Chapter Seven

Okay, here is the next chapter. Something pretty big happens in this chapter, so make sure to read it. And thank you all for the reviews for the last chapter. Happy reading, and enjoy.

P.S. Happy belated Father's Day to all you dad's out there.

Previously:

"Sweet cheeks, I gotta go. They have a lead on the case. I should be back later tonight. I love you."

"I love you too. Be careful." Ziva had a bad feeling in her gut about Tony leaving, but she chose to ignore it.

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Twenty minutes after Tony left his apartment, he was at the house of their suspect, Petty Officer Christopher Calhoun. In the current case, Petty Officer Matthew O'Neil had been shot in the head, execution style. The team had learned that Officer Calhoun and Officer O'Neil had been roommates at the academy, and O'Neil had slept with Calhoun's girlfriend, Jaila Rodriguez. O'Neil and Calhoun's ex-girlfriend were engaged to be married, and Calhoun wanted revenge.

When the team arrived at Calhoun's house, they heard a woman screaming. Immediately, they barged inside, and saw Calhoun with a gun pointed at the back of Jaila's head, who was kneeling in front of him. Jaila had a blindfold over her eyes, and was screaming and crying hysterically.

"NCIS! Put your weapon down Officer Calhoun!" Gibbs yelled once inside the house.

"No, she cheated on me and ruined my life! She'll get the same thing that her bastard fiancé got."

"Officer Calhoun, my name is Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. Why don't you just put your gun down, step away from Miss Rodriguez, and we can talk about this like two grown men." Tony did not want to see Jaila get shot in front of him. She reminded him so much of Ziva, and he couldn't take seeing that.

"You don't understand! I loved her with all my heart, and she just used me! She and O'Neil deserve to be together, in hell!" Calhoun screamed at Tony.

"Officer Calhoun, if you step away from her we can talk. I'm sure it's all just a big misunderstanding," Tony spoke again. As he was about to open his mouth again, a gunshot went off, and he felt something metal rip through his shoulder. He collapsed to the ground howling in pain.

Another gunshot went off, and Gibbs had shot Calhoun square between the eyes, and was now untying Jaila. McGee was already on his phone calling 911, while looking over Tony.

"We've got an agent down at 1783 Mapleton Drive. He's been shot in the shoulder and we need an ambulance now!" barked McGee. After he hung up, he kept placing pressure on Tony's shoulder. He was losing a lot of blood fast.

"Come on Tony, don't do this. You have to stay strong. Think of Ziva, and your son. Do you want him to not have a father?" McGee did not want to tell Ziva that Tony had died.

Tony's green eyes were turning grey, and he was getting pale. As he gasped for breath, he spoke to McGee. "Tell Ziva…I love her…and our son…"

"No Tony, you're too strong for this. You've survived the plague, you can do this."

"Sorry McGee…can't…" And with that, Tony's world faded to black.

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It was now 0100 in the morning, and Tony still wasn't home, and hadn't even called yet. He had been gone for almost five hours, and Ziva was getting extremely nervous. As she opened her phone to call him, she got a call from Gibbs.

"Shalom Gibbs. What is taking so long, and where is Tony?"

"That's what I'm calling about Ziver. You have to come to Bethesda."

"What's wrong? Did Tony shoot a suspect or something?" She prayed that was the case and not something worse.

"Actually, it's the other way around. He was shot in the shoulder by the killer."

"No. This is not happening. Tony cannot get shot. He has to be here to help raise our son." Ziva was crying now, something Gibbs had rarely seen or heard her do.

"I'm sure he'll get through this. I already called Abby, and she's on her way to pick you up, then you two will come here."

"Okay. Bye Gibbs." After she hung up the phone, she felt her knees go weak and collapsed onto the floor, leaning against the bathroom door. She couldn't believe that this was happening to her. She kept saying to herself "Tony will not die, he's too strong" over and over again, repeating it like a mantra. She didn't know what she would do if he died, and she had to raise little Anthony all by herself.

Fifteen minutes later, Ziva heard someone knocking frantically at her door. She got up slowly, wiped away her tears, and when she opened the door she saw Abby, with black makeup streaked down her face.

"Oh my God Ziva, are you okay? I can't believe this is happening to Tony," Abby said between her sobs, then hugged Ziva the best she could without squishing her rather large stomach.

"I am fine Abby, and I cannot believe it either. Can we just get to Bethesda quickly?" Ziva was trying hard not to cry again. She hated it when people saw her this weak.

"Yeah, I'm gonna break about ten road rules on the way there." Ziva grabbed her bag and left with Abby.

Ten minutes and many traffic violations later, Ziva and Abby arrived at Bethesda, which was normally a twenty minute drive from Ziva and Tony's apartment. When they got there, they immediately saw McGee waiting for them, and he brought them up to the third floor, where the rest of the team was waiting for Tony.

As soon as the elevator door opened at the third floor, Abby came rushing out of the elevator in search of the team.

"Abby, wait for Ziva. You know she can't run that fast anymore," as soon as the words left McGee's lips, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. A pregnant Ziva was still a scary Ziva.

As Ziva waddled out of the elevator, she glared at McGee. "What makes you think I cannot out run you McGee?"

"I was just looking out for you."

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much," she said, then walked to where Abby was waiting for them, where the rest of the team was. She saw Gibbs, and he immediately put his arms around her. He could feel her start to cry again.

"Ziva, it'll be okay. He's in surgery now, and should be out within the hour. They'll let us know when they know something." Ziva just nodded against his shoulder. He led her to a seat in the waiting room, and sat down next to her with his arm around her shoulders.

"I should have been there Gibbs. I should have protected him. If you hadn't put me on desk duty, I would have been out there and he wouldn't have gotten shot!" Ziva yelled through her tears.

"And then what Ziva? You would be the one in there, and you're not just looking out for yourself now. You have a baby to take care of. Tony would never forgive himself if he lost you and the baby."

"It's all my fault. I should have been there backing him up." Her body shook from the wretched sobs.

Gibbs just tightened his grip on her shoulders. "Ziva, there was nothing you could have done to save him. This is not your fault, or anyone else's except the bastard that shot him. Don't beat yourself up over this, okay?" She just nodded her head against his shoulder while she kept crying.

About an hour later, a doctor in a white lab coat came out and looked around the waiting room. "Family of Anthony DiNozzo?" he asked.

All six of them stood up. "We all are," Gibbs responded.

"He made it out of surgery, but he lost a lot of blood and is in a coma right now. I'm sorry, Mr.?" he didn't know how to address any of the team.

"Gibbs, and this is Ziva David," he said.

Ziva started sobbing even harder. She needed Tony to wake up and tell her everything was going to be okay.

"Can we see him," she managed to say while gasping for breath between sobs.

"I'm sorry, Miss David, but only immediate family can see him for the time being."

Gibbs pulled out his badge and flashed it at the doctor. "Listen, we're conducting an investigation and need to speak to him as soon as he wakes up. Also, Ziva is his pregnant girlfriend and a Mossad assassin, so I'd let her see him if I were you."

The doctor visibly gulped. "I suppose I can make an exception, because these are special circumstances. But only you two for now. The rest of them can wait until tomorrow. He's in room 308."

"Thank you, Dr…?"

"Dr. Samuel Woods," the doctor replied.

"Thank you Dr. Wood," Ziva said, then followed Gibbs into Tony's room.

When they reached the doors of room 308, Gibbs barged right in, while Ziva hesitated a little bit. She was mentally preparing herself for the sight she was about to see.

After a minute, she walked through the doors and saw Tony lying in the hospital bed. His skin was grey and ashen, and he was hooked up to many beeping machines. There were tubes coming out of everywhere and needles poking him in different places.

"Ziver, are you okay?" Gibbs asked her. She had been staring at him with a blank look in her eyes for the past two minutes.

"Yeah, I'm alright. It's just a shock, seeing him like this," she replied, and her eyes started to water again. "Damn it, why can I not stop crying?"

"Ziva, your boyfriend and the father of your unborn child was just shot and is in a coma. I think its okay to cry a little bit and show your emotions." Gibbs knew she didn't want anyone to see her upset and weak, but she needed to get all of her emotions out.

"Why should I? Emotions are a sign of weakness, and I am not weak Gibbs!" She spat at him. By now there were tears streaming down her face.

"Because if you keep your emotions all bottled up, you're just gonna explode one day and say something awful at the wrong time to someone you really care about. You're going to be a mother now, and you can't blow up at your kids, they won't understand it. You just have to let your emotions out a little bit at a time." He had moved over to the chair she was sitting in and was hugging her.

"I do not want people to think I am weak though," she said as she sniffled.

"No body will think you are weak for being human. It's a normal human quality."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," he said, then went back to the chair he was previously sitting in. About an hour later, both Gibbs and Ziva had been lulled to sleep by the beeping of the machines.

A/N: Uh, oh, Tony's hurt. Please don't hate me for hurting him. This is my longest chapter to date, almost five pages long! It had some cute Gibbs/Ziva father-daughter moments, which make you wanna go "Aww." But anyways, make sure you read next chapter to find out what happens, and please review (: