Dinozzo saw the muzzle flash a moment too late to be able to duck out the way. The bullet slammed into his upper chest the force knocking him backwards hard onto the cobble stone street. His gun skittered away useless. He stared up helpless as the unseen gunman approached. He tried to stay conscious as he could feel the darkness approaching. The last thing he saw was the gunman's swift end as he was met with his own bullet to the chest. One finally thought crossed his mind as the darkness consumed his "Who was his rescuer? He was alone on the mission."
Dinozzo took a deep, slow breath taking in the sweet smell of freshly washed linens, stretching out his muscles lazily. He glanced over across the bed his eyes resting on a picture frame displaying three smiling faces. One he immediately recognized as himself along with two children that he had never seen before. The goofy looks on all of their faces and the bear hug he had both of them encompassed in told a completely different story. His eyes traveled around the rest of the side of the room he could see from his resting position. Where was he? This was certainly not his apartment and his head wasn't pounding as if he shouldn't remember where he was waking up. What was the last thing he remembered? His eyes popped open as his mind buzzed to alertness, his heart began to pound in his chest. Whisking the sheets away he checked his chest for the bullet wound, but found only unblemished skin. But his attention was quickly moved from his nonexistent wound to a very real piece of jewelry on his left hand. There was only one thing it could be. He had a solid silver band with rope like etching on both sides of the band.
He glanced around the room again his eyes resting on the framed picture once more as a thought blazed through his head. No, no, no. He was not dropped in the middle of a movie where the guy wakes up and suddenly sees how his life is different. There was no Clarence. That was delusional. Completely delusional. The more Tony stared at the picture he had to admit that was definitely a strong resemblance in the picture. He smiled despite himself. He knew the Dinozzos had good stock. Stop that. He chided himself. You're not married. You don't have any kids. This isn't real. It certainly felt real. Tony reached over and pinched his arm. Ouch! That was most definitely real.
The faint sound of laughter brought Tony out from his own thoughts. Taking a deep breath, he decided the only way to find out what was really going on was to go farther down the rabbit hole or in this case the hallway. But first, Tony thought glancing down at his boxer shorts – some clothes would be a good start. Glancing in a nearby mirror he saw he had a serious case of bed head. That would have to be fixed too.
He walked to what he guessed was his closet and found his clothes. He glanced around picking out a green polo shirt and some khaki shorts. Straightening his hair quickly, he proceeded down the hallway.
The first room he past had Zach displayed across the door with big block letters. Glancing inside the room he spied assorted sports equipment along with some trophies lining the top of a dresser. Across the hall similar block letters spelled out Anna. Inside he saw a tiara sitting next to a karate ribbon.
Tony stopped when he reached an airy, open kitchen. The smell of freshly baked cookies wafted toward him. The sound of laughter brought his attention once again away from his surrounding as he caught a flash of movement outside the window. He had a backyard and from what he could see a pretty good sized one at that.
He walked to a set of double French doors opening them outward, his breath caught in his throat. Ziva. Ziva David was running across the open lawn holding a football, her hair flowing behind her laughing as her two children chased after her. Tony glanced down at the silver ring once more. Their children. If this was a dream he suddenly decided that he didn't want to wake up.
Ziva stopped running and looked over at him, smiling. Handing the football off to Zack she walked over to Tony. "Are you feeling better now?" kissing him gently on the cheek.
"All better" he whispered into her ear. "Now."
Tony heard a beeping sound which drew Ziva's attention away. "I think this batch is ready. I need to go check on them."
Ziva gave Tony once last kiss before walking away.
Tony closed his eyes. He wanted to remember this moment forever.
Tony opened his eyes, they suddenly felt very heavy and the beeping sound was very loud. He felt like his head was being beat on like a drum. He tried to say something but it came out as a low moan.
"Tony" his name was whispered so lightly he barely heard it before soft lips pressed against his.
This time Tony managed to keep his eyes open. "Ziva? Are you real?"
She smiled sweetly. "Very much so."
"Good. " He whispered, his voice hoarse. "I had a dream that I have got to tell you about."
"I would love to hear it." She said settling next to him.