Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS! If I did, things would be different. :p Just kidding. Sorta.

Hey everyone! Thanks once again for all of the support! You guys are amazing :)

I'm getting these done at (somewhat) a faster pace, so I should be updating more quickly.

Thanks again!

Chapter 4

Tony glanced at the watch on his wrist. Damn. This was going to take up valuable time. He looked over at Ziva. "How much longer do you think he's going to take in there?"

"For the sixth time, I do not know."

He sighed impatiently, tapping his foot. Gibbs had sent the two to one of the conference rooms, in order to wait for him to finish up with Cohen.

After a few minutes had passed, Ziva abruptly stood up. "This is taking too long."

"You're tellin' me."

"I will be with Abby, if Gibbs comes back."

"Wait," Tony started, standing up as well. "Just, uh, wait."

Ziva looked at him and waited, her eyebrows raised in question. "What?"

"I just, uh...wanted to talk to you."

"We have been sitting here for almost an hour, Tony. You did not have to say anything then, so I am sure it can wait."

"Well, I'd forgotten about it up until now. I'll forget about it again if I wait anymore."

She sighed in response. "Yes?"

He smiled as she sat back down. "I just wanted to know what you wanted to do for our dinner. I mean, do you wanna go somewhere, or eat at my place, your place, what?"

"Um, well, how about that new French place down the street?"

Tony thought this over for a second. "Alright. I've been wantin' to try it anyways. How about I pick you up tomorrow around uh...7:30?"

Ziva nodded. "Sure."

An awkward silence hung over them. After a while, she spoke up again. "Anything else?"

He smiled at her again after a moment's hesitation. "Um, no. That's all. Thanks," he added.

"Sure." She smiled back at him and stood up again. "I will...see you later."

"Yep," Tony replied as she walked out of the room. "Yep."

She hated leaving him. She absolutely hated it. Ziva fought the temptation to go back and be with him as she stepped into the elevator. She loved just simply being in the same room with him, she had come to realize. They didn't even have to talk or anything-she just liked being with him.

It was frustrating. Just a few months ago, she had hated him with a passion for killing Michael, so much that she asked Gibbs to make "the decision." Just a few months ago, she had been tied to a chair in Somalia, alone, thinking that everyone had forgotten about her, that they had moved on. She never would have thought that they would come and rescue her...especially not Tony.

And she never would have even come close to guessing that he had missed her, incredibly so at that. So much that he risked his job and his life to rescue her. To that day, his words were still stuck in her head, attaching themselves to everything he said to her.

"I couldn't live without you, I guess."

Ziva leaned against the elevator wall and tilted her head back, sighing and closing her eyes. She opened them as the doors opened and then briskly walked to the lab. She smiled at the familiarity of Abby's blaring music as she opened the door. At least one thing had stayed constant in her life.

"Ziva!" Abby said, coming over to give her a hug.

"Hi, Abby." She could not help smiling again. Visiting NCIS's Happy Goth always seemed to cheer her up.

"So how did it go?"

"The interrogation?"

"Yeah." Abby turned back to her computer to finish her work, but continued listening intently to Ziva.

"Well, he admitted to being best friends with the victim. Or, at least, for a period of time."

Abby rose her eyebrows. "Wow. So did he say anything else?"

"He has motive. Lutz was having an affair with Cohen's fiancée. He ended up breaking them up, and the girl ran off with Lutz."

"Well that sucks."

Ziva nodded, focusing on the computer screen in front of them. "Yes. I guess it does."

"So I take it that's when they stopped their...being friends?" Abby asked, noticing Ziva's half-smile at her choice of words.

"Yes. He also says Lutz was stealing money from people." She paused, and then started again. "Abby, can you keep a secret?"

She pivoted to face her with a grin. "Why yes, Ziva, I can."

Ziva hesitated, looking down at her feet. She finally looked back up and opened her mouth. "Tony and I were going to pick Cohen up for questioning, and-" she was cut off.

"Don't tell me. Tony told you that he loves you?"

"What?" She could not hide the shock on her face. "No! Why would you even think of that?"

"Hello?" Abby lightly knocked on Ziva's forehead. She waited for a light bulb to go off, but it never happened. She sighed in exasperation, shaking her head. "Nevermind. Continue."

Trying to ignore Abby's remark, she went on. "Anyways, while we were speaking with Cohen in his house, I noticed a paper on his table, and it...had my name on it."

"Just your name? Nothing else?"

"No. Well, it did say NCIS, and then Agent David, but-"

"Ziva! This guy probably-" she paused. "Have you asked him about it?"

"No, but-"

"Does Tony know about it?"

"No, but-"

"You need to ask Cohen about it. Is he still here?"

"Yes, but-"

"Where?" She interrupted excitedly.

"Gibbs is still speaking with him."

"About what?" Abby whined.

"He was...threatened. Cohen was told if he tried to tell anyone he had connections with the victim, he would be killed soon after."

She patted Ziva's head after raising an eyebrow. "Oh, my little assassin. Always attracting the dangerous ones."

Ziva winced a little, but managed to disguise it (well enough) so that Abby could not see.

"Well, I think that you should ask him about it sometime. Soon."

"It is not that easy," she sighed.

"You could-"

"Abbs." The two women turned to see Tony standing in the doorway.

Ziva felt her face flush. How much had he heard?

"Hey, Tony. What's goin' on?" She glanced over at Ziva, who had picked a spot above Tony's head to look at.

"McGee called me and told me to check your email. Oh, and that your phone's not working."

Abby sighed. "It's been giving me problems lately. I'm gonna fix it later." She faced her computer and opened up her email. "Anything else?" She asked over her shoulder.

"Uh, Gibbs just wants Zi back. He finished up with Cohen."

"Oh, um, alright." Ziva spoke up. "Are you leaving soon for your date?"

"Yeah, I'm actually leavin' right now. If that's okay."

She looked at Abby. "Yes, it should be fine."

"Cool. I'll...see you two tomorrow."

Ziva nodded silently and watched him turn to leave.

"Bye Tony!" Abby called out. She laughed to herself as he left the room. "He so has the hots for you," she added under her breath, looking at Ziva from the corner of her eye.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just uh, talking to myself."

"Yes Gibbs?" Ziva asked as she entered the conference room she and Tony had been in earlier.

"Go and talk to Lutz's family." He handed her a slip of paper with names and addresses on it. "Take McGee."

"Am I talking to them about anything in specific?"

"Find out if Cohen's story is true."

She nodded and quickly headed down the halls.

Her mind was still reeling as she pressed the button for the elevator. What in the world could Abby have possibly meant, Tony saying that he loved her? She forced a smile at an agent coming off of the elevator as the doors opened, and then stepped inside.

Everything had become so confusing ever since she had been rescued. She wished she could just go back to the way things were...everyone had been happier then.

The bell on the elevator rung as the doors opened again, and Ziva hurriedly went to her desk. "McGee, get your gear," she called, grabbing hers.

McGee, however, seemed to be sucked into his computer, his eyes fixated on the screen.

"McGee!" She slammed her fist on his desk, causing him to jump. "Let's go!"

"Where?"

"We are going to interview the victim's family," she replied, already halfway back to the elevator. "Come on!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" McGee snatched up his stuff and quickly followed Ziva into the elevator, just as the doors closed.

Tony parked his car, letting out a deep breath. He took the keys out of the ignition, casually running a hand through his hair.

Why had he lied to Ziva? A "pre-date ritual?" Where the hell had that come from? He didn't do much of anything before a date-they were part of his normal day. Or, rather, they used to be. But, still. He had had no intention of doing anything special before his date that night. So why did he lie and say he always worked out before a date?

If Ziva found out he had left early to do nothing, she would be furious. He hesitated before opening the car door. Should he just go back to work, or keep on going?

Tony eventually decided to do the latter- Ziva would just kick his butt if he went back anyways. After settling on a decision, he got out of his car, locking it, and went into his house.

He flopped down on the couch with the TV remote in hand after setting his gear down. Tony flipped through the channels idly, growing more irritated every minute.

Finally, he switched off the TV and stood up. "This isn't gonna work," he quietly said to himself. He grabbed his keys and gear again, and headed out the door, firm in his resolution to fix his lie.

I am sorry for your loss, Mrs. Lutz."

The middle-aged woman looked up at Ziva, daintily wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes with a tissue. "Thank you," she shakily replied. "I had my Joshua when I was only 15, you know."

Ziva and McGee rose their eyebrows and glanced at each other, unsure of what to say.

"Wow," McGee said, finally breaking the silence. "He must have been a handful."

"What do you mean?"

He nervously tried to come up with an explanation as Ziva glanced around their surroundings. The Lutz family was well-off…or appeared to be, at least.

Their four-story house was very large and extravagant, filled to the top with expensive furnishings. They most definitely were not living the simple life.

"Mrs. Lutz, what were your son's sources of income, besides the Navy?"

"He never told us. He always managed to change the subject whenever we brought it up."

The two NCIS agents looked at each other again, then looked back at Lutz's mother.

"Did you ever catch him doing anything suspicious, or unusual?" McGee asked.

"Joshua was always doing something unusual. He was a very mysterious boy. The girls loved him for that." She giggled and looked at Ziva. "Don't you just love those mysterious men?"

Ziva pretended to giggle back and forced a smile, nodding. She rolled her eyes as soon as Mrs. Lutz had looked away.

"But you did not see him doing anything really out of the ordinary?"

"Um, not that I can think of. Why? Was he doing something wrong?"

"That is what we are trying to find out, so that we can make a list of any possible enemies."

"Oh, my. Well, I'm sure he wasn't doing anything against the law…my Joshua was a good boy."

"That may be so, ma'am, but we're just double-checking. Well," McGee turned to his partner. "I think we're done here for now."

Ziva nodded in agreement and stood up to leave. "Thank you for your time, Mrs. Lutz. We will be back soon to finish up asking questions."

The woman gave a sad smile and nodded in turn. "Thank you."

McGee and Ziva smiled back as they went out the front door.

"Well that was…interesting," she remarked once they were in the car.

Tony found himself standing in front of the new gym that had recently been built down the street from his house. He sighed, his hand on the door handle. Why was he doing this? It wasn't like it mattered- Ziva wasn't going to find out anyways. Why should he care what she thought?

"Excuse me." Tony stepped aside so that a middle-aged couple could go through the door. The husband held the door open for Tony. "You comin' in?"

He paused. "Uh…yeah. I guess so." He walked inside and hesitantly went to the front desk. "Work out, or go home and watch Die Hard?" He quietly asked himself.

"May I help you sir?"

The words were out of his mouth before he could think about them. "Can I get a membership application?"

"Sure thing." The receptionist handed him a form with a pen, and gestured towards a row of chairs. "Have a seat."

"Thanks." He sighed a second time. Why the hell was he doing this? Tony picked the pen up off the paper and began to fill the application out.

After he finished, he handed the form back to the receptionist, along with his credit card. In turn, he received a membership card, and a locker number and code.

"That was fast," he remarked.

The receptionist smiled as she gave him his credit card back. "We like to get things done fast around here," she winked.

Tony smiled back. "Thanks. I'll, uh, go work out now." He left the desk and walked to the locker room. He put his stuff up, and then went to work on the machines. He wasn't sure how Ziva managed to find her way into his head, but he wasn't so sure that he didn't like her there either.

"Well, we talked to the victim's mother," Ziva told Gibbs. McGee was standing with them in the bullpen. "She was...unique. And it seemed she has an addiction to..." she trailed off, motioning at her face.

"Botox?" McGee suggested.

"Yes. Botox."

"Did you learn anything about the case, or just about her skin care?"

"Well, the Lutz family appears to be quite rich. Their house is big...expensive. Mrs. Lutz said that they had gotten most of their belongings and money as gifts from the victim."

"Did she say anything about him stealing it all?"

"No- she said that sh never caught him doing anything illegal." McGee spoke up.

"And she seems to be telling the truth. She didn't show any obvious signs of dishonesty. Then again, it was difficult for me to read her expressions- her face is like plastic."

"Did you talk to anyone else?"

"No one else was home or available at their jobs. His father is out of state on a business trip, his brother is in a board meeting, and his sister was not at home."

"They seem to be handling his death well," Gibbs observed. His cellphone abruptly began to ring, and he automatically walked to the elevator once he had looked at the Caller I.D.

"Yeah, Duck?"

"I need you down here-I found something new."

"I'm on my way." He flipped the phone shut as he got into the elevator.

"It turns out that Mr. Lutz was stabbed once before he was strangled."

"Where?"

"In his lower back--the killer temporarily paralyzed him, so that he could overpower and choke him to death," Ducky replied.

"So, the killer couldn't take him down with just his hands."

"Judging from the positioning of the marks on the victim's neck, you can see that the attacker was shorter than he was. This could also mean that he was, possibly, weaker than Lutz."

Gibbs nodded and turned to leave. "Appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Jethro!" He called after him.

Tony glanced at the watch on his wrist. Six already? He sighed, stopping the treadmill, and got off, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He then hurried back to the locker room and grabbed his gym bag that he'd dropped off.

"Thanks," he told the lady at the front desk on his way out.

"An-y-time," she replied, dragging the syllables out. She tilted her head as he walked out of the door, trying to get a better view of his butt.

Tony threw his bag in the passenger seat of his car and got in. He quickly drove home, parked, and got his stuff out of the seat beside him. As soon as he was inside, he took a hot shower and got dressed.

By the time he was done getting ready, it was 6:45, so he headed out to pick up Jennifer. "Here goes nothin," he thought to himself.

Ziva walked through the front door of her apartment. It was only 7:30, but Gibbs had sent her and McGee home early, for some unknown reason. McGee had invited her to go have Chinese with him and his sister, but she had politely declined, saying she was too tired.

She set most of her stuff down by the door and hung her coat up, letting out a sigh of relief. It felt good to finally be home after a long day. She went to the kitchen to pour herself some red wine, and pulled a take-out box of Thai food from her fridge.

She collapsed on the couch and turned on her CD player with the remote and her dinner in hand. The only noise she could hear was the music playing softly in the background as she ate, and she greatly enjoyed the quiet.

Although she loved her job, going to work almost always produced a massive headache for her now, because everyone acted so differently around her than they had before she left. She knew they didn't necessarily mean to--she was somewhat of a different person herself...the others were only reacting to the change in her, trying to get used to her all over again.

Ziva gave a sad smile as she remembered when she had first become a liaison with NCIS...she had been so incredibly different then. The Team had taken a while to get used to her--they were just getting over the shock of Agent Todd's death. She sighed. She was glad she had found a family, one that would risk their jobs and lives for her, but she wished she had met them on different--better--terms.

Setting down the empty wine glass and take-out box on the floor in front of her, she laid her head down on the arm of the couch and closed her eyes. Maybe, just maybe, things would slowly begin to turn back to normal again.

"...and so, finally, we got to the front of the line, and they wouldn't even let us in!"

Tony laughed out loud. "Oh, I would be so..." he trailed off, laughing again.

"Yeah, I know right?" Jennifer laughed as well. "It was unbelievable." She took a bite of her baked penne pasta. "So," she started, swallowing. "How do you like being an NCIS agent?"

"It's a challenging job. But it can be rewarding." He paused, smiling at her. "I like it. A lot."

"That's good," she laughed. "I wanted to work in law enforcement when I started college, but then the world of journalism caught my eye. I've been working with that ever since."

"Oh really? You'd have made a very sexy cop," he grinned.

Jennifer rolled her eyes, smiling. "Yeah, right."

"How long have you been a reporter at the station?"

"Um, only about a year. I've been working with the station itself, though, for a little over seven years."

"What, so they only promoted you to reporter a year ago? A pretty face like yours should be in front of the camera all of the time!"

She laughed. "Ooh, you are good."

Tony smiled back. "So, you want dessert?"

"Only if it's back at your place..."

"Oh, so you wanna play it that way, huh?" He stopped, motioning the waiter over. "Uh, yeah, check please."

Jennifer laughed again as he paid the bill and then stood up, taking her by the hand and helping her out of her seat.

"Let's go," he said, leading her out the door as they continued laughing.

"Hello?" Ziva answered her phone. She glanced at the clock. 2:35 in the morning.

"Ziva? Did I wake you up?"

"Yes, but it is okay...do you need something, Abby?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay."

"Why would I not be?" She asked, confused.

"Vance hasn't told you yet?"

"Vance hasn't told me...what?"

"I overheard him and Gibbs talking when I was leaving tonight--no one else knows. I'm not supposed to know," she replied hurriedly.

"Abby, what is it?"

"Director David called...your father called Vance. He wants you back."

"What?"

"He said he was a horrible father, and wants to apologize to his daughter. He wants you to go back to Israel, Ziva."

"Abby, I, um...have to go." She looked down at the blanket on her lap.

"Are you okay?"

Ziva did everything in her power to not choke on the words. "I should be fine."

"Okay," Abby replied hesitantly. "I want you to call me if you need anything. Anything."

"Thank you." She gently hung up the phone.

Her father wanted to apologize? It was too out of character for him. Her father had lied to her face too many times to count, had almost forced her to become an emotionless, cold-blooded killer. So why did he all of a sudden want her back in Israel? She knew he had been angry with her for cutting off all ties to Mossad, but...

There was suddenly a knock on Ziva's apartment door, and she got up quietly. Who was there at almost three o'clock in the morning? She looked through the peephole, her mind racing through the conversation she had just had. Seeing who it was, she opened the door.

"Ziva," Gibbs started.

She interrupted him. "I know."

He stepped inside and, after a minute, gently took her in a hug. She rested her loosely-clenched fists on his shoulders, along with her head.

She felt tears sting her eyes as she stood with the man who had been most like a father to her for years. "What do I do?" she whispered.

"Whatever you need to."

Any responses? All would be appreciated!

Also, I'm needing some help...first off, I need a suggestion for a name for the news station Jennifer works at. It's all right if I don't have one, I just thought it would be a little bit better if I did. Second, I haven't been able to watch every second of every new episode this season, so could someone tell me if Tony still calls McGee "Probie?" I know he now calls Ziva Probie, but does he still bother McGee about it? And lastly, I'm thinking about asking for a beta...not positive I want to do it yet, but any volunteers? I would like to have someone, just in case.

Thanks for everything!!