A/N: This is just some sweet short something I wrote last weekend.
Special thanks like always to Cierra99-You're amazing! She practically forced me to post this since I wasn't sure if I should do it. :)
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, except the doc and the nurse. :DD
PS: I marked this as 'In Progress' cause I'm not sure if you guys would like for me to write some sort of Aftermath of this story. So please, review or send me a message if you'd like a second chapter or not! PreciousAngel
She didn't know when she opened her eyes. Had it been seconds? Minutes? Or maybe even hours? She just wanted to forget where she is and what was happening with her. She closed her eyes, desperately trying to memorize the sound of every Aria of The Phantom of the Opera. She remembered Tonys eyes, how they were shining and glistening. She will never forget them or what Tony did. What he did for her.
Ziva opened her eyes again and looked around her body. Everything was dark and filthy.
"Hello? Is there anybody here?"
Her voice sounded raspy as if she hadn't used it in a long time. She closed her eyes again and fought back the tears. 'What's happening here?!' She asked herself. She saw Tony's smile flash behind her eyelids. Tony, her colleague. Her partner. Her best friend. Her soulmate and lover. They had grown closer to each other after the disaster with Dearing. The post-elevator us as they liked to call it. When she started to open her eyes again she heard a noise.
"Hey there, sweetie," the voice said and Ziva shivered. It was so...dark, angry and scary, even for the tough ex-assasin. And it was female.
"What do you want?" Ziva asked. Her voice was rough, her mouth dry.
"Revenge. Just revenge."
Ziva shook her head, attempting and failing to shake away the cobwebs of confusion she felt, settling her view on the woman.
"Jeanne?!" Her eyes were wide open as she recognized the woman Tony had been sleeping with.
"Yeah. I wondered if you still remember me. Did Tony talk about me much? You know we had amazing, mind blowing..."
"I do not want to know about your former sex life. It does not concern me."
Jeanne walked closer to her 'victim'. "Oh of course you want to know! I'll tell you what: Tony loved me. He truly did and he told me that every single second we saw each other. It was amazing to finally hear those words again and in the end it didn't matter. He betrayed my trust and he killed my father. You'll pay for doing what you did!"
"I never did anything. I waited till he was finished with you!"
Jeanne took a gun out of her pocket and held it directly in Ziva's direction.
"You bitch. I hate you! You destroyed my life and my family!"
And then the door opened and the last thing Ziva saw before black was Tony and guns. A lot of guns.
Ziva tried to open her eyes but closed them fast again. It was bright and there was a steady beeping near her ears. "Hey, Zi. I just saw that. Common, open them again."
She barely heard the voice of Tony but she recognized it. "Trying..." she whispered and opened her eyes again. This time it was much darker but she still could see some faces she knew, the familiarity of them comforting.
"Hey there, Ziver."
"Gibbs," she said and tried to force a little smile.
"How ya feeling?" This time it was Tony who spoke, his voice clearly trying to mask his worry.
She replied with her usual 'fine' and got a few relieved nods in response. They all could hear the real answer behind her words (or word), but they didn't care that she was, in fact, lying. The important thing was that she was alive.
"We were so worried about you, Ziva!" Abby cried and slowly leaned forward for a small hug.
"I'm sorry..."
"Hey now. You've got nothing to be sorry for. It was all Jeanne's fault- she tried to kill you and she was the one kidnapping you." Tony said and for the first time she felt his hand holding hers.
He gently laid a hand on her left cheek and she heard the sounds of the machines steadily increase their beeping, faster and faster.
"I..." she stuttered and avoided his eyes.
"I think we should leave now. Ziva has to rest,"
Ducky said, and Ziva looked at him, trying to display her gratitude, wanting to say thank you. The medical examiner always knew what to say and she mentally thanked him again.
"Take care of her, DiNozzo," she heard Gibbs whisper and felt his lips gently on her cheek.
Her eyes practically bored into his and she could see adoration, worry and love in them. He was like a dad to her, the one she never really had. But especially after her real Dad's death he helped her a lot.
"Thank you..." she gently whispered before sending a thank you-smile to Jimmy, Breena and McGee for being there. Abby hugged her again before gently closing the door behind the team.
Then she focused her look on her colleague. "I was really worried about you, Zi. You almost died on me...!"
"I am sorry... I just... Thanks for saving me, I guess?" She tried to shrug her shoulder but the pain in it was too intense.
"You don't have to thank me for saving your life. It's.. I'd do it again and again and again. It's almost like a hobby considering that I've saved your life a dozen times,"
Tony said and she smiled a bit. Even in the most inconvenient moment he could get her to smile.
"What happened?" she asked and her eyes stared into his.
"I was too late. She... Jeanne was... And I came too late."
he whispered, avoiding her eyes. She could almost swear that she saw tears glistening in his green orb but she wasn't entirely sure.
"Tony, you are not making any sense."
"Jeanne shot you. We busted into the room and right at that second she fired. God, I'm so glad that she has practically no aim. She could've... killed you! Dammit, Ziva! I almost lost you again!"
She felt the tears burning in her eyes. It was painful to see him so... weak.
"But I am here now, Tony! And I am fine, I am alive and well." At least sort of, considering the gun shot wound in her right shoulder.
She was glad Tony sat on her left side, otherwise she couldn't have lifted her hand to his cheek.
"I was so damn worried... Don't you ever do that to me again, understood? Never ever again, Ziva."
She nodded numbly. It wasn't like she did it willingly- getting kidnapped is nothing you would do voluntary.
"I really want to tell you something." She whispered and she saw Tony nod. "Please, lay down."
Her soft voice surprised him, the tone something she reserved for special occasions. And once again, he nodded. He gently lifted the white hospital blanket and crawled underneath it. Ziva laid her head directly over the spot where his heart was beating, steady and constant.
"When Jeanne had me for those 3 hours or so... The only thing I thought about was you." He tried to say something but she shook her head. "Hear me off."
His small laughter let her know that she got the idiom wrong. "Hear me out. It's hear me out." He tried to hide his smile.
"Anyways. The thought of you... I was just not as scared when I would remember your smile, your laughter, your care and even your jokes and the teasing. It helped me to block out the smell and the darkness that reminded me of Somalia. Do you understand what I mean, Tony?"
"I guess I do..." he whispered and drew her closer.
"After my father died the only person who could understand me was you, Tony. I... I have not thanked you enough for that and now with Jeanne I have even more to be thankful for. You... you really do a lot for me and I..." She stopped. Was she really about to shout out her undying love for him?!
"Do I have to say it again, Ziva? You don't have to thank me for saving you. You're the most important person in my life. I know I'm usually not that kind of guy to... make silly proclamations of my love but... I do love you, Ziva. I have for a long time and after all we've gone through these last few months... I just hope you know that..." He trailed of too.
"We really should stop worrying so much about what each other thinks," Ziva whispered as she saw his hopeful look that was full of nothing but love. "I love you too, Tony, just so you know," she said before closing her eyes and nuzzling her head in the crock of his neck. He could hear the beating of her heart through the monitor and as it was getting steadier with every passing minute. Eventually, he closed his eyes too.
When Ziva's doctor and nurse entered the room the next morning the first thing they saw was Tony and Ziva.
"Now that's what I call true love..." the nurse said as she saw the lovingly embraced agents. The doc nodded and said: "Yeah it is. Hopefully she'll recover soon."
And she did.