A/N - so this story is drawingto a close for now. I have one more chapter I want to add tomorrow, but then it's done. I may pick it up from time to time and add a bit of fluff as I see fit, but the story line I started here is officially done. I hope you like this chapter and the one to come. Please let me know what you think! Again, thank you to everyone who has followed and favorited this story, and thank you to all my reviewers: logracer, eitann, M E Wofford, nando2k50, RubyDragonJewel, rockclimberFVE, jesly, guest, guest (amaia), kfink77, Kerry Marie, bdn2372, clestaffordt, and Emzi001. You're all great! Thank you!


October 20, 2013

Ziva hears the elevator close behind her and suddenly she feels a little empty. This is the first time she's been away from Tony since about two hours after arriving in Italy. Now, however, she has to face Abby alone, without him having her back. In some respects it will be easier without Tony, but in other respects, it will be much more difficult.

Ziva walks straight into the lab and the door closes behind her. Abby sighs. "I thought I told you to go finish your paperwork, McGee," Abby says, sounding frustrated and dancing quietly while doing something on her computer.

"He went upstairs with Tony," Ziva says in response, almost afraid of what she is going to see and hear when Abby turns around after hearing her voice for the first time in several months.

Abby turns slowly around, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide with shock, as though she doesn't believe what she just heard. Her mouth flaps open and closed a couple of times, like a fish unable to breath the air. She obviously doesn't know what to say. Nobody has ever left Abby speechless before. Ziva can see many things flash across her face with no words to accompany the expressions.

First, Abby's face is excited and her eyes are wide. Then, her eyebrows narrow and curiosity crosses onto her face. Then, she looks angry and turns red. But, then her eyes fill with tears. Finally, Abby hugs Ziva, without a word to her. She squeezes her tightly and then looks at her seriously.

"You left, again," she says sternly. "You left us here, without you. You went on vacation or something and then off-grid. You left us. Do you have any idea what it does to Tony when you are not around? I mean, he was a mess! An absolute and total mess! I don't know how he was when he got back from his assignment in Italy, but he was a wreck when he was here without you and he was a wreck when he was looking for you. You can't do this anymore. You just don't even know what it does to him, to all of us, but especially to him!"

"Abby," Ziva says quietly, putting her hands on Abby's shoulders and looking at her carefully.

"No, Ziva," Abby says. "I am very happy to see you. But, this is not okay! This is not okay, because you hurt us all, especially Tony… and I won't let you do that! Not anymore! He is too good to you for you to run around hurting him all the time! You need to make up your mind. You are either here to stay or you're not, that's that! And it's high time that you figure out how the hell you feel about the man, because he's obviously head over heels for you and it shows every time…."

"Abby," Ziva says again, a little louder this time.

"No," Abby says, holding up a hand and shushing Ziva. "You'll hear me out. It really shows how Tony feels every single time that he travels halfway around the world for you. Israel, Somalia, Berlin, Israel again. You need to realize… I mean he was there for you after your father died and he was there to make sure you were okay, he wanted to go to Israel with you and what he told you, I know what he told you, but you didn't hear him, you didn't even listen to him and you screwed that up and tore his heart in half when you slept with Adam…."

"Abby," Ziva says again a little sharper this time.

"And then you two decide together that resigning is the thing to do and somehow you two are okay. Then you go to Israel without him and he's going to go with you and then you're off-grid and running away and hiding again and he goes after you! I mean, come on! This is so beyond cool! You need to get it through your stubbornness and figure out what you are feeling! But, I'm so glad to have you back! Are you staying? Or are you just visiting."

Ziva puts a hand on Abby's mouth, stopping her from talking. Abby looks taken aback again and stops talking. Ziva moves her shirt a little and shows Abby the badge that is at her waist and then she lets the shirt go. Ziva isn't really sure what to say to Abby, because all of what she said was the truth, but Tony and Ziva have already worked through it in the time they've spent together.

"Does Tony know you're back?" Abby asked.

Ziva smiles and thinks about the last few weeks locked up in his apartment and her eyes close as she revels in her memories of that time. She is still smiling when she opens her eyes. Her smile widens.

"Oh yea," she says quietly. "He definitely knows I'm back."

"And what do you mean by that?" Abby asked sharply.

Ziva lifts up her left hand and shows Abby. She can't contain the smile on her face and she wonders what Abby will say to her lack of words. Ziva is obviously happy and it shows. Abby studies the ring and even goes as far as grabbing her left hand and staring at it.

"How could you? How could you do this without us knowing? Does he know about this? What did he say?" Abby asked, automatically assuming that it was someone else that put that there.

Ziva chuckled quietly. "I think you misunderstood," Ziva says.

"What do you mean?" Abby asks with her eyes narrowing. "Oh! Wait! What? Tony? No! How?"

Ziva laughs again. "He asked a week ago," Ziva tells Abby. "Of course, you do know that there's nobody else in the world that I could possibly say yes to, Abby. It was always Tony. Think about it. You already gave all the reasons, but there is more."

"The times you two were hiding a relationship from Gibbs, Mossad, and NCIS?" Abby asks. "Yea, I knew about it, sort of… or rather I suspected it. But, if he asked a week ago, then you've been back longer than today…."

"Yes. We met up in Italy. I was the person he was picking up. I stayed at his place for safety and off-grid. But now Parsa is caught and he is being processed and questioned," Ziva explains. "So I am back. Tony and I already worked out everything. I'm not going anywhere ever again, Abby."

"How do we know that?" Abby said quietly.

Ziva lifted up her left hand again and wiggled her fingers. "Do you really think I would have said yes if I couldn't trust him to not only be there for me, but to respect what I want and need, and have my back at all times? I came back while it was still far more dangerous for me and people around me than it was for the rest of you. I came back at the height of danger, because I couldn't do it alone, though I tried. I couldn't do it and I didn't want to do it. I came home to Tony and he kept me safe, with you, McGee, Ducky, Palmer, and Gibbs helping. Thank you."

Abby smiled a little now. There were tears in her eyes again. She hugged Ziva again. "I guess all bad has a good side to it," she said quietly. "I just failed to see that the good side was you and Tony finally, finally, finally admitting what you feel for each other? You did right? Tell him how you feel?"

"Of course, Abby. I love Tony more than anything in this world," Ziva says, to prove her point. "I won't let him go. I don't think I can."

Abby smiled widely now. "Yay!" she said and jumped a little. "Come on, let's go see if they're done yet!"