A Boy and a Girl Chapter 2: Movie Night, a ncis fanfic

Here goes number 2! This one is inspired by "Sleep" by Eric Whitacre, which is one of THE most amazing songs I have ever heard in my entire life. A big thank you to all who reviewed and left alerts, and I hope for even more reviews this time.

The biggest thanks go to my beta, Wildskysong, who yet again, improved this story with her editing.

Characters: Tony and Ziva

Pairing: T/Z

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except a few Eric Whitacre songs on my iPod….

Upon my pillow, safe in bed/A thousand pictures fill my head/I cannot sleep my minds a flight/And yet my limbs seem made of lead/If there are noises in the night/A frightening shadow, flickering light/Then I surrender unto sleep

Ziva was not a fan of nightmares. But then, who would be? When darkness descended, any one of multiple bad memories could come back to haunt her. A case, a word, a shadow spotted out of the corner of her eye, any one of them could trigger a frightening dream. Worse were when the memories would not let her sleep in the first place. It got to the point where she would not only be stressed in the morning, but she would be exhausted too. There were not more nightmares now than before the summer she had spent in Somalia, but there were many, many new ones.

She tried to hide them. She didn't want the pity. She knew it was normal, that it was her subconscious' way of processing what she had been through. It didn't make it any easier. Within a few weeks of coming home, she had begun to work out harder than before, because the more tired she was, the easier it was to get to sleep, and the less she dreamed. The exercise was good for her, too; she was in better shape than ever before, and she had higher stamina. She had begun trying new exercises than she typically had not done before, to work her body in different ways and to distract herself.

Then, unfortunately, winter had come, and with it, snow, ice, and bitter cold. That limited the exercise she could safely get, and she knew Gibbs would have her hide if she broke something slipping and falling because did not see the ice. So the nightmares came frequently again. And there was nothing Ziva could do about it.

When spring arrived and the weather improved, so did her sleep.

Summer had been the best, as she was most comfortable with warm weather and spent several wonderful weekends away with Tony, both leaving behind their cell phones and claiming innocence as to why they had been unreachable.

Then fall had come, and with the changing leaves came the return of the nightmares. She thought that she should have been over this by now, but to no avail. On the nights when Tony was with her, she slept well, but those nights were few and far in between, the fall had been a busy one. That trend had continued into the winter, and now, again, she slept little, lying, even to Tony, about the bags under her eyes. She didn't like it, but she had no choice.

She didn't want him to think she was weak.

Friday morning came and Ziva was a little bit late to work, by her standards. She was normally the first or second one there; Gibbs was usually the only one to arrive before her. This morning, however, she was the last to arrive, but she was still not late. Tony was in the office, but his desk was empty. Ziva knew he was there because the computer at his desk was running, probably all ready for the games he would play to waste his time until he could leave, and because there was one of his notes on her desk. Since Paris, almost a year ago now, they had been in a quiet relationship. He had taken to leaving her notes on her desk with something funny or sweet written inside. She would return the favor, either replying or with a funny quote of her own. He always hid the note under something, a piece of candy, a box of tea. Once, for her birthday, he had given her a new knife-sharpening stone, and underneath it a note with jokes about birthdays. Today the note was underneath a box of microwave popcorn and movie candy, her favorite, Raisinettes. The note said:

Zee-vah

Movie night tonight? It has been a few weeks since we haven't had a case on Friday, and so far (hope this doesn't jinx us) we don't have a case. So let me know, 'cause if we still have no case (and this is not our weekend on call) we need a movie night. I'll get the food, and you can pick the movie. Let me know, sweet-cheeks!

-Tony

Ziva glanced up; the bullpen was empty, for now. She slipped the note in her pocket, and hid the popcorn and the box of candy. She pulled a post-it note off the stack on her desk, and scribbled a reply, that she did want to have a movie night, and it was her turn to have it in her apartment. She picked up her note and darted over to Tony's desk, hiding it under the receiver of his phone. He would find it there. She slipped back to her desk, and pulled out her paperwork. She hated paperwork.

Ziva had been working for almost ten minutes when Tony arrived, holding two cups from the team's favorite coffee shop. He set one down on her desk and she looked up at him, one eyebrow raised in question.

"It's tea, Ziva. I see those bags under your eyes, you know. This should keep you awake through the day so you can fall asleep on my shoulder during the movie." He replied to the silent question.

"How do you know I said yes?" Ziva asked, playing with him, a cheeky smile on her face.

"You hid the reply under my phone again, and you used a bright pink post-it note."

Ziva laughed. He was right, and she picked up the tea. She inhaled, taking in the wonderful scent. She almost felt better just by the vapor from her favorite tea. She took a sip, sighing contentedly. It was delicious.

"Thank you for the tea. I am glad the shop sells tea now." Ziva told him, as she turned her attention back to the screen in front of her.

"I think they figured if people were going to keep getting cups of hot water for tea they might as well sell the tea, plus all of the health mumbo jumbo tea is supposed to do for you."

Ziva just rolled her eyes and kept on working, despite Tony's continued attempts to distract her.

Unlocking her apartment after work, she was glad that she already had a movie picked out and Tony was getting the food, because her apartment was a wreck. Ziva straitened up, picking up trash from take-out and putting her books back on her shelves, picking up pillows and blankets, making sure her shoes weren't in the front hallway for people to trip over, and other various tasks. She had just finished when the door bell rang, and she went to answer, pausing for a moment to check that she looked alright in the mirror. Ziva opened the door, and there he was, holding a pizza box and his signature grin on his face.

"I figured since it had been a while pizza would work. Is that okay with you?" Tony asked as she stepped back to let him in her front door.

"Yes, I like pizza. Did you get your favorite pizza or mine this time?" Ziva asked back, moving down the hallway towards her living room.

"Half of each, just so you wouldn't complain." Was the answer Tony gave as he set the box down on her coffee table.

Ziva smirked at him over her shoulder as she put in the DVD in the player. "I would not complain….I would pick off what I did not like and then decide on a suitable punishment for you."

"Your paperclip again?"

"No, I would think up something new." She came and sat down next to him, handing him the remote. Ziva knew that if he didn't have the remote in his hand, he would complain until he did, even if he had no use for it, he just needed to be the one holding it.

"What are we watching tonight?" he asked, picking up the first slice of pizza.

Ziva woke up much later, though how much later she did not know. The last thing she remembered was watching the movie, the pizza box empty on the table, her head on his shoulder. Now, she was alone in her bed in a dark, quiet room, strange shadows flickering on the wall from the window to the left of her bed, made by the tree outside her apartment complex and from cars passing by at the late hour it was. She lay still, trying to return to sleep, but her gut was churning again, just like it did every night. Images filled her mind, as they had done so many times before, but still, they came again. The faces of those she had killed, the faces of the ones she couldn't save, Tali among them. Saleem was there, with that dark smile of his, coming closer and closer… Her whole body was tense, and nothing was working, she couldn't relax. Tossing and turning, trying desperately to get comfortable so sleep would come, she shifted; something bothered her no matter which way she lay. She was tired, exhausted, she longed for rest. Every night had been the same this week. Her whole body felt heavy, but she couldn't let go. The shadows that had just been leaves were now more sinister, and she wanted to close her eyes, but she didn't want to face the nightmares that would follow.

And then her bedroom door opened, and light spilled in, and the silhouette in the door way spoke in a familiar voice before she had the chance to grab the gun on her bedside table. "Ziva? Are you alright?"

"Yes, Tony. Go back to sleep." She replied, not wanting to tell him about the nightmares. He had been asleep on her couch. They would share a bed when they were both awake at the end of the movie, but when one of them fell asleep before the end credits, he would sleep on the couch. Either he would put her to bed and go back to the couch or she would leave him to sleep there and she would go to bed.

"Now, I am going to pretend you didn't just lie to me, Ziva." Tony said, stepping inside the door and shutting it behind him.

"What makes you think I was lying?"

"Ziva, I could hear you tossing and turning from your couch. I knew when you woke up because you stopped snoring."

"How could you hear me over your own snores?" She asked, trying to use his trick and hiding behind humor.

"I wasn't asleep yet, Zee." Tony sat down next to her on the bed. "Want to talk about it?"

He had asked this before, other nights when he had been there, looking at the shadows in her eyes. Those times she had not answered, had told him everything was fine. He had looked at her in the way that told her he didn't believe a word she said, and that she would tell him sooner or later. This time, she was tired of pretending.

"I…could not sleep."

"Bad dreams?" His voice was gentle, no blame in it.

"Yes."

"Do you want me to stay? Hold you and chase away the monsters?"

Ziva David, former Mossad officer, now a federal agent, at one time would have said no, that she could handle it, and sent him back to her couch. But now, she decided to say yes, to let him stay, to let him hold her. Because he was here, and because for so long she had wanted him here, and now she didn't want to send him away, even if she was afraid saying yes would seem weak, and the weakness would scare him away.

"Yes, please stay."

He slipped around to what had become his side of the bed, and he climbed under the covers, and he pulled her close.

"You don't have to tell me what the nightmares are about, Zee-vah." He whispered, and she turned in his grip to snuggle against his chest. She rested her head over his heart, and she could hear it beating. It was a comforting sound, and she was glad, now, that she had said yes. "But I can tell you why I wasn't asleep."

"Why?" she whispered into his chest.

"Because I dreamed about Africa, and that it wasn't you Saleem brought, and that you really were dead, that he brought your body."

"But it was me, and I am not dead. Because of you, Tony."

"I know, but that's what I dreamed about. Those dreams always keep me up. I'm afraid that when I wake up, I'll find that this has all been a dream, and I lost one of the only women I could ever love."

"Thankfully, this is not a dream."

"Thankfully. Sleep tight, Zivaleh."

Ziva relaxed now, at last, tucked tightly in the safest embrace she knew. As she surrendered unto sleep, she heard the four most wonderful words, whispered into her hair.

"I love you, Ziva David."

I love you too, Tony DiNozzo. She thought as she drifted into peaceful dreams, at long last.

Again, I was not sure when I started where this would end up, and here it is. I hope you enjoyed it.

Please be sure to leave your thoughts and comments, constructive critisim is always welcomed.

-The Lady Grace