Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters/ideas.
A loud beep sounded through the apartment and Tony jumped, dropping more food than he had intended into the fishbowl.
"Eat up, Kate," he whispered, relaxing his shoulders and making his way back into the kitchen for his own meal.
A few moments later, he slumped down into the couch, one oozing piece of pizza in hand, the other waiting on his plate, and flipped on the TV. Pressing a few buttons on his remote, he was about to start up a movie when from across the room his laptop started to make noise. He dropped the pizza back onto the plate and wiped his greasy hands on his pants. Crossing the room, Tony sat at his desk and flipped open the laptop. Waiting on his screen, he found a missed call alongside a chat box.
"Missing you," it read. The name next to it was one he'd never expected to see in a million years.
"Ziva," he breathed. "What are you doing?" He was so caught off guard that he almost didn't register the fact that she was still online. He quickly keyed back a short response. This was all too familiar – the same time, the same place, the same atmosphere – am I dreaming?
"You know where to find me," he had typed. He was now looking at her response and it sent chills over his body – not because of what she was saying but because she was there. The fact that she was talking to him meant the world.
"I do,"
He tried not to get his hopes up too soon. The need to type as fast as possible was distracting; he was afraid that she'd suddenly rush off and his time with her would be cut short.
"Call me again?" he typed.
He waited for her response. The little blinking dots lined up at the bottom of the box mocking him with each little pulse.
"I have a better idea," he read.
From behind him, Tony heard two solid raps on the door.
No…
He got up so fast that the chair he had been sitting on almost fell to the floor. His legs couldn't carry him to the door fast enough. All Tony could think of was Ziva's face and what he was going to do if she was behind the door. He prayed to God that it was her – he'd never tease McGee about another date again for as long as he lived if it meant that Ziva was on the other side of that door.
When he finally reached the threshold he found that he was hesitant to turn the knob. Within a matter of seconds he'd put so much hope into what this meant. Yes, it was well past the hour of regular callers, but what would he do if he opened the door to find one of his deranged, elderly neighbors needing help or, even worse, if he opened it to find that he'd made it all up and there wasn't anyone there at all?
Tony took in a deep breath, ran a hand through his hair and opened the door.
"I thought this time I'd come to you," she said, a small smile forming at the corner of her mouth.
"Zi," Tony said, barely above a whisper. He threw open the door the rest of the way and brought her body crashing into his in a passionate embrace. Her skin was warm through her clothes, the rich spicy vanilla scent of her hair washed over him in an all too wonderfully familiar way. Pulling back, he bent his head down and looked at her; he was speechless. Dipping in slowly, he let his lips meet hers and they were lost in a kiss more sweet than any they had ever shared before.
When he'd left her, they were wrought with desperation and passion – with the lust that would have to be subsided for the indefinite future. But now that she was here in front of him, now that they were back together, Tony felt like he was whole again. He wanted to savor every minute of every hour of every day he had her. He didn't know how long it'd last, but he wanted his time with her to be engrained within him. He let the kiss start out slowly the way it should.
He trailed his hand along her cheek, pressed his fingers up into her hair, and brought them down to cup the nape of her neck. She took in a sharp breath through their parted lips and he could feel the chills creeping up along her skin.
Finally pulling apart, they settled their foreheads against one another and reveled in what was taking place.
"What brought you back?"
"Tony," she started, placing her hands gently on his temples and playing with his light sideburns. "I was looking for something, looking for who I was – am – but," she stopped and looked into his eyes, back and forth between the two as if she was looking for something. "But I realized something. I had let the only part of me I was sure of fly half way across the world when he had done just as much to find me."
He looked down at her and, pulling his hand out from beneath her hair, he traced a finger down her forehead, brushing a stray stand behind her ear. Tenderly, he leaned down and planted a kiss against her forehead.
"Then let's get you inside," he said. He reached down and squeezed her hand gently, taking her bag with his other. Tony stepped back and let her through, smiling widely as he tossed the bag into a chair and kicked shut the door.
Author's Note: Read and Review! I'm really enjoying writing this - hope to find that you enjoy reading it. More chapters to come later; stick with me!