"With a new line of thunderous clouds making their way in from the east, these storms look only set to get worse."
"Fantastic", Tony muttered to himself, staring out of his first floor window as lashings of rain hammered the ground and anything that stood in its way in an ever-violent fashion.
"..Weather warnings are now in place throughout the tri-state area, so if you're going out on the roads, stay safe folks.." Tony turned off the TV with a click of a remote. He stands up, groaning slightly from the pain radiating in his upper back and starts to walk to his bedroom, whistling an old Sinatra favourite.
Suddenly, he is interrupted by a fierce knock on the door. Confused, Tony checks the time; 12:47am. Who could possibly be knocking at this hour? He ponders, crossing the room to reach the front door. He stops just short of it, and peers through the peephole. Standing on the other side of the door is Ziva, Tony's partner.
Without hesitation, Tony pulls open the door. "Tony, I am so sorry to come round at such a late hour, but my building is flooded and I was wondering if.." Ziva stopped short of finishing her sentence when she noticed her partner trying to suppress a smile. "Come on in, Ziva" Tony says to her, unsure of what she had been saying to him as he had been completely mesmerised by her; her long flowing locks soaking wet, with curls escaping at the ends, pyjama bottoms decorated with sheep dragging on the floor, stained by rain, and the way that the hallway light was hitting her face at just the perfect angle. He had never seen Ziva look so beautiful. "Yes," Ziva interrupted Tony's daydream, "I shall take the couch. I do not wish to intrude."
"Of course you aren't, I'm glad to have you!" Tony replies in an overly cheerful manner. "Hey, why don't you pick a movie while I fetch you some bedding and clean PJ's?"
"OK" Ziva smiles, as Tony exists into his bedroom.
When Tony returns, he finds Ziva fast asleep, curled up on the floor in front of his expansive DVD collection. Ziva snores slightly, and Tony chuckles as he remembers the first time he found out about her snoring. He found it hard to believe that it was seven years ago, although they had come so far since then. Wincing as he bent to the ground, Tony lifted Ziva into his arms and carried her gently to his bedroom, placing her under the covers. As Tony was changing for bed, Ziva opened one tired eye, "Thank you for letting me stay with you" she sleepily mumbled.
"Of course." Tony replied, turning to face her as he pulled on an Ohio state buckeyes shirt. "What are friends for? Alright, I'll sleep on the couch. G'night!"
"Do not be silly Tony, just get into bed. I would not want you to injure your back anymore than you already evidently have." Ziva said, now slightly more awake. After a few seconds of protest, Tony relented, blushing slightly as he lay down in bed next to Ziva. Suddenly very self conscious, Tony pulled the covers tight around him. On the spur of the moment, Tony put his large arm around Ziva's slender shoulder, and breathed a sigh of relief as she lifts her head slightly, replacing it on his chest. Tony pulls her closely to him.
"NO! No! Get off me! Please do not hurt me!" Tony woke with a start upon hearing his partner's cries. He opened his eyes slightly, and found Ziva with her head still on his chest, although her face was now contorted with fear as she slept. "Hey, Zee, shh, it's alright" Tony whispered into her ear. "I'm here."
"Tony? I thought I was there. In Somalia, with him." Ziva didn't open her eyes.
"No you're not Ziva. You're safe here, with me. You don't need to be scared."
"I am sorry. That I have never spoken to you about what happened. I hope you understand that it is.. difficult for me."
"You don't need to explain your..."
"I do." Ziva interrupted, "You travelled to the other side of the world in order to save me, the woman who had almost killed you! And I have never once offered any explanation of my actions, or what I went through out there." Ziva took a long hesitant breath. "He hurt me, Tony. He really hurt me. And all that kept me going was the thought of all of you back home. Especially you, knowing that I could not die without telling you how sorry I was, and how much I regretted getting involved with Rivkin. The truth is, I have never felt like I had a safe place to land before, and now I realise I have one. With you."
"You don't offer me any kind of explanation, Zee." Tony started, when he saw his partner was consumed with tears, "I'd do anything for you, I'd travel to the moon and back if I knew it would make you happy. So don't you ever, ever, ever feel guilty about what you did. The only people who should feel like that are Rivkin and Saleem for what they did to you. If you ever have a dream like that again, no matter how late it is, I want you to call me, and I will come straight over and make you feel better. 'Kay?"
"O..Okay. Thank you, Tony. I do not know what I would have done without you these past few years. I owe my life you, and I will never forget that."
Thankyou so much for reading! Sorry it's so short, this is the first fanfic I've ever written and I want to make it good! Let me know what you think :)
The next chapter will hopefully be up in the next few days!