Disclaimer: I no own 'em.
Notes: Thanks for the reviews.
Ziva had left the hospital in Israel after her Gaza Strip ordeal and had been staying with her family for the last few weeks. Tony had stayed with her and helped her through some of the tough issues that left alone would eat away at her. Towards the end of his stay Ziva had become increasingly agitated but she calmly explained that it was not Tony's fault. She assured him that his presence had been the best thing about the stay in Israel. Ziva was angry with her father. Tony had noticed the awkwardness of the relationship and in his own way tried to sympathise with Ziva while trying to help her work out some of the trivial problems she had with her father. He soon realised the problems would have to be sorted out by Ziva and her father alone. There had been one night when Ziva had been talking in her sleep. Tony soothed her as best he could but she jerked awake suddenly and screamed for Ari. Tony was shocked. Ari had killed Kate. Why would Ziva be shouting for Ari? Tony looked deep into Ziva's eyes. Was that guilt? Tony was about to talk to her about it but she was gone from the room before he could say anything.
"Are you going to follow her?" Kate's voice asked quietly. She was sat at the end of the bed. She was looking at Tony expectantly, "Well?"
Tony sighed heavily, "When she's ready to tell me, she will."
"This time it's different. This is something you're going to have to help her with."
"How many people are you haunting? I bet McGeek and Abby don't have to put up with this. I know Gibbs doesn't have to put up with it."
Kate grinned, "You should hear what McGeek tells me. You would have a field day." The was a comfortable pause. They were so used to each other. Kate looked over to the empty doorway. "Tony, seriously, she needs help with this one."
"She know she can talk to me." Tony soothed. "She'll tell me when she's ready." He could tell from Kate's face she was not convinced. "Honestly Kate, Ziva will be fine." He flashed his smile hoping to quell any doubts Kate was having.
Kate nodded to signal that she would drop the subject and trust Tony. Her look became playful. "So you asked her yet to doom herself to a life of movie references and pizza boxes?"
Tony pulled the covers over his head. He said something but it was muffled by the cover. He pulled the cover off and smiled, "Not yet."
"Still planning the Italy trip?"
"I was thinking I might just go a little more traditional. A nice restaurant, some candles, a cool breeze." He smiled brightly.
"Sounds..."
"Horrible. She'd hate it." Tony was nodding in agreement with his own opinion. "How are things with you Kate? I never ask."
Kate was obviously shocked by the change in subject. "Why do you want to know?"
"I'm being polite!" He said exasperated.
"So you're just being polite, you're not actually interested."
"Forget I asked."
She was grinning again. The grin faded, "Tony, will you go talk to her."
Tony had become a little concerned that Ziva had not returned. He looked at the empty doorway and back towards Kate but she was gone. He shook his head as if to remove a heavy haze. He went in search of Ziva. He found her sat in the garden looking up at the moon. She looked sad. He sat next to her on the bench that he father had built on one of his rare days off. He put his arm lightly across her shoulder. She leaned into him. There was silence for a moment and then she spoke. "I killed Ari." She said sadly. Tony held her closer. "I killed my own brother."
Tony was shocked. The official report that had been given by Gibbs to NCIS had said he had shot Ari. Tony barely knew Ziva back then but when she arrived at NCIS a few weeks later he had sensed something between Ziva and Gibbs. Tony never knew how much Ari's death had affected her. It was taking time to break through the many defences Ziva had built to stop people getting too close but Tony did not mind.
Ziva sat up, there was anger in her face. "Ari killed Kate. Kate would still be alive if I had done my job properly." She wanted to argue with him. She wanted him to hate her. It was difficult to understand why Tony did not hate her after she had failed to control Ari. It was her fault Ari had caused him so much pain. Why did he not see it?
Tony shook his head lightly. "Ziva, Ari was a grown man, capable of making his own choices. Ari chose to kill Kate. You couldn't control him because he did not want to be controlled."
Ziva was angry with Tony. She wanted to argue and he was being nice. "If I'd been doing my job properly Kate would be alive. I know Kate and you were more then friends."
"Do you want me to say it was your fault? It was your fault! You should have controlled Ari! You should have taken him seriously and not been so soft on him just because he was your brother." Tony was annoyed. He knew that Ari was not Ziva's fault but she wanted to argue and he felt like shouting.
"How was I supposed to know!" She was livid. "Nothing in my training... He was too good... He was better than me... I knew something was up but I didn't... I should have... If only..." Tony just let her work it all out for herself until she was tired of hearing her own voice arguing her case.
Ziva was calming down. Tony took his chance. "Ziva, you did everything you could. You tried to help him but he didn't want help. He was happy on the path he'd chosen. Ari was responsible for Kate's death not you. Ari was responsible for his own death. He would have killed Gibbs. If you'd let him go who knows how many he would've killed." Tony pulled her back down to sit next to him. "It wasn't your fault." They sat in silence for a while and he knew Ziva was feeling better. He felt Ziva drifting off into a light doze and he sat out in the cool air with his arm around her.