A/N – We start at the beginning of course. I think there were many things that could have been added into season 10, so as I rewatch the season I am going to try my hardest to fill in the blanks that could have been there. We start with the elevator scene with Tony and Ziva. Enjoy.

Disclaimer – I don't own NCIS or the characters. I don't own some of the conversation in this chapter either.

Chapter 1 – Extreme Prejudice

Elevator Scene

Ziva felt the shudder and his arm around her waist. They fell to the floor and that was all she could comprehend at the time, though she knew. She knew that the bomb had gone off before they were out. She knew that the car was too close to the building. She knew that by making Tony go with her she had saved him and especially being stuck inside this elevator she had saved him. She knew that because she could feel his warmth beneath her as she clung to him as though she might lose her life.

"Are you alright?" she asked cautiously.

"I'm good," he said as he sat up and looked at her. "You?"

"I am fine, Tony," she said automatically and then assessed her own self, deciding that now was the time to be truthful with Tony instead of masking anything, since he was apt to find out about it sooner or later. "I am alright."

They were silent a moment as they sat there staring at each other. They were stuck in the elevator and there was nothing to do but wait. Ziva looked around. The doors would be stuck shut. There was no way out that way. She looked up. There was an emergency escape up there. She had to try.

"Let me get on your shoulders Tony, I'll try to get out," she suggested.

He looked up too. It was worth a try, but he knew her well, she was going to try to find a way to succeed and he knew it. He allowed it anyway and at first they only worked and did not talk. After several minutes of trying to push the jammed emergency door Tony spoke again.

"I'm so glad we broke protocol and took the elevator," he said sarcastically, feeling her efforts bearing down on his shoulders. "Whose bright idea was that anyway?"

Tony could feel her weight forced down on him as she pushed harder against the door, trying to make it budge just a little bit.

"What?" she snapped at him.

He spouted some useless movie reference that she ignored gracefully as she slammed her hand on the door one more time.

"She would kill men by squeezing her muscular, well-shaped thighs," he continued one with the movie reference rubbing Ziva's thigh, which made her want to jump off his shoulders and onto another part of him right then.

She took his advice and squeezed and he made a noise that made Ziva laugh. He had not expected that and it was no relief to either of them.

"I can think of worse ways to die," she snapped at him. She pushed up on the door again. "I'm almost… there! Oh, we're stuck!"

"Well, keep pushing thigh master, I'm starting to enjoy this," Tony said glancing up at her through the tops of his eyes.

"Something is blocking it! It is jammed. They are going to have to open it from the outside," she explained to him, sounding frustrated with the emergency escape at the top of the elevator.

Then, the elevator slipped and she slid down his back, but he caught her as she caught herself. She clung to his shoulder like there was no tomorrow. As they steadied she was relieved, but didn't let go of him and didn't fail to notice that he didn't let go of her.

"We slipped," she said, stating the obvious as she always did.

"Did we?" Tony asked in a sarcastic tone as though he hadn't noticed. She let go of his shoulder and faced him. "I thought the Earth moved."

He slowly turned to face her with just his head first.

"You are sweating," she said in a breathy voice.

"Oh, it's hot in here," he said quietly as he turned more to face her and see her better.

"I had not noticed," she said, which was sarcasm.

He faced her now and brushed the hair out of her face with a couple of strokes and allowed his hand to rest on her cheek.

"Really?" he asked, looking straight into her chocolate eyes, swearing that he could get lost in them forever and be perfectly content with his life.

Her phone rang. It was a call from her father. Eli David was pretending to care, but she assured him that she was fine and they used a little bit of banter to brush off the fact that Tony's father didn't call. She knew that it was just a way that he was coping with his father's lack of parenting skills and concern for his well-being, but he knew that her father was just feigning the concern.

It was surprising to the both of them how well they really knew each other when they had not shared so many personal details of their lives.

"Does he really care?" Tony asked as they sat down against the elevator wall.

"No, Tony," Ziva said honestly. "It has been a long time since he has cared. The last time he cared was when Tali was still alive. That was the last time I saw my father looking at me the way a father should look at his child. But, he blamed me for her death, even though I was not there."

"My father doesn't care either," Tony said honestly, figuring it was best to share information equally. "The last time he cared was when my mother was still alive. I was seven the last time I had gotten that look from my father, showing that he cared for his son's well-being."

"Tell me something I don't know about you, Tony," Ziva said after a minute of silence and resting her head on his chest, as though it was the most prized pillow in all the world. She inhaled his scent that she didn't get to smell often enough even though she was around it nearly every day of her life.

"Like what, Ziva?"

"A secret," she said.

"Only if you share one in return," he bargained.

"That sounds perfectly fair," Ziva said.

"Alright," Tony said thinking. "Hmm… this one is deep, you have to match it. Um… when we thought you were dead in Somalia I realized how important you were in my life. I couldn't function and couldn't think of filling your chair and your desk. It was different than when Kate died. You were something more. Perhaps it was just because you worked with me longer."

She looked up at him. She knew that was not the reason and she remembered perfectly what he had said to her under the truth serum when they had found her in Somalia alive and as well as they could expect to find her.

"it took me a long time to get through all that," Ziva admitted. "It was not easy and there are still some parts that I have not figured out how to work through, because of some of the things that happened while I was there."

Tony cringed at the thought, but Ziva planned on continuing.

"I know that you've always wondered. I know that you even tried to take my medical file to see what was in there, but you were caught by Gibbs," Ziva said. "I know that you were just concerned about me because I was taking a long time to heal mentally and emotionally to become the same woman I had been before. I was… I was…."

"Raped," Tony offered in nothing more than a whisper, shuddering at his own word and feeling Ziva shudder at it too.

She nodded, looking him straight in the eyes and that was the first time that Ziva had ever been truly vulnerable with Tony. She wanted to say something and he could see that but he decided it was better not to push her, especially since they were stuck in a tin can that was not going to move anytime soon.

"That's the part I cannot get over completely yet," Ziva said in a whisper. "It is too difficult to think of myself with a man after that."

"But, you were with Ray, weren't you?" Tony asked.

"That was an experiment, Tony," Ziva said honestly. "I did not know if I could date after all that. I did not know if I could find a way to open up to a man after all that I had been through and I couldn't do it. I couldn't go that far with him. I never trusted him with me. I don't know if…."

"If you'll find that trust in anyone else," Tony offered again. "It's okay to admit it, Ziva. It's okay to admit that and more. You are safe here. You can tell me anything. I won't hold it against you. The reason I don't find a steady relationship is because I'm afraid they're going to leave. If I get too attached, well, that'll hurt. So I don't even try. I don't know how to open up to someone like that. I don't know how to…."

"Love," Ziva offered for him. "Thank you, Tony, for sharing that. You can trust me. I won't go running because you are sometimes serious. If anything you should be glad that I didn't go running after the first week dealing with your movie references. I know better now. I know that is how you cope with something that is painful to you."

He brushed the strand of hair out of her face again. They could feel the heat rising in the elevator. They could feel their affection for one another building in that moment of pure honesty and intimacy.

"I guess we are both kind of romantically challenged," Tony said.

"You do not seem to be."

"I haven't been with a girl since…." Tony didn't finish. He didn't want to admit that EJ was the last person he had even considered thinking about. He didn't want to admit that there was only one thing on his mind lately and he couldn't shake the feeling that he had for the woman standing in front of him now.

"Since EJ," Ziva said for him. "I have noticed. You usually brag. At first, I thought you were seeing someone steadily, but you are not. I asked McGee."

Tony smiled. "No, I am not," Tony repeated. "I guess I just feel that sleeping around is a little outdated for a guy my age."

Ziva chuckled now, too. She could not picture Tony changing this much when she thought back to the Tony she had met who was having pretend phone-sex with his ex-partner at NCIS. She smiled at the memory and wondered if she would even have a shot with Tony if they didn't both work for Gibbs at NCIS.

"How much longer are we going to be stuck in here?" Tony asked. "Hello! Anybody?"

"It's been hours, Tony," Ziva said. "I cannot take much more of this."

Ziva was sitting in the corner now, her eyes threatening to close and so were his. She curled into his side again and he wrapped his arms around her wondering where this vulnerable side of her had come from.

"I hate it when people undress you with their eyes," Tony mentioned softly.

"I hate it when you flirt with random women," Ziva mentioned back to him. They both chuckled and then glanced at each other. Ziva allowed her eyes to close and to be comforted by Tony. "What about the others Tony? What if one of them is gone?"

Tony squeezed her with his strong arms as they heard a knock on the elevator. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed back in delight at having his comfort. Then, we saw a small light coming through the door. It was opening slowly with someone forcing it. We both sat up and shared a momentary glance. This isn't over, they agreed with that one glance. Then, Abby's face appeared on the other side of the opening doors of the elevator. Leave it to her to save us!

A/N – There it is. I hope you all enjoyed it. Let me know what you think. Please review!