"Dials, come on. Abby's waiting on us at the café." McGee called, putting his watch on his right wrist and walking to his closet to add his jacket and pull his girlfriend's down as well.

"Just finishing my hair, give me five minutes."

Tim fell back on his couch with a thump and a sigh. Since moving in with his beloved, he never made it on time for anything.

Another five minutes passed and Tim looked down at his watch again. He groaned and pulled out his phone, sending a text to his favorite scientist that they would get there as soon as possible.

Just as he closed the cell phone, there was a knock on the door. He rolled his head to look at it, and then stood from the couch, walking over to it.

He swung the door open and he was pretty sure his mouth hung open at what was on the other side.

The Israeli pulled the corners of her mouth up for a genuine smile, "Hello, McGee."

Tim had to let his brain catch up so that he could speak again, "Ziva! Hi!" He pulled her into a hug, and she returned it tightly. Once they backed up from each other, he let her in and closed the door, "How have you been?" He asked her, but then looked up to find Delilah staring at them from her wheelchair. "Oh, that's right, you two don't know each other. Ziva, this is my girlfriend, Delilah."

Ziva smiled at the woman and reached to shake her hand, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"You too, I've heard so much about you!" Delilah returned.

"So how have you been? Are you here to visit or…?"

Delilah answered before Ziva could, "Tim, we've got to go…"

"Oh yeah, Delilah and I are going to have lunch with Abby, would you like to join us?"

Ziva shook her head, "No, I do no want to mess up your plans. Please go, we will talk later."

"No, please come, Abby will be so thrilled, and even better it will give us a great excuse for being so late. Ow!" He held his arm where Delilah hit him.

Ziva chuckled, "Well if you are sure..."

"Yes, come on."

Abby stood with her parasol on the corner next to the team's favorite café, looking back and forth at the traffic that passed her.

Once she spotted Tim she waved at them, and just as Tim's did, Abby's mouth fell open when she spotted Ziva walking behind them.

She started in a jog and then into a sprint as she jumped on Ziva for a hug, "Oh my God, what are you doing here? I can't believe you're here! I've missed you!"

Ziva squeezed her friend equally as tight. She missed these people. She loved these people. "I have missed you, too, Abby."

Once Tim finally managed to get the two women apart, Ziva and Delilah continued into the café. When the agent tried to follow, Abby pulled his arm to stop him, "What's wrong?" She widened her eyes as she looked to make sure Ziva and Delilah were out of earshot, "We can't tell her."

McGee looked at the doors and then back at Abby, "Tell her what, Abs?"

She rolled her eyes and stomped her foot like the agent should already know what she was thinking. "About Tony!"

Tim thought for a second and then nodded when he figured it out, "Well, yeah, but she's going to find out eventually."

Abby shook her head, "We can't tell her, at least, not right now. Tony should be the one to tell her."

McGee sighed, "Yeah. That's gonna be hard for him."

Abby nodded, "I think he still loves her, but he never knew how to tell her."

Tim scrunched his eyebrows together, "I thought you liked Vanessa."

She sighed and looked into the café again, "I do, but I love Ziva. I don't want to see her hurt."

Inside, Ziva and Delilah laughed at one of Ziva's Tim stories and then looked out at Abby looking in, "What do you think they are talking about?" Ziva asked.

Delilah bit her lip with the answer she wanted to give her new friend, but she was saved when the waiter walked up to their table, "What can I get for you ladies?"

Ziva pointed to the doors as Abby and Tim finally walked towards their table, "We should give them time to look."

Once the two of them returned to the table, Delilah handed them a menu, and quickly reached to her purse to grab her ringing cell phone.

"Excuse me for a second guys." She said, moving away from the table to answer the call.

"So, Ziva, what have you been up to?" McGee asked her.

Ziva finished sipping on her water, "Well, traveling, mostly. I visited a few of my friends that I have not seen in ages, visited my Aunt Nellie…"

She trailed off when Delilah returned to the table, seemingly in a panic, "Timmy, we've got to go. Sabrina was just in an accident."

Everyone at the table became concerned, "What? Who is she? Is she okay?" Abby asked.

Tim was already standing next to his girlfriend, "She's my best friend. She says she's fine, but she's really scared and shaken up. Her boyfriend is a pilot so he's not in town and I'm the only…"

"Go. We will see you guys later." Abby told them.

With another wave, the two were out of the restaurant heading towards their car.

The two remaining women sat there awkwardly, small talk about the weather, rumors around NCIS and Abby's recent dates. Out of the corner of her eye, Ziva noticed Abby staring at her, but when she'd look at her, Abby would immediately turn her head. "Abby." She said, causing Abby to look at her mid-bite "Is something wrong?"

Abby took two more bites of her sandwich before looking at Ziva again, "Have you been to see Tony yet?"

Ziva looked down at her salad and put her fork down, looking back at Abby. "Yes, I have."

Her friend turned her head, "Oh, you have?"

"Last night." She stared at Abby for a few seconds before looking away and picking up her fork again, "He was not happy to see me."

"I don't think that's true, Ziva." Abby replied.

"He told me that I should go back home."

Abby's mouth fell open, "He told you that? That's so mean! This is your home!"

Ziva lifted one shoulder, "He is entitled to his opinion." The scientist took out her cell phone and began to rapidly type a message when Ziva put her hand on top of it, "Abby, no."

"I can't believe he told you that. He's going through a lot but that is no excuse to-"

"He is going through a lot?"

Abby's eyes got bigger and she put her phone down to pick up her sandwich. When she finished chewing her bite, she turned to find Ziva still looking at her, waiting for an explanation. She sighed, dabbed her mouth with her napkin and looked at Ziva again. "You should really talk to him again, Ziva."

The Israeli shook her head, "Why? What is wrong?"

"Well, nothing, physically. He's pretty messed up about Bishop, we all are. Bishop was great."

Ziva nodded, "Yes, I was sorry to hear about your teammate and friend."

"And his Dad was sick for a while, but he's doing better now."

Ziva scrunched her eyebrows, "What happened to him?"

"Had a minor heart attack."

She shook her head and stabbed a few pieces of lettuce with her fork. "I had not heard."

"When is the last time you've talked to anybody?"

Ziva continued to flip her fork over, "About two months."

Abby nodded and watched as the waiter returned again to fill up their glasses and take their plates, "You should talk to him again."

"What else, Abby?"

She sighed and looked at her friend, "You should go see him."

Ziva put her fork down and sat back in her chair.

What was everybody hiding from her?

Tony stood in the traffic of the busy airport, looking around the many people that were coming from the aircraft.

He put on a smile and held his arms out when he spotted her. She squealed and jumped into his arms, planting a kiss on his lips. He swirled her around in the airport and finally put her back on the ground, kissing her deeply.

"I missed you so much." She said, holding his face to hers and kissing him again.

"Me too." He said in between kisses. He moved away from her and picked up her bag, throwing it over his shoulder and grabbing her hand. "So? How was it? The pictures you sent me were beautiful."

She sighed happily, "It was beautiful. I wish you were there. The beaches were crystal clear and the weather was perfect. At night we went to all kinds of restaurants and drank wine and talked about everything. Melissa and Elizabeth were awesome roommates and travel buddies."

"Sounds amazing. I may have to crash your next all girls trip."

She squeezed his arm and laid her head on his shoulder as they walked. "We'll definitely have to go together. Bora Bora is my new favorite place."

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, "Well, I'm glad you had a great time, but for selfish reasons, I'm glad you're back."

She smiled again at him and leaned up to kiss him as they stopped at baggage claim. "I'm so sorry about Bishop."

Without looking at her, Tony nodded, "Yeah."

"She was your friend."

Tony looked up at the ceiling, "Yeah."

"Hey, don't do that. Talk to me."

He sighed and finally looked at her, "I'm okay. She was my friend." He shrugged a shoulder, "I've dealt with it before."

She nodded, "Okay. You seem sad."

He looked away from her again, "I'll be fine."

"How are Abby and Tim taking it?" Tony spotted her pink bag with flowers and stepped forward to grab it.

He put her carry on over his shoulder and carried the other in his hand; "They're uh, taking it okay."

They continued walking towards the parking lot when she looked up at him again. She bumped him with her shoulder, "Hey, are you really okay?"

He looked down at her, sighing, "Yeah. I'm fine. Just haven't been sleeping well."

She smiled at him again, "What have you been thinking about?"

He put her items into the trunk and sat down in the drivers seat, buckling his seatbelt. After he put the car into drive again, he reached over and took her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.

She looked at him, "Tony, you never answered my question."

He lifted his eyebrow, "What question?"

She sighed, but then smiled, "I asked you what have you been thinking about?"

Tony smiled back at her and squeezed her hand, "Oh, a lot of things." He stopped with the words that sat on the tip of his tongue. He couldn't possibly tell her the truth. His mind was a whirlwind lately, with one thing weighing heavily on it-Ziva.

As hard as he tried, he couldn't get the fact that she was back out of his mind.

He was happy now.

Or, at least he thought he was.

He snapped back into reality when one of the lights turned green and the car behind him blew their horn. He realized that she was staring at him, still waiting on him to answer her question. "I've been thinking about you." Vanessa let a smile creep up on her face and then blushed, "I'm glad you're back."

She smiled at him again and leaned up to turn the knob on the radio, "I had a great time, and I'm glad I saved up for it, but I'm glad to be home."

Tony was pulling into his driveway when his cell phone rang from its position on his hip. He groaned as he answered it. "DiNozzo."

She watched him as he listened to the male voice on the other side. She knew from experience when he asked 'where' that it meant he was about to leave for a crime scene. "You've got to go, huh?"

Tony sighed and looked at her, "Yeah." He got out of the car and opened the trunk, pulling her bags out and handing them to her. "I'm sorry. We're on call this weekend."

Vanessa waved her hand, "It's no problem. I'll head back to my place and we can see each other tomorrow." She watched his face for his reaction, but when he didn't give her one, she spoke again, "Unless you want me to stay here and be here when you get back." She stepped closer to him and kissed his chin. "I could have the bath ready for you."

Tony lifted the corners of his mouth, "It will be pretty late when I get back. You're probably tired from the trip."

She shrugged a shoulder, "I'm not that tired."

He sighed, "Well, depending on how cranky Gibbs is, I could be gone all night. I don't want you to force yourself to stay awake when you have to be exhausted."

She furrowed her eyebrows; "I have to go back to work tomorrow."

"Look, honey, I don't think it's fair to you to stay up waiting on me. Why don't you go home and get some rest, and if it's not too late when I get done with work, I'll come to you."

She stepped back from him, her smile removed from her face. It wasn't the plan she liked or wanted, but it was pointless to argue with him when he was in this sort of mood, "Okay. If you're sure."

He nodded and leaned down to kiss her, "I'll let you know either way."

She nodded and walked away from him, towards her car parked on the street.

Vanessa couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something different about her boyfriend.

Several hours later, Tony slowly walked towards his apartment door, tired and exhausted from the night's events. He and McGee had a 5-hour break, just enough time to grab a PBJ and sleep for a few hours before having to be back to the office.

He was looking down at his hands, flipping through his keys to find the one that would unlock his door. When he looked up again, he saw the Israeli standing against the wall, her arms crossed, her left leg over her right.

Tony sighed and walked passed her as if he didn't see her standing there. She rolled her eyes in response and turned to him.

"Why are you acting like this?"

He still didn't look her, "Acting like what?"

She sighed, "I do not even know why I am trying."

"Neither do I." He finally got the door opened and walked inside, closing the door almost all the way, but pulled it back open just before it clicked.

He stepped outside and watched as she walked towards the elevator, "What do you want, David?"

She turned to look at him, waving a hand, "Never mind. Apparently it is not important."

"Well I guess it is, because you stood here waiting on me. And standing here arguing with you is only taking away precious sleep minutes, so, what do you want?"

"Go to sleep then, DiNozzo. You will not have to worry about me anymore, I will leave you alone since that is what you want."

He sighed and rubbed his face and looked at the elevator doors as they opened. It was wrong, the way he was treating her. And he knew it. They were close friends; he would probably say she was his best friend, before she left. There wasn't any reason they couldn't be like that again. They just needed to sit down and have a conversation. "No, it's not what I want. I'm sorry."

She stepped on to it, "Perhaps this was a mistake, coming back here."

"Why did you?" He asked her again, placing his foot next to the doors so they wouldn't close in front of her.

Ziva rolled her eyes at the same question he asked her last time she was here. "It does not matter." She looked down at his foot, "Move your foot, please."

He sighed and stepped onto the elevator with her, and the doors closed in front of her. "Can we have lunch?"

She still didn't look at him, "I do not think that is a good idea."

Rubbing his tired eyes again, he looked at her, "Have lunch with me, please? I'll give you a call when we're wrapping up the case."

Ziva stepped out of the elevator when it's doors opened at the lobby, "Fine."

"Okay." Tony watched her as the doors closed again and he leaned forward to press the button for his floor.

He had so much to tell her; there was so much she missed-including his relationship.

He just hoped she understood.