I'm not really sure where this came from, but I like how it turned out. I didn't want to make it very long, so I condensed a few of the "flashbacks", but I might extend them later.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. I wish I did, especially now that it's Season X.
"Ziva, you sure you're okay?" Gibbs asked, lowering his voice to a murmur, looking down at Ziva, who had been shot twice in the past month. Thankfully, they were only minor wounds, the second bullet just grazing her shoulder and the first hitting her thigh. Sighing and brushing a strand of curly hair out of her face, Ziva looked up at her father figure with a cautious expression.
"Yes, Gibbs, I am fine." She replied, her voice resigned after hours of questioning and therapy after she was released from the hospital. She'd been poked and prodded for days by doctors and her coworkers, each with their own opinions on how well she was. The only comforting presence around her while she was recovering, was her partner, who had never left her side once. Even when she was allowed to go home, forced to take a week off of work while she recovered, he remained by her side, constantly making her laugh and feeding the DVD player an endless supply of "classic" movies.
"Okay, but if you don't feel-"
"I know, I will go straight home and get some sleep. I promise you, I am fine." Ziva reassured him, forcing a smile. Gibbs just shook his head, starting towards the Director's office.
"Boss!" Gibbs turned with a slightly annoyed expression to see McGee standing awkwardly by his desk, giving Ziva suspicious glances.
"What, McGee?" "Um, I was wondering if I could go down to the lab and see Abby. She has a tone of paperwork to do…" McGee asked, blushing slightly.
"Yeah, go." Gibbs shook his head, climbing the rest of the stairs as the Junior Field Agent scampered towards the elevator.
Tony met Ziva's eyes, searching for any hesitation or worry. Although he'd spent virtually every second with her for the past month, she'd never opened up to him. Except for that one night, when she woke up at three a.m. sobbing. It was another dream about Somalia, Tony was sure of it. Even though she'd denied it for weeks, Tony knew something had changed. He never understood what happened to her in Africa, but on the first night back from the hospital, when he burst into her room, his back killing him from sleeping in a hospital chair and on an old couch for the past two weeks, and held her in his arms until the sun rose, he finally deduced what happened.
After that night, she woke up sobbing to find Tony holding her to his chest and whispering reassurances in her ear. When she woke up in the morning, Tony would struggle to make her pancakes and then they'd lie on the couch and watch movies or drive to the park near her house and sit in the shade of the trees while he babbled on about McGee's apparently nonexistent love life and James Bond.
They hadn't spoken since she returned to NCIS. Tony knew Ziva was mad at him. Last night they'd talked about the one thing they'd been tiptoeing around for years. Their friendship… if you could call it just that. She'd brought it up. They were eating pizza and out of the blue, she asked about Wendy, and wondered if Tony ever wanted to have a relationship like her again. He was too flabbergasted to answer at first. He told her the truth, he wanted to get married and have kids. But he left out the part about whom he wanted to do this with, deciding it wasn't exactly needed in this situation.
Then he'd made the mistake about asking about Rivkin. He'd always wondered if she really loved him, and figured if they were on the topic of lost loves, this time was as good as any to ask her about him. She'd become defensive and detached, avoiding his eyes and changing the subject as quickly as possible. He'd gotten angry, wondering why she wouldn't answer his question when he answered hers. It had ended badly and he ended up on the other side of her apartment door, still yelling at her through the wall.
"Ziva…" He began, chuckling for lack of anything else to do as he stood up.
"I have to go see Abby." She muttered, turning away before he could say another word. She headed for the elevator and Tony felt the moment slipping away as she retreated across the Squadroom. His mind raced, making a rash decision, as he sprinted across the Bullpen, slipping into the elevator behind her.
"Ziva!" He said breathless. She turned around, giving him a blank stare. "I'm sorry."
With that, Tony practically launched forward, pushing her back into the elevator wall as his lips met hers. A moment later, he pulled away from her, assessing her expression. Suddenly, the room behind them broke into thunderous applause, a few people whistling. Tony turned around, his eyes wide. He saw a few people exchanging wads of cash and others snickering, wishing Agent Gibbs had been there to see the latest advancement in the partners' relationship.
"Guys." Tony's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he turned to see McGee standing sheepishly in the corner of the elevator. "Uh, can we go down to the lab now?"
I'm not sure if I want to make this longer or not. Review please :
