Hi guys I'm back again, so having seen the promo for Chasing Ghosts this is kinda my idea of what happens when Tony goes to find Ziva, we shall see in a few hours if I'm telepathic lol! Please read and review, I love to know how you all think I do. Much love xx
"Which one is it McGee?" Tony asked, his cell pressed to his ear, going round in circles as McGee directed him from his seat in front of his computer back at the Navy yard.
He made his way down to end of the dirty, badly lit, in need of a paint job corridor, in one of the grimiest 'hotels' he had been in in a long time, and having been a cop that was saying a lot. He was feeling so very overdressed in his suit and tie, not wishing to draw much attention to himself, he was regretting not getting changed before he left on his Ziva hunt, not ever imagining that this is where he would end up.
"You sure McGee?" he lowered his voice as he stopped just shy of the door at the very end, "ok, will let you know, yeah I know I will."
He slid his phone back in his pocket and smoothed the front of his jacket down, taking a deep breathe, not really knowing what he was going to find or what he was going to say, his palms were suddenly very sweaty, there was a lot riding if him not to mess this up.
Tony raised a hand to the door, his fist curled tight however before he had the opportunity to knock, it opened just enough for Tony to see Ziva, gun trained at him.
"Please just go away Tony," she hissed, looking pissed off at him, not lowering her gun but just glowering at him, if looks could kill then he was sure he should be a puddle on the floor by now.
"Ziva…" he started to say, but was cut off as she tried to shut the door in his face. "No!" he exclaimed as he put a foot on the gap in the door before she could close it properly, "that is not how this is gonna go down!"
He forced the door open much to Ziva's annoyance, pushing past her and leaving her to close it behind him. He noticed take out cartons and empty beer bottles strewn around, then his focus was drawn to the small table by the window, it was littered with files and folders, pictures of Bodnar and various other people pinned to the wall behind it, post-it notes attached to each one.
"What do you want Tony?" Ziva asked, her hands on her hips, frowning at him, "What are you doing here?"
"Seriously?" he was indignant, "what am I doing here? What are you doing here?" he gestured round the room incredulously, trying so very hard to keep his composure; he didn't want to fight with her, that's not what he came for.
"I am trying to find my fathers killer," she replied matter-of-factly, not moving from her position by the door.
"On your own," Tony stated studying her, the dim light doing nothing to conceal the dark circles under her eyes and the burdened look on her face; she looked so tired and drawn.
"Yes Tony, on my own," she replied adamantly, moving over to the bedside table picking her beer up and taking a swig.
"Were you ever going to let us in on exactly what you were doing?" he asked, lowering his voice to a slightly gentler tone.
"No, I was not," she replied, putting her bottle back down and eyeing Tony fixedly.
"Did you not think that we might want to help you?" he questioned, leafing through the papers on the table, trying to see what she had found.
Ziva walked over to the table and slammed her hand down on top of Tony's, effectively stopping him from looking any further. "I do not want your help," she hissed.
"You know Ziva, I thought that after all this time, after all we have been through, especially recently, that you might have put a bit more trust in the people that you work so closely with every day," he told her, walking over to the bed seeing her laptop open on it, then noticing that the safe she kept all her old Mossad weapons in was on the floor next to it.
"I do trust you," she replied adamantly, closing all the folders and stacking them in a pile on the far side of the table.
"Really, then what is this?" he shouted, unable to stop his voice rising in frustration, "you are keeping secrets, a whole grubby hotel room worth of secrets! We are worried about you, I am worried about you, I do not want us to end up like we did the last time you kept secrets from us."
Tony instantly regretted bringing the past up as he saw a look of hurt flash over Ziva's usually unfalteringly composed features; she swallowed hard and looked away from his angry gaze.
"It is not like that Tony," she replied after a brief silence, trying to pretend that his words hadn't stung her.
"Then what is it like?" he asked, his anger dissipating as he moved a step closer to her, trying to catch her eye again. He could see the wheels turning, the sad look in her eyes betraying the thoughts being processed in her head.
"I cannot permit anyone else I care about to put themselves in harms way," she stated, looking deep into his swirling green eyes, "to die, because of their association with me. I have to do this on my own."
Tony saw the guilt buried at the back of Ziva's eyes, he knew that she was partially blaming herself for Jackie's death; he just wished she wouldn't keep everything so bottled up.
"I won't let you do this on your own!" he informed her, then cutting her off before she had a chance to reply, "you cant get rid of me that easily, you are my partner but more importantly you are my friend, my best friend, I am not about to let you go halfway across the world on some crazy suicide mission, I'm just not!"
"You do not have a choice Tony," she replied, stubbornly holding her ground, "I am going to avenge my father's death."
"No Ziva, there is no I any more," he argued, taking another step closer to her so they were just inches apart, "you and me, we are a WE, and WE are going to avenge your father's death, together."
Ziva didn't know what to say, all the fight left her as she looked again into Tony's eyes, all the strength and determination evident, as well as emotion she had not expected to find, she knew it was pointless to try and dissuade him. She broke their gaze and moved over to the bed, slouching heavily onto it, burying her head in her hands as the sentiment of Tony's words overcame her.
Tony walked over to the bed and crouched in front of Ziva, resting his hands gently on her thighs as she kept her face hidden behind her hands.
"Ziva, look at me," he pleaded, "please look at me." He reached up and peeled her hands away, bringing them down and clasping them between his own. "I promise no one is mad with you, we all just want to help, Vance and Gibbs want to talk with you then we can go do this together, you and me, we are gonna go find Bodnar and make this right."
"Why are you doing this," she asked, her voice cracking slightly.
"Because I care about you," he whispered, stroking the back of her hand, "a lot more than I'm supposed to."
Ziva could feel the tears burning the back of her eyes, willing them away, she pulled Tony into a bone crushing hug, sliding off the bed so she was knelt with him on the floor, wondering what she had done to deserve such unwaveringly loyalty.
Tony was shocked at Ziva's embrace, as he had been when he had seen her off at the airport, but he knew that when she couldn't find the words, this was her thank you. He wound one hand round her waist and the other across her shoulders, his thumb gently stroking the back of her neck, trying his best to put her at ease as she sighed deeply, her warm breath fanning across his neck, giving him goose bumps.
As she pulled back Ziva realised just how close their faces were, dangerously close, she could feel his breath on her face. Tony brought his hand up to cup her cheek and she leaned into his touch, closing her eyes as if that would help her appreciate it better, the warmth of his palm on her skin.
"Hold that thought," he breathed, making her eyes fly open, seeing him even closer, their lips almost touching, their hearts beating wildly at their close proximity, "when this is over I promise we will talk."
As Tony pulled back, Ziva released the breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding, determined to hold him to his word after they had found Bodnar. Tony helped her to her feet, his hand lingering on hers, reluctant to relinquish his grip just yet; he gave it a gentle squeeze as he smiled warmly at her.
"C'mon then, lets get all this stuff packed up then we can head to the office," he said, trying to motivate himself as much as her, "I need a shower this hotel is making me itchy."
"It's not that bad," Ziva chuckled, starting take the pictures off the wall as Tony moved to pack away her laptop.
As they packed away the rest in silence and headed for the door, Ziva took one last lingering look at the room, it now holding a promise of better things than she had arrived with.
The end, hope you all like, please please review, thanks in advance xx