Chapter 24 – Lose You

Booth surveyed the wreckage of the house that he and his family had called home for a short while. The mansion had completely burned to the ground and the fire chief was saying that they had found six bodies inside. Booth wasn't stupid; he knew whose bodies were there. Sighing, he looked down to check his phone. He had been waiting until he knew that Anthony and Ziva were back from their honeymoon to call them. He had just called the airport and had been told that their flight got in at nine thirty. It was now nine forty. Figuring that he had given them plenty of time to turn their phones on, Booth dialed Anthony's number.

Ziva and Anthony had just gotten off of the plane and turned their cell phones on when Anthony's began ringing. Ziva looked at him questioningly as he answered it.

"Hey, Booth," Anthony said. "We only just got back, what's up?"

"Anthony, are you sitting down?" Booth asked.

"Why?" Anthony said as he sat down on the nearest chair and motioned for Ziva to do the same. "What happened?"

"As soon as you get your luggage, I'm going to need you to come out to the mansion. Anthony, there was a fire."

"Is everyone okay?" Anthony asked.

"Anthony, Vance killed everyone before the house burned down." Anthony pulled the phone away from his ear, a horrified look on his face. Realization hit Ziva full force as she remembered the bad feeling that she had had yesterday.

"Anthony, what happened?" Ziva asked, shaking him slightly.

"They're gone."

Anthony and Ziva pulled up to the remains of the mansion. There were still firefighters and FBI agents everywhere. Parts of the mansion were still smoking and firefighters were picking through the remains. Off to the side of the lawn six sheet covered lumps lay. Ziva's grip on Anthony's tightened. She had cried the whole way there and tears were still making their way down her face. They cut through everyone and found Booth, who was standing near the sheet covered bodies. With sympathetic eyes, Booth spoke.

"At nine last night, neighbors saw smoke and called 911. When firefighters arrived, they found the house fully engulfed in flames."

"How did..." Ziva trailed off as she stared tearfully at the six covered lumps.

"Shot." Booth answered and he noticed that Anthony swallowed hard. He put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"All of them?" Anthony asked tightly.

"As far as we can tell, Abigail, Tim, Ducky, Palmer, Jethro, and Vance. That's probably the only good thing about this; Jethro managed to shoot Vance before he went down," Booth said. Ziva stifled a sob and Anthony pulled her closer to him. "Listen, we don't need you here. Why don't you guys go home? I'll call you if we need you for anything."

Ziva approached Anthony tentatively. He had been silent ever since they had arrived home. She had given him some space; putting away their clean clothes, starting the laundry, taking a shower, but now she knew that she had to talk to him. If she didn't, he would close up. She laid her hand on his shoulder and he barely glanced up. He did, however, place his hand on top of hers. She sat down next to him and lay her head on his shoulder. She felt his body shudder with a choking sob as he turned into her and pulled her tightly against him.

They sat there like that for hours. Holding each other, comforting each other, each wishing they could take each other's tears and make them go away. Finally Anthony pulled away from Ziva, his face dry, although his eyes were slightly red. Ziva still had tears running down her face. Anthony wiped them away slowly with his thumb.

"Everything will be alright," he told her.

Ziva jumped slightly as they fired the guns for twenty one gun salute. The haunting sound of Taps was playing in the background and Tim's sister was crying by the coffin, holding the flag they presented to her. Ziva jumped again as they fired once more and Anthony squeezed her hand. She had always hated this part of funerals in Israel. They had buried Abigail, Ducky, and Jimmy yesterday and they were going to bury Jethro after this, in a private ceremony that only they would be attending. After the last of the guns went off, Ziva detached herself from Anthony and went over to Sarah, Tin's sister. Sarah looked up at her and Ziva held out her arms. Sarah flung her arms around Ziva and began sobbing. Ziva patted her hair and hugged her tightly.

"If you ever need anything, just call us," Ziva whispered. Sarah pulled away from her and smiled slightly.

"Thank you so much, for everything you've done," Sarah said and then she walked away back to the car. People were beginning to file out of the cemetery until only Anthony and Ziva remained. They walked away from Tim's grave over to a different one a few yards away. Ziva had her fingers laced through Anthony's and they both stared at the coffin. Ziva clutched Anthony's hand tightly. After moments of silence, Anthony began walking away, pulling Ziva gently with him, and she knew that he had given Jethro a silent goodbye.

As they walked away, the sun began to set, turning the sky a deep and unearthly red, and Ziva knew that they would never be able to forget what happened.

Thank you all for coming with me on this amazing journey. First of all, I would like to thank my bestie, cable_addict, for helping me write, kicking my ass, writing for me, and being my best inspiration. She is the best friend a girl could ask for. Another special thanks goes out to my friend, Spoonyriffic on LJ, for helping me write the smut and on her wonderful reaction to the death of one of her favorite character's. You rule, spoony!

Also, I would like to extend my appreciation to all of my loyal readers and reviewers, espcially those that have reviewed every single chapter and been with me the whole time. You guys are awesome and you rock my socks off!!

Keep an eye out for my new fic, Fighting Temptation, coming soon!