A/N: This is probably going to end up at 3-4 chapters. I'm going to put a blanket season 6 spoiler warning over this, just in case.
"Come on agent, DiNozzo… surely you can do better then that." I close my eyes this time as he whips the pistol across her face. I can still hear the nauseating thud as it lands, and the uncharacteristic whimper that follows.
It's not good for my heart.
I don't want to open my eyes, but I know I have to. And there she is; bloodied, bruised, broken. I expect her eyes to be pleading, to be searching mine for a way out. But she knows I cannot and should not do anything. She looks far too calm for this. Here she is, tied up in an empty boathouse by the biggest drug lord in the lower forty-eight and two of his burly associates with nothing but an unarmed, incompetent excuse for a partner staring back at her. There is no distress, no worry. Just pain.
The sight makes me want to vomit. Her left eye is swollen shut, nose clearly broken, and her lip is cracked. She's bleeding from a large – too large – cut on her forehead.
Why isn't Gibbs here yet?
"What do you want me to do?" I ask. I hear my voice crack ever so slightly. I really hope they missed that.
"You know damn well what I want." He replies, pulling his gun back menacingly. "Get me a boat and you're both free to go."
"I've got canoe back at my apartment – I can go get it if you'd like."
"Cute. That's a dangerous call on your part DiNozzo. Do we really look like the guys who appreciate 'cute'?"
I have a snappy comeback, but I refrain; Ziva has already been hit four times. Five would be too many. One was too many.
"Good, you're learning. Now do you want to negotiate, or would you like to see pretty agent David here eat lead."
Ziva's eyes lit up for a moment, imperceptible to most, but I'm not most.
Gibbs.
"Actually, it's pronounced Dah-Veed, and she's an officer, not an agent,"
"NCIS, drop your weapons!" I let myself smile as Gibbs's voice echoes throughout the room. I turn my head to see him, McGee, and about a dozen metro cops burst through the dockside entrance.
Then there's the shot.
I expect time to stop. But people are moving… more shots are fired. Ziva is bleeding.
I'm moving, but I don't know how. Ziva's eyes are closing; blood is seeping through her shirt. I quickly pull out my knife to cut her loose and place her on the ground.
I tear off my jacket and place it over the wound, hoping – praying – that Gibb's has seen fit to call an ambulance.
"Ziva…" Her eyes are barley open; they look more grey than normal. "You're going to be fine, okay? We've got an ambulance coming, please just… hold on" I'm vaguely aware of Gibbs and McGee as the run over towards us. Not that they can help much.
Not that I'm helping much.
"Tony…" Her voice is raspy at best.
"No, Ziva. Don't talk. I'll talk for both of us okay?" She smiles but it looks like a grimace. "You're a ninja Ziva… Ninjas don't…" I can't finish the sentence, as I choke back tears.
"David!" Gibb's roar finishes my sentence as I press harder against her chest, watching the blood soak through my jacket. "You will not die, today."
"How about tomorrow?" She gasps and McGee lets out a strangled laugh.
My eyes travel to her ashen face… So eerily pale. Gibbs runs a steady hand through her hair and her eyes begin to shut again.
"Ziva, stay with me here. Can you hear that? Those are sirens Zi. They're almost here. Please stay with me," I glance at McGee looking for reassurance that the distant horns I hear aren't a hallucination.
"Tony" It's hardly above a whisper, but it draws my attention away from McGee's rattled face back to her feeble figure.
"Please don't talk Ziva." The sirens are getting louder. "Please, save your energy."
I'm crying now. When did that happen? God I hope she can't see it.
"Tony—" she starts but I cut her off.
"Tell me later okay? Tell me when we're at the hospital, or better yet at work. You're going to be okay."
I see a small spark in her eye just before her lids finally shut.
She's not breathing. Or is that me?
"Ziva!" I yell. Gibbs is pulling me away from her; why is he doing that? Someone has to keep pressure on her wounds and…
I can no longer see her limp form as three paramedics swarm the scene, shouting things I don't understand.
I feel Gibbs remove his hand from my shoulder – when did he put it there?
I get glimpses of her. She's being moved onto a stretcher, my jacket has been thrown aside as the medics work on the wound.
I don't know whether time is moving fast or slow, all I know is Ziva David is being put into an ambulance. The doors close, the sirens blare, and the truck quickly drives away through the large entryway into the street.
And I'm left staring at my blood-soaked jacket.
"DiNozzo," Gibbs's voice is surprisingly soft. I turn to respond praying I'm not still crying. I'm not.
"Boss,"
McGee is watching me cautiously as he takes a step away from the departing squad cars.
"Go home. Take a shower."
Reality switches on like a light.
Ziva's fighting for her life right now, and he expects me to go home. And shower?
"No." The strength in my voice surprises both of us. "I can't just… Ziva is… Boss, I've got to go make sure she's okay."
"You won't be able to do anything for her, Tony."
The name sounds foreign coming from him.
I'm silent for a moment.
"I need her, Boss." I'm not sure what I meant by that. But it felt right to say. Gibbs would understand; he always does.
"I know DiNozzo." His blue eyes are piercing into my own. "McGee, go to the hospital. Take DiNozzo with you."
It's a lot less of a fight then I would've expected but I don't question him and neither does McGee. I've just walked past Gibbs when I feel his steely grip on my arm turning me around.
"Hey," his eyes bore into mine once again. "Whatever happens with her…" I see pain in his stare. It's shocking really, to see so much emotion come from this steely-eyed veteran.
He closes his mouth briefly, eyes drifting to McGee before snapping back to me.
"I can't lose another one."
A/N: So that's chapter one, you can probably expect 2-3 more. I know the sentence structure was a little odd, but it was a conscious decision in order to make it read more like Tony's thoughts.
Please review; it's my first NCIS story and I'd love to know your opinions/comments/suggestions.