Tony could see that Ziva was really bothered by something Fletcher had done, so he needed to change tactics. "Will you at least tell me how much I want to shoot him?", he asked. He had switched to the sympathetic route, kind of.
Ziva knew Tony cared about her and was only trying to help, but she really didn't want him to know. "I believe you would agree with him, but you would want to shoot him for voicing it." She couldn't tell him. If the thought hadn't already crossed his mind, it would after she answered his questions.
Her answer had only intensified Tony's interest, and he wanted to demand answers. That's not how you got through Ziva's walls though. He would need to prove that she should and could tell him. "You know, we all care about you. If he did something, I won't hesitate to shoot him, and I know Gibbs and McGee would feel the same way."
"I can take care of myself." Ziva wanted to clarify that her time at NCIS hadn't softened her into some helpless damsel in distress who needed a big, strong man to save her. She had been taking care of herself and defending her honor without help for nearly her entire life.
"You can beat people up, and ninja them into submission, but everyone needs someone they can lean on. It doesn't have to be co-dependence, but you could just take a break and rest against the other person's resolve instead of always bottling everything up until you shoot some unsuspecting bill board or mail box." He scooted a little closer to Ziva as if emphasizing his point by being close enough for her to literally lean on.
Ziva considered his words carefully. She had opened up to Tony before and had let him in more than anyone except Gibbs, and he had never mocked her or told someone something she wished to keep quiet. "I suppose I could use a break.", she admitted as she leaned into Tony ever so slightly. "I do not know if you remember how long I have been seeing Fletcher, bu-"
Tony cut her off with "A month and a half". He wanted to make sure she knew that he paid attention to what was going on in her life.
She smiled a little and continued. "Yes, well everything was going well until last night at dinner. We went to that Italian place you said was so good." She paused as she remembered what came next in the story.
"Ziva, put me out of my misery here, because I'm thinking the worst.", Tony admitted. Thoughts of violence and Fletcher being too handsy were running through his mind, and he prayed that he was wrong.
"No, nothing like that. He has always been a perfect gentleman, but he is an open journal.", she said as if that explained everything.
"Open book, and what does that have to do with anything?" Tony was very confused at this point but waited to hear what came next.
"Well, in the first two weeks I already knew so much about him. I knew about his family and his work at Georgetown. He told me about his hobbies and favorite activities so easily, but I am not that way. He asked questions about my family and where I worked before NCIS, and I avoided his questions for obvious reasons."
Tony was putting pieces together in his mind. "So, he wanted more from you, and you weren't ready to get so personal.", he surmised.
"I tried, but there is much from my past that I wish to forget. I told him I wished not to speak about it, and he was happy with the answer for a while. Last night he asked me to give him something, and I said that I didn't like sharing myself as much as he did. He told me..." She stopped, and her breath hitched slightly. "He said that I must be very damaged if I could not answer questions as simple as my past occupation."
Tony felt anger boil inside of him. It wouldn't sound as offensive to anyone else, but Ziva was damaged. She hid it well, but her work with Mossad, her father, Ari and Tahli, it all took its toll. For someone to take such blatant notice of her damaged self was a hard blow. Tony was almost certain Fletcher had voiced his comment without so much as a second thought that he might be more right than he considered. Tony wrapped his arm around Ziva's shoulder and pulled her to him. She let herself fall into Tony's embrace, because she needed someone else to be strong, just for a moment. "You wouldn't be allowed on Team Gibbs if you weren't damaged like the rest of us.", Tony said.
"I am what people call damaged goods, yes?", she asked to be sure she had her English correct.
Tony's hold on her tightened at her words. "You are not damaged goods. You have come back from a lot of stuff that most people will never experience. If they did, they'd probably drown themselves in a bottle of tequila, but you powered through. Definitely not damaged goods." He wanted to drill into her head that she was so much better than she gave herself credit for. He also wanted to find Fletcher and shoot him. "Why hasn't Fletcher come by? Seems like an apology should be carried out in person.", he theorized when the silence became to thick.
Ziva laughed a little to herself, because she knew exactly why Fletcher was trying to call instead of visit her. "I may have told him that if I ever saw his face again I would castrate him and make him watch while I put his manhood in a blender and set it to puree."
Tony laughed loudly, and Ziva took comfort in listening to the vibrations of his laughter run through his chest. "If you do, I call a front row seat.", he said. It was quiet again when Ziva's phone rang. She saw that Fletcher was calling again and ignored his call again. She sighed and settled back into Tony's side; she wasn't done resting yet. "Here's an idea: You, me, McGee, and Abby could have a movie night. No phones allowed.", he offered.
Ziva wanted the distraction, and what better way to be distracted then by the people who cared about and loved her. She hadn't been out with Abby in some time and owed her for the caf-pow she still had not given to the addicted goth. "I suppose I could endure a night of listening to you say the lines with the movie while McGee and Abby throw pop corn at you."
This is why they were a team. They worked together and reminded each other that they were all stuck together for life. Gibbs wouldn't let his team of misfits go if SecNav had a gun to his head and the orders signed. They were Team Gibbs, and every one of them was just damaged enough to have earned a life time spot.