Title: Man of Two Minds
Author: Trista Groulx aka dustytiger
Rating: T (like the show to be safe)
Disclaimer: I remain a poor barista I make nothing from this I am borrowing these characters for fun and they still belong to their network, creators, writers, actors and actresses who bring them to life.
Summary: Ziva comes back from Israel, but Tony is already in a relationship Keates. How will he choose between two such important parts of his life?
Notes: Tony is stalling but Ducky calls him out on it. Ducky's level headed and would steer him in the right direction. So it seems there are two ways that are showing up around the interwebs to spell Zoe's last name Keates and Keats, I'm gonna stick with Keates through this fic tho and see what the powers that be decide.


After a long day at work DiNozzo was sitting at his desk, shuffling around paperwork, and generally trying to distract himself. He still wasn't ready to go home knowing he needed to talk to her. He wondered if he'd ever find the words he would need to tell both women to get his life moving forward again. He was sure after a night of gaming his brain would figure out what it needed to, but he was as confused as ever. There was a time where he would have been secretly thrilled about the situation that was playing out, but he had long ago passed that point in his life. He'd been happy being in a real long-term relationship, and as much as he wanted to go back to how things were there was a part of him that still missed the other woman who had been in his heart for so long, and he didn't want to hurt either one but knew that someone would be hurt when he made up his mind.

"Anthony," Donald Mallard commented as he went up through the bullpen area. "It is not often that you are here later than Gibbs."

DiNozzo shrugged. "I'm not really in the mood to head out just yet Ducky."

"Avoiding your problem will not fix it."

"I know but I can't seem to get my brain to decide what it wants."

"Perhaps you are talking to the wrong person."

He shrugged. "Gibbs doesn't want to hear about my problems."

"He is a good listener."

"I know. The problem is that I know that no matter what I figure out I'm going to hurt someone I care about very much."

"I know you don't want to hurt either of them but you need to do what's right for you. Somewhere inside you know what that is Anthony you simply need to find a way to listen."

"Thank you Ducky I'll remember that." He began to collect his things, and walked out with the medical examiner.

Once again he found himself driving toward his apartment, but took a different turn as he got closer. He went by Keates' as much as he wanted to go up and climb into bed with her he owed her an answer and the truth. As much as he knew he couldn't stall forever he still wasn't ready to make the choice he knew he needed to. He wasn't surprised when he stopped at Gibbs' he sat in his car for a few long minutes contemplating just biting the bullet but he shut off the engine and went inside the unlocked home.

Notes: I hope this doesn't feel like stalling but I think he'd need a push in the right direction. I didn't write a Bishop part so it's just Gibbs then a few heavy chapters after that the some regularly scheduled fluff haha let me know what you think about this heart.