AN: Sorry I haven't responded to reviews. This week was nuts and, today, JenJen arrived for a visit. This will be our longest yet at a full week! Super excited. Tomorrow is a trip to the city for a museum and pizza adventure! Hope you guys enjoy this and I shall try to find time this week to reply to reviews!

MN: Yay for JenJen being here! That is all.

As he woke, Tony's brain felt cloudy. It was a common side effect of having slept for an extended period of time after having been awake for too long. As he struggled to consciousness he tried to remember what he was forgetting, to no avail. The only thought that surfaced in his mind was the desperate need to empty his bladder.

He didn't have his eyes fully opened until he was in the bathroom and it didn't hit him until he was washing his hands. Ziva. Ziva was here. In DC. In his apartment. Hell, when he'd gone to sleep she was in his bed. But she wasn't now. So where was she?

He exited back out to the bedroom and quickly found a pair of sweatpants to pull on over his boxers. There was a chill permeating the air so he pulled on an old Peoria PD t-shirt as well. His heart was thudding in his chest and he realized he was terrified. Terrified that she had either been a dream, or that she had been real but had left while he slept.

The moment he opened the door, his fear was assuaged by the smell of something cooking. He could identify the scents of meat and herbs among several others he couldn't quite place and his stomach rumbled audibly.

He padded toward the kitchen quickly, but paused outside the door. He wasn't sure what exactly he was supposed to say to her.

After a few moments of silent debate, his growling stomach won out and he pushed through the door that had been left slightly ajar. She was perched on one of the stools at his counter, reading a newspaper.

A large pot steamed on the stove and was the only obvious source of the smell that had him trying to remember when the last time he had actually had real food had been.

She had obviously heard him coming as she seemed totally unphased as she folded the newspaper and laid it on the counter. "I was starting to think I should wake you. You were out for almost twelve hours."

He glanced at the clock on the microwave. Sure enough the display read 01:52. "It had been a couple days since I slept." He felt awkward having such a casual conversation with her in his kitchen after all these months.

She slid from the stool and moved around the counter. There was a bowl already sitting next to the stove and she picked it up as she spoke. "You mentioned that this morning. I figured you would be hungry. You didn't have much food that was still edible, so I went to the store. I hope you are in the mood for beef stew."

She had scooped several heaping ladles into the bowl and his mouth was watering. "Right now, I'm hungry enough to eat what was actually in my fridge, and that smells a thousand times better."

She set the bowl down on the counter along with a spoon and motioned for him to sit, but he hesitated. "Eat first. We have plenty of time to talk when you are not ravenous."

He didn't have to be told twice. He quickly connected his six with the stool and pulled the bowl closer. He immediately shoveled a huge bite into his mouth, burning his tongue in the process. Just as he swallowed, Ziva set a glass of milk before him and he gratefully gulped it, easing the pain in his mouth.

Having learned his lesson, he blew heavily on his next bite before sticking the spoon in his mouth. He hadn't been able to taste the first bite fully over the temperature but he was now able to enjoy it fully. It was, by far, the best meal he had had in months. He groaned in pleasure at the flavor as Ziva returned to her previous seat next to him. "This is amazing."

She smiled at him and picked back up her paper, allowing him to enjoy his meal without the probing of questions or pressure of conversation.

He finished off the stew, as well as the glass of milk and sighed contently, a smile curving onto his lips. "Thank you. You have no idea how good that was."

She once again folded her paper, but this time he could see the anxiety that lined her face. With his basic needs seen to, it was time they actually discussed what she was doing in his house.

His face fell, mirroring her seriousness. He hitched an eyebrow upward. "Living room?"

She nodded in answer and once again stood, exiting the room without waiting for him. He stood and gathered his dishes, rinsing them and placing them in the dishwasher then checked that she had extinguished the flame on the stove.

He steeled himself with a deep breath then stepped toward the living room.