Title: Baby Assignment

Chapter: 8

Disclaimer: I do not own ANY of the original characters from the show, they belong to the writers of NCIS.

Author's note: Okay, so I must say that I am quite proud of myself and the way that I have (so far) put a chapter up each day. So... This chapter has both Tony and Ziva in it, but I won't give too much away. I just have to remind you that Ziva thinks Tony loves someone else, it's everyone else that realizes he actually loves her. :p Just thought I would clear that up, because if you forgot that this chapter would seem like a step backwards. Anyways, thank you all for reviewing! I also want to thank you for reading this story and I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

Ziva woke up to her alarm buzzing; she immediately got out of bed and put on her running clothes. After pulling her hair up into a ponytail she set off to her morning jog. Although some people thought five-thirty was much too early to get up, Ziva loved the mornings. They were peaceful and quiet, she thought best in the mornings and her morning jog let her see the world while everyone else was asleep.

She rounded a corner and was surprised to see another figure running, Ziva laughed silently to herself at how the jogger must be new. He was dragging his feet, a sure sign that he was not typically up this early in the morning. Ziva smirked as she ran past him, but she was only a few feet ahead of the runner when she realized who she'd just passed.

Turning around confirmed her thoughts, "Tony? What are you doing here?"

Tony looked up at her and she almost burst into laughter at the groggy look on his face, his speech was still slurred with sleep when he answered, "Just thought I'd get in a run."

Ziva smirked, "Tony? You running? At five-thirty in the morning?"

Tony nodded, "Dumb idea, don't know why any more." He lied, he knew why, she was why. He'd gotten up extra-early to meet her on her regular route, of course he'd only thought about seeing her, not getting up early or having to go for a run.

Ziva looked amused at the way he was panting and dragging his feet, "Why were you running here? Shouldn't you be running closer to your house?"

Tony looked up and she saw panic in his eyes for a moment, but he recovered quickly and grinned, "Heading to the diner, food and drink will energize me, you want to come?"

Ziva grinned, "Can't, the diner's not open this early."

Tony stopped running and stared at her, he finally started running again, "You're not serious are you?"

Ziva chuckled, "I am serious, but the look on your face in priceless."

Tony grinned as he pushed himself on, he'd woken up early to run with Ziva, he was going to run with Ziva. "So… Melissa tell you we broke up?"

Tony grinned as he noticed a small smile on Ziva's face, she quickly covered it up, however and answered, "Yeah she did. Too bad, you two would've made a cute couple."

She forced the last part, but Tony didn't seem to notice, he was too busy thinking about how happy she seemed he and Melissa were over. "So… How's it going with you and Matt?" He couldn't help but ask, wondering if they were already over.

Ziva didn't bat an eye when she said, "Oh, yeah we broke up."

Tony smirked a little, but hid it and stopped running in fake shock. Ziva stopped and looked at him, "What is the matter?"

Tony grinned, "Nothing, I just thought that you two were happy together."

Ziva nodded, "We were, but… I decided that it would be best if we no longer saw eachother."

Tony grinned, "What'd he do?"

Ziva looked at him, "He did nothing wrong, but Me—I just thought we didn't belong together."

Tony nodded, amazed at how good of a friend Ziva was that she wouldn't spill Melissa's "secret." Any other girl would've gushed to tell him.

He grinned at her, then pretended to be confused, "Wait a minute, if you and Matt aren't dating, who are you going to the dance with?"

He was panting to keep up with her but Ziva wasn't even fazed when she said, "Oh, I called Abby and we're going together."

Tony raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Really?" He asked suggestively, earning himself an elbow and glare from Ziva. "Ow! What was that for?"

Ziva rolled her eyes, "You know what it's for." They continued running until Ziva asked out of overwhelming curiosity, "So… If you and Melissa are over, who are you going to the dance with?"

Tony forced himself to keep running, he hadn't thought of this part of the plan. He couldn't date anyone else now, what should he say?

"I…. uh… I am just going alone." Ziva stopped in her tracks and looked at a now-blushing Tony.

She raised an eyebrow, "Really? You are going to the dance alone? The famous Tony DiNozzo is dateless?"

She smiled hugely, part out of happiness that she embarrassed him, mainly because he wouldn't be going with anyone else.

Tony stuttered, "Yeah… I, uh… That girl I was telling you about earlier is already going with someone so I thought I'd go alone. I don't really want to go with anyone else anyways; I never should've asked Melissa."

Tony noticed the smile quickly disappear from her face at the mention of his "mystery girl." He grinned, maybe she did care…

Ziva was kicking herself for being so stupid, she was celebrating over his break-up with Melissa and had forgotten all about the real threat—he was in love.

She sighed, but regretted it immideatly when Tony looked at her with concern. "Something wrong Zee?"

Yeah, you love someone, and they're not me…

Ziva shook her head, "No, I'm fine. So tell me, who is it exactly that you love?" She looked over at Tony, and saw his eyes widen as he seemed to panic a little.

Ziva thought it was odd that he was so nervous to talk about it, then realized, It's Tony, he doesn't go around talking about these feelings, he only told me about this love accidentally.

Ziva sighed but thankfully Tony didn't hear as he managed, "I… uh, who I love? Well..." Tony raked his brain for a good answer, but nothing came to mind. She'd know if he was lying, but he couldn't tell her yet... He finally settled for, "I really don't think I can tell you."

Tony could tell that Ziva was disappointed, but he couldn't do anything about it.

~~~NCIS~~~

Ziva tried to hide her disappointment, Tony didn't even trust her enough to tell her who it was that he had feelings for.

It was killing her not knowing, she was up all last night thinking about it, wondering who it was. Wondering why he chose that girl and not her. Was she not pretty enough? Was she not funny or smart enough?

Ziva sighed, she knew she should stop tormenting herself. Tony was in love with someone else and she needed to face it. He didn't love her and there was no need to dwell on it, she needed to move on and find someone else.

Tony had mentioned yesterday that all the guys at school had a crush on her, maybe it was time she stopped drooling over Tony and at least tried to find love somewhere else.

No. Ziva thought. I could never love anyone else, Tony is too wonderful to ever forget. Even if he doesn't love me back... Ziva stopped in her tracks at the next thought that hit her. So what if he doesn't love me back? I have to MAKE him love me back. I have to show him how wonderful we could be together and make him realize that we were meant to be.

Tony had stopped running when he realized she had too, Ziva was actually impressed with how well he was doing, he'd seemed to pick up his pace when she arrived.

Tony interrupted her thoughts, "Hey Zee, you ready to quit?"

He was breathing heavily, so Ziva decided to give him a break. She nodded and walked towards him laughing, "You look... tired."

She grinned at the look of disgust on Tony's face, "I can't believe you do this every morning. Come on, let's walk back."

Ziva grinned, normally she'd run farther than this and still jog back, but considering this was Tony's first time she decided to go easy on him.

"Sure." Tony looked at her and she almost burst into laughter at the look of gratitude in his eyes. They turned around and began walking back to their houses.

Ziva knew she shouldn't pry, but she couldn't help herself from asking Tony, "Okay... So I get that you don't want to tell me the name of this girl. But talking things out is good for you, so what is she like?"

Tony quickly glanced at her and looked down, he didn't dare look her in the eyes for fear that he would give himself away. "Well... Ziva..." Tony's eyes widened, he hadn't meant to say her name but he smoothly covered his mistake up. "She's the most beautiful person I've ever met."

Ziva could feel her heart tearing as she interrupted him, "Wait a minute, beautiful?"

She practically whispered the next part, "She must be really special. You only refer to girls as hot."

Tony looked at her, not sure why she suddenly went so serious, her previous grin now missing.

Meanwhile, Ziva was fighting back tears. From the sounds of it he really loved her, and as much as she loved him, she wanted him happy.

Ziva wanted Tony to love her, but she realized that wasn't going to happen. As much as it hurt, she wanted him to be happy. She decided that, no matter what, she would not try to steal Tony's heart from this girl. Even if it meant she was unhappy, Tony loved this girl, and he deserved nothing less than love.

Ziva sighed, she noticed that Tony was looking at her with concern but she shrugged, "What else?"

Tony continued to look at her, unsure if he should question her or continue.

He could tell from her eyes that she didn't want to talk about what was bothering her so he continued, "It's not just her looks though, she's amazing. She's the most amazing person I've ever met. Her smile brightens up the room and her laughter is the highlight of my day. I'm always thinking about her, wondering if she feels the same way about me. I actually dream about her."

He noticed that they were standing in front of her house and faced her. He stared in her eyes as he continued, "I love her long wavy hair no matter how she wears it and I could get lost in her beautiful eyes. I love her."

He noticed how close they were and wanted nothing more than to kiss her and let her know that he was talking about her, that she's the one he constantly thinks and dreams about. He wanted to tell her that he loves her and beg for her to say the same.

That's what he wanted to do, but he realized that he still wasn't ready. So he stood there, searching her eyes for answers. Silently asking her where she stood on their relationship. He stared deep into her soul, waiting for her to tell him, but he got no answers. Instead, they both stood there silently, lost in each others' eyes.

Tony finally realized what he was doing and stepped back quickly. Both of their faces flushed with heat and they refused to make eye contact, Ziva was the first to break the awkward silence.

"Well, I have to go inside and get ready for school. I'll see you later." It took all of her willpower not to look back as she went inside and shut the door behind her.

I will try to have the next chapter up tomorrow, but I can't say for sure since it's the first day back at school. I hope you enjoyed this, thanks for reading and please review!