"Ziva?" asked Tony. He had walked into the squad room to find Ziva sitting at her desk with her head in her hands.

"No, Tony, I'm not okay. Gibbs is in the hospital, Abby and McGee are both on sick leave, and Ducky and Vance are both on house arrest until they can recover enough to be able to work. How can I be okay? It could be any one of us next," said Ziva. She started to cry.

Tony apologised and sat down on the edge of Ziva's desk. Over the last week, a series of attacks had been happening at NCIS. The latest victim was Gibbs. He was still in hospital but had finally woken up from his coma.

"It'll be okay Ziva. If any more attacks happen, I'll protect you," said Tony.

Right now Tony was in charge. He was the senior field agent which meant that he was the next in line to be boss if Gibbs couldn't do his job. Ziva was used to Tony's humour and it was even better when he was the boss. However, since he was only the boss because had gotten hurt, Ziva wasn't interested in Tony's humour.

******

Ziva walked into the ladies' bathroom that afternoon. She didn't notice the person that was hiding in the cubicle behind her. As Ziva dried her hands with a paper towel, the person in the cubicle jumped out and hit Ziva over the head. She fell, unconscious, to the floor. Ziva's head hit the edge of the sink. It was cut open and bleeding quite a lot.

Half an hour later, another NCIS agent from a different team walked in. She noticed Ziva on the floor and, after checking Ziva's ID, she ran out of the bathroom and called Tony.

Tony rushed into the bathroom and knelt down next to Ziva. He felt extremely stupid for making a promise that he knew he couldn't keep. Five minutes later, two paramedics rushed into the bathroom and bent down next to Ziva. She was still out cold and her head was still bleeding. She had become pale and her skin was cold.

The paramedics immediately placed Ziva onto a stretcher and took her out to the waiting ambulance.

Ziva was taken straight to surgery when she arrived at the hospital ten minutes later. Tony was stopped at the entrance to the operating rooms by Ziva's doctor. Ziva needed surgery to stop the bleeding around her brain and to fix her skull. The bat that had been used to hit Ziva had fractured Ziva's skull and the edge of the sink had penetrated her head and skull.

******

Four hours had passed when Ziva's doctor finally came out.

"Agent DiNozzo, the surgery was successful. Miss David has been taken to ICU. She is still unconscious but I am expecting her to make a full recovery. She should wake up in a few hours. Otherwise it may be a few days before she wakes up. You may see her but once she wakes up, you will need to take it easy with her. She is going to be fragile for a while. I also checked on your boss for you. He is doing quite well and should be able to go home tomorrow. He is currently with Miss David."

Tony walked into Ziva's room to find Gibbs sitting next to Ziva's bed. Tony grabbed a second chair and sat down. He picked up Ziva's hand and kissed it. It was still cold.

"Are you okay boss?" asked Tony.

"I'm okay DiNozzo. The doctor said she hit her head on the edge of a sink in the ladies' room after she was hit with a baseball bat. Is that true?" asked Gibbs.

"Yeah, it's true. Another agent found her and called me. I can't believe that she got hurt. I promised that I would protect her from this. Obviously, I didn't succeed. She's going to hate me boss."

"No she won't DiNozzo. She loves you."

Tony looked doubtful but stopped talking. He looked at Ziva's sweet face and tears sprang to his eyes.

*******

It had been eight hours since Ziva had been taken to ICU and Tony had fallen asleep holding Ziva's hand. Ziva's eyes flickered open for a few seconds before she realized that she was in hospital. She looked around and noticed that Tony was holding her hand. He was also asleep in a chair that looked uncomfortable. Tony's mouth was open and he had started to snore. Ziva chuckled and then looked around to see a nurse coming through the door.

"Welcome back Miss David. Your friend and boss will be happy to see you awake. How are you feeling?" asked the nurse.

"I've been better. My head hurts but otherwise I'm just tired," replied Ziva.

At the sound of Ziva's voice, Tony stirred and opened his eyes. He looked up and smiled at Ziva. Tony looked tired and Ziva could tell that he had been worried about her.

"How are you feeling sweetie?" asked Tony.

"I have a sore head and I'm tired but I'll be okay. How's Gibbs?" asked Ziva.

"He's okay, he can go home tomorrow."

"Are you okay, you look like you've been stressing out."

"I'm just a little tired Ziva. I have been worried though."

"About what?"

"You."

"I love you Tony."

"I love you too sweetie."

Ziva looked up at her new boyfriend and a smile spread across her face. He had spent so long in the hospital waiting for Ziva to wake up and he still wouldn't go home. He was uncomfortable but content to sit and hold his girlfriend's hand.