Title: Man of Two Minds
Author: Trista Groulx aka dustytiger
Rating: T (like the show to be safe)
Disclaimer: I remain a poor barista I make nothing from this I am borrowing these characters for fun and they still belong to their network, creators, writers, actors and actresses who bring them to life.
Summary: Ziva comes back from Israel, but Tony is already in a relationship Keates. How will he choose between two such important parts of his life?
Notes: Tony goes to talk to Zoe, but things don't go exactly as he wants. Some of you have very strong feelings about this fic, I think you'll like the direction it goes when we get there. The conflict is working for me.
Here is the song lyrics I considered putting at the start but decided against it not sure if including will clear things up or just confuse you guys, but this was huge part of the inspiration for this fic. "I love you I love her, I need you I need her, I'm always gonna love you, I'm always gonna love her, I guess I should just let this thing die, Cause I am a man of two minds, Standing all alone by the river side, Running out of reasons I can justify, What kind of man am I? Who can tell a lie and look you in the eye"

During his lunch DiNozzo had by his apartment to see if the rental car he assumed belonged to Ziva was still there. Even after he was done work it was still sitting in the visitor's parking area. He sighed, seeing it as if it was mocking him. He wasn't ready to talk to her yet, he didn't know himself what he was feeling. He wanted to talk to Keates first, even though she was obviously avoiding him. He drove to Keates' apartment building and waited for her car to pull in. He got out of his own car and she stopped dead in her tracks. He went to approach her, but she put her arm up to stop him before he could hug or kiss her.

"Oh, no you don't," she told him, glaring at him.

"Zoe, we need to talk," he explained.

"Not until you speak to her," she hissed.

"I- I don't need to talk to her. I want to talk to you."

"Don't, please just don't, Spider. I can't move forward until you do. I get that she's the one who got away but she's here now and it's very obvious why she came back. You need to figure out what you want before we can move forward."

"Zoe right now it's you I need to be with."

"I need you to figure it out with her first Tony. I know what happened last night was on her, and that's not what I'm upset about. I was good with her being in the back of your head when she was half a world away but knowing she's in the same city as us I can't deal I'm sorry. Not without you knowing exactly who and what you want. Once you figure it out, and talk to her, really talk to her then we'll talk, until then just please don't make this harder than it needs to be."

DiNozzo could only nod, he knew she was right. He went to kiss her cheek but she moved out of his path and he didn't try to pursue her further, as much as it hurt him. He knew what he needed to do, but he wasn't ready to talk yet. What was he supposed to tell her? He couldn't lie to her she'd see past it, but he couldn't go on as things were now that she was so close again. He had never felt as torn in his life as he began to drive back toward his own apartment.

Notes: Sorry this was so short. So that was that, let me know what you think. Thank you for the support. I'm glad people are enjoying this. There are a lot of different opinions on Tiva, but I hope the show continues the ark with Keates she seems like a good match for Tony.