Disclaimer: I still don't own NCIS or any of its characters. :{

Thanks to everyone who responded to the last chapter! I surrree do love getting reviews! :]

Don't really have much to say…more chapters should be coming up a little faster now, since SUMMER is finally here! Thank the Lord. I apologize for the loonngg wait for this chapter. The last few weeks of school are always a living hell.

More thanks go to my very patient beta, Meatball42!

Hope ya'll like this chapter! Kinda of a longish one ;p Thanks again! :)

Chapter 6

Tony opened his eyes, stretching as he tilted his head down to look at Ziva. She was still sound asleep, curled up against his chest. He smiled and moved his finger to play with one of her curls.

"Zee?" he whispered, looking at the clock on her nightstand. 5:00 in the morning.

She didn't stir, so he stopped messing with her hair and closed his eyes, inhaling her scent.

Tony gave a content sigh and smiled again. He could feel her chest rising and falling through her arms, her forehead pressed against his chin. He couldn't help but like the fit.

He drifted off back to sleep, his breath falling in sync with hers.

"So, how long are you staying here?"

Cohen turned to look at Gibbs. "Maybe one more week."

He nodded in response, keeping his mouth shut. He wasn't about to disobey direct orders from Vance.

It was quiet in the room for the next few minutes, until Abby burst into the room.

"Gibbs! I need you to come look at something, right now!"

He stood up slowly after giving her a look and began to follow her out. He stopped halfway out the door, however, and glanced back at Cohen.

"Com'on."

Cohen, looking surprised, stood up and followed them to the lab.

"What's goin' on, Abbs?" Gibbs asked as they walked through the doors.

"Guess what I found."

"Abby-"

"Yeah, yeah, you don't like to guess." She continued as Gibbs smiled to himself. "Well, Major Mass Spec decided to kick it today, and he found..." she turned to her computer, beaming. "This."

Gibbs stared at the blob of nothingness on the screen as Cohen tilted his head all around, trying to get a different point of view.

"What is it?"

"Basically…poison," she smiled. "Not enough to kill him, but enough to make him sick. However…" she turned to point at Lutz's clothing that was lying on one of her tables. "I found more of it on his clothes. Enough to be fatal. Someone was trying to kill our petty officer by poisoning him."

"Well, apparently, they got to him in a more efficient way," Gibbs replied. "Why did the rest not make it into his body?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out. It might have been an accident, so it might have just gotten spilled on him."

"Good work, Abbs." He walked over to her refrigerator and pulled out a Caf-Pow!

"Gibbs! How'd you get that in there? That's the second time now!"

"Rule number four," he replied, kissing her on the cheek.

Abby sighed, shaking her head and smiling as the two men left the room.

Tony's sigh broke through the stillness of the room.

"Zee?" He asked. No response. He rolled over to see that the bed was empty where she had been lying.

He sat up and swung his feet off the bed, struggling to stand up. "Ziva? You still here?"

No answer came, so he pulled on his clothes and made her bed, a smile plastered on his face the entire time.

Glancing at his watch, Tony decided that it was still early enough in the morning to run back to his place and get new clothes, so he quickly grabbed his keys and began to leave. On his way out, however, he noticed a piece of paper taped to the door with the word "Sorry" written on it in Ziva's handwriting.

He grinned, dismissing it, and left. They would talk later.

"Oh, Mr. Cohen—I mean, Jacob." Ziva smiled at the man sitting at Tony's desk. "What are you doing up here?"

"Your director gave orders for me to be 'assistance' in the case. I'm no longer a suspect," he smiled back. "Hope you're okay with me working with you guys."

"Um, yeah, sure. No problem." She sat down at her desk, logging onto her computer. After a moment's hesitation, however, she spoke up again. "If you don't mind me asking-"

"What made him take me off the suspect list?"

Ziva smiled apologetically. "Yes…what exactly happened?"

"Well, it's a long story, but…" he looked up at the ceiling, then back down at her. "Basically, I was sent by someone from Israel. That person contacted Director Vance, who then took me off the 'list'. I really can't disclose any more information."

Her eyebrows went up at his response. "Wow. Well, uh…nice to have you on our team."

"Thanks," he laughed, then looked around at the room. "So, do you have anything you want me to look at, check out?"

She placed her forearms on her desk, folding them so that she could lean forward. "Not as of this moment." Ziva looked around the room as well, mimicking Cohen. "Do you know where Gibbs is?" She asked after he had laughed at her.

"Yeah, he's with Abby. You need him?"

"No, it can wait. Mr—Jacob, can I ask you something else?"

"Shoot."

"If you grew up in Israel, how—"

" Is my English so good?"

She nodded again, feeling bad that she was asking so many questions.

"Eh, that's a long story too."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Sorry."

"It is fine." She looked back at her computer and started typing away.

"You seem distracted," he observed after a minute.

"Huh?"

"Are you alright?"

"Oh, um…yes. Sorry. I just have some…things going on."

"Do you wanna ta-"

"No." She shook her head. "I am sorry, I just-"

"Naw, it's cool. I understand."

Ziva smiled at him, nodding her thanks. She wondered why she was apologizing to him so much.

McGee suddenly walked into the bullpen, carrying a tray full of coffee. "Morning, Ziva, Ton-" he stopped when he saw who it was. "Or…Cohen."

"Mornin,'" he waved in response.

"Good morning, McGee." Ziva smiled as she accepted the coffee McGee handed to her. "Thank you."

"No problem." He turned to awkwardly face Cohen, looking down at Tony's drink. "Coffee?"

He began to shake his head, but McGee insisted. "From the looks of it, he won't be back for a while anyways. He can always get himself another cup."

"If you're sure…"

"Yeah. Sure."

McGee put the drink in his hand and went to sit behind his desk, switching on his computer. "Have you heard from him, Ziva?"

Her head shot up to look at him, but she silently reminded herself to keep her cool. "I haven't."

He nodded in reply and started his work.

She could feel her face reddening. What was the deal? No one knew about the previous night, but yet, she felt as if everyone in the office was asking her about him. Her head shot up as the elevator bell dinged, and quickly stood up when she saw Tony walking out.

Ziva excused herself, walking away. "I have to talk to Gibbs."

Tony reached the bullpen, pointing after her retreating figure with his thumb. "Where's she going?"

"Gibbs."

"Oh." He glanced at Cohen sitting at his desk, then did a double-take. "Why are you…"

"Oh, sorry man." He stood up, motioning for Tony to have a seat. He glanced around the room uncomfortably, then looked at the two men. "I'll uh, be right back."

"Yeah, okay." Tony nodded, looking at McGee. "What's that guy's deal anyways?"

He shrugged, pursing his lips. "Who knows?"

Ziva reached the door to Abby's lab, but stopped outside of it and changed her mind, shaking her head. She changed direction, heading down to Autopsy.

She hesitated outside that door as well, sighing before she went in.

"Ziva! What brings you down here?" Ducky smiled at her.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Oh, absolutely dear!"

She took a deep breath, forcing a smile. "Ducky, what would you do if you-almost unconsciously-became involved with someone that you shouldn't have?"

He frowned in confusion. "Well, it would depend on the person. If they meant something to me, I would consider exactly how much they meant, and then I would most likely go from there. But if it was just a...well, a mistake, I would break everything off."

"Well what would you do if they were...well, if they meant something to you before, but, then after, they...meant more?"

Concern spread across his face. "Ziva...why are you asking me this?"

She looked up from her feet to meet his eyes.

"I am fine, Ducky, it is not me that I am talking-"

He gave her a gentle look that made her freeze in her tracks. "I do not know," she sighed.

"Is it-"

"Please. I do not know what to say to him. I am afraid I will hurt him, but, right now, I am only hurting myself, and I think that I must leave in order to avoid any further-"

He interrupted her again. "Ziva, slow down, my dear. You..." he trailed off as the doors opened. "Jethro! Can I be of assistance?"

"Leon wants to talk to Ziver."

She nodded, half-heartedly smiling at the two on her way out.

Gibbs watched her leave, then turned back to face Ducky. "Is she okay?"

He sighed heavily in response. "I'm afraid not. I fear that her time in Somalia has stripped away much of her thought process, along with the wall that she was able to guard her emotions with. She's hurting, and needs someone, but...she doesn't realize it yet." Ducky paused. "Gibbs, I'm afraid that she's on the verge of leaving for Israel. The poor girl cannot take the pressure she is currently under, and to her, the best option is to leave and go back to her homeland."

He heard Gibbs sigh in turn. "She'll figure it out."

"Agent David," Director Vance greeted her, ushering her into his office and closing the doors.

Her eyebrows knit together in puzzlement as she nodded, giving the sign to continue.

"Your father has asked me to tell you that if you do decide to go to Israel, Mr. Cohen will be accompanying you."

"Jacob Cohen? The man downstairs?"

He smiled and nodded. "Yes."

"I'm sorry, but what for? And what does my father have to do with him?"

"He didn't inform me. However, he was very insistent upon it." He paused, studying her expression. "Have you decided yet?"

"No." She shook her head. "I am afraid not."

"Let me know."

Ziva nodded and turned to leave, letting her shoulders drop. She did not need any added stress. "Thank you."

Ziva glanced at her watch. 8:00 in the evening. She sighed and began packing up her things as she prepared to leave. She had managed to get some work done, but she had also managed to avoid him the whole day, only running into him once, but she had quickly excused herself to escape him. She stood up, turning off her computer, and then walked to the elevator to go home.

"Ziva!"

She turned to see Tony running downstairs from MTAC, chasing after her, but instead of stopping, she sighed quietly and continued going into the elevator.

"Hey!" He called, stopping the doors with his hand. "Can we talk?"

She let out yet another sigh, stepping aside to make room for him. Tony smiled as the doors closed behind him, but the grin dissolved once he got a good look at her face.

"What's wrong?"

When Ziva said nothing in response, Tony sighed in turn and switched the elevator off.

"Look, I'm not sure what's wrong with you, but I hope it's not about last night. Because I think it was right, all of it, and-"

"It was wrong," she whispered. "All of it."

"What?"

"It was not supposed to happen."

"Why not?" He asked, in shock.

"It just…it wasn't, Tony."

He ran a hand through his hair, groaning. "So, what, you're just gonna pretend like it all never happened? You're just going to ignore it?"

"What other choice do I have?"

"How about you accept it? Accept that there's something there!"

Their voices were raising now, and they could both feel the tension in the air. It was suffocating them.

"I cannot accept it! It is not as simple as that!"

"Why not, Ziva? Why is it so hard?"

"Because, Tony-" she abruptly stopped mid-sentence. "Because," she breathed.

"So you're telling me you felt nothing? At all? You didn't, for one instant, feel like it was right?"

There was a pause, and in it, utter silence.

Ziva's eyes glazed over, and she turned to hide her face from him.

Tony cringed as her lie pierced through the air.

"No. I did not feel anything," she remarked coolly, flipping the elevator back on.

The doors opened, and the light of the main office poured into the elevator. Ziva began to walk out, never looking back at him, for the fear that he would notice her tears.

"It was a mistake," she told him, pausing mid-step. "That's all it was."

Tony watched her as she walked away, but didn't move when the doors began to shut. He stood stock-still in the corner of the elevator, and the word 'mistake' was formed and passed across his lips.

Ziva walked to her car in the dim light of the parking garage, tears slowly dripping off of her face. She had just proven herself right—you become to attached to someone, and you're only setting yourself up for heartbreak.

She paused outside her car, searching in her bag for her keys. However, her phone began to ring, so she pulled it out instead and answered it, hooking it between her shoulder and her ear as she continued the search for her keys.

"David."

"Ah, Ziva." The voice came low and menacing, rumbling through the earpiece. "How nice to hear your voice again. It's been a while."

She stopped rummaging through her bag, frowning as she reached her hand up to hold the phone. "Who is this?"

"If you don't know, it doesn't matter right now. What does matter-"

"How am I supposed to know who you are?"

There was a frustrated sigh on the other end. "What does matter, Ziva, is the fact that you have something I want. And that your keys…" he trailed off, and Ziva frowned again in confusion.

She was soon startled, however, by the abrupt sound of metal against concrete.

The man came on again, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "Are right there."

Tony sat in his dark car, feeling numb. Just the night before, everything had been perfect, and now…he had just been told it was all nothing. A mistake. A stupid, stupid mistake. He felt nothing but absolute resentment towards the word. All it had done was put a barrier between him and Ziva. And, frankly, he couldn't stand it.

He realized he was whispering "so close" to himself and shook his head, trying to get her out of his mind, even though she was the only one he wanted in his thoughts.

There was a knock at his window, and he turned to see Abby standing there, smiling and waving.

"Come on, we're waiting for you!"

He gave her a half-smile and nodded. "Yeah, okay." Tony flipped open his phone. Ten o'clock, and no messages, no calls, no nothing. He just wanted her to call and say that she was wrong. For everything to be okay.

He closed it and studied it lying in his palm, wondering how such a little thing could cause him so much torture.

Sighing heavily, he opened the door and stepped out, slipping the phone in his pocket. He shut and locked the door behind him, as Abby linked arms with him, noticing his somber expression.

"What's wrong, Tony?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Just a few…mistakes." It felt like a knife was twisting itself around in his gut. Those were the last words he had ever wanted to hear himself say, and yet...there they were. He hated himself for even uttering the word.

She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." She could sense that it wasn't something he wanted to discuss, whatever it was.

He pushed open the doors to the bar the Team frequented. "It's fine."

The two took a seat by McGee, Ducky, and Palmer, who were already "drowning the day's events," as they liked to call it.

"Bartender, two scotches please!" Tony called out.

The bartender nodded. "Comin' your way!"

Tony and Abby had just barely finished their drinks when Tony's phone rang.

"Yeah, DiNozzo."

The rest of the Team watched as his face changed; worry silently screamed through his eyes. "Gotcha. We'll be there in a sec, Boss."

He hung up as he looked at everyone. "That was Gibbs. Something happened to Ziva."

Abby's hands flew to her mouth as Ducky murmured the words, "Oh, no."

Tony and Abby rushed into the bullpen where Gibbs was hovering over McGee and his computer.

"What's going on?" Tony shouted over the unusually loud rush of the office.

"Infiltration," McGee yelled back. "I'm trying to trace a number!"

Gibbs smacked him on the back of the head. "Well trace it instead of talkin' to them!"

"Sorry, Boss."

Tony and Abby walked to his desk, peering over his shoulder to see the call being bounced from city to city, country to country. Suddenly, however, whoever was using the phone shut it off.

McGee sighed. "Lost it."

"Damn it," Gibbs breathed. He walked to the elevator, motioning for his team to follow him.

Once they were all inside, Abby broke, not being able to take it any longer. "What happened, Gibbs? You said something about Ziva on the phone."

"Someone broke into the building, stole her keys, called her on her phone and threatened her."

"They were in the parking garage with her," McGee added. "They threw her keys at her."

"Oh my God," Abby gasped.

Tony put his palm to the side of his face. "Is she okay? Where is she?"

"She's with Ducky and Palmer in Autopsy."

"Is she hurt?"

"Well…"

Gibbs finished for McGee. "Be careful with her."

The doors opened, and the team quickly rushed into Autopsy. Once they had gotten inside, though, they came to an abrupt halt.

Ziva was sitting with the two medical examiners, staring straight ahead. Her face was blank, expressionless, empty. She didn't seem like she was able to talk, much less move.

Gibbs cautiously approached her, like you would a lost, scared, cornered puppy.

"Ziva?"

Her eyes didn't move to meet his, so he reached for the hand that Ducky was not already holding.

"Ziva? Do you wanna talk now?"

Tony had never heard his voice so gentle before, but Ziva slowly turned her head to look at him.

"It was him," she replied, her whisper barely reaching their ears. "It was him, Gibbs."

"It was who?" He gently stroked her hand with his thumb, trying to ease the answer out of her.

"Him. It was him. It was-" she broke off, hysterical tears escaping her body.

"Hey, hey," Gibbs soothed her. "It's okay. You're safe, you're fine. We've got you."

The team could see her back jerking with sobs as she desperately gasped for air, gripping the men's hands. As her cries grew more frantic, the team shot each other looks, worry written on their faces.

Gibbs pulled her into his arms, and she cried into his shoulder.

"It was him, I know it," she kept whispering over and over again. "It was him."

"Hey, who was it?"

The name broke through the ice in the air as she said it between sobs and spasms.

"Saleem. It was Saleem."

"Zee, that's not possible," Gibbs spoke up after a minute, letting the shock wear off. "He's dead."

"No," Ziva shook her head. "It was him."

Gibbs glanced at Ducky over her head, his eyes empty. Her shell had finally cracked.

Any thoughts? Sure would love to hear them! :]

Again, sorry for the very-long wait, and I should be uploading a little more quickly now that school is almost out.
But then again, knowing me, we'll just have to wait and see how that goes, haha.

I would definitely love some reviews! Hope to hear from everyone:)

Thanks for reading!