Dead at Last Ch.7

A/N: After great time away, I am back! I left for a while because of some…difficulties writing. I personally think this chapter is a little fluffy, but if you guys like it….HOOPLAH! Enjoy!

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"I'm at Ziva's apartment."

. . .

I honestly don't know how I ended up here. I seriously don't. I thought I was only blurred from the world for five minutes, but her apartment is about twenty blocks away…maybe even more. I take out my phone and check the time, one 'o five PM. Crud, I've been gone for over an HOUR and five minutes. I also have a missed call from Abby, Gibbs, AND McGee; with texts asking where I am and the last one telling me Gibbs was en route to my apartment ten minutes ago. I know they are there by now. I ignore the little feeling in my gut telling me to book it to my apartment and bend down to find the key Ziva had hid behind a loose piece of board on the wall. She had obviously forgotten about it when she took off last night. I unlock the door and was pleasantly surprised when I saw everything was exactly the same way it was the last time I was there. I then sit on HER couch and pick up HER phone, but I dial MY number.

"Where the H*ll are you, DiNozzo?" Gibbs demanded once he picks up my house phone.

"…Ziva's apartment," I admit with defeat.

"WHY?"

"Well…you see," I stutter.

"No, I don't"

"Well ,neither do I, boss. Abby told me to go…get some soup, but the moment I walked out of my door, it felt like an out of body experience. The next thing I knew, I was standing right outside of Ziva's door. It had been over an hour and I didn't even realize you guys called."

There was a moment of silence as Gibbs thought over what I had just said. "Be in the squad room in fifteen," he said at last.

"But, I don't have a car!" I exclaimed, remembering that I walked here.

"I don't care," he hung up, leaving me to find a way to the office. I started to jog the way down, but my legs quickly protested and gave out. I glance at the street and spot a line of taxis coming toward me. I run into the center divider and attempt to hail one. I watch with great frustration as the multi-color taxi stream ignored me. As I begin to loose hope, a lone yellow taxi comes around the corner.

I wave my arms wildly above me, and pray it stops. The taxi almost betrayed me, for it braked 3 feet in front of me. "00000 Federal Lane," I recite as I jump into the back seat. "I'll pay extra if you sstep on it. And when I say step on it, I mean you have to have me there in the next," I glance at my watch quickly, "twelve minutes."

"You've got it," the driver responded, stepping on the gas harder, causing my body to be thrown against the back seat. "I hate to be rude, but what's so important?"

I glance to the buildings around me. "Umm, I am late for an important meeting," I lie carefully. I don't want to admit my defeat or weakness. I was trying to get away from Ziva, but only managed to end up closer. I ended up at her apartment. This means I have a very strong weakness about her being hurt, and Gibbs is defiantly going to question me about that later. When I see the office building, I grab my wallet and pull out two twenties. I toss them at The driver through the little window and jump out just as the taxi slows its speed dramatically. "Thanks for the ride!" I call, already ten paces from the yellow taxi. I suddenly gain a new sense of energy and burst into a sprint, and manage to get up to the bull pen with two minutes to spare.

. . .

"I'm here, boss," I breath as the elevator door opens and I trip over my feet into the office.

Gibbs looks up from his computer, surprised that I actually made it on time. "Sit, Breathe," he says and points at my desk.

"Why do I need to be here, boss?" I ask as I wobble to my desk.

"You are the only person I know who can get into Ziva's head that isn't trained to do it. Ducky can do it too, but he's going to need help from you and Abby. I can't call you every time we need help, it's illogical."

"Oh," I say with disappointment as I slump into my chair. I had hoped with all my might that we had gotten a lead, but apparently not.

A few minutes pass and Gibbs gets up from his own chair, "Okay, get up," he says as he walks to the elevator.

"Do we have a lead?" I ask with great excitement, following my boss.

"I have no clue, Abby called and said to come down. You figure it out," he replied gruffly.

I try to remember when there was a phone call coming into the office, but come up blank, "Shhe called?"

When I say this, Gibbs's face softens ever so slightly. "You really miss her, don't you? I thought you were just over-reacting."

"Why would I just over-react? She's been here for over six years! She was- is my partner. I—"

"Love her?" Gibbs asks quietly.

My eyes widen when he states this so…bluntly. "Gibbs! I would never break one of your rules!" I defend quickly.

"Rule number twelve isn't a rule that can be avoided, Tony. Love happens. It's actually there to remind myself, actually."

"About Jenny, I know. She told me when you… retired. She said she hurt you so much when she left you. And I hurts me for you to think I would betray you. I wasn't going to say love, I was going to that I don't want Ziva to die. Too many women have died for this agency. Ziva doesn't deserve that after all she's been through." I finish just as the elevator door opens. This allows me to walk out without a response. I allow Gibbs to follow me into the lab.

"Gibbs!" Abby exclaims, turning around. When she sees me instead of Gibbs, her smile turns into a frown. "Tony, I told you I didn't want to see you until…." She then realized Gibbs knew I was here when he strolled in behind me. "Gibbs, I told him not to do anything stupid. If he did anything, it's not my fault," she insists, putting her hands up.

"He's here because, yes, he did something stupid. But he's also here to help. You actually did have something to do with that, but I'll discuss that with you later. We are here because you called me, remember?" He reminded the Goth.

"Oh, right. I forgot about that." Abby said, turning to her computer. "Looking at everything we found in Ziva's apartment, we have a big fat nothing. But from what Tony thinks, a lot of possibilities come up.

"In the D.C. area, there are 8 vacant industrial buildings. In the areas surrounding D.C. though, there are over 30 buildings. WE can use all owr manpower and check into that. Or we just use Rule Number Five and 'Don't waste the good,' and just go into overtime to look for any other variables. And because we all love Ziva, we won't ask for money or use comp. time." Abby concluded.

McGee chose that instant to burst into the lab from Abby's office. "Ziva could have been hiding in plain sight. She could have used an alias."

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A/N: I currently have no idea on where this is going. I have no idea if I even want to CONTINUE this story. Please review and tell me what to do. I will not write anymore until I get at least 7 reviews. Thanks so much. And please give me some ideas.