The story has officially moved forward in time…it will all become clear once you start reading! There is still so much more to come, and I am super excited about the direction it will turn. Somethings are expected and obvious, but I've got several surprises up my sleeves still! Enjoy!

On a side note - less than 3 days until the Season X premiere! Guess who has two thumbs and will be peeing her pants in a fit of joy as she watches it…

Ziva unlocked the door to the apartment, and pushed it. It would not open. She pushed the side of her body into it and the door finally started to give way. A box was on its side and its contents spilled behind the door. The walls were barren, and boxes were strewn everywhere. Ziva huffed loudly and dropped her bag on top of one of the boxes. Tony came through the door behind her and dropped his bag as well. Ziva sorted through the mail at the kitchen counter and shouted to him, as he ran towards the bathroom, "I am not sure how much longer we can live like this!"

He returned a minute later, "I know, Zi."

"Not that there is ever a good time to terrorize the Navy, but could Dearing have picked a worse week for this? I wanted to have everything settled into the apartment before we left for the wedding."

He pulled a magnetic clip stuffed with takeout menus off of the fridge and turned to her, "What sounds good tonight?"

"None of it. I am so sick of takeout! I want real food, but all of our pots and dishes are in boxes somewhere in this place! We are literally living out of suitcases and boxes!"

"Hopefully in a day or two this Dearing mess will be over and we can finally settle into the apartment. Oh, that reminds me. I spoke the movers today. They understood our 'situation'. He said that worst case scenario, the apartment manager here can let them in with our permission, and they can take everything to the new place if one of us meets them there with the key."

Ziva's shoulders finally relaxed, and she began to shuffle through the menus. "Well, at least we know I can sort the pizza and Chinese menus out of the pile. If I smell one more slice of pizza or see one more fortune cookie, I will certainly lose it!"

Tony laughed and began to rummage through the menu pile of 'maybes'. Ziva spoke up again, "I need vegetables of some sort. It has been so long since I saw something green and leafy."

Tony turned to her with a menu, "Well then, I think we found a winner!"

She grabbed the menu and leaned forward, resting her head in her hands and her elbows onto the counter as she read through the menu. "I need a shower. I feel disgusting. Would you mind ordering while I get cleaned up, Tony?"

"Nah, I think I can handle that…lemme know what you want and I'll call it in, and then walk down and pick it up."

"They deliver Tony. We have not been home in days. You should rest for a few minutes, while we can."

He deliberated over her words, finally making a decision as he yawned, "Yeah, they can deliver it…"

XXX

Ziva was startled out of the stream of hot water by the sound of pounding on the apartment door. She turned the water off and yelled, "Tony! The food!"

There was no response and the pounding continued. She hopped out of the shower, throwing a robe over herself and a towel around her hair as she scurried to the door, grabbing her wallet along the way. She swung it open to find a gangly teenage boy with their bag of food. He gave her elevator eyes and smiled widely as suds ran down her legs. She snatched the bag from him and scowled at him as he stuttered, "Th-th-that'll be $15.87…"

Ziva dug in her wallet for $17.25 and handed it to him. "If you hadn't been googling me with your eyes the tip would have been more."

"Ogling, Zi. It's ogling, not googling."

"Same difference, yes? He was still looking something up?"

Tony laughed at her logic as she turned and shut the apartment door, "Where were you?"

"I stretched out on the bed and must have dozed off…"

"Well, let us eat, and then you should take a hot shower. It will feel good and make you sleepy. We need a good night's rest, and we already know we have a long day tomorrow."

Tony cringed and whined as he dropped his head back and uttered, "Ugh, babysitting Cole…"

XXX

The elevator quaked forcefully. Tony wrapped his arm around Ziva's waist pulling her into him as they hit the ground and covered their faces from the falling debris. After a few moments, the elevator stilled in stunned silence. Tony took his arm from over his face, "Zi, are you okay?"

She let out a startled breath, "I think I am fine. Are you alright? Let me look at you."

They sat up and leaned against the wall as they began to visually check each other for injuries. Sirens broke their silence, "Tony, how bad do you suppose it is?"

"Dunno…doesn't sound good though…"

"I am worried about the others."

He rested his arm across her back and pulled her into an embrace, "Me too Zi, me too…"

She set her head in his lap, facing the other wall, and tried to calm herself with a deep breath. He smoothed her hair, and tucked what had come loose from her ponytail during the commotion behind her ear. He softly ran his thumb over her cheek, finding warm moisture. "Ziva…"

She sat back up and looked into his eyes, "I do not know how much longer I can do this…"

She fell into his lap as her back began to quiver and her tears were soon accompanied by audible sobs. He rubbed circles on her back in silence as she cried, eventually settling behind her on the floor, holding her tightly.

XXX

Ziva spoke, "Tony?"

"Yeah…"

"It has been an hour. I am sure there are others who are injured, or worse. No one knows where we are, and we have no idea what the condition of the building or elevator shaft is. Do you think we should try to get ourselves out of here?"

"Should we try making a call, see if we can get a hold of anyone?

"It is worth trying."

Both agents opened their phones, searching for service. "Are you able to find reception, Tony?"

"No. You?"

"Me neither."

She stood in the center of the elevator, examined its ceiling and then turned to Tony, "If I get on your shoulders, I think we might be able to go through the top. At least then we could get out to one of the floors or call for help."

Tony nodded in agreement and squatted as Ziva took off her jacket and mounted his shoulders. She waited until he steadied himself and then reached over her head. He arms stretched upwards, but were just a few inches shy of grazing the ceiling. She warned him, "I am going to try to come up off of your shoulders as I reach. It should help me push the tile up and out. Do you have a good grip on my legs?"

"I gotchya, Zi."

She reached again, coming off of his shoulders a few inches, as her fingers managed to graze the tile. "Damn it!"

"What's up?"

"I can barely touch them."

"One more try. If I give a little jump as you reach, and it should be enough to knock the tile up and out."

"Are you sure that is a good idea, Tony? We do not know in what kind of condition the elevator is, or how far up or down we are in the shaft."

He tilted his head back and looked up to her as best he could, "Are you calling me fat?"

"Now is not the time, Tony. And no, I was not. We can try it."

Tony jumped just a few inches as Ziva reached and stretched as far as she could. The elevator began to rumble and shift as Tony stumbled backwards with Ziva on his shoulders. She cried out, "Woah..oh…"

Tony's "Oh…No…" were the last words she heard as they started to stumble backwards. Their backs landed on the wall behind them as she quickly dismounted him. She turned to him, "We slipped."

"Did we? I thought the earth moved."

He turned to face Ziva and took her hands in his, "This is not how I wanted to do this, at all…"

She looked at him as a confused expression came over her face, "Do what?"

"Ziva...I…I love you, so much. You've intrigued me from the moment we met. You were a bad-ass Israeli assassin that literally walked into my life. You have been supporting, loving, and kind, but you also make me look at myself in the mirror when I need to the most. I didn't realize until I thought I lost you that summer, how much I needed you…that I couldn't live without you. These past six months have been the best of my life, and that is because of you. I don't know what lies outside of this elevator right now, but what I do know is that I love you, and I want to make a life with you."

She squeezed his hands, somehow knowing he needed the reassurance. He looked down at their hands intensely before looking into her eyes, "Marry me…"

Her eyes sparkled and she smiled as she brought her hands around his neck and kissed him sweetly on the lips. As she pulled away from his face he asked, "Is that a yes?"

She smiled and nodded, "It is…yes Tony, I will marry you."

He pulled her into him, held her tightly, and kissed her.

Tony and Ziva managed to find a sliver of joy as they were surrounded by wreckage and carnage, the magnitude of which was unbeknownst to them.