Gibbs glanced over at Ziva, who was currently sitting at her desk, wrapped in her own thoughts as she gazed at her computer screen. He could see a mixture of longing and confusion there, and Gibbs began to wonder if Tony was the cause of all this. Just hours before, they had shared a kiss and without thinking he had reminded them of a rule that was more of his revenge against Jenny anyway. But she was long gone…Gibbs internally winced at the thought. Now was not the time for that. He went down to autopsy in search of Ducky, almost without meaning to.

"Hello, Jethro," Ducky called.

"Found the stethoscope, Doctor," Palmer said, handing the object over to him. Gibbs ventured further in, still thinking of Ziva and Tony. They both were happy together. So, what was keeping them apart?

"Was there something you needed?" The ME regarded Gibbs quietly, noticing he was troubled by something.

"Rule 12…it was a huge mistake,"

"Why do you say that?" Gibbs glanced behind him, as if the answer would show up suddenly and save him these next few words.

"Tony and Ziva," Gibbs said at last. Ducky sighed and set the stethoscope aside. Palmer went off to the other room so they could be alone.

"I could never figure those two out. It seems like the more clear their relationship is to us, the less obvious it is to them. I think we should just leave them alone for now, and as for Rule 12, I think Abigail and Timothy were first to disregard it years and years ago."

"Tony loves Ziva," McGee said casually to Abby as she started shutting down the machines for the day.

"Hmm, really?" Abby said vaguely, not paying attention. For the past hour, she had been going through baby names that could be mentioned later.

"I saw Ziva kiss Tony earlier, weren't you even paying attention?" Abby just shrugged, going over to the light switch to turn it off.

"I wonder what's going on between them. It looks like Ziva wants to be with him, but something is holing her back,"

"Stop gossiping, Tim, it's not good for you," Abby said, turning off the light. Her lab was plunged into total darkness. McGee sighed and followed her out. It was none of his business, after all.

"Where were we having dinner again?" he asked, changing the subject as discreetly as he could. Abby sighed and smiled at him, thinking he had memory problems. Looks like the plan worked.

"Don't think this gets you off the hook for being a nosy fool," she teased, leaning over to kiss him.

"Oh, get a room, will you?" Tony said, startling the couple. He grinned at them.

"Where's Ziva?" McGee asked. "I thought she was with you,"

"Ah, no…it's been a long day, actually. I can't think of a way to convince her to trust me,"

"You almost convinced her earlier today…" Abby said, her voice trailing off.

"I'll just string something together," Tony muttered.

"At least he's not going to wing it," McGee commented sarcastically when he was gone.

"Like you did with proposing me?" Abby asked. McGee smiled at the memory of it all. He didn't have a ring, or a plan, even. He just popped the question at a perfectly average moment on an ordinary day.

"That's different," he said defensively. Abby just laughed and walked out to the car lot, McGee right behind her.

"Sure it is," They continued playfully bickering about it the whole way to the restaurant. Upon arriving, McGee noticed people were all crowded around something outside, and there was no way in.

"What's going on here?" Abby called. She ran up ahead to investigate, shoving past people to see Kelantan on the ground, soaked in blood and gasping for air.

"Roger…he doesn't like people…finding out…" Kelantan wheezed. He was dying, and very quickly. Abby knelt down and held his hand, feeling entirely helpless to his suffering.

"What happened?" Abby said in a choked whisper.

"Roger…spoke to Tony," Kelantan struggled for air, pressing his free hand to the wound on his stomach. "He panicked, came to me, the big shot, the brains of the operation. Yup, I'm the boss of both of them and knew everything all along…and now, Roger's scared and did the first thing he always does when he panics,"

"What are you talking about?" Abby exclaimed while someone dialed 911.

"Can't…tell you…" Kelantan whispered, running out of air. "Too late…" His eyes rolled back in his head. He fell limp against the ground. Abby checked for a pulse.

"Call Ducky," she said quietly to McGee, who had just arrived on the scene. "Call Gibbs. We've got a problem on our hands here,"

"Okay, Ziva, the truth is-" Tony was cut off by Gibbs's phone ringing. Gibbs answered it and listened intently to the voice on the other end. Tony strained to listen and thought he recognized Abby's voice. After a minute, he hung up and got to his feet.

"Kelantan was murdered out by Red Lobster," he announced. "Gear up, let's go,"

"Jamie's husband was murdered?" Tony said, following his boss out. "But why?"

"That's what we're going to find out," Gibbs responded.

"What were you going to say earlier?" Ziva asked.

"Later, Ziv, I can't think right now," Tony muttered, trying to buy some time. Maybe if he got the words out right she wouldn't completely reject him again.

"Who was it that called you about this?" Ziva inquired.

"McGee,"

"What? He was at Red Lobster?" Tony exclaimed incredulously. "I thought they were going to Mac Alistair's," Gibbs head slapped him, a little lighter than his usual insanely hard.

"Sorry, boss…what else did he say?"

"Not much, he did go on for a while about how this was supposed to be a perfect evening, though," Ziva guessed he was planning on having a romantic get away with his wife, starting with a nice dinner at Red Lobster. Unfortunately, a murder tends to put a damper on such plans. She decided to stay quiet, rather than make some comment on the country she had grown up in.

"What seems to be the trouble, Jethro?" Ducky asked as he got out of the van, Palmer close behind him with the medical bag.

"Over here," Gibbs said. Crime scene tape, check. Area clear of people, check. Abby stood off to the side, sobbing into McGee's shoulder. Jamie had arrived on the scene moments before, it seemed, her daughter Shelby in tow. They were both somber and not talking much. Ducky knelt down and examined the body. Kelantan looked vaguely Greek, with his olive toned skin, angular features, and foreign clothing. Palmer handed him a thermometer.

"Sham this had to happen to you, dear boy," Ducky said, addressing the body before him as he always did. "Gone before your time, like so many others," As he waited the four seconds it usually required for the device to provide an accurate reading, he remembered Caitlin and Jenny, two beautiful women with their whole lives ahead of them, both dying to protect the ones they loved.

"Time of death is roughly thirty minutes ago, and according to the gunshot wound here entering through the abdomen, there is the cause of death," Palmer got down and tried to remove the bullet.

"I can't believe this happened to someone we know again!" Abby moaned. "I'm so sick of losing everyone I love!"

"Not everyone," McGee assured her, stroking her hair. She said nothing, still lost in the grief Ziva had yet to learn how to display openly like she did. Ziva started searching the place for any evidence, but all she could see was a trail of Kelantan's blood coming out from behind the restaurant.

"Where are you going?" Tony called, but she ignored him, tracking the blood with unnatural accuracy. It came to a sudden stop around the corner, where she assumed Kelantan had been shot. There was a partial print here, which could not possibly belong to the victim, as he had low traction tennis shoes she recognized from a store she used to shop around online, before things had gotten so complex that nobody could keep track of her life anymore. Footsteps approached her, but she remained focused on the task at hand. Ziva set to creating a cast of the footprint on the ground.

"Ziva," She had to ignore that voice, it was not good for her to allow these lies to get to her like this-

"Please…I thought I could wait, but I just can't. I love you too much to call you just my friend, or just my partner," Ziva shook her head. It was too hard to focus on work now, but the cast was nearly complete.

"Give me a chance, I promise to try not to screw it up," Now the voice had a name, and a face. She had looked at him, something not according to plan. Ziva couldn't look away from those eyes…she planned on refusing his offer, but instead she leaned closer, breathing in his scent. Then, for the second time that day, she kissed him, much longer and more intensely than before. Tony wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her with a gentleness she had never known from Ray. Though her insides screamed to be released at once, she tried to fight it. As the seconds ticked by, she finally pulled away and stepped back several paces, panting for air.

"No, no I can't," Ziva gasped, her eyes wide at what she had just done.

"Yes, you can," Tony said softly. "I'll help you…you just need some time…" He took her hands and pulled her towards him again.

"I can take you to see a therapist, and you can get better Ziva. Just trust me, and you'll be so much happier," She tried to get away, but this time she had no idea what she was doing. Maybe she would try trusting him, for now. And if anything went wrong, she could just escape and find someone new. But, at the moment, she couldn't imagine being with anyone else.

"Alright," Ziva whispered at last. "I will try,"

"Thank you," Tony sighed in relief. "I promise you won't regret this, not even for a second,"

AN: Ohh! Established Tiva! And the plot thickens! Read and review, pleeeease!