EM: Part three. Thanks for the reviews. And for those who haven't reviewed please, oh please oh please REVIEW! Please people. I really want to know what you think of this little thing I have come up with.

And thank you so much for reading.

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. If I did Tony and Ziva would be moving faster than they have been.

"Achot…go back…" Ziva turned round searching for the voice that called out to her… "Go back."

"Ziva!" Ziva jolted to the sound of her name, drawing a groan. Her head ached painfully and her left leg was numb. When she shifted her body she felt something warm beneath her. She looked down to find two children pinned beneath her, both unconscious. She checked their pulses and was satisfied when she found them normal. She then turned her thoughts to what was going on. She couldn't seem to remember the specifics of the moment so she went back to the beginning, rearranging her thoughts. And there it was. The hospital, the bombs, Tony and Jeanne and then the children.

She was glad they were safe. Tony would yell at her later for not telling him what she had planned and ending up in the explosion but the children she could not abandon. The oldest one groaned beneath her. She attempted to rise and screamed out. When she finally bit her lip, she looked back to see her leg pinned beneath a very large piece of rubble and blood starting to pool beneath her. That was when she felt the pain and screamed out again.

"Ziva!" She practically sighed in relief when she heard Tony's voice.

"Tony-AH!" She cringed and tried to breathe in and out. The children beneath her regained consciousness and were starting to cry.

"Shh, shh it is alright. Someone is coming to help us." She hoped Tony would find her. They were buried and she herself was beginning to panic.

"Tony!"

"Ziva!" Some of the rock where the door had been moved and some light poured through along with Tony's head. "Thank god I found you!" He pushed his way through the rubble, stumbled, cursed and limped his way over to them. When he reached her she could see the relief plain in his eyes.

"What the hell were you thinking!" She was still trying to breathe when she looked down at the children still beneath her. "Tony. I could not leave them." When his eyes found them, she saw his face twist. "I didn't know…" She smiled harshly. "Can you get them out from beneath me?" He nodded and reached for the youngest one. He pulled her out first, gently and checked her for injuries when she was free. Ziva could see a few scrapes and a bump on her head but she should be alright. Then he reached for the other child and pulled him free as well. Ziva collapsed against the ground breathing heavily. She was starting to loose feeling in her leg.

"Zee, what…is that blood?" She looked up to find him touching the ground around her. His hand came away dripping and his eyes filled with panic. "Where?" he demanded and she tried to catch her breath.

"My leg." He maneuvered around the rubble and found the rock pinning her leg down. He bent down and started to pull when Ziva screamed out in pain, a sound Tony was not sure he had ever heard before. "Ziva!"

"Hurry! Pull it off quickly!" He didn't waste time. He favored his left leg and pulled with all that he had. Ziva screamed out once more before she bit down hard, stifling the scream. Tony tossed the rock to the side and bent down to her leg. Her knee, thankfully, seemed intact but her shin was not. The bone protruded out the front and her foot was twisted at an odd angle. He helped her turn to her side as she continued to bite her lip, drawing blood.

"I will not be able to walk." She was sweating profusely and blood continued to seep from her leg. "The bone needs to be pushed back in," he pondered as she almost protested. "We do not have time Tony. Just take the children and leave. I will follow." He looked at her incredulously.

"You're kidding me right? I'm not leaving you again. Every time I seem to do that you get hurt." And then he put an arm underneath her knees and the other behind her back and lifted her up.

"You kids can walk can't you?" They grabbed each others hand and nodded furiously.

"Good." Ziva was about to demand that he put her down but then he started to walk and her leg jostled and she practically screamed again. Instead she wrapped her arms around Tony's neck and bit down on his shoulder.

"Ouch! You could have warned me!" She felt guilty about that but it had prevented her from screaming which she refused to do again.

Tony was trying to process the bite he had received. He was definitely not expecting that and found that he had actually liked it. And after that thought passed through his head he mentally Gibbs-slapped himself. No time for those kinds of thoughts.

He hobbled down the hall in the direction he knew to be the exit.

"Kids, listen. Go through those automatic doors and then turn left. That's the exit. You'll be safe from there. Go on." They nodded and ran ahead of them. Tony had to stop for a moment though. The doors opened and closed as his proximity. He set Ziva down gently on her uninjured leg.

She was pale in the face and shaking. "Zee, you're gonna be okay. I swear." She looked up and smiled shakily. He would make sure she was okay though. Nothing would stop him from getting his Ziva safe. He watched her face to make sure she wasn't going to pass out when he saw her eyes widen and her mouth drop.

He watched in slow motion as she hopped on one foot, opened the door and pushed him through. He had no idea what was going on until he looked behind her. There was a man standing a few feet from them, his bomb ticking off the last few seconds. And then the doors shut in his face, Ziva staring at him through the glass. She put her hand against it and smiled and he watched as she mouthed the word run.

And he could not believe it. She was not on the other side of the door. But she was. And that bomb went off and he watched as fire consumed her.

"Ziva! Wake up Ziva! Come on. You aren't allowed to be a hero!" She was lying limp in his arms. There was a huge gash on her forehead, blood dripping from the back of her skull. Her arm was twisted at an odd angle just like her foot and there was a shard of glass embedded in her stomach. There was a trickle of blood from her mouth and Tony wiped at it absently. His Ziva was lying broken in his arms. He put his ear against her chest and heard her heart's faint beat. He wanted to cry but the dust surrounding him choked him. He pushed her hair out of her face and leaned down to her.

"Ziva…wake up. Please." When she didn't open her eyes Tony knew that he had to get them out of there. He cradled her gently against him and limped his way out of the hospital, into the screaming mass of people and towards Gibbs, who was watching in pain as Tony limped toward him with an unconscious bloody Ziva in his arms. Gibbs heart stopped and then he ran to them.

He placed his hands on Tony's face, cradling it. "Tony. What happened." Tony's mouth moved but no sound came out. The paramedics came rushing up to them and Gibbs stepped out of the way. But Tony refused to give Ziva up when they went to take her from his arms. Gibbs watched as he struggled to keep his composure.

"Son…let them take care of her." Tony looked to Gibbs, searching in pain. He let them take Ziva then as McGee came rushing up next to them. He stared in horror at Ziva lying on the stretcher. He looked up at Tony.

"Tony…are you okay?" Tony looked up at him with a blank stare and McGee was at a loss for words. Gibbs just shook his head no and put his arm around Tony's waist, grabbing his belt and steering him toward an ambulance.

"Boss. What…what do I do?" McGee couldn't process anything. All he could see was Ziva lying there, dead-like. And all he could remember was Kate looking the same way. Dead.

"Go get Abby. Have someone else drive you. But get Abby and meet us at Washington Hospital." McGee stood there not moving.

"Tim." McGee looked up. "Go get Abby." Tim nodded and turned around.

When McGee was gone Gibbs turned back to Tony and wished he hadn't. He hadn't seen Tony look like that before. Not even when Kate had been killed right before their eyes. He reached down and placed a firm grip on his shoulder. "Tony…"

"She can't die boss. She can't. I luh…" Tony didn't finish his words. But Gibbs wasn't stupid. He knew what would have followed. And he wished his Agent hadn't said it. This would only be harder for him.

"Let's go Tony. She's waiting for us."

_/\Washington Hospital/\_

"Achot." Ziva turned to the voice. If she hadn't known better that voice was…

"Where are you going achot?"And then Ziva saw her. In all her 16 years of glory. The one she had missed the most in her life. Tears fell unchecked down her face.

"Tali?" Ziva took a step in her direction than stopped. Tali was shaking her head slowly. "No achot. It is not your time." Ziva's head cocked in confusion. "But Tali…" Ziva reached out toward her sister, her hand desperately hoping to touch her Tali just once. But Tali stepped back, her body starting to fade. "Go back. Back to all those you love. You don't belong here yet. I want to see you old and happy. Maybe even fat." She watched Talia smile without reserve, the kind she had missed for so many years. The kind she hadn't seen ever again after Tali had been killed. "But I miss you Tali…"

"Why is she crying?" Abby clutched Gibbs' arm desperately. "She's not hurting is she? You said she wouldn't feel anything!" The doctor hesitated momentarily and regretted it. Abby advanced on him but before she could do anything Tim grabbed her waist and dragged her back and into his arms where she fell against him and started to sob. Tony paced behind them all feeling just as Abby did. Ziva shouldn't be crying. His Ziva never cried. If Dr. Creepy didn't tell them that Ziva wasn't hurting he just might make the doctor hurt as well.

"She's not hurting, at least she shouldn't be. We have her on plenty of meds to prevent that. She might possibly be experiencing something while unconscious." All 6 of them stared menacingly at the doctor, although Ducky and Palmer understood some of what the doctor meant.

"Jethro, remember when you were in that explosion, right before you quit-ah retired?" Gibbs turned to Ducky, eyebrows raised. "While you were unconscious, you too were also in a dreamlike state weren't you?" Gibbs looked back to Ziva. Going back, he did remember having flashbacks to Desert Storm. But that wasn't what he was thinking. When he had been trapped underwater in the car, all he remembered was the ocean blue around him and then nothing. The nothing was followed by an image, one he vaguely remembered but remembered nonetheless. Shannon and Kelly had been there, like they were waiting for him. He remembered hearing his little girl's voice and then opening his eyes to blue skies, a hand grasping his and a dripping, heaving Tony. Perhaps Ziva too was falling. He only prayed that Ziva didn't fall completely. He had lost too many people in his life already.

"No Ziva." Hearing her name snapped her out of her trance. "You can't come any closer." She said it softly but firmly. "Tali?" She looked at her sister questioningly. Then she understood. This was the moment, the white light as Tony would tell her it was. The choice between life and death.

"Yes. And you must choose life." She shook her head, knowing that whether she wanted to stay here with Tali, she wanted to go back. To go back to Abby and McGee, Ducky, Jimmy.

Gibbs.

Tony.

"That's right. They all love you and you love them. I know." Her eyes shone with an understanding that her past Tali would not have known. "I know achot." Tali motioned for Ziva to go.

"I'll be waiting for you, achot." Ziva watched as Tali's form grew more translucent, until all Ziva could see was her smiling face. "I love you Tali."

And then the darkness claimed her.

"Ziva…"

Minutes later…

It was too hard. They couldn't go through another one. Abby couldn't take it. Tim couldn't. Gibbs sure couldn't. And Tony? He had already lost a partner once. He couldn't do it again. Not Ziva. His Ziva. Losing a partner was hard, but losing a female partner was a different ball game. It was so much more personal. And he had so many things he wanted to tell Ziva. Like how he adored the way she messed up her idioms, and how much he actually liked to correct her. He loved it when she joined him in teasing the hell out of Tim. He always felt ready for anything whenever she had his back. He wanted to tell her that he could trust her with his life. And mostly, if he was honest with himself, to screw Rule 12. Just toss it out the window. He wouldn't have admitted it before and he certainly wouldn't have acknowledged it either, but damn it all to hell. He would have tried. He would have made Gibbs understand.

Ziva.

Ziva.

Ziva.

Ziva.

Tony hated waiting. Waiting for Ziva to wake up or to…

No. He wouldn't even think it. His Ziva wouldn't, couldn't die. She had survived Somalia, she could survive this. One minute she was crying in her unconscious state, the doc was telling them she should be okay and then not minutes later she had flat lined. Tony had forgotten what it was like, to know Ziva was dead. But this had a different punch to it. He was right there, watching her body become lifeless and he could do nothing, absolutely nothing to stop it. The nurses rushed in, pushing them all of out the way.

The sounds around him vanished as his vision focused solely on Ziva and the way her chest did not move. They ripped away her hospital gown, baring her to the world, one nurse still pushing air into her lungs manually. He heard someone yell clear and then her body arched into the air looking as if she was being pulled to the heavens. Then her body fell back to the bed and everyone in the room turned to the monitor.

The line did not move.

It was amazing what could happen in just mere seconds, minutes even. Someone makes a choice, pulls the trigger, lies. All in seconds and minutes.

He faintly heard Abby scream out as no one even bothered to calm her. They all wanted to scream. Tim's face had gone deathly white, and Ducky and Palmer both called out silent prayers. When Tony absently looked over at Gibbs he could see that his hands were trembling violently as they clenched at his sides. Tony was dead inside again. Again. He couldn't do it again. Damn you Ziva. Damn you for doing this to us. They yelled clear again in the room and her body climbed once more for the sky. And Tony couldn't take it anymore.

His fists fell against the glass, hard and he screamed like no one was there.

"Ziva! Don't you dare do this to me again! Don't you DARE! ZIVA!" And the next moment he could have sworn that she had heard him. They had shocked her once more; in sync with Tony's outburst and as her body fell back to the bed and her head fell slightly to the side her eyes flew open, meeting his as the line on the monitor blipped to life. She gasped for her. And in that moment, as they stared at each other, Abby's sobs of relief filtering through his mind, the nurses and doctors rushing around her, poking, prodding, touching, he watched a tear stream down her face as her mouth moved to the rhythm of his name.

Tony.

He placed his palm on the glass.

"Ziva."

/\_/\_/\

Six hours later, after tests and more meds and prodding they were finally let in to see Ziva. Abby was the first to practically squash Ziva in her arms, although as she was closing her arms around Ziva she only lightly hugged her. Tears fell down Abby's face onto Ziva's. Ziva smiled weakly at Abby as she heard her murmur I love you into her ear. McGee came next taking her hand into his and squeezing as he kissed her lightly on the cheek, then saying "I'm so glad you're still here." She squeezed his hand back.

She looked up to see both Ducky and Palmer standing at the edge of bed. Ducky grabbed her foot. "You my dear, truly gave us a scare. I would appreciate it if it didn't happen again?" She nodded.

Gibbs came next. He looked at her momentarily before bending down, taking her hand in his and the other pushing her hair away from her face as he kissed her forehead. "If you ever," he whispered into her ear as he enunciated his word, "do that to me again," and she waited, hearing his breath catch in his throat causing her to almost cry, "I will personally see that you never leave my sight again. Ever." She grasped his hand tightly and turned into his embrace, tears falling silently down her cheeks as he held her so gently, which only made the tears come harder. If ever she was fortunate in her life it would be now, to be surrounded by all of the people she held dearly in her heart. Gibbs held her for a few minutes when she finally calmed herself down enough. He stepped away and then they waited, for Tony to make his move.

He walked to her side, slowly. And Tim could swear that if none of them were there Tony may have cried. His eyes looked like they were swelling up. And then all he wanted to do was give Tony some privacy to do whatever it was he needed to do for Ziva. He gently took Abby's arm and jerked his head toward the door. She smiled her understanding and walked out with McGee. Jimmy took note of their leaving and decided to follow suit. He felt awkward in there anyway.

"I'm glad to see you awake Ziva dear." Jimmy felt Dr. Mallard behind him and held the door open for him. "Thank you Mr. Palmer." Jimmy smiled as he exited. "Of course doctor."

Gibbs stood there watching Tony as he waited for him to leave. His gut told him that a rule was being broken here. But he found that he couldn't bring himself to say anything. What was it that his last rule said?

Sometimes, you're wrong.

And he knew had to go and leave them to their choices.

So he left them.

If we do the unthinkable would it make us look crazy

He finally had a moment alone with her and he didn't know what to say. He had been sure that Gibbs was going to tell him to move it along or something. Surely Gibbs knew that a rule was being tested here. But he had merely left, not saying anything. He should have known.

"Man of few words, huh?" He mentally slapped himself. Not how he wanted to start this conversation. But he saw Ziva crack a weak smile. "Tony…I am sorry."

He practically spit he stuttered so hard. "What are you apologizing for?" He pulled a chair next to her bed and then hesitantly took her hand in his.

"I should have listened to you." She coughed and Tony reached up, his hand on her forehead, pushing her hair back. "I know." And she smiled. "But what you did, for those kids…" he couldn't find the right words to express how brave he thought she had been, how stupid to allow herself to get hurt. "They have you to thank for their lives." She smiled again. There was a pause.

"I saw Tali…" He looked up and waited for her to finish. "You mean…your sister?" She nodded and he watched as sadness consumed her eyes. He squeezed her hand.

"I died for a few seconds did I not?" She looked to him for confirmation. He couldn't bring himself to say it. Instead he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers as a single tear slid down his cheek.

She turned to him. "I heard you call my name."

And when he looked up into her eyes he saw it. Everything he could ever want, the future he had been searching for.

Or would it be so beautiful either way I'm sayin'

If you ask me I'm ready

"Ziva…I…" It was right there, at the tip of his tongue. The feelings that had reached breaking point within him. He had to tell her. It would be wrong not too. But how did he tell her that…that he hadn't felt this way for someone since Jeanne? That this was different than his feelings for Jeanne had been, far more…intense. That when he saw her, he knew things would turn out okay. That sometimes he came into work just to spend the day with her. That when she wore her hair down he wanted to run his fingers through it and when she smiled his heart skipped a beat. That when she got hurt, sometimes his heart stopped and he died a little inside.

But before he could finish or even start for that matter, Ziva reached up and placed her hand gently on his cheek and smiled, her thumb caressing the top of his cheekbone. And the light behind her eyes told him all he needed to know.

If you ask me I'm ready.

Fin

EM: The sequel is up and titled Coming Home. Please read it!

And for anyone who doesn't know, achot means sister.