Author's note: Sorry its been a while. This story is almost over, and from now on I wanna complete my stories before even publishing the first chapter, and waiting a few days in case there's something you don't like that I can change. That way it'll probably be updated 2 or 3 times a week, as opposed to once every two weeks. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter!
Gibbs's POV
Washington D.C. Hospital
My mind is racing at 1,000 miles an hour. Maybe more. Maybe a little less. I can't tell you because everything is just such a blur, and I don't know what to think or who to trust anymore.
I trusted Ziva. I trusted Vance to not throw Tony into a pack of wolves. I even kinda began to trust Eli, and, as much as it sickens me, Mossad. Most of all, I trusted myself to have Tony's six.
My naive self allowed them all to let me down, and that cost Tony his life.
My failures haven't just killed Tony. All but two of my children are dead.
I didn't spot Ari. If I used my logics and my common sense, Kate would've survived.
If I had done my job as a father and as a husband, and watched and protected Shannon and Kelly, they'd be alive.
If I had just paid attention to what was waived right in my face, just waiting for me to grasp it, then Tony would be alive.
If I hadn't neglected Chris, he'd be alive.
Jenny, well, there was no saving her, but I could've let her die happy. If I didn't overestimate the time she had left, she would've died knowing the truth. That I loved her. I let her down, too.
Kate, Shannon, Kelly, Tony, and Chris would be alive, and Jenny would've died happy, if only I wasn't incompetent and blind.
Not only that, but I wouldn't be chasing after my adopted daughter, ready to tear her head off. I wouldn't be absorbing the fact that she killed Tony, her adoptive brother, because she wouldn't have done it. If I taught Ziva right, she'd know that Rivkin's death was justified.
If only I was as reliable as people think that I am.
I let a single tear fall as I will my drained body forward, begging it to move as quickly as my mind.
Instead, I run the same pase.
"Ziva!" I scream.
Right when I am about to give up hope, I am greeted by one of the best sights I've ever seen.
The sight I see is Ziva, tangled up in the arms of several security guards.
I smirk.
"You failed, Ziva."
She stops struggling and stares at me.
"No. I did not fail, Gibbs. Dinozzo is dead. He got what he deserved. No, I did not make it out spot-free, but I did what I wanted. I was trained to not be afraid of anything, and unlike you, I was trained well."
I step forward.
"Its scot-free."
Ziva just shrugs.
I hold out my handcuffs. Ziva looks at them, and shrugs again.
"Do as you will. Like I said, I did what I needed."
I walk over to Ziva, and the guards hold her as I cuff her.
"Tony will never get hurt again, Ziva. Your case is different. Tim, Abby, Alice, and I, would all love to bury you six feet under, and no one will stop us."
Ziva stares at me.
"Like I said, do as you will. Put me on Death Row. See if I care. Spoiler alert: I won't."
"Then come on."
We say nothing else as I walk her to my car.
She's got a lot of explaining to do.
ZIVA'S POV
NCIS Interrogation Room Washington D.C
I begin pacing in the small room. I'm not scared, I'm just. So. Bored.
"UGH! C'mon Gibbs! I know that you're in Observation smirking at me. I can practically hear you smirking, you're smirking so hard. Get over here and face Tony's killer like a man."
Suddenly, the door opens, and Gibbs strolls in.
"Thanks for the confession."
"What, you did not know? Wow. DiNozzo at least cared about you enough to actually use his common sense. You really are heartless and idiotic. But I do not need to say that. It has been going through your mind since all this began, no? It has been eating up inside you like, the plague. Tony had to save himself then, and he had to save himself again, and that is why he died. It is a crying shame that he was also to weak to save himself. You are to weak to save yourself, and Tony was, too. Is McGee? Is Abby? Are they strong enough? I can assure you, Gibbs, that someday, that question will be put to the test. If you ask me, they are not prepared. It appears that I will be in jail, but someone out there could be plotting their deaths right now, and there is nothing they can do to stop them, because you did not prepare them. It must be eating you inside, knowing that Kate died. Knowing that Kelly died. Knowing that Tony died, and that you could have avoided all of those deaths. How does it feel to let someone who depends on you die? It must hurt."
Gibbs steps towards me, and says in the most cold, expressionless voice,
"I don't know, Ziva. How does it feel? Just think back to when you let Michael die. How did it feel to let him die in your adopted country? How did it feel to know that your relationship with him killed him? How did it feel to find him on the floor of your apartment, bloody, cold, defenseless, and alone?"
"ENOUGH!" I scream.
"I couldn't stop my kids deaths, but you know that you could have easily saved Michael. It is killing you, isn't it? It's killing you to know that you are responsible for Michael's death. It just hurts you so much, that you try to blame anyone else, and Tony is the one that you blamed. Tony didn't do anything. It was all you. The moment we lock you up and burn the key, Michael's death will be avenged. Until then, Michael's true killer is out SCOT-free."
I am fighting back the tears now. Michael should be alive. It is Tony's fault, and I have no regrets about killing him, but I could've saved Michael.
"Oh, Ziva. Imagine the life you two could've had together. He probably would've proposed. Oh, think of the wedding. Imagine Michael in his tux. Imagine your dress. Think about your Abba. He'd lock arms with you as you tremble with the glorious feeling of anxiousness and excitement at the same time. A feeling that can never be replaced or replicated. Oh, Ziva, imagine what would be going on in Abba's head. Imagine how proud he'd be. Wouldn't it feel great to have him proud of his only daughter for once in his life? The two loves of your life would look each other in the eye, and oh man, that feeling you'll get when they join each others family. It's the best feeling. Trust me. I know. Oh, man. To bad you let Michael die before he could even get down on his knee. You'll never get to know that feeling."
Tears start falling.
"Please stop." I beg.
"Oh, Ziva. If only there was someone left in this world who cares about what you want. To bad you killed the last one that does."
I then resort to a full-on sob, unable to contain myself.
I'm just so miserable now. So hurt. Michael trusted me, and I let him down the one time that he needed me. I failed.
I put Michael in a vulnerable position, and Tony was the one to take advantage of it.
I will never forgive myself.
ALICE'S POV
NCIS... The next day
After Tony's funeral, we all gathered in the squad room.
Everyone was there. Except for Ziva, of course. And Tony's dad. He was on a "Business Trip". Yeah. Tell that to the woman in the background telling him to come back to bed. Disgusting.
My CT scans came back negative. I'm fine. Tim will be fine. He still needs to rest, but the hospital said he could go as long as a nurse was there. Luckily, we got a sympathetic and non-intrusive nurse.
I look at Tony's team.
My team cares about each other, but we are nowhere near as close as Tony's team is. They stick by each other's side.
The only exception is Ziva David. She's a selfish woman.
"You've been looking at my team weird all day." Gibbs greets.
I nod.
"I would love it if my team was like that. Family, not co-workers."
"If you had the chance to join my team, would you take it?"
That question surprises me.
I would love to. I want a job with Gibbs and his team. Especially with Tim.
The problem is that I would never move on. I don't want to forget Tony, but I don't want to see the faces of his friends on a daily basis. Don't want to hear them say something like, "Oh Tony would've loved you on the team. That would've been great."
How would I move on when my partner would be Tony's replacement?
I just wish that I could be on Gibbs's team with Tony, but that can't happen.
Little did I know that I can.
5 MINUTES LATER
The elevator dinged. Who would be coming to NCIS this early?
The answer: A doctor, with a familiar face on his tail.
The face of Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo.
"What? No balloons?" Tony asks sarcastically.
Everyone just stares, absolutely mezmorized, until Abby darts forward and engulfs Tony into the biggest hug I've ever seen.
"TONY!" McGee yells happily.
"I missed you!" Abby yells.
"Welcome back, Tony." Gibbs welcomes as he smiles.
I want to run to Tony and jump on him, and beg him to never leave my side again, but I'm just so, appalled. I can't even move.
Tony hasn't changed. He has the same eyes. The same hair. The same smile.
"Hey, Abs, I don't want to be dead for real. I've gotta breathe."
Abby apologizes happily, and then releases him.
Tony looks at me. I go numb. I'm paralyzed.
Tony instantly comes to my rescue just like he always has, and always will.
He comes with the cure to my paralysis.
He smiles at me with his Tony-grin, a grin that I have anxiously awaited for a long time.
"Hey, Al."
I sob, and Tony comes over, and his warm embrace assures me that everything is okay. How? I have no idea. I really don't care.
"Tone." I whisper.
"I'm here, Al."
I continue sobbing. For the first time in I don't know how long, the tears are happy tears. Tone is back.
"Yeah, but how?" Tim asks.
Tony let's me go, turns toward Tim, then puts him arm over my shoulder.
"Dr. Levy can answer that your McQuestion, McGee." Tony answers, smirking.
We smile and address the Israeli doctor for the first time.
"Ten years ago, I was a Mossad officer. My partner and I instantly became friends. Her name was Noya. I loved her. We were partners for two years, and then I lost her in a diner shooting. I felt horrible. I lost it. Soon, I found my true calling. To save people from dying. Especially Special Agents. I went to Med School and became a doctor. After Agent DiNozzo made it out of surgery, I realized that he would not be safe until his attacker was caught. I took him into my home so he could rest. He was safe. He spoke very fondly of you all. When I asked him if he had a wife, he said that he was single, but he found his soulmate."
Tony looks at me.
"It's you, Al. I never forgot you. I always hoped that one day, you would come back in my life. Now that you have, it seems like a dream, because it always has been before now. Now that its reality, I am just so happy. The happiest that I've ever been in my life."
I smile and kiss him.
"I don't think that I've ever been happier, either, Tone." I hug him. "Tony, please never leave me again."
Tony hugs me back.
"Never, Al. Never."
Tears continue to fall.
"I'll take that job if it's still available, Gibbs."
Gibbs smiles.
"Well, Ziva sure isn't getting it back."
We all just continue talking and laughing late into the night. The doctor left and we thanked him. We thanked him for bringing our family back to h it should be.
With Ziva gone.
With Tony back, never to leave.
Author's note: It felt so great to write that! Tony is by far my favorite character, and it was hard to "kill him off", even know I knew all along that he's alright. This story is not quite done yet, but it almost is. There'll be one, two, three more chapters, tops. Sneak peak: Ziva finds out that Tony is okay. Find out how it concludes momentarily. Until then, please like, comment follow, etc. Thank you so much!