Calling Almost Every Night

The next night, Ziva experienced the same nightmare, but she managed to wake herself up before witnessing Tony's death. It was midnight and she called Tony with the same sad and hurt words that she had used the previous night. She needed him. That was all she could manage. He came, of course, and comforted her. They got a little lost, kissing each other that night, but she was comforted and eventually fell asleep in his arms.

The next night she didn't have any nightmares. She woke up in the morning, realizing that she had slept through the night. It had been about a year since she had had a full night of sleep. It was the first night that she had woken up and had no nightmares since returning from Somalia and it was only the third night of her hard realization that she couldn't live without Tony and admitting it to him. She thought back to what she had dreamed about.

Ziva sat on her bed. She was wearing clothes she would wear to bed. Tony came out of her bathroom. She guessed it was morning, since there was sunlight filtering in through her windows. He was wearing nothing but shorts. His toned chest was showing and she smiled at him, feeling her heart race as he walked closer to her.

Tony crawled into the bed and gently pushed her backward, hovering over her and staring into her eyes. She didn't know how long he stared, but soon enough he lowered his head to hers and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, to which she responded, feeling her heart flutter at the contact. His tongue traced along her lips, asking for entrance.

She allowed it and their tongues got tangled as her hands went to his back and hair. His slid down her sides, causing her to shudder slightly in delight and kiss him more urgently. His hands traced the contours of her body and hers traced nondescript patterns on his bare back. It was then, that she realized that he was at the bottom of her shirt and tugging on it, pulling it upward a little at a time and tracing his hands on her bare stomach and sides. She moaned….

Ziva stopped thinking about the dream. She smiled to herself. That was certainly a different dream and something that she was interested in, but she definitely needed a shower now and a cold one at that. She went off to take her shower happily.

The following night, however, she had another nightmare. This one was better than the one of two and three nights ago, but she still called him. She enjoyed having his company when she was not the happiest and a text-messaged conversation just wouldn't do tonight. She had seen the first horrible dream where he was forced to watch, as she had told him. She hadn't let the dream go that far, but she was still emotionally rattled by it and he came to her again.

"Ziva?" he said as he entered her bedroom, seeing her curled in a ball just like the other nights that she had a nightmare on. "What was it about?"

She looked at him, feeling very vulnerable. "He made you watch," she said, the words leaving her lips easily, though they were filled with all kinds of emotions.

Tony walked over to the bed and sat next to her on it. He could see that she was getting better and he could see that his presence had a huge effect on her. He could see that she relaxed visibly as soon as he entered the room or when he touched her gently and reassuringly. He did that now. He placed one arm around her and pulled her back to lie on his chest and hold her tight.

"I'm glad you called," he said quietly. "Thank you."

Ziva raised her head and looked at him. He had never thanked her for calling him. He had never thanked her for reaching out to him or asking for his help. Wasn't she supposed to be the one thanking him for coming to help her? Wasn't she the one who was supposed to feel grateful? But, she could see his point. He was happier when she called him. He was happier all the time now.

"No, Tony. Thank you," Ziva whispered, still looking at him. "Without you here, I do not know what I would do. I do not know how I did it before. Thank you for being you. Thank you for being trustworthy. Thank you for the promises you have made and kept good on. Thank you for everything, Tony."

She leaned in before he could respond and pressed her lips to his. He pulled her close and they got lost in the feel of kissing each other, which was something that happened more frequently now that Ziva had called and opened up her heart to him a little. They weren't supposed to be kissing. They were supposed to be friends, and nothing more. But, they were something, though they weren't saying what.

They slept easy the rest of that night in each other's arms, only beginning to realize how important this time was to each other and how needed it was for both of them to have each other like this.

The following night, Ziva had another nightmare. This one was not bad at all, but she called again. She was still affected by it and when she considered the possibility of sleeping after that, she couldn't imagine it. She couldn't sleep, because she didn't want to have another nightmare. He came again. They kissed again and again and again. They slept in each other's arms and in the morning they woke at nearly the same time and stared into each other's eyes before kissing again.

She was calling him almost every night, she realized and so did he. And they both enjoyed what was happening when they were together, though they never spoke of it and tried to pretend it wasn't happening, because in all honesty Ziva wasn't sure she was ready for all that kissing even, let alone the more that was obvious to both of them, however unspoken it was. All they knew was that nothing was going to change anytime soon, because they were currently happy with the way things were being handled.

A/N – So, we just journeyed through four nights here. We can see that something changed between them, but I don't think it's registered with either of them yet, how much has changed with them. I think they'll see it soon enough! Review and let me know what you think!