A/N: Hey! So at the urging of the ever-fabulous Bravo my Lady Grace, here is your new chapter. Today we get some explanations, which is great, but there's kind of a silent catch. Just hold on for a little bit, ok?

EXACTLY 7 DAYS FROM NOW I WILL BE WATCHING THE SEASON PREMIERE! Sorry, just had to get that out because I am so so so excited. We're almost there!! It's been a long time coming, but we made it and it's almost here.

Really. I am elated.

"What did I do?" he repeated nervously. Ziva nodded. Tony's heart nearly melted. Despite the bruises, the brace, the paler skin, the tired eyes, the slower pace… It was still her. They stopped at a bench beneath the shade, the soft sunset glowing about. "I, uh…" he swallowed. "It was the worst five months of my life,"

Ziva's eyebrows furrowed, though secretly, her heart quickened. "Why?"

"You weren't here," he said quietly, avoiding her eyes at first, then meeting them, gentle and soft.

"I'm here with you," his words were a whisper as he remembered her words.

"What?" Ziva asked, startled.

Tony sighed and stood. "Gibbs will be back soon. We should head back," He couldn't tell her. No. The timing… It wasn't right. She was finally back. He couldn't do this. Not now. He just… He couldn't.

Confused but not wanting to chase the subject quite yet, she agreed and they walked back to her room in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

Ziva, Gibbs, Tony, and Vance sat at the conference table in the Director's office uncomfortably, waiting for Ziva to begin. They had only been there for a minute, but already Tony could tell this day would be agonizingly long.

"It was not supposed to happen this way," Ziva said quietly though her voice was steady and still. She was echoing his thoughts from the night he did. Tony shivered inwardly. "Mossad… Mossad wanted to take down Kalla Amal. It would require not only heavy tracking here in the US but no doubt it would lead to their deaths. Foreign operatives are not allowed to work on American soil, not like this," Ziva said, brushing a flyaway hair from her eyes, sleek and shiny from a good washing. She sat at the table straight and tall, as she was accustomed to, dressed in familiar cargo pants and a shirt she had left behind in her apartment, brace encasing her fractured wrist.

"What'd you do?" Vance prodded.

"I told them to stop. That their presence in America would likely only draw attention. That I would draw attention. We could not risk it," Ziva glanced at Tony. "My father tried talking to me, but I would not listen. He sent Azari to discuss it, but Azari had different plans. Two weeks before I went to pick up Holt, he drew my blood and froze it until the right time," Tony's stomach churned in disgust. "I was to go about my life until Azari could set up a time in which my disappearance would be right. I drove to Holt's and he disarmed me, then held a gun to my head as he ordered me to set up the scene,"

"The blood," Tony remembered.

Ziva nodded. "Azari called me that morning and told me Holt was dead, and to come to her house to pick he up when Gibbs noticed she hadn't arrived at court,"

"So you volunteered," Gibbs said, leaning back a little in his chair.

Ziva nodded, a disgusted expression passing over her face quickly, one only Tony noticed. "I have been—I was—an agent with your team for some five years. I learned what you would look for in a crime scene. So, I made it as inaccurate as I could without risking it. I had hoped you would notice, but it took longer than I had planned for,"

Tony glanced at Vance who sat up straighter with all the eyes in the room upon him. "Eli called me. Asked for us to hand over the investigation. There was nothing I could do," he explained.

Tony forced himself not to grunt in disbelief. Ziva continued. "I stayed at my father's home in Israel until up until three weeks ago when I came back here to plan and execute the meet. I had convinced Azari to allow me to do this, and what with all of my time inside, my impatience had grown and so he let me,"

"The fortune cookie," Tony said, and Ziva's eyes met his.

"The what?" Vance asked. The two looked down, unsure of whether or not to tell him.

"A few days ago, the day we lost Ziva, I got a call from Alfredo's Chinese, telling them that the order I hadn't placed was ready for pick up. I had been expecting Ziva to try and communicate, so I went, hoping they just didn't mess up someone else's order with an old customer's name. Inside was a fortune cookie with all the information about the meet,"

Ziva nodded. "It was supposed to be simple. We meet there, we figure out what to do, we leave, and no one else ever finds out,"

"But it didn't work out like that," Gibbs mused.

"It turned out that Azari only agreed to the meet so he could sell my location to Kalla Amal. It was the perfect place for a set-up. I should have picked something more public," she said, a hint of regret showing through her voice.

"You couldn't have known," Tony assured her.

"But I should have," Ziva protested. "I spent half of my time in Israel with Azari. I should have realized, I should have seen the signs,"

"Why didn't you?" Vance asked.

"Honestly, I do not know. I wish I did," she replied. Tony's heart ached for her. He saw the look in her eyes no one else did.

"You left clues," Tony said, changing the subject.

"I did," she nodded. "I knew it was coming. I know you would think I was dead. I didn't want that. So I left the clues. I had hoped you'd find me," Ziva said, her gaze finally falling on Tony. His expression was stone-stiff, but his eyes were soft.

"And I did,"

"Yes, you did,"

Vance and Gibbs exchanged a glance. He cleared his throat. "Well, it looks like he have a problem,"

"Just one, Leon?" Gibbs said.

Vance ignored his comment. "You were pronounced legally dead,"

Ziva scoffed slightly. "Of course,"

"There was enough blood at the scene to indicate extensive blood loss. You should have died with that amount. Why didn't you?"

"We took it over the course of those two weeks and froze it,"

"But you can get it overturned, can't you?" Tony spoke up. "They death certificate or whatever, right?"

Vance sighed and looked at Tony. "I can,"

"Good," he said.

"Then there's the issue of your job, Officer David,"

"I want to come back,"

"I have no doubt. However, we filled your place,"

"No, we filled her desk. We never filled her place," Tony corrected him, heat rising. "Officer David is much more valuable than Levin. You can move him to another team. He won't be missed,"

"I want to come back. I do not want the same position," Ziva said, suprising everyone.

"Meaning…?" Vance spoke.

"I want to leave Mossad," Gibbs eyebrows heightened in almost an amusement. "And I want to come back with an American citizenship. I'd like to become a Special Agent,"

Vance looked at her critically. "That can take some time,"

"I understand," she said, though she was visibly disappointed. She hadn't thought that part through.

Vance sighed. "But I can try and speed things up if it means my Major Case Response Team is functioning properly. Tony smiled at Ziva, and she returned it. "You'll still have to attend FLETC,"

"That's fine," Ziva said, just happy to have the chance.

"I'll need verification, however, from your father, that you've left Mossad,"

Ziva's smile fell and she nodded slowly. "That could be a problem,"

Sorry that wasn't terribly thrilling, but we'll get there.

7 days!!