"So can I meet this Ziva?" Recruit Lindsay Trace asked as she sat next to Timothy McGee in the waiting room outside of the ICU unit. They had seen Agent Gibbs literally drag Director David out of the ICU unit and down the hallway, to an unknown place, according to McGee.

"Probably. In fact, I bet you can meet her now. And don't worry. You'll probably be working most of the cases with us, so you won't be moving for a while."

She furrowed her eyebrows together, "What? Ziva won't come back?"

"Oh, she'll be back, don't get me wrong, it's just that she'll probably be stuck with desk work during her 'rehab' session after she's released from the hospital. Which isn't going to hold her back. 'Cause Ziva hates, and I mean hates deskwork." He said as they silently walked into the room to find Ziva's arms around Tony' s neck, bandages all over her arms as well as multiple wires sticking out from her. His hands were tangled up in her hair, and his lips were on hers.

"You guys couldn't have waited until she was released from the hospital?" McGee asked as they quickly moved away from each other, Lindsay smiling at them.

"Shut up, McSpy. You and Agent Face…Pace… whatever, what are you doing here?" Tony growled as Ziva studied the brunette next to Tim. She was pretty, confident, but felt very out of place. Of course she stuck to McGee like DiNozzo stuck to movies, but she remembered sticking to McGee when she was first brought onto the team, when Gibbs was still skeptical about her, even though she shot her own half-brother to save his life and Tony wanted nothing to do with her. She could tell that the woman was nervous, but she also noticed that she had no opposing feelings to her. She was solely here because Vance sent here as her replacement, Ziva figured, and she had no intention of becoming friends with Tony, Gibbs, McGee, or her. However, she knew that she was still on-edge with herself, for reasons that were unknown to Ziva. She seemed like a nice enough woman, and Ziva could live with that. Besides, not all new recruits or new agents were bad.

"Hello." Ziva nodded at the new recruit, who shot her head to Ziva, a little fear striking her blue eyes.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I am Ziva David. What's your name?" Ziva decided that formalities would be the best thing to approach this kind of 'meeting new people' topic.

"I'm just the new recruit. Lindsay Trace. I won't be here long. You're back." She gave a sad smile as Gibbs walked into the room.

"Director David wants to talk to you, Ziva." He turned to Tony, "DiNozzo, she ready?"

"The best she's gonna be. Why can't this just wait?" Tony wined, "What the hell does the director want anyways? I'm not leaving, though. Whatever he wants to talk about with Ziva, he'll talk about with me."

Gibbs sighed, "DiNozzo…"

"Boss. I'm staying. With Ziva. Trust me on this one." Gibbs sighed.

"Fine. But if you get your ass kicked by Director David…don't come crying to me. McGee. Trace. Let's go." He motioned them out as Director David came in.

"Agent DiNozzo. Do you mind giving me some time alone with my daughter?" Director David asked, his hands behind his back, staring, okay more like glaring at Tony DiNozzo.

"Yeah, I mind. Sorry Director. It's Agent Gibbs orders that I stay with my partner at all times."

"Yet you weren't with her last week when she was kidnapped." He said, and it felt as if a knife had stabbed Tony through the heart. He hadn't meant not to be there, he had just listened to Ziva. Ziva understood that. He only did it to please Ziva; he didn't want her to feel as if she was being bombarded with him, however he knew that listening to his partner was the wrong thing to do. Normally, he would have followed her and watched her, almost stalked her, like he did when he suspected Michael Locke as a serial killer, however this time was different. He had been too blinded by love, too much of him wanted her to be happy, especially on account of the fact that he had acted mature.

"It was my fault." Ziva spoke up, bringing Tony fully onto the situation and away from his buzzing thoughts, "I told him specifically not to follow me. If Tony had waited until 0220h like I had asked him to, I would probably have been dead before he got to me. Tony did not do anything wrong, Papa. Tony was just following orders. He was just being a good partner. He was concerned. That is only a natural feeling."

"Ziva! You could have died! No! This is not acceptable!"

"She needs to stay calm, Director David."

"Ziva, this is not acceptable. You have gone beyond the ability to have my trust. You are a Mossad Agent. You are not an NCIS agent. I will have to have time to think about your punishment."

"Ziva doesn't deserve a punishment. Punishment was going through hell with Travis and John, she doesn't need anymore." Tony spoke up.

"Agent DiNozzo. I will be perfectly honest with you. I do not like you. I do not trust you as an NCIS, especially with my daughter. I can not force you to say away from her, but I will warn you, you have no future with my daughter. I will make sure of it." Director David said before glaring at Tony and then leaving the hospital room.

One Week Later…

Ziva was finally released from the hospital. She was barely able to walk, but she managed to walk with Tony's arms wrapped around her to his car and into the NCIS building. She took her seat at her desk, and she smiled.

"I am finally back home." She grinned as she stared across the bullpen at Tony, who had just sat back down in his chair.

"Thank god, everything's back to normal." McGee smiled as he got up and went to give Ziva a hug. Ziva didn't stand up, but she returned his gesture, "Tony will start being himself now."

"Hey!" Tony said in defense, "I was just worried, that's all."

"So I get to finally see the real Tony?" Agent Trace asked as she walked from the fifth desk towards the three. Tony stood up and walked towards Ziva, placing his hands on her shoulders, giving her a slow, warm, soothing massage.

"Yeah, you'll get to see the real Tony DiNozzo. The one that Miss Ziva David loves just so much…" he murmured as he leaned down and grinned as he placed a kiss on her cheek. Agent Trace smiled at the two.

"Officer David." All four agents turned to see Director Vance standing in front of the bullpen, looking at the 'reunion'.

"Yes Director Vance?" She asked.

"You're going home." McGee and Trace looked confused, but Tony looked murderous, and scared.

"Home?" She asked, confused, "I am home. This is my home. Or do you want me to take the rest of the day off?" She looked up and shared a confused look with Tony.

"Director David has just requested your return back home to Israel." He said, walking over and handing her a sheet of paper. None of the agents could move from their spots. Instead, he set it on her desk. All Tony could hear was the pounding of his heart in his ears. She reached up and put a hand on his, which had stopped massaging her shoulders when Director Vance walked in. It was like Déjà vu, except he and McGee weren't going anywhere, and there wasn't any mole. All he knew, however, was that he couldn't lose her again. "Pack your bags, your flight leaves tomorrow."

THE END