Tony Looks Back
Tony was never a very patient man when it came to waiting on a woman before in his whole life. But, for some reason, it was definitely different with Ziva. He would wait for her forever he needed to. He would wait until his last breath came to him and then he would whisper those words to her that he needed to say. He hoped he wouldn't have to wait that long, but honestly, she had a lot of healing to do.
Tony lay in his bed thinking at night. He was doing it again. Things had changed over the last four months. Things were different. Four months ago his super powerful and emotionally strong ninja wouldn't even look at him. They had kissed in Paris and now they were totally different than ever before.
Ziva was afraid and Tony knew this. Tony knew that she was afraid of many things and they all tied back to her past or Somalia. He was slowly getting the information from her and it pleased him to know that she was talking to him now. That meant that she did trust him. The only thing that kept him hesitating was her well-being. He wanted to have her for his own, but he didn't want to hurt her or rush her into it. He was willing to wait for Ziva and only for Ziva.
He could remember when she started opening up about her fears, when she had not trusted her instincts and it had nearly gotten both of them killed. He wasn't angry with her. As a matter of fact, he was very worried about her. He had talked her through it and was glad that Gibbs had taken a step back to keep her comfortable enough to talk about it in public.
He could remember when she revealed to him something that had happened in Somalia. Her nightmare had been Saleem forcing him to watch. He hadn't known, at first, what she meant, but he caught the meaning only too quickly. Perhaps he should have text messaged her before jumping into action, but he had known that she needed him and as much as it pained him to know that she was suffering because of this, he needed to help her, because he wanted her to be happy and whole.
Now they were running together every morning and that nightmare had been the beginning of this. They were eating lunch together everyday and sharing walks before and after work to talk and be near each other. It was overwhelming how much had changed without a word about it being said. But, he was glad. He was glad that things were going in this direction. He could feel hope and he could see that Ziva felt hope, which made him overly happy.
He loved her and he knew he loved her. He also knew that she loved him. He knew that she was terrified of this love and the amount of trust she had for him. He was happy that she loved him and happy that she trusted him and he wasn't going anywhere.
Tony was, if nothing else, stubborn. His stubbornness used to be a burden to others, but it wasn't this time. He knew how to deal with Ziva and knew Ziva very well (and she was stubborn too). Tony had decided that he was going to wait for her and he hadn't even been out with anyone other than McGee in over a year. Tony was going to answer her text messages, no matter what and he had done that so far. Tony would answer a phone call if it came his way, which it hadn't yet, but he knew that it would someday. Tony was going to do everything he could to help her and he had done everything she would allow him to do so far. Tony was never going to leave her side and he was never going to hurt her. That was what he was being stubborn about.
If Gibbs or McGee knew about these resolutions then they would wonder what had happened to the typical playboy Tony that couldn't wait for a woman. They would wonder what happened to his impatience. They would wonder what changed him. Gibbs would figure it out quickly, because he had obviously been in love a time or two. McGee, on the other hand, he wouldn't figure it out. He would go to Abby, who would hunt up and down to find the answer and he wasn't sure if she would.
Tony wasn't impatient for the phone call, because he knew that the first phone call was not going to be a happy one. He knew that the first phone call was going to be like the last time that he went over to her apartment after her telling him something about one of her nightmares. He knew she would be feeling helpless, alone, hurt, and scared. But, he would go and he would comfort her like he did in Paris. He wouldn't offer to go into her apartment, because that was her place. He had gone to the outside of the building before, but that was different. That was for their run. The final step had to be hers to make.
With that thought. Tony drifted off to sleep. He drifted off only to be woken up shortly after. His phone was ringing. It was not giving him the same message alert tone as normal. It was ringing.
Who was calling him? Gibbs was in Mexico so it wasn't a case that they had, but someone was calling him. He glanced at the clock first. It was two in the morning and he had only just fallen asleep. He looked down at the phone. He was shocked. His heart first skipped a beat and then sped off wildly out of control as he looked at the picture from his contact list that had popped up onto the screen of his phone.
A/N – Here is a Tony chapter for you with some reflection about the last four months. Tony is not afraid or impatient which is good. But, I don't think he expected his phone to ring. I don't think he expected a phone call so soon. Let me know what you think!