A/N: EEK! I'm so sorry. I—I—I…I'm a horrible procrastinator and ended up doing all my projects at the last minute, BUT thankfully we have standardized testing this week so I had time to write the rest of this. Okay…I hope no one kills me. *ducks under desk*
Chapter 10: And the Victor is…
Although he still hadn't figured out how he was going to tell her, Tony couldn't help himself but smile. There she was, in all her lovely glory. It was almost as if he was seeing her for the first time again.
As her silent feet made their way into the room, Tony's smile only grew wider. "What is so funny Tony?" she asked.
"No, not funny."
"Then what?"
"It's nothing. I'm just happy to see you." She tilted her head to the side and let a smile grace her lips. She moved closer and leaned over the end of his bed.
"Oh really?" She cocked an eyebrow at him and bit her lip playfully.
"Really, Zee-vah." He reached his good arm up and pulled her onto the bed with him. She quickly took up a position next to him and ran her hand through his hair playfully. A slight giggle escaped her lips before she placed her hand on the side of her cheek. Placing a kiss upon his lips, she almost forgot the reason she had come to see Tony in the first place.
Pulling away, Ziva looked at him before saying, "Tony, Abby sent me to see if you need anything. Gibbs has locked her in her lab until she finishes her paperwork."
"Then why are you here my little ninja? Isn't Gibbs on his third coffee by now?" DiNozzo spoke with a bright smile. His fingers itched at his side, but he resisted. He had to tell Ziva how much he loved her.
"Oh, Gibbs does not know I left. I am playing hockey."
"Hooky." His fingers laced themselves into her hair. Looking into her brown eyes, he asked, "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"
Ziva blinked rapidly before composing herself. She hadn't expected the change in subject. There was an overwhelming sense of relief that seemed to flow through her. It was so good to hear him say that. "No, you have not."
"Well then…" he pulled her close to him again. Her head rested upon his chest—avoiding the healing gunshot wound. She looked up at him as she nuzzled closer to him. His good arm wrapped around her and started towards her stomach, making small circles over it. He felt her stomach move as he tickled her lightly. "I love you Ziva."
"And I love you too my hairy butt," she looked up at him and smiled again. Making sure he knew how she felt, she ran her hand up the hospital shirt he wore, placing her hand on his chest and kissing his cheek.
Almost as if their boss had a sixth sense, Ziva's phone rang. Out of instinct she answered the phone quickly, "Yes Gibbs?"
Even though he was lying right next to her, Tony felt like he shouldn't be able to hear Gibbs that clearly through the phone. "Where are you?"
"I am, uh.." For some reason she couldn't think of a good lie at the moment, which was particularly strange, since she was normally capable of lying on the spot at any time. Tony reached over and ripped the phone out of her hand, placing it to his ear.
"Hey Boss—"
"DiNozzo? Why is Ziva with you?
"Because I asked her to come." He looked at Ziva and winked, although he really didn't know what he was doing.
DiNozzo could hear him sigh quietly before saying, "Tell her to get her now." The click from the phone was enough for both of them to realize he wasn't too happy with Ziva's disappearing act. Making a classic DiNozzo face at Ziva—signaling the trouble she was in—he looked sadly down at her as she started to move away. "I should be getting back then."
"Promise you'll come back after hours? Maybe with something more…comfortable?" Tony wiggled his eyebrows as a smile returned to his face.
Ziva laughed as she left, "In your dreams."
Tony huffed in annoyance. All he could do was wait and think. And what he realized was the more you think, the easier it is for you to back out of something. He didn't want to tell Kate about Ziva, he didn't want to tell her that he loved Ziva, that he didn't love her. And as Tony sat there, he started to think of ways to get around it. Maybe he could just send her a note. No, no, that's too mean. Too impersonal. I'm better than that.
Maybe he could just tell her that he wanted to be friends. No, no. That's like a slap to the face.
He scrunched his face in annoyance as he thought upon ways of telling her, but every way ended with her crying or him feeling totally horrible. If only he had a time machine that would have stopped him from kissing her the other day.
"Hello Tony," the nurse came in, pushing a wheelchair with her. He eyed her cautiously. He liked Rachel, but he wasn't too crazy about that wheelchair.
"Hey Rachel…what's that for?" he nodded his head towards the wheelchair. Tony surely didn't want to be seen weak by using a wheelchair.
"You've been cooped up in this room for the past two weeks. I think it's time to get you out, even if it's only in the hospital." She smiled brightly as she moved the wheelchair closer to the bed. "And it's easier than walking." She nodded before pulling the blankets that lay on top of his legs off the bed. "Ready?"
Her eyes peered up at him as he nodded. Anything would be better than being stuck in that room…thinking.
She helped him maneuver his legs and body into the wheelchair—much easier than when he tried to stand on his own. Rachel grabbed the back of the wheelchair and started to push, but was stopped when a woman stood in the doorway. She smiled at her, having seen her stay in Tony's room everyday, but for the life of her couldn't remember her name.
"Hey Kate." He greeted her, but he couldn't completely hide the sadness he held. Tony wanted them to be friends, but he knew that most of his relationships ended with a slap and an 'I never want to see you again'. In the past DiNozzo would have loved for this to have happened. For him and Kate to actually be together, but she left him. And he was pretty sure she left because of him, she didn't really deny the accusation. In those three years that Kate was gone, he had grown very close to Ziva.
"Hi Tony." She moved towards the nurse, standing right next to her. "Could I possibly…?"
"Sure," Rachel answered, stepping away from the wheelchair. "Just as long as you call me when you bring him back. Getting back into bed is always the hard part." And without another word, she left the room. There was a slightly unsettling silence that filled the room, causing Kate to worry.
"Where are we going?" Kate asked, trying to make conversation. There was something wrong with Tony, other than the gunshot wounds. There was something bothering him. Something he needed to get off his chest.
"I don't know. Rachel was just getting me outta the room." His voice was unusually sullen. Kate furrowed an eyebrow and started to push the wheelchair out of the room. Placing both of his arms on his lap, DiNozzo looked straight ahead, wondering what the hell he was going to say; and trying to figure out if there were any stairs around, hoping that Kate wouldn't just throw him down them.
"Tony," Kate started, unsure of what to say. "You seem…distracted. Is everything okay?"
Tony squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his eyes with his good hand. "No. I need to talk to you Kate."
"About what?" A wave of panic ran through her body. What happened?
They hadn't talked about the kiss at all. God, this was going to suck. "I kissed Ziva." Nice going DiNozzo. Just be blunt and throw it at her face. Now why don't you just hand her a baseball bat so she can beat you with it!
She stopped pushing the wheelchair, blinking rapidly as her face was a mixture of shock and awe. Had they not just kissed the day before? Was Tony really doing this to her? "What?"
Tony sighed, taking in a breath right afterwards, trying to calm his voice. "I love Ziva." There was silence that followed his statement and he followed with, "I'm sorry Kate."
Kate's hands let go of the wheelchair, and she stared at the back of Tony's head. She couldn't see his face since he was staring straight ahead, but that didn't stop the tears from pricking the back of her eyes. Not even trying to stop them, she allowed them to fall down her face.
There were no words to describe how she felt. She wanted to run, but she also wanted to demand the reasons why she wasn't good enough for Tony. Kate didn't want to lose him, but apparently she already had. She lost him the day she left NCIS. That day, she made one of the biggest mistakes of her life.
Do you happen to know how hard it is to try to wheel yourself back to your room with one arm? Well, it just so happens that Tony found out the hard way for a few minutes until a nurse came across him struggling in the hallway. Asking what his room number was, she wheeled him back to his bed and helped him back into it. His stare was slightly vacant, now that his mind was racing.
Kate had run off to the bathroom, tears screaming down her face. Leaving Tony to his own troubles. He felt like he should be beaten with a large blunt object for what he did to Kate. How could he not be gentler? How could he be so harsh and just tell her? He should have been nicer to her. And now she probably hates him.
Hitting his head roughly against the backboard, Tony stared straight ahead.
"DiNozzo? You okay?" Gibbs' words cut through the silence and into Tony's little world of sorrow and self-loathing. His green eyes turned towards his boss's and paused. He definitely deserved a few head slaps for this.
" 'M fine," Tony mumbled as he felt the need of Gibbs' hand across the back of his head.
"DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, cocking an eyebrow, just wanting to cut out all the bullshit. He truly hated it when Tony tried to deny something was wrong, especially when Gibbs was actually going to listen to him. Although he knew that neither he nor his senior field agent was good with feelings, DiNozzo had to try to tell him.
"Ya know how I had that problem before? With Kate and Ziva?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I told Kate that I love Ziva." Gibbs made an unreadable face, causing Tony to stare with curiosity and confusion. He had never seen that face, and he worried that it might not be a good one.
Cocking an eyebrow at his agent, he wondered if Tony understood his reaction. Quickly, DiNozzo's mouth formed the shape of an 'O' before shaking his head. "Boss, if you're worried about rule 12, don't. Because this is time, I'm not gonna listen."
Tony felt the urge to duck his head or turn away, knowing that his boss would be pissed with his insubordination, but he was going to stick to his guns. He loved Ziva, and he wasn't about to let Gibbs get in the way of that.
He continued to stare at Gibbs, watching his unchanging movements. Oh God, I'm so fire!
"Where's Kate?" Gibbs asked bluntly, ignoring Tony's last comment. Instead, his mind went to Kate, wondering what Tony could have possibly said to her. You would think that after having to deal with so many short-term relationships, DiNozzo would be able to do this like a pro.
"In the bathroom, I think." Gibbs stood up, coffee in hand as he saw a flash of their favorite Goth.
"Tony!" Abby yelped as she launched herself in his direction. "You're leaving the hospital soon!"
"Really?" Tony asked, masking his sadness with excitement. If he hadn't just done something that ripped at his heart, maybe he would have been happier.
His eyes moved to his boss, but he already disappeared. Leave it to Gibbs to withhold the information of Tony's release. "Where's the Bossman going?"
Tony just shrugged. He furrowed his eyebrow at Abby, "Why are you here?" He didn't mean for it to sound rude or unwelcome, everyone knew how bored he got, but he was definitely curious since Gibbs had ordered Ziva back before. Abby put on a pout, but she was unable to hold in her smile at Tony's good news. They would finally be getting back to normal. Or as normal as NCIS was going to get with the two lovebirds together. She had made sure that Ziva had told her everything before they had finished up the paperwork.
"We're here to see you." McGee spoke as he moved into the room with Ziva on his heels. "We finished our reports and Gibbs let us off."
"If McGee let me drive," Ziva spoke up, moving into the room and sitting next to Tony, her hand already moving its way through his hair. She avoided the missing patch of hair that was starting to grow back in. "We would have been here before Gibbs."
"Yea, on a stretcher," McGee jibed before taking a seat on the spare bed. "Plus, Abby got stopped because she tried to sneak you some pizza."
Tony's bottom lip jetted out in a pout as he thought of the food the hospital has been trying to feed him. He was relying on his friends bringing him food. Karma…
"But," Abby spoke with a sly smile upon her face. "They didn't find the gummy bears!" And sure enough a small bag of gummy bears was on the inside of her jacket. Tony smiled up at her. Abby was a real lifesaver.
Kate wiped the tears from her eyes. She should have known this from the start, but the false hope her heart was living on hid the truth from her. When she left without saying goodbye, Kate should have known that there was no going back. But she just wished she hadn't gone through all this. She still loved Tony, but it would have to be a friendship kind of love—like his relationship with Abby. Maybe someday she'd get a second chance, but now it was Ziva's chance and she had to respect that.
She knew all this, but it still killed her inside. Kate should be happy for Tony and Ziva, right?
She sighed heavily as the tears still continued down her face. God how can I be so stupid?
The door opened behind her, and her eyes went to the mirror. Seeing the gray hair and piercing blue eyes that had been the signature look for her boss all those years ago, Kate turned her head away from the mirror and door, hiding her pain from the ex-marine. "Gibbs, this is the lady's room," she spoke, trying to keep the tears out of her voice. It would have worked on most, but Gibbs was keen to the most silent of things. He glanced up at the door, as if just noticing the female figure on it.
"Ya think?" Gibbs leaned against the wall behind Kate, staring at the mirror. Kate's tear-stricken face was reflected in it. He frowned as he was never good with feelings, but his team always needed some help with theirs. And somehow he was always the one that had to help them.
"Go away Gibbs."
No reply. Gibbs continued to stare at Kate's avoiding eyes in the mirror. Placing his one foot against the tiled wall, he settled himself. He wasn't going to leave.
Letting out a sigh Kate turned around. "I love him Gibbs. I really do." The tears were still coming down, maybe even faster now. "I don't know what to do." Her words left her lips slowly, but they caused her to stop. Did she know what to do? She should just suck it up. Try to get back on better terms with the rest of her team…former team. Even try to become friends with Ziva. It wasn't like after all these years, she hasn't missed them, but they just didn't seem to be the thing that would make her happy again. Apparently they were.
She smiled and looked at Gibbs. He returned the smile and moved closer to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Thanks Gibbs."
"Didn't do anything," he returned before moving towards the bathroom door. Kate followed behind him and before she knew it, they were outside DiNozzo's room.
Stepping into the room, Kate felt a little unwanted, or maybe a little left out. Ziva was lying next to Tony, while Abby sat on the edge of the bed with McGee standing behind her. Gibbs took up his normal spot next to the bed in the only chair in the room. It was almost as if she had disappeared for three years and had returned to find that she had been replaced and that everyone had moved on…except her. But Kate was sure they'd let her back in.
"Tony!" McGee yelped as a gummy bear was thrown in his direction. Kate's lips cracked into a smile as a laugh escaped her lips. Tony looked up at her, a little fearful at first, but after seeing her smile, he relaxed into Ziva's being. A gummy bear was thrown at DiNozzo's face, jerking him back to reality. It looked like this was going to work out after all.
A/N: I'm so sorry to all the Kate lovers. But I've been watching so much of NCIS with Ziva and she's just so damn kickass! Not that Kate wasn't amazing either. Ugh, I'm not gonna win. Anyway, I hope you liked it even if you wanted Tony to end up with Kate.
I'm not too crazy about the ending. It took me the longest to figure out and I'm still not happy. I hope it didn't suck! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Although I did take forever with this story, it was still fun to write! And I hope you enjoyed reading it!
Oh, and I've just got to say one last thing. Some of your comments about Kate truly made me laugh. I never knew so many people actually hated her that badly. I guess it's a good thing Sasha Alexander left the show.