A/N: Alright here is the next chapter. Part way through the chapter we are going to take a little trip down memory lane. Which I think will continue in the next few chapters. Hopefully it will start to fill in the holes and explain how in my little Zibbs world their feelings develop. As always thanks to Zivacentric, your input is invaluable. Hope you all enjoy. Oh and sorry Ziver69 no one is snapping just yet but maybe soon. **wink, wink**

Chapter 7

He stood there holding her as tightly as he could, not sure who he was trying to reassure more - her or himself - that she would be okay. It had been a while since she had last visited his basement, and if he were honest with himself he would admit that as much as it killed him to see her like this, a part of him missed being able to comfort her and hold her in his arms.

He looked down when he felt her trembling subside and he was sure the tears had finally stopped. He could clearly see the toll the night had taken on her. She looked so fragile and completely exhausted. He didn't think she would even have the energy to walk up the stairs. Gently kissing the top of her head, he took her arms from around his waist and wrapped them around his neck and then scooped her up in his arms. He carried her up the stairs, through the living room and up the second flight of stairs to his bedroom.

Gibbs entered the dimly moonlit bedroom and made his way to the bed. He pulled the covers back with one hand, and gently placed Ziva down on the bed. He brushed a few strands of her hair out of her face and pulled the covers over her. He kissed her forehead, and as he turned to make his way out of the room, Ziva reached out and grabbed his hand.

Gibbs tuned and looked back toward the bed, and as he did, Ziva slid over just enough to make room for him. He pulled back the covers and slid in next to her. She immediately snuggled up close to him, laying her head on his chest and wrapping her arm around his waist. As Gibbs lay there holding Ziva, gently caressing her back, he couldn't help but think of all that had transpired over the past 4 months.

After the death of Shannon and Kelly, Gibbs hardly ever used the upstairs bedrooms. He resigned himself to just living on the first floor and the basement. The nights he actually tried to sleep he preferred to lie on the couch instead of going upstairs to sleep in the bedroom.

He brought Ziva home with him her first night home from Samolia. Knowing she no longer had an apartment, and not wanting to let her out of his sight for even one second, there was never a question as to where she would stay. In his desire to make her as comfortable as possible, he took her upstairs and let her sleep in his room. It was the first time he had spent any significant time in there, in years.

He had intended to sit in the chair by the bed that first night to keep watch over her all night long. However, after the first set of night terrors ripped through her sleep and she had woken up in a hysterical panic, he crawled into bed with her and held her tightly as she cried herself back to sleep. That night as he laid on the bed holding her, and she snuggled as close to him as she could possible get, he knew he was in trouble.

Over the years, being in that room had always brought back the memories of Shannon, and that is why he avoided it as much as possible. The memories were just too painful. The loss cut too deep for him to bear.

That night however, Ziva had been all that mattered to him. All he could think about. As he laid there listening to her whimper and moan in her sleep, he knew that she had done the one thing no other women had managed to do. Not even any of his ex wives. She had somehow made him see past his pain and hurt.

She had needed him so desperately that the normal guilt and pain that would normally overtake him was drowned out by his concern for her. He knew that there would never be another Shannon, but as he'd gently stroked her back and thought about how close not only the team had come, but how close he had come to losing her, a feeling crept over him that there never would be another Ziva either. As that thought slowly settled over him and what the implications of admitting that could mean, he'd felt the vise that had had a death grip on his heart since he had lost his family finally start to loosen.