The next day…

Sitting at his desk, Tony could not rid himself of the disturbing images that were plaguing his mind. He worried what Ziva really thought after seeing a look cross her face that he couldn't describe. Taking a deep breath, a horrifying thought crossed his mind; what if Ziva had heard him confess his love for her?

Would she hate him now that she'd heard that, did he believe it himself? But seeing her at her desk, pushing an errant strand of hair behind her ear, he knew what his feelings really were, even if he was afraid to admit them.

Tony jumped when a head slap came his way and a gruff voice spoke out.

"What you doing here, DiNozzo?"

"I..I.." He stammered, "Working Boss?"

Gibbs glared, walked past Tony and to his desk. Ziva giggled in that smooth deep voice of hers, causing Tony to shiver.

"What's the matter Tony?" Ziva purred, "Is it too cold in here for you?"

"Err….n…no. Not at all." Tony stammered.

Before anything else could be said on the matter, Gibbs' phone rang.

"Oi! You Two!" Gibbs barked, "Abby's Lab, Now!"

NCIS

"Gibbs!" Abby screamed excitedly, "You would never realise how hard it is to avoid saying Jeez when you're with a group of nuns, I swear they were going to kill me by the time I'd said it a total of ten times! Ten times Gibbs!" Abby looked up at Gibbs' straight face, "Oh right, you wanna know about the case."

"Yeah Abs, that would be nice." Gibbs replied in his usual manner.

"Right, I found a partial thumbprint on the girl's neck. I ran it through AFIS, and, guess what Gibbs?"

"You got a match?"

"Yeah I got a match!"

Gibbs glowered at the Forensic scientist, signalling for her to actually tell him the results.

Abby clicked on a link on her computer and a picture appeared on the plasma screen. Strangely, he looked somewhat innocent, childlike even; he had short dirty blonde hair and striking grey eyes. However the eyes were devoid of life and only held malicious intent.

"Lieutenant Richard Hampar-Bright, just finished a tour in Iraq and is currently on vacation with his family in Colorado."

"Have they been informed?" Tony asked.

"They reported their daughter missing a year ago, but no one has found any evidence to suggest what had happened to her." McGee stated.

"Until now McGoo." Tony cut across sarcastically.

"DiNozzo, David, what are you waiting for? An invitation?" Gibbs ordered.

Tony looked guardedly at Ziva and responded. "Going to interview the family, Boss."

Gibbs saw the look but decided to not to comment, they were adults, they could deal with whatever was going on themselves.

NCIS

As he fastened his seatbelt, Tony cringed and closed his eyes, ready for Ziva to exit the car park at super speed.

He was surprised when he felt her moving away at a relatively normal pace. A warm feeling of relief washed over him, she was finally getting the idea of speed limits. That lovely warm feeling dissipated quickly as he contemplated the reason for her snail driving.

He became apprehensive when a tense silence resounded in the car. Had she heard what he'd said the night before? He risked a glance at Ziva and mentally reprimanded himself as he discovered that she was staring at him.

"Feeling better, yes?"

"Yeah, just peachy."

"You seemed to be in a lot of pain yesterday. Are you sure your body can take anymore stress?" Ziva observed audaciously.

"Believe me, my body can take a lot." He smiled his charming smile and raised his eyebrows in response.

"I do not doubt that!" Ziva replied saucily looking his body up and several times, causing Tony to squirm.

Ziva smiled and turned her focus back to driving having teased enough for the moment. Tony could take it; it's not as if he really loved her…

Did he?

He wanted to take his mind off the atmosphere of the car but the only other thing he could think of was the dead eyes of the little girl. Neither of the thoughts were appealing, so he settled for looking out of the window blankly.

Tony struggled to keep his eyes open, but just as he was about to give in to sleep, his head exploded in pain like he was being repeatedly stabbed.

"Tony… Tony!" Ziva cried, swerving off the road in a panic. She shook his shoulders violently, but he was gone.

As reality faded from him, he heard the girl again, screaming for his help. However, this time he saw as the light vanished from her streaming eyes. He needed to save her! But he couldn't, he knew how this one ended, barbed wire crushed the scream to a gurgle and blood leaked from around he girl's neck. Her eyes turned to him, blaming him for her not living.

"Please, help me!" She begged, "Please Tony!"

Tony tried to move but fear had paralysed him. He could do nothing but watch in terror as thick warm liquid poured out of the girl's mouth, staining her once white teeth. He turned his head, unable to view this theatre of horror anymore. But the image he saw when he turned his head was far worse. His eyes had found a woman, with hair matted with her own blood, and pain ridden eyes. She looked right through him, sending a chill crawling down his spine.

"Ziva…" He whispered in horror as the woman choked on the red rose fluid gurgling up from her damaged lungs. The grips of fear tried to suffocate him, but he managed to escape. Running towards Ziva he tripped, gashing his head on the ground. He touched his head and recoiled in horror as his hand came away covered in a thin film of blood. His blood. For a moment he remained still, until he remembered who was laying just a foot from him. Ziva was resting on the ground, her eyes dull and glassy.

Despite his horrendous injury, Tony crawled to her, tears welling up in his eyes. "Ziva…. No…. Please….Don't die…. I…. I Love You…. Ziva I Love You…. Please!" Stroking her cold skin he howled in pain; pain not caused by his head, but by the loss of a friend. "No," Tony corrected himself, the loss of a loved one.

Ziva sat next to Tony in the car, stroking his forehead gently. She felt so helpless, nothing seemed to arouse him. She shoved her feelings away as she checked his pulse. It was far too fast and she knew that could mean a multitude of things.

Pulling out her cell, she decided to phone Gibbs, but realising that there was no signal, she cursed in Hebrew. Hearing several loud bangs, she spun around, her eyes widened in shock. There was nothing she could do but hold Tony down as he convulsed violently.