so velvety soft by his hand and her lips were equally as smooth even when she started kissing him back. Running his hand over her hair and cheek. She was like velvet.