Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS

When the team got to work the next day, no one was surprised that Ziva was already there and working. It seemed like it would be a repeat of the day before, and no one spoke. No jokes or pranks were happening, and if it had been for any other reason, Gibbs would have been pleased. The team got more work done that day than they had in nearly a week. Tony knew that he should at least talk to her, but he couldn't bring himself to. So he kept his distance, only speaking when he needed something.

There was a sigh of relief from all of them when Gibbs' phone rang, and after he hung up, he barked "Grab your gear."

"What do we got, boss?" Tony asked.

"Shots fired at Rock Creek Park," was the reply.

"Shots fired? Why did they call NCIS?" McGee asked.

"The suspect is a petty officer," Gibbs snapped.

They all nodded and hurried to the elevator. When they got on scene, it was eerily quiet, there was no one in sight. The hairs on Ziva's neck stood on end, and she put a hand on her gun.

"Something is wrong, Gibbs," she said quietly.

"Well, you think, David?" Tony bit out.

Gibbs groaned. Even on a case, there was still tension. And he wanted to keep his promise to Ziva that he would not put her and DiNozzo together, but they were the better shots than McGee, so he knew that he had to be paired with the probie.

"Ziva, you're with-"

"DiNozzo," she said, nodding. She knew that this was how it had to be, and wouldn't give the boss crap, especially not with the feeling she had.

Gibbs grinned. He knew that Ziva would put her personal feelings aside when it was important. Most of that was her Mossad training. "Right. And McGee, you're with me. Look around. You see something suspicious, trust your gut, but no heroics, got it? I don't like this quiet."

The team nodded and slipped off quietly in two's. Ziva kept her mind on the task at hand, knowing that this was her chance to prove to Tony that he could trust her, at least in the field. They were looking around for about half an hour, and the bad feeling Ziva had had just got worse. A feeling of dread that she hadn't had for a while grew on her and she turned in time to see a gunman in a tree, pointing a gun at Tony. Drawing her gun, she saw him aim to take the shot.

"Tony!" she yelled, forgetting self preservation. She gripped her gun, shoved her partner out of the way, and heard the pop of a gun.

She gritted her teeth against the familiar feeling of cold numbness that was spreading in her right shoulder. Knowing she didn't have long to take out the shooter, she transferred her SIG to her left hand and took the shot, hitting the man between the eyes.

"Ziva!" she dimly heard Tony yell, and felt him catch her as her knees gave out. Gently laying her on the ground, he ripped off his jacket. "Stay with me, Ziva!" he ordered. "Gibbs!" he yelled. Looking up, he saw his boss and McGee running towards them.

"DiNozzo, what happened?" Gibbs demanded, taking off his jacket to put under her head as Tony pressed his against her shoulder to staunch the bleeding. McGee was on his cell, calling for an ambulance for an officer down.

"Shooter was in that tree, aiming at me. Ziva pushed me out of the way and took the shot."

"Damn it, Ziva, I told you no heroics!" he yelled at her.

She looked up at her boss. "Sorry, Gibbs," she whispered.

"No worries, Ziva. Ambulance is on its way. You just have to stay with us, okay?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Tony okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Ziva. I'm here. And that was a great shot, by the way. I forget sometimes how great your aim is," Tony said. The last two days were forgotten as he looked down at his partner.

"Ambulance is here," McGee said.

Gibbs looked up and saw the flashing lights. "Okay. DiNozzo, chair carry," he snapped. Tony nodded, and together they lifted Ziva and half-ran her to the ambulance.

"What do we got?" the medic asked.

"Female, late twenties. Single gunshot wound to the shoulder," Gibbs said as they gently set her onto the gurney. The two medics lifted her into the ambulance. Gibbs jumped in to go with them to the hospital. He looked at the other agents.

"Call Ducky for the shooter, and process the scene, then meet me at Bethesda," he ordered, and the doors closed, the cab careening off.

Tony and McGee stood there for a moment in shock. McGee clapped his Senior Agent on the shoulder in comfort, and called up Ducky. As soon as he hung up, he shook him.

"Tony! We have to process the scene. Soon as we do that, we'll get an update on her. Okay?" McGee asked.

Tony nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Let's get to work."

The two of them stayed there, working as quickly as possible, both knowing that they had to find out how Ziva was doing. They looked up as they saw Ducky and Palmer hurrying towards them.

"Anthony, what happened?" Ducky asked.

"Shooter's over there," he said, pointing. "Ziva was standing right over here. He aimed at me, she shoved me out of the way, took the bullet, then shot him."

"Oh, my. Will she be alright?" the ME asked.

"Don't know, Ducky. Gibbs told us to process the scene, then go to Bethesda."

Ducky nodded, and did his work as quickly as he could. Whenever he had a chance, though, he would take a look at Tony. The man was shaking, and his clothes had splatters of his partner's blood on him. Ducky sighed. It looked like the young man was punishing himself, not just for this incident, but also for not forgiving her for the other night. He sighed. He hoped that all of this would work out okay.

At Bethesda, the doctors had rushed Ziva into surgery, and told Gibbs to wait in the waiting room. Then the nurse asked who her medical proxy was. Gibbs frowned. He wasn't sure, to be honest. Her family was out of the question, most of them being dead or in another country. Wait, he remember shortly after she joined the team, she had asked him to be hers and had given him some paper to sign. He told the nurse, and she had him sign and fill out a few forms, though he couldn't do any of the family medical history. The Israeli was a mystery to him, still. The nurse frowned, but nodded, taking the forms from him and telling him the doctors would let him know more when she got out of surgery.

Gibbs sat for a moment, then went to get some coffee. He hated hospital coffee almost as much as he hated hospitals. The most recent times he had been in one were after he had gotten blown up; when Kate died; and when Tony had the plague. None were particularly good memories, to put it lightly. He lost track of how long he had been sitting in the uncomfortable plastic chair, a coffee in one hand, his head in another when he heard, "Boss!" His head snapped up, and he saw Tony and Tim rush towards him. He smiled slightly, as they had stopped by a coffee shop on the way, and brought three a fresh ones. Tony handed one to him, saying "I figure even hospital coffee is too much for you. How is she?"

"Still in surgery. Doctor's haven't come out yet," he replied, sitting back down. "You guys process the scene?"

"Yeah, it's all back at the lab with Abby, and the shooter is on Ducky's table, probably getting cut up as we speak."

Gibbs nodded, and continued staring at the doors to surgery. The others sat on either side of him, and they settled in for the wait.

*ducks flying objects* Don't kill me! I had to do something drastic for Tony to pull his head out of his ass. I won't kill off Ziva, don't worry!