Sorry for the wait, this chapter is a little out of character and slightly more mushy than Tony –or Ziva – are thought capable of. Here we go:

Chapter 6: Slipped away

"Ziva, I am so sorry." he said, the running now catching up to him. "I never meant to hurt you, ever."

Ziva remained silent, unsure whether or not to trust him. Her heart was in too delicate a place. The one time she had let her walls down, the one time she had ever opened her heart for someone had ended like this, crushed as though beyond repair. How could she trust him to fix that?

"I am so sorry. I have no idea how to make it up to you. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it. I'll do anything." he pleaded, the desperation in his eyes showing through in his expression. Even through his pain he was still breathtakingly spectacular.

There was a long silence, Tony waited patiently for Ziva to speak, clear that his fate was being decided. "You don't have to do anything, Tony." she finally spoke, her voice croaky from the long silence.

His face dropped. Was that good? Did that mean she would forgive him, or did it mean he had so much to make up he shouldn't even bother.

"Please" he pleaded "Please I'll do anything, even if it takes a whole lifetime I will never stop trying to make it up to you. Not for a second."

There was more silence, leaving Ziva to think again. Her heart longed to reach forward and take him back, to hold him in and never let go but her mind had a slightly more pessimistic opinion. What if he did this again? Her brain argued the pros and cons.
Take him back. Her heart pleaded.
She looked into his eyes one more time, even in all the anguish and indecision, her heart still skipped a beat looking at him.

"What about Kate?" she asked warily.

"I know who I can't live without." the sincerity in his voice was more real then anything she had ever heard. "I love you."

"What about Kate?" she repeated the earlier question; the fact that he hadn't answered it did not go unnoticed.

"Would I be here if I loved her?" he asked. The look of Ziva's face indicated that he still hadn't answered the question. "I love you. Not her, I've never felt for anyone the way I feel for you. And I'm sorry it took so long for me to figure it out. I've never felt anything this strong."

Her face relaxed, then tensed into what could only be identified as scepticism

"What about Jeanne?" she challenged.

"I didn't run after her did I? She gave me a choice and I chose the team." he moved closer to her, closing the gap between them. "I chose you."

Ziva smiled and threw herself at him. Their lips meeting with so much force it sent Tony backwards. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his rested on the small of her back, all her pain seemed to heal at his touch. He lifted her up and forced her face closer to his.

"Excuse me sir." The boarding woman tapped his shoulder, flanked by two security guards. She was clearly not impressed.

Without breaking free of the kiss he pulled out his badge and flashed it to her.

"Oh"

Ziva broke off to see what was happening. She smiled and returned to Tony so their lips met for another second.
"So I suppose that only leaves one thing, now." he smiled and got down on one knee. Ziva laughed too, slightly embarrassed as passengers stared, "Ziva David. I love you and I will spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

Ziva smiled and nodded, "Yes." she whispered, bending down to touch his lips to hers once more.

XXX

"Well that leaves one more thing to tell everyone else." Tony smiled at Ziva, his arms wrapped around her shoulders in the back of the Taxicab.
She returned his smile and held her stomach. Still unable to believe what just happened, let alone what was happening. It was all too quick.

"Also, I have to get my job back."

"I'm sure that won't be too hard." Tony smiled "You're with me. I don't work with you. I don't work with no one. And if they don't listen, I'll just take that promotion and I'll hire you on my own team." Tony was happy with his back up plan. He was beginning to trust himself in providing for Ziva.

She looked at him with a confused expression. "Promotion?"

"Oh" he hadn't told her that. "Well it pretty much speaks for itself. Spain. My own team." he smiled at the thought but then shook it away and decided he would rather spend a day with Ziva then get a thousand promotions.

"Well. Let's go get my job back." she said, clearly bothered with the slow speed the cab driver was going.

At that moment three things happened.
One. The locks on the cab slammed shut.
Two. Tony stiffened, all of a sudden aware of the hinky feeling in his stomach.
And Three. The Driver sped up to an insane - yet recognisable - speed. He turned around to face Ziva, she was too wrapped up in her thoughts about Tony that she hadn't even recognised the man. Not until now.

Ziva stiffened at the sight of the man, she would recognise his small, ratty features anywhere. And he was exactly as he looked. a little rat.

"Ziva?" Tony asked, realising her sudden uncertainty and stillness.

"Hello, Ziva. It's been a long time, yes?" the man had a heavy accent.

"What are you doing here, Ishmael?" she asked like ice.

"I'm driving an American Taxi." he smiled, Ziva's anger pleased him.

"Why has my father sent you?" she repeated through clenched teeth.

"Oh. He hasn't sent me, in fact, he fired Me." he smiled bitterly. "I didn't even think you were going to be here but when I saw you I figured this could be fun. I could get my revenge."

She moved her hand to her waist to realise her guns had been confiscated and shipped back to Tel Aviv in another box. Tony moved his hands to his waist as well, realising that Ziva - for possibly the first time in her life - was weapon less. He pulled his gun from his waist and subtly moved it to his side.

"Where do you want to go?" the man piped up, again. "We can do this anywhere you like"

"NCIS" Ziva joked sinisterly.

Ishmael simply laughed. He was going to get his revenge.

Ziva sighed and moved toward Tony to snuggle into his chest, she moved slowly as to call no attention and when she had her arms wrapped around him in an awkward hug - she was never very good at hugs - she pulled the knife that was concealed at his waist.

Tony kissed her. "Rule number 5" he murmured so low that Ishmael had no chance of hearing.

She smiled slightly at his 'joke' and resumed his sitting position with his arm now wrapped even more around Ziva, pulling her toward him tightly.
Neither of them were too worried about this man, he clearly had no idea that they had weapons on them so he was either very clever or very dumb. In the back of Ziva's mind, however, she knew not to underestimate him, that he could be very clever.

"Alright well we're here." he smiled and moved his arms out in front of him like a model in showroom. "I've always thought there is nothing better the a nice, cliché abandoned building." he smiled again at his choice of location. He knew this place would come in handy sometime. He was incredibly pleased with the way this spur-of-the-moment plan had worked out, everything was moving in his favour.

Ziva's smooth expression moved into a scowl at sight of this location. It reminded her of the place she had made her last move in Mossad, her last kill in cold blood.

Ishmael opened the door for her and Tony, pulling a hand gun out, aiming it toward the pair. Causing the smooth, dead expression to return to Ziva's face.

"Well. Come on, Ziva. What do you think?" he asked excitedly, The gun moving with his hand, though he was completely unaware of it.

Tony moved his hand to his waist, pulling the gun silently from it's holster for the second time that day. Ishmael caught sight of this and in the blink of an eye everything changed. Tony aimed his gun toward Ishmael at the same time that Ishmael grabbed Ziva and held his silver hand gun to sit on Ziva's temple.
Tony didn't drop his gun, mentally calculating the chances of hitting Ishmael while missing Ziva.

"Drop it." he ordered, slightly amused that Tony would even try. Slowly, he dropped the gun to his side, realising the odds were not good. "Very good." Ishmael's amusement grew into a grin.

While his guard was still down, Ziva pushed out of Ishmael's arms and kicked the gun out of his hands. He turned to grab it when she kicked him down, pulling the knife Tony gave her out and advancing on him.

Ishmael turned then, reaching to wrestle the knife out of her hands, forcing it to fly across the room. The pair got up an ran for it, Ziva in an early lead before he jumped at her and tackled her to the ground, all the while Tony struggling for a clear shot without hitting his partner.

She pulled free of his grasp and kicked him in his... Man parts. He fell for a second, giving Ziva a chance to recover her knife. As she turned around to fight him off she felt something pierce her stomach, something cold, penetrating through her skin.

"NO!" Tony roared. Firing several shots as Ziva looked down to see the cause of the sudden, intense stabbing pain. She groaned quietly, pulling the blood soaked knife from her abdominal before falling to the ground, fighting the urge to close her eyes.

"NO!" Tony repeated again, now at Ziva's side. "Ziva. No!"
He removed his shirt and held it to her stomach with one hand, the other hand already dialling 911.

"Tony." she smiled weakly, a hint of panic and loss in her eyes. "I'll be fine" she whispered, trying to sit up against the pressure and pain caused by him.

He smiled back, clearly panicked. "Hello?" he called into his phone, relived. "Ambulance."

"Tony." Ziva repeated, her forehead beginning to bead with sweat.

"Yes?"

"I love you." she smiled and then slipped into the cool, painless unconsciousness

XXX

Thankyou all for reading, I'll update soon. :P:P

Xox Mel