Title: A Long Way Home (Chapter Fifteen)

Author: LizzieInk

A/N: I have never written anything this involved before, and I am absolutely loving it. I am beginning to see many fan fictions in my future. Ha-ha. Thank you so much to the people who left the reviews for my previous chapter. They were so lovely and encouraging, and they inspired me to write this chapter all that much sooner. It is slightly shorter than usual I think but I hope you all still like it.

Disclaimer: still stands.

Since Abby had left for work, Tony and Ziva being under strict orders to rest, had ended up laying side by side on the bed in Ziva's room. Neither of them had felt much like sleeping, and their wasn't much else they could do while they were injured, so they had settled for keeping each other company. Tony had been humming some Frank Sinatra under his breath for about 5 minutes before Ziva gave him a good prod in the side to shut him up.

"Ouch!" he yelped, rubbing his side in an exaggerated manner.

"I am bored, Tony." Ziva muttered. "Surely we would be better off at work than stuck here. I mean yes we are injured, but we are just as injured here as we would be there. Being home does not change the fact that we were hurt. I could be calling all my contacts, seeing if they know anything about Renner!"

"Hmmm…" Tony rubbed his chin, as he thought. "You know if you think about it, making phone calls isn't exactly work. I mean what's to stop you from getting in touch with an old friend? Reaching out to someone in your time of need?"

"Gibbs would be mad..." It made Ziva feel better knowing that Tony felt the same way she did, but she was still a little hesitant.

"You think that Gibbs would be sitting on his ass if he was injured?" Tony returned with a laugh, "the guys a bull dog, he'd be out tearing into suspects and you know it!"

Ziva smiled, "Maybe I will text McGee and nudge him towards a contact of mine that may be able to help." She plucked her phone out of her pocket and started texting at warp speed. "This guy owes me a favour, so if McGee drops my name into the conversation he should get something. At least it will make me feel like I have helped out a little."

"Ziva, you've already helped a lot! You got Yaniv to turn over information on his own brother." Tony turned to look at Ziva, who was watching him intently from her own side of the bed. They looked at each other for a moment. "Not many people could have handled that situation like you did. We are the victims here, we shouldn't get in the way too much. Trust me. Gibbs, Vance, McGee and Abbs are more than capable of handling this case without us, at least for the time being."

He trailed a hand along her arm, tracing his finger lightly over the many tiny scratches from the accident. Ziva watched him curiously. It felt nice, she thought to herself. She enjoyed Tony's company. His injuries didn't require him to stay laying down, but regardless of that he had barely left her side whenever they were alone. Ziva could see that he worried about her. Since they had left the hospital, whenever she had clutched her side or gasped in pain, his eyes had sought hers straight away, as if to ask her silently if she was okay. She sighed contentedly and closed her eyes. She felt so safe with him. He made her happy, she realised.

Tony continued to trace patterns on her arm, smiling softly. Then when he eventually stopped, Ziva's eyes snapped open, missing the warmth of his touch, and she angled her head upwards slightly to look into his eyes.

The love conveyed in Tony's eyes in that moment was overwhelming, and almost before she knew what she was doing, Ziva had leant forwards and kissed him. For once she forgot all of her worries, and instead focused on nothing but him. It took a moment for Tony to respond, as she had taken him completely by surprise, but a moment later he began to slowly deepen the kiss. Ziva sighed into his mouth, and pulled Tony closer, before letting out a gasp of pain. The sudden movement had not been good for her fractured ribs. Tony froze unsure whether to pull away or not, but after a moment Ziva opened her eyes and looked at him.

"I am okay," she murmured softly, and for the first time in a long time, she actually meant it. A little pain was worth the risk as long as she could be with Tony, Ziva thought to herself with a slow smile.

Tony smiled back at her happily, "Even so, maybe we should save making out until you're a little better." He teased.

Ziva merely punched him lightly on the shoulder before she snuggled into his chest, careful not to upset her tender ribs. Tony held her hand comfortingly within his own, and watched silently as his partner closed her eyes. He could feel her breathing slow as she fell asleep, and feeling totally content, Tony allowed himself to drift off to sleep with her.

It was almost midnight before Abby managed to get away from work. She had asked McGee if he wanted to crash at her place too, because she lived closer to the Navy Yard than he did. McGee needed to be back at work first thing in the morning due to a break in the case, and so he had been only too happy to accept Abby's offer.

As they unlocked the door to Abby's apartment, McGee continued the conversation they had been having on their way home from work.

"You know it's really due to Ziva's contact that we even got a break in the case."

McGee dropped his bag on the coffee table, before he began setting up the pull-out couch.

"I can't wait until they're both back at work with us," replied Abby "I mean I love having them stay with me, but it's so weird not seeing them at work… It's just not right."

"You're telling me. I have two empty desks staring me in the face whenever I sit down." McGee said sadly.

After taking off her platform shoes and black jacket Abby set off down the hall.

"I'm just going to check on Tony and Ziva," Abby said, leaving McGee to finish setting up the pull-out couch on his own. As McGee was putting the pillows and blankets in place, he heard a quiet exclamation from down the hall. Out of curiosity he went to see what Abby was doing.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

In answer, Abby just stepped aside allowing McGee to get a glimpse of the two agents cuddled up together on the spare bed. Abby and McGee smiled at each other before quietly exiting the room, and closing the door carefully behind them.

To be continued…

A/N: I was originally planning on waiting until the end of this story to bring Tony and Ziva together, but while I was writing this chapter, I just couldn't help myself. It sort of ended up writing itself. What did you think? ;)

Not too much Tiva fluff I hope?