Hey all! I'm sorry for the late update. The internet wasn't working for a while :/ But I'm glad it's back up! I hope you enjoy this chapter! ;) It's the epilogue, so yeah... Buon divertimento!
Oh yeah! I would also like to thank ever single one of my awesome reviewers! Here's to you, Zoyarose, mysterywriter94, Chlollierockz, ForeginMusicLyrics, TotallyTiva, aquasm, Zivancis, Terriwinkle7, pirate-princess1, and xx Camilla Elizabeth Storm xx. You guys rock! ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you reconize.
Characters are very AU
~Bandit
Hunted
Burning Embers
Epilogue
She looked around the dull room and sighed, the cracked walls, stained ceilings, and broken lights bringing back horrible memories. It'd been two months since John had been thrown in prison. Two months since she'd been set free from the horrible burden. And she'd prayed she'd never have to come back. But she had to. She ran her fingers along the dust-covered, creaky, couch and sneered at the old TV. She'd never have to lie to her team again. Ever.
Ziva David felt tears forming as she looked at the blood stains on the carpet, but she forced them back and scowled at her weakness. She'd done enough crying to last a lifetime. She didn't want to anymore. She sucked up lots of air and looked around one last time. Then she turned, her chin held high, and slammed the door behind her. She flew down the steps and opened the silver sports car's door and slid into the passenger side, smiling as she watched the driver, Tony DiNozzo, sleep, his mouth help wide open, loud, raucous snores bursting from it. How long she'd been wallowing in her past, she'd never know, but for now she needed to get back to the present. She got onto her knees, and pressed her hands against the driver's chest, leaned in and nibbled his neck.
"Wake up, my little teddy bear," she whispered in to his ear, he made an odd, grunting noise, and Ziva held back laughter, before she kissed him on the forehead, and tickled him in the armpits. He shot up from his relaxed position, and Ziva lurched backwards, avoiding what would have been a nasty head collision. She snickered, a glimmer in her eyes from the satisfaction.
"Ziva!" he growled, wiping drool from the corner of his mouth, and rubbing his forehead, where he'd hit the steering wheel in his shock. She giggled, smiling innocently at him. She returned to the regular sitting position in the leather seat, buckling her seatbelt with a smirk. She noticed him staring at her murderously.
"We'd better get going," she reflected his glower and her smile grew wider, "You know how Gibbs is when we're late," Tony sneered at her and pressed a hand against his forehead, where a bruise was forming, Ziva glanced at him for a moment, "Maybe I should drive, seeing as you're not feeling too good."
Tony muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, and Ziva could barely make out something that sounded suspiciously like "Over my dead body."
"What was that?" she blinked at him, "Maybe you should speak up," she then leaned towards him and whispered, "I can make that happen, Tony."
Tony chuckled harshly in a mock tone, which made Ziva giggle harder. "Maybe we should take a side trip," he grinned at her deviously, "I've always wanted to know how Gibbs would react to you being permantly missing."
"And I've always wanted to know how he'd react to me strangling you," she shot back; her eyebrows raised high, daring him for another attack.
The rest of the car ride was silent, save for the occasional giggle from Ziva as she watched the scenery fly past, thinking about God knows what, an air of defeat lingering around Tony.
The car sped into the parking lot, and made a nastily sharp turn into a parking space, where the engine was shut off with a triumphant "Hah!" Ziva and Tony both darted out of the car. "Told you I could beat your time!" Tony said as he did a weird little victory dance.
"Barely," she sneered at his odd dance.
"And I even got pulled over twice!" he called out, pride dripping from his voice, "I got here faster then anybody ever has! Including Miss Ziva David!" he shouted to the shops across the street as if he just won the lottery.
"Ugh!" she called out, "You are so annoying! Did you know that?"
"No more annoying then you, David," he shot back, striding towards her, the wind starting to pick up, making her dark hair fly out behind her. He was frozen for a moment, staring at her with affection, as he stood, her hands on his hips, a displeased expression on her face, her hair whipping about rapidly. He shook himself from his thoughts and continued to advance on her, standing right before her, where they started arguing again.
Gibbs stood with obvious anger, having just arrived from the elevator, getting ready to look for the two who now stood face to face in the parking lot of the NCIS building. He watched them, his mouth twisted into something of a scowl and smirk. He was about to step forward and stop them, not to nicely either, when the words, "I can't believe I even like you! Much less kissed you!" erupted from Ziva, her obvious annoyance and anger clearly showing, her nose scrunched up, her knuckled white from her holding them so tightly in balls.
Tony froze at her words, an odd feeling washing over him, and he gazed deeply into her eyes, and for a moment, he wished she'd take back to words. That she'd apologize. But of course she didn't. So he stepped forward, "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it."
She stepped away, and met his eyes, "I didn't," she scrunched up her nose, scanning Tony's sullen face before heading in the direction of the NCIS building, when she suddenly realized something. She paused ever so slightly and turned towards him. He was watching her with such intensity that it made her shudder with longing. What she longed for, she had yet to figure out. "Tony," she began quietly, scratching her arm. He raised his eyebrows at her, hoping for an apology, "I need a place to stay… I was… I was wondering if I could stay with you," Tony was sure anyone watching him could see disappointment literally reflecting off him. Of course she wouldn't apologize. It was un-Ziva-like. Yet so was asking him if she could stay in his house with him. For a moment he thought she was pulling some sort of prank on him, yet when he looked in her eyes again, he noticed the utmost sincerity. If she was pulling a prank, she was doing one hell of a job covering it. He sighed.
"Of course," he muttered. Ziva eyes brightened, and a smile crept onto her face.
"Thank you Tony," she whispered. He returned the smile, and grabbed her arm gently, pulling her back towards him. And they were suddenly interlocked in a strong embrace, their lips meeting once again. Her arms were closed tightly around his neck, his on her waist, and their kiss didn't stop for a while. Gibbs watched, an eyebrow raised the temptation to yell at them almost overwhelming. Almost.
They pulled apart, slightly, their noses almost touching. "Make sure you have a bed ready for me," she whispered into his ear, with a bored voice, indicating that the kiss meant nothing to her. That was, of course, a totally lie.
"What makes you think we'll be sleeping in different beds?" Tony whispered back, sending chills down Ziva's back. She wrenched herself from his grip and slapped him hard on the cheek, then flew off towards the elevator, having spotted Gibbs. "Ow!" Tony yelped, holding a hand against his now beet-red cheek. He sprinted off after her, and once arriving at the elevator, stared at her, "What was that for?"
Ziva stared at him with a stunned expression, and then she shook her head. Tony felt a sharp force hit the back of his head. He turned to Gibbs, and asked the same question.
"That, DiNozzo, was for being so idiotic I had to compare Ziva to you," Ziva burst out in giggles, her face lighting up again as they traveled farther up into the building.
The silver doors opened, and Tony and Ziva walked out, side by side, arguing again, and Gibbs followed them, rubbing his temples, sighing. McGee paused from his work, his fingers frozen in his position, his eyebrows furrowed at the sudden disruption. Gibbs slammed his coffee down on his desk and turned on Ziva and Tony, who were know standing in the hallway, their voices steadily raising. "All right, enough!" Gibbs shouted as long as he could. Ziva jumped as Tony spun around. "Just shut up!" he sat down, and stared at the computer screen, ignoring their surprised looks, drinking his coffee somewhat steadily.
Ziva and Tony exchanged looks, and held back laughter. McGee stood, and whispered, "Welcome back, Ziva," as he shook her hand. Ziva shook her hand and smiled.
"We're not in the hospital anymore, McGirlScout," Tony burst out laughing, earning a look from McGee, but Ziva just smiled at him and winked. The three sat on their desks, talking, as Gibbs kept disappearing and appearing again, McGee explaining how horrible work had been, when Tony ruined the moment and said that he'd actually been quite glad.
Ducky appeared an hour later, intending on speaking to Gibbs, but getting quite sidetracked when Ziva leapt off her desk and hugged him.
"Welcome back, Ziva," he said, trying to cover his surprise.
"Thank you Ducky," Ziva smiled and pulled back. He had the distinct feeling it wasn't for the welcome.
"What for?" his face showed absolute puzzlement, Ziva opened her mouth to reply, when a sudden cry could be heard from the elevator.
"ZIIIIIIIIIIVAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A black blur raced from the doors, trailed by a smiling Gibbs, and tackled Ziva in what was meant to be a hug. Ziva stumbled backwards with an "oof!" and was kept on her feet by Tony, as the wind was knocked out of her. She hugged the blur, which was revealed to be Abby, back, and smiled, "You're back!"
Abby pulled back and her eyes sparkled, having not seen the agent in a month, because of Gibbs rules. Ziva grinned wide, from ear to ear. She felt childish, but she didn't care, she continued to grin. And she laughed. Hard. And for the first time in months, she didn't cough, and her laugh went uninterrupted.
~THE END~
A/N: I'm really quite sad to see it end. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Were they a little bit more in character? I hope so! ;) Anways, I promise a sequel! I'll get started on that after I get some sleep! Here's a sneak peak for the sequel (which is going to be name Hunted: Wherever the Stars Are):
Gibbs turned on the FBI federal agent, anger flashing in his eyes as Ziva let out a miserable cry, "And you didn't think it was important to mention it until now, after one of my agents was injured?" Gibbs gestured at Tony, who was lying, weak and clammy in the stiff hospital bed, as he shouted at the shaking federal agent.
"I can't believe you FBI agents," Ziva moaned from the corner, curled into the ball on the uncomfortable chair. What she wouldn't have given to suddenly be dead right at that moment. If she'd been killed, none of this would've happened. And she hadn't even seen the worst of it.
Oh! What could've happened? You won't have to wait long, don't worry! Make sure you check for the story! ;)
aquasm: Thank you! :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
ForeginMusicLyrics: Haha :) Thanks for reviewing!
pirate-princess1: Thank you (double) :) If you haven't noticed, I'm a Tiva fan :)
THANK YOU FOR READING AND REVIEWING! :) You guys all rock. Yes, even you, Bob XD
