***NCIS SQUAD ROOM***

“Guys, meet Diane Sterling. She’s Victor’s husband and will be helping us with this case. What have you got so far?” asked Gibbs.

“Footage from a warehouse in Anacostia. Victor is the one on the floor. He was definitely kidnapped boss,” said Tony.

“Okay, Tony, McGee, take Mrs. Sterling to the conference room and get a statement. Ziva, you're coming with me and Fornell."

Ziva stood up and followed her boss out to his car.

***LABORATORY***

"Ziva, go right, Fornell, go left. I'm going straight. Be careful guys," whispered Gibbs.

Ziva turned right and quietly made her way around the lab. It was dark and quiet. Suddenly, Ziva felt a sharp pain in her head as she fell to the floor. Her hand hit a bench and a glass beaker dropped onto the floor. It made a loud clatter as it smashed on the floor. Ziva turned her head and saw her attacker, a young man with a long scar on the side of his face. The young man bent down next to Ziva and jabbed a needle into her arm. He injected a bright green liquid and then left.

A few minutes later, Gibbs came running around the bench and knelt down next to his newest agent. Ziva was gasping for breath and the injection sight had started to swell up. It was already bruised and bleeding. Gibbs lifted Ziva's head onto his leg while she tried to form a sentence.

"Hey, it's okay Ziva. You're okay. Here, thanks Fornell, the antidote is here," said Gibbs.

When Gibbs looked down, Ziva was staring at the syringe in his hand with wide eyes and she was shaking her head furiously. Gibbs reassured her that she would be okay and injected the liquid. Immediately, Ziva's body went into shock and she started to shake.

"Ziva!" shouted Gibbs. There was no response. "Fornell, what is this?"

"I thought it was the antidote. Victor gave it to me," replied Fornell.

"Call an ambulance. I can't take her out of here until she stops shaking but she needs oxygen."

Fornell pulled out his phone while Gibbs gently laid Ziva's head on the ground again. She was shaking violently now.

***Bethesda Naval Hospital***

"What have you got?" asked a male doctor that had rushed over to the paramedics and Gibbs.

"Twenty-seven year old female. She's had two doses of rat killer. The second was an accident. She was shaking violently when we arrived. She was also unconscious. Her body went into shock. We've given her a high amount of oxygen to bring her out of the shock," replied a paramedic.

The doctor helped the three men wheel Ziva into the ER, where Gibbs was forgotten while the doctor and a group of nurses were busy trying to wake up Ziva.

After five minutes of not getting a response, the doctor put an oxygen tube into Ziva's throat and took her to the intensive care unit.

Gibbs was sitting by Ziva's bed in her hospital room when Tony walked in. Tony silently put a chair next to Gibbs and sat down.

"What did the doctor say?" asked Tony.

"She has a small amount of swelling on her frontal lobe. She may have brain damage but the doctor can't be sure until she wakes up. If she wakes up. The rat poison travelled too far into her body through her bloodstream," replied Gibbs. He sounded as though he was about to cry.

"It's not your fault boss. You didn't do it on purpose." Tony looked at his boss and was surprised to see that tears were falling down his face. Looking down, Tony also noticed that Gibbs was holding Ziva's hand.

"I gave her the second dose of poison DiNozzo."

"Not on purpose. You were trying to save her boss. I'd have done the same thing."

"She was trying to tell me that it was the poison. She was shaking her head and I thought she was just scared. If I'd have listened to her, she wouldn't be in this mess."

"Don't blame yourself. You did what you thought was best. She's not going to blame you. I'll bet that she'll wake up and immediately ask for you."

Gibbs looked up at his senior field agent and smiled. He knew that Tony was trying to make him feel better, but, until Ziva woke up, it wasn't going to work.

"Thanks DiNozzo for trying. Until she wakes up, I won't stop blaming myself."

Tony walked into the NCIS headquarters with one thing on his mind: Ziva. He was worried about his partner and couldn't seem to get rid of one single thought. He loved Ziva. Thinking about this, Tony decided that he would have to tell Ziva when she woke up. He didn't want to miss another chance.

McGee was sitting at his desk when Tony arrived. His computer was on but the screen didn't change. It was obvious that McGee wasn't doing any work, no matter how much he pretended he was.

"Hi McGee," said Tony.

"Hi," replied McGee.

Tony could immediately tell that McGee had been crying but he didn't say anything. Making fun of McGee for crying would only end up making Tony feel worse. He had spent half the night crying.

"You know what Tony? I can't believe how much I miss Ziva. I never thought I'd say this but she is the one that makes us laugh. She laughs at your jokes and we laugh at her when she makes a mistake with her phrases," said McGee.

"Yeah, I know. She just became a full time field agent too. I was really looking forward to working with her and having fun making her do the work. But our feelings are nothing compared to Gibbs' feelings. He feels really guilty for this," said Tony.

"It's not his fault though."

"I tried to tell him that yesterday at the hospital. He said thanks for trying to make him feel better but the only thing that would is Ziva waking up."

"You think that's bad? You should see Abby."

"How is she holding up?"

"Not too great. She's been crying all morning."

"Has Gibbs come in yet?"

"No. Neither has the Director. Ducky's trying to calm Abby down a little."

"Come on, let's go see them."

Tony and McGee stood up and headed to the elevator. Diane had been taken home and Tony had called her the previous day to tell her that Victor had been found. They were now together at their home.

Two minutes later, Tony and McGee walked into Abby's lab. They found her sitting at her desk with Ducky.

"Hey Ducky, hey Abbs," said Tony.

Ducky and Abby both looked up and smiled.

"Is she awake yet?" asked Abby.

"No. Have either of you seen or spoken to Gibbs or Vance?"

"Vance is caught in traffic. Gibbs stayed at the hospital overnight. He doesn't want to leave Ziva," said Ducky.

"Neither did I Ducky."

"Can we go and see her then?" asked Abby.

"Yeah, lets go."

Tony, McGee, Ducky and Abby walked into Ziva's room to find Gibbs asleep in a chair. He was still holding Ziva's hand and they could see fresh tear tracks on his face. Ducky walked over to Gibbs and gently woke him up. Gibbs jumped and turned to see his team smirking at him.

"What time is it?" asked Gibbs.

"Ten in the morning," replied Abby.

Gibbs let go of Ziva's hand and stood up to hug Abby. He then took Ducky's offer of breakfast and left the room. Abby and McGee followed. Tony was left alone and he took Gibbs seat.

Tony looked at Ziva's pale face and then realised that he was crying. His crazy ninja chick was always happy and healthy. Now she was unconscious, relying on the doctor and nurses to make her better. It just wasn't fair in Tony's mind.

Before he knew it, Tony was telling Ziva about a movie that he had been reminded of when he saw her in the hospital. It was called Just Like Heaven and starred Reese Witherspoon, who, incidentally, was Tony's favourite actress. He was surprised when he felt a small amount of pressure on his hand.

Tony looked down and noticed that Ziva seemed to be squeezing his hand. Tony called for the doctor and then tried to wake Ziva. He was unsuccessful. As Tony was about to try again, Dr Smith walked in and Tony told him that he thought Ziva had squeezed his hand.

"She could have. It would make sense if she was trying to wake up. But there's nothing I can do until she opens her eyes. If she squeezes your hand again, just keep applying pressure to her hand. She'll open her eyes if she's ready to wake up," said Dr Smith.

Tony awoke with a start. He had been dreaming about Ziva when he felt a small squeeze on his hand. Looking up, Tony saw that Ziva was trying to open her eyes.

"Ziva, wake up," said Tony.

After a few minutes, Ziva's eyes opened and Tony smiled. Ziva turned her head to look at Tony.

"Hey, welcome back. I'll be right back. I'm just going to get the nurse," said Tony.

Ziva's eyes followed Tony until he closed the door behind him. When he came back five minutes later, her eyes followed him to the seat next to her bed. She then turned her attention to the nurse that had come in after Tony.

"Hi Ziva. Let's get this out for you," said the nurse. She removed the tube from Ziva's mouth. She placed an oxygen tube under Ziva's nose. "I'm Jessie. How are you feeling?"

"I'm tired and my head hurts," whispered Ziva.

"Okay. Let's get you another pillow so you can relax and rest. I want you to try and sleep until the morning. When your doctor gets here in the morning, she'll be able to help you. I'll give you some painkillers for your headache." The nurse injected some pain medication into Ziva's IV and then left.

"How long have I been in here Tony?" asked Ziva.

"A week and two days. Do you remember what happened?" asked Tony.

"Yes, he injected poison into me. Gibbs did too but he didn't mean it."

"Okay sweetie. Oh, Ziva, I need to tell you something. I love you Ziva."

"I love you too Tony."

A few minutes later, Ziva was fast asleep with a smile on her face. Tony took hold of Ziva's hand again and closed his eyes.

Gibbs walked into the bullpen with a smile on his face. McGee was startled because they hadn't had any reason to smile for the last week and a half.

"What's up boss?" asked McGee.

"I've got good news. Ziva's awake. She woke up last night and frightened DiNozzo," said Gibbs. "I'm going to tell the others."

"Where is Tony?"

"With Ziva. She knows what happened but Tony is trying to help her remember the guy that hurt her."

Gibbs walked off and McGee picked up his phone.

***Abby's Lab***

"Abby, Ducky, Ziva's awake. Do you want to come to the hospital with me?" asked Gibbs.

Abby and Ducky both jumped at the thought of finally being able to see their friend again.

***Bethesda Naval Hospital***

"Okay, we'll try one more time and then you can rest. Does he have straight or curly hair?" asked Tony.

Ziva had just woken up. The doctor hadn't come in yet.

"Straight. And it was black," said Ziva.

Tony looked at his partner. Once Ziva had woken up that morning, Tony had asked her if she wanted to go out on a date when she got out of the hospital. Ziva had said yes and then tried to lift herself up to kiss Tony. The result had been lots of pain. In the end, after watching Ziva struggle, Tony had taken pity on her and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

Five minutes later, the door opened and a doctor walked in. He came over to the bed and smiled at Ziva.

"Agent DiNozzo, Jessie told me that Miss David woke up during the night. Do you know what time that was?" asked Dr Smith.

"Around one in the morning," replied Tony.

"Okay. Ziva, I'm Doctor Smith. How are you feeling?"

"Not too great. My head hurts and I don't feel too well," said Ziva.

"Okay, I know you're in pain but I don't want to give you any painkillers just yet. I think we should do your tests first so that we don't compromise the results. Do you think you can do that?"

"I'll try. What are the tests?"

"I need to do a CT scan and some blood tests."

"Okay. I can wait then."

*********

"Ziva, I need you to stay as still as possible for me please. This won't take long," said Dr Smith.

After ten minutes, Dr Smith took Ziva back to her room.

"Ziva, I'm sorry if this hurts you sweetie. I'm going to take some blood so I can do a few tests," said Dr Smith.

"That's okay. I trust you," said Ziva.

Dr Smith smiled and finished off his tests. He then gave Ziva some painkillers. After he left, Tony walked in and kissed Ziva's head.

"Hi sweetie. Gibbs, Ducky, Abby, McGee and Vance are here. Do you feel up to talking to them?" asked Tony.

"I don't mind. Is Gibbs blaming himself?" asked Ziva.

"Not as much but he still thinks it's his fault that you ended up in a coma."

"Time to fix that then Tony."

*********

"Hey Gibbs," said Ziva. She was smiling.

"Hi Ziva. Listen, I know that apologies are a sign of weakness but I'm sorry that I got you into this mess Ziva," said Gibbs.

"It's not your fault. I'm pretty sure that Tony told you that Gibbs. Don't blame yourself. I'm fine. I'm awake, aren't I?"

Gibbs couldn't help smiling at this. Ziva was so sweet. It was hard to imagine her as the cold-blooded killer that she had been when they had first met.

"Yeah, you are." He started to smile more and Ziva knew that she had made him feel better.

"Told you so."

Ziva and Gibbs spent the next half an hour laughing at Ziva's phrase mistakes and jokes that Gibbs made.

"Good morning Ziva," said Dr Smith.

"Hi," replied Ziva.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad. I'm bored though."

"Do you want to read something?"

"Okay, thank you Doctor Smith."

"Not a problem. I'll get you a book after I finish the check-up."

"When can I go home?"

"If everything is good, then I'll send you home in the morning."

"Okay, thanks."

Dr Smith spent the next half an hour checking Ziva. After he finished, he grabbed a book and handed it to Ziva who smiled and thanked him.

***NCIS HQ***

Gibbs walked over to his senior agent's desk and handed him a file.

"What's this boss?" asked Tony.

"A sketch that Ziva gave me. She said that she couldn't remember all the details but she was able to give us enough to work on," answered Gibbs.

"Okay, I'll get Abby to run it through facial recognition."

Tony stood up and left the bullpen. He stepped out of the elevator a few moments later and walked into Abby's lab.

"Hey Abby, can you run this sketch through facial recognition for me?" asked Tony.

"Sure. What case is it from? I thought we were working on cold cases until Ziva came back?" asked Abby.

"We are. Ziva gave us this. He's the one that hurt her."

A few minutes later, Abby gave Tony a piece of paper. The name Joseph Campbell was highlighted. Tony thanked Abby and left to find Gibbs.

"You can go home Ziva but you need to take it easy. I want you to take a week off. Then it's up to your boss whether or not you can go into the field," said Dr Smith.

"Thanks. Come on Tony, let's go home," said Ziva. She was excited.

Tony helped Ziva get to his car and drove her to her apartment. Tony had cleaned up and filled her fridge and cupboards. There were pillows on the couch that had been fluffed up and Tony led Ziva to them. She sat down gratefully and allowed Tony to make her some lunch.

The doctor had made it quite clear that Ziva would be weak for a few hours but Ziva hadn't wanted to believe him. Now she knew he was right. She was happy to be home and she was glad that Tony had offered to help her.

"Here you go Ziva. Lunch has been served for my beautiful princess," said Tony.

Ziva smiled and thanked her favourite friend. When Tony sat down next to Ziva, she moved closer and put her head on his shoulder. Tony smiled and put his arm around her, giving her a small hug.

"Thanks for your help Tony. I appreciate it. I never thought that I would be able to trust anyone enough to help me when I was hurt," said Ziva quietly.

"That's okay. Everyone learns in their own time," said Tony. He loved Ziva and he knew that only her father could have made her feel this way. For that, he hated Eli David.

"I love you Tony," whispered Ziva.

"I love you too Ziva. I always have and I always will," replied Tony.

"Really?"

"Of course. You are the most gorgeous woman I have ever set my eyes on."