The air outside was cool, and it promised the spicy smell of hot apple cider and the beauty of cool, clear blue skies. The agents were walking outside now, ready to head home after the night away from the office. They were all a little bit affected by the alcohol.
"You know guys," Bisop said "I never said this, but I'm so glad to be at NCIS. You guys have welcomed me like a family. I feel like I'm really doing things now, and doing them with you guys for this agency has truly been an honor. Thank you."
"Glad to have you, Bishop." McGee said.
"Yeah." Abby said. "It's great to have you around, Ellie."
Bishop smiled and hey all walked back close together in a single file line. Tony on the far end near the street, Tim Bishop next to him, then Tim, then Abby. The three agents hailed a cab together, and Tony said politely, "I think I'll walk guys, I'm not far from here. It was fun. Have a good night." They all said their goodbyes to Tony, and Abby hugged him togethly, knowing he would need it. "See you, Tony." said Tim. "Bye, Tony." from Bishop, and "Take care of yourself." from Abby. Once the three agents entered the cab and it pulled away from the curb, Tony began his long journey home. Because in all honesty, he wasn't close to there, he was far, and he knew that they all knew it. He could trust them to leave him alone when he knew he needed it, and he looked at the sidewalk and carried on, hands in his pockets, head facing his feet.
"Christ." Tony said out loud to himself. "Why do I do this to myself."
He returned home close to an hour later, welcoming the warmth of his apartment. He did as he usually does, putting his keys on the shelf near his movies, placing his gun and his badge in the cigar box, and feeding Kate, his fish. "Maybe I should get you a friend, Kate. What do you think?" He said aloud to this fish. "Maybe I'll name her Ziva."
Tony was a little drunk, but not anything close to where he couldn't handle himself, just to where he was feeling more than he normally stuck his hand in his coat pocket befoe he took it off to hang it up, and he was clutching the necklace, so tight that he though he might break it. He knew when he left her in Israel that they wouldn't keep in touch, because she needed to do this on her own. But he thought to himself, when two people want to talk, one of them has to do it first. So with that, he picked up his phone, and dialed the number he hoped was still hers.
It rang. There was no answer. "Well, that was probably a mistake." he said to himself. He then sat on his couch, took his shoes off, unbuttoned his shirt, and got ready to take a hot shower before retreating to his bedroom for the rest of the night. Just as he was about to reach the bathroom door, he heard his cell phone ring. He ran back to his couch to answer it.
"Shalom."
Thats it, he thought to himself. He heard her voice again for the first time in so long. She called back.
"Ziva." He said, his voice low and husky. "Hi."
"Hello, Tony." the line was silent for a while, both of them taking in the fact that they were talking to eachother, realizing the presence of the other person on the other end of the phone line.
"It has been a while. Tony."
"Too long, Ziva."
"Are you okay, Tony? It is late there, no?"
Oh crap, he though in his head. Time difference.
"I'm okay, Ziva, I just missed you. I'm sorry to bother you, I know you wanted to be alone. I just thought-"
"It is okay, Tony, it nice to finally hear your voice again. I have missed it."
Tony smiled at this comment. "Sweetcheeks," he said, the sound of the smirk on his face evident "I don't even know what I'm doing here without you."
"You are living your life, Tony, and it is better without me in it, to complicate things."
"No," Tony said "it is only harder."
"I-"
"Had to do this, I know. I just miss you, Ziva. But I hope that things are going well for you. I shouldn't have called. Have a good night Ziva. And hey, Take care of yourself, okay?"
And with that, Tony hung up, and the line was dead.
Tony looked at his phone, and rubbed the front of it. Looked at the clock and saw 03:30, and went into his room to sleep.