Chapter 11
A/N: cause maths is boring and I was told to do something productive (this counts as productive right?) I decided to write an update. I suck at writing cases so I'm just going to skip to the end of the case.
A/N: I own nothing but the dreams
Walking into the apartment looking like what Tony would describe as Zombies from some movie if he could be bothered actually doing anything but sleep, with Ziva's arms wrapped around his waist and her head resting between his shoulder blades and he practically dragged her to the kitchen to feed her so they could sleep right through the rest of the night and possibly all weekend regardless of if they're on call or not.
Making it to the kitchen bench Ziva dumped herself on a stool and dropping her head onto the hard counter top with a thud that made even Tony flinch she rolled her head to the side and watched as Tony pulled a cardboard carton out of the fridge to reheat it, it was probably the Chinese from the last time they were home which was whenever it was before the case, Ziva was too tired and too hungry to do the maths but it had to have taken more than two weeks to crack, she just wanted her bed. Ziva still could not believe Tony was right and it actually was the wife, it's never the wife no matter what Tony says. The only sucky part about it was that the wife was not only a genius with a Mensa membership and a very successful career as a crime fiction novelist. Only this time she wasn't writing about murders, she was committing them, her broke tax fraud husband and his champagne lifestyle off her boyfriend's wife's money living girlfriend were gone and she'd almost gotten away with it.
Slipping a plate of probably bad Chinese to Ziva, Tony dug into his shovelling it down so fast he burnt his tongue several times in the process he watched as Ziva ate her food in a Zombie like state. He felt guilty seeing her like this, Ziva had insisted at last night's stakeout that she take first shift and conveniently 'forgot' to wake him for his shift, Tony wasn't sure how long it was since he'd gotten that visit from his father and they'd all found out about the engagement but if he had to guess he'd say it had to have been close to three weeks since they'd gotten a good night's rest, so when he noticed Ziva had eaten more than half her meal and was just about to fall asleep on her plate he moved around to her side of the bench and picked her up bridal style and carried her to their bed.
Undressing Ziva like a small child his hands ran over the scarring on her thighs and back. It hurt Tony every time he had to see it but he couldn't let her know how he felt about them, she would see the pain as disgust at her marks or pity that she was no longer as beautiful as she was when they when undercover. But that wasn't true at all, that wasn't how he felt, she was beautiful to him, is beautiful. She always has been and all ways will be the most perfect woman in the world. The pain he felt when he felt the scars crisscrossing across her belly when she laid on his lap and cuddled was pain that he wasn't there to protect her, that he didn't find her sooner. The pain is because he let her down. But that's not how she would see it, every time he's tried over the years to apologise for not being there she has blown him off and tells him it is okay. He doesn't believe her but the only thing he can do about it is love her forever and vow to never let her down again.
He leaned her against the head board so he could slip his shirt over her head, 'she should be in satins or silk not mere cotton, but she insists my shirts are comfier' he thought to himself as he lay her down. Taking his own clothes off and slipping into bed behind Ziva pulling her close to his front she rolled over snuggling closer and using his chest as a pillow Tony smiled to himself shaking his head 'she insists she needs small flat pillows to be able to fall asleep but most of the time I end up acting as a human pillow' he whispered to himself as Ziva mumbled something in her sleep he couldn't quite understand, it was probably in Hebrew and she won't teach him that, NOT EVEN THE SWEAR WORDS! Kissing Ziva softly on the top of her head he whispered to Ziva "I love you baby, sweet dreams" before tightening his arms around her and falling into oblivion himself.
Waking up to the sounds of retching and puking emanating from the bathroom Tony sat up in a hurry to go to his fiancée's aid but felt his own stomach roll with nausea "damn Chinese" he muttered before moving slowly in the hopes on not ending up praying to the porcelain gods before he had a chance to help Ziva he made his way the bathroom, he barely made it three steps before needing to bolt for the door aiming for the closest thing to vomit into, which ended up being the sink.
Between bouts of vomit Ziva managed a moaned "why on earth would you think Chinese was a good idea Tony?" moaning back Tony said "it was the first thing I got my hands on." Tony heard the ringing of the cell phone in the other room but didn't make a move for it, they weren't actually supposed to be in today, 'cant the bad guys ever take a day off?' Tony thought as he lay down next to Ziva on the cold tiles closing his eyes as the temporarily silent phone began to ring again. Groaning Tony didn't even have the strength to lift his hand inches of the ground before flopping it back down in an attempt to make a move towards it.
Using the emergency key Tony had given him years ago McGee unlocked the door to the couple's apartment moving hesitantly into the room, he wasn't too sure why they hadn't answered the phone but he didn't want to walk in on anything he never wanted to see he didn't feel like anything was off and the door was locked, the room was in Ziva's usual state of cleanness. He put his gun away moving slowly towards the bedroom so that at the first peep of sound indicating anything coupley coming from the room he could leave immediately and wait for them to get the messages he sent on their own.
Not hearing anything, not even breathing coming from behind the closed door he carefully opened it and found his friends' bed slept in but empty. Moving into the room he noticed the bathroom light on and the door opened, moving closer he found the green looking couple on the floor. Kneeling down to shake Ziva awake he helped her stand and move to lay back down in the bed before moving to do the same with Tony. Leaving them in the bed he left to find them a bucket each, when he returned Tony was still semi-conscious, "Vance messaged Gibbs this morning, he called me. Vance gave us the whole week off, no on – call nothing. Which is a good thing I guess cause it looks like you two need it, what happened?" he asked "Chinese" was all Tony said before he fell asleep hugging the bucket.
Three days later Ziva was walking around the mall with Abby when she grabbed Ziva's arm and dragged her into the bathroom before locking herself in a cubical, Ziva stared confusingly at the door her friend had just disappeared behind before she heard a string of curses sounded seconds before Abby's head popped back out from behind the door, "do you got a tampon? I thought I had one but the box is empty." Abby asked worriedly, "um yes right here" Ziva replied digging through her bag and producing a new looking box before handing it over to the other woman "thank you, thank you, thank you" Abby chanted disappearing behind the door again.
A few minutes later Abby walked out looking pale 'maybe she's embarrassed' Ziva thought before Abby held up a receipt and spoke "Ziva, this is dated three months ago" she said worried "so?" Ziva asked getting more and more confused by Abby's behaviour "it came out of the tampon box. It's a receipt for the tampons. It's dated three months ago" she said her words getting more earnest as she went, trying to get Ziva to understand. "That is impossible I bought them the day after I finished my last period, I ran out the day I finished so I bought a new packet" Ziva said, her words thick with denial "the date says three months ago" "it has to be wrong I told you I bought it when I finished my last cycle, maybe they were Australian? They write the date different to Americans" Ziva said her voice edging towards hysteria, "Ziva it says 02/02/14 it doesn't matter which way it's written." Words failed Ziva she just stood there shaking her head vehemently. Abby had to be wrong, the receipt had to be wrong, that was impossible for her. She knew it, Tony knew it. It had to be wrong.
Abby watched as her friend frozen in fear just stood there shaking her head, she did not know what was going on in her head but it was enough to scare her, she knew there was no way she or the receipt was wrong, unless Ziva HAD brought the box after her period, just not this box. There was one way to find out for sure, she just had to get Ziva out of the middle of the bathroom first.
A/N: that's all for now, I promise not to make you wait forever for the next chapter, I'll make it a two-parter chapter it'll pick up in the bathroom so tune in next time to find out what's wrong and who's right (though you've probably guessed). Love Sky xoxo