DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NCIS. BLAH.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Hayley (OutCold) because she is going away to France for 6 weeks! We are all gonna miss you! Love you loads!

Ziva wiped the streams of tears off of her cheeks. Her eyes were red from crying and her face was dreadfully pale. She was extremely upset. And it was all a secret to the team. The more she thought about it, the more depressed she became. Why did Tony have to bring up the subject? It was always there at the back of her mind, but a simple question could bring it to the front. And after that, it took an incredibly long time to force back again, where it would stay forever. Stupid Tony! It's amazing how his curiosity could turn into such a disaster. Ziva had been thinking about him since he left. Thirty minutes ago. Though it had felt like hours on end. Alone in the silence.

Unexpectedly, a cell phone rang. It was Ziva's. She glanced at the caller ID.

"Tony DiNozzo"

It was such a bad time. She DID NOT want to talk to him right now.

She let the cell ring out, only to hear it again five minutes later.

"Tony DiNozzo"

This time she immediately cut it off before the second ring.

Wasn't it clear enough to him?

One last tear trickled down her face before she decided to pull herself together. Nobody could see her like this. Especially not Tony. Not now.

An hour later Gibbs and Tony appear rushing through the doorway. Tony has his black NCIS cap on his head and a rather drained expression on his face. Gibbs looked same as always. Ziva smiled weakly as they hurried past, trying to hide her depression. It obviously hadn't worked.

"Ziva, you didn't answer your cell." Tony grumbled.

"I know."

"Did you have a particular reason?"

"I was busy."

Gibbs swung round on his desk chair to face the two.

"Think we got our killer." he announced in his usual way.

"DiNozzo, come with me to the interrogation room. Ziva, go with him and maybe you two can kiss and make up."

"Urgh. Highly unlikely.." Ziva smirked.

"Yeah Gibbs, if you haven't noticed, we're not exactly-"

Gibbs had already gone into the elevator and the doors closed with a satisfying "ping".

Ziva and Tony were left alone in the bullpen. They stared at each other for about a minute, speechless. But one of them was contemplating deeply.

Reilly was tall and thin. He had dark hair and beautiful vivid green eyes. He was very protective with Ziva, being her partner and all, but there was something more between them. Ziva loved him. He loved Ziva. But before it could become anything more, it was too late. There was a pain in her stomach that wouldn't go away while she was thinking about him. A lump in her throat. A tear in her eye that was incontrollable. She couldn't hold it back. It slowly rolled down her cheek and dropped to the floor.

"Ziva? Are you crying?"

"No…Tony…"

"Hey, hey. Ziva. It's okay."

Unpredictably Tony seemed to be comforting Ziva. He looked at her compassionately. But why did he change all of a sudden?

"Ziva, you've got to tell me what's been going on lately. It may not look like it but I do care. Please."

This was followed by a sniffle from Ziva.

"Permission to hug?" he asked her.

She couldn't help but laugh.

"Of course Tony." she nodded.

They wrapped their arms around each other and hugged. Ziva closed her eyes. It felt so good to be in the safe arms of a friend. Kinda like her and Reilly…

Her mind just clicked.

"Why am I doing this? She thought guiltily.

But it just felt so right. Here. In his arms.

The elevator pinged again. The figure of Gibbs emerged from the sliding doors.

"It's been ten minutes. Are you lovebirds coming or not?" he smiled.

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