A/N Thank you for the reviews. This is a quickie update, I had some thoughts I wanted to get out there before Christmas, and I will attempt to make another update before New Years. I am not sure what everyone will think of the reason (Ziva's for not going around Tony during the off time), if you have issues with it please please tell me, I have been a fan of the show for a long time, but I haven't seen every episode from the third and fourth seasons, so I am not sure that I might have missed something, or made errors in some way. I would also like to note, spoilers for the finale from season 5, premier of season 6 and possibly other spoilers, sorry for not mentioning that in my first chapter, and I love this show but if I owned it Tony and Ziva would have hooked up already there definitely would never have been a Michael or Jeanne, cause those two yeah they just suck (I know hush and let us read the real story.) R&R, thanks Bethany...
Chapter 2
She was gone when I woke up the next morning. The only evidence that she had been there at all was the empty beer bottles still sitting on my coffee table. I threw the empties away and hopped into the shower, wondering how I was going to face her across the squad room today, half way through my shower though I realized that I wasn't going to see her today or ever again for that matter.
Getting out I toweled off, looked at my bags by the door it hit me, through the haze of the hangover. I flipped my phone open.
"McGee. Where you at?" I yelled into the phone.
"The coffee house consoling Abby."
"Good wait there, wait why are you consoling Abby?"
"She said that she wanted to hang out last night with Ziva since this was Ziva's last night, and she was told that Ziva has someone else to see. Can you believe she wouldn't tell Abby who."
"Yeah that sucks. Okay I'll be there shortly so say good bye. You got those pictures for me?"
"You realize that she will kill me if she finds out."
"Probie she is gone, all the way back in Tel Aviv she will never find out." I smiled to myself thinking about the previous night. "Besides that, if she finds out I will take full blame ok."
"Yeah I got them; you just better make sure she never finds out."
"Don't worry Probie, look, I have about twenty minutes before I need to shove off so I am heading your way now. Warn Abby that I only have twenty minutes okay."
Thirty-five minutes later, I was finally peeling Abby off of me and heading to my car. It's a good thing I told them twenty minutes. I still had fifteen to stop by HQ and say good bye to the boss man. Then I really had to shove off.
I pulled my car into my typical parking spot. My heart caught in my throat for a moment, when I saw her cat in her spot. Where else would it be, she probably left it there when she left for Israel. I had to get my head back into check, if I saw the boss with my thoughts were they were right now it was almost a guaranteed head slap.
"DiNozzo, what are you doing here?" Gibbs asked. I was still standing by my car, unfortunately staring at hers.
"Uh, I uh, I just came to say good bye." I finally sputtered out, and then prepared myself for that eventual head slap. None came.
"Well, good bye, Tony." Gibbs said.
"Fix this boss." I said, I felt like I was a whinny little kid. But this wasn't right. Vance had no right to tear us apart like this. Then again if I wasn't leaving and she wasn't leaving, then what happened last night might never have happened.
"I am doing whatever I can." Gibbs said.
I knew he could see it on my face. Hell he could probably smell her on me still even with the shower. He didn't say anything, he didn't head slap me, he just gave me a sad look and turned walking out of the parking garage, towards the stairs that would take him to my old squad room. I couldn't bring myself to see someone else sitting at her desk, let alone someone else sitting at my desk so I got back in my car and left. I ought to just head to the base now, I would be meeting flying out to meet the USS Ronald Reagan from Oceana NAS.
The flight out was the usual for flights out to carriers. Except this time I knew that I wouldn't be going back any time soon. During the flight I finally allowed myself a moment to think about what happened right before Ziva spilled her guts to me last night. The moments leading up to it, right after she said she was sorry.
"I am sorry." She said, to me. To me, like she was to blame for any of this shit. We had moved to the minimal comfort of my living room. I was subletting the place fully furnished to a newlywed couple. I kind of wondered, what would be come of this sofa, but the thought was merely fleeting as I began to wonder what she was apologizing for.
"For Jenny?"
"No. Well yes, for Jenny, and for staying away so long. I just couldn't bring myself to come over any more."
"Why?"
"Because I knew that coming over would only put your life in danger. The Mossad, and by that I mean my father. He does not care that I work for you, he understands that my feelings for you have always ran deeper, however, he doesn't care that I work with you. But socializing outside of work." She paused there, and looked down at her hands. "That night when I got home, he called. He told me he knew about my time outside of work with you. He said that he would see to it I was returned to Israel, that I would never set foot on U.S. soil again, he said that he would make sure I would never lay eyes on you again, if I continued this behavior. Tony, I know I hurt you, but I couldn't live with not seeing you anymore, even if all I ever saw you was at work, that was better than the alternative."
I didn't care who he was, or who he thought he was, to threaten her. Was this his follow through? Did he think that time in LA was her idea. That moment by the pool when I snapped those pictures, was there someone there who saw us and reported back to Eli, and that's why the team was ripped to shreds. Did I cause this?
"I don't understand, why does he care about whom you spend time with outside of work?"
"Tony, it's not who I spend time with outside of work that worries him. It's who I might fall in love with. It's who I might want to spend the rest of my life with. It's who I might want to father my children, his grandchildren that bothers him… Now you understand." Her voice still quivering.
Maybe I didn't understand, it dawned on me too late. I wanted to kiss her, I don't know why. But now thinking about it, did she tell me last night before I took advantage of a hurt drunk Ziva that I was the man whom she wanted to have children with?
