I finally managed to at least finishe the requested one-shot and I have to say the plot really caught my attention from the first second and writing it broke my heart but I also really grew to love this story. I wish I could've wrote a multi-chapter story but at first I have to finish Troubled.
Let me know what you think & how you feel about this one and enjoy reading 3
PS: Most of the time I listened to Comes & Goes by Greg Laswell

"This is awful. Whoever this was he must've been really sick and disgusting." Tony vocalized the thoughts the whole team was thinking as well.
They just headed back to the Navy yard from the crime scene of their latest case and everyone was still shocked from what they've just seen.
"Abby is already looking through the evidence bags and runs some tests and will hopefully find something helpful." McGee was trying to think straight and clear even though the situation distressed him as well.
Their get-together was interrupted by Gibbs phone ringing, telling him that Ducky has found something he wanted to show him.
"You can start looking through the pictures we made at the crime scene. Maybe you find something conspicuous on them." Gibbs shouted before getting into the elevator and leaving for the autopsy.
McGee went over to his desk to get the pictures on the big screen to have a better view on them.
It was only then that Tony noticed that Ziva was unusual quiet since they left for the crime scene. She hasn't spoken a word during their whole way back and now she still remained silent most of the time.
But Tony knew why this was. He knew that she must be internal agitated and troubled. This case brought up the memories of Somalia. He never found out what exactly had happened but from what he has seen it must've been traumatizing and it was haunting him as well. Especially when they were confronted with a similar situation. And he desperately hoped that Ziva was going to be ok, even though something told him she wouldn't.
They saw pictures of countless bruises and wounds on the victim as well as signs of the deathly electrocution.
And this picture was the final kick. Ziva turned away from the screen and hastily walked towards the restroom.
For a brief moment Tony pondered what to do but he quickly decided to follow her. He couldn't stand the thought of leaving her alone in this situation.

When he arrived at the restroom he gently entered it and he was greeted by a choking sound. The pictures must have made Ziva physically sick and her body was reacting in the worst way.
Hearing her throwing up broke Tony's heart immediately, he never wanted her to be in pain like this.
He slowly approached the cabin she was in and started talking to her in a soft tone to not startle her too much.
"Hey Zeev. I'm here if you need me." He paused a moment before he continued speaking. "I know this must be hard on you."
In this moment he heard tiny sobs from the inside of the cabin and he decided to sit down on the ground in front of it to talk to her.
"I know you never talked about it but I've seen enough to know that it must've been unbearable. And I wish I could help you somehow." He thought about his words and hoped she would hear them.

The next sound he heard was the sound of the door being unlocked. And what he saw broke his heart even more.
Ziva was sitting on the ground as well, her pale face covered in tears while her whole frame was shaking.
He immediately sat down next to her and pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Shh, it's ok Ziva. Let it out. I'm here, ok?" Tony was trying to soothe her by gently running his hand up and down her back.
Ziva tried to calm her breath and get out a reply but when she started talking her answer was interrupted by tiny sobs in between the words.
"No. It's not ok. I hate feeling weak. This is not me." Tony thought about her words before looking at her intently to make sure she saw the sincerity in his eyes when he replied.
"Listen to me Ziva; you are one of the strongest persons I know. And there's nothing wrong about letting out your emotions. You hold them back for so long and it's good that you show them now." He cupped one of her cheeks gently before adding "I'm glad it finally comes out. And you are not alone, ok? Never."
His words had touched her and further tears where rolling down her cheeks but Tony wiped them away before they could finally fall down.
The next thing she brought out was a 'Thank you' and it came out barely above a whisper and still choked from the tears.
"I'm your partner Ziva, and that's what partners do. You don't need to thank me."
And when Tony said that she knew that his statement wasn't only about being partners and this thought warmed her heart even though her petite frame was still shaking from all the emotions raging inside of her.
Tony felt the new trembles racing through Ziva's body and instinctively pulled her closer to calm her down and a comfortable silence fell between them for a while.

"You do help me Tony." Ziva brought out between her abating sobs.
She looked at him, her eyes still teary and red from all the crying, to show him how grateful she was to have him in her life.
He didn't know what to reply because he was so overwhelmed by her statement.
Instead of an answer he leaned down to her and pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead and when his lips touched her soft skin she closed her eyes and leaned into their embrace once more.
There they were, sitting on the cold floor of the restroom and they both knew there was a long way ahead of them and there were so many things still left unsaid but Ziva also knew that she could trust Tony more than anyone else. In this moment she knew that he wouldn't run away from the painful truth of her past and that's when a profound peace overtook her body for the first time in months and it was a liberating feeling.
With Tony she was ok, with Tony everything seemed to be a little better.
With him she had a future ahead.