Tony slowly rocked his fiancé back and forth, murmuring soft words in her ear. Gibbs and Vance had gone back into the conference room to speak to Eli, so the two relished their private moment together. Eventually Ziva was able to stop crying, and she pulled back, wiping her eyes.
"Anything I can do Zi?" Tony asked softly, brushing a stray lock out of Ziva's face.
"No Tony, I am fine. It is just… difficult. I do not know what to think right now." Ziva rested her head on Tony's chest as he rubbed her back. Gibbs, Vance and Eli emerged from the conference room. Eli nodded briefly to Tony and then walked with Vance to his office. Gibbs took in Ziva's tear-stained face and Tony's solemn one, and then checked his watch.
"Go home you two." he grunted. "Get some rest."
"But what about the case, Boss? Ziva's got the name of the guy that Eli sent." Tony wanted to catch the bastard NOW.
"There's nothing we can do now DiNozzo. Biram's gone off the map. The hotel room that he was supposed to be staying at has been unoccupied for the last few weeks, and his phone is off or destroyed. The best thing you two can do is to go home and get some rest." Gibbs turned and walked down the stairs. Tony put his arm around Ziva and the two agents followed suit.
Tony and Ziva packed up for the night, said goodbye to McGee and walked to the parking lot. Because of Ziva's broken arm, she was unable to drive, so Tony had been driving her to and from Navy Yard for the past few weeks. This of course annoyed her to no end. She hated having to depend on Tony like that, and she always pestered him for driving too slow, but there was no other option. Tonight however, Ziva was uncharacteristically silent as Tony drove to her apartment. Finally Tony couldn't take it anymore and asked Ziva what was wrong. At first she denied that anything was wrong, but after a minute of silence, she spoke.
"I am conflicted Tony. I do not know what to think of my father anymore. It was so easy to hate him before for all that he put me though, but after the visit today, I do not know how I truly feel about him. I am still very angry for the Somalia business, and for the fact that he sent someone to bring me back without asking me what I wanted, but I saw true remorse and anguish from him today. And that makes everything much more confusing for me. There are just too many thoughts bounding around in my head right now." Ziva sighed deeply.
"Bouncing. Bouncing around in your head." Ziva rolled her eyes at this, but a small smile appeared, cheering Tony up. Then he decided to ask the big question that was bouncing around in his head.
"Zi, would you like me to stay over at your apartment tonight? I'd offer mine, but it's a real mess and it'd take me hours to clean it up. I just thought you might like some company tonight after today's events. If you'd rather be alone, I understand." Ziva remained silent for a moment, and then she nodded.
"I would like that a lot Tony."
"Alright, but you'll have to let me cook dinner. I insist." Tony said, seeing Ziva start to argue. He pulled up to Ziva's building and helped her out. He gave her a kiss on the lips.
"I'll be back in about an hour. I just have to get my stuff and pick up the ingredients for dinner. Love you Zi." he gave her one last peck on the cheek.
"I love you too, Tony." Ziva whispered back.
An hour later Tony was in Ziva's kitchen pouring spaghetti sauce and a blend of spices into a pot of noodles and meatballs, and then stirring it in. The scent of garlic bread wafted from the oven. Ziva silently snuck up behind Tony and swiped her finger through the near-empty bowl that contained the spaghetti sauce, and then licked it, eyes twinkling.
"Ziva!" Tony complained. "Wait until dinner!"
Ignoring his complaint, Ziva asked, "This is wonderful Tony! What did you put into it?"
"That's my secret." he said with a wink. Ziva pouted. "The spaghetti's almost finished, Love. Would you please take the bread out of the oven?"
A few minutes later Tony and Ziva were seated and eating. After complimenting Tony once again on the dinner, Ziva brought up the issue of their wedding.
"Tony, our wedding is only a few months from now, and we haven't even figured out who will be in our ceremony. I personally would like this to be a small, private ceremony, with just those close to us."
"I agree Ziva. One of the biggest questions that I have is how to approach the ceremony. I am not very religious, so if you would like to have a traditional Jewish wedding, that would be fine by me. Or if you would like the more 'American' wedding, that's fine. I am willing to do either, or both if you want."
Ziva smiled. "I have that figured out. I'd like to incorporate elements of both types of weddings into one ceremony. There is a man that I know of who performs marriage ceremonies in that manner. I would like to have an American-style wedding, with some Jewish elements in it. There is one thing I want to ask you about, however."
"What's that?"
"I would like to do my vows in Hebrew. I would have it translated into English on the programs, but I would like to keep some of my old life in this."
"Of course Ziva! I would love for you to do that!" Ziva's smile widened. "Now all we have to do is figure out who will be in the ceremony." Tony finished.
"Abby as the Maid of Honor. No questions there." Ziva stated.
"And McGee for the best man." Tony replied.
"Do you think we should have Sara McGee as a bridesmaid?" Ziva asked.
"Of course! And Ducky for another groomsman. I think that Palmer and Director Vance could be ushers. Wait- what about Gibbs?"
"I would like for Gibbs to be my 'father' for my wedding."
"Eli…"
"No. I do not trust him to remain supportive of our marriage. And I still think of Gibbs more as my father than Eli." Ziva's eyes flashed.
"I totally understand Zi. Gibbs it is. Do you want anyone else?"
"For the ceremonial part? No, I'd like it small Tony."
"That's sounds fine to me. So, to recap, Gibbs will be the father of the bride…" Tony started.
"Abby will be the Maid of Honor…" Ziva continued.
"McGee as the best man…"
"Sara as a bridesmaid…"
"Ducky as a groomsman…"
"And Director Vance and Palmer as ushers." Ziva finished. "I believe we have our ceremony planned Tony!"
Tony and Ziva finished dinner and washed their dishes, chatting excitedly about the wedding. When they were finished, they took turns showering and prepared for bed.
As Tony set the couch up for sleeping, he noticed that Ziva had grown quiet once again. When he asked her if she was okay, she brushed it off as tiredness, and went into her bedroom, closing the door.
Ziva's apartment grew quiet, but Tony couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned with restless energy, trying to fall asleep. As he lay staring dejectedly at the ceiling, he heard Ziva's bedroom door open.
"Tony?"
"Yeah Zi?"
Tony could just make out Ziva's outline as she walked towards him. He switched on the lamp next to his bed and blinked at the brightness. Ziva's face was full of anguish, and it was clear she had been just crying.
"Zi, what's wrong?" Tony sat up, shivering slightly as the cold night air blew across his bare chest.
"I- I am sorry if I woke you up. I just could not stop thinking about Saleem and Somalia. My father's visit today brought up those terrible memories." Tony patted the empty space on the couch next to him, and she sat down. He wrapped his arm around her waist. "My back started to hurt too." Ziva added.
"Wait, your back?" Tony was confused.
Ziva looked at him, pain and sadness mixing in her eyes. She gently pulled Tony's arm off of her waist, stood up, and pulled off the oversized nightshirt she wore, standing in underwear and nothing else. Tony felt a momentary tightness in his lower regions as she stood there naked, but then Ziva turned around and burning fury, along with disgust towards Saleem washed over him.
Ziva's once-pristine back was now an ugly mess of scar tissue. From her shoulders down to her thighs, black scars crisscrossed one another, marring her tanned flesh. To add to the horror, several harsh, red, circular burn marks, most likely caused by a cigarette pressed into her back, where spread across her back. Ziva stood absolutely still as Tony gently traced a particularly nasty scar that ran from her right shoulder to her left side. Ziva spoke in a small, defeated voice.
"The pain is psychological. Saleem has been dead for a year, but I still feel his beatings as if they were yesterday." Ziva hung her head, and from the shaking of her body, Tony knew she was crying again. He also knew that he could say nothing to comfort her, but there might be something he could do. He helped her back into her nightshirt, and then led her back into her room.
As Ziva climbed into her bed, rather than going back onto the couch, Tony climbed in with her and wrapped her in a warm embrace. Ziva laid her head on his chest as Tony ran his fingers through her hair. As he had suspected, the loving embrace did what no words could have done, for it wasn't long before Ziva's tears stopped and she slipped into sleep. The sound of her soft, peaceful breathing felt soothing to Tony, and it wasn't long before he felt sleepy. Kissing the head resting on his chest, Tony tightened his embrace slightly and was soon fast asleep.
Okay, first off, thank-you to lochridge's story "Two in the Morning" for giving me the idea for Ziva's back.
Just to let you know, there is a poll on my profile about Jeanne, so please go there and vote!
I'm sorry for not updating in a while (yes, not updating the next day pretty much is a while for me!), but you'll have to get used to it, because I am working till 5 now, so I don't have as much time to write! *Sad face* Plus I had a nasty infection in one of the sockets where my wisdom tooth was, so that made me very unhappy. But I'm better now!
I hope you like this one, please REVEIW!
Yeah, sure, you becha!