"Ziver, what the hell happened to your head?" asked Gibbs, as they exited the chopper. He touched the wound lightly but she shrugged him away.

"It is nothing, I assure you Gibbs," she replied. She was sure not to let on that the pain from it was excruciating and causing her to see everything in double. She wasn't even sure how she had managed to last this long.

"It is not nothing! She was unconscious for almost a whole night!" insisted Abby, cringing when she saw the deep, infected gash on her best friend's head. Tony and McGee emerged from the craft, agreeing with the forensic scientist. McGee headed over to join a conversation between Abby and Gibbs. Tony came up behind Ziva, resting a hand gently on the small of her back.

"Ziva, we need to get you to a hospital," he murmured in her ear. She began to protest.

"I am fine, Tony. I do not need-"

She was cut off by him pressing a soft kiss behind her ear.

"Please. For me," he said. She groaned.

"Fine, but I do not see why…why I…why I need…" Ziva trailed off, her eyes focusing and unfocusing. Tony panicked.

"Ziva, Ziva! Are you alright?" he asked frantically. Her legs buckled from under her and she began to fall. The rest of the team turned around just in time to witness him catching her in his arms. She was still conscious.

"I am fine, just dizzy," she insisted. The team exchanged looks before sending Tony to put her in an ambulance.

When he returned, he filled in the other agents.

"Doc said she'd be fine—it did most of its healing itself. She's just going into surgery to extract some pieces of glass from the window embedded in her skin. She…didn't want anyone to come with her. She'll be okay," he said.

This did not reassure the others in the slightest.

Gibbs broke the silence.

"Well do ya wanna know who wanted you dead? Come on, back to the office," he said, walking away. The team followed.

*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*

Back in the bullpen, Tony and McGee worked furiously on discovering who their saboteur and attempted murderer was. Garrett hung out by Ziva's desk, and this made Tony grit his teeth and clench his fists as he attempted to ignore it.

"Boss I got a lead," called Tony as Gibbs came down the stairs. The team leader raised his eyebrows and motioned for him to continue.

"Laura Breckner." McGee's head snapped up. Tony grinned, enjoying this. "A girl Tiny Tim broke up with last month. Found several emails from her to him saying that he would regret this and that she would, and I quote, "kill you, you bastard and everyone you love."

McGee pulled a confused face.

"I don't remember getting any of those emails," he said, puzzled. Tony's grin grew wider.

"Ah, you see, McHeartbreaker—that was because the email server bounced back the message after "I hope you burn in hell you dic-"

"We get the point, DiNozzo," cut off Gibbs. "Follow it up. I gotta go see Abby."

"On it, Boss!"

*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*

When Gibbs entered the lab, Caf-POW in hand, the first thing he noticed was the blaring music.

Yes, things were starting to feel right again.

The second thing he noticed were the various discarded Caf-POW cups already littering the room.

The third thing he noticed was the absence of Abby.

With a quizzical look on his face, Gibbs ducked his head round the corner of the machinery.

"Abs?" he called. He heard a sigh of relaxation and followed the sound, wobbling when he almost stepped on her. Abby lay on the ground, sprawled out like a starfish, back in her usual gothic attire, complete with lab coat and dog collar.

"Abs what the heck are you doing down there?" he questioned. She sighed again.

"It's sooooooo good to be home," she sighed. Gibbs extended his hand and helped her up off the ground.

"You called me down here to watch ya be a starfish?"

She feigned a hurt expression.

"Gibbs! You know me better!" she cried, her look of hurt fading into a grin.

"You got somethin'?" he asked.

"Of course!"

Abby led him to her computer, where on the screen there was a blown up picture of the slash in the fuel tank. She had 3-D modelled it and on the opposite screen a search was scrolling through possible weapon matches.

"My machines! I missed you so much…"

Gibbs raised his eyebrows.

"Right, so!" she began, "The first thing I noticed that was weird about this slash is that the weapon used wasn't easily identifiable."

Gibbs looked at her.

"Well that's weird for me, Gibbs! I mean, a straightforward cut like this should have been easy for me to identify! This weapon…is definitely out of the ordinary!" she mused.

"And?"

"The second thing I noticed were these marks….here," she zoomed in on a point of the 3D model, "…and here. All the wrinkled metal shows that there was a lot of force behind it, meaning that the weapon can't have been that sharp. In fact, it might not have been a weapon at all!"

"You're losin' me, Abs."

"Well, not to say that it isn't a weapon at all, just a weapon that wasn't meant to be used as a weapon."

Gibbs looked even more annoyed.

"It almost seems like…this weapon, was in fact meant to be a really close model of a weapon. A knife in particular. Something that is supposed to look almost exactly like the real thing, but with a blunted edge for safety. Almost like they'd use in plays or-"

"…movies," finished Gibbs for her, his eyes widened. He kissed Abby on the cheek and thanked her as he hurriedly left.

But Abby didn't realise exactly what he was thinking until after he was gone.

"Oh no…"

*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*

After finding the weapon in his pocket, Gibbs stood behind Garrett Poole, cuffing him.

"Why'd you do it?" asked the agent.

"Wanted time with that pretty Israeli…so she could get to know me and realise how awesome I am," he squeaked in pain from the cuffs. "I did it at just the right place so the amount of fuel would last for the exact right amount of time to get us onto one of those islands," he smirked, proud of himself.

Tony was refraining from punching the man, Ziva beside him, freshly stitched up.

"Are you insane? You could have gotten us all killed! You almost did get Ziva killed!" Tony growled.

"Well we all got out of there alive, didn't we?" he said. Tony shook his head.

"You really are crazy."

As Gibbs went to shove him in the back of a van, Ziva sauntered up to the Southern drawler.

"Just one more thing," she smirked, batting her eyelashes. He smiled as she reached up to whisper in his ear. "Don't worry," she murmured, "You do not need me. I am sure there are plenty of big, buff men that will give you all the loving you need in the slammer."

Garrett paled noticeably and gulped as she waved teasingly goodbye.

*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*NCIS*

Gibbs had gone to sort some things out with the Director and McGee and Abby were already out celebrating their return home. Tony and Ziva were left in the office, standing in the area between the desks. He slid his arms around her waist and looked down at her.

"Well that took care of him," grinned Tony. She chuckled.

"What, afraid of the competition?" Ziva smirked. Tony's expression changed.

"What do you mean 'competition?' There was competition?" he asked, shocked. She simply smiled at him.

"Do not worry, with you around, there will never be any competition."

He was taken aback by the sudden compliment, but instead of thanking her, he simply pressed his lips to hers and caught his fingers in her hair. The kiss quickly became passionate, and the agents seemed to have forgotten both the world around them, and the need for oxygen.

"It took you two a plane crash, three weeks on a deserted island and an almost murder to figure out what the rest of us did years ago?"

They broke apart suddenly and turned to the direction of the voice.

Gibbs and Jenny leaned on the railing of the stairs leading up to her office with grins plastered on their faces.

Tony chuckled nervously.

"Hey, at least we have figured it out," he shouted as he and Ziva retreated to the elevator.

"What's that supposed to mean?" called Jenny after the already closed elevator.

Gibbs smiled and kissed her softly on the cheek.

"Oh you know exactly what it means, Jen."

*Phoof*

End.

Wow. We have finally reached the end of our friends' epic journey. Well I sincerely hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did, and my muse and I would really appreciate it if you left your thoughts in a review on the way out! See you when creativity next finds me! :D

xXtegannXx