This story takes place after Hit and Run. It has been a few weeks since Ziva returned from Israel and the team has settled back into their normal routines.
Stumbling into his room, an exhausted Anthony DiNozzo collapsed onto his bed. It was 2 a.m. The team had just wrapped up a long case and Tony was worn out from a hard fight. As he was building up the strength to climb under the covers, his phone rang.
He moaned but reached for it anyway, after all, it had to be something important if his phone was ringing at this hour. Looking at the caller ID before he answered, he realized it was Ziva. He quickly answered.
"Hello? Ziva?" he said
"Is this Anthony DiNozzo?" asked an unfamiliar voice.
"Yes…who is this?"
"Sir, you have been listed as an emergency contact for Ziva David. She is in critical condition from a car collision and is being treated at George Washington University Hospital."
Without any reluctance, Tony threw his phone down, grabbed his keys, and ran to his car. Thanks to the lack of traffic this early in the morning, he reached the hospital within ten minutes.
"Where is she?" he asked as he ran into the hospital.
"Sir, who are you here for?"
"Ziva David," he said as his voice began to shake.
"You can wait in her room, she'll be out shortly."
"Is she okay?" Tony nearly yelled.
The receptionist looked at Tony's concerned face and merely directed him to Ziva's room. Once in the room, Tony began pacing back and forth. The pain Tony felt reminded him of the day that he found out that Ziva probably died in Somalia. But something was different this time. Now it hurt more. Now Tony knew that he couldn't handle another absence of Ziva. He was pained by the thought of Ziva in any sort of discomfort and even more so by the thought of a life without her. After an hour of pacing had gone by, Ziva was brought into the room, unconscious.
"Is she okay?" he asked the doctor.
"Too soon to tell, we'll keep an eye on her."
The doctor and a few nurses gently moved Ziva to the bed and left the room. Tony watched her carefully, waiting for her to make a move. Nothing. He walked over to her and gently caressed her face. Recently, he found himself struggling to define exactly what their relationship was. At this moment, his thoughts became even more tangled as he found himself with nothing but an overwhelming concern for his partner. Without realizing he leaned down and kissed her forehead. He flinched back, hoping she wouldn't wake up from that. He wasn't sure how Ziva would have reacted if she had.
Realizing he hadn't contacted the team, he reached for his phone, forgetting he had left it at his apartment. "Should I even call them?" he thought. Tony desired to keep this to himself, wanting to be the only one there with Ziva. But should he risk the rage of Abby? She'd be furious if she wasn't told immediately. What about McGee? Ducky? Palmer? Even Vance? But Gibbs would tell Tony to go with his gut and his gut told him to let them sleep. Tony pulled the chair up to Ziva's bedside, grabbed her hand, and dozed off.
He soon awoke to a knocking on the hospital door. In walked Eli David. Tony winced several times, doubting what he was seeing in front of him.
"How..what..Eli..?" he stuttered.
"I had to make sure my little girl was okay" Eli muttered.
"She was in a-"
"I know. I spoke to her."
"You spoke to her?" Tony said questioningly, "Okay, I'm confused."
"Yes, she came to me. We had a long talk and sorted some things through."
Tony stared doubtfully at Eli.
"But now I have come to talk to you." Eli spoke bluntly.
"To me?"
"Yes. I'm sending her back. I want you to take care of my treasure."
"Sending her back, back from where?" Tony asked as he woke up. He looked around the room, empty, other than Ziva. Instantly, her grip tightened, she opened her eyes, and gasped for air. Tony leaped out of the chair.
"Tony?" she asked, turning to see him.
"Hey, you were in an accident," he said softly.
Ziva looked at her hand, holding on to Tony's. Embarrassed, they both let go.
"I remember that much," she uttered, halting as she tried to get up.
"It looked pretty bad, I think you're gonna have to stay still a while. I'll call the doctor."
The next thing he knew, she was back asleep. He sat back down in the chair, watching her. For the next few hours, doctors and nurses came in and out of the room, running tests, changing IVs, etc. Tony didn't budge the entire time. For the remainder of the night, he sat by her side anxiously awaiting her awakening.
Finally, Ziva opened her eyes to see a worn out Tony. He was pale and red, the circles under his eyes were extremely dark, and he looked distraught. But the moment she saw him, his expression changed from distress to care and concern.
"Hey are you feeling any better?" he said, stroking her hair.
Ziva looked at him funny for a moment but then responded, "Tony I am fine."
"Do you need anything? I can get you anything you want.."
"Tony, I said I am fine."
She struggled to sit up and looked at the clock, "It's nine a.m., we should be at work now."
"Oh shoot!" Tony said, running toward the hospital phone
"If you are calling Gibbs, tell him I will be good enough to work in an hour."
Tony paused and looked at Ziva. She was covered in blood, one eye was swollen shut, bruises ran from her face down the rest of her body, her arm was in a sling, and she had third degree burns from the airbag. "You're crazy."
"I am not. This is nothing."
"Oh boy," Tony muttered. "Ziva, look in the mirror, you're in no condition to be working. I can see the pain in your face."
"If you're going, I'm going."
Tony walked back over and sat down on the bed beside Ziva. He looked straight into her eyes. "I'm staying," he said calmly. He got up again and went for the phone.
"Where are you?" McGee answered, "Gibbs is not happy this morning."
"Ziva and I are a little tied up here McGoo."
"What do you mean?"
"She got in an accident last night and she's pretty beat up, I'm here at the hospital taking care of her."
"McGee," Tony heard in the background.
"Boss it's Tony, he's as the hospital with Ziva, she was in an accident."
"Gibbs says stay with Ziva, there's only some paperwork," McGee told Tony.
"Will do," he said hanging up the phone.
"Tony, I feel like there is something important that I can not remember," Ziva mumbled.
"Well that's not surprising. The doctor says you had a concussion, luckily you woke up."
She shrugged, "I think it had to do with the case."
"No we wrapped that up," he assured her.
As she opened her mouth to argue, a doctor came in the room.
"Oh good, you're awake," he said, "we've been monitoring you all night and everything looks good on the inside. You're outsides will take a while to heal from the pain and swelling but other than that, you're pretty much good to go. We've got some medicines for the pain and the concussion for you. All you have to do is rest, stay hydrated, and not use your arm. If you want to stay another night feel free but you're also free to leave."
"I do not need another night," she replied instantly.
"Alrighty then, I'll go grab your meds and get you checked out," he said, exiting the room.
Tony turned to Ziva, "You sure you'll be okay?"
"Tony I will be fine."
The two were silent.
"Can you call a taxi for me?" she finally asked.
"No," he responded.
Ziva looked at him confused.
He got up, "because I'm going to take you home and take care of you."
"That is really not necessary Tony, I can take care of myself."
As she unsuccessfully tried to stand, Tony smirked, "I think it's pretty necessary."
She let out a little laugh and agreed to let him, which surprised him, he had expected her to be more stubborn about it. He went over and helped her into a wheelchair. They finished checking out and headed to his car. Finally, they pulled up to her house.
They spent most of the day watching movies on the couch. They remained silent other than Ziva's reluctant requests. Their silence, for the most part, was the result of shared mixed feelings. Tony was concerned for Ziva and just wanted her to feel better. Ziva was silent because she was embarrassed to need so much help. Tony knew that Ziva was only asking for help with the necessities, no matter how much he tried to persuade her to let him help her with anything at all.
Finally, the day was ending and Tony helped Ziva crawl into bed.
"Tony, please lay down," she said, "you look exhausted."
Ziva was right. Tony had been up for over thirty six hours and was extremely tired. Seeing no reason to argue, he lay down next to her. After more silence, Ziva finally broke the ice.
"Were you up the entire night?"
"Yeah," he looked straight into her eyes, "I was worried about you."
"I really appreciate everything that you've done. I-"
He cut her off, "I know. You don't have to say anything."
She smiled and kissed his cheek, "Thank you…for everything."
"Anytime," he replied and watched her as she closed her eyes and went to sleep. He grabbed her hand and finally fell asleep himself.
A few hours later, Tony and Ziva woke up to gunshots. Ziva instinctively tried to reach for her gun but yelped from pain. Tony grabbed his gun and shot out of the bed. Suddenly, Ziva's bedroom door shot open.
"Federal agents, drop it!" Tony yelled.
As one person began shooting at Tony, he shot back. Two more people came over and grabbed Ziva. She tried to fight back, but failed. Tony turned his gun to shoot at the people grabbing Ziva, but was shot in the shoulder and the hand by the first person.
As they dragged Ziva away, Tony began to black out. He fell over from weakness. Just as they were leaving, he recognized the face of one of the people who had grabbed Ziva. It was a person that he had interrogated from the case. Right before he blacked out, the last thing he knew was that the car accident…was no accident.
Be watching for part two this week! I plan to have it up soon! Thanks for reading! This was my very first fanfic so just bear with me, I promise I'll get better. Please review and feel free to let me know what needs improvement. Thanks! :)