I won't give up

by orangedebateboxes

Despite his best efforts to forget her, Tony Dinozzo finds it harder then he thought to forget Ziva. He thought Zoe Keates was they key to letting Ziva go, but when things don't go well between the two of them, he realizes that he will never be able to give up on Ziva. Meanwhile, Ziva is having her own problems forgetting Tony. Is it enough to pull her back to DC?

9. Chapter 9

"You're up." Gibbs brusk voice beckoned Ziva down the hall and into the kitchen. When she entered,Gibbs gave her a once-over. Her hair was loose, not tied. She wore jeans and a comfortable looking blue sweatshirt that suited her well. The weariness of traveling seemed to have disappeared and there were no tell-tale dark circles under her eyes. As far as Gibbs could tell, Ziva was none-the-worse for wear.

"Good morning, Gibbs." She replied back. Despite the nervous tinge in her voice the night before, there were no traces of it this morning. "How'd you sleep?" Gibbs didn't really need to ask - he had checked on her last night to make sure she hadn't decided to bolt after all. Gibbs waited for her answer as the coffee pot started to whistle.

"I slept very well last night. Thank you." The truth was, despite the butterflies doing the Olympics in her stomach the night before, Ziva had slept soundly all night. She probably would have slept longer too, if the smell of bacon cooking hadn't gently lured her out of sleep.

Gibbs nodded and poured the boiling water into a cup. He handed her the fresh cup of tea and motioned for her to sit down at the table. Neither one of them said anything as Gibbs served breakfast and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they were both settled down at the table Ziva started the conversation up again. "Actually, if I'm being honest, that was the best night of sleep that I've had in a very long time." Being near a familiar and friendly face had managed to calm her demons and keep them from coming to the surface during the night. She had spent too many nights recently doing senseless chores after waking up after another nightmare.

"Good." It was a typical one-word Gibb answer. It was comforting to know that some things stay the same. They continued for some time in comfortable silence, with the pitter-patter of rain as the soundtrack to their morning. Ziva was grateful that Gibbs wasn't pushing her and Gibbs knew that Ziva would talk when she was ready.

In half an hour, the food was gone and Gibbs stood up and took the dishes to the sink. As he was reaching for a washcloth, his phone started to vibrate. With one smooth motion, Gibbs had whipped his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Gibbs… okay. I'm on my way." He turned back to Ziva as he slipped his phone back in his pocket. "I have to go." No mention of her going to NCIS. As if reading her thoughts Gibbs continued. "We're in the middle of case. Seems to be warming up. It should be wrapped up sometime in next day or so. Call me if you need anything."

Ziva nodded. Gibbs grabbed his coat and his coffee. She followed him to the door and as he stepped he called to her over his shoulder. "See you tonight." Ziva smiled and gave a small wave as Gibbs set off. She shut the door and turned back inside the house.

She would make her way back to NCIS - and more specifically the people who work there - but for the moment she wanted to wait a bit longer. Gibbs might not be surprised by her return (not like he would show it if he was) but she didn't want to cause any ripples that could interfere with the day-to-day operation of NCIS. She knew how important the job is to everyone who works there, and she also knew from experience how easy it was to get distracted by personal issues. Distracted equaled dangerous and she wouldn't put any of them in that position. No, she would wait until this case wrapped up.

Her mind made up, Ziva made her way back to the kitchen and picked up her half empty cup of tea. She could hear the rain falling outside as it splashed against the windows. The sound of rain and the warm mug in her hands made Ziva just want to curl up and read a book. "Not a bad idea." she thought. After all, it wasn't like she had anything better to do right now. But as she roamed Gibbs' house for something to read, she couldn't help but wonder what a certain Special Agent was doing at that moment. And how he would react when Ziva finally made her re-appearance.

A/N Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who have stuck around all this time! Also to everyone who left me a review - Thank you so much! If you have any comments on how I can improve, I would love to hear it! :)