Hey guys! We'd just like to thank all the reviewers, you guys rock!! :) We know that updates aren't coming as fast as they were, but we're working on two stories at once and it's...kinda hectic. But it's love. 3 So yeah, just stick with us. Ok, we'll shut up. Reviewww. :)

Tony felt his heart drop to the ground.

He couldn't see his partner on the screen anymore.

Pushing his earwig further in his ear, he spoke loudly, "Ziva?"

No response.

He looked over at Terri, then at Jason, then down at Russell, at which time he hit the FBI agent on the shoulder. "Get her back on the screen!" He practically screamed.

Russell was typing rapidly on the keyboard, "I'm trying to, DiNozzo." Tony scoffed and leaned on the table with his left hand, "Ziva? SITREP!"

"Officer David?" Terri questioned. When she received no response she sighed and looked down at her partner, "Russell do we know what happened?"

Russell sighed, "No, Ter, I don't."

Tony turned and stared into Terri's eyes, "I'm going over there." He snapped and practically ripped his earwig out of his ear, walking quickly to the door until Terri's hand around his strong arm stopped him from walking any further.

"No, DiNozzo. You need to wait."

He spoke through his teeth, "Let me go." He said.

"If you go over there now and she is caught he'll kill her, Tony." Terri said sternly.

"Caught? You think she's caught? She can't be. She's Ziva."

"Yes, she is. But she's also human. I know you care for her but you've got to use your head. What does your gut tell you?" Tony was about to reply when he heard Ziva's voice come through the speakers.

"What'd she say?" He questioned, ripping his arm from Terri's grip as he hurried back over to the monitors.

"That wasn't live. I'm replaying what we last heard from her to see if I can figure out what happened." Russell said. Tony looked down at his watch. 5 minutes of silence had passed.

And that was too many.

He stuffed the earwig back into his ear, deciding that he should try again, "Ziva? Ziva this is Tony do you copy?" Terri, Jason, and Russell could all hear the panic in his voice through their own ear wigs.

"Tony, calm down, I'm sure she's fine." Russell commented. Tony gritted his teeth together and wanted to punch the geek-like man, but his right hand and wrist was currently wrapped up from the fight with the other FBI Agent that he hated.

"She better be." He said.

Jason laughed and decided that it was his turn to comment, "Why do you care?"

"Shut the hell up, Scott. Unless you want something else on your body broken."

Jason laughed, "Ziva can make me feel a hell of a lot better."

Tony started towards him, the pain in his right wrist be damned, but his path was interrupted by Terri, once again. "Enough you two!" She yelled, causing Jason to chuckle.

"Where is she?" He said loudly again.

"I am right here." Ziva David said, standing in the doorway. All four Agents snapped their heads up as Tony rushed over to her.

"Ziva!" He said, the panic painfully obvious in his voice, "Are you okay?" He placed his left hand on her right forearm, rubbing his thumb slightly back and forth. Ziva looked up at him, her brown eyes looked directly into his green ones. The look on that ridiculously handsome face of his combined with the worry in his eyes gave her the urge to kiss him, her lips on his, but then she remembered.

It was nothing.

She moved away from his grip and took the earwig out of her ear, walking past him. Tony closed his eyes and sighed as he turned around, studying her body as much as he could. From what he could tell, she was unharmed.

He let out a silent sigh of relief as he walked over to the group again.

"Are you okay?" Terri asked.

Ziva nodded, "I am fine." She said. Tony rolled his eyes and sat down in one of the empty chairs. That was the same question that he asked. And she wouldn't respond.

"What happened, exactly?" Terri asked. The look Jason gave Ziva didn't go unnoticed by Tony. Truthfully, if his wrist wasn't in pain like it was at the current moment, he would've punched him again. Repeatedly.

Ziva sighed, "I do not know. I entered the kitchen and the static started. As I neared the living room, I could not hear anything."

Tony decided to speak, "Did Corrado wake up?"

Ziva snapped her eyes at the man again, "No." She said.

"Well the good news is..." Russell started, causing Tony and Ziva to take their stares off of each other, "...we are back in business. I can hear Corrado's snoring."

Terri smiled contently, "Job well done, Officer David."

Ziva half smiled as a response, nodding slightly. She glanced at her partner once more before turning and leaving the room. The other three were staring at him, daring him to say something. With a sigh, he stood from the chair and quickly left the room. Just as Ziva's door was closing, he grabbed it with his good hand and walked in behind her.

She rolled her eyes and stared at him, "What do you want, DiNozzo?" She asked.

Tony scoffed, "I wanted to make sure you're okay."

Ziva crossed her arms under her chest, staring at him, "I am fine." She said again, "Not that you care." She quickly added.

He groaned, "Ziva I do care."

"Whatever. Leave please." She snapped.

"No, I'm not leaving. We're gonna talk."

"There is nothing to talk about. Leave."

"Ziva if you will just-"

"Get out of here!" She yelled.

He sighed, "What you heard me telling McGee was-"

He stopped when he was cut off again, "I do not care, DiNozzo. Get. Out."

He had enough, "David will you just shut up and listen to me?!" He yelled at her, loudly. He instantly felt horrible.

But talking in his normal tone wasn't getting the job done.

Ziva stared at him for several seconds before turning and promptly leaving the room. Tony sighed and sat down on Ziva's bed, burying his hand in his left hand.

Things were never going to be the same.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony sat there for at least 10 minutes, his mind racing on thoughts of him and Ziva.

He hated that things had turned out as bad as they did. He didn't want it this way.

He wanted to be happy.

And he wanted her to be happy.

And right now, neither one of them were happy.

Deciding that he had to try and talk to her, he stood from her bed and walked to the door, looking each way before calling her name softly, "Ziva?" When he received no response, not that he really expected to, he sighed and started down the hallway. "Ziva?" He called again, softly, making sure that none of the FBI people could hear him. Once he was in the lobby, he walked over to the desk, speaking Italian to the woman behind it, "Have you seen a woman with long brown hair, brown eyes about..." he gestured with his left hand, "...this tall?" The little woman smiled and seemed slightly shocked that Tony could speak her language, she nodded and used her head to point in the direction of the snack room. He returned her smile, "Grazie."

Slowly, cautiously, he walked into the snack room, where he saw his partner sitting at the table. He looked up at TV that was probably from the early 90's, the news blasting in Italian. Ziva looked at him and rolled her eyes, "Get away from me, please."

Tony sighed, "Ziva, I want to talk to you."

"That is a problem, DiNozzo, I do not want to listen to you."

"What you heard me tell McGee-"

"It is what I have expected from you."

"That's not who I am, Ziva. And if you will let me finish-"

"It is not important."

He was frustrated again, "It's important to me!" He practically yelled. The room became silent except for the news report. Ziva stood from the table and started towards the door, but it was being blocked by Tony's body.

"Move." She demanded. Tony stared at her, and decided that wasting his breath, trying to get her to listen to him was pointless. When he didn't move, Ziva rolled her eyes and scoffed, walking further into the room. "You are so childish, DiNozzo." She spat.

Tony gaped, "I'm childish? You're the one who can't keep your mouth shut and listen to what I have to say before you interrupt me!"

"That is because I do not care. We are to finish this mission, and then I'll be out of your life. For good."

"Whatever. You do what you want." Tony said, and started to leave the room, when the news reporter caught his attention. He looked over at Ziva and noticed that she, too, was watching it. The picture on the screen was of a burning building, and the news castor spoke rapid Italian as she explained the situation. Helicopters were shown flying over the building spraying chemicals on top of the orange flames.

"... questo è il sesto fuoco questa settimana, e la polizia sospetta che ci saranno più. Gli investigatori dicono che gli incendi sono molto intenzionale, la benzina è la causa degli incendi. Questo sembra essere opera di un gruppo ben noto cellula terroristica. Chiunque abbia informazioni a contattare immediatamente la polizia locale."

Ziva looked at Tony, even though she really didn't want to, but she caught a few of the Italian words and wanted to know what the rest of it was about. The smell of him was strong in the room, and she couldn't hardly take it anymore. And the jeans that fit him perfectly, the sweater that he was wearing, and his perfect hair didn't help her remember that she wanted to shoot him.

Damn him.

Tony saw her looking at him, and knew what she wanted.

A translation.

"That's the sixth fire this week. Gasoline is the cause, investigators think that it's a terrorist cell."

"The same terrorist cell that we are after?" She asked.

Tony looked at her, "Most likely."

"Perhaps we should keep our eyes open."

Tony laughed and Ziva stopped as she tried to leave the room again, "Is something funny?" She snapped.

"Yep. The fact that it took a news report in Italian to get you to speak to me." Ziva rolled her eyes and promptly left the room, needing nothing more than to get out of there. There was one thing she needed.

Fresh air.

Tony watched as she left the room and then out of the lobby, the door closing behind her. He walked the opposite way, heading towards the watch room to tell the others about the fires.

And he wasn't talking about the fire in his veins.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva walked out of the building that she was appropriately named "the igloo" by Russell. She wrapped her arms around herself as she walked, hoping that it would in some way help her to become slightly warmer.

She spotted a coffee shop a little further down the street, and let out a sigh of relief as she quickly walked towards it.

If anything, a nice, hot, cup of tea would help her warm up.

And Tony's warm OSU sweatshirt.

But that smelled like him.

And that's the last thing she wanted.

She shook that thought out of her mind, mentally scolding herself. She had to quit thinking about him.

That wouldn't be a problem. She did that every single day.

She rolled her eyes at herself.

To stop thinking about Tony was a task that her mind couldn't do.

For 4 years now.

As she moved in front of the coffee building, she looked both ways and prepared to cross the street.

She made it across safely, but it was after she crossed the street that she got hit.

By a person.

The man grabbed both of her arms to prevent her from falling on the concrete. Ziva stood to her full form and looked at him, it was only then that she realized that it was the man that she'd been watching on the monitors for the last few days.

Corrado.

"Lei parla inglese?"

Ziva nodded, "Yes."

He then smiled at her, "Are you okay?"

Ziva nodded again, "I am fine, thank you." Corrado nodded and let go of both of her arms, awkwardly stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I am sorry about that, miss. I did not see you as you crossed the street."

She smiled at him, "It is quite alright."

"I am sure that you would rather get ran over by a person rather than a car, yes?"

Ziva chuckled, "That is true."

He then held out his hand, "My name is Elia."

Ziva looked down at his hand and then put hers in his, "Gina."

Corrado smiled and looked her up and down before returning to her eyes, "Would you like to...have a cup of coffee with me?" Ziva looked around, "I am sure that your boyfriend will not mind."

Ziva snapped her eyes up to him, but quickly smiled, as to cover up her blatant stare. She swallowed the lump in her throat, "Sure."

Back at the igloo, Tony walked into the watch room and looked at the two men sitting there, a strange urge to punch both of them came over his body.

Jason spoke first, "What in the hell do you want, Dipzo?"

"First of all, you need to find yourself a new nickname for me. Dipzo is... a little old. Second, go and find yourself a personality." He sat down on the bed, "Third, the only reason that I came in here to see your ugly face is to tell you that I just saw a news report about fires that has been set to buildings. Six in the last week."

Jason and Russell stared at him, "So?"

Tony narrowed his eyes, "And the police think it has to do with a terrorist cell."

Russell nodded, "I'll do research on them."

Jason put his hand up to his earwig, listening carefully. "Terri has a visual."

Tony stood from the bed and walked over to the monitor, "A visual on what?"

"Corrado, Dipshit." Jason spat. "How does that nickname work for you?" Tony glared at him, but Russell interrupted before he could reply.

"He's on the move. Terri is following him."

"Alone?" Tony asked and then started for the door, chuckling slightly, "Yeah, that's just like the FBI, allowing your partner to be in danger without backup."

Elia Corrado walked from the register with two cups in his hand. He looked at Gina and sat the two back on the counter, adding sugar to his coffee and a small, white, round pill to Ziva's tea that began to dissolve quickly. When it was no longer visible, he put the lids back on the cups and walked over to the table, placing Ziva's cup in front of her.

She looked down at it, and then back up at him as he sat down across from her. She turned the cup on the table, continuously looking around the small shop.

"So, Gina," Elia started, "What brings you to the Eternal City?"

She half smiled at him, "I am here with my boyfriend. His grandparents live here. We are here visiting."

Elia nodded, "I see." He took a sip of his coffee, "So tell me about him."

Ziva chuckled, looked down at her tea, and then back up at him, "Why do you want to know?"

Corrado raised and dropped one shoulder, "I would just like to know what a lucky man he is to be with a beautiful woman like yourself."

Tony walked quickly to towards the location that was said in his ear wig. He spotted Terri sitting on a bench, her legs crossed, her head behind a news paper. He sat down on the opposite side. "What are you doing here, DiNozzo?" She mumbled.

"You shouldn't be alone following this psycho." He returned. "Where is he?"

She motioned with her head, "Across the street, in the coffee shop. Hasn't moved. Seems that he's with someone he knows. Can't tell who it is for an ID, though."

Tony casually looked around for a few seconds before squinting eyes to focus on the two people in the coffee shop. Anger immediately filled his veins as he ripped his cell phone out of it's holster on his jeans. "You don't need to ID here. That's my partner." Terri felt her mouth fall open in shock.

Was she insane?

"So what is your boyfriend's name?" Elia asked, though he already knew. Ziva swallowed another lump and smiled at him.

"His name is Jean-Paul." She said and before he could reply, her cell phone rang. She smiled at Elia and stood from the table, "Excuse me, please." She said sweetly.

When the phone rang in Tony's ear three times, it was three times to many. "What, DiNozzo?" Ziva spat into the phone.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing? You're insane for going in there without back up. Get out of there! Now. Meet me across the street. If you don't leave, I'll come and get you." Tony said sternly. Ziva promptly hung up her phone and walked back over to the table. She knew Tony was right about the danger involved.

But she would never admit it.

"I am sorry, I have to leave." She said sweetly, holding out her hand, "It was nice to meet you."

He stood and shook her hand, "Enjoy your time in Italy, Gina."

She turned and left the shop, glancing across the street. Tony stared at her and watched as she stayed on the wrong side of the street, walking quickly.

"I assume you will get her back safely?" Terri asked. Tony only turned to her and nodded, quickly crossing the street to catch up with the Israeli.

"Ziva!" He yelled, but she didn't stop. He gently grabbed her wrist and turned her around quickly.

"Get your hands off of me." She said through her teeth.

"Ziva what in the hell were you thinking? Do you know how dangerous that was?"

"Let. Go. Of. Me." She said, more slowly this time.

"What do you think Gibbs would do if I told him about that?"

"I can take care of myself." She still spoke through her teeth, her anger growing by the second.

"It is my job to protect you. We're partners."

"Not anymore." She said, and then ripped her arm from his grip, walking ahead of him to the hotel.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Terri groaned and walked out of the watch room, particularly disgusted with Jason. He just had to go on and on about some stupid movie...or was it some blond bimbo he picked up a couple of weeks ago?

She honestly didn't know.

She honestly didn't care.

But she was stuck with him.

At times he was nice, but at others...she was ready to shove him off a cliff.

She sighed, I guess all partnerships end up like this. Her mind wandered off to Tony and Ziva, who had seemed so happy and the best of friends when they arrived. In fact, if Terri didn't get to know that, she would have thought that they were a couple.

And now?

They were on the rocks.

The sharp jagged ones that seemed to be piercing through their hearts.

Now the question was...why were they all of a sudden so upset with each other?

Unless...

"Tony!" Ziva shouted as she started up the stairs. Terri quickly entered her bedroom, keeping the door open ajar so she could hear them, "I do not give a damn about your opinion. I can date whomever I want!"

"Oh yeah?" Tony demanded, "Well I don't particularly like the fact that you're sleeping with terrorists behind my back!"

So they are together? Terri thought from her position behind the door, her mind racing as she continued to eaves drop.

"I am not sleeping with him. He bumped into me while I was crossing the street, kept me from falling and then offered me a cup of coffee."

"You know, I'm surprised you're still alive."

"Why?" She demanded, "I can take care of myself, you know."

Tony rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Get over yourself, David."

She fumed and there was a moment of silence before she responded in an angry, menacing tone, "I will once you get over your childish attitude and lack of respect for women."

Terri hadn't realized how long she had been standing there before she noticed the lack of sound out in the hallway. She heard a knocking on her door...no, more like a bang and she opened it up, rolling her eyes, "What do you want, Jace?" she demanded, groaning.

"I think we should get back together." He grinned and she just rolled her eyes.

"How many times do you ask me that a week?"

"Uh..." He paused, looking up at the ceiling as he counted the tiles.

"The answer still remains the same..."

"No." He sighed, "Great. Well can't you just sleep with me?"

She smiled, "Sure..." She watched his face light up, "You can sleep on the floor while I take the bed. Don't snore too loudly, okay?"

He sighed, "Fine, you wanna sleep with someone else, that's fine."

She shook her head, "I don't want to be with anyone right now, okay?"

"That's what they all say..."

"Jason...move, okay?"

"Is it that DiNozzo guy?" He demanded and she groaned.

"Jason! This conversation is over, got it?"

He sighed and nodded, "Yeah...okay. I'm getting some lunch, you want anything?"

She shook her head, "No. I don't."

"Okay." He nodded once again and shoved his hands into his pockets, walking towards the stairs. Terri watched him leave and then moved her stare to Ziva's door before making light steps across the hall and knocking just as gently.

There was a pause before Ziva spoke, "Who is it?"

"Ziva, it's Terri..." She started, and the door cracked open just a little before Ziva put on a fake smile and stood in the doorway.

"Hello."

"Hi..." She smiled, "Uh..." She looked around, "May I come in?"

Ziva paused before nodding slowly, "Yes." She moved out of the way, enough to let Terri move through.

Terri entered her room and surveyed it, letting her eyes scan over the clothes that were carelessly thrown over the floor. However, as she scanned, her eyes caught onto a red sweatshirt that was strewn across her bedspread, the back writing of 'Buckeyes' the only thing that was visible.

During their morning shift, Tony had gone on about his college...Ohio State...they were the Buckeyes...this was Tony's sweatshirt?

She sighed; she honestly wasn't surprised.

"Are you doing okay? You seem a little...out of sorts. You were fine last night."

"I am fine."

She smiled and took a cautious step towards her, "Well I know that Tony was getting a little-" She watched as her eyes nearly turned red in anger at the sound of her partners name, "Okay, never mind...you know what? I know what you need." She smiled.

"You to go away?" Ziva muttered under her breath as she took a seat on her bed, pulling down at the sleeves of her shirt, so that they were over her hands. Terri didn't hear her.

"Let's go shopping." She smiled, "We might find a really nice outfit for Tony to see you in?" She lingered, letting her smile grow a little more devilishly.

Ziva laid back down on the bed, groaning, "All the better reason not to go shopping."

"Come on." She tugged gently on her arm, "Let's go. You need to get out of this meat locker anyways."

"It is warmer outside." Ziva admitted, sighing as she sat up in bed, "I do not do girly things."

"Well I do." She smiled as Ziva stood up, "Let's go...before anyone notices we left."

Ziva smiled slightly as she chuckled, "Yes. I have had enough of Tony being an over-protective John ass..." She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Terri just stared at her, "Uh...I think you mean 'jackass.'"

Ziva made a motion with her hand, "Whatever. He is annoying no matter if he is a John or a Jack."____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Terri grabbed her coat tighter around her as they started down the street, rather awkwardly, Ziva might add, "So..." Terri started, breaking the odd silence that had settled between them, "...what's Tony like?"

Ziva groaned, "Why does everything revolve around Tony?"

"Well it's like you two are a two-for-one package or something." She shrugged, "And..." She looked around and then bumped into her shoulder, playfully, "He's rather hot." She smiled, lowering her voice as well as her head towards Ziva's.

She rolled her eyes, "He is nothing under his looks." She almost regretted the words once they slipped past her lips. She hadn't really meant that...had she? No, he was still her partner...no matter how good he was in bed.

"Oh really?" she questioned, interested as they made their way through two people on the sidewalk, "And what brought this up? You seemed like the best of friends when you arrived here in Italy."

Ziva groaned, "I do not want to talk about this matter any further, understood?" she questioned and she nodded, "Good. Let us go into this..." she looked up at the street sign, hanging above her. Thankfully, it was a boutique, "...boutique." She finished, shoving her hands into her pockets and making a bee line towards the door.

Terri sighed as she followed her into the shop, the topic of Tony and Ziva's relationship burning in her mind._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony let his head fall back and then forwards as he walked into the watch room where Russell and Jason sat there, Jason laying on the bed, his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. He glanced up as Tony walked in, throwing the bag down onto the table.

It slid and nearly knocked off another computer monitor.

"About damn time." He spat and Tony glared at him.

"Shut up. At least I don't have an over sized band-aid on my nose."

Russell sighed and put the earphones on his head, wanting to tune them out as much as he could, "Idiots." He hissed under his breath.

He sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed, "Hey!" Tony looked up at him, "At least I have two-" He held up his hands and wiggled his fingers, "-hands that I can use."

"I can still punch you."

"I still have two hands whereas you have one. I've got the upper hand...literally." He grinned and Tony gritted his teeth together, trying desperately not to lunge himself at him and tackle him to the ground. He pulled his food out of the bag as he attempted not to make eye contact.

"So you know where Ziva went?"

"Oh..." Russell pulled his headphones off as he stared at them. Jason just closed his open mouth; he was going to answer Tony before he was interrupted, "She and Terri went shopping." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, "Terri just sent me a text."

"So they're...together."

"Yeah." He nodded and then Tony let out a sigh that was almost in relief. He turned to Jason, shoving his hands into his pockets, even though his right wrist burned he managed to keep down the yelp of pain.

"You can leave now." Tony suggested, even though it came out more as a command.

"Oh, wait." Russell stood, "I gotta use the restroom....Jason can cover for me while I...do my business." He laughed shortly and then noticed both of their looks before he scurried out of the watch room.

"So." Jason started, and Tony turned around in a circle so that he could roll his eyes.

"What?" He demanded.

"You and Ziva still aren't on good terms, huh? I guess that's what you get for sleeping with her."

He gritted his teeth together, "At least I got that close." He grinned and he laughed.

"Yeah, but it was just a one-night stand. Obviously meant nothing to you, but I'll let you in on a secret..." He leaned towards him, "...meant the world to her. So congratulations, DiBomb, you just re-enacted the extinction of the dinosaurs on her heart." He grinned, sarcastically and Tony narrowed his eyes at him.

"Whatever, Scott."

"So how do you feel about Ziva going for the opposite gender now?"

Tony shot his eyes to his, "Excuse me?"

"She and Terri went out..." He raised an eyebrow, "You must be that bad in bed, huh?"

Thankfully, Russell entered the room before Tony even got the chance to say anything else.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Abby would be so upset at me if she knew I was doing this." Ziva sighed as she stared down at the two white bags that she was carrying as she and Terri walked down the street. They had both managed to pick out a nice outfit, in case Tony was actually going to go and visit his grandparents...she knew that she'd have to go with him.

"Abby?" she questioned and Ziva nodded.

"Our forensic scientist at NCIS." She glanced at her, "She always tries to get me to go shopping with her..." She laughed, "...that never does work."

Terri smiled, "Ah. I see. Does she get you to buy clothes for Tony?" She lingered and Ziva rolled her eyes.

"It is a good thing we are going back to the hotel." She admitted, "Or else I may have killed you by now, with your obsession with Tony and I."

"Well..." She looked up at the sky, "It is getting dark, and this is normally the time when Corrado goes to bed so we need to be heading back."

"Yes." Ziva smiled, "I would love nothing more than to take a nice, hot shower."

"Warm's the best we have."

"It is better than nothing, yes?"

Terri nodded, "I agree."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When they arrived back at the hotel, Ziva and Terri were informed that both Tony and Jason were already taking showers, according to Russell.

Ziva was gathering her necessities for her shower which included her towel, shampoo and conditioner, soap, washcloth, body wash (that smelled, as Tony had pointed out, like honeysuckle), and pajamas (a pair of blue pants with an off white lace around the bottom with a matching tank top with string straps, white lace outlining the v-neck and her chest).

Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair and then started to leave the bathroom when she caught her reflection in the mirror as she passed.

She stood there for a couple of minutes, staring at the reflection that was staring back at her, wondering where she went wrong.

What she did to deserve this.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Terri all but snatched her bathroom toiletries off of the chair before hurrying out of the bedroom. She wanted that last shower before Ziva got it. Selfish, she knew, but she wanted it...oh so desperately. She felt disgusting and dirty.

As she walked down the hallway, she neared the bathroom, starting to enter it when she nearly got run over by Tony DiNozzo, "Tony?" She demanded as he hurried past her, solely a towel clad around his waist, the water droplets running off of his face and down his body as he ran.

"Need shampoo!" he shouted back and she shook her head as she entered the bathroom. The one closest to the end of the room the one she noted as the one Tony had...was...occupying; he had left the water running and the curtain open.

She hurried into the one closest to the door and let out almost a sigh of relief; she finally had a shower to herself.

Ziva entered the bathroom moments later, looking around and then spotting the curtain open for the shower at the end of the row. Smiling to herself, she hurried over only to find that the water was running. Sighing, she moved towards the toilets, checking under the stalls to see if anyone was there.

No one.

She moved back towards the shower and stared at it for a little while longer before realizing why the shower was still running; Tony probably was the last one to use it and he, being the immature person he was, probably left it on. Rolling her eyes, she entered the shower and closed the curtain behind her, stripping quickly; she knew that there was only a limited amount of warm water left. And since Tony had left it running...

She stepped under the water and let it caress her back, the water still warm. She smiled, maybe Tony didn't actually use that much of the warm water. She was almost proud of him. Almost.

Reaching down, she grabbed her shampoo bottle and squirted some of the gel substance into her hands, leaning her head back and rubbing her hands together, to get the shampoo on each hand before running it through her hair, making sure to get the ends, especially. She closed her eyes and smiled to herself, the warm water refreshing on her body. She finished washing her hair and then started to rinse her hair so that it was free from the soap that covered it when the curtain flew open.

She snapped her eyes open and stood up straight as she came face to face with someone's back. They unwrapped the towel from around their waist and threw it over the rod before turning around and then stopping like a deer in the headlights.

Tony's first reaction: cover his manly parts.

The shampoo in hand, he crossed his hands over his crotch, the shampoo bottle slipping out of his fingers and nailing him in the foot on the way down. Tony winced in pain as he stared at his partner.

She was nearly up against the wall, but the water was still hitting her, rolling over her body. The un-rinsed shampoo from her hair dripped down her body, the white foamy substance particularly...pleasing...for Tony.

He didn't think his hands were big enough, "Tony." She nodded.

"Ziva..." He bit the inside of his lip, trying not to moan out her name. Damn. Tony thought, Naked...in a shower...in front of your sexy as hell partner....great, just great. How come you always get into these amazing positions at the absolute worst times? Idiot. Complete idiot.

They stared at each other for a little while longer, Tony uncomfortably standing there, "Uh...you gonna listen to me now?"

She sighed as she cocked her head to the side, "I guess I have no choice...you are blocking my only exit. And my clothes."

Again, Tony bit his tongue to suppress a moan....no clothes... "Okay, look." Tony knew he was going to have to talk fast...his hands couldn't possibly stretch anymore, even without a fractured right wrist, "So I talked to McGee, apparently he watched our...session..." Ziva's eyes went wide, "Yeah, I know. He asked me what I was going to do if Gibbs found out that we broke rule twelve, I told him that we weren't dating and that it meant nothing so that McTattletale wouldn't have anything to tell Gibbs. That's what you heard, it's not true, it meant...pretty much everything to me. That includes my James Bond Platinum DVD collection signed by Sean Connery...can I go?" He questioned, pointing his head towards the shower curtain.

Ziva just stared at him.

It meant...pretty much everything to me.

Everything.

And she though it meant nothing to him?

But how could she tell that he was telling the truth?

Oh...she almost smirked....he was naked in front of her. All of his areas were exposed, leaving them vulnerable to any kind of harm.

He had no choice but to tell the truth, "Great, well I'm taking that as a no answer." He gulped as the rest of her shampoo finally washed out of her hair and down her body, "Leaving now. I'll take a shower after you're done." He turned around and started to grab the towel, leaving him exposed for her to see.

As his back was slightly turned towards her, she glanced down and then back up at him just as he grabbed the towel, "Tony." She commanded as she grabbed onto his wrist, turning him around, the towel sliding off of the rod and into the water. She shoved him up against the wall, her hands roaming up and down his chest as she pressed her lips firmly against his.

Tony was completely taken by surprise, and it took him until just milliseconds before she pulled back to let him realize what was actually going on. Ziva stared at him and dropped back onto the heels of her feet, "I am sorry." She muttered.

Tony let his jaw drop as he wrapped his arms around her waist, "Are you kidding me? Damn, that's all I've been able to think about!"

Ziva smiled and pressed her lips against his once again, this time their arms wrapping around each other as the water from the showerhead continued to patter down onto the tile ground below them. She pulled back and rested her forehead on his, whispering, her eyes slightly closed, "We cannot do this here."

"Why not?" He questioned, his breathing just as gone as her. She pressed a kiss up against his lips, as if to silence him.

"There are others here."

"Hmph." Tony groaned, "I wanna show Jason up." He pouted and she smiled, playing with his wet hair on the back of his head, the water rushing down her back.

"I am so very sorry. For not listening to you. All of that fighting for nothing, yes?"

"Oh, you got that right...and don't worry." He smiled, leaning closer towards her, "I can get you to shut up." He whispered, "Quiet time, Zee-vah...." She could barely hear him over the shower, he was speaking so softly as he kissed her gently before the kiss slowly heated up, the two backing up into the wall behind them. Tony started trailing kisses down her neck, the water that had gone cold in the shower starting to get warmer. He sucked gently at the base of her neck, causing her to moan. He quickly attached his lips to hers once again, "Be." He started between breaths as he kissed her again, "Quiet."

"You-" He kissed her, "I cannot!" She breathed out as his right hand started moving down her body. Even though it was fractured, her skin felt incredible under his touch.

Just as he remembered.

"Tony...." her voice was exasperated, trying desperately to catch her breath, "Please..." She pleaded, "Now." She whispered and he stared at her.

"You don't just want to kiss?" He questioned, confusion evident in his eyes.

She snapped her eyes open, "What?" She demanded and he shrugged.

"I just don't want things to go out of control like they did last time."

Ziva stared at him, "You cannot get into the same shower with me, naked, and expect me not to want something more than a kiss."

He smiled, "Fine by me...I don't just want a kiss either."

She rolled her eyes, "You can kill a mood."

"And heat it up again." He whispered, pressing his lips up against hers once again as he grabbed onto her hips as best he could with his wrist, trying not to wince as he pushed her up the wall so that her legs were around his waist. She locked her ankles together behind his hips and he pulled back from the kiss as he shoved his body flush against hers, letting his right hand drop so that pressure wasn't given onto it. He stared into her eyes and smiled as he whispered, "There are others here...be quiet." He said as he entered her, her moans and screams muted by his lips staying on hers.

Eventually, they became too out of breath to do anything else, for Tony had to keep his lips on hers in order to keep her quiet. They washed each other free of the stench of sex and then exited the shower, the two all but running down the hall and into Tony's bedroom.

As soon as they were inside, Tony grabbed her hand with his left one, leading her towards the bed as their fingers automatically intertwined together. However, she didn't move anywhere as she shook her head, causing confusion to run through Tony, "Zi?" he questioned and she let a shiver run up and down her spine.

"I will be back. Let me go and get something from my room." she smiled and he nodded, kissing her softly on the lips before letting her leave the bedroom.

Smiling to himself, he ran a hand through his hair and laid down onto the bed, a smile stretched from each end of his face.

He placed his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling until the door opened, revealing Ziva once again.

If possible, he let his smile grow larger.

Now, instead of the stringy top (that he didn't mind at all), she was wearing the next best thing: his Ohio State Buckeye sweatshirt.

No words were spoken as she walked towards the bed, Tony scooting over and lifting up the covers as he slipped under them as well, "I am exhausted." Tony admitted, "Damn woman, you wear me out."

She smirked and she wrapped her arms around his torso, resting her head on his chest. She was freezing. That eventual cold shower didn't help her at all either, "I am tired as well." She nodded.

He yawned as he tugged on the end of one of her wet curls, his eyelids getting heavier and heavier by the moment.

The two were nearly asleep before Tony spoke, "Hey...I just realized something...I'm gonna smell like honeysuckle tomorrow."