Tony sat there, looking at Special Agent Ellie Bishop from his desk in the middle of the bullpen. For the first time in a long time, he had thought about the agent that used to sit there, he thought about Ziva David. It had been a long while since images of her sitting in that desk had spread out across his mind, but it was happening now. As he was realizing this, he also began to realize why he was even remembering her, why he had begun to see her in his head. Agent Bishop had asked him something.

"I'm sorry, what did you say? I had something else on my mind for a moment."

"I was talking to Doctor Cranston the other day, when she was here to see McGee, and she said something about the agent who sat here before I did. I told her that it is obvious that I am looking at shoes unfillable, but I don't know anything about the woman who wore the shoes."

"So, you want to know about Agent Ziva David?"

"It just feels kind of weird, you know, to fill the shoes of a person you never met."

Tony's attention was drawn away from Bishop again, and before he knew it, he was instictively opening his top right deak drawer. The drawer where he keeps Ziva's Star of David necklace and the picture of him as a child that she used to keep on her desk. Upon touching the necklace, his mind was flooded with not only memories of Ziva, but also of feelings for her, the good ones and the bad ones. The ones he tried to forget, and the ones he had trouble remembering.

It's weird how that can happen, how something from the physical world can transport one, almost immediately, into the emotional world. Tony felt that when we touched the necklace, he wasn't feeling just the gold of the necklace, no. He was feeling all of the energy that Ziva had put into that necklace from wearing it everyday, to giving it away.

He couldn't stop the memories from flooding his brain, he couldn't stop the images from playing in his mind. This, he decided, was because he had almost forgotten her. Almost. Until now.

Flashbacks to Israel, to standing in the field of olive trees, flashbacks to sitting on the couch of her childhood home, to the tarmac of the airport, to the desperation and pain that he felt when he lost her, to the only feelings he had felt in a long time.

Suddenly, he remembered something, he was talking to someone. And just then, Gibbs ran in and said "Get your gear."

And with that, they were gone.

Once they returned from the crime scene, he went down to Abby's lab to ask how she was progressing upon recieving the evidence they had gathered. He walked up to her desk in the center of the lab, standing next to her. He announced that he was there, and after looking at her, he looked straight ahead. And what he saw was the Isreali flag that Abby keeps in the pencil holder on the shelf above her main computer.

Suddenly, his vision got white and blurry, and his face felt hot. He just couldn't shake her today, and he didn't know why. He again became briefly engrossed in the feeling of losing her, until he felt Abby's eyes burning a hole in his shoulder. Snapping out of it he said "I just don't understand." And as if Abby was viewing his flashbacks with him, she said "I know." Tony wasn't surprised, he had known Abby for many years, and they are very close. Just after that, Abby began to speak again. "I've been getting this weird feeling all day about her, and not that I don't think about her a lot, you know, because I do, but just, just not like this. It's like her energy is heavier than usual, more noticible." "I can't shake it," Tony then said. "I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong."

Just then, Gibbs walked into Abby's lab. "It is." Gibbs said without a change in facial expression, or any noticible emotion at all for that matter. Neither of them said anything, they just looked at him, as if they couldn't believe what they had heard. When Tony finally spoke, it came out to be an intense and unsure question. "What do you mean something is wrong, something is wrong with Ziva?" Half in shock that she was still alive, and still wanting to protect her as if she had never stopped being his partner. "Turns out Bodnar had lined up a few people to finish his work. Ziva is a target." Tony just stood there. A target, he thought. Nonetheless, he could not get words out, only his eyes would work. The sound of her name had shocked him enough, now surely- she would return to his life, if only briefly. "C'mon Dinozzo," Gibbs said. "Get your gear if you want to help her." And with that, they left.

Realizing that this was really happening, that it wasn't a product of his nightmares or day dreams, he snapped back into Special Agent mode. Walking so fast to the bullpen that he was almost running, the only thing he could see in front of him was his gear bag. He grabbed it off the floor and ran to the elevator like he had this planned out all along.

When they finally reached the squad car, Tony asked Gibbs to elaborate on his previously stated claim. "So, boss, what are we dealing with here, exactly?"

"Geeze, Dinozzo, I thought you'd never ask. Quiestest I've ever seen you is right now."

"I was just...preoccupied. Boss, what are we dealing with right now?"

Gibbs then went on to explain that it wasn't Ziva who had contacted them, it was Mossad.

"Ziva did not go back to Mossad." Gibbs explained. "She was living under the radar in an apartment in Tel Aviv. They know this because her and Adam kept in touch. One day they were supposed to get coffee, she never showed. Adam went to her apartment, found Bodnar's men instead of Ziv-"

"Well where is Ziva, is she okay? Did something happen to her?" Tony said in an anxious voice.

"Will ya let me finish, Dinozzo? Adam called Mossad for backup, they chased the guys, they got them. Bodnar's men tried to take Ziva, but she sure as hell didn't go down without a fight. Men went in with three guys, came out with one and a half. Mossad flew her here, we're going to Bethesda to see her now."

"I thought you said they didn't get her." Tony said, his voice intense and hot with anger.

"I said they didn't take her, I didn't say they didn't hurt her." Gibbs said with a slight tilt of the head and a monotonus voice.

Tony wanted to ask more, but knew he couldn't. So he waited.

The more he waited silently, the more anger welled up inside of him. Anger for the people who did this to Ziva, anger at Bodnar, anger at Gibbs for being a rock, anger at himself for being angry, and anger at Ziva. Angry at her for leaving, angry at her for kissing him that last night on the tarmac, angry at her for being hurt. But mostly, mostly he was angry at himself. And these reasons, they would surface later.

Gibbs drove fast, making hard turns, the wheels skidding around the corners. As soon as they pulled into the hospital parking lot, both men exited the vehicle and walked quickly and steadily with a purpose, a purpose that even other people could see. They walked into the waiting room, and Gibbs stopped. Gibbs stopped walking, and Tony kept going. "Hey Dinozz-" Gibbs was saying, but Tony was already through the main door and staring through the glass inside her room.

Suddenly Tony couldn't catch his breath. He couldn't tame his thoughts, and before he knew it, he was walking into the room. With all intents and purposes, he was going in there to wake her. To talk to her, to see that she was alright. But that was before he saw her. Before he saw her lying there, a slender almost surgical cut from the base of her nose to the lateral corner of her right eye, stitched together. Bruises all over her body, other lacerations and swelling all over her body. Burns even, burns on her hands. She had put up a fight, but she wasn't just fighting the guys that were there, she was fighting the torture they were delivering.

The sight of her made him forget every single thing he had been previously thinking that day. He stopped at the side of her bed, and he dropped down on the chair next to it, hard. He pulled one hand slowly and with pressure down across his face, going from the top of his forehead to the base of his chin. "This is real" he told himself.

He wanted to wake her up, but he couldn't find the words to do so. He didn't know what to say, and it had been so long since he had seen her that he was afraid to touch her, to startle her after what she had just been through. Just then, Ziva began to stir. As she turned her head from facing the celing to facing away from Tony, he saw a huge gash across the left side of her forhead, and very large bruising and redness all around. She was hit, he thought, and hard. Probably with the barrel of a gun...

He had to stop looking at her, had to stop looking and start talking. He didn't touch her. He leaned over her bedside, and he said in his low husky voice, the same voice he used with her in the olive tree field, and he said "Ziva, Ziva?" And she slowly opened her eyes, and she looked at him. For what felt like a long time, nothing was said by either party. She looked at him with a look of distress and longing. She looked at him in his entirety, in his worried state- she could sense it. But when she looked at him, she knew he was a rock. He was standing tall over her, he was muscular, and he was ready to confront whatever issue had just happened to her, he was ready to get revenge on whoever did this to her. A feeling that Ziva knew very well. When Tony looked at her, he saw passed her now dark olive skin, passed her cloudy hazel eyes, passed bruises, and right into the fear that was hiding underneath all of her layers. He had never seen Ziva like this, never.

"Tony," she meekly said. "what are you doing here?"

"I heard what happened to you. I had to come. I know you were trying to get away from me, from this, but I had to come."

"Thank You, Tony." was all she said, until he realized louder beeping sounds than he had heard before, and at a much higher frquency. Doctors came rushing in and before Tony could process and understand what was happening, he was pushed out of the room and Ziva was swiftly taken elsewhere. Gibbs walked up behind him, grabbed his arm and said "Dinozzo, lets go. We got a case to work on."

"Boss, I can't, something is happening to her." They could hear muffles from the other room where she was "...blood pressure 90/60...decomponsated shock...blood loss...ventricular fibrillation..."

"Oh, you can Dinozzo, and you will. Let's go, now."

They were both walking out of the building, not another word was said until they got back to the navy yard. Bishop and McGee, Abby and Ducky, Vance, and even Palmer were waiting in the bullpen when they got back, worry and curiosity evident on all of their faces.

Abby was the first to speak "What happened Gibbs!" She demanded to know. And as indifferent as he looked and as cold as his voice seemed, it really pained him to only be able to say "I don't know, Abs."

"Come on guys, we have a case to work on. A case thay involves Ziva. This is all we can do for her right now, so let's go. Now." Gibbs said as he ushered them all to their posts and appropriate positions.

Bishop spoke first, updating everyone on the case. As she started to speak, Vance walked into the bullpen. In unison, a "Why weren't we involved in this investigation?" arose from McGee and Tony.

"Because," Vance said in a stern and sturdy voice "I know if you knew what was going on, it would effect your ability to actually solve the case. I had Bishop working on because she was the only one who didn't know Agent David. Once we found out the basic information we needed, I told Gibbs she was at the hospital. Tim, I needed you here in case I needed any call traced in a pinch. Now that the bottom line is drawn, you will all be brought up to speed by Angent Bishop, and you will all take part in this case. Are we clear?"

"Yes Sir." Said both male agents.

"Very good. Get to work, keep me updated."

Then Director Vance turned away, and walked sternly back to his office. After getting caught up to speed, they were off to interrogation to question the men captured in Ziva's apartment. Mossad Director Orli Elbaz had them transferred here, knowing Dinozzo and Gibbs would want a few licks. It was a joint investigation, after all. The three men, they were Americans.

Inside the interrogation room sat one man, he in decent shape and the other appeared to be in pretty bad shape, and was sitting in a different interrogation room. The second man was not the brains of the operation, Mossad had said, just some extra muscle. Dinozzo didn't care. He had no pity. Outside the room Gibbs looked at Tony and said "You're on, Dinozzo."

Tony's face got rock hard, and he entered the room bringing a wave of heat with him, a wave of fury. He sat down across from the man, as he usually does. He pulled on his suit collar, straighened his tie, and folded his hands on the table in front of him. He gave a low, menacing chuckle. "So," he said "trying to take out Ziva David? Looks like you should have tried a little harder."

The man was clearly very, very irriatated by this comment. He looked at Tony with eyes as dark black marbles, filled with anger and hate.

"Is that so? She didn't come out of it so well, I know. In fact, she will probably be dead soon. I did my job, sir."

The man scowled. At the mention of Ziva dying, Tony got even angrier, and this time, he did not censor himself. He did not lose control, either. "Listen here you scumbag, you are caught. You are in a government facility being questioned. We got you, we got you before you got her, and before you got away. Now why don't you tell me just what "job" you are doing, and exactly who is paying you to do it, because I watched Ziva kill Bodnar, and I know he ain't calling the shots from the other side."

The man across the table sneered, and spit. He spit right on the table where Tony's hands were crossed on top of the case file. This is when Tony finally lost it. He jumped out his seat, knocking the chair down behind him. He leaned over the table fast and hard. He grabbed the man by his collar and elevated him off the ground. Pushing him backward and knocking his chair also to the floor, Tony slammed the man back first into the wall. The man screamed and squirmed, and spit in Tony's face. "You are scum!" the man said. "And you will get nothing out of me, if you can look into my eyes, you know I do not care about Ziva David, I do not care about spending the rest of my life in prision. I hurt her, and that is what I came to do. I am a man with a job!" the man struggled for air as Tony's hands wrapped around his neck tighter "And I did it. Thats all you're going to get from me." And Tony slammed him hard against the wall. hard enough to make the man gasp. Tony dropped him as he struggled for air, and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

He expected to see Gibbs out there waiting for him, but he didn't. Instead of going into the observation room, he walked down the hallway, through the bullpen, into the elevator, and right to his car. He began to drive around fast, peeling around corners and stepping on the accelerator as hard as he could. He drove back to his apartment. He took out a bottle of whiskey, and he drank. He drank, and he drank, and he drank. The hours passed. Then there was a knock at his door. He did not get up. Gibbs slammed the door open and walked into the apartment. "What the hell, Dinozzo?" Tony immediately began to defend himself. "Look if you're talking about the interrogation I don't want to hear it I-" Gibbs cut him off. "I'm not talking about that, Dinozzo. What the hell are you doing? We're in the middle of the case, Ziver is in the hospital, and you're..here? Drinking in your apartment? You are doing no good right now, Dinozzo." Tony was drunk, but not as drunk as he could have been. "Get in the shower, and get in there now." Gibbs said. "Um, why? It's one in the morning. I'm not going anywhere except my bed." Tony said. "Like hell you are." Said Gibbs. "You're going to the hospital weather you want to or not. Clean this sorry mess up and lets go. Now."

And to that, Tony had no proper argument. He did not shower though, he walked right past Gibbs, into the hallway, down the stairs and into the Black Dodge Charger waiting outside. He said nothing.

Gibbs got into the car, slammed the door, and then slammed on the gas. Coming to a shrieking stop in the hospital parking lot, Tony realized that there was a reason for this, a bigger reason than just a visit.

Tony saw his whole family in the waiting room. Abby, Ducky, McGee, Palmer, Vance, and Bishop. None of them looked up, none of them said anything. Tony turned to his boss and in an angry strong voice said "Boss, what's wrong with her. What is going on." His voice was husky and heavy, his breath was hot, and his skin was starting to singe.

"Someone tried to attack her in her hospital room, Dinozzo. She needs us here. Calm down, she can't deal with you like this right now."

Tony was enraged. "ATTACK HER?" He said in a raised voice. "IN HER HOSPITAL ROOM?" Gibbs just looked at him and said "Cool it Dinozzo, or leave." Tony stalked off, he needed some air. In the parking lot he rubbed both hands on his face and paced around, trying to transfer his anger and heat into the cool night air. After minutes of being out there, he calmed down. He walked back inside, right past all of them in the waiting room, and right into Ziva's room. This time, he shut the door behind him. A doctor came in and explained she was in shock before, hypovulemic, and she went into cardiac arrest. They revived her, and she was stable, but just barely teetering on the line. A man came in, a nurse in the hallway saw him pull out a gun, call security. The man ran, go outside, and shot himself. He knew now that he had to calm down, and thats what he did.

He walked over again to the side of her bed, but this time he did not sit down. "Zee-vah" he said in a hoarse whisper, "Zee-vah" and with that, she began to wriggle in the bed. "Tony" she groaned, obviously in pain. He did not care about not touching her this time, he was here with her, and she needed to know it. He brought his hand down softly on his shoulder "Zee-vah," he repated. "I am here. And I am not leaving."

He half expected her to say "Leave me alone, Tony, I am fine." Like she had when her father died and she was staying at his apartment, but she had not. Instead she turned her head towards his hand, and she struggled to open her eyes. "Tony" she groaned again."Yes, Ziva, yes. I am here, what is it?" "Tony" she said "Tony, you are so...lov-...thank you."

Tony had heard those words before, those were the last words she said to him. The last words she said before he made what he referred to as 'the hardest 180 of his life.' He understood it then, and he understood it now. Ziva was saying that she loved him, without actually saying. And this time, she didn't even finish the word 'loved'. This was good, he thought. It shows that she has not lost all of her stregnth, all of her stubborness. That her spirit was not completely depleted, that she did not say "I love you, Tony." because he knew she felt that was too weak for her to say. This is good, he thought again. And without saying anything yet, he moved his hand to her cheek and rubbed it. It was only then that he said "You are, too, Ziva." he repeated again and again "I am here." Touching her soft face then, is when he realized how hard he had been this whole time. Letting his anger turn him to stone. He began to relax, to feel the way he way he felt those nights that she stayed at his apartment, to feel how he felt when he ran into that room and awoke her from her nightmare. He wanted to help her, and he was about to open up and man up, and do it. He let himself sink into the chair, and for the first time in days, he fell asleep. He fell asleep in that chair, his hand on her body, and the darkness comforted him for the first time in months, many, many months.

When he awoke in the morning, he didn't feel groggy like he had so many mornings before, instead he felt well rested. He was sure his back was going to hurt when he stood up from the chair, and it did, but less than usual. Tony wanted to speak to Ziva more because he knew they had a lot to talk about, but he also knew that rest was the best thing for her right now, and all he wanted was for her to be alright. He had to go to work, or he would late. Ziva was not speaking much, anyway. But to his surprise, before he took a step towards the door, she turned to look at him. He reclaimed his seat in the chair so that he could be at eye-level with her. "Tony," Ziva said, her voice sounding stronger and more firm than it had since she'd been home, here. The presence of strength in her voice rang in Tony's ears, and he listened to her in a very alert manner, prepared to follow her voice and every word she said. "Yeah, Ziva?" Tony said. "You should not be working on this case. It is dangerous. I do not want anybody to get hurt for me. I do not deserve it." The words came out of Ziva's mouth in a straight line, and the went right into Tony's ear.

Ziva had half expected Tony to say something like "My job is dangerous every day, Ziva." or "I want to do this for you." or maybe he would say nothing at all.

Tony slowly stood up from the chair, and he laid his hand on Ziva's small shoulder. He gently squeezed it, because her hands are arms and scattered with Introvenus tubes feeding her the fluids and medications that she needed to be alive. The gentle pressure got her attention, and he ran his thumb once along the perimiter of her shoulder. The words that came out of his mouth were not what she expected.

"I'm fighting for you, Ziva." He repeated from that day in Israel. "And I'm not going to stop."

To those words, Ziva had no argument. He was firm, he was intent, and she knew it. She just looked to him and gave him a meek smile, snd with that, he exited the room and headed for the Navy Yard.

Upon pulling into his parking space, he grabbed the bag of extra work clothes he kept in his car, and exited the vehicle. He made his way to the front door, to the elevator, and into the bull pen. He took his coat off and quickly headed to the bathroom to change his clothes, which reiked of sleep and alcohol.

He changed, perhaps in more way than one, and walked straight to his desk, his mind not as observant as usual. He sat down in his chair, and before he even realized what he was doing, his hand had opened his top right drawer and he was holding the Star of David necklace. He was squeezing it, hard. He was squeezing it so hard that he felt it begin to get hot in his hand, the way your hand would feel if you were holding it above about a stove or holding a bowl just out of the microwave.

He could feel that McGee was sitting at his desk now, eventhough he didn't notice it when he walked past. "Hey, McGee." Tony said. "Hey, Tony." McGee returned.

"Seeing her like that, you know, its hard." The words came out of Tony's mouth almost involuntarily.

"I know it is, it's hard to believe thats even really her. Thats not the image of her I have in head, and its been so long."

"I know, McGee, I know."

McGee looked at Tony now, and saw that he was clutching her necklace, he saw the gold chain dangling over the back side of Tony's hand.

"You okay, Tony?" McGee asked.

"I will be once we get these guys." Tony said, and McGee knew that he meant to get them, and he meant to get them good.

Just then, Gibbs stalked into the bullpen, obviously infuriated. Both of the men looked up. "Boss?" McGee said.

"SecNav called, put the case in the FBI's jurisdiction. No longer our case." Tony was obviously mad.

"What do you mean, its not our case? She was our agent!" Tony thundered.

"It involves the murder of a Mossad officer, thats FBI jurisdiction. I'm just as mad as you are, Dinozzo."

As if qued on timming, FBI Agent Fornell walked into the bull pen. Gibbs gave him and sly smirk and said "Hello, Tobiaus." All of the men in the bullpen had begun to feel a wave of slight relief, because they knew that if Fornell was on the case, they were on the case. Unoffically, of course, but still on.

Weeks had gone by, and they had been kept in the dark about the case. Fornell said it was honestly for their own safety, and if he said that, they knew that it was true. Tony got angrier every day that went by, but not at Fornell, not at SecNav, not at Vance, not at anybody else, but at himself. He was angry at himself for not being able to do anything, to not be fighting for Ziva like he had promised he would.

At nights, after work, Tony would go to the hospital to see Ziva. They did not speak much, because she was often exhausted from the healing process. They did speak enough, for Tony to tell her that the case was now in FBI's jurisdiction. And at this newly learned fact, Ziva did not seem happy, she seemed relieved. Tony knew this meant the case was actually dangerous. He wanted to ask her, wanted to know what she knew, but he knew that she had to rest. The asking, he decided, could be done later.

One day at work, about two weeks since her return to the States, Tony was sitting in the bull pen brainstorming on case related things at the campfire. Gibbs walked in and said "Go home, Dinozzo."

Tony was surprised, "Uh, boss," he said "What?" and Gibbs said "Ziva is being released today, she can't go home, shes a target, take her with you. Go."

"You got it, Boss!" Tony jumped up. Knowing that if she was well enough to be relased, she was well enough to talk. He rushed to the hospital to where her room was, and saw her sitting up in bed, looking better than he had seen her in a long time. She had a small duffel bag filled with clothes and her belongings.

"You ready to get out of here?" Tony said.

Ziva smiled "You have no idea, Tony. Even if I have to go with you." She said with a smile and a joking look in her eyes. This was good Tony thought, her spunk was back, and he was happy. He drove his car to his apartment. Once in park and the car was turned off, Tony turned towards her. They looked into eachother eyes, deeply. They were finally able to look at eachother in a raw state. No machines, no medicine, no doctors. She was just here, sitting next to him, in his car. For the first time in months.

"Zee-vah" Tony said in a husky voice. "I've missed you."

Ziva only smiled, and said "I have missed you too, Tony."

They sat there for a few minutes, trying to process what it meant for her to really be sitting here. Starting with Berlin and ending with now, the feelings and thoughts were overwhelming. He decided not to think about it right now, and he took a deep breath and touched her upper arm and said "Lets go."

She nodded in agreement, and went to grab her duffel bag. Tony grabbed it instead, and they headed up the stairs.

They reached the door to Tony's apartment, and Tony couldn't wait anymore. One would expect him to fumble with the keys, but he did not. He steadily and deliberately put them in the lock, and turned the doorknob. He pushed the door open, and the two of them entered the living room. Before the door was even finished shutting, Tony had dropped the duffel bag from his shoulder and had wrapped Ziva in his arms. He queezed her tight, and she felt warm, her head resting in his shoulder. She looked up to speak and Tony just shook his head and said "No." and moved his hands up to her face, and wrapped them around the base of her chin and onto the top part of her neck, gently. He looked in her eyes and gave her a moment to look at him back, then he kissed her. Gentle at first, and then hard.

They went on like this for a while, until they needed air no more than a few seconds later. Ziva pressed her forhead onto Tony's and they stood there, Tony nearly gasping for air. It was hard for either of them to speak, because all of the emotions not only from the past years, but from Israel, from the hospital, from the months that they were apart had begun to boil, and soon, he knew, they would spill over.

When Ziva looked at him, she knew that Tony was overwhelmed, and she was too.

"Zee-vah" Tony said in a low voice, a voice dripping with desire. "Zee-vah, lets go in the bedroom." Ziva could not disagree, and she only nodded in agreement against his forhead. He kissed her again, hard, and they both walked into the bedroom.

"Ton-" Ziva said and Tony just said "No, Ziva. This cannot wait, we can talk later. I need this right now." Ziva could do nothing because she was entranced by his voice, by his body language, by her desire to have him, by all of the tension they had been building up for years. It was finally going to end, and she knew it had been long enough that it had to. She felt drawn to him, pulled to him like a magnet, the room was hot, and she could not stop.

They began to kiss passionately, Tony gasping for air with every manuver that he made. He grabbed her around the waist and began to run his hands up and down her body. Around every curve, into every crevass, through her thick curly hair. Ziva was reciprocating, she was running her hands up and down his chest, fiddling with his shirt. Tony could not wait, and he ripped his shirt off, pulling it fast and with intention over his head. Ziva saw this, and she began to get hot and anxious. She thought about taking her shirt off, but only for a second, because Tony had already began to tug at it, to gnaw and her lips, to caress her neck. She moved her arms farther from his body to give him room, and he slid the shirt right off. Ziva was panting now, audibly, and Tony knew it. This only turned him on more. Once her shirt was off, he pryed his lips away from hers and moved down to her neck. He gently nudged her backward and she sat down on the bed, he leaned into her and she laid down, him using his arms to support himself over her body.

He lifted his head from the crook of neck, and he looked at her body, laying there underneath him. It was not until then that he had noticed the scars, the markings on her body he had not seen in the hospital, suture lines still evident. He knew now that his love making was going to go from rough and raw to passionate, and he softened his kisses along her body. He moved slowly, starting the top of her collar bone, and he went all the way down. He kissed every curve of her torso, his hands following his lips down. He moved back up to her face and Ziva looked him right in the eye, and he looked at her. "Tony" she moaned. "Yes, Zee-vah, yes?" "Mmmmn" she monaed. "I am here Ziva, I am here." He said in a husky whisper, his voice sexy, and he returned to gently kissing her neck. Kissing it, gently sucking on it, and sometimes nibbling. He did this for some time, and then he moved his hands to her breasts. At first he ran them gently over them, up and down. He grazed them slowly, and then he stopped at the center, at her nipple. He wrapped his entire hand gently around it, and he began to softly squeeze.

This sent feelings like tiny little lightening shocks up and down Ziva's body, and she began to quietly moan. Tony heard this, and he could feel himself get harder. He slowly lowered his body onto hers, his boxers and her underwear still on. He did not even remember removing her bra.

He used one hand to lower the elastic band of his boxers past his hips, and then he slid them off. He did the same with her, and he began to fidget, this was almost too mcuh for him to handle, almost.

He felt like he might explode, like he might spill over. He lowered himself onto her body once again, his lower parts rubbing on hers. This sent butterflies and tingling feelings up and down his entire body and he began to pant. "Zee-vah" he said "Tonn-ey" Ziva said, and he looked into her eyes again. He leaned his forhead against her, and she started to breathe heavily. She grabbed his face, and she pulled his lips into hers. She ran her hands down the sides of his body, stopping at his hips. She gripped firmly there, and moved them toward the center of his body. She reached the center of where his boxer line would sit if he had been wearing them, and she gently wisped her hands downward.

It was then, that he felt he could not longer contain himself. She gripped him softly at first, he bulged, and she gripped him harder. She could feel the blood pulsating through his veins, could feel his body stiffening up. Tony growled, and he tangled his hands in Ziva's hair, gently tugging on it. This arounsed her even more. "Tony," she said, and without her finishing her sentence, Tony knew what she was saying. He moved his body down slightly, and he lowered himself so that he could enter her. She arched her neck and back upwards, into him. This sent him off the edge, and he could feel she was too. He spread her legs apart with his hands,running his fingers up and down her folds. He ran them from back to front, all along her vagina, feeling the wetness and heat it was radiating. He slowly slid his fingers in, feeling how wet and warm she was, he could could not longer go slow. He slid them in and out a few times to tease her, and then he pulled them out for a final time. She tightened her grip around his neck, knowing what was coming next. He moved his hand down onto himslef, and he gripped it softly, pushing her legs apart one last time, he slid himself in. They both moaned, they did not yell, but they mad noises, they relased all of the energy that had bulding up in them for years. Ziva began gasping for hair, her breaths became short and sharp, and Tony's became deep and heavy. They began to say eachothers names, over and over again. Tony occassonally saying "Yes Zee-vah, yes. I am here, I am here." She grabbed him, grabbed whatever skin on his back she could clutch onto. He began to slide himself in and out, soft and slow at first, but they both brgan to twitch- it was not enough. Tony began to slide himself in and out faster, and harder. Ziva continually tightened her grip on the skin on his back, and Tony had one hand in her hair behind her head and the other on her neck, running his thumbs up and down her skin. The were kissing, they were kissing harder than either of them had ever kissed anyone. Fianlly, Tony began to feel himself start to loose it. He was standing on the endge, teetering, almost falling off. Ziva was too, he could feel it. Her muscles tightened up around him inside of her, and her neck was arched back so far, their bodies were pushed together and they delt pulses of electric run all through their bodies.

Tony was moving fast now, and hard. Ziva arching with every inward motion he made. Neither of them had the breath to speak, only to pant and gasp eachothers names, and so, thats what they did.

Tony wasn't seeing anything anymore, he was squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to keep himself from bursting, and Ziva was doing the same. The only thing he could concentrate on was his back and forth forward and backwards rocking motion. She began to raise her hips into him in an effort to bring him deeper, as deep as he could go. Tonys grip on her hair got even tighter, and her arch got deeper. "Zee-vahhhh" Tony said, "I can't hold on much longer" he said. "Tonyyy, I'm -I-I-I" and he knew, this was it. He thrusted into her fast and hard, only a few more times, and they had both gone over. Ecastacy consuming her body. They saw spurts of white and gold across their vision. Tony's body twitching all over, and Zivas shaking. The held onto eachother tight, tighther than they had ever held onto anybody before. Tony felt himself empty out into her, and her walls were swelling so tight he could almost feel her body sucking it out of him. They squeezed eachother hard, finally letting themselves go completey. Letting go off all the built up passion, all the tension. It was all right here now, all between them, and they couldn't stop themselves. This went on for a minute or two, and then it was over, them slowly climbing down from whatever high off plane they were on. He laid on top of her then, too lost for energy to move himself off. She laid under him, panting heavily, and running her hands up and down his back over and over again. Tony lifted himself slightly, and he pulled himself out her, sending another wave of electricty through both of their bodies. He slid himself slightly to the side of her, and he laid his head next to hers on the pillow, breathing heavily into the crook of her neck. He laid flat on his stomach now, and her flat on her back. He draped his right arm over her chest, across to her neck, and rested his hand covering her neck and bottom of her chin. Her left arm was on top of his muscular forearm, and they were both breathing heavily, breathing to live.

Tony panted "Zee-vah" he said "I love you."

"Tony" Ziva said, and in words sperated by inhaling breaths "I am glad you are here."

And with that, they both fell into a sleep so heavy that the dark seemed to lay over them like a blanket. _

They awoke the next morning to Tony's cell phone ringing. Reaching over to his night stand and answering his phone "Dinozzo" he said "Yeah, boss. On it, boss." Tony gently woke Ziva up and explained to her that they were both needed at the Navy Yard.

Ziva got up and went to the bathroom, Tony got dressed in his bedroom. Ziva came back fully clothed, Tony grabbed his bag and they left. They drove in Tony's car to the NCIS building, and they went up to the bull pen. This was the first time that the team had seen Ziva, except in her hospital bed, so she was showered with hugs and hellos. Tony walked up to Gibbs to ask what they were called in for, but Gibbs walked away, because his cell phone rang. Tony turned towards all of the people that mattered in his life gathered in the small circle, and he kept an eye on Ziva in his peripherals. He could see that this was a lot for her, but he was glad to have her back. He turned around and saw Bishop standing at the bullpen's entrance, watching the gathering. When he saw her, she smiled at him. He walked over to where she was standing, and he couldn't keep the happiness from flooding his face.

"You wanted to know about her," Tony said. "Well, here you go."