Believe

Set after Jenny Shepard's death in season 5 before the funeral and the reassignments

Tony sat on the couch in his apartment wallowing in self pity, blaming himself for Jenny's death and wishing he had've listened to Ziva in the first place. They should've stayed with the director just like Ziva wanted to.

There was a knock on the door.

At first Tony ignored it, he wasn't in the mood for visitors.

The person on the other side of the door was persistent and kept knocking.

Tony frowned but still made no move to answer the door.

The knocking stopped for a moment and then continued on much to Tony's frustration.

"Go away!" Tony yelled.

"Fine I'll just pick the lock then," came the reply.

Tony recognised the voice belonging to his Israeli partner and knew that she would pick that lock if he didn't intervene.

Reluctantly Tony answered the door just as Ziva was about to pick the lock.

"What do you want Ziva?" Tony asked in annoyance.

"I wanted to check in on you. I know that you irrationally blame yourself and you shouldn't. It's as much my fault as yours," Ziva explained.

Tony's face fell and he let Ziva in realising that he wasn't the only one beating themselves up over the whole situation.

Ziva took a seat on Tony's couch while he went to pour them a drink each.

As Tony looked at his liquor supply he realised that he didn't have anything strong enough to wash away both of their sorrows. Then he remembered the bottle of whiskey that his dad had left the last time he was there. Where did I move it to? Tony thought. Then he distinctly remembered leaving it in the kitchen under the sink.

Ziva twiddled her thumbs as she waited for her partner to return with their drinks. All the while thinking about what she was going to say to him. She had only thought as far as to getting inside of his apartment.

Tony returned with two glasses and the bottle of whiskey, Ziva stopped twiddling her thumbs and looked up at Tony with a soft smile.

"I found some whiskey," Tony said with a forced half smile.

He placed the two glasses on the coffee table in front of Ziva and poured some of the whiskey into each glass. Ziva took one of the glasses and downed some of the liquid, feeling a slight burn in the back of her throat. Tony followed suit drinking a little more than Ziva.

"So what are you doing here?" Tony asked.

"I told you, I am worried you're blaming yourself for Jenny and you shouldn't be," Ziva explained.

Tony frowned not fully believing Ziva's intentions, "you blame yourself too don't you?"

Ziva wouldn't meet Tony's eyes, "of course I do. I didn't push hard enough to get you to do what I wanted. I was enjoying the idea of not having to work for a change."

"Do you really believe you're to blame?" Tony asked.

When she didn't respond Tony moved closer to Ziva and reached his hand out to gently caress her thigh hoping that it would provide her with some solace. Ziva met Tony's eyes both filled with pain and regret.

"I've never had to believe that I was at fault for someone's death until now," Ziva explained.

"We're both to blame. I believe that we're going to get through this, together," Tony said softly as his eyes bore into Ziva's.

Tony reached out his free hand to cup Ziva's cheek their eyes staying locked onto one another. Tony moved his hand from Ziva's thigh to her back as they both leaned in. Their noses met first and then their lips barely touched, testing the waters. Tony moved closer and allowed his lips to attach to Ziva's in a slow passionate kiss. They slowly pulled apart breathing each other's air. Ziva allowed Tony to keep his hand on her back as they repositioned themselves Ziva laying on her back and Tony hovering over her. Their bodies met, Tony being careful to not put all of his weight onto Ziva. Their lips found each other as they both closed their eyes. Their hands searched their bodies caressing every inch of one another. Tony broke the kiss first moving his lips to Ziva's shoulder as he moved a hand up her shirt to caress areas of her body he had only dreamed of. Ziva grabbed his hair pulling his head back to her own, their lips finding each other once more.

"Tony! Are you in there? Just wanted to see if you are okay," Abby's voice interrupted from the hallway.

Tony and Ziva looked at one another worriedly, they knew that if they ignored her Abby would break the door down and they'd be caught.

Tony got up off of Ziva and pulled her up. They adjusted their clothing and Tony went to open the door.

Abby wasn't alone, McGee was with her.

Tony pulled the door open more to invite them in.

"Hi," Ziva said to the entering pair.

Abby raised an eyebrow, "hey Ziva. What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on Tony, we were both at fault for what happened in Los Angeles and I wanted him to know that he wasn't alone," Ziva explained.

"Great minds think alike," McGee responded.

"Yep," Abby said in an accusatory tone. She knew that there was more going on than what Tony and Ziva were saying.

A/N: I will write another chapter for this story if you all like it :-)