A/N Here yee go my purtiessss! The next chap ummmm... TBH I found this a little emotional to write so yeh, try and enjoy it and tell me if you think it works:)
Soundtrack – We're In Heaven by DJ Sammy
Previously on Home is Where the Heart Is...
"DiNozzo?" A puzzled but strangled voice from the other end of the line said
"Can you come here please?" The voice said.
Tony face changed from one of puzzlement to one of recognition as he identified the voice as Eriks.
"Where is here?" Tony said through gritted teeth.
"Ziva's apartment," he hesitated, "she's holding a gun to my head."
Cautiously, Tony bent down to pick the lock on Ziva's front door, knowing that opening the tricky lock with the key itself was an accomplishment.
Tony managed to apply precisely the right amount of pressure to gain a satisfactory click of the lock.
On the way over, Tony questioned why Ziva would be holding a gun to Erik, he came up with two plausible theories in total.
1) It was a trap set up by Erik to capture him.
2) Erik hurt Ziva
Both of which weren't particularly pleasant, which is why Tony decided to take out his own firearm incase it was needed.
However, all theories flew out the window and observed the scene infront of him.
Ziva was standing in the far end of the room in nothing but a dress shirt, Eriks more specifically, Tony noted. Erik was standing with his bare back faced towards Tony, he was staring down the barrel of the gun held in Ziva's shaking hand.
"Ziva..." Tony's voice came out croaky and unlike himself.
She seemed to snap into action, pointing the gun suddenly at Tony instead.
As he looked her over once more, he felt his stomach drop. Tony noticed that Ziva wasn't looking at him, but through him instead.
Lowering his weapon, even though he recognised he was in the direct line of fire, Tony very slowly placed his weapon on the floor and raised his arms in surrender.
Looking at Erik, he said gruffly, "Go and call ducky and Gibbs."
Erik seemed afraid to move, and Tony was successfully distracting Ziva by holding eye contact with her.
"Now," Tony said sternly, as he dropped his hands and began to walk cautiously towards Ziva.
"S-st-stop." Ziva said, shakily at Tony, lifting her gun higher.
"Zi, what are doing?" Tony said softly, slowing down.
Ziva sobbed suddenly, lowering her weapon ever-so-slightly, "Please don't harm them, they are the only family I have."
Tony felt the blood drain from his body in a rush.
Ziva wasn't just having nightmares, he realised, she was relapsing and it was causing her to lose the distinction between real life and Somalia. By calling her "Zi" she was associating the nickname with him. Tony felt sick knowing that he was used as a tool to torture her.
Feeling the sudden urge to protect her, even from herself, Tony marched forward until he could feel the barrel of the gun pressing against his chest.
"Look at me Zi, it's me, it's Tony." He said urgently.
Ziva responded by sobbing harder.
Tony thought desperately about how to bring her out of the trance, and suddenly he knew.
Feeling a tear glide gracefully down his cheek, Tony hoarsely whispered, "Ziva, can you fight?"
He watched as a look of recognition flashed through her eyes, and her expression changed to horror as she got a grip on reality and dropped the weapon in her hand as though it burnt her.
He saw what was going to happen next before it happened.
Ziva's legs gave way beneath her, but she never hit the ground. Tony pulled her close to him, and the waterworks really began.
Tucking her head firmly in the crook of Tony's neck, she sobbed uncontrollably.
Tony pulled her closer if possible, rubbing her back gently, and stroking her hair, all while whispering *uninterpretable* words to her.
Tony had lost track of how long they'd been standing there like that when Gibbs quietly walked in.
He said nothing as he observed the scene before him.
Ducky was the first to speak, "Ziva my girl, do you mind if I take a look at you?"
Ziva said nothing but Tony felt her release her hold on him slightly.
"Just give her a sec duck." Tony said, gently, still transfixed on the girl before him.
After a few moments she released Tony and quickly wiped away the wetness on her face.
"May we go upstairs?" She said quietly to Ducky.
"Of course my girl!" He said jovially, briefly holding her arm, however, upon seeing her jump, he quickly released her.
As soon as Ziva was out of sight, Gibbs and Tony simultaneously marched out of the apartment to where Erik had taken refuge on the stairs.
"Explain." Gibbs said furiously.
"I dunno what happened boss, she was sleeping and suddenly she turned into psycho chick!" Erik defended.
"Rack that brain of yours and give me a reason why she started acting like that, because something had to have bought it on, it shouldn't be that hard Erik, your brain isn't that big." Tony said, equally as furious.
After a moment Erik spoke, not making eye-contact with either of the men before him.
"Ok... So we did... What boyfriends and girlfriends do in the nighttime. And then she went to sleep, and I decided to start... Kissing her again, but she pushed me away." Erik explained.
"She pushed you away and you kept..." Tony exclaimed unbelievingly.
"Kissing her," Erik filled in for him, with a small, guilt-ridden smile on his face, seeing the anger openly blazing in Tony's eyes he continued, "Sometimes she likes that type of thing."
Gibbs intercepted the blow that Erik was about to receive and swung Tony around so that his back hit the wall.
"DiNozzo, calm down."
"Which reminds me, why were you number one on Ziva's speeddia-"
Erik was cut off by Gibbs look of disgust, "You're fired, go home."
Shooting one last stare at Tony who was was still being restrained by Gibbs, Erik marched down the stairs.
"What the fuck is wrong with you Gibbs!?" Tony yelled.
"Taking care of the team was your responsibility, and you let this happen!" He continued.
"I can't monitor every thing that happen in my agents personal life!" Gibbs defended, "She'll be oka-."
"OKAY? WERE YOU JUST IN THERE?! DIDN'T YOU JUST SEE WHAT I SAW?!" Tony bellowed at him, feeling all the restraint and calm that he'd been maintaining for months slip away in a heartbeat.
Suddenly all the anger and frustration and energy, drained from Tony and he sank to the ground.
"She's torn up inside Gibbs... A-And I don't know what to do." Tony said softly, reminding Gibbs of the caring and loyal SFA he used to be.
Kneeling down so that he was almost eye level with Tony, Gibbs spoke.
"Keep loving her the way you do Tony, that's what you do."
"Ziva would like to see you." Ducky announced stepping off the last step.
Nodding, Tony headed up the stairs to Ziva's room, upon entering he observed that the room had no lights on, only the gentle light of the moon. A brighter glow of light came from the bathroom, where, Tony assumed, Ziva was located.
Hesitantly, he walked towards the bathroom and smiled slightly upon seeing Ziva.
She was sitting, fully clothed, in the bathtub.
He set himself down just beside the bathroom, opposite her.
There was a long silence which the old Tony would've broken, but this new Tony, he let it continue.
"I do not know what to say Tony," Ziva finally mumbled, not meeting Tony's eyes.
"Mmm, me neither." Tony replied.
This time Ziva did look at him, with a startling amount of anger in her eyes. She looked down again though, without saying anything.
"What?" Tony asked, curious as to what he did to make her angry.
"Nothing." Ziva replied immediately.
"I just wanted to thank you for... helping me today." She said to her hands.
If Tony was unsure of what to say before, he was clueless now, what do you say to someone who says thank you for doing something you never made a conscious decision to do.
"Could you just say something." Ziva said harshly, pulling Tony out of his reverie.
Startled into action Tony replied curtly, "Anything in particular you want me to say?"
He saw a muscle in Ziva's jaw jump.
"I always imagined that if I saw you in a bathtub, a lot less clothing would be involved...?" Tony said, certain that he was just going to piss her off more.
But Ziva cracked a small smile and looked up to meet his eyes, "And you imagined this often?"
"Ms David," Tony made his voice seem outraged, "That is for me to know."
He felt himself relax when he heard her chuckle.
"I feel so tired." Ziva said leaning back into the tub.
"You feel tired? I haven't slept for over 24 hours!" Tony exclaimed, watching a small smile play on Ziva's lips as she drifted into a state of almost sleep where she was still aware of Tony beside her.
A moment later Ziva heard the rustle of Tony standing up and felt one of his arms slide underneath her knees and the other on the arch of her back. He lifted her up as though she was a feather and one of her arms automatically wrapped around his neck.
In the midst of her dazed-like-sleep, she found herself surprised that she didn't flinch when he touched her, even with her eyes closed, and even more surprised at how safe she felt, literally in his arms, with her cheek resting once more in the warm crook of his neck. She felt the comfort of her mattress and blanket as he tenderly tucked her in. She felt the warmth of his body leave her and yearned to tell him to stay, but somehow she was falling into a deeper sleep with everypassing moment.
The last thing she felt was the softness of Tony's lips brush against her forehead bringing back the warmth momentarily, and then she finally understood what the uninterpretable words Tony had been whispering to her before were, he was telling her about his little sister - everything about her - when she was born, the first time he held her, her first day of school... the day she died, everything.
The last thought Ziva had before she drifted off into oblivion was that never in her life had she loved someone more than she loved Anthony DiNozzo.
A/N soooo whaddya think goizz? Its a little bittersweet I admit but yeh, theories would be much appreciated!
R&R my loves, and tell me whether you want McAbby or Jibbs in the next chap;)
Aliyah516 xxxxxx