A/N: This was longer... and this did have a somewhat good ending... and then I realized that it was highly OOC more than this story already is... and then I freaked out and went back to doing my history timeline. And then I finished all of my history and geometry and english and... gahh homework. I can't find something I need for choir... OH WELL!
Enough of my rambling!
So, this is for all of you who reviewed. :) Thank you guys so much. I think I nearly peed my pants at all of the reviews. And they all made me grin and smile and very very happy and yeahh. Best back to school ever. :D
And today we had some RECORD temperatures, so I decided to post this while I'm cooling off on the floor watching angsty stuff on Glee. Oh, and the anger surrrounding when Glee is airing this year. THE SAME TIME AS NCIS! I almost started to... throw a fit to say the least. :P Glee is being watched online, that is for sure.
Tony heard Ziva take a sharp breath and he looked at her stomach.
Ben pushed the knife a little farther into her abdomen and a slow trickle of blood began to stain her skin.
Tony pushed back the thoughts coming to the forefront of his brain, trying to clear his head. He needed clarity and calm. Watching the blood move down Ziva's body wasn't helping that. So he focused his eyes on Ben, who was smirking slightly.
"Well, this is quite interesting."
Tony ignored Ben's comment, formulating a sentence.
"Why don't you tell Sophia why she's in this room? Because I know, but she doesn't."
Ben's face tightened, but he still kept his smirk. He didn't answer, and Tony gently pushed the door shut. He moved back against it, hoping that wasn't a stupid idea.
"Tell her, Benjamin, what happened in this room. Tell her what happened in this house."
The grip on Ziva's mouth became stronger, and Ben moved a little bit farther back. Ziva was surprised he was being so quiet. She was glad though, because this meant something Tony said had rattled him.
Or so she hoped.
"If you know, why don't you tell her yourself?"
Tony's face didn't seem to falter, and but he shrugged nonchalantly.
"See, Soph, his parents weren't a happy couple. They fought a lot. There are police records of domestic violence calls from this address. This house is Ben's childhood home, though I doubt you'd call it that. And the room we're standing is in the room in which Ben's mother killed his father, when Ben was 10."
Ziva watched Tony as he said this, his eyes never leaving Ben. Ben shifted his weight, keeping the knife near Ziva's stomach and his hand over her mouth.
"And now, it seems, he has a grudge against happy couples. Isn't that right Benny? You'd see those happy and possibly expecting couples in Kenny's and you'd feel sick to your stomach at their happiness. When, all you ever had was fighting and loneliness."
"Shut up." Ben said, his hand that held the knife moving. Ziva felt it's presence near her ribs, and swallowed hard.
"You can't make it out of here alive."
The statement seemed to anger Ben, as he roughly shook Ziva around, before standing still. In the silence afterwards, all three could hear people outside the door. Ziva heard Gibbs' low mumble, and then McGee in response. Then there was silence again.
"Well, then that makes two of us."
It didn't take Tony much time to figure out what he meant, and he felt himself swallow. He was about to speak again, when Ben opened his mouth.
"Do you want kids, Dan?" Ben said in a very conversational voice.
"Someday, maybe."
"That's not an answer. That is a possibility. Kids are always a possibility. You can either make it a definite one or not."
Tony paused now. He wasn't sure how he should answer that question, so he decided honesty was a good choice.
"Someday, yes."
"And when you have these kids, someday, would you ruin their lives?"
"All parents ruin their child's life at some point."
Ben didn't seem to appreciate Tony's sarcasm.
"I mean would you throw them away like trash, and act like they didn't matter?"
Tony heard something outside the door move, but he ignored it.
"No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't want them to grow up with a lifetime of problems."
Ben seemed satisfied with the answer, and loosened his grip on Ziva's mouth for a second. Tony took this moment to look over Ziva, quickly seeing that Ben had tied her hands back and that she looked dehydrated. Tony took a step forward, and everything seemed to happen at once.
Ziva swung her head back, making contact with Ben's nose. He yelled out in pain, and brought his hand off Ziva's mouth to his own face. She sidestepped away from him, and Tony aimed his gun to Ben's chest.
Next, the door behind Tony opened and Tony quickly moved out of the way, keeping his gun pointed at Ben. He heard Gibbs yelling at Ben to not move, and took another step closer to Ziva. It was then that Ben seemed to regain his thinking, and he quickly flung his arm in the direction of Ziva, his knife making contact with her side.
"Ziva!"
Gibbs instantly shot Ben, his bullet making contact with his upper chest. Tony rushed over to where Ziva had fallen, falling to his knees next to her. He instantly put his hands on the wound, bunching up her shirt and covering the open gash. McGee was suddenly there too, with a towel in his hand. Tony replaced the dirty shirt with the clean towel, and he pushed hard on the bleeding gash.
"Ziva, I'm sorry."
Ziva's eyes were blinking rapidly, and she could just make out the shape of Tony above her. She pushed against the pain haze and smiled up at him.
"Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness." She whispered, and he seemed to laugh. He could hear the paramedics coming, and pushed on her wound just a little bit harder.
The last thing Ziva heard before she fell unconscious was the sound of McGee yelling and sirens echoing around her.
Ziva drifted into consciousness, her body aching. She could feel something in her arm, and a weight on top of her. She knew she was in a hospital, due to the beeping above her head. Her eyelids were heavy, and she fought to open them. When she did, she had to blink twice at the light.
"Ziva."
She turned her face towards the voice, and was greeted by Abby's worried face.
"Hey Abby." She said quietly, and the Goth hugged Ziva gently. She moved away afterwards, standing right next to the bed. Ziva looked around, surprised to find her room empty.
"Where is everyone else?"
Ziva's voice was dry and hoarse, so Abby handed her a cup of water. Ziva drank the whole thing as she waited for Abby's answer.
"Gibbs is with the Director, doing a final briefing. McGee is in with Ben, as Vance ordered someone to watch him at all times. Whether it is local LEO's or us. Right now, it's McGee. And Tony is in the bathroom… I think. He really had to pee. So he asked me to watch you."
Ziva smiled at Abby, finding her explanation soothing. She sat up a little, letting her pillow fall to rest behind her back.
"How long have I been out?"
"Three days. The doctors said you were severely dehydrated, and that along with lack of sleep and the wound Ben inflicted caused you to go unconscious. You've been on morphine and fluids since you got in here. The cut in your side missed anything vital or important, thankfully."
Ziva tried to sit up fully, and a sharp pain though her side stopped her. She fell back against the pillows, biting her lip.
"I guess I am not going anywhere." Abby laughed at Ziva, placing her hand on the injured woman's shoulder.
"Even if you could move, I doubt Gibbs or Tony would let you."
That caused Ziva to smile, and as if on cue, Tony walked through the hospital door. He smiled at the scene as he moved over to the bed. Abby hugged him quickly, before waving good-bye to Ziva and disappearing. Ziva blinked at Abby's disappearance, but didn't mind. Tony sat down next to the bed, smiling at her.
"I see you've woken up." He said, and Ziva nodded. She shifted onto her side so she could face him better.
"I see you can spot the obvious."
Tony laughed lightly, reaching up and taking Ziva's hand. His face suddenly became serious.
"I meant what I said."
Ziva thought back, but couldn't remember much. Her mind came to rest on one thing he said though, and she shook her head.
"You have no reason to be sorry."
"Yes, I do. I broke a promise. A couple, actually."
Ziva raised an eyebrow. She could only remember one promise.
"There is more than one? I only remember one." She said, and he smirked to himself.
"I only told you one." He said jokingly, and Ziva faked a gasp.
"Keeping secrets, I see." She said, and Tony laughed. She smiled at the sound, comforted by his presence.
"It's not really a secret. More of a promise to myself." He said this softly, and Ziva shut her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she reached for her water glass. Tony handed it to her, speaking as she drank.
"After Somalia, I told myself I'd never let you down… again."
Ziva looked at him, and found a smile forming on her face. She reached for his hand and squeezed it.
"And I said I wouldn't let anything hurt you. And, well… we're sitting in a hospital."
Ziva laughed, before reaching up and touching Tony's face.
"You did not let me down." She said simply, and Tony shook his head. He wanted to say something, but he didn't.
"And as for the knife wound in my side… it doesn't matter. All that matters is I am alive."
He smiled again at her, reaching up to hold her hand against his cheek. He turned his face into her palm and placed a kiss there. He then took her hand off his cheek and placed it on the bed. His other hand came to cup her cheek, and he gently leaned forward to place a kiss on her lips.
"For now, that's all that matters."
A/N: This did go on longer and have something with Gibbs and... yeah.
I cut that all out and made it this.
Reviews are much appreciated. I think the next chapter is the last. :/
