*STILL GIBBS POV*
Gibbs sat in the chair opposite his couch, watching Ziva, making sure she that she was okay. He'd not been to bed, or ever left her side for that matter. And Exhaustion was beginning to set in. The lack of sleep from the night before combined with the worry was starting to get to him. As much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't as young as he used to be. But as he watched Ziva he hoped that she could look past his age and just love him, for him. At this thought he stood to stretch his muscles and yawned, making a mental note to have coffee as soon as Ziva awoke from her slumber. He still couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with her. It hadn't been just today, she hadn't been herself lately. She had always arrived at work on time but seemed to lack the energy that he loved so much. He glanced at his watch in the dark, 3:30 A.M the hands read. And just as he turned to sit back in his chair, Ziva whimpered. It was a whimper of pain and it killed him to hear her like that in her sleep. Something that should be peaceful was painful for her and he couldn't bear that…
ZIVA POV
Fast asleep, nightmares ran through her mind. She was standing behind a fence watching Gibbs run back to the car for extra ammunition. He said they would need it, and as usual he was right. That infamous gut of his could predict anything and never once had she known it to be wrong. Just as Gibbs slammed the car door and shoved the ammo in his jacket, a gun fired. Ziva watched in horror as the bullet tore through the chest of the man she loved. Resisting her instinct to run and fight, she ducked from the barrage of bullets. Looking through the holes in the fence, she saw the blood of the man she loved pour out onto the ground and watched as his chest ceased its pattern of rising and falling. And with that she screamed out in anguish because the man she loved was no more…
GIBBS POV
He had begun to succumb to sleep, though only a little. And as he closed his eyes to wash them of the dry burn he felt, he was startled. Ziva was screaming. She screamed in such pain that even Gibbs could feel it. Out of his chair in less than a second, he was kneeling beside the couch. His hand was on Ziva's shoulder, gently shaking her so as to wake her but not alarm her more. And as he whispered, "Zee, Zee, it's okay, I'm here." She awoke with a startle. And as she slowly sat up, Gibbs took the space that was now open and he cradled her head in his hands. He sat there simply whispering, "Shh, shh, it's okay, you're okay now. Breathe." And while he did this he became aware of warm drops of liquid falling on his arms, and was shocked to see that Ziva David was crying...
*STILL GIBBS POV*
Ziva David, crying. That was a sight that Leroy Jethro Gibbs thought that he would never see. A sight that he never wanted to see. Here was this woman, sexy and strong, breaking down in his arms. And for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. What could be so bad that it would bring a woman who killed her own brother, to tears? He placed his thumb under her jaw and tilted it toward him so that he could look in her eyes. And as he looked in her eyes he saw pain, need, and most of all fear. But of what? What would she fear? What could she fear? She was fully capable of defending herself against almost any living thing, but the one thing she feared most wasn't a living thing at all…
ZIVA POV
She felt ashamed and embarrassed. Here she was breaking down in her boss's arms, the one person who shouldn't see her being weak. But to be honest, the tears provided a relief of sorts. A relief because she did not need to speak words for him to know that she was in pain. The migraines and the nightmares were merely a result of unrequited love. Because her worst fear was heartbreak, not that she would ever tell anyone that. A love that she thought would never love her back, and it began to take its toll on her. And as she was looking into his stormy eyes she could see a glint of hope, a small sign that maybe he did love her back. But as she picked up on this, her eyelids became heavy and she fell back to sleep dreaming sweetly in the arms of the man she loved, while Gibbs followed her into the darkness and had sweet dreams of his own…