a/n Hi everyone! I'm new at this and this is my first story! (So be gentle lol) And I thought what better place to start then with possibly my favourite couple in denial TIVA! YAY! I would love reviews and constructive criticism is always welcome.
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or its characters because if I did Tony and Ziva would be all over each other like a fat kid on cupcakes!
Timeline: since I've only seen up to Cloak its around then, but no spoilers. Btw…Jenny isn't dead, because Jenny was awesome and Jibbs was too cute, oh that and Director Vance is a prick. J
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Tony was sitting at his desk in the bull pen throwing paper balls at McGee when Gibbs walked in
"DiNozzo! Quit screwing around, we got a body down at Quantico." McGee poked his tongue out at Tony while Gibbs had his back turned
"And McGee?"
"Uhh yeah boss?" The young agent asked warily
"Grow up, and go gas the truck"
"Sure boss" he said as he caught the keys thrown to him.
"And where the bloody hell is David?" Gibbs asked Tony as he stood behind him in the elevator
"Dentist boss, she'll be back by lunch"
"Hey, McSlow-poke!" Tony yelled as he got out of the truck "remind me NEVER to let you drive again, my Grandma could drive faster than you…and she's dead!" which earned him a head slap from Gibbs
"McGee!" The boss yelled " Bag and tag, DiNozzo, Pictures"
"On it boss" they replied in unison as they walked toward what looked like a deserted warehouse with their gear. Gibbs walked over to Ducky and asked "What've we got Duck?"
"Male, aged 55-65, and of middle eastern descent"
"Cause of death?"
"Well on first inspection I would assume that this poor chap was tortured to death, see the deep lacerations on his arms and legs and the marks on his wrist and ankles? It would suggest that he was tied up, and his face is quite disfigured as a result of what could only be described as a savage beating. We shall know more once we get him back and Abigail can run some tests" he turned to his intelligent but socially awkward assistant " Fetch the gurney please Mr. Palmer"
"Yes Doctor"
The doctor turned back to the corpse lying at his feet "Why can't I shake the feeling that I know you from some where? You look oddly familiar…"
Tony had just finished talking on the phone to the company that was leasing the warehouse the victim had been found in, when Ziva walked out of the elevator and sat at her desk
"Sooo…Zee-vah, how was the dentist?" Ziva shuddered ever so slightly that only some one who watched her very closely for a long time could tell, (a.k.a Tony)
" I do not wish to discuss it Tony"
"Ha! Ziva David, Mossad officer and trained assassin is afraid of the dentist!" Tony snickered
" I am NOT afraid Tony, I simply find it a little disturbing that grown men and woman feel the need to poke around someone else's mouth with sharp implements, anyway, do we not have a case we should be working on?"
"Yeah, we do, vic's down in autopsy, I'll fill you in on the way" he said as he got up from his desk.
As they walk down the corridor to autopsy they hear Ducky and Gibbs talking "Still no ID yet Duck?"
"No but I'm sure Abigail will have the results shortly"
"Was he tortured?"
"Yes" said the old doctor sadly " and it was no amateur job either, this poor man would have been in excruciating pain , death would have been welcome to him…yes reminds me of the time I was in a pub in east Scotland and…" he was cut off by the entrance of Tony and Ziva "Ahh Ziva, this is our victim, we still don't know his identity but…" he stop talking as Ziva interrupted him
" I know who he is…"
"Who is it Ziva?" Gibbs asked firmly
"That man is my father…"
"YOUR WHAT???!!!" yelled Gibbs
"My father, Gibbs, that man is Eli David" (a/n I don't know if that is his name so feel free to correct me)
"Oh my, I know this must be hard for you Ziva dear, but how can you be certain?" asked the kind M.E
"On his left hand there are Hebrew letters tattooed on each of his fingers" she said pointing to them
On the dead mans little finger was the Hebrew 'T' on the ring finger was the Hebrew 'S' and on his middle finger was an 'A', but his index finger had been crudely cut off.
"What do they mean?" whispered Tony.
As she pointed to each finger, her hand shook slightly " 'T' for Tali, 'S' for Sophia, 'A' for Ari and that" she said pointing to the small stub of a finger that remained of Uri David's index finger "that used to have a 'Z'…"
"For Ziva" finished Tony softly, Ziva nodded sadly before continuing
"My family…and now I am the only one left…" she stated as a stray tear began to fall down her cheek, when Tony saw it he pulled he pulled her into a comforting hug and he could feel her tears that now flowed freely, through his shirt.
"DiNozzo, take her home and stay with her, understand?"
"Yeah boss" he replied not needing to be told twice to take the rest of the day off work to comfort the woman he loved.
Gibbs ran up the stairs and practically flew past Director Sheppard's secretary Cynthia who just sighed and went back to typing as she had come to expect this from special agent Gibbs. The director of NCIS had just hung up the phone when Gibbs barged into her office
"Ah, Jethro what can I do…"she stopped as she was cut off
"That body down in the morgue…is Ziva's FATHER!"
"Oh my God! Is she alright where is she?"
"She's with Tony…" a knowing smile crept onto Jenny's face
"She'll be fine then"
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh come on Jethro, you've seen the way they look at each other, it's exactly the same way we used to look at each other…" their eyes glazed over as they remembered back to Paris and a small smile spread across their mouths but were flung back into reality by the ringing of Gibbs's phone…
Meanwhile
As Tony drove out of the NCIS garage he peered over at Ziva who was looking dejectedly out the window, he reached over and gently held her hand and left it their for the remainder of the silent journey. Ziva was feeling a little better by the time Tony pulled up in front of her apartment and even gave him a small smile when he ran around the car to open the door for her and help her out, but as soon as she opened her door the smile disappeared and the keys dropped noisily to the floor as she looked inside.
Tony saw Ziva stiffen and looked inside the house and immediately felt sick
"Oh my God!" he gasped as he saw the message written in blood on the wall, the two words were enough to strike fear into his very soul, fear for his partner, the woman he loved. Two simple yet deadly words "YOUR NEXT" and taped underneath the gruesome warning was the missing finger of her father.
Tony quickly got out his mobile and called Gibbs. "What DiNozzo?" his boss asked grumpily
"Boss you better get over here real quick"
"You gonna tell me why?"
"Lets just say we found the missing finger"
As soon as Gibbs and McGee saw the gory message he turned to Ziva "You're going into protective custody Ziva until this bastard is caught understand" she nodded solemnly. Gibbs then turned to his senior field agent "Do not let her out of your sight DiNozzo got it?"
"Yes boss, I wont let anything happen to her I promise"
Gibbs gave a curt nod before turning around to join McGee who was photographing the area.
~*~
"I still can't believe that you have never seen Top Gun! You've been in America for four years and you haven't seen Top Gun" said Tony as he shook his head as he entered his apartment with Ziva. Ziva smiled as she thought to herself how Tony could always make her feel better and forget her problems
"Well I can not believe that you are making such a big deal over this, anyway I believe an actor call Tom Ship stars in it and I am definitely not a fan of his "
"Tom CRUISE, Ziva" said Tony chuckling as he placed the pizza on the coffee table and went to get some wine "and no one is a fan of his, he's a complete tool but its still a brilliant movie"
Ziva laughed and Tony thought about how much he loved that sound
"Alright Tony we will watch your movie"
About halfway through the movie the power cut out,
"AWWW! Come ON! It was just getting to the good part!" Tony groaned when actually all he could think about was how close Ziva was sitting to him.
"Why don't you stop moaning and give us some light Tony" Ziva said good naturedly.
"Alright, alright" said Tony as he got his lighter out of his pocket and lit the solitary candle on the coffee table throwing the room into soft light
"Well?" said Ziva expectantly
"Well what Ziva?" asked Tony who was thoroughly confused
"Well" said Ziva patiently as she turned to face him on the couch "What do we do now?"
"Now Zee-vah, we talk you know converse, find out a little about each other"
"Umm" said Ziva hesitantly
"Oh come on it'll be fun, we'll each ask questions that both of us have to answer alright?"
"Ok I'll go first…I'll start with something easy…what's your favourite colour?"
"Red…you?"
"Green"
"You should wear green more often…it looks good on you"
Ziva smiled shyly at him before saying "Your turn"
"When was the first time you shot someone?"
"When I was 15...you?"
"Wow you were so young, I was 20, first year Baltimore, I was so scared I almost missed"
Ziva chuckled before looking him in the eye seriously "Did you really fall in love with Jeanne?"
Tony shook his head "I thought I did, but really I was only in love with the idea of being in love….What about you? Ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have?"
Ziva looked at her hands before replying "Yes"
"what happened?" asked Tony quietly
Ziva took a deep breath before continuing " I ended up in his apartment, sitting in the dark eating cold pizza and drinking cheap wine…" she looked up at Tony who was wearing a huge smile as he lent in and kissed her tenderly
"I love you Ziva"
"I love you too Tony" just as they were leaning in for another kiss the door burst open and man ran in and pointed a gun at Ziva head
"Time for you to join your family Ziva David"
Tony quickly drew his gun and shot the murderer in the kneecap causing him to drop to the ground screaming while Tony came up to him, kicked the gun away from him and handcuffed him.
Just then two uniformed policemen who were down the hall about a noise complaint came running into the room when they heard a gunshot. Tony showed the men his badge before saying "Take this scumbag down to NCIS headquarters and give him to Agent Gibbs, tell him it's a present from DiNozzo" the police nodded and escort the man away. Tony shut the door and went back to Ziva and kissed her passionately
"Thank you Tony" she said gratefully "You really are my knight in shining Armarni"
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Sorry about the bucket load of cheese in the end but hey, who doesn't like a gooey coating of cheese?