Characters aren't mine, if they were Tony would have gotten beaten up a little more than he did.

I really couldn't resist writing this as it was such an awesome episode. Involves a little Tiva. And will have two or three parts. Most of it is planned and the other chapters are coming along well for my other stories. This just had to be written. Have fun and review. Spoilers for 7x01 Truth or consequences.

It Had To Be You?

Chapter One

'Out of everyone in the world who could have found me, it had to be you.'

Question or statement?

He couldn't tell.

Something she wanted, maybe, the desire that it had to be him to do it so they could be okay again, so that they could fix their somewhat lust filled working relationship. Maybe, they both wished it could be more than what it had been, maybe, it was just him. He didn't know. Maybe, that is why it had to be him, so that she could start to forgive him for his own actions against her.

But then, did she actually want him there now to save her, was she so far gone that she didn't believe people would actually want to save her.

Well, the rest of the stumbling conversation answered many of those questions. The tone in her voice giving nothing away, just held a hint of hope maybe, he wasn't so sure. She'd been speaking with all the manner of it being the end, her final conversation. With such finality that it cut right through him.

It wasn't that she believed she shouldn't be saved, worse; it was that she'd fully accepted it. As if she hadn't mattered, almost as if she'd actually deserved it. But she mattered to him. That much he did know.

She'd been willing and waiting for an end to everything, even believed it to be justified. That little tad bit of information caused anger to race through his blood, anger towards the people that had forced her will and then broken it.

Now she was safe, now she was rescued, what would happen?

She'd been broken, her fiery spirit torn away; he'd seen that in the vacant look in her eyes while she'd been speaking to him, mostly through him. He'd seen a spark of something flicker across her eyes, but what. Hope, fear, shame, betrayal…love? Had she needed him to rescue her from that place?

He'd betrayed her and she them, could they rebuild what they had once had, maybe build up more. He wouldn't know until he spoke to her but she wouldn't look at him, not since they'd got back. She just continued to stare into nothing and not at him, a look for everyone else, but not him.

Oh he knew he was being selfish, but he had been, and would always be her partner, no matter what. He would do anything for her, even risking his own career and life. This much he'd proved. All he could do now was wait and see what happened. Or, he could make sure she was okay. Well, she wouldn't be okay for a long while yet but maybe, he could make her feel at least partly safe.

Turning off the computer he had been trying to work from, he grabbed his belongings and headed out of the bull pen. Nobody was around this late, bar the cleaners, so nobody would really know he'd been in because he couldn't sleep.

He couldn't get the thought out of his head that Ziva had been there so long and he hadn't been able to do anything about it, he'd thought she was dead. He was her partner, his instincts should have told him she wasn't. Maybe that was truly why he pushed to find out what had actually happened and not given up until he had found the truth. No matter what it could have been and almost was. They wouldn't have kept Ziva alive for much longer, well, she wouldn't have survived much longer if the look in her eyes was anything to go by.

He also, couldn't stop the images of finding Ziva's broken body laying on the ground or his actions in the cell having a different outcome, from running through his mind and tormenting his dreams. And it being all his fault, not that it wasn't in the first place anyway. He'd forced her away when she had tried to help him. Could he really blame her if she did the same? Now, here he was, hoping that she wasn't going to do the same to him.

She'd be angry with him, but, shouldn't he be angry with her too? She'd lied to them first, told them there was nothing she knew about. Even when he'd asked her, she'd shown him how little she trusted him. He'd asked if she would tell him if she knew and she'd said no, but she'd tell Gibbs. Yes, Gibbs was the boss, but they, were meant to be partners. Were meant to watch each other's backs and trust each other. He hadn't lied to her when he said he'd been worried but she just misread his intentions and took it as jealousy.

And yes he had been jealous of the relationship that Ziva and Michael had, to start with anyway. But, it had turned into something more, concern, fear, what ever you wanted to call it. And damn it all to hell, he'd done it because he cared. Yes, Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, caring about someone other than himself! As soon as Michael had killed an American Agent, he'd known that Ziva may be in danger; he'd been going to question her, as partners, as friends even. It hadn't been his fault Michael had been there and then attacked him.

Oh, he knew he shouldn't have won. Him, Tony DiNozzo, beating a trained Mossad Agent, yeah right. Even he wasn't stupid enough to believe that if Michael hadn't been drunk that he would have won. Yet, apparently he was the one taking advantage there; I mean really, it wasn't his fault that he'd been trained to protect his own life when it was in danger. Maybe, he could have only shot him in the leg or the arm- but a damned piece of glass in his side hadn't stopped him, how the hell would a bullet in a minor place have stopped him.

So she could say that he'd betrayed her all she wanted, until she was blue in the face, but at the end of the day, she'd betrayed them first. No two words about it. The lies that constructed the whole operation, when deconstructed, lead back to her and her father and the way her father told his people what to do. Always, had been his answer.

He didn't envy the position she'd found herself in, not one bit, after all, he'd been in the same one. Delicately spinning a web of lies, good enough to fool Gibbs and the rest of the team, and he'd hated it every time. Not that he'd had the choice. Maybe, that's what it was; maybe she hadn't had the choice either. Maybe, she wasn't responsible for her actions against them, but she was responsible for her words. And her words had shown just how much she cared for his opinion, his concern; or not as the case had been.

Damn it, he should be mad at her, she'd lied to him, lied to Gibbs and had even tried to hurt him.

But then the words came again and the vacant look in her eyes flashed past his vision. He knew he couldn't be angry at her, not after what she'd been through. I mean she was just a shadow of her self at the moment. Maybe, when she was getting back to normal then he'd be mad at her. He just couldn't right now, not now he had her back, he wouldn't, couldn't wreck that for his own sanity's sake. He'd never be able to live with himself if his unknown usual temper were to scare her, he wouldn't be able to look at the fear it may cause to fill her eyes. So he wouldn't. Not yet at least.

'..it had to be you.'

And he still couldn't tell if she wanted him there or not, all he knew was, at the moment the hood had been pulled off, all his anger towards her had drained, all he had wanted to do was save her, take her home. Keep her safe.

His thoughts came to a stop as he realised that he'd reached his apartment building, he'd driven in a haze, on auto-pilot. It wasn't a clever thing to do; anything could have happened with him not focusing on the road, but then, since when had he been called anything more than a childish playboy who needed to grow up. Well the better question was, when would he allow them to see anymore than he showed them everyday? A better question was, when would he feel safe enough to?

The team's friendly banter seem a figment of his very active imagination, whispers of words he wanted to cling to. He longed to go back to that but knew that something would have changed. No team could survive unscathed from being split up, betrayed and fractured from each other. What kind of change he didn't know and couldn't even guess at. More like didn't want to believe things would change. Like he'd said, he saw the reality but refused to accept it. He was the wild card. You'd never know what you'd get.

Sighing and slowing getting out of his car, Tony DiNozzo's muscles ached; the events of the past few days truly catching up to him. The whole team had been given time off to recuperate and heal. He, however, had gone back to NCIS each night in attempt to write that ever looming report. Just so it could be scrutinised by the toothpick.

He tried to put into words what had happened, but failed to come up with anything that was understandable, to him it was just a thousand part puzzle of emotions and actions, what they could have done and should have done sooner. How he should feel but didn't, how he felt but shouldn't, almost didn't want to feel. In all honesty he wasn't great with the emotional side of things; more expressive than Gibbs, but not much really, not when it was too personal.

Wrapping his jacket around him tighter against the bitter chill of the September wind, he could almost hear her words floating around him, like they were apart of it. The night was clear, stark contrast to his own twirling, murky emotions.

Trudging his way up to his apartment, his steps seemed to grow heavier; exhaustion having nothing to do with it, as if to his doom. But he couldn't think why, why would going home cause him to be on alert. What could happen that hadn't already happened. He didn't know so he pushed forwards. Reaching his door, he saw a small slumped figure, resting their curly dark head of hair on his door.

It took a few seconds for the neurons to fire in his brain and recognise, that the women was none other than, Ziva David.

TBC

Join me for the confrontation between Ziva and Tony and the reason why she turned up there in the first place in the next chapter. Most likely at the weekend. Enjoy.