Hi! Sorry I haven't updated in forever, I've had exams going on and haven't had any time to spare. But I tried to make this chapter a bit longer to kind of make up for that, sooo here ya go!
Disclaimer: NCIS isn't mine, but I sincerely wish it was because then I'd be responsible for making the finale as fantastic as it was. :)
"Ziva!" Tony called, bursting out of MTAC and looking around frantically for Ziva. Spotting her storming towards Vance's office, Tony raced after her, glancing down into the Bullpen to see Senior looking up at him with a curious expression.
Gritting his teeth, he finally caught up to Ziva, grabbing her arm and spinning her around. Ziva yanked her arm away, looking like she was going to murder someone. Noticing she was on the verge of tears, Tony pulled her in, smoothing down her hair.
"What's the matter, Zi?" He asked, his voice soft as a few tears escaped her eyes. "It's okay, we'll sort this out."
"Tony..." She began, looking up at him as he wiped a stray tear off of her cheek. "If you go to Israel, who knows what my father will do to you. If you go, Tony, then you might not come back-." She cut off, biting her lip so that she didn't break down again there and then.
Tony glared at the agents staring open mouthed at them, his expression remaining stony until they turned back to their work, their faces still masks of pure astonishment at seeing Ziva David cry. "Hey, don't cry." He murmured, looking back down at Ziva with a great sense of Déjà vu as memories flooded his mind. They'd been through so much throughout the past seven or so years and he wasn't about to let one possible death mission ruin that. "We'll get it sorted out."
"You are right. I am sorry, I am being irrational." Ziva said, flushing as she realized she'd just started sobbing in the middle of the squadroom.
"There's nothing to apologize for." Tony replied, thinking of Gibbs' infamous Rule Six.
Ziva stepped back, pulling the bit of hair still remaining in a pony tail out of the rubber band and shaking the curls loose. Taking a deep breath, she managed a small smile, grateful that she had a partner like Tony.
"Just wondering, what were you planning on doing to Vance before I stopped you?" Tony asked curiously, grinning back at Ziva.
"Tony, if I can kill someone 18 different ways with a paperclip, do you not think I'd be able to make use of the variety of office supplies sitting on his desk?" Ziva questioned, tilting her head to the side, her smile growing.
Before Tony could respond, Gibbs strode out of Vance's office, his jaw set. Walking over to the pair, he looked at their close proximity suspiciously before turning to Tony.
"So, boss, what's up?" Tony questioned, taking a small step away from Tony as Gibbs continued to stare him down.
"Vance is demanding that you leave, saying he'll have your jobs if you don't. We're sending a protection detail with you on the plane but after that you're on your own, so, word of advice, don't act stupid. If we don't hear for more than four hours in a row, we're dispatching a team of agents to bring you home, no questions asked." Gibbs said, his glare shifting in the direction of Vance's office. His gaze softening ever so slightly, Gibbs turned to Ziva. "Go home, get some rest. You'll need it." Looking back at Tony, his expression hardened. "You better have each other's six, no matter what." With that, he brushed past them, storming back into MTAC.
Tony looked back at Ziva, who's eyes were trained on the spot where Gibbs had just disappeared back into MTAC, no doubt going to have a word with Sec-Nav. "Ziva, you should really go home now, you need the sleep." Tony said, his heart sinking at the prospect of going home and spending the night watching countless movies alone.
Ziva just nodded, stretching up on her toes and pressing her lips to Tony's. A moment later, she pulled away, giving him a smile that didn't reach her eyes as she turned and walked down the stairs to the Bullpen. Tony sighed, it was just his luck that not even a month after he started dating Ziva and his life became the best it had been since... well... ever, his world came tumbling down.
...
"Please explain to me why you have to stay at the most expensive hotel in town!" Tony exclaimed as he dragged Senior's bags into his suite, plopping them down by the door and looking around in astonishment. "Dad! Do you seriously need a three room suite? Can you even afford this?"
"Calm down, Junior, NCIS is paying for it." Senior replied, opening the mini-fridge and inspecting it's contents.
"What? Why?" Tony asked, looking down at Senior. After a moment of silence, in which Senior didn't feel it was prudent to respond, Tony walked over and closed the fridge, forcing his father to look up at him.
"Well, because I'm friends with Eli David, Director Vance thought that I could assist the mission that you're going on." Senior responded, standing up and brushing off his pants.
"Wait, you're coming with us?" Tony questioned, his eyes widening.
"Of course not! But when Eli comes to DC in three days, I'm going to show him around a bit. He's actually going to be staying just down the hall from me." Senior replied, smiling at his son.
"So you're going to repay NCIS for asking for your services by staying in a three room suite at the most expensive hotel in DC." Tony deadpanned, shaking his head. "And why is Eli David coming here when he's sending Ziva and I on a most possibly suicide mission to Israel?"
"That's just how he does things." Senior replied, ignoring Tony's expression at his comment. "Thank you for bringing my bags up here, Junior, but you should go now, I need to rest up for tomorrow."
"Oh yeah, sorry. I forgot that you needed to rest." Tony answered, walking towards the door. He was halfway down the hall when he heard his father call him back, sounding desperate.
"Junior!" Senior yelled again as Tony rushed back into the room, expecting to see him dead but knowing he probably just wanted him to fluff his pillows or something.
"What?" Tony asked, sighing deeply when he found Senior standing in the same place, smiling.
"I almost forgot to ask you. So, what is you're current relationship with Ziva?" He questioned, using almost the exact same words that he'd said the last time he asked Tony about their relationship.
"Ziva?" Tony repeated, trying to keep his voice steady as he thought about what Eli David would do if he found out they were dating. "Dad, I told you, we're coworkers. That's all."
"That's not what it looked like today." Senior said as Tony's stomach dropped to his feet. He'd completely forgotten that Senior had been in the Bullpen when they'd left MTAC. Biting his lip, his heart racing, Tony said the first thing that popped out of his mouth. "Dad, that was nothing. Please don't tell anyone. I gotta go, bye!"
Rushing out of the room, Tony banged his fist against the button for the elevator, tapping his foot while he waited for it to reach his level. When the doors finally opened, he slipped inside, pressing the button for the ground floor. Just as the doors were closing, though, he could have sworn he heard Senior yell, "It didn't look like nothing!"
...
Ziva slumped down on her sofa, pulling a blanket over herself as she thought about everything she'd been through today. She couldn't believe that she'd broken down like that over next to nothing earlier today. Both her and Tony had been to Israel before and had returned in one piece, so what was the problem? Ziva realized that the main issue here wasn't the fact that they were going to Tel-Aviv, but it was just the thought of what happened the last time they were there that still sent shivers down her spine. Would just the memory of everything they'd done there be enough to make Ziva break?
The other problem with them practically going into the belly of the beast was that there was a distinct possibility that Eli would find out about their relationship and 'make Tony disappear', or worse. Ziva didn't know if she'd be able to handle Tony leaving, not now, not after all they'd been through, and certainly not after they'd finally gotten together.
A loud knocking broke Ziva out of her musings, and she quickly shook her head to rid it of any other thoughts of the upcoming mission. Glancing at the clock, she noticed that it was only seven PM, she still had thirteen hours until she'd be picked up and shipped off to Israel. It actually wasn't the prospect of going back to her homeland that scared her, it was of the unknown that could happen once she got there that made her legs wobble.
Swinging open the door, Ziva was surprised to see Tony leaning against the doorframe, wringing his hands and bitting his bottom lip furiously. Noticing her looking at him curiously, Tony managed a smile before slipping past her into her apartment.
"Tony? What is wro-" She was cut off by Tony, who looked considerably like he was going to puke.
"We have a problem! A giant, humungous, problem that might possibly end in both of us dying at early ages." He burst out, pacing back and forth.
"What do you me-" Ziva was again cut off by Tony.
"My dad knows about us." He said, turning to face her and watching as the expression on her face changed from confused to astonished to angry to worried back to angry.
"What!" She yelled, her mouth popping open. "Tony, did you tell him?"
"What? No!" Tony argued.
"Then how does he know?" Ziva questioned, a stream of Hebrew cuss words flowing off of her tongue as she attempted to make sense of the situation.
"He kind of saw us... kissing..." Tony said, trailing off when his queasy expression was met with one of defeat.
"I am so stupid!" She yelled, slapping her hands against her face. "How did I not notice him?"
"No, your not stupid, Zi. I saw him, I should have said something but I forgot all about it in about five seconds." Tony admitted, shaking his head as he realized that this all really was his fault.
Ziva sat down on her couch, again wrapping herself in the blanket and staring off into space. It seemed like everything she feared was finally happening. Tony looked at her for a moment before walking over to her limited movie selection and grabbing a random DVD out of the cabinet. Slipping it into the DVD player, he moved back to the couch, sitting down beside Ziva. Wrapping his arms around her, Tony finally began to relax. As Ziva leaned her head on his shoulder, attempting to forget everything that was going on, the tension finally left his body and he was able to concentrate on that moment in time, not on anything else that might happen in the next week. The two stayed like that for the rest of the night, even after the movie ended and they fell into a restless sleep, all the time still wishing to freeze time and stay in that moment forever.
I know, super cheesy. But I was super tired when I wrote this so I just decided to leave it like it is. Review?