SPOILER FOR MASQUERADE and all of season 7 up to that episode.
I do not own NCIS or any part thereof.
C'mon Ziva
She'd been trying to make a point about Tony's cavalier attitude toward breaking and entering and perhaps said more than she should have about Saleem and her stay in Somalia. She should know better than to try to make a serious point with Tony anyway. He always only heard what he wanted to hear and never got the point she was trying to make.
When he asked her if she was seriously trying to defend Saleem's action her reaction had been instanteous and the words just shot out of her mouth. How could he think she would defend a terrorist? What kind of fool did he think her? But his words sent her mind racing down a treacherous path and she was suddenly back there - back where night and day lost all meaning, where she had lived, if you could call it that, in pain, grief, hopelessness …waiting for death.
"You never talk about it."
Tony's voice was right behind her. When had he gotten that close? She hadn't heard him move. Turning toward him she blinked. He stood so still this man who was never still, looking down on her, green eyes probing for answers. So she gave her well-rehearsed half smile and as clearly and calmly as she could asked him what was there to talk about?
He didn't move, kept staring at her. Then, in a voice so soft she barely heard it he said, "C'mon, Ziva."
It almost broke her that soft voice. Almost broke through the wall. Almost. She lost her smile. Swallowing, she tried to moisten a suddenly dry mouth. He never looked away. Thank God he didn't touch her. If he had she thought she would have let it all out, all the poison and the pain, but he kept his distance. Tony had her back, he was her partner. Maybe she owed him some of the hard won truth she had worked out for herself.
"What Saleem did was bad enough. Becoming like him would be worse."
His gaze never wavered. The intensity of the moment became unbearable and she turned away walking into the next room. He followed her after a few moments. Together they found the rudiments of a bomb making workshop. Working side-by-side, they gathered enough evidence to keep Abby busy for days.
The rest of the day unfolded without anymore exposure of Ziva's broken soul. In fact, the whole dirty bomb business turned out to be nothing more than scare tactics to force the passage of a defense appropriations bill through Congress. Gibbs and Attorney Hart did not kill each other. Alfonso got to leave with his back-from-the-dead brother, Roman, and all was right with the NCIS world as she packed up for the evening. McGee was still down in the Lab with Abby. Tony was off somewhere, probably practicing his tap dancing. She smiled. She hoped there would be video.
When she saw his tall form leaning on her car the smile disappeared. He didn't move as she approached. Stopping when she was near enough to smell him, smell his own personal scent of expensive cologne and sweat and male musk, she waited for him to speak.
Standing up straight, taking his time, he reached out with his right hand and cupped her chin. Her first instinct was to jerk away but she controlled it. Stood quietly as his face filled her vision and then closed her eyes as his lips touched hers. He held the kiss only for a moment and then stepped back. She opened her eyes.
He removed his hand from her chin and pushed an errant strand of hair behind her ear.
"Just for the record, Ziva David, there is no chance in hell you could ever be like Saleem."
She opened her mouth to reply, to say yes she could, anyone could, but he put a finger to her lips effectively silencing her.
"Never happen," he said and kissed her again, a mere brushing of lips this time and then he was gone. She watched him until he was in his car and the backup lights came on. Then she touched her lips, still feeling the warmth of his kiss and smiled, somehow finding it easier to take a deep breath than it had been just five minutes before.