Disclaimer - I don't own NCIS, if I did Cote wouldn't be leaving!
*Tony P.O.V*
Being out there in Somalia made me accept the fact. Seeing her dragged in with a bag around her head, being forced to sit on the chair opposite me, being tortured. It made me accept that I love her. When I was being tortured all I was thinking was that at least he was torturing me and not her. It took all I had when I was under that truth serum not to tell him I love her. We both know what would have happened then.
Ever since we came back I've been looking for the perfect way to tell her. It's been a whole two weeks and several times I nearly ran over to her house and just said it but that's not the way she can find out. No it has to be special. One week of sick leave and a week of work, a week with her just mere feet away from me all day every day. It's nearly killed me but I finally have an idea that's worthy of this amazing woman.
I look at my watch. "I think it's my turn to buy lunch."
Ziva's head snaps up. "Tony I have been here four years and not once have you bought lunch. Or any other kind of food for us for that matter." She looks at Tim and they share a worried look.
"Well then it's about time I bought some isn't it!" Gibbs just gives a smirk and waves me away and Ziva and Tim just watch me leave with looks of horror at me actually buying their food.
Only that is just my excuse for leaving the building. Today is the day I tell Ziva.
*Ziva P.O.V*
I stand looking out at the rain and I can't help but miss home. I have disowned my family and they treated me horribly but I do miss them from time to time. I miss Israel more than I miss the people there. I miss the sun beating down on me, the heat, the smells. But I do have a lot here. I have a great job and in that job I have my family. My weird, wonderful family. Ducky is the Grandpa, Gibbs the strict Dad - more of a Dad than my Father ever was, Tim is the geeky kid brother that sits in his room on his computer all the time. Jimmy is that weird cousin that no one talks to often but every one is fond of. We lost Jenny, our Mother, a little over two years ago but we all miss her everyday. I still blame myself for that one, as does Tony. Tony. I don't know what we are anymore. I used to see him as that goofy, annoying brother but I don't know anymore, especially since Somalia. There's something more there now.
I reach to my neck only to find it bare as I have so many times since we got back. I miss my Star of David more than I should or thought I would. It gave me more comfort and solace than I realised and I simply haven't had the chance to get a new once since we got home. I spent my week off recovering both physically and mentally and I barely left my apartment never mind get a new Star.
I look out at a night that I never saw until I came to America. The rain falls in sheets and it's practically gale force winds. A night that I would hate to be out in. A knock at the door startles me. Who would be out in this kind of weather? Maybe something is wrong? I open the door to a drenched Tony.
"Tony, did something happen, is someone hurt?" He's wearing his old Ohio State tracksuit with a bag pack on his back
"I, Ziva, am here on a social call."
"What Tony, are you mad? Who would go outside in a...storm thingy, a...hurricane, it is like a hurricane out there."
"Thought you might be scared." He said sarcastically. "I'd hate to see you in a real hurricane if you think that's bad, that's just a bad storm."
"Come in you are soaping."
"Sopping Zee-vah, I'm sopping. Can I go change in the bathroom?" He asks motioning to his backpack.
"Yeah that! Sure, first door on the left down the hall." I say handing him a towel. I make it look like I hate it when he corrects me but secretly love it. I sit on the couch while I wait for him to come back out panicking over the fact that Tony is in my bathroom. So when he comes back out I ask him right up. "So why are you really here? It is not like you think I would be scared. Oh wait, is it because you are scared?" I say teasing him. He's now wearing a white shirt and a pair of dark jeans and looking very well.
"No I just thought we could watch a movie or something, I mean we have a lot of catching up to do." A movie, yeah I could do that. I hadn't seen a good movie in a while. "What movie do you have in mind?"
"James Bond"
"Tony are you joking me?"
"I am 100% serious. Please just try it. If you don't like it after 10 minutes we can turn it off, deal?" He's using puppy dog eyes, how can I say no? Plus it's one of the films I have always secretly wanted to watch but since meeting Tony it felt wrong to watch it without him.
"Ok fine, deal." I roll my eyes and sigh to cover the fact that I really like the fact we're doing this. "You put in the movie I'll make some popcorn." I say giving him a rare smirk. He doesn't reply but moves towards the TV with a grin on his face.
5 minutes later and I walk in with a massive bowl of popcorn to Tony complaining that it never takes him this long to make popcorn. I ignore him and place the bowl on the table and turn to sit on the couch only to see that he has sat right in the middle meaning we'll be sitting close whichever side I sit on. I choose to sit on his left with my right shoulder and knee just inches away from his left side. We've never been this close without one of us being injured, irrationally upset or hurting each other and it feels amazing.
Ten minutes into the movie and I'm interested but I'm more interested in the fact that I'm mere inches away from Tony for so long. Slowly he moves another inch closer. I don't really know how to react but it crosses my mind that if I have any shot with Tony DiNozzo Now is the time to make a move so I lean my head on his shoulder. He stiffens in the slightest, so slightly that no normal person would pick it up, only my Mossad training makes me aware so for that reason I leave my head there. Another moment passes without any movement from either of us when he puts his arm around my shoulder.
Our movements are certainly not those of experienced adults but more like those of in-experienced teenagers.
I take the plunge and lean into his side while tucking my feet in under my body. He protectively curls me in under his arm and I feel safe. It something not a lot of places can make me feel but here, sitting on my couch tucked in under Tony's arm, I feel safe. For only the second time since being rescued from Saleem's clutches do I feel safe.
Tucked in here I can feel the warmth radiating out from his body and I instinctively curl into it. I place my hand on his stomach and can feel the rock hard six pack that lies beneath his thin shirt. From my position I can smell a smell that's distinctively Tony, a mix of his deodorant, his after shave and Tony, his personal smell. It's such a good smell I can't help but inhale softly.
We sit like that for almost two hours not saying anything, just enjoying each others company and watching the movie. For the last five minutes of the movie he starts drawing patterns on my hand that rests on his stomach sending electric shocks all the way to my spine.
The credits begin rolling and I'm just about to move when he stops me and reaches into his pocket and pulls out a jewelers box and puts it on my knee. Its black and roughly the size of an iPhone. "Tony...what..."
"Just open it Zi."
So I do. Inside sits the prettiest piece of jewellery I've ever seen. It's a new Star of David. It's made up of tiny diamonds all put together and mounted in a gold frame with a gold chain. "I...I can't accept this, this is too much."
"Ziva, hey Ziva, look at me." I look up into those hazel eyes I love so much. "When Saleem ripped your chain off your neck I saw something inside you break and ever since then I've seen you reach for your bare neck any time things get hard or you're upset or you're having a flashback. I must see you reach for it five or six times a day and every time that happens something inside me breaks because that's the thing that keeps you grounded and when you reach for it I know you're struggling. I can't bare to see you struggle. You struggle I struggle. You're more than just a partner to me anymore. Ever since Somalia I see you different. I love you Ziva."
"Tony I can't accept this chain, it must have cost you loads."
"You're happiness means everything to me and this will make you happy." He takes it out of the box and opens the clasp. I turn around, pull back my hair and he fixes it around my neck.
"The truth is I see you different since Somalia too. When that bag was pulled off my head and I saw you my stomach dropped because I knew what Saleem could do and I didn't want him to do that to you. I would have let him do it to me again before I let him hurt you. Truth is, Tony, I love you too." I feel his strong arms wrap tight around me and I curl into his chest, for once enjoying the human contact.
I can feel him kiss my head and say. "You don't ever have to worry about that ever again. I promise. Saleem is dead and I'm not going anywhere. I am staying right here weather you like it or not. I promise."
"Thank you Tony."