Tony trudged up the corridor sighing. He'd been searching for Ziva for close to half an hour now and had still come up with a big fat nothing. The building was pretty much deserted apart from the odd janitor here and there, but that didn't surprise him; it was, after all, only 7.30 in the morning. Even here at NCIS, close to Gibbs desk, close to where he sat, close to him; Tony hadn't been able to get any sleep. By the early arrival of the others he got the feeling they had had the same problem as well.
Tony let out another huge sigh and dragged his feet, seriously thinking of giving up the search, when he heard an almost silent scuffle from behind one of the doors. Tony looked up to find a small plastic, white figure of a woman nailed to the front of the door.
"Got ya…" Tony whispered under his breath. He slowly opened the door, trying desperately to creep into the room unheard, however somebody thought otherwise as the hinges gave out a huge groan as the door creaked open. The figure inside whipped around from the facing the mirror and levelled a gun in Tony's direction.
"NCIS, Freeze!" cried out a familiar voice, although rather more hoarsely than usual. Ziva had obviously been crying.
Tony froze and from behind the door threw his hands forward so Ziva would know he was unarmed.
"Show yourself!"
Tony walked out from behind the door, keeping his hands visible, and gave a weak smile as Ziva relaxed slightly.
"What are you doing here Tony? I believe this is the woman's bathroom? So unless you've decided to go in for some drastic surgery…"
"Er Ziva, would you mind?" Tony said, nodding his head to gun still pointing at his chest.
"Oh," Ziva said, almost surprised to see she was still holding it like that. She lowered the gun; a little slower than Tony would have preferred, but still lowered to face the floor.
"Look Ziva…" Tony began, not quite knowing what to say after his pathetic entrance.
"You are not meant to be in here, Tony." Ziva said, reholstering her gun and turning to face the mirror. After the adrenaline of the intrusion into the bathroom, Ziva had realized what she must have looked like, and now tried to hide her face from Tony.
"Have you been crying?" Tony asked quietly and carefully, but still standing far out of her reach.
"No!" Ziva said a little too strongly.
Tony paused some before taking a step forward and starting again, "I didn't mean…"
"Yes you did, and you're right Tony; I have not known him for that long; I have not known you for that long. I have no right…"
Tony took a big step forward; he was almost within grasping distance now, "Yes you do; I was angry, lashing out…and I was wrong, Ziva, really wrong. You are just as much part of this team as Probie or I are, and I doubt you are feeling any better than either of us…"
Ziva didn't answer but let out a small sob, which she didn't even attempt to stifle.
Tony continued, creeping forward toward Ziva, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it. It was mean and spiteful and it meant nothing," Tony was now inches away from her and he placed one hand on her trembling shoulder. She reacted by turning into him and burying her head in his shoulder, grabbing the front of his shirt tightly in her hands. Tony let out a the huge breath he'd been holding for the last few minutes and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on hers. He hugged her firmly as she shook violently in his arms. She let out a wail of grief and held on ever tighter to the front of Tony. She began hitting out at him, thumping the front of Tony's chest.
"Why? Why him?" she cried out, punching Tony violently; but he refused to let go, only holding her tighter against him. He held on to her as the beating subsided and the hysterical crying was down to a quiet sobbing.
He buried his lips deep into her hair and kissed her firmly on the top of her head. He inhaled deeply, smelling the aroma he loved. Sometimes when she walked by it would drift over to his desk, daring him to go closely, teasing him. And in the mornings when she entered the elevator with damp hair from her morning shower, Tony's heart would leap as the scent filled the small metallic elevator. He smelled it now, taking in every last second of it before Ziva struggled out of his grip.
She turned away, evidently embarrassed by her show of emotion. Tony moved forwards, still with his hand touching her arm. He pulled her around to face him as she tried to look away and raised his hand, lightly touching the side of her face with his fingers. She flinched slightly and closed her eyes, her body relaxing a little. He stroked the side of her face gently, and softly pulled her head around so that she faced him completely. Still with eyes closed, she began to shudder again, her mouth twisting as she fought to keep the sobs from coming; Tony wouldn't let them, bringing his other arm up and clasping her head in his protective hands.
"Open your eyes, Ziva," he said softly, his voice damp and breathy.
"No…" she sobbed, as she tried to shake her head.
"Open them," Tony repeated in the same way as before.
"No…" she cried again, but this time a little less forcefully.
"Open…" Tony smiled as slowly he was revealed the gift of those wonderfully delicious eyes; deep, dark and alluring. She gazed deep into his eyes to which he happily reciprocated. They stood there, in that position, for what could seem to an outsider forever, but to them it was nothing at all, lost in each others gaze. Each perfectly content to just be looked upon, with such love and affection.
Finally it was Ziva who leaned forward and brushed her lips against his, briefly pausing as she tried in one last attempt to defy her heart and move away. Once her lips touched his, the thought was gone and she wrapped her arms around him hugging him close. Tony pushed his lips into hers and kissed her passionately. Ziva began to sob again but Tony didn't stop, deepening the kiss, smiling as he did so. Ziva fell in his arms, but he held her up, wrapping his arms underneath hers so her hands where forced up and around his neck; but still the kiss continued now hot and intense. Tony's heart leapt and he couldn't contain his happiness, almost letting out a laugh as his lips entwined with hers. The moment had finally come and she was his, and he was never going to let her go.
***
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony finds Ziva hiding in the bathroom and comforts her the only way he knows how...