"Argh!" Tony growled fisting his hair into his hands as he stepped quickly into the elevator, trying to escape. He paced quickly back and forth inside the tiny metal walls, going over what had just happened. It was not the way he intended to wake up this morning and certainly never the way he imagined sharing his first kiss with Ziva. Not one orchestrated for an undercover mission, or when she was unconscious but the first time he'd actually kissed her fully conscious and aware that he was doing so because he'd wanted to of his own free will. He never wanted it to be in the heat of the moment, at least not in anger or in trying to convince her she was more then a mere obligation as his partner. "Damn it!" He pounded his fist into the side wall thinking about her tears and that he'd brought them on.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened, Tony's eyes immediately landing on Malachi Ben-Gidon conversing with Gibbs, McGee and Liat as the only four people on the floor at this ungodly early hour.
"Gidon…" He growled stalking towards him, funneling his rage over the entire situation on the one he held responsible for his current emotional turmoil.
"Special Agent DiNozzo." Malachi barely had time to greet him before Tony threw down his suit jacket and threw a right hook across Gidon's face and an immediate left upper cut that followed. Knocking the unsuspecting Gideon off balance temporarily with the blows before he countered, landing a solid fist to Tony's left eye and pushing him back.
"All right! All right! Stop it!" Gibbs stepped in, separating the two who were both in fighting positions.
"That was a cheap shot, Agent DiNozzo. You only get one of those, I promise. Do that again and I'll snap your neck!" Gidon threatened, wiping the blood running from his nose and lips with the back of his hand. "I give the love of your life back to you and that's the thanks I get?"
"You son-of-a-bitch!" Tony growled back, not caring that his nose was bleeding onto his shirt. "She never would have been shot if you'd done your job and protected her like you said you could! The first punch was for failing in her security and the second was for making us believe she was dead! I should rip your damn heart out with a spoon…" Tony surged forth once more, ready to rumble with so much emotion exploding from him after being held back for so long.
"Stop it!" Gibbs pushed him back roughly, "He'll kill you in two seconds, DiNozzo! You had your moment now let it go!" Gibbs forced Tony to look him in the eye, knowing Tony was no match for the lethal Israeli assassin. He'd been lucky as it was to have gotten in two sucker punches before Gidon landed a single punch. "Let it go!" Gibbs demanded seeing Tony was still on fire from the look in his eyes. "McGee! Take DiNozzo for a walk!"
"I'm fine, Boss!" Tony snapped back, not wanting to leave.
"Then go be fine, somewhere else!" Gibbs responded and Tony's eyes flashed to his, remembering Gibbs telling Ziva the exact same thing just a week ago when she refused to leave the building, so focused on her father's killer and revenge she wasn't thinking clearly. "It's not a request! Go!" He ordered them both and McGee guided Tony out by the arm.
"What the hell was that about?" Ben-Gidon asked leaning over trying to stem the blood flow from his nose with the Kleenex Gibbs was handing him.
"You said it yourself. You made him believe the love of his life died." Gibbs cocked his head to the side, feeling none to sorry for the man before him. He was actually kind of proud of Tony for doing what he felt like doing the moment he learned that Gidon had fooled them all into believing Ziva was dead, even if it were for her own benefit. It certainly wasn't for theirs at the time being.
"I saved her life!" Gidon bit back incredulously.
"You failed to protect it in the first place…twice actually. Leaving her to go it alone in Africa and then this." Gibbs realized and shifted his weight, "You're lucky he didn't have a gun."
"Wow, Tony…what the hell was that?" McGee asked the moment they were outside the building with Tony pacing up and down the sidewalk, wiping with bare hands at the blood draining from his nose. McGee couldn't believe that Tony had actually attacked a Mossad Assassin with just his fists.
"I was angry. She was crying and I kissed her." Tony rambled out still thinking about his conversation with Ziva.
"Whoa, what?" McGee stopped short in confusion.
"We were arguing and she was crying. I was angry and then, I just kissed her and stormed out. He was the first person I saw when I stepped off the elevator. He made me believe she was dead!" Tony spun in a circle, stalking back the other way with waves of anger still spilling off of him. "That wasn't how I pictured kissing her for the first time when we're both upset."
"You kissed Ziva?" McGee asked trying to put the pieces together and Tony nodded. "And then what?"
"I walked away. I had to get out of the room or I was going to lose it!" Tony used his thumb against his nostril, trying to blow the excess blood from his nose into the grass, "Argh! Damn it!" He cursed, "I think he broke my nose." The pain now finding its way through his adrenaline rush.
"Wait, why was she crying to begin with?" McGee asked feeling suddenly protective of Ziva, knowing that she rarely if ever cried at least to his knowledge unless something was very wrong. The first time he ever witnessed her breaking down sobbing was when she realized her father had been killed just last week. The idea of her crying frightened him to a degree, knowing how strong she'd always been and his protective brother instincts took over.
"She was upset with me, I don't know. It was all happening so fast and I'd just woken up! Had the most horrific dream of her dying and then when I wake, she's suddenly a Spanish Inquisitioner and my instincts went up to be on the defensive!" Tony was just as frustrated that he'd made her cry and angry she kept pushing. "I don't know what the hell happened, honestly! One thing led to another and here we are!" He threw his hands up in the air, "And Schmeil!" His voice growled remembering his part in all of this, "The old man sold me out! Told Ziva of my reaction when I thought she died. Told her that I kissed her!"
"He didn't sell you out, Tony." McGee shook his head, trying not to smile at the memory, "During his recanting of the last few days, Ziva turned her Spanish Inquisition on him, repeatedly asking for more details. The poor old man is defenseless against her. Especially when she bats those long eye lashes and speaks so sweetly to him. Don't be too hard on the guy. He can't help but give her whatever she wants when she asks that way. He's wrapped around her little finger, I think." McGee chuckled softly thinking about how the man folded instantly under Ziva's pressure.
"Damn her and her inability to let things go!" Tony sighed sitting heavily on the nearest bench, finding it hard to breathe now that his nose was swelling.
"Well, you only have yourself to blame for that." McGee shrugged taking a seat next to him.
"What's that supposed to mean? How is this my fault too?" Tony flashed his fiery green eyes at him.
"Well, you never came back to see her. She knew something was wrong if you were avoiding her so she went straight to the soft target to find out why." McGee chuckled folding his arms over his chest watching the people walk by.
"Schmeil!" Tony growled again, unable to stay mad too long at the old man knowing he'd likely melt under the same pressure from Ziva. In fact, he did, he realized which is why their last meeting ended in a fiery kiss in the most unexpected way. She had the ability to get under men's skin.
"McGee," Gibbs gained their attention walking towards them with a steely tone, "Escort our Israeli guests to see you know who. Don't leave them alone with her for second, got it?" He instructed still unwilling to leave anyone but those he absolutely trusted alone with Ziva when she wasn't in a position to defend herself.
"On it, Boss." McGee patted Tony's knee in silent support and jumped up, scurrying off not wanting to be around for whatever Gibbs had in mind for Tony.
Gibbs sat quietly beside Tony in the seat McGee had just vacated, unnerving Tony as the many minutes ticked by in silence.
"You're lucky he didn't kill you. Break your neck for that stunt, DiNozzo." Gibbs finally spoke, crossing his arms over his chest. "Did you want to get the shit kicked out of you?" Gibbs had a feeling that Tony needed the physical release after so many days of being on the edge.
"Maybe." Tony answered honestly after a moment, shifting his jaw with his hand feeling how tight it felt now after being punched. "It sure felt good to hit him though." He smiled slightly. "Nothing less then he deserved."
"Oh, I'm not arguing there. He had it coming." Gibbs clasped his shoulder giving it a squeeze and surprising Tony when he saw his boss's faint smile, "Next time you feel like taking on a fully trained assassin, how about you give me a heads up first? Give me the chance to prepare back up if you need it. Maybe not in the office either." He gave Tony's shoulder a small shake, teasing.
"Sorry, Boss. Won't happen again. I just wasn't thinking." Tony shook his head, feeling a stabbing pain shoot through his face to the back of his eyes from the punch.
"The last I saw you this morning, you were still asleep in our ninja's room." Gibbs spoke quietly, not wanting to mention Ziva's name in public, outdoors. "The next I knew you came charging off the elevator like a raging bull. What happened?"
"She has a way of getting under my skin." Tony sighed feeling deflated now as the adrenaline wore off.
"Hmm." Gibbs nodded, sitting quietly and waiting for a further explanation. Tony had only stated the obvious.
"I kissed her." Tony admitted out loud, staring straight ahead afraid of the reaction he'd see on Gibb's face.
"Hmm." Gibbs nodded again. 'Finally' he sighed internally.
"That's it? All you're going to say about me kissing her is, 'hmm?" Tony looked at him in disbelief. He didn't know what to think and inched slightly away from Gibbs fearful of an impending explosion.
"You know the rules, DiNozzo." Gibbs said slowly.
"Yeah… I know them." Tony sighed deflated in defeat before he even began. "Rule #12- 'never date a coworker."
"Yes. But that's not the one I was thinking about." Gibbs tilted his head to the side and shifted his folded arms.
"What one were you referring to?" Tony asked confused.
"Ones a little higher on the list of importance." Gibbs shifted his gaze to look Tony in the eye. The time had come. "Rules #5 and #8, DiNozzo. I expect you to follow them in this regard as the Rules of Engagement if you proceed any further."
"Rule #5, 'You don't waste good… and Rule #8 'take nothing for granted." Tony repeated what those rules were out loud, still a bit confused by where Gibbs was going with this.
"Exactly." Gibbs nodded softly.
"So let me get this straight. You're saying that Rules higher on the list trump those that are lower? 'Not wasting good' and 'taking nothing for granted' overrule 'never dating a coworker?" He asked with voice rising, trying to hold back any edge of excitement at the prospect.
"Well that depends… is this going to be just another casual fling, DiNozzo?"
"No." Tony answered immediately, "Definitely, no. Not if I can help it."
"I didn't think so. Just clarifying." Gibbs nodded with a soft smile, "Then I'd say the Rules stand. And you must follow the rules… 'don't waste good' and 'take nothing for granted." He spoke slowly holding Tony's eyes, conveying the seriousness of the statements. "The bond you have with her, the chemistry… is a good thing, Tony. Something like that is rare and comes once in a lifetime. I know." He sobered and Tony swallowed hard knowing Gibbs was speaking from experience. "And 'take nothing for granted,' well that speaks for itself. After mourning her death twice now, only to bring her back… you don't need me to tell you what a miracle that is."
Tony nodded softly, "So does this mean we have your blessing? To try and work this thing, out? You won't separate us as a team if we try to make this work?"
"We're family, Tony." Gibbs reached over and grasped his shoulder again in support. "Nothing and no one, is going to separate us. Certainly not me." He gave a small smile. "I only want the best for you both. This has been a long time coming. After the events of the last two weeks, I think its time. You're both ready."
Tony swallowed hard, not expecting Gibbs to react this way but nodded in acknowledgement. The only thing that stood in the way now of he and Ziva being something more, were he and Ziva.
"Come on," Gibbs stood motioning Tony up, "Let's go get your nose fixed, Rocky." He teased with a smile and Tony shook his head.
"Rocky?" Tony smiled, "I was thinking more Ali! Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!" He mimicked his stealthy punches into the air again causing Gibbs to shake his head.
"Keep dreaming, DiNozzo. You were definitely the scrappy underdog in this situation today." Gibbs held open the door for the young man still pretend punching the air with the bloodied face.
"I can live with that. Maybe I should wait until after our ninja hears about this." Tony felt the bridge of his nose, crooked and extremely tender to the touch, "She may just break it again after she hears I attacked Malachi." He smiled softly.
"Maybe." Gibbs laughed softly in agreement, "But only because she'll be overcome with fear that you could have done something so stupid and reckless as to attack a Mossad assassin with just your fists."
"He did what?" Ziva asked in disbelief staring at Malachi before the end of her bed, bruised and bloodied with a splint over his nose and two clear black eyes forming. Liat stood beside him with arms crossed in a defensive posture while McGee stood of to the side opposite them, his head on a swivel watching the reactions. "Tony, hit you?"
"Oh yes, he hit me. Came barreling off the elevator and before I could even greet him hello, threw two fists into my face." Malachi was less then pleased to learn Tony had broken his nose. His pride was what was damaged the most from the flying fists.
"Why?" Ziva asked in disbelief with heart racing that Tony could be so stupid as to attack a Mossad Assassin with nothing but his fists. Certainly, he had a death wish to attempt something so moronic, she thought.
"He's a man in love, I suppose. He was angry with the sequence of events that has brought you here." Malachi motioned towards her position in the hospital bed with a smirk on his features and one appearing on Liat's face as well. "The man temporarily lost his mind."
"I don't understand. What are you talking about?" Ziva ignored the first statement completely and moved on to what sequence of events brought about this attack from Tony. Something that didn't go unnoticed by McGee.
"Let's just say, Tony thought Gidon here could have done a better job protecting your six in Israel, Ziva." Gibbs announced coming swiftly into the room to stand beside her. Not wanting to leave her for too long alone with these people. "He was justifiably angry."
"And unforgiving," Liat added with a bemused smile at the situation between Ziva and Tony that seemed to be evolving before their eyes, "For us leading him to believe you'd died." She seemed to take a small amount of pleasure in that, feeling as though she knew a secret that Ziva did not.
"Did you hurt him?" Ziva asked quietly swallowing hard, afraid of what damage her former Mossad leader may have inflicted on Tony.
Before Malachi could answer, Tony stepped into the room. His nose sporting the same type of splint and an ugly bruise already forming over his eye. The blood stains shown brightly on his white shirt as he folded his hands in front of him quietly, standing beside McGee in the back. Ziva's eyes scanning him quickly for more severe injuries and brows furrowing when he wouldn't look at her.
"They've equally broken each other's noses." Gibbs added feeling the tension in the room so thick he could cut it with a knife, "Let's move on. Tell us what you know, Gidon."
"Bodnar was watching the funeral yesterday as we predicted. He believes he's successfully killed Ziva. Shortly after he made contact with several agents loyal to him within Mossad that are willing to help him prepare to make his move for the Directors spot."
"What move?" Gibbs asked quietly.
"You're the next choice for Director, Malachi." Ziva realized and spoke out loud. "He'll be coming for you next."
"Yes." Malachi nodded though seem unfazed, "He'll never get that far. Currently he's still planning on how to accomplish that which buys us time. He has no idea we have an inside source into his movements presently. The last communication we received was that he's hold up somewhere near here, on the East Coast of the United States. He's rounding up those within American borders who also support him to prepare his final move. With Director David and his rightful heir in Ziva out of the way, I am the only thing that stands left in his path. We've made it known that I was coming to the US for this visit."
"You're using yourself as bait?" Tony realized what this man was doing.
"Yes," Malachi answered unflinching, "He believes I'm here to work with NCIS in order to locate him for the murders of Eli and Ziva. He has no idea thus far, we're intending to pull him into a trap."
"On our soil." Gibbs added, not liking this one bit.
"This is where it began, Agent Gibbs, when Director David came to see his daughter and died. I cannot help if Illan Bodnar chose to make this his battleground. If we'd buried Ziva in Israel, then he'd be there, observing and staging his next move. But alas," He glanced back to Ziva, "Here we are."
"You're blaming her for this now?" Tony jumped to her defense immediately on edge, hands on hips to control the urge to punch the man once more, "You're really something else you know that? First, you leave her to die in that Godforsaken terrorist camp in Somalia, then you try and throw her under the bus for the Damacles disaster, you fail to keep her safe on your watch in Israel and now blame her for being shot and coming home to heal and be fake-buried?"
"Tony," Ziva interjected, feeling torn between pride in his defense of her and also guilt and shame that she didn't deserve such loyalty from him when she'd been the one to turn on him that put all of these events into motion years ago. She showed him no loyalty then, and here he was, 'still having her back, as he always had.'
"We all make choices, Agent DiNozzo. I can live with mine. Only Ziva can decide if she can live with hers." Malachi challenged him back with penetrating dark eyes, "You forgot to mention, that I saved her life in Israel. I sent her back to you and here, with heart still beating."
"Yeah, and in such a kind way too." Tony scoffed sarcastically.
"Does it matter how?" Malachi looked at him incredulously with arm gestures waving towards Ziva in the bed, "Here she is. Still alive. The how doesn't matter."
'My God,' Tony thought looking between Malachi and Ziva. Not an hour ago she was arguing with him stating almost the exact same thing. How the 'how didn't matter.' They must have been trained by the same man with such logic; Eli David had certainly left his unmistakable mark.
"The how matters when the people I care about get burned in the process." Tony seethed quietly through gritted teeth. "I can appreciate that you saved her life. I'm grateful to you for that, but there are ways, Gidon. You could have let us know without making us suffer the agony of believing we'd lost her for over 14 hours."
Ziva was stunned silent; she couldn't believe she was hearing Tony say such things in a crowded room such as this. Not caring that Gibbs was there or anyone else, and was speaking as if it were only he and Malachi alone in the room.
"It's amazing, Ziva," Malachi ignored Tony and turned his attention back to her with a sly smile, "The kind of loyalty you command here and from these people. I find it fascinating how well you've infiltrated yourself into their lives and have become one of them. Ruled by their emotions to defend and protect you at all cost. Throwing aside all logic and reasoning where you're concerned."
Gibbs stepped forward, placing himself more between Malachi and Ziva in a protective stance. "You say that as if it's an insult, Gidon." He wasn't about to let them insult Ziva for being loved and cared for by them.
"No, please, don't get me wrong, Agent Gibbs." Malachi put his hands up in defense with a soft smile on his face, "I meant no disrespect. I am in actual awe of the love and devotion you all show towards her. The way Ziva and I were raised and trained: duty, family and sacrifice mean something completely different. For us, you sacrificed the ones you love for a greater good. For you, you are willing to sacrifice a greater good for the ones you love. I find it utterly fascinating how much this perspective has changed for Ziva. To be able to give up the position of Director of Mossad, the pride of Israel, for a small position in an American Intelligence group because of her devotion to all of you is astounding." His eyes flitted to Tony and then around to McGee and Gibbs whom were all standing defensively ready to attack if they'd moved towards Ziva in protective mode. "For Ziva to choose love and family over power and duty is remarkable." His eyes landed on Ziva with a curious smile.
"They've always had my back." Ziva spoke quietly willing the tears to stay in, swallowing hard remembering when she came to that realization in Somalia and having it proved over and over to her again in the years since, including now.
Gibbs turned to look at her with serious eyes, speaking only to her in that moment, "And we always will, Ziva."