Hi everyone - this is the final chapter. I know it's short for one of mine, but it was originally going to be a one-shot (until a wonderful shopping trip to Bristol, that is). I am planning a sequel, based in Last Man Standing. I don't think we saw enough of Ziva's injuries, so, being me, I'm going to exploit them for my personal use and make more tiva, because we all like tiva, don't we? The song in the last chapter is Clay Walker - Fall. Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed, I love you all!

Hold up, there you go again

In the middle of the night, Ziva looked over at the heart monitor, which displayed the current time in the corner. 02.55am. She had been at Tony's side for twenty-nine hours. He had slept all the following day after she had finally come to him, and his fever had dropped that morning as they said it would. He wasn't trembling in his sleep anymore, either. For a long time she had held his hand, feeling his shakes transfer to her. She hadn't left his side. No one had questioned her staying because of the effort it had taken to get her there in the first place. Except Ducky, however, who had urged her to get some sleep. She'd pointed out that she had promised to be there when Tony woke up, and that by staying at his side she was resting her ankle as the doctor had instructed.

Putting on that smile again,

Even though I know you've had a bad day

Now, she was getting worried. He wasn't sedated, and the anaesthesia had worn off before she had first come to see him. Yet he wasn't awake. The doctors assured her it was because he was resting, and that any sleep he was getting was sleep he needed, but it still made her worry. If he needed this much sleep, surely he must need to catch up on sleep before this whole incident? She knew he wasn't always believable when it came to how much sleep he got, and that with their job there were many calls in the middle of the night, but she never knew of him having trouble sleeping. Should she have noticed it before? Her direction, as always was towards him. No matter what, she took no chances leaving him. She hadn't believed Abby at first when she said about him begging for her, but after standing in the dooray and seeing it for herself she didn't want to leave. She couldn't come back and see him struggling in the bed, calling her name feverishly. She couldn't see him in that condition again.

Doing this and doing that

Always putting yourself last

She cracked a small smile, knowing that he'd compare this to a number of movies; movies where the hero saved his girl and the day all in one go. She knew that deep down, he wanted to have the "I'm the hero, I got the girl, I got the job done, and I didn't mess up my hair in the process" life, but sometimes you did have to fight for the girl, and struggle with the job, and nearly always mess up the hair. One thing his movies wouldn't lie about, however, was that people only realised what was in their heart when something happened to take it away from them. She would much rather have taken that bullet herself than see him like this, so weak, so dependent, so unlike his usual self. But he'd pushed her out of the way so that he didn't have to see her in that condition. They were both as bad as each other.

A whole lotta give and not enough take

"Hey," she whispered quietly, in little more than a whisper. No one was around, and the duty nurse wouldn't be back to check the bandages around his chest for another hour. She felt strange, talking to somebody she wasn't sure could hear her, but she'd finally realised what she needed to say and she had to say it while there was no danger of getting slapped on the back of her head. "You have a lot of people worried," she told him, moving her hand from his cheek to his hair. "Abby, especially. She wants you to wake up. She is driving McGee crazy, I hear. She brought you flowers. Do not worry, they are not black roses. She brought you yellow ones. She told me they are the colour of friendship. She is a good friend. I...I would not be up here right now if it were not for her."

She sighed, running her fingers through his hair like a comb. "I did not want to see you like this. You are my partner. I do not like seeing my partner hurt and weak. I have lost many partners in my career, but Abby reminded me that you have also. In the end, it came down to losing more than a partner." She bit her lip for a moment, unable to believe how fast the past few days had changed her. "It is not just Abby you are worrying. I am worried also. I want you to wake up. I do not mind you quote movies for hours on end. I do not care if you throw things across the squad room. I do not mind you saying my name the way you do. I do not mind because..." she took a deep breath, releasing it slowly as she raised his hand to her face again. "...because I would miss it if you were not here. You sacrificed your life for me, Tony. I know you will say it is because you are my partner, but I would have been losing more than a partner if you had not survived. I would have been losing a friend...more than a friend..." she added in hindsight.

But you can only be strong so long before you break

She pressed his and further into her face, she remained there for a long while, trying to keep composed now that she was coming to some startling conclusions. Then, the hand in her grasp moved, turning the tables so that the hand was now cupping her cheek. "Zi..." She looked up at the sound of the nickname, one hand landing on Tony's wrist as she found herself looking directly into his eyes. His open eyes.

"Tony..." she whispered, a little smile on her face.

So fall, go on and fall apart

He smirked as best he could, given his condition. "Didn't know you cared so much, sweet cheeks," he replied weakly.

She laughed, despite herself. "You heard?"

"Every word," he confirmed, their eyes not leaving each other.

Fall into these arms of mine

She sighed, relief flooding through her now that he was awake, and clearly feeling more like himself. His voice was still fragile, probably from not being used. "Are you in any pain?" she asked.

He shook his head a little. "No...just...a bit fuzzy. Headache. Chest hurts a bit."

"I am not surprised," she said. Her hand returned to his hair, and she felt him relax under her touch. "You should sleep more."

"How long already?" he asked her.

I'll catch you every time you fall

"Almost thirty hours," she revealed.

He took hold of the hand she was combing through his hair, enlacing their fingers and placing it on his chest, on the unharmed side, right where his heart was. "Long enough," he told her, still sounding too weak for her liking. "Wanna talk to you."

She shook her head. "No, Tony, you need to rest, regain your strength..."

"Wanna talk, not run a marathon," he told her, trying to attempt his usual cheeky grin.

Go on and lose it all

She had to smile. "What do you wish to talk about?"

"What you said," he said simply. "You didn't wanna see me?"

"Not in the condition you were in," she admitted.

"Bad?" he questioned.

Every doubt and every fear

Every worry, every tear

I'm right here, baby

Fall

At this point, she realised how he was speaking. He must still feel week, becuase he was using the bare minimum of words. It sounded a lot like a tired child. But he still wanted to speak with her. She was torn between urging him to sleep some more, like he clearly needed to, and allowing him to speak because she had missed his voice over the past two days. She let him speak, however, because she didn't want to suffer his stubbornness while he was injured. "Bad," she nodded in confirmation.

"Still came," he noticed. "You're here."

"Thanks to Abby," she smiled lightly.

His face burrowed into the pillow for a moment, before he brought his eyes back to her. "You okay?" he asked her, with concern in his eyes now.

Forget about the world tonight

She looked at him incredulously. "Tony, you are lying in a hospital bed. You have had surgery, a dangerously high fever, and yet you are asking me if I am okay?"

"Yeah," he said simply. "You said you were hurt."

All that's wrong and all that's right

Her mind flashed back to the warehouse, where he had looked at her with such concern when she has said she was hurt, even though she had assured him it wasn't bad. "Sprained ankle," she told him. "I am fine."

"You wouldn't be if Abby hadn't told me DiNozzo was awake," Gibbs said, as he entered the room. They both looked over, but didn't move their entwined hands.

"Abby is still here?" Ziva questioned.

Gibbs nodded. "You haven't eaten since you got here, Ziva. Someone had to keep an eye on you. She called me down in the lobby." Gibbs leaned over Tony's other side. "You okay, DiNozzo?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah, boss."

Gibbs could see the weakness just as Ziva had done. He could also see the concern in Ziva's eyes as she looked at Tony, one set of entwined hands in front of her, the other placed on Tony's chest, fingers interlocked tightly. "Ziva, go and get something to eat and drink," Gibbs intructed her.

"I am fine," she repeated, not taking her eyes off of Tony.

"It wasn't a request," Gibbs told her. She looked at him. "You've brushed everyone off saying you wanted to be here when he woke up. He's awake now. Have five minutes to take care of yourself or you'll be no good to him."

"Gibbs-"

"Go," Tony interrupted quietly, rolling his head to the other side again so that he was looking at her. "Go eat, Zi," he told her gently. "M'okay."

Lay your head on my shoulder

Let it fade away

She looked at him for a moment, then at Gibbs, then back to Tony. She nodded, releasing his hands. "I will be back soon," she assured him. Then she disappared out of the room.

And if you wanna let go

Baby, it's okay

--

Once Ziva was gone, Gibbs turned to Tony. "Do we need to talk about rule twelve?" he asked, sitting at Tony's side.

Tony smirked. "Have to?"

"Are you breaking it?"

Tony tried to look innocent. "Not yet."

They were silent for a moment, and Gibbs nodded. "You gave us all a scare, DiNozzo."

Tony tried to smile, but failed. "Yeah, Zi said."

"Zi?" Gibbs questioned. "Since when did you two have nicknames for each other?"

"I don't. Just her," he explained. Gibbs stared him down, and Tony cracked under the pressure. "Care about her," he nodded.

"I know you do," Gibbs nodded. "That why you took a bullet for her?"

Now, it was Tony's turn to nod. "My partner. Got her six."

"The way you two looked when I got her says it's more than being partners," Gibbs pried. Tony sighed, burying his head into the pillow again. Gibbs stood, placing his hand on his agents shoulder. "Get some sleep, Tony," he said softly.

"No," Tony argued. "Gotta tell Zi."

"Tell her what?" he asked.

"Took a bullet for her," he said simply. "Gotta tell her why."

--

Fall

Go on and fall apart

Tony and Gibbs were silent until Ziva returned, exactly five minutes later. She assured Gibbs that she had eaten some toast from the cafeteria, and she had brought a coffee upstairs with her. She took up her position at Tony's side again, smiling a little when he instantly held out his hands and replaced their interlaced fingers back in the positions they had been in before. Gibbs told them he'd be back in the morning, and left the pair again. Tony awkwardly rolled onto his unharmed side so that he could see her better.

Fall into these arms of mine

"You should sleep, Tony," she urged him. He just shook his head. "I will still be here when you wake."

"Gotta tell you first," he told her quietly. "Gotta tell you why."

I'll catch you every time you fall

"Why what?" she asked with a frown.

"Took a bullet for you," he reminded her.

She sucked in her breath for a moment, remembering the image of him reaching out for her, weak and pained on the warehouse ground. "We are partners, Tony," she said simply.

"More," he replied.

Go on and lose it all

"You almost died, Tony," she pointed out, and she couldn't hide the desperation in her tone.

"Yeah," he acknowledged, not removing his eyes from hers.

"Because of me."

Every doubt, every fear

Every worry, every tear

This time, he shook his head. "Didn't want you to die."

She sighed, trying to figure out how his mind was working. She raised their hands, resting her head on them for a moment as she took some calming breaths. "Do you think me losing you would be any easier to bare?" she asked him.

I'm right here

Baby, fall

He was silent, and Ziva sighed again. However, she was surprised when he once again started removing, gritting his teeth in pain as he scooted across the bed away from her as much as he could. He tugged at her arms. "Up here," he coaxed her.

Hold on

Hold on

Hold on to me...

"Tony, you are hurt," she reminded him. "I cannot lay up there with you."

"Took a bullet for you," he repeated, this time with a smile. "Gotta repay me, right?"

She couldn't help but smile at his usual attitude. Somehow, she found herself in the hospital bed beside him, resting her head on his shoulder, making sure that she wasn't close to his injury. He put one arm around her as best he could, resting his head near her hair and inhaling deeply. He was relaxed again, she realised. She had to stay like this now, because it was relaxing him, and that was what the doctors wanted.

Fall

Go on and fall apart

Fall into these arms of mine

"Zi?" he whispered, a while later when she thought he was sleeping.

"Yes, Tony?" she whispered back.

"Falling in love," he murmered. "A while now."

I'll catch you every time you fall

Go on and lose it all

She was hesitant for a moment. "With me?"

Every doubt, every fear

Every worry, every tear

He just nodded against her, sighing into her hair. She smiled gently, placing a kiss at the base of his throat. "That's why I did it," he said quietly, just before he let sleep take him.

She felt the change in his breathing, and lay for a few moments before whispering her reply. "That's why I came back."

I'm right here

Baby, fall

END