There is a strange silence in this austere marbled hallway outside the Superior court room. Everything is marble and brass and even the softest of footsteps echo in the vaulted ceilings. The elevator doors slide open with silent ease and the stocky black man steps out into the almost deserted hallway.

He looks both directions and then turns back to the elevator car. "It's clear, boss."

Don and Ziva step out to join him, both looking cautiously up and down the hallway. They hesitate a moment as two other detectives standing near an "L" junction in the hall a short distance away turn to scan the adjacent hallway. They wave and Don lifts his watch to his mouth and whispers, "You guys all set, Pete?"

"Boss, just give us one minute to get in position before you enter." The voice comes back over

Don's tiny ear microphone. "Ok, move in. We're standing by."

The two men at the end of the hallway nod towards Don and move around the corner out of sight. Their escort, Joe, takes a deep breath and adjusts his tie as he grumbles about his role in this charade. "I don't know why I always have to play the suit."

"Because Pete doesn't own one..." Don pats him on the back playfully. "and Pete looks more like a criminal than a cop. At least you can look the part."

"Thanks, Boss."

"Let's get this show on the road. Ziva? You ready to rise from the dead?"

"As ready as I will ever be...for a mummy."

"Zombie... mummies don't rise from the dead. Zombies do." Don can't help teasing her as she

once again mixes up her American euphemisms.

She and Don are both dressed impeccably as they head for the heavy double doors across the

hall. Waiting on the other side will be Saldoro and his attorney Hawke, who think they are in

court today for this case to be dismissed due to the unfortunate death of the case's only eye

witness, Ziva David."

Inside the huge courtroom, there are two groups of people present. Seated at the defense

table, as expected is Johnny Saldoro and his attorney Ethan Hawke. Seated directly behind them

are the deputies who are there to guard Saldoro. On the raised platform of the judge's bench

there are three court room personnel huddled around a computer screen talking quietly.

The lone person at the prosecutor's table is the county attorney, Richard Randall, seated by

himself as he quietly reviews his case notes. When the rear door opens all eyes turn to see Joe

enter alone. Don and Ziva are waiting in the alcove just outside as Joe walks briskly into the

room and waves at Randall as he comes towards his table. Randall stands up to meet him as

Hawke sarcastically grumbles to them both.

"It's about time your investigator got here. We're already twenty minutes late."

"Hello, Joe. Take a seat over here and we'll call the judge in."

"Mr. Randall? Are we ready to begin now?" The court clerk's head pops up from her screen at the arrival of this new person.

"Yes, Paula. If you will please notify the judge?" She exits the room and a moment later returns with two other men. One is in a court bailiff uniform and the other in the black robe of a judge. Everyone in the room stands as the bailiff calls the court to order.

"All rise! The Superior Court of New York State is now in session. The Honorable Judge Michael McCarthy presiding."

Judge McCarthy moves to his seat and sits down as he addresses the court. "Please, be seated." They all sit down as the judge looks to Randall, "Mr. Randall, am I to understand the state is now ready to proceed?"

"Yes, your honor, we are." He stands to address the judge.

"Very well. Let's go on the record. This is court docket A1335466794, State of New York vs. Johnny Saldoro. Defense counsel, if you will please identify yourself to the court."

Hawke stands also now. "Your Honor, Ethan Hawke, attorney and counsel for the defendant, Mr. Johnny Saldoro. We are ready to proceed as well."

"Good. Then let's get started. Mr. Randall…"

Everyone in the court room has been briefed about what is about to occur except for Saldoro and his lawyer. All of the deputies seated behind them tense, awaiting the entrance of the two undercover officers. Randall stands and nods to Joe, who walks back to the rear doors of the court room. He opens one and nods to someone outside the door. Saldoro looks curiously from the doors to his attorney. Hawke simply shrugs and turns his attention back to the rear doors to see who is being ushered in.

What they see next stuns them both as Ziva enters the room, escorted by Don. Don has his hand politely in the small of her back as they walk down the aisle to Randall's table. Both she and Don make direct eye contact with Saldoro and Hawke, smiling triumphantly as shocked realization hits the two criminals. The hatred begins to smolder in Saldoro's eyes as he realizes he has once again been set up. The deputies behind him are now standing, ready to take action in case Saldoro or Hawke become violent. Hawke on the other hand is on the verge of panic, realizing he has just been caught up in a murder-for-hire sting. He can't take his eyes off Don, who is staring back at him with a smug grin on his face. Hawke is too numb to stand and drops back weakly in his chair with a softly mumbled oath.

"Oh, shit…"

Saldoro on the other hand, being of the criminal mentality, doesn't allow his shock to control him. His rage takes over as he leans forward in his chair, looking like a lion about to pounce on its prey. He hesitates as the judge once again speaks.

"Mr. Randall… you may call your first witness."

"Thank you, your Honor. I'd like to call Sergeant Don Flack and Special Agent Ziva David from NCIS as the state's witnesses."

Don is just leaning over to open the swinging gate for Ziva when Saldoro's rage explodes into action. He isn't hand cuffed or shackled today and his short, stocky body moves with amazing speed and agility as he jumps to his feet; sending his chair flying backwards. Saldoro lunges at Don with murder in his eyes.

His furious threat echoes off the marble walls. "You lying, bastard! I'll kill you!"

Before he can even take two steps the deputies are on him and tackle him to the floor behind the defense table. Saldoro is like a rabid animal and fights wildly with them as Don quickly moves Ziva through the gate and out of harm's way. Everyone else is jumping back, trying to avoid being part of the intense struggle on the floor. The judge begins banging his gavel on the bench and shouting for order. In all the commotion, Hawke takes this opportunity to move away from the others and no one seems to notice him backing towards the side exit of the court room. This door leads to the back hallway and a possible escape, but unknown to Hawke, Don's men are waiting there. Don is just raising his wrist to call in the support teams to help subdue the raging suspect when he sees Hawke reaching back for the door handle very slowly.

"Pete, move in… Hawke is heading for your door… take him down!"

Just as Hawke would have touched the door knob, the door is flung open and the two detectives rush in and force him to the floor. He is tense and is quickly cuffed and subdued. As the detectives are standing him back up the deputies are finally able to subdue Saldoro and get him cuffed and shackled again. Saldoro is bleeding from the corner of his mouth, covered in sweat and panting heavily. When they stand him up as well, Saldoro glares at Don in silent defiance. Don stares back confidently, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Relax, Johnny you'll give yourself a stroke before your trial."

Saldoro glares at him for a moment, then lowers his eyes to look at Ziva who merely winks at him. As if the reality of his situation finally hits him the fight goes out of his body and he sags tiredly down into a chair. Don and Ziva watch for a moment as Pete and the others search Hawke and read him his Miranda warnings. The judge has been watching this all with interest, although he didn't expect there to be violence in his courtroom. He now taps his gavel to get everyone's attention.

"Excuse me… this court is still in session. Bailiff, are both of the prisoners under control now?"

The Bailiff nods and motions for Hawke to be returned to the defendant's table. "Good. Now, Mr. Randall… I believe you have a motion for the court?"

"Yes, your Honor, I do. In light of the information I gave you earlier… I am now requesting that both Johnny Saldoro and his former defense attorney, Ethan Hawke, be indicted on conspiracy to commit capital murder, money laundering and the other subsidiary charges as listed in my complaint."

"In light of the drama that has taken place here today I am granting your motion. Deputies, please remove these two defendants from my court." He bangs his gavel once more with finality. "This court is now adjourned."

The deputies and undercover detectives lead the two handcuffed men from the court room. Don and Ziva watch them go as Randall comes to stand beside them.

"Well, I think that went pretty smoothly, don't you think?"

"Actually he took it better than I expected."

"Yea, right. I wonder who he'll call now for the new contract on both of us?"

"He's going straight to twenty-four hour lock down with no phone privileges and no

visitors except his new attorney."

"He can still use his new attorney to pull the same scam."

"I doubt it. After what we just did to Ethan Hawke… I doubt any other attorney would want to touch Saldoro. I bet he won't even be able to hire an attorney."

"Yea, it's a shame when a rich guy like Saldoro has to use a public defender because no one will take his case."

"Well, at least Hawke can represent himself."

"That ought to be interesting. I can't wait for trial." They all laugh as Randall picks up his briefcase and heads for the rear door.

Suddenly they hear the unmistakable crack of gunfire from outside in the hallway. Don pushes Rick Randall back and draws his gun as he darts out into the hallway. Ziva also draws her gun, but takes up a more cautious position in front of Randall. A few minutes later, they hear voices raised in excitement down the hall. "All clear!" "Roll fire we've got one down!"

Then Don's voice rises in anger above them all. "God Damn It! How did this happen?! Get a perimeter set up! Block off this entire floor!"

Ziva puts her gun back and steps out to see Saldoro lying dead on the floor with blood coming from two holes in his chest. A deputy is crouched along the wall, holding a cloth to a wound on his head. Don looks from him to the dead man, knowing before they even say it what happened.

"Saldoro slammed the deputy against the wall and got his gun away from him. He was turning it on us... we had to shoot, boss."

"I know... that's pretty obvious. Okay, everyone just calm down. We'll get a team up here to take care of this. Everyone just stay put... no one moves, got it?"

The others nod and almost on cue, Ethan Hawke's knees give out on him and he slides down the wall to land with a thud on his butt. Everyone looks at him, realizing he's just wet himself. Don just shakes his head and returns to the court room. No explanations are necessary, but Don motions over his shoulder anyway.

"Guess we don't have to worry about any retaliation from him."

He turns his tense muscles into the hot water jets in the shower and ducks his head into the spray as he recalls the very strenuous workout he just did. It was Friday, but knew he couldn't just go home after the last few stress filled days so he went to the gym to work off some steam. Taking his frustrations out on some poor guy who agreed to spar with him in the ring. When even that failed to calm his racing mind, he'd gone for a long run. It had been nine o'clock when he finally returned home, tired and badly in need of this hot shower.

He'd been going through hell ever since his last talk with Ziva... they hadn't really settled anything. Ziva had to finish the case and finish up her commitment in New York, but did she like it enough to move to the city? It had been the hardest thing he'd ever done, stepping back to let her have space... and time to work out what she wanted, who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Did she really want to spend the rest of her life with that guy? What did he have that seemed to attract her? The only way to survive until she made up her mind was to throw himself into his work and try and keep her out of his mind.

He doesn't hear the shower door open, but jerks his head around as he feels hands glide up his back. He wipes the water from his face to see Ziva stepping into the shower with him. She closes the door and then turns to wrap her arms around his waist with a soft sigh. He holds her close, kissing her hair. After a moment she raises her head to look up at him and the message in her eyes is unmistakable. He doesn't need any further urging and drops his mouth to hers in a deeply sensual kiss. She moans softly and raises up on her toes as her arms now curl around his neck. She eagerly deepens the kiss, desperately needing him to satisfy the ache deep inside her. Their wet bodies slide erotically against each other as each kiss blends into the next until their passions are raging out of control.

He finally breaks the embrace to pant softly, "I thought you were spending the weekend with your boyfriend… you didn't bring him here... did you?" His suddenly nervous glance at the bathroom door brings a smile to Ziva's face as she shakes her head. "Okay, so... Special Agent David, what brings you to my shower?" He doesn't have to ask how she got into his apartment... she is a master at lock picking.

Her fingers slowly rake through the damp hairs on his chest. "No, I did not and... I am 'with' my boyfriend... as you say. I missed you… I need you…" She begins to place hungry kisses along his throat and down across the damp matted hair on his chest as her hands slide slowly down his body.

He stands motionless, enjoying her caress as her talented fingers now stroke his cock to its full hardness. He groans softly as she sits down on the shower bench, gently pulling his hips towards her hungry mouth. She expertly caresses him, stroking with her hands in rhythm as her mouth works slowly up and down. The intense sensations have him bracing his arms against the shower walls. He enjoys her caress for several moments as his hips move slowly in rhythm with her.

Her own excitement is raging and she feels the ache deep in her belly that only he can ease. When her lover is about to lose control he reluctantly steps back from her, bending to scoop her up into his arms as her legs curl around his waist. With the water cascading down over them he grips her hips and pushes her roughly against the shower wall. She smiles as her arms curve around his neck to hold him close. His mouth finds hers in a harsh, demanding kiss that crushes her lips and draws blood, but she doesn't even notice. She returns his kisses with equal desire as he positions his hips and drives his throbbing shaft deeply into her body. Ziva cries out against his lips, a whimper of surrender and curls her legs tighter around his waist. Their kisses fusing one with the next, with ever increasing urgency. He braces as he thrusts hard and deep into her. The pleasure is almost unbearable and combined husky moans escape them with each thrust.

"Oohh…. baby…"

"Yes… yes… now…"

Her voice is rising and her lover begins to thrust with an ever increasing tempo. She is moaning huskily as her hands curl up to hold his head to hers. Her tongue strokes his in rhythm with his hips and he growls as he rams his shaft into her until the starbursts of ecstasy explode deep inside her. Her whole body tenses and her breath catches in her throat as he once again takes her to the heaven as only he can. He growls hoarsely as his head drops to her shoulder then whimpers softly as his entire body goes rigid with tremors and his life fluids explode deep inside her.

She tilts her mouth to his ear as she nips it and huskily sighs, "Thank you, Tony... for understanding that I needed time to... finish things in New York."

As if released from a trance, Tony relaxes on a heavy sigh as he weakly rests against her. She holds him close and repeatedly kisses his shoulder as the water sprays down on them. Tony presses a gentle kiss to her temple, "Honestly, I didn't know if you would be coming back... it's been hell waiting."

"I told you I needed to wrap up that case, Tony. I never said I was moving to New York."

"No, but he wanted you to... and don't try to deny it."

"I will not lie to you... yes, Don did want me to move there... permanently."

Tony's head snaps back so he can look directly into her eyes, "Did he ask you to marry him?!"

"Not in so many words, but I knew what he wanted... and I told him I already gave my heart to this really hot, Navy cop."

"Hhmm... you never told me you were in love with Gibbs. Does he know?" Tony's teasing brings a smile to her face as her hands snake up around his neck to bring her nose to nose with him.

"No, but you better."

Tony kisses her gently several times and then raises his head to huskily tease, "I do. We better finish our shower before we're stuck taking a cold shower." He gently sets her back on her feet, then turns her into the shower jets.

"It is a little late for that… is it not?"

He grins and lifts a brow at her comment. "You don't have a very good memory, do you?"

"How could I forget?!" She smiles suggestively at him. "I think you set a record that

first night."

"Who, me?"

"Yes, you. Seven times in one night is not a record?"

"Well… yes, but I was motivated… and you, my little sexy ninja, were doing all the motivating."

"I was not complaining, my little Italian stud…" She hesitates, rinsing the shampoo from her hair. She continues to massage her hair as Tony does the same and shampoos his own hair. She now steps around him to let him rinse his hair.

"But?"

"Well… that time we had together... to me, it was perfect... and yet...?"

He sees the sadness in her eyes as she recalls their break up. The well rehearsed speech about 'not dating someone you work with' that has haunted him ever since. He now understands the reason behind his actions... and it had nothing to do with rules, or Gibbs disapproving, or company policy for that matter. It was his own insecurity about being in a serious relationship.

"You did not want me... after that." She tries to sound casual, but he sees her eyes glistening with tears.

He turns off the now lukewarm water and looks down at her worried face. He can't bear to see the tears shimmering on her lashes as he slowly shakes his head. "No, that's not it at all, Ziva... I... I wanted you so much... and it... scared me."

He opens the shower door and steps out to grab a large body towel for her. He holds it open as she follows him out, allowing him to drape the towel around her shoulders. His words confuse her, but when she looks up into his eyes, she sees the one thing she thought she would never see.

"Ziva, I was... am totally, completely, utterly in love with you... but I didn't know how to handle it... and that scared me more than anything." She stands very still as his hands slowly stroke over her skin, using the towel to dry her off. She can't believe he just said he loves her, but at the same time he was afraid of loving her. "Well, that and head slaps from Gibbs. It took Gibbs to make me realize I was more afraid of losing you... but by the time I figured it out, you were planning your future with New York's Don Juan."

He turns away to grab his own towel and quickly dry himself off. He isn't sure how his revelation will be received by the woman he always thought of as being tough, confident and afraid of nothing. Ziva stands very still, not wanting to interrupt this rare glimpse into Tony's inner mind. He has never come across as being the fearful type, but maybe all of his joking was his way of hiding the truth... his fears. Tony was afraid of commitment and that explained his non-stop string of dates with various women. He did not want to have any relationships that lasted longer than a weekend... so he wouldn't be hurt when it didn't work out.

In this, she can sympathize. "Fear of commitment is one thing, I think you and I have in common, Tony." His eyes come up to meet hers in the steamy mirror. "I too have fears of giving someone my heart and having it thrown back at me, unwanted."

"I would never do that to you, Ziva. I was so sure it wouldn't last that I never gave us a chance." He turns to face her, leaning against the countertop, "I won't make that mistake again."

Ziva watches him intently for a moment, seeing his honesty and sincerity in his eyes. She finally steps up to him, slowly leans her body into his as she reaches around him to grab the hair brush on the counter. Tony holds perfectly still, waiting for her to decide his future... will she accept his offer or turn him down?

"I will not allow you to make that mistake again, Tony. If you ever try to break up with me again... I will kill you." She raises the brush slowly and his eyes dart to it, having no doubt she could kill him with it. Tony relaxes and takes the brush from her as he begins to gently brush out her long dark hair. He grins as he kisses her nose, "That's the little Israeli ninja assassin, I love."