A few months later they were occupied with catching Harper Dearing. He had been blowing up Navy ships, and was then on a personal mission against NCIS. The team realized that he put a bomb in Director Vance's car, which was parked right outside the building. He and Ziva had raced through the whole building yelling at people to evacuate. He told Ziva, "That's everyone. You go ahead"
"No! I am not going without you" she replied, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the elevator with her.
Then suddenly the bomb exploded and the elevator rocked and went black. He found himself reaching out for Ziva, and found her instinctively falling right into him. In danger they automatically went into each others arms.
They were stuck in that elevator for hours. She was up with her legs around his head trying to push up the ceiling, and he quite enjoyed that. But they spent most of the times just talking about the things they always did. Movies, co workers, life in general. They were both wondering if they were ever going to make it out. So, he figured then was a great time to mention that he loved her.
"You are sweating" she said, moving closer to him.
"Its hot in here" he said.
"I had not noticed" she replied, holding his gaze.
He moved in and brushed her hair off of her face. He was finally really going to say it. But then her phone rang. How there was reception in that broken elevator he would never know. What was it with phones always interrupting him anyways? The moment was lost. He couldn't believe his luck. And later, as happy as he was to get out of that elevator, he secretly wished they had a lot more time to burn in there. He should have told her then.
About a month later they were sitting in the break room talking. And in the spur of the moment, he asked if he could show her something. It was the picture of he and his mom, at the movie "The Little Prince". It was the last movie they saw together. He carried that picture around in his pocket for years, never showing it to anyone. But he thought Ziva was the one who should see it.
"She was beautiful" Ziva had said.
"She was the first woman to break my heart" he replied.
He was so close to telling her then. He was going to say, "Ziva you are beautiful as well. She would have loved you. I love you. Please don't break my heart" The set up was perfect. Good time, good place. Ziva looked gorgeous that day too. But he didn't say it. He should have told her then.
A week later he knew it was Tali's birthday, and that Ziva always celebrated by going to the opera. However it was sold out this year, and he knew that you Ziva was really disappointed. So he decided to bring the opera to her, knowing how important it was to her.
"I known its not the same, but maybe if you close your eyes it'd be like you're at the opera. And maybe even like Tali is there with you" he told her.
She looked at him with shock and awe, like she never dreamed of deserving this. And then he swore he saw love in her eyes as well. He knew how much this meant to her, and he was just showing her how much she meant to him. He was going to tell her that night, but he didn't want to ruin the moment for Ziva so he didn't. But he should have told her then.
"Should be awake in a few hours"
"He's doing well"
"I'm worried for him and the girl"
"I hope he doesn't blame himself"
