Chapter 11 - Choices
"Ziva?"
"What's going on at work?" she said. Tony sat down next to her putting his hands on his knees.
"You want me to tell you?"
"Yeah."
Tony explained how Polly had been doing the dishes when she and Peter had gotten into the argument. How Polly had stabbed Peter just as Chris was arriving at the house. How Chris had come up with the story and hiding the knife. How Polly actually was at Ziva's house earlier. How Chris was going to tell Polly he was going to stay with Ziva.
"What are you gonna do?"
Ziva accepted the tissue he was passing her. "Well, I'm definitely not gonna marry him now."
"So it's over?"
"Uh, yeah. Did you not see the state of my house?"
Tony nodded. "Yeah."
"I was a bit angry when I got home," Ziva said.
"So…"
"I was ready, you know?"
Tony looked at her. "Um…no."
"I was the 'evil ninja chick', and I changed. I was going to marry someone, and then the whole thing fell apart," Ziva said.
"You'll be alright," Tony said.
"Yeah. I'll go back to being the person who never says anything about anything," Ziva muttered.
"Ziva, you don't have to go back to how you were three years ago. Not that there was anything wrong with how you were, but yeah. There is nothing wrong with however you are," Tony said quickly.
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
Ziva smiled and put her head on Tony's shoulder. "So now what?"
"Huh?"
"What do I do now?"
"That's up to you."
"Gibbs. I need to talk to you," Abby said as she pulled a chair over to his desk.
"What's up," Gibbs said, putting his pen down.
"Ok, I know that you have rules. I mean, everyone has rules. Even buildings, like to come into NCIS you have to go through the metal detectors. Hey this morning, the new security guard guy made me go through the detector twice because my collar set it off. I mean, how rude is that-"
"Abby."
"Right. Well, I know that rule number 12 is never date a co-worker….."
"And?"
"Well you know how much I love you right?"
"Abby, this is very unconventional-"
"Oh God no, I don't want to date you!" Abby exclaimed. Gibbs smiled.
"I've been dating a person from your team for a while and we kept it a secret-"
"You're dating McGee."
Abby looked shocked. "How did you know? We were so careful to keep it a secret…."
"For some reason I just can't picture you with Ziva, and I know Tony has someone else on his mind, so that leaves McGee."
"Drat. So you're not mad?"
"Well, I could fire you and headslap McGee into another dimension, but I don't really want to do that," Gibbs smirked.
"Ha," Abby laughed nervously. "So, anyway, we have been dating for a while and…well, we wanna move in together."
Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
"We've been considering it for a while but we didn't tell you because……" Abby drifted off.
"Because why?"
"Because you weren't exactly approachable," she said quickly.
Gibbs sighed. "Yeah, I know."
"So…..."
"It's fine."
"Really?"
"As long as it doesn't interfere with work-"
"Oh, it won't. You won't notice a thing. I am the master of secrecy," Abby said, but then she paused for a moment. "Then again, you already knew about me and Timmy so maybe……" She continued to talk to herself all the way back to her lab.
Gibbs could just picture Jenny now, watching him from the catwalk and smiling, proud of his reformed self.
That night, Tony arrived back at his apartment and rang his boss.
"Yeah, Gibbs," came the answer.
"Hi Boss. Just got back from Ziva's," Tony said, locking his front door and then sitting on the couch.
"She alright?"
"She's doing better. When I left she was packing all of Chris's things into rubbish bags."
"Good."
"What's happening with him and Polly?"
"She's being charged with murder, he's being charged with involvement or something," Gibbs said distractedly. He really wanted to sleep so he could dream again.
Tony got the gist. "Alright, see you in the morning Boss."
"Night DiNozzo."
Tony hung up and switched on the television. He watched movies for a few hours, but he couldn't stop thinking.
Things were the same but they were different. Ziva was no longer engaged. She was a different person, but still Tony loved her.
What could he do now? Tell her he still loved her with all his heart? Tell her how much it hurt to see her crying over someone else? He could take it to the next level and tell her he pictured them married with a little girl……
No. He wouldn't say anything. Not for a while.
Ziva didn't even cringe as she heard yet another photo frame smash as she flung it into the rubbish bag.
She wasn't upset, exactly, but she was feeling something else. She just didn't know what it was.
For some reason, her conversation with Abby was circling around in her mind.
"Do you still love Tony?"
"I don't know! I never really thought about it until now," Ziva said weakly.
"You should probably think about it some more before you marry someone else."
Did she love Tony? She knew she loved him all those years ago, but then she realised that Tony would never love her back. She decided to move on with someone else.
How wrong she'd been.
Tony did love her.
Ziva thought for a moment. She knew what she was feeling now. Relief. Relief that Chris was gone and that she was free to be with someone else.
Brushing dust off her knees, Ziva grabbed her keys and ran out the door.
A/N Hehehehe...
Two chapters to go!!
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