DISCLAIMER: I do not own NCIS
***
Ziva frowned as Tony didn't answer his phone again. After the last time he didn't answer, Ziva went from slight concern to full on worry. Deciding to drive over to his apartment, she quickly ran out of her apartment and drove to his place.
Alarm coursed through her body as she saw that the door had been knocked down and left open. Quietly, she whipped out her gun and cautiously made her way into Tony's apartment. Her heart slammed double-time when she saw the blood that was smeared on the wall and soaking in the carpet.
Flipping around when she heard a shuffle, she found herself face to face with a huge man with a broken nose. He angrily swiped at her, growling. The blow knocked her back and she dropped her gun.
"Hey boss! Some chick's here!"
Gritting her teeth she ducked and hit him in the kidneys. A groan and then she kicked him in the back of his knees, sending him to the ground. With her hands around his neck she pulled until he fell unconscious, only after awarding her with a broken nose of her own a severely bruised right forearm.
"Hey!"
Whipping around she pulled up her Sig Saur from the ground and aimed at the voice. A burly man stepped into view. He giggled when he caught sight of her gun.
"Boss, I think she thinks she's a super-spy or somthin'! Check this out."
Ziva scowled and shouted, "What are you doing here?"
Distracted by the force of the question the man stopped smiling, "Oh. Are we some disgruntled ex-girlfriend? You should be helping us. We're doing you a favor!"
"I am not a disgruntled ex-girlfriend," Ziva snarled as another man came from the hall leading to Tony's bedroom, he too with the marks of a fight. "Now tell me what you are doing here!"
"Ohh, she's feisty boss!"
"Shut up Vince," the older man said as he stepped into view. He gave Ziva a studied glance before saying, "Just letting Tony know, that no matter how well he thinks he's doing-he's not! Whatever he did to piss off his daddy must have been one helluva bitch!"
Then he smiled, "Goodnight, girlie!"
Leaping forward at the veiled warning, she was glancingly hit by a picture frame. Twisting she shot at the man behind her and somersaulted away from the other two men. As she regained a vertical position, Vince punched her.
***
Groggily, Ziva opened her eyes. Gibbs was leaning over her looking into her eyes. Slightly put off at the closeness between them, Ziva groaned.
"Ziva," he said. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Paramedics are on their way boss," McGee's voice filtered through the fog.
Squinting, Ziva tried to sit up, but an outstretched arm kept her down,
"Don't try to sit up," Gibbs said calmly. "Now can you tell us what happened?"
Ziva shook her head to clear the fog and winced, "It feels like I was hit by a bub."
Silence, "You mean bus Ziva," McGee's voice was closer than before.
Ziva threw her hands up in surrender, "Yes! A bus. Or perhaps a hammer?"
She chanced moving her head to see McGee. No confusion on his face reassured her metaphor. Suddenly, she remembered what had happened before she woke up to Gibbs' disconcertingly close position.
"I remember Gibbs."
After a nod from Gibbs, she continued, "I came to check on Tony. He was late for lunch and he did not answer his phone when I called. So I came here. The door was already broken down and there was blood-"
She faltered a bit before she put back her guard wall, "There were three men. Two were in Tony's bedroom when I came in. The other in the kitchen. We fought but they obviously..."
McGee looked away from her as she grew disgruntled, "Did you see Tony at all?"
Shaking her head at McGee's question, she said, "No. Where is he? Is he alright?"
A look crossed over both Gibbs and McGee's faces, alerting her.
"He is not okay."
"He's not here, Ziver," Gibbs said. If it weren't for the tick in his jaw, Ziva would have thought he was talking about the weather.
Alarmed, she tried to sit up again, "What! Where is he?"
"Calm down Ziva!"
***
A/N: I'm going to upload the next few chapters tonight in apology for the long wait. I'm so sorry!