A/N Seriously now, Tiva fans are amazing. Every review I've had was nice and enthused, and no one was yelling at me! Score. So, thank you all for being amazing, and in return, early chapter, yeah! Review please, I like to know what people really think.
The medic shone his light into Ziva's eye, then out again. Then in again. And out again. Ziva was about to bat his hand away when he stopped.
"Well," he said to Gibbs, Tony and McGee, "neither pupil is blown, she's responsive, which is good. She isn't sluggish or off balance anymore."
"She is also right here and can hear you perfectly," Ziva grumbled. The medic half smiled, almost apologetically.
"I'd like to bring her into the hospital to make sure she doesn't have a concussion," the medic finished. They all nodded wordlessly.
"I'll bring myself in," Ziva said. "I don't need a stretcher," she added, waving away the gurney impatiently.
"You have to come in," the medic said, sternly. "And you shouldn't be driving."
"I'll bring her in," Tony offered. Ziva, Gibbs and McGee nearly froze in shock at his offer.
"That would be fine," the medic said, not noticing their shock.
"All right," Gibbs said. He motioned to the handcuffed Thomas Rancin. Rancin was still in the same room where the fight between him Ziva and Tony had taken place, guarded and unconscious by one of the agents.
"Now you can check him over," Gibbs said. He'd forced the medic to check over Ziva and Tony before attending to Rancin. They watched as half Pakistani man stirred and slowly became conscious. The medic finished with him fairly quickly, declaring him fine. Gibbs and McGee escorted him out of the room to bring him back to base.
Ziva and Tony stayed behind to get instructions from the EMT on where to go when they came to the hospital. They left Rancin's condo a few minutes after Gibbs and gratefully entered the elevator outside his door.
"Are you sure you're ok, Ziva?" Tony asked, knowing she wouldn't like the question. She didn't disappoint.
"Tony, I am fine," Ziva said. Tony dropped, seeing no point in pressing on when they both knew she was going to the hospital anyways. The both watched the little light-up numbers above the door descend. When the number six lit up, the elevator snapped to a jarring halt. Ziva and Tony barely managed to keep their footing and avoid falling flat on their faces. Tony groaned in frustration as the lights flickered off and the small, blue backup lights came on. The elevator now looked like the inside of a very dark metal freezer.
"Emergency power?" Tony yelled. "This is ridiculous." He flipped open his phone and immediately slammed it shut, seeing he had no service.
Ziva lowered herself to the ground, resting her back against the wall. Tony sat next to her, his hands on his knees. Neither spoke, each of them trapped in their own internal musings.
"It's just our luck that the elevator breaks on our trip down," Tony said. Ziva said nothing, but nodded next to him. Tony was suddenly keenly aware of the face that the side of Ziva's body was pressed tightly against the line of his. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, deciding against speaking. The third time he did this, Ziva spoke.
"Your mouth is grasping like a fish, Tony," Ziva said, amused. "Just say what you are trying to say."
"The phrase is gasping like a fish, Ziva," Tony said, annunciating her name. "I was just thinking…well, remember that conversation we had awhile ago? Well, I guess a really like time ago…"
"You are going to have to be a bit more specific, Tony, we have had a lot of conversations over the past few years."
"When we were by the vending machine," Tony started again, softly. He felt Ziva still beside him. "You asked me if I believed in soul mates, and I think I said something idiotic…"
"You did. And I said you will never understand," Ziva said quietly. Tony nodded. He reached over tentatively, without all his normal Tony-swagger. He touched the back of her hand, which was resting on her knee. When she didn't pull away, he wrapped his fingers around hers, squeezing lightly. After a few minutes of sitting this way, he turned to her.
"You're wrong," he said. "I do understand." Ziva locked eyes with him, all the implications of his words sinking in. Her normally guarded face softened. Tony smiled, for once without any trace of teasing and Ziva returned it.
Something changed then. They didn't know what at the time, only that something was different. Not broken or ruined, but changed. The sat, sides pressed against each other and hands wound together.
Two hours later, they were still stuck. They had moved around, trying to find a phone signal, but the entire elevator was a dead zone. They eventually ended up in the same position as before. Ziva's head was starting to hurt her more, causing her to lean over and rest it on Tony's shoulder. She was feeling sleepy, which she vaguely knew should be worrying her, but she was too tired to care.
The elevator suddenly jerked. The florescent lights flashed on brightly, causing Ziva to wince, and the elevator started moving down slowly. Ziva and Tony pulled themselves to their feet.
"That took a long time," Tony muttered. Ziva shielded her eyes, the lights were wreaking havoc on her headache. She could have sworn they were getting brighter, too.
"Yes, it - "Ziva's words were cut off as she crumpled on the spot. Tony managed to catch her before she smacked into the ground, barely. The elevator pinged open, revealing Tony lugging the unconscious form of Ziva to a crowd of shocked onlookers in the lavish lobby.
"What are you standing there for?" Tony yelled. "Help me!"