A/N – Wow I am so sorry it's taken so long to update, life has just got in the way. Anyway, here we are chapter 7, It has taken me a while, I have fought with it, re written it, nearly given up. I do hope you enjoy. Please like and review.
Disclaimer - Do not own, just borrowing them.
Even after all this time?
Chapter 7
"You are so loved…"
With the thump of the helicopter landing on the roof of the hospital, Tony awoke from the same dream yet again. He blinked a couple of times as he watched the medics get to work with transporting Ziva down to the ward. The thumping headache now worse he leant back against the side and took a few deep breaths.
"Agent Dinozzo?" Poppy tapped him arm lightly, he looked to his side and gave a small smile "They are taking her down to ICU, the rest of your team are on the way here" Tony just nodded and followed Poppy off the helicopter and towards the main building. For a moment, he felt dizzy and sick thanks to his pounding head. Steadying himself he finally carried on towards the building of the very familiar hospital.
"They have taken Ziva into ICU Agent Dinozzo they are going to keep monitoring her and see if there is any lasting damage to her, then she will be transported back to the ward and from there once she is fit to fly we will fly her back to Israel where her Doctor will take over her case" Poppy explained as they rode the lift down to where the rest of the team was. He frowned a little at the last sentence and threw a look Poppy's way "Oh, it is in her file, if she falls ill abroad she must be returned home where she is looked after" Poppy finished, the ding of elevator signalled their arrival he took a step out and turned to Poppy.
"She is home" he mumbled and walked away. Tony walked towards the family room and headed in. He was alone. He took a seat and leant back against the cool wall, someone at the door caught his eye.
"Jennifer" Tony mumbled, she smiled and sat next to Tony, placing a cup of water and two tablets she smiled again and signalled to Tony.
"Strong painkillers" Jennifer whispered, Tony nodded and in one swift motion took the tablets and down the cup of water.
"Thanks" Tony whispered back
"Listen, I am just being checked over but then I can go home" Jennifer started "I came to thank you again Tony" Jennifer smiled
"How many times it is my job" Tony mumbled, he rubbed his head a little praying the tablets kicked in soon.
"Well Thank you" Jennifer stood up to head back to her ward, she turned to face back to Tony "She will be ok" Jennifer finished and headed out the door. Tony leant back against the wall and before he knew it fell asleep.
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The family waiting room was full of the NCIS family but nobody dared to speak or even make a sound, no one knew what to say or who to. Tony had now re awoke back up and thankfully his head now easing thanks to the strong tablets. He stared at the door waiting for any movement from any Dr to come and tell them that they can take her home. Finally, after what seemed forever the Dr appeared in the door way.
"I am Dr Smith and I have been looking after Miss David, firstly, there is going to be no long lasting injury's she is a fighter I will give her that, secondly, we have brought her round and she seems to respond very well to all tests" Dr Smith looked around the room as all eyes were on him, he looked back down at this notes and carried on "Miss David is now awake, she is confused and is having a hard time remembering stuff, please can I ask you go easy on her" Dr Smith finished he gave a small smile and headed out the family room. Gibbs pointed at Ellie and signalled her to follow him.
"Boss?" Tony froze on the spot, surly out of everyone Tony had the most right to see her first, Gibbs just stared him down, Tony huffed a little and stormed out the waiting room and heading to the exit. Gibbs nodded at McGee to follow and sort him out.
"Tony" McGee followed Tony out the exit doors and over to the grass area where Tony sat on one of the benches. He waited for the other agent to catch up and sit next to him.
"I should be in there with her" was the first Tony said, McGee sat back and watched as his friend ran his hand through his hair "It should be me" he finished.
"Tony, Ellie is the best as Ziva doesn't know her, just think she comes around from a head trauma and hello there we are sat there" McGee started, Tony looked behind him and stared at Tim.
"But we are her friends" Tony snapped, McGee sighed and leaned forward and looked at Tony again, he could understand why his friend was so upset at the end of the day Ziva was their friend, their former co- worker and they should be there for her, but at the same time he could understand why Gibbs sent Ellie in.
"Let Ellie do her job and then we can go in and see her" McGee patted his mates back
"I don't think I can" Tony mumbled, since landing back at the hospital all he wanted to do was run away and hide. Yes, she was alive and she was now safe but what if he went in with all the hopes for her to shut him down. He couldn't face that heartbreak for the 2nd time.
"Listen, once Ellie has finished you go in and we will wait" McGee stated, Tony just looked again and smiled a little.
"What if she doesn't want to see me" McGee sighed and hoped this wasn't going to end like last time he couldn't handle another 6 months of a depressed Dinozzo.
"She won't"
"How do you –"
"Listen Tony, you either man up go in there and tell her that you are still in love with her and you are going to fight for her or you walk away now and never look back" McGee stood up and headed back to the hospital to leave Dinozzo in his thoughts.
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Arriving at the small room Ellie stood at the door way for a moment and studied the patient lay in the bed, she looked remarkably better than when she was brought in. Carefully making her way in the room she didn't want to make her jump, standing at the side of the bed she coughed a little to get Ziva's attention.
"Hello Ziva, I am Ellie" Ellie smiled as she watched Ziva look her up and down, a very confused look etched on her face, Ziva nodding at the chair by the bed Ellie smiled and took the seat next to the bed. Ziva pulled herself up the bed and got herself into a comfy position. Silence fell between the two women.
"You here to ask me questions?" Ziva asked after a while, Ellie nodded and pulled out her badge, she showed them to Ziva.
"Ziva, I am Ellie I work for NCIS, I am here to speak to you about the incident that took place in Guatemala" Ellie watched as Ziva's face expression changed, fiddling with the bed sheet she gulped.
"We ok to talk?" Ellie's soft tones eased Ziva a little as she looked at the younger women. Ziva nodded.
"Ziva, can you remember anything that happened?" Ellie asked, for a moment Ziva scrunched her face up and then shrug.
"I was with the UN and we had to go to Mexico" Ziva sighed and rubbed her head a little, she was trying to remember what happened but she couldn't remember a lot.
"And you went to Guatemala yes?" Ellie asked, Ziva just nodded and watched as Ellie made some notes.
"we were heading to this town to help these locals and next minute I was at this warehouse" Ziva's face fell and she looked at Ellie "Jennifer?" Ellie gently placed her hand on Ziva's arm and smiled
"She is absolutely fine" Ellie smiled, Ziva fell back into her bed and sighed, she could feel tears building up in her eyes.
"You'd think I would learn by now not get myself in these situations" Ziva quietly mumbled after a while, sitting back up and wiping the tears from her eyes she looked back at Ellie. Ziva found her face warm and calming there was something about this younger girl that made Ziva feel safe.
"Ziva, you said you were at a warehouse, do you remember anything, even just a little detail" Ziva nodded
"We were taken, but I do not know why, we are just UN aid workers, they were Mexican" Ziva frowned a little "I was hit, I thought I saw someone I knew but then I was hit" Ziva mumbled, Ellie remained quiet, she was following what Gibbs told her to do and not talk about any of her old co-workers.
"Wait you said NCIS" Ellie nodded "Listen I cannot remember much more can we finish now yes?" Ziva whispered. Ellie nodded and stood up.
"Thank you Ziva" Ellie smiled, she made her way to the door
"Ellie, can I ask you something, before I was hit I thought I saw Tony…" Ziva trailed off as she watched Ellie walk back to the bed.
"He, along with Agent Gibbs and Agent McGee co-ordinated the rescue mission of Jennifer and yourself" Ellie smiled, Ziva shook her head as she felt tears fall down her cheeks. Ellie again placed a hand down on Ziva's arm
"I will let you rest" Ellie whispered and again made her way out the room, making her way back the waiting room where the rest of the team were Ellie cursed herself for telling Ziva that exact piece of information.
Walking back into the waiting room Ellie plonked down on the chair next to McGee and huffed, luckily Gibbs was on his 4th coffee run. Looking around the room she now noticed Tony and Abby were missing. Placing the pad down on the table she looked over at McGee and sighed.
"I told her you and Tony rescued her" Ellie huffed, she hated that she didn't do what Gibbs specifically told her not to do.
"Boss will be fine" McGee smiled "How is she?" Ellie shrugged
"She is confused, I feel I may have upset her though telling her about you and Tony"
"Once Boss has been in she will be fine" McGee smiled. Ellie sighed and leaned further down her chair.
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It was now getting late and all the team were getting tired. None of them bar Ellie had been into see Ziva as she was going under more tests to make sure she was ok. It was now 10pm and McGee was the first to make the announcement he was going to head home. It had been a long for all them, Abby soon followed suit promising that she would be here first thing. Next Ellie quietly nodded towards the team and left to head home just leaving Gibbs and Tony. Both man sat in silence staring out the window into the night skyline of DC.
"When she is done go in" Gibbs spoke up, Tony stared at his boss and nodded "She needs you now more than ever Dinozzo" Gibbs stood up and lightly patted the back of his head. "Don't leave without fighting for her, any news ring me" he headed out the door and down the corridor to the exit.
"Agent Dinozzo" Dr Smith walked into the room and smiled at the agent, he sat down on a chair and threw down the file "Where is everyone"
"Left, everything ok?" Tony sat down on the chair opposite the Dr
"Can I ask you question, when I was talking to Ziva she kept mentioning that she can't believe she was captured again?" Dr Smith leant back and crossed his arms
"Africa" Tony mumbled, Dr Smith nodded and remained quiet "She was captured in Africa after a mission and was tortured, we rescued her" Tony finished
"And that explains the scars she keeps touching" Dr Smith nodded, Tony sighed and rubbed his face, tiredness again taking over his body. "You want to see her, visiting time is technically over but can bend the rules for a fed" Dr Smith laughed he stood up and made his way to the door
"Doc, she was pretty bad after Africa, is she going to be ok?" Tony asked
"Just be there for her" Dr Smith smiled and waved for Tony to follow him.
Walking along the corridor Tony watched as nurses darted in and out of rooms, he was now steps away from seeing her properly for the first time in two years. He arrived at her room and awaited by the door, he hesitated to go in. Finally, he opened the door slowly and looked in, she was asleep. Tony took a deep breath, he walked into the door and slowly closed it behind him. He stood still for a moment and just watched as she slept, she looked so peaceful. He took a few steps over and waited for her ninja senses to kick in and tell him to go away, but they never came. He took a few more and reached the bed. He sat in the chair next to the bed and without thinking reached over and placed his hand over her's. In a instant Ziva awoke and without having to look she knew that touch, she knew that smell. Looking to the side she laid eyes on the man she hadn't seen in over two years, a small appeared on his face as he squeezed her hand a little tighter.
"Evening sweetcheeks" he whispered, a small smile appeared on Ziva's face.
A/N – Ahhh! This hurt a lot to write, I couldn't get into the flow and I just don't like it but anyway, yaaaaay they have seen eachother! Thank you so much to all that have stayed with this and commented and all that seriously thank you! Next chapter won't be too long away as our duo need to talk and she is reunited with the team. Sorry for any spelling mistakes and all that :)
Happy Friday ya'll
Nat x