Title: Smile
Pairing: Tiva
Summary: It's been five years since he saw her last. Mild Tate, half friendship, half romance, but ending will be full-out Tiva :D
Disclaimer: I who own nothing except my brain which came up with this while listening to the song Smile on Glee
A/N: I apologize in advance if this turns out to be a waste of your time. But if it ended up being good, then by all means please do R&R and maybe even fave? :D
lt's been five years. Five years since he'd seen the smile that had haunted him in his dreams, more like nightmares. It had been a relatively somber day at NCIS head quarteres. Ziva however had been in a relatively content mood much to the dismay of the rest of Team Gibbs. "Morning everyone!" she said, a smile on her face. Her friendly greeting however was
ignored, as the two agents silently continued their work.
"Tony? Tim?" she questioned, curiously.
"Oh hi Zi." Tony replied emotionlessly.
"Is there a problem I should know about? Did you two break up?" she joked, glancing at a now semi-irritated McGee.
"No. We did not break up. We never even had a chance!" Tony said harshly, storming away from his desk, going to the elevator. Confused, Ziva turned
to McGee, who said nothing, only shaking his head sadly before returning back to
his computer. Ziva went in search to find Gibbs, hoping he could explain the reason that Tony and McGee had been so upset. She spotted him leaving MTAC but decided against it, as she realized he too had a mask of hurt sadness, and what she though seemed to be regret or guilt. He walked by her swiftly, not even taking so much as a glance her way. Just then she saw Tony exit the elevator. He looked like he had been crying. "Well that's odd." she thought silently to herself. "DiNozzo never cries. Something must really be wrong." she concluded. Tony returned quietly to his desk, quietly typing away at his computer. Thinking of a way to get Tony to talk to her, she thought of something she knew would get him talking. Sure, it was childish but she had no other option. IMing him wouldn't do any good since he had now gotten off the computer and began doing paperwork, another thing she took as odd. Tony never did his paperwork without either A. Being told, or B. Getting slapped by Gibbs. Quickly she whipped out a piece of paper, and began scrawling quicly, not caring whether it was messy or not. She crumpled it up in a ball and threw it at him. It hit the desk with a thud. He looked up cautiously, before opening it carefully.
Tony,
Sorry if I offended you and McGee. Meet me in the elevator in a few minutes. We need to talk.
Z.
Tony sighed, crumpling the piece of paper again, before throwing it away in the garbage. Ziva got up and mentioned to Gibbs she was headed for the elevator. He gave a her a quick nod of approval, before returning his gaze on the paper before him. Tony saw her walk quietly towards the elevator, debating whether or not he should follow her like she asked. After a few minutes, he decided to go anyway. Nodding to Gibbs in the same way Ziva had, he too made his way towards the elevator.
He entered the elevator, as he found Ziva waiting for him patiently in the corner. He shut the doors, flipped down the switch and waited for her to speak.
"There is obviously something that's been bothering you, Tony. Please tell me what it is. I might be able to help." she said, trying to speak in a comforting voice. Tony said nothing, staring silently at the floor, pretending to be interested in his shoes. A thick blanket of silence and awkwardnes filled the small metal box.
"Nice shoes you got there Zi." he said trying to break the uncomfortable silence.
"Don't change the subject. Now tell me what is wrong with you and everyone else today. Did I say something or do anything? I understand if what I said offended you and McGee but I do not know what Gibbs has to do with it." she said, trying to get him to open up.
"Do you know what day it is?" he asked quietly, still staring down at his shoes.
"Erm....Tuesday?" she asked, confused by his random question.
"No, I mean the date. Do you know what the date is today?" he asked, the same tone of sadness in his voice.
"Um....May 24th?" she asked, still baffled as to why the date would matter so much.
"Exactly..." Tony said sadly, trailing off.
"Tony, why is May 24th so important to you and the team? Please tell me."
"It's been five years since she left us, Zi." he said softly
"Who? Tony who-" suddenly Ziva understood why everyone had been so somber today. It was on this day, five years ago, that they had lost one of their own. Ziva felt awful for joking around with her co-workers once she realized why they were all so upset.
"Tony, I am so sorry. I forgot I didn't mean-" she began, trying to make up for the way she had acted.
"It's alright Zi, I just miss her a lot. She was my best friend, you know? It may not have seemed like it, ask Tim or Gibbs, but I really did care about her." he whispered, close to tears again.
"Did you love her?" Ziva asked, sympathetically holding her partner's shaking hand.
"I don't know. At times I think I might have. But we couldn't, rule 12 remember. And she was too smart for that. Tim and I had talked about it once, on the day when...it happened. We had each others' backs." he continued. He started crying, letting the tears flow, not caring if anyone saw or not.
"Shhhhh it's alright." Ziva whispered, hugging him as he cried into her shoulder. Suddenly she got an idea. She wasn't sure if it would work but it was worth a shot. She began singing to him softly, a song that Ari had once sang to her and Tali when they had been younger, and when he had actually been himself.
Smile, though your heart is aching,
Smile, even though it's breaking.
When there are clouds in the sky-
You'll get by.
If you smile through your fear and sorrow,
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through
For you.
Light up your face with gladness,
Hide every trace of sadness.
Although a tear may be ever so near,
That's the time you must keep on trying,
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile,
If you just smile.
She lifted his chin up, wiping away the last tear that had began to fall down his cheek.
"That was beautiful, Zi, when did you watch Modern Times?" asked Tony, still sniffling a little.
"Ari used to sing it to Tali and I whenever Abba wasn't around. He was the best brother I could have. And then he was taken from me and replaced with a cold hearted monster" she said this last part, with as much venom dripping from her voice as possible.
"Oh. You sing nice" Tony said sheepshly.
"Thank you." she said, a little embarrassed.
"Thanks for everything, Zi. I just really needed to let it out ya know? I really miss her. Gibbs is no different. He beat himself up over it for 5 months after it happened. He still does every once in a while but it's worse today."
"No problem, you are my partner, I'll always have your back. Remember that." she said, kissing him on the cheek before flipping the switch. The elevator began to move again, and they stepped out and went to their desks.
Tony began scribling another note on a piece of paper before crumbling it up and throwing it over to Ziva.
Ziva,
Thanks for everything. Would you like to go out to dinner and a movie sometime?
T
He watched as she snapped her head up to where the crumpled ball of paper had come from. She opened it and began to read it, before looking over to Tony and giving a small nod, to which he grinned cheerfully in response.
A small figure stood by the elevator, watching the two exchange glances with one another. She was wearing denim capris, and a pink t-shirt. Her auburn shoulder length hair fell gently in loose waves on her shoulders. She smiled quietly, happy that he had moved on.
"Take care of yourself, Tony." she whispered.
Tony snapped his head up towards the elevator when he heard what he thought sounded as if someone was talking to him, but saw no one there.\
"Oh, and I loved you too." she said, before fading away. Now Tony was sure he'd heard right, before smiling to himself silently. He knew he'd be alright. He could move on without her. But he would never forget her.
Well? How did I do? Good? Bad? In between? R&R please. Oh and thanks for reading :D