*A Week Later*
"Good morning Ziva," said Gibbs as Ziva sat at her desk.
"Hi Gibbs," said Ziva cheerfully. "Thanks for being there for me last week."
Ziva had gone home three days earlier. The radiation injections had fixed the extra insulin and she had gotten better without any other issues. Gibbs had spent at least an hour each day at the hospital with her, making her smile and laugh.
"Not a problem Ziva. Oh, and your father won't be bothering you anymore. he thinks that you were blown up in a nightclub last week," said Gibbs.
"How did you manage that?" asked Ziva.
"Abby made a ballistics gel version of you and we used some special effects, courtesy of DiNozzo, to make the 'nightclub' blow up on the news."
"And he believed it?"
"He sure did. He called Vance about an hour later asking for confirmation. Of course, Vance lied to him, as usual, and said yes. You're father honestly couldn't have been happier. He didn't even try to hide it."
"Thank you Gibbs."
Ziva turned to face the elevator as she heard the doors open, blowing out a sigh of relief that she would now be safe. Tony and McGee both stepped out of the elevator, almost running into each other in their attempt to reach Ziva first.
"DiNozzo, McGee, slow down. She isn't going anywhere," said Gibbs in exasperation.
"Sorry boss," said the two guys in unison.
Ziva stood up and walked around her desk. The two guys each attempted to get to Ziva but were surprised when she hugged Abby first.
"Hey, no fair. We were first," said Tony.
"Too bad. Fighting over me doesn't work. Abby is the one who gets a hug and I have to go to the bathroom now. Bye, bye," said Ziva, smiling as she walked toward the toilets.
"Boss, that's not fair," pouted Tony. Life isn't fair DiNozzo. Ziva's right, fighting over her isn't going to get you anywhere," said Gibbs.
Tony and McGee both turned around and headed toward their desks. Five minutes later, they stood up again, picked up their bags and followed Gibbs and Ziva to the elevator.
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An hour had passed since they had arrived at the crime scene. Ziva and Tony were in the small gathering of trees, picking up evidence that had landed there after a naval fighter jet had landed there, carrying four dead marines, each with their eyes gouged out and their lips cut off.
McGee was taking statements and Gibbs was making phone calls to organise a search warrant for the naval base in Quantico.
"Well, maybe I want to search Quantico because that's where the plane was coming from," said Gibbs. He was annoyed.
Ziva, who had been eavesdropping on Gibbs' phone call, turned to Tony and told him what she had heard.
"You aren't listening to me Tony," said Ziva.
Suddenly, Tony pulled Ziva to the ground as a bullet went flying past them.
"Thank you Tony," said Ziva as she stood up. "Maybe we should go now."
At the edge of the trees, another bullet came flying past. Avoiding the bullet proved a challenge though. Several more bullets came flying towards them. Tony jumped behind a tree. He attempted to pull Ziva towards him, but, when he finally succeeded, it was to find that Ziva was bleeding from a bullet wound in her chest.
"Help!" shouted Tony as he gently laid Ziva on the ground and placed his hand firmly on the wound.
Gibbs and McGee came running into the trees and bent down next to Tony. Gibbs pulled out his phone and called for an ambulance while McGee tried to keep Ziva awake.
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"What've you got?" asked Dr Smith as Ziva was wheeled into the ER.
"Twenty-eight year old female, shot from a distance in the chest. She's bleeding a lot and she's unconscious. Heart rate's dropped to eighty from one hundred and four," replied the paramedic.
"Where's the wound?" Blood was covering the whole of Ziva's chest.
"Just below the left breast."
Dr Smith looked into Ziva's pale face and silently screamed. She was his favourite patient.
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*Five Hours Later*
"Agent Gibbs?" asked Dr Smith.
"Yes, Dr Smith. How's Ziva?" asked Gibbs.
"Miss David is critical. We've managed to remove the bullet, but it did some damage. The bullet nicked one of her major arteries, causing massive blood loss. The bullet also left burns around and inside the wound. To be quite honest, they look like acid burns. I doubt she'll be waking up anytime soon. She's in the ICU. I'll take you to see her but prepare yourself, she's not in a great condition."
Gibbs, McGee, Tony, Abby and Ducky followed Dr Smith to Ziva's room. Abby gasped at the sight of her friend. Ziva was covered in tubes and wires. She had a tube down her throat and an IV in her right hand. The monitors were the only way of telling that Ziva was alive.
Abby ran out of the room, crying, and McGee followed. A few minutes later, Ducky and Gibbs followed. Tony grabbed a chair and sat down next to Ziva.
"I love you Ziva. You have to fight this. You have to wake up. I don't want to live my life without you anymore. When you came to NCIS, it was like a light turned on in my head. You were the one. I knew it and I should have acted on it. I'm sorry that I've never told you how much I love you. But I promise that if you wake up, I'll tell you every day. I'll tell Gibbs and I'll leave if it's the only way for us to be together. I'll happily shout it from the rooftops," whispered Tony.
He picked up Ziva's hand and held it tightly in his hand. He was wishing that Ziva would open her eyes, even for a second, just to tell him that she loved him.
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