"MOVING ON"

CHAPTER 1

Ziva jumped into the shower to wash off the smell of his cologne. Why he insisted on wearing the smelly stuff was beyond her tomboy mentality. What was it with Americans and Russians and their cologne? Reaching down to scrub off her feet, she remembered something. She was an American now. Why did she keep forgetting that? It was the best single move she had made in her entire life.

Who cared if her father was the head of Mossad. Papa had always been cruel and unloving to his children, and used them in ways that made her shudder. If she ever had children, she would bring them up as Americans. In fact, she intended to leave her job and move to the Gulf Coast, of Florida, as soon as she had saved a bit more money. Retiring from NCIS was a goal that she hoped to reach within the next year.

WIth Gibb's getting closer to mandatory retirement, Ziva did not see herself remaining on the team. Especially if Tony was promoted into Jethro's job. Why he'd want to be in charge again was understandable, and she wrestled with telling him the truth about her feelings for him, and the truth about her personal desires. It just never seemed to be the right time. And now, with the Presidential election revving up, everything would be on high alert again.

Just as Ziva reached to turn up the heat in the shower, a hand reached in from behind and patted her on her perfect rear side. She jumped.

"You coming with me, sweet cheeks?"

"You nearly scared me to death, Tony!", she gasped.

"You know how snarky Gibbs gets when we get back late from lunch. I think

he still has a thing for you."

"That's crazy. He's almost as old as Papa.

Tony laughed. "That's never stopped Gibbs, and you know it, baby."

Ziva rolled her eyes and flicked a hearty splash of water DiNozzo's way. "Go ahead without me, Romeo. I'll deal with Gibbs."

Tony gave her one last love pat and ran out of the bath before she could retaliate. They had plenty of water fun in the past year, but this was no time for them to both show up late again. He was certain that Gibbs kept tally, and he really didn't need to listen to any more of McGee's remarks about his "mystery" woman. As far as DiNozzo knew, Gibbs was the only one who had figured it out. Then again, he was their Supervisor, and probably had them followed. Go figure.

The shower finally steamed up, and Ziva was able to relax her neck and back. One last good soaping of her well-toned, muscular body should do the trick. Tony's cologne was so strong, she could taste it. It reminded her of her childhood, when the Russians would stop by the compound and leer at her and her siblings. They were such pigs. One of them had tried to rape Ari. Poor Ari, her half-brother. So dark and exotic, yet picked on by all of the men. No wonder he grew up to be so heartless. He had once shot his lover because she talked back to him. Childhood trauma never had a good outcome.

As she rinsed herself off, she suddenly had a flashback to the day that she shot Ari in Jethro's basement. She hated him so much that day. He was up to no good, playing as a double agent, yet getting away with murdering Caitlin. Papa had warped him more than she cared to ever admit. She shook her head and cleared the memory from her mind. Tears had started to flow down her face.

As she stepped out of the shower, she mumbled to herself. "Get over it, Ziva. Ari was a bad seed. He always knew how to get you to believe in him. Leave it alone. You were right."

Ziva often found herself saying that same thing over and over again. "An eye for an eye" may have been the way of Mossad, but she was different now. She was a Probational Agent for the NCIS Team. She was an American citizen, and having a torrid love affair with her colleague and best friend. Regardless of what snide remarks came from Tony's lips at work, she was in love with him. 100% in love. Even the thought of him made her smile again.

Wiping away the tears, and patting herself off, Ziva walked into her bedroom and grabbed her bottle of body lotion. Unscented, of course. She just could not get used to the fruity scents of American toiletries. The smell reminded her of the rotting fruit in the streets of her village after another attack. It made her queasy.

After rubbing herself down, she reached in her drawer from clean panties. As she looked down, she noticed that her old cell phone was blinking. She panicked. How could that be possible. Had someone been in her apartment? Was this a Mossad bomb, waiting for her to pick it up and blow her into a million little pieces?

Ziva grabbed a pair of underwear and backed away from the dresser. She quickly got dressed, ran a brush through her hair, grabbed her stuff, and ran down to her car to get her bomb kit. Why did this have to be happening right now? Everything was so perfect in her life. She was practically in tears when she reached her car, and almost slammed her hand in the trunk as she grabbed the bomb kit and hurried back up to her apartment.

She was very careless, and did not notice the tall, slender man in the corner of the stairwell. His eyes covered with dark glasses, and dressed all in black. He was invisible to her. Exactly as he had planned it.

Ziva rushed into her apartment. She didn't even close the door. "Dammit! Why is this happening?", she yelled out to no one.

She quickly assembled the bomb detecting device, and gave it a single charge. Ziva removed her shoes and slowly padded her way back into her bedroom. The smell of sex was still in the air, and she took a slow, deep breath. If this was her last chance to take in Tony's scent, she would die a satisfied woman.

Walking carefully towards the opened drawer, she scanned the device over the dresser. She could not believe her eyes. Nothing happened! She checked the device to make sure it was operating, gave it another charge, and scanned again.

Suddenly, from behind, came a familiar, wicked laugh, and the words, "Very careless." Ziva froze. It was impossible! He was dead. She had killed him herself over 6 years ago. The DNA test was positive. When the long fingered hand touched her shoulder, she fainted.