A/N: Happy Valentine's Day. I wasn't going to post this much, but after receiving 3,320 hits on this story only 3 chapters in, I think you guys deserve a little gift. However: please review. There are only 20 reviews on this story. Seriously guys? 3,320 hits and only 20 reviews? I don't write this for reviews—I write it because I enjoy it. But you, the reader, are what make it really worth it. I want all of the input and criticism and feedback and praises and critiques you can give me. Just show me that you actually like it and tell me what you'd like to see, ok?

Also: I got to watch a filming of NCIS a couple weeks ago. Michael Weatherly is just as wonderful, fyi. I got to meet him and talk to him for a while. Mark Harmon too. And William Webb, one of the Directors of Photography, as well as Sean Murray and Cote de Pablo. They are all amazing. And the episode? Ah. It will be wonderful. The episode is called "Hide and Seek". It's number 134 and should air in March or April. It's going to be fabulous, people. I don't have any real spoilers or anything, but what I know already? It's fabulous. It's all fabulous.

Beeep….beeep…beep….beeep….beeep…

The sound from the heart rate monitor was slow and steady. After a week spent in the ICU, Ziva finally had her own room. It would have been a time of much gratefulness, had she not been in a coma.

Tony thought back to the warehouse where Ziva had been shot five days before.

She lay there on her stomach, still as stone. Her gun was still grasped in her hand, but it was emptied of bullets. One bullet hole. Two. Two bullets. Tony whipped around, looking for the shooter. But all that surrounded them was silence. This could only mean one thing: he was never the target. Ziva was.

Ziva's arm had been pierced with a bullet . Tony pulled off his tie and tied it tightly around her arm. Careful not to turn her over completely, he checked to see where there other bullet. Uh oh, Tony thought. This isn't good. A bullet had gone through her stomach.

"Please, Ziva, come on, stay with me," Tony pulled out his phone and called 911. They'd be there in fifteen minutes. Their location had only hindered them. Tony thought fast: Gibbs. Tony pressed speed dial 1.

"Yeah," The familiar voice answered.

"Gibbs,"

"Tony?" This was the first time they'd had contact since the morning of the explosion, but in his gut, Gibbs had known the truth all along. "Is Ziva with you?"

"Boss there's not much time. She's been shot and she's losing a lot of blood. We're are the warehouse on the other side,"

"I'll be there," Tony knew he would. He waited there with Ziva. She had lost consciousness long ago. There was nothing else he could do now by wait for Gibbs.

"Sir? Excuse me, sir?" The nurse by the door interrupted Tony's thoughts. He had been sitting at Ziva's bedside every moment he spent not investigating the case. He had been there for three hours now, his thoughts drifting from regret to regret, reliving those last moments. He had never felt so hopeless. "Sir, visiting hours are over,"

"I don't think I'll be disturbing her," He said quietly. He gazed at her face. It was pale. She looked so peaceful, yet so weak and frail.

The nurse sighed. "I'm going to go get some coffee. I'll be back in fifteen minutes to check on her," Tony knew what she meant.

"Thank you," He said, turning around. The nurse looked at him sympathetically. He looked worn, defeated. "I'm sorry," He whispered to the young woman lying there before him. His own words sounded so much like hers had as she sat alone at the pier, tears falling down her face. He didn't let on then, but it had broken his heart. Part of him always knew that her reaction would show how she really felt about him. He just had no idea how much it had affected her. He touched her cheek softly. "I guess we both suck at our jobs. No offense," He smiled, knowing that were she able t reply, she'd come up with a sarcastic reply. Tony looked around the room. The white walls seemed to be taunting him. The black roses from Abby beside Ziva's bed seemed to be blaming him. "Be strong, DiNozzo," He told himself.

The last time he felt like this, it was because of Jenny. She had been on their protection detail. But he chose to obey her orders and she died because of it. Would this pattern repeat itself in his life forever? He glanced at the clock. The nurse would be here any minute, and he didn't wasn't to see the pitying look on her face again. He stood and bent down, kissing Ziva's cheek. He walked out of Bethesda into the cold rain. Instead of walking towards the parking garage, he turned down the street. The normally busy street was deserted. Before him stood a dark figure; he knew who it was.

"Hey Boss," He greeted the silver-haired man. He handed him a cup of coffee, and Tony took it gratefully.

"How's she doin'?" Gibbs always got straight to the point.

"Same," They began walking. "Sorry, Boss,"

"What is it with you people telling me sorry all of a sudden? You know better,"

"No, I don't. I messed up. I tried to protect her and I messed up," Gibbs laughed.

"She said the same thing, DiNozzo,"

"I know,"

"You're both wrong. It's not your fault. It's not her fault,"

"But—"

"Have I ever been wrong, Tony?" Gibbs stopped and turned to face him.

"No,"

"You guys have got to start listening to me. Did that summer afloat soften you up?"

Now it was Tony's turn to laugh. He thought of the pictures of Ziva he had posted on his wall on the USS Seahawk. She had nearly killed him when she found out.

"Failure. It's the story of my life," Tony stared at the street in front of him as they began to walk again.

"Stop the pity-party, DiNozzo. That's an order," Gibbs looked him in the eye. He meant business. Tony sighed silent. He knew Gibbs was right. He always was. "She loves you," Tony stopped again and stared at Gibbs.

"She does?"

"Yeah," Gibbs took a sip of his coffee.

"I think I--"

"I know,"

"Rule twelve?"

"If it hinders your performance, I'll slap you both all the way to Brazil,"

"Not Mexico?" Tony thought back to the summer without Gibbs.

"Mexico's mine," Gibbs said with a twinkle in his eye, and Tony laughed.

"What about her dad?"

"We'll deal with it when we get there,"

"We?" Tony questioned.

"We," was the only reply.

Tony shuffled slowly down the street. The rain was still pouring down heavily. Gibbs had left him forty minutes earlier, but Tony wasn't sure what to do now. He was still getting over the shock that Gibbs would actually support him in this. He, the man who had always been against relationships between co-workers, was giving him the opportunity of a lifetime; the opportunity to pursue the woman he loved. The woman he would give his life for. Tony pushed his hand through his sandy brown hair. He was soaking wet. Suddenly, he had an idea.

Ziva stirred softly. Tony. Was he alright? She couldn't remember anything after the bullets began to fly. Was he hurt? She tried to open her eyes, but couldn't. It began to come back to her. Ziva remembered the things she heard him say as he sat beside her. She felt as if she'd been gone for a very, very long time. Come on, Ziva. Open your eyes. After what seemed like hours of trying, she was able to open her eyes. She looked over to see machines all around her, buzzing and humming and beeping. Across from her was a window. It was raining, and the sky was darkening. Looking over to the other side, she saw something that made her smile. She reached over and picked up a DVD that had been lying on her bedside table. The Sound of Music. Tied to it with a ribbon was a white lily.

"I must have done something good," sang the characters. Ziva smiled from her bed and she watched the pair so in love finally come together. The bullet had narrowly missed any of her vital organs, and her arm would be sore for a while, but in a few weeks she'd be able to return to the job she loved so much. She was sitting up just a little, supported by several white pillows, watching the screen intently. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tony.

"Hello, Sleeping Beauty," He grinned and walked in, two cups in her hand, one filled with coffee, the other with tea. He handed the tea to Ziva and she took it gratefully. "How's the patient?" This was the first time he'd spoken to her in five days and this was all he could think to say. You're ridiculous, DiNozzo. He didn't let it show.

"I am doing well. I should be out of here in a day or two. The nurses say I was out for five days,"

"Yeah, you got hit pretty hard," Tony said, wincing just the slightest at the memory. "You lost a lot of blood,"

"Did you catch him?"

"Yeah, Gibbs cracked the case yesterday. He's in custody now,"

"He wasn't after you, was he?"

"No," Tony said, after a minute. "He was after you,"

"But why?"

"Something about an undercover mission in Puerto Rico?"

"Ah," Ziva smiled. "That one,"

"Anyone else who wants to kill you that you should tell me about?" Ziva began to laugh, then groaned softly at the pain. "Sorry," Tony said.

"No anxieties," Ziva said, leaning back into the pillows.

"Worries," Tony corrected, smiling. "I have a surprise for you. Come with me,"

"Last time you told me to come with you, we both got into trouble," Ziva replied, a hint of wariness and jesting both in her voice.

"It's ok this time, I promise," He stood and offered her his arm. Ziva took it and stood slowly. The morphine had done its job well, and she walked with much less pain than she expected. He led her out to the patio that was outside of the hospital. As they approached, Ziva saw strings of lights and a table covered in a red checkered cloth. He led her to the table and she sat down. On her plate was a box of Italian chocolates, and beside her was a rose.

"What is going on?" She asked him with a sly smile. He pulled a blanket out from under his chair and wrapped it around her.

"I thought you'd prefer this setting to your hospital room," Tony served her a plate of hospital food. "Trust me, you'll appreciate the hospital's food when you don't get sick to your stomach tonight," Ziva gave him a look. "Gibbs' advice," She laughed gently.

"Gibbs is in on this?"

"He nearly threatened the nurses to allow this," Tony replied.

"I see," Ziva said. She looked around. "I am afraid I am not very hungry,"

"Hold on," Tony said, reaching down. When he rose, he had produced a cup of Berry Mango Madness. Her favorite. "I figure it won't give you too much trouble," Ziva laughed and took the cup gratefully. The sweet flavor was refreshing after having only water and hospital food all day.

"Thank you, Tony," Tony watched her from across the table intently.

"You've changed a lot," He mused.

"I am not the only one," Ziva said, her eyes meeting his. She suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable.

"You were right, what you said on the dock? You have grown softer,"

"More vulnerable," She elaborated, regret sounding in her voice.

"Vulnerable can be a good thing, you know,"

"No, Tony, I do not," She almost sounded angry, but not with Tony.

"When you got here you had this wall surrounding you. You wouldn't let anyone in,"

"And why is that?" She met his eyes again.

"Because you're afraid," Any other day, Ziva would laugh at such a statement. But as she sat in her chair, dressed in a hospital gown and wrapped in a blanket, drinking nothing but water and eating nothing but hospital food, she knew he was right. She stayed silent for a few minutes, her mind mulling through the things he had just said. She stared at the ground, feeling weak and exposed.

"I… I cannot live any other way. I grew up in a place where one is always looking over his shoulder. Where death is a common part of life that everyone has had terrible experiences with. And my job? If I am not careful, being vulnerable could get me killed. Or the ones I love killed," Ziva looked up at Tony again. His eyes had never left her face. Her heart stopped beating for a moment.

Does she?

Could he?

Time seemed to stop for a moment. Unsaid words hung in the air. Just as Tony opened his mouth to say something, a nurse approached them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to get Miss David back to her room,"

Tony cleared his throat. "Of course," He helped her up and walked her inside. His arm found its way to her waist, supporting her as she was still weak. She got into her bed and just as Tony was leaving, she called after him.

"Tony,"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you,"

"Anytime. I'll see you tomorrow," He said genuinely. As he began walking down the hall, the nurse approached him once again.

"I just want you to know that what you did for Miss David was very sweet. She's lucky to have a man like you in her life,"

"Well, I don't know that I'm in her life, persay,"

"If you're not, you should be," The nurse stared him in the eye, and he knew what she meant.