I know there are a million of these but I really just wanted to write one for the heck of it. Also I've had this idea since the finale so I just needed to write it down. Oneshot for now, though I may add a second chapter. I'll see how this one does.

Disclaimer: If I owned NCIS I'd be writing scripts, not fanfiction.

Bang!

The entire building, including the elevator containing the two federal agents, shook as the force of the explosion collided with it. Ziva fell into Tony as she lost her balance, and they clung to each other tightly as they fell to the floor of the elevator. The lights flickered and then went out as the building lost power, causing the elevator to cease its descent.

Then, everything was quiet. No sounds except the distant trill of sirens and the two NCIS agents' labored breathing. Debris from the ceiling coated the elevator. Thankfully, it was just the ceiling tiles and dust.

Ziva slowly forces herself to open her eyes. Her whole body shakes in fear. Other than that, she is fine physically, though she can feel a deep scratch on the side of her face where a ceiling tile had fallen on her as it plummeted to the floor.

"Tony?" she whispers into the fabric of his shirt. She can feel him breathing under her, thankfully, and knows he is okay. Suddenly, a high pitched groan comes from her partner's lips. "Tony?" she asks again, worriedly, lifting her head from it's place huddled between his neck and shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answers. "Just hit my head on the damn door when I fell. What about you?"

"I'm fine. Now, about your head…"

"I'm alright, Ziva," he reassures her. She trusts him not to lie to her, he never has (except that one time, but that's gone with the past), however she also knows he'd put her safety before his; he'd done it before, and in much more dire circumstances. She knows him. She knows him so well, in fact, that she's surprised he's been so quiet.

"What?" she says, chuckling, "No jokes?"

"Jokes?" he asks confusedly. "Why would I joke at a time like this?" She detects a hint of sarcasm.

"Because you're Tony DiNozzo," she replies, "and last time we were, huh, well, like this, you said-"

"I know what I said," he cuts her off. "It's just that this isn't exactly the time or the place for jokes."

She cocks her head to the side.

"Well, that is…awfully mature of you, Tony." He shrugs.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Her eyes fall away from his as what he has said registers. These are certainly desperate times. Tony notices tears begin to pool in her eyes, but she blinks them away a second later. Tough ex-Mossad assassins don't cry, at least most of the time.

"Hey," he murmurs, taking the hand that had been clutching her's the entire time and whiping a strand of hair that had come lose from her ponytail away from her face. He notices the cut on her face and reminds himself to make sure she gets that cleaned up later. "Everything's going to be okay."

"You don't know that." She sighs, her breath shaky as she tries to pull herself together. Ziva slowly begins to shift herself off of Tony's chest, and he pulls himself up into a sitting position next to her, trying not to wince at the pain this causes his injured head, but keeping his arm still snugly wrapped around her waist. "For every monster we put away, a worse one steps up to take his or her place."

"You can't think like that. Not in this line of work. We've been through this before," Tony whispers, recalling the night Mike Franks had died. "You have to think positive."

"We could've died, Tony," she retorts, her voice quivering. "Gibbs and McGee and Abby…oh…" she trails off. When she pulls herself back together as best she can, she looks up at him. "We could've died, Tony," she repeats forlornly. He sighs.

"Yeah, about that. Why didn't you leave when I told you to? It wasn't safe; you should've gone without me, Ziva."

"I couldn't go without you, Tony," she replies softly.

"You could've been killed. Why didn't you go?" he insists, his voice hard.

"Because you're my partner!" she shouts forcefully. "Because you've always been my friend," she continues, her voice softening. "Because I've got your back," she whispers, tears forming faster than she can blink or wipe them away. "Because I-" She cuts herself off, and simply stares up at him. Their eyes lock, and they stay silent for well over a minute, their eyes refusing to shut up. Tony notices that same strand of hair on her face, and pushes it back behind her ear, his gaze never breaking from her's. And suddenly, the realization that it's now or never hits them both.

"I love you," they whisper at the same exact time. They say nothing else as these words which they have said sink in. Tony is the first to break the silence by chuckling as he leans forward and kisses Ziva. She leans into him, wraps her arms around him, and kisses him back, the tears which she had held back shamelessly trickling down her cheek. When they finally break apart, they smile at each other, smiling for perhaps the first time all day.

"Well, guess I can cross off Number 26," Tony says lightly.

"Number 26?" Ziva asks, puzzled. Tony takes a folded piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and waves it in the air.

"Number 26: Tell her," he explains. Ziva remembers; Tony's bucket list.

"That was about me, wasn't it? You wanted to tell me…how you felt, before you…die." Tony nods.

"Figure now's as good a time as any. And I had to tell you."

"Tony…What about Gibbs? Rule Number 12, never…" she fades off, hearing something that sounds like a voice coming from outside the doors.

"Hello? Hey! Anybody in here?"

"Gibbs," they both say.

"Help!" Ziva cries.

"Boss! In here! We're in the elevator!" Tony shouts.

"DiNozzo? David? Is that you?" Gibbs calls.

"Yes!" they yell in unison. Seconds later, the doors are pried open ever so slightly, letting in a ray of soft grey light. They're on the second floor of the NCIS headquarters building.

"You two idiots alright in there?" Gibbs calls worriedly.

"We're fine. Just a few scrapes and bruises," Tony replies. Ziva's about to inquire about the other members of their team, their friends, when Gibbs tells them to hold on a second and dashes out of sight. He returns less than a minute later with a crowbar and a rescue worker.

"Let's see if we can pry one of these doors open," he says to the other man. Sure enough, the two men slowly coax the doors open wide enough that a person can fit through. There's a bit of a step up as the elevator was slightly below the floor when the power went out.

"Okay, try and fit through here," Gibbs calls into the elevator. Ziva pushes Tony towards the door.

"Go," she says. He grabs her arm.

"Nope. I'm the Senior Field Agent here; you're going first." Her eyes plead with him, but he's not giving up. She finally sighs in defeat.

"You're never going to let this Senior Field Agent thing go, are you."

"Not as long as I'm still kicking, sweet cheeks," he answers, giving her his ever charming DiNozzo grin. Ziva squeezes through the space and pulls herself up and out of the elevator. Tony follows behind her, and begins to climb out just as the backup backup generator comes on, and the doors start to close and the elevator prepares to renew it's descent.

Scenes and words flash before Ziva's eyes in a millisecond.

"Having phone sex?"

"Todah." "Prego."

"Sweet cheeks."

"I want a divorce."

"You read my report?" "I memorized it!"

"Couldn't live without you, I guess."

"That you had my back. That you have always had my back."

"Do you really consider me to be in your life?"

"I love you."

She thinks back to the words she had uttered minutes before. "You wanted to tell me…how you felt, before you…die." Had she foreshadowed his death?

But less than a second later, in the nick of time, Tony hauls himself out of the elevator and leaps onto the floor just as the doors close.

"Well, that was close," Tony says breathlessly, sitting on the floor next to Ziva and Gibbs. He turns and sees Ziva's worried eyes trained on his face. He smiles sadly at her, trying to reassure her that everything's going to be okay from now on. Gibbs doesn't notice.

"What were you two idiots doing in an elevator?" he shouts. "That has got to be the stupidest-"

"Screw Rule Number 12," Tony whispers, taking Ziva in his arms. "I'm not living with any more regrets." And then he kisses her as Gibbs stares at them, his jaw practically on the ground. As the shock wears off, he closes his mouth and smiles ever so slightly. He'd always known there was something going on with those two. You couldn't miss it.

"Hey! Over here! I've got somebody!" the rescue worker Gibbs had borrowed to open the elevator calls. The three federal agents look up at the man. They get up and make their way over to where he stands, recognizing their desks in the squadroom. Ziva draws in a sharp breath when she sees the bleeding face.

"Oh my god," Tony says, shocked.

"McGee," Gibbs murmurs.

The rescue worker places two fingers on McGee's neck.

"I've got a pulse!"