A/n- I'm not dead! I'm alive! I know I'm soo sorry for not getting this to you earlier. I was really stuck on getting their outfits right. -shakes head- THis would have been easier if I was more girly. Ohhh well. I'm getitng it to you now. Just so you know, this sin't where I had intended this to lead. To tell you the truth, I had an idea in mind but I forgot it and went with the wind. Read, review, anything! lol I'm desperate.

Chapter 8

Ziva, Abby, and Tally stepped into the elevator and looked the each other up and down. "That dress looks better on you then it did on the hanger" Abby smiled at Ziva while Ziva, in turn, blushed. Ziva was wearing a breathtaking black dress. It was a strapless halter top while it hung down off her hips. In the front it stopped just below her knees while in back it ended right above her ankles. She was wearing black boots that had snaps going up the front of them. Her hair pulled the outfit off though. It was in a high pony but it was curled and still ended up longer than her shoulders.

Abby turned to Tally. "You look beautiful my dear." Tally smiled. She was wearing a sky blue dress that symbolized her childhood innocence. She was only ten. Her dress was long sleeve and had sparkles on it. It sparkled in a way that when the light caught it it also caught your eye. It was floor length but underneath it she had on blue, sparkly flats.

Tally and Ziva beamed at Abby. "Well, Abby, you look wonderful yourself." Abby smiled at Ziva and gave her black dress a twirl. She was wearing one of those black 'dancing' dresses. It came to about her knees and looked like the Marilyn Monroe dress but black. She had fallen for it the second she saw it. Her hair was straightened and then curled. After it was curled she put it in a pony tail at the back of her head.

Soon the elevator dinged and the girls stepped out. Everyone's jaw in the room dropped. They walked over to the guys and they quickly recovered when Gibbs sent them a glare. "Wow guys. You clean up nice."

Ziva smiled, actually knowing that idiom. "As do you Tony." Tony was wearing a suit but had a purple undershirt instead of white, and McGee was wearing a totally black suit. Probably trying to match with Abby. Ducky and Palmer were wearing suits but without the tie.

Everyone was captivated as the director made her way down the stairs from her office. She was wearing a green low cut dress. The dress hugged her curves in all the right places and fell to the floor. Diamonds lined the top of it and led around her waist. Her hair was let loose and naturally curled down her face. Her bangs were straightened and brushed off to the side. Her silver heels tied the outfit together. They were strappy wrap arounds and they made her normally tall legs look a mile long.

"Wow. You all look amazing." The girls smiled at each other while the guys took their arms. Palmer and Ducky decided they'd escort Tally. Everyone smiled as she beamed up at them. Ziva didn't know where they were going. Abby and the others just told her to get 'dressed up' and meet them here. Well no, that wasn't true. She thought Castle wanted her to go a ball thing and her friends were invited. She didn't actually know what was happening.

~NCIS~

Everyone walked inside and down the stairs but Tony, Ziva, Gibbs, and Jenny. They stood at the top of the stairs, just outside so they couldn't see in. They all walked in together after Ziva and Jenny had composed themselves. The doors opened and the four of them took in the hundreds of people at the bottom of the stairs watching them. Jenny turned towards Tony angrily. "You said it was going to be low key!" Jenny whispered it in a harsh whisper.

"Well Madam director. It was supposed to be low key, but that was before Castle got wind of it and insisted on helping." They should have known. Castle always did this kind of thing. Castle was Ziva's step brother. Well he was until her dad and his mom got a divorce but she still called him her brother.

Just then a spot light hit them. They were standing in the spotlight, literally. Ziva started internally freaking out. Tony took her hand discreetly and held it in his. "Please welcome the entire reason for this party, Ziva David and Jenifer Shepard." Jenny and Ziva looked at each other, hugged, then stepped back into place. Everyone started cheering and Jenny and Gibbs started making their way down the stairs and into the party. Ziva turned to hug Tony.

"Thank you 'Nozzo." It was funny how she could pack so much emotion into three little words. Of course he would have loved those other three little words though, he was willing to wait. Ziva laced her arm through his and together they walked down the stairs. They were greeted and welcomed and so on but Ziva would not let his arm go. He could tell she was terrified. Not by the amount of people but by it being about her. She never liked being center stage so to speak.

~NCIS~ ~A few hours later~

Abby smiled as she and McGee made their way over to Tony and Ziva. Ducky and Palmer left shortly after Jenny got her award, Gibbs left about an hour after that, and Jenny took Tally with her when she left. Right now it was heading towards midnight and Jenny and Tally left around eleven.

Abby and Ziva hugged, not an Abby hug, but a Ziva hug. It was soft and gentle, not full of fear like Abby usually hugs. Yes, Abby would admit she hugs people the way she does because she's afraid to loose them. "So Ziva, how have you been feeling?"

Ziva let a small smile cross her features. "I've been better than I thought I would have. I'm just happy to have you guys, and Tally." They knew her 'you guys' comment meant the team not just Abby, McGee, and Tony. Most of the guests cleared out so more of Ziva's favorite songs were playing. Just then a Bruno Mars song came on and Abby squealed.

"Come on Z! We have to dance!" As the lyrics to Count on Me drifted towards them Ziva laughed and allowed herself to be dragged onto the dance floor. They both song out the chorus. "You can count on me like 1, 2,3. I'll be there. I know when I need it I can count on you, like 4, 3, 2."

After the song was over they erupted into a fit of laughter. Tony and McGee were so happy to see 'their' girls so happy. Of course neither of them were actually theirs yet but that would change soon, hopefully at least.

The girls walked back and collapsed back into their chairs. "That song reminds me of you guys and your relationship." Abby and Ziva looked at Tony then started laughing again. That song was basically like an inside joke to them. What they didn't know was that when Abby and Ziva were teenagers they knew each other. Abby had that job at the bar and so, she wrote that song and Bruno Mars heard it. He loved it and Abby gave it to him. It was quite funny hearing it after all these years actually.

Tony and McGee shared a look. "Are you drunk?" That set them off again. Abby was almost out of her chair laughing so hard.

Castle walked over and put an arm around Ziva's shoulders. "Are you okay there?" Kate Beckett walked over and stood next to them. Kate and Castle worked together. Well sorta anyways. Castle was a writer who was shadowing Detective Beckett for one of his books. He created a character off of her. Nikki Heat. They'd been 'partners' for well over 10 years. Now, everyone was betting on when they'd just tell each other how they felt.

"Yeah, I'm good. Sorry, this song just brings back memories." Kate, Abby, and Ziva smile but they don't start laughing again. Ziva turned to Castle. "So, how have you been?" She got up and gave him a hug before turning to Tony. "Oh! I'm sorry, Tony this is Richard Castle."

Tony shakes his head. "I know who he is. Now, the lovely lady standing next to him," he trailed off and Kate and Ziva rolled their eyes in synchrony. Everyone started laughing, including Tony and Kate."

"Well Tony, this is Detective Kate Beckett. New York's finest." Tony smiled his charm smile and sat back and enjoyed the easy conversation between friends. Some old some new. Tony didn't know what to think anymore. Ziva was constantly surprising him, but in a good way. He just shook his head and smiled diving right back into the conversation.

~NCIS~ ~Later that day~

Tony and Ziva were walking by the rivers edge in a comfortable silence. It was around 4 in the afternoon and Tony asked Ziva if they could 'talk'. So far though, no talking has been done. "So Tony, why'd you call me out here?"

He smiled at her and slowed their walking. Well, it's more of a deep desire to talk to you but there's something we need to discuss." Besides the fact of Tally Tony needed to know where he and Ziva stood. Sure he'd just gotten her back but he'd thought she'd been dead, then he'd found out he'd had a daughter, then Ziva was kidnapped, he couldn't wait any longer. Lately they've seemed to be acting as a couple but he just didn't know any more.

Ziva waited patiently for him to go on. "Well Z, where are we?" He took a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. A sure sign that he was nervous. Ziva was confused, he could tell. The look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. He sighed. "I mean, our we friends? Our we partners? Are we more?"

Ziva understood now. He was asking if they were what they were before she'd left. She'd wanted that but hadn't known if he did. "Tony, I don't know where we are. It depends on what you want."

She pulled that card. Well if she wanted to go there he would to. In his own way of course. He leaned down about an inch from her face and looked her in the eyes. In them he saw fear, anxiousness, nervousness, and love. That's what made him go for it. He placed his hands on the side of her face and leaned the rest of the way so that their lips were touching.

Everything about her set him on fire. Everything about her made him love her even more. This first kiss was soft and slow and gentle. Tony amazed even himself by keep it relaxed. It may have been all these things but it was filled with love and compassion.

Ziva intensified the kiss by wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss. Passion, fury, love. That's what he felt. Passion and love for the women in his arms. He felt fury though that someone had taken her away from him. She was his angel. Cliché, sure but it's true. She's changed him in so many ways that she doesn't know about. He won't be loosing her again. No, never again.

They broke apart when the need for air was a need. They didn't move far though as she laid her forehead against his. "Tony?" He could make anything but a humming noise. She smiled. "You know I love you right?" This time he pulled her into another quick slow kiss. Somehow, he knew everything was going to be alright.

A/N- Wow okay, sorry did not mean for that to happen. Get all mushy on you guys. Well this could be the last chaoter OR I could add an epilouge. (How ever you spell it) Review and tell me what you want. Epi or end it how it is?