Getting Closer

Their weekend was spent inside Tony's apartment, cuddled up on the couch, watching movies of all kinds. There were happy movies, sad movies, scary movies and heart-touching movies all the same. They just watched movie after movie until they couldn't sit still any longer. Tony held Ziva the whole time and Ziva got a new appreciation for why Tony could get so lost in a movie and forget about reality; it was what she used to use books for, except that this time she had no patience for the written words.

On Sunday they went for a picnic outside of DC, just to get away from everything and Ziva really appreciated what Tony was doing for her. She didn't know how to tell him, but it was definitely helping her heal and move forward. She felt almost normal, even though she was still upset over what happened.

"Thank you, Tony," she said toward the end of their picnic, when the food was almost gone.

"For what?" he asked, looking at her curiously.

"For being you, I guess," she said with a half a smile. "I couldn't have done this without you. Thank you."

He moved closer to her and held her shoulders, making sure he was looking in her eyes. "I couldn't have done it without you either," he said honestly. "I mean it, Ziva."

She smiled at him and it was the first genuine smile that he had seen in more than a week and he was happy that it was there again. He pulled her into a kiss and kissed her with everything they had. They had definitely been there for each other and for Tony, Ziva simply allowing him to be there with her and help her through this was enough for him. That was all he needed to be able to get through this difficult time.

When they finally finished eating they went for a walk around and held onto each other as though there was no tomorrow. Ziva nearly caught herself laughing at herself. She had never been one for public displays of affection of any kind before and here she was, clinging to Tony as though she were a teenager in love. She finally understood how people showed so much emotion in public. She realized that she hadn't understood before because she had never allowed herself to fall so deeply in love before and she had certainly never allowed anyone to know what she was feeling before. But, with Tony, that was different. She was safe no matter what and she could see that he was true to his words.

Tony caught her smiling as they walked and he was really hoping that she was already beginning to heal from all this mess. She really needed to heal and that was all. She needed the chance to be happy and in love. She also wanted a family and Tony could see that about her, when she had been so devastated by the miscarriage. But, Tony had surprised himself a little.

Tony had never given much thought on having a family before. The only person he could imagine having a family with was Ziva. He hadn't realized how much he wanted this until it was dangled in front of him and abruptly taken away. He was determined to one day give her the family that she wanted so badly.

Tony also realized that he was definitely more than committed to Ziva. He was a part of Ziva and Ziva was a part of him. He really couldn't live without her. He was beginning to understand his problems with commitment before his relationship with Ziva. He had just never found her. Now she was his and he was hers and he wanted it to stay that way forever and ever.

Finally, the sun began to sink in the sky and they stopped to watch the sunset and then headed silently back toward the car and drove back to Tony's apartment. They watched another movie and then headed off to bed.

In the morning when they returned to work, Gibbs was curious as to what a weekend free from calls had done for these two. They looked a lot happier and more rested than they had on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of last week. He could see, also that they were closer together than ever before. He was really getting very curious as to what happened between them last week that had caused so much silent devastation. But, whatever it was, it was bringing them closer together.

They also had a case, in which he paired them together and watched them closely, to see if there was any effect on their work. All he saw was a positive effect, which, as their boss, he needed to see no matter what was happening outside of their work. He was glad that whatever it was, they were working through it and working it out. Although, he really wished that he had never told them about rule twelve, because he knew that was what was holding them back from talking to him about whatever was going on.

He silently scolded himself and continued to watch. He wanted them to be happy and he wanted them to succeed, both inside and outside of work, no matter what their endeavors were. They were a close-knit group of people and he wanted to keep it that way, which meant that whatever those two were to each other had to come out sooner or later, though they were getting much better at hiding it while they were at work.

Gibbs also silently wondered if any of the others were noticing the changes that Tony and Ziva were going through. He looked around him, since everyone was in the squad room at that moment. Ducky was watching them carefully, but the others were immersed in their own worlds. McGee would glance occasionally at Tony with a curious look on his face and Abby would occasionally glance at Ziva with a curious look, but neither seemed to be putting together that whatever was happening with one was also happening with the other.

A/N – I know this seems kind of like a filler chapter, but their journey of growing closer together is important and it's not something we saw too much in the original story of this. Review and let me know what you think!