A/N Originally written for LFWS challenge on LJ, Round 1. And I made it to Round 2 :)

Prompt: Missing Scene: Was there a scene on an episode that you wished was different? Did the end of an episode leave you wanting more? Write a tag or a missing scene, for an episode. For spoiler reasons you may only use episodes 1-5 of season 8. Anyone using an episode after "Dead Air" will be made to re-write their story (in other words, you may use any episode from season 1-7 and only the first 5 episodes from season 8). Word count may not exceed 1500.

Set Post 'Dead Man Walking' of Season 4

xXx

She was exhausted. The lack of sleep alone would put anyone in the hazy state she was in, but she was also emotionally drained. And practically carrying Roy's body up and down the stairs was taking the last bit of energy she had. But after what she figured was the easiest and most difficult and personal heart to heart, she managed to get him back into his bed after a journey to the garden.

She had just slumped back into the guest seat when he took off his hat and used his last bit of strength and flung it at her. "Take it. I would like you to have something to hold on to." Though she already told him she'd now remember him, especially after the last few days, she looked down at it, then up at him and mustered all of a smile her melancholy could afford.

The smile he returned coincided with the commencing of his most violent coughing spell. Doctors and nurses overtook the space in the room so she stood up to enable herself to escape his proximity and to hide her acceptance and panic. She hesitantly backed out of the hospital room as the monitors, with all their beeping and buzzing and flashing lights, along with the doctor shouting orders indicated that hope was a wasted sentiment. Ziva was holding on the only thing tangible she'd ever have of him, a bright orange stocking cap. She never would have thought she would find herself sitting on a bench, counting the stiches of a stocking cap and bracing for news she did not want. Any passerby would have been able to tell she was more than Ray's protection detail.

She sat on the bench near the vending machine for what seemed like forever, but in actuality was only about fifteen minutes. She had come to find a comfortable sitting position on the bench. Sitting there had kept her close to him, yet it kept him out of her sight. Her eyes were closed when she overheard the doctor announce Roy's time of death as the commotion settled down.

She wanted to run and not just run the daily route over the Potomac into Arlington but flee, mentally and physically. But she couldn't quite gather that burst of energy she needed so she continued to sit on the bench in a place where people only say goodbye, using this time to become disconnected to the death and the life she felt with Roy. Roy's parents were due in any minute and she promised to meet them. Ziva figured it was the least she could do to brief them on what happened, so that was what she was going to do.

Then she'd run.

The first thing she did when she got home was change her clothes and put on her running shoes. She was almost out the door and she reached for the hat.

She set out to run the route where they passed each other each morning, this time on the other end of daylight. When she turned the second corner on the way out of her neighborhood she saw a distinct orange glow following her out of the corner of her eye. It stopped her in her tracks until she realized it was just her reflection, or rather his hat's reflection, in the window of the store across the street. A smile crossed her face as she continued to run.