I didn't think I would update this soon, but here we are with a new chapter already! I'm currently more in the mood to write on this story & I really hope this is ok with you!
I'm also curious what you think about this chapter since I'm currently trying to improve my writing skills/vocabulary!
Thank you for the encouraging reviews so far & make sure to leave one again, but for now: Enjoy reading!

There are a hundred things she has tried to chase away the things she won't remember and that she can't even let herself think about because that's when the birds scream and the worms crawl and somewhere in her mind it's always raining a slow and endless drizzle.

- Neil Gaiman

A few days later Tony had received a call from Gibbs and was told to come to the headquarters for a briefing. He wanted to know how Ziva was doing and talk to him about the plan for the next few weeks.
In the morning Ziva seemed to be a little absentminded but assured Tony that she was going to be fine and with that he left to meet Gibbs, telling her that she could call him at any time.

When he arrived at NCIS it suddenly started raining and he quickly made his way inside the building, hoping it would stop raining before he had to leave again.
The ding of the elevator announced his arrival and Gibbs acknowledged his presence by a simple nod of his head and when he stood up from his desk he motioned Tony to follow him.

At the same time Ziva was still sitting at home with a bad feeling rising inside of her. She hadn't really been alone since the incident at the hospital and Tony's absence somehow made her feel uncomfortable and even a little nervous.

Without his presence she was left to her thoughts about the past days and weeks. She came to realize how much she truly depended on him and couldn't help but wonder how she would ever be able to let go off him again once she felt better.
It wasn't fair to him to carry the burden of her problems as well and she felt selfish for relying so much on him but at the same time she wondered why he was caring for her so much.

The thoughts kept coming and coming and her situation seemed just so hopeless at the moment and all of a sudden she couldn't stand staying in her apartment anymore and felt the urge to run away, no matter where.
Not paying attention to the weather outside she simply got into her shoes and didn't mind putting a jacket over her long sleeved shirt.

She also didn't care when the pouring rain immediately soaked her hair and clothes and just started running off wherever her feet would take her.
She arrived at the nearby part soon thought and after a few more minutes of running through it came to rest on a bench where she tried to catch her breath.
As the exhaustion kicked in and she started freezing she finally let the tears fall down her cheeks.

Tony came back home around half an hour later and called out for her expecting for her to answer him.
When after the third call there still wasn't a reply he began wandering through the apartment, hoping he would find her fast asleep on the couch or in the bedroom.

His hopes were shattered though when he was greeted with one empty room after another and so he decided on trying to calling her.
The attempt fell on deaf ears though when he heard her phone ring in the living room.

For a moment he considered his options but decided against calling Gibbs in order to not unsettle him as well.
Instead he grabbed his keys and an umbrella and made his way to the door again and ran towards his car to begin his search for her.
He began his search in the neighbourhood, checking out cafes ever so often until the realization hit him. "The park." He whispered and came to a stop to look for her at the park.

It only took him a few more minutes until he saw a small figure cowering on the bench while it was still heavily raining.
He quickly crossed the distance between them and when he pulled her into a tight hug a feeling of relief filled him.

"Oh Ziva." He brought out under his breath and it was only now that he realized that she was shivering and her lips were already blue from the cold.
"What are you doing here?" At this Ziva looked at him but was unable to form a coherent answer.
Not caring about an eventual protest he scooped her up into his arms and started to carry her away towards the car, knowing full well that she had no energy left to walk on her own.
- - - - - - - - - - - -

As soon as he had her seated on the passenger seat he reached for the blanket in the back of his car and wrapped it around her in an attempt to warm her still shaking body.

After buckling her seatbelt he made his way over to the drivers seat and on his way back to the apartment called Ducky to ask him if he could check on Ziva.
He willingly agreed and promised to be there within the next 30 minutes without asking any further questions.

When they came back home he shuffled her to the couch and looked at her intently with worries edging his features.
"Hey" He now gently spoke up. "We should get you out of those wet clothes, alright?" She looked at him with a lost look in her eyes but deep down knew that he was right about it.

"Wait, I will get you something dry to put on." With that he left for the bedroom and came back moments later with one of her sweatpants, a warm sweater from his own collection and a towel to dry her hair.
"I'm going to help you a little, ok? It's just me, don't worry." He tried to soothe her, hoping she would trust him enough to let him assist her.

Together they managed to get her dressed in dry clothes and now he was tenderly drying her wet curls while she was softly leaning against his chest, still trembling slightly despite the fact that Tony had turned the heating on.

They were interrupted though when Ducky arrived. Tony greeted him in the hallway and quietly described him the situation and a knowing nod from him told him that he understood the situation well enough.
"Hello my dear" Ducky greeted her in his typical manner and approached the couch to sit down next to her.
Ziva seemed to snap out of her thoughts and shot him an ever so small smile when she noticed her friend sitting next to her.

"I'm here to make sure that you didn't catch a cold or anything else. The weather today is rather displeasing, isn't it?" He tried to lighten the situation as he started examining Ziva, thoroughly checking her vitals to see if there were any signs for something more serious.

"Well" He spoke up after a moment "it seems like you're still slightly hypothermic and might develop a cold throughout the next days, but that's nothing a warm blanket and tea couldn't cure." His smile was comforting both Tony and Ziva and they were glad that nothing serious had happened.

"Thanks Ducky." Tony brought out and even though he didn't say much his words were sincere.

"Nothing to thank for my dear boy. And I'm sure you will take good care of our Ziva." Tony nodded in reply and Ducky said his goodbye and with that gave the two of them time to talk about the latest events.

PS: This chapter is partially inspired by our current weather - it's raining, no pouring and storming non-stop and even though I don't mind rain it's slowly starting to annoy me!