So, a special thank you needs to go out to my friend spoonyriffic from LJ for encouraging me to finish this chapter and her excellent reaction upon reading certain parts. If you ask nicely, I might show you her reaction in the next chapter. Also, another special thanks needs to go out to my bestie, cable_addict, for all of her support and help in writing this fic. Before you ask, no, this is not the last chapter, this is the second to last. I'm debating on writing an epilogue, but I started one and it didn't feel right, and I kind of like where I left the last chapter at. So, enjoy, and please keep the screaming at the end to a minimum.
Oh, and by the way, for clarification; the italics are for a different point of view. I was trying to show two things stimultaneously.
Chapter 23 – All We Know Is Falling
After the reception things went back to normal. Anthony and Ziva went on their honeymoon in the Bahamas. Ari, Dana, and Lila returned to Israel. Booth and Temperance took the kids on vacation to Myrtle Beach for a week. Life in the DiNozzo mansion went on.
The night before they were supposed to leave, Ziva lay in bed, still in her bikini from the day at the beach. The TV was on in the background but she wasn't really paying attention. She had been having the feeling that something bad was going to happen all day and she was just happy that she and Anthony weren't flying back that night. She heard the bathroom door open and Anthony stepped out, dripping wet, and in nothing but a towel. He walked over to Ziva and shook his head in her general direction, sending water droplets flying over her stomach. Ziva smiled and rolled away.
"Anthony, stop it," she scolded half heartedly.
"I told you I would get you back for dunking me," Anthony said as he crawled up onto the bed with her.
"Anthony, get off the bed, you're getting the blankets wet," Ziva squealed as he pulled her towards him.
"Your point?" he asked as he lowered his lips to hers.
Jethro was sitting at his desk looking over paperwork when he heard the noise. It was the sound of glass shattering and it had come from the foyer. Knowing that it could only be one thing, Jethro got up and went to look. As he had predicted the rose vase lay shattered on the floor, the roses and their petals scattered about on the floor. Jethro looked around to see what could have caused the vase to fall. He knew that Abigail and Tim had been upstairs since dinner, and that Ducky was in the basement as usual, taking care of Palmer. That was when he was hit by a bullet.
Anthony's lips traveled from Ziva's mouth to her neck, in the sensitive spot on her collar bone. Ziva moved her head, allowing Anthony more access for his mouth to roam. He reached behind her and pulled the strings of her bikini top and pulled it off.
Jethro looked at his shoulder where blood was no blossoming across his shirt. He hadn't heard the shot, which meant whoever did it was using silencers or was sniping. Jethro looked around, trying to see where the bullet could have come from. When he turned around, he came face to face with Vance.
"It's not nice, is it?" Vance asked, gun in hand. Jethro had his gun as well, at the small of his back, but there was no way to get it without alerting Vance.
"Why are you doing this?" Jethro asked.
"Because you killed my family."
Anthony's mouth continued its venture south, stopping at her breasts. He swirled his tongue over each one, drawing moans from Ziva. He could feel her body shuddering underneath him. His hands reached down to stroke her thighs and she sighed.
"What do you mean, I killed your family?" Jethro asked, completely stunned. He knew that before Vance had moved here, he had never met him before. He didn't know how he could have possibly killed Vance's family.
"You don't even remember? Let me refresh your memory. You had just joined Sal DiNozzo and he sent you on a hit in San Francisco. You were in an accident and never made it to kill your target, but you did kill someone else. There was a woman and a little girl in that car, and they both died. They were my wife and daughter." This memory flickered some memories awake for Jethro. He remembered that night, it had been raining and the road was slippery. There had been a dog on the road, and he had swerved to avoid it. Instead of hitting the dog, he had hit the oncoming car.
"You blame that on me?" Jethro asked. "It was an accident. Even the police deemed it as an accident."
Anthony continued his trail of kisses down Ziva's stomach and she lifted her hips and allowed him to slide her bikini bottom off. His towel had fallen off long ago and they were both naked. Anthony moved to attack Ziva's lips again and Ziva trailed her hands up and down Anthony's chest, causing him to shudder.
"Doesn't matter," Vance said shrugging. "As far as I'm concerned it's your fault. And I've been trying to get back at you ever since. I wanted to kill you years ago, but I ended up killing your wife." Anger shot through Jethro. Jenny's murder had never been solved and he had always wondered who had take his wife and unborn child from him, and now he knew.
"So, you're a baby killer. You killed my wife's baby when you killed her and you killed Ziva's baby. And those were intentional, unlike the death of your wife and daughter," Jethro said.
"Doesn't matter, I've won," Vance declared. As he spoke, Jethro began smelling smoke coming from the upstairs. "My men have already killed your daughter, her fiancée, your friend, and his nephew. And now, I'm going to kill you." Jethro decided that it was time to go for his gun and he did.
Anthony dragged his hands slowly up and down Ziva's thighs. He could feel her muscles quivering. She caught his lip between her teeth and sucked gently, alternating with nipping. She could feel his breath catch and he moaned every time she nipped at his lip. Their bodies were slicked with sweat from the humid Caribbean air and their current activities.
Vance saw that Jethro was going for something and shot him again. This shot hit him several inches to the right of his heart, using the last of his strength, Jethro whipped his gun out and shot Vance right through the head. As he fell to the ground the pain and heartbreak finally registered. Abigail was dead, Ducky was dead, everyone was dead.
Anthony slipped inside of Ziva and rocked gently at first and then moved faster and faster. Ziva moaned and began moving in rhythm with Anthony, her hips matching his rock for rock. Anthony reached his hand down in between Ziva's legs and found the little nub that always brought her pleasure. He began circling it with his thumb in time with their hip thrusts. He could see her hands start to clench into fists and knew she was close to coming.
Through his haze of pain, Jethro could now see the flames licking along the stairs and the smoke pouring out of second floor. So, this was how he was to die. Two bullet holes and fire; but he was prepared to die. He watched helplessly as the flames crawled down the wall and the smoked drifted down. He was finding more and more difficult to breathe, and finally, he gave up.
With one last groan, Anthony could feel Ziva tighten as she came. Her screams of pleasure reverberated throughout the hotel room. With one last thrust, he too, came. He groaned and shuddered and collapsed next to Ziva on the bed. She rolled over onto her side and looked at him. He too, rolled over so he was facing her and gently moved a piece of hair that was in her face. He leaned over and kissed her gently.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," she replied.
*shrinks away from angry readers and projectiles that may be thrown* Remember, please keep the screaming to a minimum. Thank you!
