Hey! So, this is my first NCIS fic, but please don't let that cloud your judgment. Please give me criticism! I don't get offended easily, so feel free to be as harsh as you like. I just want feedback! Happy reading!

Disclaimer: NCIS no es mio.

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"Ziva, where the hell did you go?" a frustrated, panting DiNozzo called through the dense woods of Channels State Forest in Virginia, where their latest case had brought them. The pair had been wandering through the woods in pursuit of an evasive drug dealer for the majority of the morning, and the senior field agent was beginning to lose his patience.

"I am up here, Tony. Feeling a little out of form, yes?" Ziva replied with a smirk, climbing the giant oak with such ease, she made spider monkeys look incompetent.

"Out of shape, Zee-vah. And no, I'm just peachy. We've been wandering around out here for 3 hours and haven't found even a gum wrapper to point us in some direction of human life! What are you doing, if you don't mind me asking, Spiderwoman?"

"I am climbing a tree, Tony," she stated, as if it were the most obvious observation in the world.

"I see that, Tarzan. Why?"

"This is the tallest tree in the area. If I can climb to the top, I will be able to see the surrounding area with at least a half mile radius. Perhaps I will be able to locate our bandit, no?" she called down, as she reached the taller branches of the oak.

"Fine, Ziva. But I'm not calling the fire department when you can't climb down by yourself," Tony goaded as he took a seat at the base of the trunk, pulling out a map of the state forest and marking the ground they had covered in the last hour.

"DiNozzo, the only—" Ziva's words were cut off by a loud cracking sound and her own gasp as the branch on which she was previously standing suddenly gave away and she found herself falling through the air, quickly picking up velocity as she neared the ground.

Tony watched in horror as his partner fell from her lookout position, approximately 30 feet above the mossy ground. "DiNozzo, do something! Catch her, you idiot!" But despite the forceful commands of his cranium, Tony remained rooted in place, staring in horror as Ziva neared the ground. It was not until he heard the combined thud, snap, and groan caused by the abrupt landing of his partner that Tony snapped out of his panic stricken paralysis and jumped into action.

"Ziva, shit! Are you okay?" he cried as he scrambled towards her, fearing the worst.

"Ughh…" Ziva groaned as she sat up. "Tony I am fine, just had the wind punched out of me," she lied. Her right leg was throbbing and her ribs hurt as she inhaled and exhaled, but Ziva was not about to let Tony see her in pain.

"Knocked out of you. You just had to wind knocked out of you. And that's a lie, Ziva. I heard something snap. And I can see it in you eyes. What hurts?" he probed with a worried expression as he tried to help her up.

"Tony, I am fine. I do not need your assistance," Ziva snapped, her pain only increasing as she attempted to stand up, pushing away Tony's outstretched hand. She let out a gasp as she put weight on her right leg, which promptly collapsed beneath her.

Tony grabbed her around the waist before she could hit the ground, and pulled her closer, throwing her arm around his shoulders and pulling her closer in order to take some of her weight.

"Right Zi, you're fine. C'mon, we're gonna sit down and take a look. Anything else hurt? Tell me the truth, Ziva. I know you want everyone to think you are invincible, but obviously that's not the case. Even spider monkeys fall and get hurt sometimes," Tony stated caringly as he eased her to the ground directly beneath the tree, allowing her to rest her back against the trunk of the oak.

"I think I bruised a few ribs on other branches on the way down. And my wrist hurts from where I landed on it, but it is not so bad. Probably only a sprain," Ziva conceded, with her head down, unable to meet Tony's eyes, as she admitted to being in pain, to being weak.

As Ziva told him of her other injuries, Tony rolled up the pant leg of her brown cargos to get a better look at her injured leg and felt sick to his stomach as he saw the bruising and swelling of her ankle and shin bone. But what really made him want to vomit was the odd angle at which the bones in her shin had bent themselves. Broken tibia, for sure.

Ziva peered over her partner's probing arms to see for herself the damage to her leg, and immediately regretted it. Before she had seen it, the pain had been dulled by adrenaline and shock, but now she was hit full force with the urge to hurl the contents of her stomach all over the tree's roots. She had broken bones before, but the pain never seemed to lessen.

"Zi, we've gotta get you to a hospital. This is bad. I'm gonna splint these sticks to your leg with my jacket. Give me your belt to tie everything together." Tony requested as he took of his NCIS jacket and began to gently wrap it around her wounded leg, placing two sturdy-looking sticks on either side of her shin for support, and finally tying it all off with Ziva's brown leather belt.

Meanwhile, Ziva held her breath, fighting the pain as Tony poked and prodded her leg in an effort to secure the splint.

"Here, take some aspirin. I've only got a few left, but take two now and we'll save the other two for later," Tony offered as he pulled out a bottle of pills from his backpack and gave her the remnants of his water bottle from earlier in the morning.

"Tony, that is not necessary. I am Mossad. We are taught to deal with pain," Ziva contradicted, though they both knew she really wanted to take the pills.

"I don't care if you're Wonder Woman or Arnold Schwarzenegger, take the damn pills Ziva," Tony retorted as he dropped the pills into her good hand and waited for her to pop them into her mouth before handing her the water bottle. "Now according to this map, it's about 7 miles back to where we started. We need to start out soon if we want to make it back before dark. You up for it?"

Ziva nodded with a look of determination in her eyes, as she tried to stand up, groaned as she pushed off of her sprained wrist.

"Ziva, let me help you," Tony stated as he bent down and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her slowly to her feet. "Put your weight on me, Zi. You're not that heavy," he joked, trying to distract her from the overwhelming pain he knew she was feeling as they took their first steps in the direction they had come.

Ziva attempted a small smile that turned out to be more of a grimace, as she once again took a step with her right foot, her broken bones angrily protesting the movement. She breathed out in a hiss, trying to control the tears pricking the back of her eyelids as she fought the intense pain. "One step at a time, Ziva. Do not cry. You have already shown enough weakness." She thought to herself. It was going to be a long journey back to the car.