Ziva lifted her right hand, and smacked him hard against the face, a tear falling freely from her eye as she did so. Ziva stormed over to McGee's desk, and grabbed Aaron, pulling him with her.
She walked towards the elevator, and walked out of his life….
Maybe forever.
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Once Ziva stormed out of the squad room, all the attention was turned onto Tony. People from other office cubicles stuck their heads out to watch the agent, with a glowing red mark on his face, and the Mossad assassin. Gibbs walked in as he was sipping his coffee, and smacked DiNozzo upside the head.
"Thanks boss." Tony grunted as he turned to look at everyone, who was still watching him. "Shows over. Get on with your lives." He huffed as he walked into the men's room. Once he entered, he slammed the door shut, and then locked it, so there would be no interruption. He grumpily walked over to the sink, and splashed water all over his face. He shut the water off, and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked in his own eyes, and saw the shame, and regret for the harsh words he shot at Ziva.
"You're a retard DiNozzo." He grunted to himself as he punched the mirror. The glass broke at the contact of his fist. He clenched his hand in his other fist, as his knuckles started to bleed. "Better call the janitor." He told himself as he unlocked the bathroom door, and headed down to Ducky.
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Tony arrived down at the morgue, to find Ducky yelling something at his Palmer. Tony was still holding his own hand when he walked in, which got the attention of the old doctor.
"Oh my. Anthony, what have you done now?" Ducky questioned as he moved to put his gloves on. Tony went and sat down on a clean table. Ducky made his way over with the tweezers, and started picking little pieces of glass out of his hand.
"The mirror mocked me." Tony heavy sighed as he talked. Ducky silently chuckled to himself, as he started cleaning his wound. Gibbs chose this time to walk into the morgue. He walked up to Tony, and slapped him on the backside of the head… again.
"You're paying for that mirror. Go home after you're done down here." Gibbs said as he walked around the morgue, looking for something to do.
Once Ducky finished the wrappings on his hand, Tony hopped of the table, and walked out of Autopsy. Ducky turned to Gibbs, who had ventured his way towards Ducky's desk.
"Might you fill me in on what happened?" Ducky asked. Palmer had excused himself to go talk to Abby a while ago, which left the two oldest men to have their time.
"He punched a mirror." He answered, taking a swig at his coffee, which had gone cold.
"There a reason why?" Ducky asked, trying to make sense of the situation.
"He's DiNozzo. He screwed up." Was Gibbs's simple answer as he made his way out of the room.
"Hopefully not bad." Ducky commented, though no one was there to hear it.
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Tony stepped off of the elevator, and stepped onto the floor of Abby's lab. He didn't hear any talking, nor did he hear any music playing.
"Abby?" He called out, checking too see if Abby was in. When he turned the corner, he saw Abby sitting in the back room, lying down on her couch.
"Abs." He said, knocking on the glass door. Abby waved her hand at him, signaling for him to go away.
"Caff-Pow machine broke. I'm sleeping. Go away." She demanded, as she turned around, making herself more comfortable. Tony threw his hands up in the air, and walked away.
'Guess I'll just go home.' He thought to himself as he climbed back into the all too familiar elevator.
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Tony arrived back at his house, to find it empty. He searched around for Ziva and Aaron, but found nothing but their clothes, and some of Aaron's toys, but no Ziva or Aaron. He went outside his apartment, and into the brisk afternoon air. He searched around the outskirts of his house, but still nothing. He jogged to the park, the pond, and the open field, but still couldn't find them. He quickly began to panic as multiple thoughts ran through his head.
'What if she left me? What if she's dead? What if she went to Israel? What if Jacob got to her?" He shook the thought out of his head, as he kept running around town.
It soon became night time, and Tony still couldn't find his family. He went to all Ziva's favorite shops, eating places, running spots, and all of the places he could think of, but he still couldn't fund her. He called her at least 100 times before his phone died, but he still kept looking. It started to down poor, and Tony was left in the humid darkness with nothing but a windbreaker, his clothes, and pain in his hand. He didn't think that Ziva would return back to her own home, but it didn't hurt to check.
"Should've checked here first DiNozzo." He told himself as he made his way through the doors. He ran up all the stairs and sprinted to her door. He pulled out his gun as he found her door slightly ajar. He heard soft cries coming from the inside, so as he kicked the door fully opened, he scanned the apartment. He found tables and chairs knocked over. Pictures were off the wall, and carelessly thrown everywhere. He walked into Aaron's old room, and saw all the wall paper that was ripped off the wall.
He heard a window open, and a loud 'thump' on the floor coming from the direction of Ziva's bedroom. He then heard a high pitched cry, as he made his way to Ziva's room. He kicked the door open, and led the way in with his gun. He saw Aaron crying on the bed, looking to the window side of the bed. Aaron's head jerked up to Tony once he heard him coming in. Aaron crawled his way over to Tony, and jumped in his arms.
"Aba come back. Hurt Mommy." He cried into Tony's shoulder. Tony put him down, and ushered him out towards the living room. Once Aaron was safely over towards the couch, Tony turned his attention to the other side of the bed. He heard some low moans as he made his way over. Finally, he saw Ziva, lying down on the side of the bed. Blood was making its path way down her face, and on to her sweatshirt she was wearing. Her usual tan skin was covered in 'up and coming' bruises. Tony holstered his gun, and bent down towards her level. He saw Ziva's the weakness in Ziva's eyes as she looked up at him, before she re-closed her eyes. Tony carefully lifted her up, bridal style, and brought her out of the room.
"Tony." Ziva cried crumpling up his shirt, and holding it tight with her fist. She buried her head in Tony's chest as she wished all the pain would go away.
"Shh Ziva, I'm here." Tony reassured her as he gently laid her down on the couch. Aaron had crossed the room, and sat down on the love seat, were he held his teddy.
"Mommy ok?" Aaron asked, as he poked his head around, trying to see Ziva.
"She'll be ok." Tony said, standing up from his crouched position. He walked into the kitchen, and brought out the first aid kit. He returned back to his position and began his work on Ziva. He applied a cloth to Ziva's forehead to wipe away the now clotted blood. He brought the cloth down her face, and towards her lips. He gently traced the rest of her face, wiping away the blood, showing her true color, minus some abrasions. Tony applied antiseptic to the open wounds, and put an ice pack on the bigger bruises that she had.
"Doctor Daddy." Aaron cheered happily. Tony nodded his head, and maneuvered his way over towards his son. He scooped him up in his arms, and 'superman' carried him all the way towards his bed, were he laid him down.
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The clock rounded midnight before Ziva had woken up. She was well aware of a pounding sensation going on in her brain. She tried to shake it off, but it wouldn't stop.
"Ugh." She complained as she tried to sit up, which she failed at. She attempted to remember how she got in this position. All she could remember was when she slapped Tony across the face.
'Why did I do that?' She asked herself as she lay back down on the fluffy pillows. 'He probably deserved it.' She came up with that conclusion.
"Hey, you're awake." Tony said, making his announcement as he came out of Ziva's bedroom. He walked over, and plopped himself on the ground, right in front of Ziva's face.
"Tell me something I do not know Tony." Ziva snapped back at him, silently regretting as she did so, as her head pounded back. Tony looked down at the ground, afraid of what Ziva might do to him.
"I'm really sorry for what I said to you Ziva." He said shamefully, but truthfully. Ziva's face seemed to soften at the sincerity of his voice. Tony's and Ziva's eyes shared a strong look at one another, before Tony put a hand on Ziva's face. He pushed a strand of hair that had broken free from the pony tail she had on, behind her ear. He kept his hand on the side of her head, as he played with her curly hair.
"But, I was truly worried about were you had gone." He finished his statement as he started playing with her ear.
"Why do you make yourself care so much Tony?" Ziva asked him as she looked at him with her eyes. Her eyelids were starting to droop, but she wanted to finish the conversation with Tony.
"Because, I care about you Ziva. No matter what you do to piss me off, I'll still care about you." Ziva closed her eyes and smiled slightly. She leaned into Tony's touch, and moved over on the couch so he could lay down with her. She grabbed his hand, and pulled lightly. Tony followed, and lay on the couch facing Ziva's chest.
"I do also care about you Tony." Ziva told him, putting a hand on his chest. Tony tried to move so he could hold Ziva more, but the couch wasn't wide enough.
"Why don't we head off the bed?" Tony suggested, Ziva seemed to agree with his idea. She painfully made her way of the couch, and with Tony's help, she made the way to her bed. Tony changed her out of her bloody clothes before laying her down. Tony laid down beside her, and faced her face-to-face again.
"Why did you leave?" He asked Ziva. Ziva looked down, before she met eyes with him again.
"Because I was worried about how this would effect others." She answered simply with her eyes wide. For the first time in her life, she trusted this man enough to actually tell him what was on her mind. It was the first time she had ever done that, and she was shocked.
"You are not exactly the committed type, and if it ended badly, I did not want to think of what would happen to Aaron." Tony put his hands around her waist, and pulled her close to him. He buried his head in her hair, and took in the scent of her berry shampoo. He felt her arms go around him, but she didn't squeeze tight, as she was unsure of him.
"I want to be Ziva. I really want to be." He muttered into her hair. He felt her heavy sigh against him, and he was unsure about what she would say.
"How do I know that you will not go back to your normal self?" Tony heavy sighed, he wasn't really ready to tell her, but he didn't feel as he was ready to tell her. He thought of the pros and cons, and decided that the pros won. For the first time in his life, he felt sure of a decision he was making.
"Because I think that you are the only true person, which I'm falling in love with." He confessed. He felt Ziva's arms let loose around his neck as she pulled back to look at him in the face. She searched for the truth in his eyes, and she found it. She couldn't believe how good the truth in his eyes looked. She felt as she was truly loved for the first time in her life. Her father had told her that he loved her, but she didn't see the truth in his eyes. Ziva leaned forward, and met her lips with Tony.
Lips locked in a slow, but meaning full kiss. It wasn't a passionate kiss, but it meant a lot to each one. To Ziva, it was proof that she actually had someone in the world that cared for her. It was like her security blanket being fully wrapped around her, then taped around her, so it wouldn't fall off. To Tony, it felt like something he had never felt before, true love. It was obvious to him, that Ziva was the one.
When they heard feet paddling on the floor, they pulled apart quickly in anticipation for their interruption.
"Mommy, Daddy?" The small voice questioned from the door. Tony looked up and saw Aaron holding his Teddy tight to his chest, and his thumb in his mouth.
"Come here buddy." Tony said, waving his arm, directing him to come. Aaron hurried over to the bed, and with help from Tony, sat up on it. He squirmed himself in the middle of Tony and Ziva, their arms went wrapped around one another again. They fell asleep, together, surrounded by ones who truly loved them.
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Giovanni Delmonaco- in our prayers