Hey readers! Sorry for the long wait. School work's been getting in the way, and I've been concentrating that little bit more on SSAOST3. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Ziva's POV

I ran into the hospital, not caring that both McGee and Abby were calling out for me to wait. I had to get in there. I could not wait.

It had started that morning. Tony woke up late, again…

2 days, 8 hours earlier…

Tony's POV

I groaned as the alarm clock rang for the fifth time that hour. I rolled over and tried to hit it. My fingers grazed the side of it as I reached, but the next second it was gone. I frowned. Stupid alarm clock.

"If you keep on hitting the snooze button, Gibbs will not be pleased when you turn up an hour late." Ziva's voice.

Stupid wives.

"I heard that."

Stupid ninja hearing.

"Tony…"

"Fine, I'm up, I'm up." I sat up slowly in bed and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Suddenly, sunlight from the window shone brightly into my eyes. "Ah!" I cried out.

I heard Ziva chuckle. "Hurry up and get ready. I have made you some coffee."

"Coffee?"

"And there are donuts."

I smirked. "I love you Ziva."

She snorted as she walked out of the room. It was only then that I noticed that she was already dressed for work. She was wearing a pair of black leggings and a long plain white top with white flats, and her hair was tied back in a ponytail.

I frowned and looked at the alarm clock. It couldn't really be that…

"Crap," I muttered. It was seven o'clock.

Yeah, Gibbs was gonna kill me.

Ziva's POV

After taking about half an hour to get dressed and eat his donuts, we were finally ready to leave the house for work. That was, until Tony decided to gel his hair.

"You do not need to gel your hair, Tony!" I yelled.

"But…" he started. I grabbed the hair gel from him and threw it out the window.

"If I ever see you using that thing again, I will have to murder you." I grabbed my bag and walked – or 'waddled', as Tony would say – out of the house and into the car. Tony followed not so long after, with a frown on his face. He started the car.

"What is wrong?" I asked.

"That was $10 out the window."

Normal time…

Ziva's POV

I ran down the white corridors, dodging in and out of doctors and nurses, and the occasional patient, walking by. It was quite difficult due to my size – Tony will never know I said that – but I managed to do it. The white walls felt as if they were closing in on me, the floor mocking me as I heard my footsteps click against it.

I had to get there. I could not be far…

1 day, 6 hours earlier…

Tony's POV

I was leaning back on my chair, just about to fling a pen at McGee from Ziva's desk – which, if you calculated it mathematically, was further from his desk than mine was – when I suddenly felt a sting at the back of my head. I dropped the pen and sat up quickly.

"Do not fling pens at McGee when I go to pee."

I turned to see Ziva leaning over the edge of the bullpen. "You head-slapped me?"

"No, I did," Gibbs said as he walked into the bullpen. He opened a drawer in his desk and grabbed his gun, badge and hat. "Grab your gear! Dead marine!"

I jumped up from Ziva's desk and grabbed my bag from mine. McGee grabbed his bag as well, and Ziva just watched us all get our stuff. On my way out, I pecked her on the lips.

"We'll be back soon," I whispered.

"Promise to be safe?" she asked. I kissed her again.

"Promise."

"DiNozzo! Quit dilly-dallying and get in the elevator!" Gibbs called out. I pecked Ziva on the lips one last time and smiled at her before running to get into the elevator. As soon as I got in, I felt a stinging sensation at the back of my head.

"Ow! I won't dilly-dally next time, Boss."

Normal time…

Ziva's POV

Was he breaking his promise? The promise that he made every time he left for another case?

I wiped my eyes as I ran, trying to get rid of the tears that were coming fast. They wouldn't stop. Stupid hormones.

As I ran, I couldn't get one nagging thought out of the back of my mind.

He was breaking his promise…

23 hours earlier…

Ziva's POV

After at least five hours of non-stop paperwork, I was bound to be bored. In fact, I was. Dead bored. I sat back in my seat and eyed the still-standing pile of paperwork still on my desk. I glared at it.

"You evil pile. Why can no one else finish you?" I asked.

"Because we're on a case, David." I looked up to see Gibbs walking into the bullpen.

"I am a DiNozzo now, Gibbs," I pointed out.

"It's easier to distinguish you that way," Gibbs stated. I nodded before rubbing my ever-expanding belly.

"How is the case going, anyway?" I asked.

"Boss, Tony's taking some evidence down to the lab," McGee called out as he came out of the elevator. He immediately sat at his computer and started typing.

"What are you doing?" I asked curiously.

"Getting security footage from around the time of the murder," McGee answered simply as he continued to type. I got up from my desk.

"How about I help?" I offered. He looked over at Gibbs, who nodded. McGee smiled at me.

"Sure."

I leaned over the back of his chair and watched him play through all the security footage. I was getting quite bored watching everything happen until suddenly the scene seemed to change. I frowned.

"Is this the time of the murder?" I asked.

"No, not yet," McGee answered, frowning as well. "It looks as if there was some sort of street brawl or someone trying to plot something before the murder…" He looked down at the bottom corner of the screen. "And this was about an hour or so before the murder."

"Pause it," I commanded. McGee paused the video. "Look." I pointed at something that glistened on the screen. "There is something shining there. Is it a weapon?"

McGee zoomed in on it. "It looks like a knife…" Something clicked in his head. "And a knife was used to kill our Petty Officer."

"Could that be it?" I asked.

"Maybe. I'll get Abby to analyze it."

I frowned. "She is still working in the lab?"

"No, we moved her to another room. She got to keep all her computers, though. All her other lab equipment is still in the lab with another forensics expert." McGee smiled sadly. "Her name's Caitlyn."

My eyebrows rose. "Really? Has Tony met her?"

"Yeah, and he's already taken a friendly liking to her. If you go down there with him, you can see they're like a brother and sister to each other. Apparently they knew each other in college, and they were buddies."

"Ah." I stood up just as Tony entered the bullpen. He smiled at me and walked straight over to me, hugging me gently.

"Hey, babe," he whispered in my ear. "How you feeling?"

I snuggled closer to him. "Tired. Are you staying late tonight?"

"Yeah, I have to. I'll drop you off first, though, ok?"

I looked up at him and pecked him on the lips. "Ok."

Normal time…

Ziva's POV

I raced down the corridor, considerably fast considering I was pregnant, only trying to get to where I was going as fast as possible. I didn't notice when I got there until I felt myself crash into someone. I looked up and recognized the silver-grey hair.

"Gibbs?" I asked, my voice wavering. He pulled me into a tight hug.

"Oh, Ziva," he whispered and he kissed my forehead. I buried my face in his shirt, and wept.

7 hours earlier…

Ziva's POV

I walked out of the elevator, smiling as I carried my bag, a bag for Tony, and three cups of coffee with a bag of donuts. As the guys had done an all-nighter, I had decided to give them a little pick-me-up to start off their day.

When I walked into the bullpen, I walked in on a sight I had expected to see – Tony and McGee sleeping at their desks with Gibbs nowhere to be seen. I placed the bags and the coffee at my desk before setting everything up and waking the two men. I woke Tony up first.

"Tony," I shook his shoulder gently. "Wake up." He mumbled something incoherent before opening his eyes. I smiled at him and placed a donut and his coffee on his desk. I also placed the bag I brought for him on his desk. "Good morning!" I greeted cheerfully.

"I see you had a good night's sleep," he yawned. I nodded as I placed McGee's coffee and donut on his desk.

"It was different without you being there next to me, wrapping your arms around me, but I managed to fall asleep." I shook McGee awake gently before putting Gibbs' coffee on his desk.

"I also found out that I have a craving for donuts," I added as I grabbed the last donut from the bag. "And blueberry muffins."

"You ate the last muffin?" Tony exclaimed.

"You need to lose the weight anyway, DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he walked into the bullpen. McGee and I sniggered as Tony frowned. Gibbs took a sip of his coffee and smiled.

"Thanks for the coffee, Ziva," he said before walking straight out and down to the lab. I looked over at Tony.

"Before you say that is sympathy gain, I would just like to point out that you have not sympathized with me even once during this pregnancy," I said as Tony opened his mouth.

Normal time…

Ziva's POV

I squeezed tighter as I cried more. Why him? Why him? When I felt the baby move inside me, it made me cry even more. This was his baby I was carrying. The baby might not even get to see their father!

I felt Gibbs rubbing my back, and I looked up. He smiled down at me sadly.

"What happened, Gibbs?" I asked. He sat me down on one of the waiting chairs and sat beside me, before starting the story.

3½ hours earlier…

Tony's POV

I grabbed my gun and badge from my desk. We finally had the killer, and we were gonna get him. Heck, I was gonna get him even if it was the last thing I do. I mean, who goes and kills their pregnant sister-in-law before running off with their two year old kid? Why I ought to…

I picked up my earpiece and put it in my ear. I didn't even notice how determined I looked until I realized Ziva was looking worriedly at me. My face softened when she placed her hand on my cheek.

"Do not do anything stupid, alright?" she whispered. I smiled softly.

"Ok." I kissed her tenderly and caressed her cheek before walking out of the bullpen and into the elevator with McGee and Gibbs. I waved at Ziva as the doors closed. We would get the guy. That was a promise.

About half an hour later, we were at the killer's home. It was a shabby little shack out in the woods, so no one would bother looking for him there. Except us, that is. As we neared the front door, the killer burst out and started running.

"I guess he heard we were coming," McGee mumbled before I ran after the killer. I could hear Gibbs running right behind me, but I was running faster. I had to get the guy. For me, and for Ziva.

After about an hour of running, the killer finally started to slow down a little. Of course, I was still running at full speed, so I tackled him to the ground. As the killer fell, a gun feel from his hand and landed on a rock a few metres away. I wrestled to keep him down, trying to reach for my own gun at the same time, but he managed to get out of my grip. I growled as he crawled forwards for his gun, and I grabbed his leg in hopes that he wouldn't get the gun. He twisted in my hold and in his hand I saw…

His gun.

I dropped his leg in pain when I felt a bullet rip through my right shoulder and gripped it instinctively. The killer laughed.

"Not so tough now, are ya?"

I dropped to the floor, still holding my shoulder. There was blood pouring out of the wound, covering my hand. The killer stood over me, grinning and pointing the gun down at me. He shot me once more in my right arm, and I screamed in pain.

"Goodbye, NCIS agent." He was about to pull on the trigger for the third time.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the shot that would end me. All the time, I kept thinking, 'What about Ziva?', "What about the baby?'. I heard a gunshot, and expected to feel another bullet rip through me. I wasn't expecting to hear a painful cry. I opened my eyes and saw the killer lying on the ground, a bullet in his head. That's when I saw Gibbs kneeling beside me.

"You ok, DiNozzo?" he asked as he pulled me into a sitting position. I nodded, but stopped when I felt myself getting a little dizzy. I squeezed my eyes shut.

"DiNozzo?"

I opened my eyes and looked down at my right arm, which was covered in blood and still dripping. I was losing too much. "Boss…" I whispered before passing out.

Normal time…

Ziva's POV

Gibbs wiped the tears from my cheek. "He'll be fine, Ziva," he told me over and over. I nodded and leaned into him for comfort. He seemed to realize what I was doing and wrapped his arms around me in a comforting hug. A few minutes later, McGee and Abby joined us just outside Tony's room.

"Are you alright, Ziva?" Abby asked as she sat beside me. I shrugged.

"I do not know how I feel," I said truthfully. How did I feel? Angry? Hurt? Betrayed? Abby just joined in the hug.

"He'll make it, Ziva. He always does."

After another five to ten minutes sitting there, a doctor came out of Tony's room. He smiled at us softly.

"You must be Agent DiNozzo's family," he commented. I nodded.

"He's doing fine. We had to do a transfusion because of the amount of blood he lost, but his gun wounds will heal eventually. Luckily the shots only pierced the muscles and missed the bones, so they shouldn't take as long to heal." He smiled at me. "He's also awake and asking for someone named Ziva."

I sat up straight when he said that. He was awake? I got up and started to walk towards his room, opening the door slowly as the doctor stepped aside. I looked over at the bed in the middle of the white room.

"Tony?" I asked as I walked into the room. He looked up at me.

"Ziva?" He smiled at me.

"Oh, Tony!" I ran up to the bed and hugged him, being mindful of the arm that was in a sling and the IV that was attached to him. He hugged me back tightly.

"Ziva, I'm so sorry for worrying you," he whispered as he stroked my hair. "I broke my promise." I felt tears well up in my eyes as I leaned back to look him in the eye.

"I am just glad you are alive," I told him before kissing him.

Everything was going to be alright.

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