She Never Cried In Front of Me

Summary: Ziva is sent back to Israel to fulfill her duties to her father. Even Gibbs is surprised when he finds out these duties include an arranged marriage. Tony realizes his feelings for her, but is it too late?

Pairings: Tiva, McAbby, Jibbs

Disclaimer: If I owned anything except the plot, would I be on here writing? I didn't think so.

A/N: Just a piece I put together after countless hours reading Tiva and McAbby fics. I'm starting this at 10:00 pm, so bear with me as we continue into the night. Probably a one-shot, may turn into more. Yes, I got the idea from 'She Never Cried In Front of Me' by Toby Keith. Now, to the story! Enjoy!

Friday night:

"Ziva, I just want to make sure this is what you want," a fifty-something Israeli man sitting behind an expensive looking ornate wooden desk said. The young Israeli officer smiled at her father and nodded, even though she didn't know if she completely agreed with what she was doing.

You have finally made a life here. You have made friends and have a great job. Why are you giving it up? A tiny voice in the back of her head asked- the American side of her.

You have an obligation to your father and to your country that is why, another voice answered. Time in America had changed her. She was no longer the killing machine forced to do her father's bidding she was when she first arrived in America. She had been trained all her life to follow orders, showing emotion was a sign of weakness, no matter how young you were. Tali was a great example of that. She was killed by a suicide bomber while on a mission at the age of only sixteen. You grow up fast, she had once told Tony. Now, she was kinder, she only killed when one of her team was in danger, she laughed and smiled.

Tony, the voice in the back of her head sighed. He is your partner, your best friend, and you are going to leave without saying goodbye? He will not take to that very kindly. You owe it to him to say goodbye.

It is cruel, but if I do, he will try to stop me, and if he tries to stop me, I will probably not be able to go through with this, her Israeli side answered.

What about, Gibbs? Abby? Ducky? Even McGee and Palmer? Her America side said. Yes, she had spent so much time away from her own country, she had an American side to her brain, and apparently, it saw fit to argue it's very logical case.

They will move on, he Israeli side resolved.

"Ziva, have you been listening to me at all?" Uri David questioned his daughter, a worried look in his eyes.

"I am sorry, Aba, I was just thinking," Ziva replied apologetically. It took all she had to hold back the tears threatening to fall.

Director David smiled encouragingly, "Your flight leaves two o'clock p.m. Sunday."

Ziva frowned, "It is already Friday, but I suppose it will be enough time."

"I have a meeting, but I will see you Monday, Ziva," her father replied.

"Ken, Aba," Ziva replied in Hebrew.

Ziva sighed as the large MTAC screen went blank as the teleconference ended. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she jumped when a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned around to face the director.

"Will you tell them after I am gone Jenny?" she pleaded. The red-headed director hated to see her agent and friend like this. She was not her strong, invincible Ziva; she was now only a pawn who felt obligated to her oblivious father.

Jenny felt herself nodding, "First thing Monday morning I'll get everyone together. Are you sure you don't want to tell them yourself? They would rather hear it from you, I'm sure."

Ziva nodded and silently thanked her before exiting MTAC. She walked down the stairs slowly, glancing at the dark squad room to see who was left there. Only one light was one at the desk of a quiet Italian man. Tony was left finishing up a report for the case they had closed earlier that day. She walked quietly to her desk and sat down. This was going to be harder than she thought. Tony glanced up briefly and smiled, Ziva half-heartedly returned it. She watched the handsome Italian man as he finished his work and turned off his computer. As he walked out of the bullpen, he turned back to her.

"You okay? Boss let you and McGeek off hours ago," he asked.

"Fine," she replied. "I just wanted to make sure I had my report sent in, so Gibbs will not kill me."

"Ok. You wanna go get a drink or something when I'm done?"

She smiled, "No, I am just going to finish up here."

Tony shrugged and walked towards the elevator. Ziva gripped the sides of her desk like she was trying to keep from falling off the world. She knew if she let go, she would end up running after him.

"Goodbye, Tony," she whispered quietly as the elevator doors closed on him.

(Tony's POV) It was late Friday night, and boss had already sent Ziva and McGee home. I was all alone in the bullpen, maybe even all alone in the building except for the maintenance and cleaning crew. I was almost finished with my stupid daily report when I heard the door of MTAC open. I didn't glance up, but I could feel eyes watching from the stairs. A thin, fit figure slid into the darkness of the bullpen, only lit up by the single lamp on my desk. It sat down at its desk. As the computer screen turned on, it lit up the face of my beautiful Israeli partner. A warm feeling erupted inside my body. She looked sad.

"You okay? Boss let you and McGeek off hours ago," I asked, slightly concerned. Ziva never showed any type of emotion, except smile and laughing when we pulled pranks on McGeek.

"Fine," she replied. "I just wanted to make sure I had my report sent in, so Gibbs will not kill me."

"Ok. You wanna go get a drink or something when I'm done?" I didn't quite believe she was alright, but she could take care of herself.

She smiled, "No, I am just going to finish up here."

The warm feeling died. Why did it die? Why was it there in the first place? She's your partner, she's your best friend. No, you don't get that feeling from your partner. Shut up! Great, now he was arguing with himself. He didn't ask her again, but simply shrugged and walked towards the elevator. As the doors closed behind him, he thought he heard her whisper something, so quietly, he could have imagined it. It was like the wind. Now all he heard was the hum of the elevator descending.

Saturday morning:

(Ziva's apartment) Ziva woke at 0500 as usual to go for her morning run. As she changed into her sweats and an NCIS all-weather jacket, the events of the previous day came rushing back to her. She was going back to Tel Aviv tomorrow. She was leaving America and she didn't even know if she would be returning. Her father wanted her to come back to finish some things for him, to tie up some loose ends.

Instead of running her usual five mile route, Ziva took a detour through the park, which added three extra miles to her run. The park was deserted this early in the morning, so she could be alone with her thoughts. As she hit her fourth mile, the thunder crashed around her and rain started to pour. She was grateful she put on her NCIS all-weather jacket. As the rain came, so did the tears, masked by enormous raindrops that fell around her. About a quarter of a mile ahead of her was a pavilion. She sped up a little bit, so she could make it to shelter before she drowned. To her surprise, the pavilion was already occupied. As she got closer, she realized he was wearing a hoodie and sweats. Just another unlucky jogger, she thought, he will not do any harm. With that, she entered the pavilion and sat down, wiping tears and rain off her face. They sat in silence for a few minutes, as Ziva sat hugging her knees to her chest. Her face buried in her arms to hide her tears even from this unfamiliar company. Imagine her surprise when the jogger spoke, with every level of concern and worry.

"Ziva?" he asked.

Her head shot up and her eyes, red and puffy from crying caught the concerned gaze of Timothy McGee. He had a look on his face that was a mixture of surprise and utter confusion. It was then that Ziva did the only thing she could think of doing at that moment, she ran. She ran and didn't look back until she reached he apartment. She barely even stopped to unlock the door, she just flew in and flung herself onto the couch and cried her eyes out.

So??? Did you like it? I have decided it will be longer than one chapter. Obviously I couldn't leave you hanging right there! Who did you guess the person would be? If I was reading it, I would've guessed Tony, and originally it was, but I decided against it, too predictable. I wanted it to be someone she was close to, but not so close as he partner. Am I making any sense? Oh well, it's late and I'm super tired. But that's not an excuse, so I will not make excuses! I would love for you to review and tell me what you think, but by no means am I going to stop writing if I don't get many reviews. I just want to put this out there for those who want to read it, if you don't like it, you don't have to read, it's that simple! But anyway, I'm blabbering: Review my loves!

3 Boss Z