Hi Guys. I'm really sorry for the delay. I've never had such a bad case of writer's block before. I added some extra smut into my final chapters to make up for my tardiness. The next chapters are coming very fast. The entire story will be posted by this weekend.
Without further ado, and further delays, please enjoy the final chapters of my story…
Gibbs shook his head, letting a few short laughs escape as he spoke to Tony on the phone. "Whatever works, DiNozzo." He said with amusement in his voice.
Captain Wayne was trying to get his attention by bobbing up and down like a hyperactive woodpecker directly in his line of sight. The two men were waiting in Gibbs' basement for this call from Tony. Wayne's jerking and annoyed motions demonstrated how much he disliked waiting for vital information while Gibbs laughed into the phone.
Gibbs held up a single finger asking him to wait. Wayne responded with a look that clearly translated into a threat to bite that finger off. He stopped moving in favor of shooting Gibbs an ominous and impatient expression.
A single corner of Gibbs' mouth twitched up into a reluctant smile as he listened into the phone. "I know. This is your last play." He said obviously to Tony before abruptly hanging up. He turned and spoke to an impatient Wayne. "They got a name. Zamir Hydar."
Wayne smiled, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Your people are good."
"They're better than good." Gibbs corrected him. He didn't bother to hide the pride he felt towards his agents. "And they got more than a name. Tony said that Adam knew quite a bit, and he spilled it all."
"Are they coming here?" Wayne asked.
"No. Ziva's shaken. Tony's bringing her home. We can wait until tomorrow morning to hear. And we need to get to that hotel room. It needs a complete scrub. And we need to get the body to Ducky."
Wayne fished his cell phone from his pocket and dialed. He brought the phone to his ear. "And Gibbs," he spoke, "you're not coming." When Gibbs shot Wayne a venomous look, he simply held up a finger just as Gibbs to him moments ago, and began arranging details with his team leader now on the line.
As soon as Wayne took the phone from his ear, Gibbs started arguing. "Like hell I'm not coming! These are MY people. I protect my people!"
Wayne knew this argument was coming, and he spoke calmly to an angry Gibbs. "You protect your people by sending me. The team I have on the way is the absolute best. You're a great investigator, but you don't know how to clean something like this. I do."
"Okay." Gibbs agreed on that point. "But I'm going to come. Just to make sure it goes smoothly. An extra set of hands can't hurt."
"Yes they can." Wayne insisted. "We can't take the chance of you being seen there. You have a connection to Adam. If someone decides to investigate his death we can't have any hotel employees identifying you."
"Then I won't get caught." Gibbs snapped back.
"It's not worth the risk and you know it. You have to trust me on this. My people need to do their job now. We can't have you standing around supervising the process. This was a sanctioned hit, and this team is the very best." Wayne saw the internal battle waging in Gibbs' head between the parental need to protect his own, and the rational side that knew he couldn't go. "I give you my word." Wayne promised.
Gibbs begrudgingly surrendered to rationality. "Make sure that body gets to Ducky." He emphasized to Wayne.
"I'm on it. I'll see you here tomorrow." He held his hand out to Gibbs.
Gibbs gripped his hand hard and shook. "Thank you." He spoke with the sincerity of a father putting his children's lives in the hands of a friend.
"It's what I do." He flashed Gibbs a dazzling smile. "Call your people and tell them what to expect." He nodded a single time, and headed out.
Tony opened the passenger's door of his car and helped Ziva inside. She'd plastered on a calm and cool persona for the five-minute walk from the hotel to Tony's car. He tucked Ziva into her seat and hustled over to his own side. Time had been moving impossibly slowly from the moment he'd helped Ziva off the bathroom floor. Seconds felt like hours, minutes like years. All he wanted was to get Ziva away from that bathtub as quickly as possible. He cursed his minds inability to simply close his eyes and wish them into the safety of his apartment.
He wished he could have picked Ziva off that bathroom floor and carried her away, but it wasn't so simple. Despite the room being cleaned by a professional team, there were a few things Tony still needed to tend to. He was thankful he'd insisted that both he and Ziva put her clothes on underneath the bathrobes before she went in to deal with Adam. So he only had to leave Ziva on the bed for 30 seconds as he gathered what they needed to take.
He found Ziva's bag. There was nothing of importance inside, only some cash and small items to make it look full so it didn't look suspicious to Adam. There was no ID, and nothing personal that could be traced back to Ziva in case something had gone wrong. Neither of them had brought any traceable items that evening. Tony had called Gibbs from a burner cell. If someone decided to trace either of their phones for that night, they'd be safety at Tony's apartment. But Tony grabbed Ziva's bag anyway, and he grabbed the knife.
Tony took his seat in front of the wheel. He'd never been more thankful for the sanctuary of his car. This wonderful machine that would help him drive Ziva away from that room, and away from the past she wanted to leave behind. He looked at her and his chest tightened as she sat still and quiet. He said a silent prayer begging her not to shut him out. They'd come so far, and he prayed she didn't let this drag them back. He wanted to move forward with Ziva. He didn't even care where they went, as long as they were together.
"Ziva." He asked softly. "Can I take you to my apartment?" He just wanted to stay with her no matter where they went. But he worried that she might ask him to leave her alone if he brought her to her own place.
Ziva stayed perfectly still, staring out through the windshield in front of her. "Do you still love me?" she asked, barely above a whisper. "After what you saw, do you still love me?"
"I love you even more than I did before." He told her.
She stopped staring out into space and turned to look at him. "More?" she asked.
"Yes." Tony told her. "I love you a little more every second I spend with you. I love you more right now that I did earlier this evening, and even more than I loved you when I started this sentence. I just keep loving you more and more." Tony voice lightened. "Now, it's not like I think this should be a regular Friday night tradition," he joked, "but every once and a while I'm game to take out a bad guy. Or we could just make Friday our date night." He offered with a smile.
Tony held his breath and waited for Ziva to respond. A mild wind could have knocked him over as he sat holding his breath and waiting for her to react. His world went blurry for a second, either from lack of oxygen or from abundance of hope, when Ziva smiled.
"I choose date night." Ziva said to him, as she too felt dizzy with hope. "Could we make one stop before we go home?"
Tony parked the car and walked with Ziva out to the middle of the bridge. Without a second thought, she held out her hand and dropped the knife into the Potomac River below. As she opened her hand and let the knife fall, she didn't know whether to cry or laugh at the feeling. Instead she chose to lean in to Tony's chest and let him wrap her in his arms. "Now I am ready to go." She told him. "Take me home." She said with a happy smile.
Tony felt an abundance of hope as he brought Ziva back to his apartment. They'd taken the first steps forward, and he was willing to do anything to keep them moving ahead. As they entered his apartment Tony held his breath and prayed that Ziva didn't now decide to shut him out. "Ziva, what do you need?" he asked. "I'm here for you. Anything you need. How about that movie?"
She cocked her head to the side and studied Tony's face. "I think I would like to talk."
"You want to talk?" Tony was flabbergasted.
"Is that alright with you?" She faltered for a moment as she doubted her request.
"Of course it is." Tony encouraged her so boldly that she was momentarily taken aback by his intense vigor. Tony froze as he saw her start to retreat, and then flew into overdrive. "Yes, Ziva. Talking is perfect." He crouched slightly and held his arms out to her as if trying to calm a nervous horse about to flee.
It occurred to him how uniquely 'Ziva' her fight or flight responses manifested in her. If the danger was something tangible that she could hold, or more likely kick, Ziva always chose to fight. It was when her heart was threatened that she chose flight. Without any idea how to coax her to stay, Tony grabbed onto the first idea that popped into his head. "Tea!" he all but yelled to her. "We need tea. Tea is good. People drink tea when they talk." He flew into a frenzy banging around his kitchen, opening every drawer and cabinet in his path, in his search for the magical tea. He ripped through his kitchen like a hurricane, desperate to keep Ziva willing to talk to him. This was so much more than he could have hoped for, and it made what had just happened with Adam seem small in comparison.
Tony's pulse was racing, amped higher by every new cabinet that remained void of tea. Once he'd opened all the drawers, thrown various items to the floor, and made a giant mess of his kitchen, he sagged in dramatic fashion against the counter. "Why can't I find the tea?" Tony bellowed to the universe that seemed so dead set against letting him find the soothing beverage.
He heard Ziva snort and chuckle behind him. Tony turned around, the agony of defeat plastered on his face, to find Ziva covering her mouth with her hand and unsuccessfully fighting off laughter. Tony scrunched up his face and surveyed the mess around him. He shrugged sheepishly and Ziva burst into hysterical giggles. Her face shone bright and tears spilled down her cheeks as she held her stomach and laughed heartily.
"I guess we don't have any tea." He said with a smile as he joined her to laugh at his ridiculous actions.
"I never knew that you wanted to talk this badly." She gestured at the mess. "Please have a seat and I will make us some tea." She led Tony to a seat at the counter and winked as she grabbed the box of Earl Grey tea set out in plain view on the counter. "I'll make the tea, but you are cleaning this mess." She gave him a peck on the cheek before heading to the sink to fill the kettle.
Tony breathed out a thankful sigh as Ziva moved around the kitchen. "So what do you want to talk about?" he asked her excitedly.
Ziva leaned on the counter across from Tony, suddenly serious. "I wanted to tell you that I am sorry."
Tony's hand flew out to grab hers. "You have no reason to be sorry." He assured her. "Wait, what are you sorry about?"
She gave Tony a small smile. "I am sorry that it was so difficult for me to let go of my past. I am sorry that it took me so long to get here." The kettle began to whistle and Ziva moved to pour the boiling water into two mugs.
"That's nothing to be sorry about." Tony assured her. "And that's certainly nothing you need to apologize for."
Ziva placed Tony's mug of tea in front of him as she made her way to sit next to him in the second chair at the counter. "Whether or not I need to, I want you to know how much I appreciate that you never gave up on me." When Tony tried to speak, Ziva held up a hand to silence him. "Please let me get this out." She asked him. Tony nodded and let her speak.
She took a deep breath before she started to speak. "I did not believe it was worth my time to dream of a future. People like me, we do not get our happy endings. There was a time, granted a very long time ago, when I dreamed of what my life would become. I imagined my wedding and the dress I would wear. I would live in a beautiful white house, have dozens of children, and a zoo of animals." Ziva smiled as she remembered. "Needless to say, it has been a long, long time since I thought this was possible. Every step I took carried me further from that wish, further from deserving it, and further from it becoming a possibility, until now." She paused and searched for the words to communicate what she was trying to say. "I want you to know that I want that future. I am not going to run any more. What I am trying to say is…I am not going to let you down."
"I've never worried about that." He told her.
"But I have." She explained to him. "It is what I was most afraid of. I always knew that you were going to have the life you deserve. But I did not know if it was going to be with me. It was not right for me to drag you back because I was not ready to move forward."
"And now?" he asked.
"Now, I am ready. No more looking back, only forward." She promised him.
Tony looked back at Ziva with an expression halfway between disbelief and wonder. What was a man to do when the woman of his dreams says everything that he could hope to hear? If that man's Tony DiNozzo, he stares back at her with his mouth dropped open in a frozen expression of awe. And then, after long seconds of suspended time, his face splits open into a smile of absolute joy. "What do we do now?" he all but sang to her as his eyes danced with joy. He leapt off his seat and crushed Ziva in a hug. "We can do anything you want to do Ziva. Anything." He repeated into her ear.
Ziva laughed softly as Tony crushed her in a hug. "I do believe there was some talk of a movie."