I am SO sorry for ending the last chapter where I did. It was very difficult to write Ziva so incredibly heartbroken, but I assure you there is a reason for it!
Just to be clear: Ziva and Ari are siblings, but Tony believes they are dating.
There will be some Tiva in this chapter, to make up for the last few that went without it. Sorry.
Disclaimer: Yes, I own them. In my wildest dreams, maybe.
Pulling up to the crime scene in his Mustang, he cursed Mother Nature for making it rain. That means he was going to be soaking wet by the time he's done processing everything. And being an agent down meant he was going to have to do extra work and it was going to take longer than normal to finish.
He was just glad that it was over. Kate's killer is dead – as he should be. He hoped Gibbs did a good number on him.
He got out of the car, grabbed his gear and hurried through the open front door of the house. He walked down the stairs to where the body supposedly was, but was stopped by Gibbs halfway down.
"DiNozzo, is Ducky here yet?"
"No, boss. I didn't see the van outside when I got in."
"Oh. Never mind. We aren't actually supposed to process this scene. Apparently we're 'too close to it'."
"Damn. Well done with getting him, boss."
"Yeah. Where's Officer David?"
Oh no. She shouldn't be here. As much as he was happy that Ari was lying dead on the concrete floor not ten feet from him, and as angry as he still was at them being together, he didn't want her to see her boyfriend this way. It was hard enough for him to see Kate with a bullet in her head and they weren't even together. He couldn't imagine how it must be to see your lover lying so motionless in a pool of blood.
"Haven't seen her boss. Why was she here?"
"Just find her, DiNozzo."
"On it boss!" He dropped his gear in the living room and stepped out onto the porch.
Why would she have been here? If she had been here, she must've seen him already. And if she left so hurriedly it can only mean one thing: that she was terribly upset. No… He cannot leave her in that condition. Worriedly, he started to wander down the street, not caring that he was being soaked to the bone. His only thought was to find her.
Through the dim streetlights, he saw what was probably a park about a block away. That is somewhere he would go if he was upset. He decided to look there first and if he didn't find her, he'd get more creative.
Walking through the trees, he spotted a large expanse of grass to his left and a playground to his right. There were no lights on in the park, so it was incredibly dark. He could only vaguely make out the swing set and a few benches. Not seeing her, he was just about to turn around when he heard a sound that was not coming from the rumbling clouds above him.
It sounded suspiciously like a sob, but he couldn't be sure.
Suddenly, the sky lit up with a flash and he saw the bundled mess of human curled up on the bench next to a fairly large tree. He jumped into a jog towards her, wanting nothing more than to just pull her into his arms and hold her for the rest of forever. But he knew better. She was Mossad after all. Not announcing himself before approaching her would most probably result in her accidentally killing him out of instinct.
He slowed down to a walk and made sure that he was in her line of sight before he gently called out to her.
"Officer David?"
Ziva jumped at the sudden sound of her name and looked up to see who had found her in this mess.
Oh. Tony.
When had she started to call him by his given name in her head? Probably after she woke up from a dream about him for the fourth or maybe fifth time. It didn't matter.
The only thing that she could think about was that he was standing there in front of her, soaking wet. And she was in this state. Not exactly how she ever wanted him to see her. He was not moving, yet it seemed as if he desperately wanted to reach out to her. And she wanted him to. She had already forgiven him for his attitude and rude comments towards Ari, for she now knew that they were warranted.
"Agent DiNozzo." Her voice was barely above a whisper – lost from all the crying. "Please, sit down," she said, moving over to make space for him on the small bench while keeping her knees pulled up to her chest.
She watched as he slowly, silently sat down. He seemed to be contemplating what to say.
In truth, he didn't know what to say. What do you say to your soulmate, who just saw her boyfriend laying dead on his boss's basement floor?
"I'm sorry," was the only thing he could come up with. He wasn't really sorry, not for Ari being dead, but he was sorry for the hurt it caused her. He didn't want her hurting. And if she was, he wanted to do everything in his power to make her feel better.
"Are you?" he heard her ask softly.
"Yes," he answered truthfully. "I am sorry for your loss. It is difficult losing someone so close to you. Someone you love."
She looked up at him incredulously. Did he know? How could he know? Nobody knew. Unless… No. He did not think they were together, did he? She almost laughed at the thought.
"Thank you."
They were quiet for a few minutes. Finally she spoke, her voice raspy from the crying and the rain.
"I lost my little sister Tali in a Hamas suicide bombing. She was sixteen and the best of us. Tali had compassion."
He didn't know what to say, so he murmured "I'm sorry" again.
"After Tali's death, I was like Gibbs. All I wanted was revenge."
"Is that why you joined Mossad?"
"I was Mossad long before Tali's death. Old..." she trailed off.
"Family tradition?" he supplied.
She shook her head. "Israeli sense of duty." She swallowed. Should she tell him? She wanted to. She did not know why exactly, but she did not want secrets between them. "Hamas took my sister." She paused. "And now it has taken my brother too."