A/N: Wow! I was overwhelmed by the response to the first chapter! For some reason I had some difficulties answering to some of the reviews, So I want to say thank you to everyone who took the time to drop in a few words or put this fic on alert or to favorites. You guys are awesome! I had to re-write this chapter a few times so I hope you enjoy the version I finally decided to go with :D . Now on with the fic!

"Hold the elevator!" The voice calling out to to wait made Tony close his eyes and sigh heavily. Just what he needed, not only had the morning been hell to start with, but now it would be made worse by having to ride up to the elevator with Ziva of all people. The woman who had just gotten engaged to the man he was hopelessly in love with.

Yeah it was shaping up to be one hell of a day.

None the less, he held the doors open so she could slip between them, even if he might have gotten some kind of petty satisfaction out of letting the doors close in her face. Oh well, maybe next time.

"How are you this fine morning?" The cheery question and the obvious happiness radiating from the other agent made Tony rethink his decision to hold the elevator for her.

"Well don't know about the fine part since it's been raining all morning, but if you like that sort of thing-" He was in no mood for pleasantries and he was too tired to come up with a good response anyhow, so he trailed off his answer and offered the woman a fake smile before turning to face the doors of the elevator.

The silence that answered him was not totally unexpected, the hand that reached past him to press the emergency stop button however was.

As the elevator shuddered to a stop and the emergency lighting kicked in, Tony turned to his team mate with an raised eyebrow.

"I need to talk to you before we go up to the office." She explained, waiving her hand as if that would somehow clarify her meaning.

"Well I'm all ears" Tony leaned to rest some of his weight on the wall of the small metal box he found himself somewhat trapped in, and tried to seem nonchalant.

From the way her lips twitched he knew it was a lost effort, but it did make him feel more in control of the situation so he kept the stance and crossed his arms over his chest for good measure.

"About what I told you last night." He didn't let himself show any outward reaction to her words but his mind started immediately working overtime and a hope of it all having been a mistake filled his mind.

She took a deep breath before continuing. "I know it was inconsiderate of me to tell you the way I did and I am sorry for that, but I seemed to have been lifted away in my excitement. " He didn't let his shoulders slump in defeat like he wanted and he berated himself for being such a fool and wishing something that would hurt his friend. He shook his head to rid his mind of the thoughts and let the corner of his mouth lift the tiniest bit at her mixing her English again, but refrained from correcting her.

"I also need to ask for your discretion. Jethro did not want me to tell anyone yet as he is a traditional man who wants to do things in a certain way." When Tony remained silent as he tried to push down emotions her use of Gibbs' first name had caused in him, she took it as a sign that she needed to justify the secrecy. "It is not that we plan to keep this a secret, but he does want to have a proper party where he will announce our plans for marriage, he wants to have the date and everything agreed before that." She was again waving her hand in the air to further illustrate her point.

Tony swallowed hard and pushed all unwanted emotions down before stepping forward and taking hold of one of her flailing hands. He brought the hand up to his lips and closed his eyes for a brief moment before looking at Ziva. "I understand." He let go of her hand, only to have her grab it in her own.

"So you will hang low for us?" She looked up at him intently and her eyes narrowed as he let out a sound that was somewhere between a cough and a chuckle.

"Lay Ziva. Lay low. Hanging is for something totally different." There was a smile playing at his lips, even if it was nothing like his usual bright grins. "And yeah, my lips are sealed."

She offered him a grateful smile while letting go of his hand.

"Thank you." With that she restarted the elevator and they only had to wait for a minute before it arrived to it's destination and the agents stepped into the brightly painted bull pen.

Both were the picture of professionalism as they arrived to their section of the office where they could already see Gibbs sitting at his desk.

The way the team leader looked at them at Ziva as they rounded the corner made Tony's heart ache as it skipped a beat. Luckily for him the moment was interrupted by McGee bustling into the bullpen and rushing past the two agents still standing between their desks.

"Sorry Boss, The elevator wasn't working so I had to take the stairs and-"

Tony tuned out the younger man's explanations as he checked the time and realized that indeed even he and Ziva had been a few minutes late.

"Save it McGee." Gibbs barked. "Got a call from Baltimore PD, they caught our perp and are holding onto him for us. I need you and DiNozzo to head out to get him."

Both men nodded at the order and picked their gear before making their way to the elevator, already bickering over who gets to drive.

"What have you planned for me, Boss?" The seductive purr that could be heard coming from their female team mate caused Tony to hurry his steps and he let out a sigh of relief as they got into the elevator and the doors closed, blocking the response from their boss.

Tony closed his eyes and rested his head tiredly against the back of the elevator. He could feel McGee looking at him and he opened his eyes only to be met with the sympathetic gaze of the other agent. He groaned as he thought about the long way to Baltimore and all the failed attempt from McGee to get him open up about how he was doing that he'd managed to block until now.

He really should have called in sick.

TBC...