Tony awoke to someone yelling. He sat up suddenly and pushed the covers aside. He paused for a second to consider that, and realized he was on Ziva's couch, covered by blankets. How she did that was beyond him, but he'd ask her one day. He ran to Ziva's room, expecting an intruder. Instead, he found her thrashing around, yelling at the top of her lungs, having a nightmare again. He went over and tried to shake her awake. She was yelling again.
"Stop it! Stop!" She screamed so loud that Tony was afraid that the owner of the apartments may kick her out. He shook her hard.
"Ziva, wake up!" He hissed and shook her by the shoulders.
"I promise!" Ziva had quieted down now, no long screaming, no longer moving as much. She lapsed into the silent sobbing that he so hated. She continued whimpering. "Please, I promise." She sounded so broken. He was torn between waking her up, or letting her sleep and finding out more. He made up his mind, and was about to wake her when she whispered again. "No, please, don't hurt them...I will do whatever you say. Anything. Just do not hurt them. They are my only family…" Feeling like he was seriously invading her privacy, he finally shook her awake.
"Ziva, wake up!" She finally did, sitting up lightning fast, gasping for breath. He had a serious case of déjà vu. He hoped she didn't throw up again. She breathed deeply for a few moments, then closed her eyes. She leaned back and rested the back of her head against the wall. She sat back up right away.
"Ow." She rubbed the back of her head. She finally noticed him standing by the bed. She glared at him. "You are supposed to be asleep on the couch." She growled at him. He shrugged and kneeled next to her on the bed. He moved her hands and tried to touch the back of her head. She resisted at first, but then gave in. He felt a bump the size of an egg on the back of her head.
"How did you get this?" He questioned. She grinned.
"As I said, I fell while running." Now Tony smirked. Ziva felt uneasy.
"On both sides of your head?" Ziva's smile vanished. She looked at the clock.
"I'm going out to run. I need to leave for work in an hour and a half." Tony bared her way.
"A, you are not getting up. B…why do you need to leave so freaking early!?" Ziva rolled her eyes and tried to get up again. He blocked her way again.
"I take the bus, Tony." Tony rolled his eyes.
"In case you've forgotten, I'm here." She nodded and rolled her eyes at the same time. Tony rolled his own eyes and pushed her lightly back down into bed. He realized it would be pointless to try and convince her to stay home today, plus, she was probably safer at the Nave Base than she was here.
"Sleep." He commanded. "I'll wake you up in about an hour with breakfast ready. Ziva struggled to get up again. He relented.
"You can get up and read or something, but no physical activity. Unless you want to-" He was cut off by her shoving a pillow in his face. He moved the pillow aside. "I was going to say, 'unless you want to help me cook.'" She gave him a long hard look, then got out of bed.
"You can shower first- I will make breakfast."She said firmly. He debated whether she would make a break for it while he was in the shower, but decided it was worth the risk. He couldn't go to work like this. Besides, it wasn't like there was a lot of places she would go. Just in case, he grabbed her running shoes when he walked to the bathroom.
"These are coming with me. No escaping!" He called over his shoulder. She nodded. "And don't you do anything stupid."
"I never do anything I think is stupid." She got up and moved out of the room.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"As I said, I will cook breakfast this morning." He grinned
"It's like playing house!" She threw the pillow at him as she walked out of the room.