Thanks, everyone, for the reviews last chapter. :) Short chapter here, sorry about that. But I think most of you will like it. :)
Enjoy and review!

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:: Chapter 25 – A Deadly Lunch Break ::

I noticed that Tony and Abby seemed to be mad at each other the next day.

For the most part, I was avoiding her. I was not mad at her, but I simply did not want to be around her, nor did I want to speak to her. When she came into the bullpen before Gibbs arrived, she and Tony were snapping at each other every chance they got. McGee only seemed amused at this, and although I asked no questions and made no comments, I was wondering what went on between them that got them acting like that.

Then I realized that Abby was kind of avoiding me, too. She did not openly come up to my desk and say something, and she did not make any eye contact. While tensions were not exactly high between the four of us, things were still weird. Abby and Tony had this brother and sister relationship that continued to show and be present, no matter how much they might have seemed to want to rip each other's head off.

When Gibbs arrived, we were all back to work on the Carrie Springer case, which beyond-proved to take a toll on us. It was around half an hour after noon when Tony and I decided to take our lunch break. McGee had left for his lunch break about twenty minutes earlier, presumably going with Abby. Gibbs did not say anything in protest, but I assumed that with us gone, he would go take a coffee break. Again.

"Anything specific you wanna eat?" Tony asked me.

I shook my head. "Not really. You can choose."

"Wendy's sound good? 'Cause it sounds like heaven to me right now."

I chuckled a little at him. "Wendy's is fine."

We ordered from the drive-thru, and after we did, Tony parked in the Wendy's parking lot. We took out our food from the bag and began eating.

"Don't you just hate," Tony began, "when you watch a food commercial and they show you the way the food's supposed to come out, and when you buy it, it doesn't look anything like the way they show you in the commercial? I mean, really, look at this." He held up his measly cheeseburger for me to see. "How can anyone eat this and be satisfied?"

"Why did you not buy more then?"

"I bought two. And besides… they're fattening."

I let out an unceremonious laugh, to which he responded by glaring at me. "That's not funny, Ziva."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I did not mean to laugh out loud like that."

He quickly changed the subject. "You think I'm getting too fat?"

"No. Why? Did someone tell you that?"

"No. Just asking. So you don't think I'm fat?"

"No, Tony, you are just fine." I wrapped up the rest of my half-eaten burger and was about to put it inside the Wendy's bag when Tony stopped me and asked me if I was going to finish eating the hamburger. I told him I was not that hungry anymore and gave him the hamburger. He asked me if I was okay. I was fine. I just could not shake the feeling that something was about to happen.

I ate some fries instead. There was a silence between us that did not last long. "Tony?" I said.

"Yeah?" he said as he looked at me.

"What is going on with you and Abby?"

"What do you mean?" he asked quickly as he shoved his hand inside the bag to reach for more fries. "Abby and I are just fine."

"Really? So you two were snapping at each other in the bullpen just for the heck of it?" I said sarcastically.

He stuffed his mouth with a fries and took a huge bite of his burger. He said something, but I could not understand anything. "Tony, I have no idea what you just said," I told him. He repeated whatever he said, but I still did not understand anything. I waited for him to swallow his food so that he could speak again.

"I may have… confrontedheraboutsomething."

I stopped for a moment until it all made sense. I was hoping it was not what I was thinking it was. "Tony, tell me you did not butt into what happened yesterday," I groaned.

"Okay, yes," he said defensively. "So what?"

"Tony," I groaned again.

"What's the problem, Ziva?" he shot back. "I don't know about you, but I don't exactly take it too well when I hear that someone's been hitting my girlfriend around just because she freakin' feels like it!"

"Well, what did you say to her?"

He did not answer, which only led me to think that he probably said something bad.

"Tony?"

Still no answer.

"Tony, what did you say to Abby?" I asked again.

"I may have told her – may have – that I would… rip Bert to shreds right in front of her after I tied her up to a chair if she ever did that again."

I rolled my eyes, but I could not help but chuckle a little at that. Though torturous and possibly traumatizing for her, the image of Abby tied to a chair as Tony ripped Bert apart was kind of funny. Not that I ever wished that would happen, but it was still kind of funny. Tony looked at me as though he could not believe that I was laughing when I was supposedly supposed to be irritated or in disbelief. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing," I shrugged. "I guess it's kind of funny. You did not threaten to hit her, did you?"

"Come on. Would I hit a woman? I mean, don't get me wrong – Abby deserves a good smack to the face every now and then that she starts to act stupid, but still. I wouldn't hit her. Besides, you'd do the same thing for me. Right?"

As much as I mostly disliked the fact that he dragged himself into this situation, I could not deny that I would do it for him, too. I would not have liked it if he had been in my shoes and McGee had been the one hitting him.

"Yes, you are right."

Tony finished downing his burger silently, and as he did, I watched everything that was going on inside. People were walking around us, to the point where it looked almost like rush hour. In the sidewalk across from where we were parked, a woman was walking by with a pink tank top and light blue short shorts. I thought to myself that she was crazy wearing all that in the weather we were having. It was about forty-five degrees. It almost made me cold just looking at her.

"She's probably a slut," Tony mumbled with his mouth full. "Going over to her next customer's house."

"That is a pretty hasty generalization, Tony," I said. "How would you know she's a slut? Just by the way she is dressed?"

"Yep."

I began to say something, but was cut off mid-sentence. To say we were horrified at what we saw next was a bit of an understatement. Tony and I stared in shock as the same woman he called a slut was hit by an oncoming car. I could swear I heard a sickening crack even from that distance. The car, after hitting her, killing her instantly, sped off. We did not have any time to be able to get the car's license plate or anything because it all happened so fast – not to mention it was practically a blur.

My initial reaction was to stare in shock with my mouth hanging wide open, not that I could help it. I was also frozen in my spot. I could not move at all. Tony was in shock, too, but he reacted much quicker than I. He actually gave me a shove to pull me out of whatever trance-like state I was in and told me to get out of the car.

Despite the forty-degree weather and the coat I had on, it felt like it was ninety degrees outside. I was automatically in auto-pilot mode. We ran over to where the woman was. She was lying on the sidewalk, her legs and arms twisted in ways that were disturbing to just think about. A crowd was forming around her, and some people around us were screaming. I blocked out all the noise around me, only focusing on anything and everything Tony was saying.

My heart was in my throat by the time we reached her. Two things hit me instantly. Her face seemed to be disfigured and there was blood all over her face. I knew where I had seen that before – the picture we had seen of the dead woman. It was her.

I knew who she was. I was not sure I wanted it to be true or not, but I still knew. It was weird that in the picture she was unrecognizable, but one good look at her, and I already knew who she was.

I looked over at Tony, whose expression was unreadable, as odd as it sounded. "Tony…" I began, my throat feeling extremely dry.

"Ziva, call Gibbs," he said shortly. "I'll try to keep everyone out."

I nodded, not being able to take my eyes off her. I reached for my phone in my pocket. It felt like hours before I found it. Luckily, Gibbs was in my speed dial, because I did not think I could dial any number at that moment. My hands were shaking beyond belief, although that was something I did not notice until later on.

She died a horrible death, something I would not wish on anyone. But sometimes, I could not figure out if I was truly glad or not that Agent Carla Emilia was dead and that she deserved to die that horrible and tragic way.