Ari's back

BAM!! The gun was fired and Tony's heart sank. Several tears fell as Ziva's numb body fell to the floor, Tony ran to her, acting only on the reflexes of his heart. He immediately pulled out his phone and called 911 while applying pressure to the wound. As soon as he could hear the faint call of the sirens he hung up and dialed Gibbs.

"Dinozzo?? Why the hell are you calling me?! You know rule # 22!!" He answered rather annoyed.

"Ziva's been shot." Tony said, his voice broken with every ounce of sadness in the world.

"WHAT?!?!?!" Gibbs's voice had changed. He had forgotten the rule, and tony could hear him rushing from the interrogation room to his car.

"Its Ari, boss. We ran into him when I was walking Ziva…." His voice trailed off into sobs before he composed enough to say "he didn't run away that far. He's back." Tony exploded into tears as Gibbs arrived to the scene just as they were loading Ziva into the ambulance.

--2 hours earlier—

"Ziva! You came!" Tony's eager reply lit up her face as Ziva walked into the restaurant.

"Of course Tony, I told you I would, yes?" she said grinning and sitting down across from him.

"Yes, that you did" Tony said taking her hand and looking into her chocolaty brown eyes.

They rushed through an hour long dinner-date, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. He always found a ways to make her laugh; they both seemed to enjoy themselves.

Ziva lifted her glass to take a drink and tony stared off into space thinking, "I love you Ziva." He said absent mindedly. She smiled and slowly set down her glass.

"I love you too Tony," she said so naturally, "it took you this long to tell me that?"

"What?" he asked, snapping back into reality and looking at her, "oh. Yes I guess it did.

"Why? Afraid I'll shoot you?" her hand twitched towards her gun and he jumped back. "Just kidding!" she said and smiled.

"Not funny Zi-Vah!! I just told you I love you and you make a total joke out of it." His face fell and he stared into his wine glass.

"Tony I'm not making a joke of this. I love you to. Here, why don't you walk me home?" She stood up and grabbed his hand. He smiled and stood up beside her.

Still holding her hand, he responded "great idea." While thinking 'uh…is she suggesting what my normal girlfriend would? Or is she taking me home to kill me?! Or is she….' He decided to ignore his mind and just enjoy the night. He followed her out the door and into the night.

The approached her small apartment and she gasped. "What's wrong?!" Tony asked frantically.

"My brother." She said slowly and gripped Tony's hand tightly in hers as Ari stepped out of the shadows.

"Hello Agent Dinozzo, Sister." Ari said grinning suspiciously.

Tony pushed Ziva behind him and reached for his gun, "What are YOU doing here?"

"Now, now," Ari said, also reaching for his gun, "Let's be civilized shall we? Unhand my sister now."

Tony raised the gun slightly, "What do you want with her?"

Ziva stepped out from behind tony as Ari answered, "Father wants her home. I'm taking her back."

"No!" Ziva said, and then smiled at Tony, "I love America."

Ari shook his head and raised his gun as well, "You'll surely change your mind. Agent Dinozzo, you always attract the bad girls. Goodbye Ziva."

--Present time—

Gibbs watched the ambulance drive off and slowly walked over to Tony, "Is she gonna be ok?" he asked.

"Why are you asking me boss?" tony said through tears, "how should I know?"

"Don't know. Want me to drive you to the hospital?" Gibbs raised the keys and Dinozzo smiled. They slowly got in Gibbs's car.

The drive was slow. The hours in the waiting room passed like days, Gibbs sitting there trying to hide his feelings, and Tony still in tears. The doctor walked into the room and the men rose. Slowly they walked, filling the space between them. Tony stood silent, looking at the ground. Gibbs kept a firm tone and asked "Well?"

The doctor smiled, "she's alive. Not much harm done, but she's unconscious."

They both breathed a sigh of relief. "May we see her?" Gibbs asked slowly as Tony looked up.

"One of you may." The doctor said quietly as Gibbs smiled.

He patted Tony's shoulder and said "go. She needs you most right now." Tony smiled and walked into the room.

Tony Slowly approached Ziva's bed and took her hand. "I love you." He said again. He stared at her face as if expecting her to say something, then sighed when all he could hear was her steady breathing and the rhythmic beeps on the heart monitor. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. Tears slowly escaped his eyes, whether they were happy or sad he didn't know. He was happy she was alive, happy that she loved him too; but sad that she wasn't conscious for what he was about to do.