Ziva's hair is curly, that's the first thing he notices. His gaze travels lower, and he can see that her eyes are closed and her hands are placed calmly on her crossed legs. She's sitting on a bed with red sheets.

Tony looks around. He's also lying on the bed, face down; his feet hang over the edge and he isn't wearing a shirt.

He sits up and Ziva's eyes blink open.

She smiles at him and there is no trace of amusement or derision that normally exists in the bullpen. Her eyes are warm and bright and Tony automatically smiles back.

"Hey, beautiful," he says. "Where are we?"

Ziva laughs, and it is such a nostalgic sound, like remembering staying up late on summer nights.

"Where do you think?"

Tony racks his brains. There couldn't have been a case, or Gibbs and McGee would be here too. It has to be her new apartment or a motel room.

Ziva shakes her head when he tells her this. "Think, Tony," she says, and shoves his chest lightly, laughing.

A sudden spark of deja vu ignites in his mind. She'd pushed him down just like that, hadn't she? Yes, in an elevator...with rubble and crushed steel collapsing around them...

His mouth feels dry. Something isn't right. "Where are we, Ziva?" he repeats, and something about his tone makes her smile vanish.

"In a dream," she says, watching him warily.

His mind is racing with a million questions.

"Tony, listen to me," Ziva says, and her voice is serious. "I don't have much time." She takes a deep breath, as if steeling herself. "You should know I love you, Tony. Always remember that. I think I have always loved you, but I was too afraid - of what you would say, of what Gibbs would say...and I want you to do something for me. Tell Gibbs he is the father I never had, okay? Promise me."

Her fingertips are stroking his cheek, tenderly. Tony closes his eyes.

When he speaks, his voice is hoarse. "Ziva...I loved you for years. Why now?"

Ziva's eyes are filled with tears. "I don't have much time, Tony. You have to wake up." She puts a hand over his eyes.

"Wake up." It's a whisper.

And Tony wakes up.

In the elevator, Tony opens his eyes. Instantly, he's half-blinded by smoke and dust.

A shock of dark brown hair lies under a rock. Tony is on his feet, plowing through the rubble, uncovering the rest of her body.

His thoughts are curse words and no, repeated over and over and over again, but nothing can change the fact that Ziva is dead.

He weeps like a lover, cradling her cold corpse.

Gibbs finds him two hours later, and doesn't say a word.