"Ziva?" Tony asked, after several seconds of silence.

"Tony I-" She stopped, and she was suddenly disgusted with herself. What was she doing? Calling her partner in the middle of the night hoping that he would just jump out of bed and leave whatever female he had in there and come to her rescue? Was she insane? Tears flooded her eyes but she managed to keep her composure. "I am sorry. I should not have called."

"Ziva, wait." Tony said, stopping her from hanging up the phone.

Ziva sighed deeply, "What, Tony?"

"Why did you call?" And then, there was silence again. Ziva felt horrible. She could tell he was asleep and knew he was tired. "Ziva?" Tony asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She said quietly.

He sighed through the phone, "You don't sound okay."

Ziva sat up further in her bed and wiped the tears off her face, "I am fine, Tony. I am sorry for calling you. I will see you tomorrow."

"Ziva..." Tony started, but she had already hung up the phone.

Ziva brought her knees up to her chest and crossed her arms over them, letting her head fall onto her arms.

What was she thinking?

After several long minutes of sitting in her bed and trying to think of a solution to the mess she had made for herself, she finally found one.

She reached over to her nightstand and grabbed her cell phone. After a few rings, a familiar voice picked up the phone.

"Ziva?"

"Shalom, father."

Ziva hung up her phone again several minutes later and lay down in her bed, hoping that sleep would overtake her. About an hour later, just as she was dozing off, she heard a knock on her door. She sighed deeply and, cursing in several different languages, she got out of bed, put on a robe and walked to her door.

"I thought I told you I was fine." Ziva said. Tony stared into her tired eyes.

"I know what you told me. I sat in my apartment for almost an hour debating whether or not to come because of what you told me."

"Go home, Tony. I am fine."

"You already said that."

"Then go." Ziva said again, and started to close her door, but Tony stopped it with his foot.

"Ziva, you are not fine." He pierced her with his green eyes, and she knew he wouldn't take no for an answer. She sighed deeply and walked into her apartment. Tony followed her and shut the door. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Ziva asked. She handed Tony a bottle of water and then opened her own. They sat down on her couch.

"Why this bastard got to you so much."

"He did not get to me." Ziva said through her teeth.

"Ziva you haven't slept."

"What is your point, DiNozzo?" He looked at her for several seconds again before putting his water on the table and moving slightly closer to the Israeli.

"Why did you let him get to you like he did?" He almost whispered. She stared at him, and after several seconds of silence, he spoke again, "I'm worried about you. The way you've been acting is not Ziva-like."

"I know, Tony." She replied softly.

"Why are you so upset?" Tony asked again. He wanted to get to the bottom of things.

Ziva sighed deeply and looked around her living room. It was dark except for the moonlight coming in through the living room window. The thousands of thoughts that had been running through her head came flooding through again, and she was sick of them. None of it mattered anymore anyway.

She sighed deeply and looked Tony in the eyes again, "Why didn't you say anything?"

Tony was confused, "Why didn't I say anything when?"

"Today. At work. You did not say one word."

"I didn't think you wanted me to." He sighed, "I was right about him. I knew that, and now you know it too. But I didn't want to upset you even more."

"You had no concern about what I was feeling."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is. You went home with one of your...floozies and went to bed."

"Floozies?"

"You did not even call, Tony."

"First of all, I did not have a 'floozie' in my apartment. That's not me anymore. Secondly, none of that is true, Ziva. I wanted to make it easier on you. That's why I didn't call. When you called, I was sitting in my apartment waiting for the phone to ring. And then I came here." Ziva sighed deeply. Several seconds of silence went by. "Is that why you're so upset? Because you thought I didn't care what that bastard did to you?" When she didn't answer, he continued, "What else, Zi?"

He wasn't going to let this go. "I did not trust your judgment again. You tried to warn me, Tony. You tried to warn me about Michael and Jonathan. And I did not listen. It backgunned both times."

Backfired." He said softly.

"Yes. Backfired." She replied. Tony stared back at his partner, and started to speak when she put her hand up, "Please. Do not say anything else." She swallowed the lump that was in her throat, "I am sorry, again, Tony. For not trusting you."

Tony took one of her hands, "You know that I was trying to watch out for you, right?" He asked softly. Ziva nodded. "Then you have no reason to be sorry. We're partners, Ziva. It's my job to look out for you."

"I know." She whispered.

"And everybody makes mistakes. The guy is a bastard and if he ever comes near you again, I'll handle that. But you don't worry anymore, okay?"

"I do not need you to protect me, Tony." Ziva replied. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can." He kissed her hand and stood from the couch, heading towards the door. "But you obviously can't with this guy. And that's why you've got me. I've got your back, Ziva." She stood up and followed him to the door. "You go get some sleep, Zi. You need it." She nodded. He looked down into her brown eyes. "You okay?"

She nodded again and noticed that he was inching towards her, "I am fine, Tony. Thank you."

He shook his head, "No reason to thank me." He brought his hand up to her face and cupped it softly. There was a screaming debate in his head, and he knew doing what he really wanted to may get him killed. But he couldn't help it. He leaned down and captured her lips with his.

It was a short kiss, lasting only a second, but a shock wave shot through them like a lightning bolt. They were both breathing hard.

Somehow, Tony managed to step away from her and drop his hand from her face. She looked up at him again and he smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow at work?" Ziva only nodded. She had no words. "Goodnight."

Ziva closed the door and leaned on it, letting her head fall on the door, trying to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Tony DiNozzo kissed her.

And it wasn't a dream.

Damn it.

Review? :)