Title: In Slow Motion

Authors: Sara and Lizzie

Rating: T

Disclaimer: We don't own NCIS. If we did, Tony and Ziva would be married with Italian ninja kids.

Summary: Picks up where Season 2 left off- we meant to start posting it earlier than the day before the season premiere, but that didn't happen. Basically, it's the Tony Ziva story after Aliyah, and yes, it's Tiva. There may be some Abby/McGee if we get particularly sentimental, and undertones of Gibbs and Jenny because....

IMPORTANT thing to remember, we tried to write Vance and hated it, so we took some liberties and decided Director Shepherd never died.

Enjoy and review!

I will build a path to you.

He hadn't slept last night. He kept himself up all night because when he slept, he saw her in his dreams. Teasing him, confusing her idioms and her pop culture. He dreamed of her every night, without fail. The night before last he dreamed of her in the emerald dress, and the way she looked at him, seriously, and slightly disgusted, asking him something ridiculous.

Why would a fish be in a barrel?

"I don't know Ziva." He muttered to himself. He didn't know anything anymore, except that he can't stay awake to avoid her. His eyelids are beginning to droop at his desk, from a combination of exhaustion and utter boredom. In his corner, McGee is droning on about Africa or South America or somewhere. Tony felt delirious as she slipped into his mind's eye; like he could reach out and touch her.

He put his head in his hand and allowed himself to slip into dreams, even though he can already feel Gibbs smacking his head when he finds him sleeping. Maybe it was that thought, but he dreamed of her talking to their Boss, the looks she would shoot him behind Gibbs' retreating back.

'Agent David, you're late.' She eyed Gibbs, arching one perfect eyebrow over her dark chocolate eyes.

'Gibbs, please.' She said lightly. 'It has only been five minutes. You should not worry until it has been ten. At that time…' she trailed off, her expression still jovial.

'After ten minutes, I'll come looking for you in Somalia, David.' He said, his expression serious. She refused to acknowledge the severity of his words.

'And I appreciate that Agent Gibbs.'

Tony dreamed of that day, and then Ziva in the green dress, eyes shining. Her, face flushed, chest heaving, after chasing down a suspect. The way she used to tease him. She was a screamer, and he could have anything he wanted. He slept for an hour, and three times he dreamed of that conversation. I'll come looking for you in Somalia. His eyes fluttered, but Tony stayed in that place between waking and sleeping, between delirium and reality.

And that's when it hit him; it came together like lightning. The conversation he kept dreaming of, words from her own perfect lips, what little information Abby and McGee had been able to uncover. There was only one explanation for where she was. And he wasn't the only one who knew.

Tony's eyes snapped open with the force of simultaneous revelations. She was in Africa somewhere, kidnapped by the very people who didn't want Moussad sending her to NCIS in the first place, probably the people Rifkin was involved with and Gibbs had already figured that out. That discovery didn't shock him nearly as much as the second one he had. He was irreversibly, wholly in love with Ziva David, trained Israeli killer, a fact that would lead to his damnation or his salvation.

Saved or damned, Tony didn't care. His entire existence as he knew it had been replaced with one unifying idea that was the last thing holding him together. Find Ziva.

This notion that hummed through his blood stream knocked him into the realm of reality. He looked up from his desk to find himself staring into the eyes of Gibbs.

"You son of a bitch." Tony said.

McGee's head snapped up and Abby and Ducky froze getting off the elevator. From her stance, poised on the staircase above them, even the Director stopped short, but Gibbs didn't acknowledge any of them.

He kept his eyes trained on Tony, trying to convey to him what a difficult, excruciating decision it had been. Ziva had become like a daughter, and as much he wanted to save her, sending Tony after her would only cause him to lose them both, so he sacrificed the daughter to save the son.

"You know." Tony said, his voice full of venom. He looked around the room. "He knows. He knows where Ziva is."

"What?" McGee asked. Gibbs turned his head slightly and gave him a look that silenced him.

Tony's eyes stayed trained on his boss. "How could you not tell me?" he asked, his voice low and even, but deadly. "You all of people knew what she was to... It's Ziva, Gibbs. How the hell could you not tell me?"

"I had my reasons, DiNozzo." Gibbs told him calmly. Tony was silent for a long time, just standing there, staring at Gibbs. For an absurd moment, everyone in the room seemed to relax, as though they thought he was going to accept that, sit back down, and continue working. The silence dragged on, until Anthony DiNozzo finally exploded.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted. "She could be dying! She could be..." through his enraged screaming, he couldn't bring himself to say dead. "What if it's too late?"

"She's a Mossad agent, Tony. She's not your partner anymore." Gibbs said, shrugging. On the landing above them, Jenny frowned.

"You're right!" Tony shouted. "She's not just my partner, she's everything!" Ducky raised his eyebrows and Abby clapped a hand over her mouth. Tony shook his head and grabbed his gun from his drawer. "I'm going to find her," he said defiantly. "And I'm going to bring her home."

"It's a suicide mission, DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted. Tony slammed his gun on his desk and looked at Gibbs again.

"And you think this is a life worth living?" he shouted. Gibbs opened his mouth, but Tony cut him off. "I am not you, Gibbs!" he shouted. "I can't live without her, and I will never get over this."

"If you walk out of this room, you're disobeying a direct command. It's a firing offense."

"Fire me then." Tony snapped. "I never should have let you leave her there. God, I could have stayed. Made her see it…" he trailed off and a far away look came over his face. As soon as it hit him, he seemed to snap out of it.

"McGee, will you get me everything you've had on her since she left?" Tony asked, starting to mobilize, gather everything he needed. "Abs, can you help?"

Abby nodded and joined McGee at his computer. "Ducky, I need a refresher course in, uh, emergency medicine, and it has to be fast." Tony said, earning a nod from the Medical Examiner. He looked up the staircase at the Director. "Jenny," he said, addressing her by name, "Let me go." She studied him for a long time, her eyes flicking to Gibbs for only a second before nodding yes.

He nodded his thanks, and then started out of the room. "Abs, McGee, make me proud. Find out where she is and get me close. Duck, I'll meet you downstairs in five."

"Just a minute." Gibbs said, stopping Tony in his tracks. Jethro stepped in front of him, blocking his exit.

DiNozzo turned around and faced him. His boss, his mentor, his replacement father. "I'm following a rule." he said quietly.

"Which one is that?" Gibbs asked.

"Rule number one. Don't screw your partner over. And don't tell me she's not my partner, because my gut and my head and my heart are all screaming at me to get to Ziva, and I swear to you Gibbs, if you do not move, I will move you."

Gibbs slowly stepped to the side. "Be careful, DiNozzo."

They all watched in silence as Tony strode out of the room. A full minute after the elevator doors closed, McGee nudged Abby. "So this means he's in love with Ziva?" he whispered.

"Not much gets past you, McGee." she muttered.

He nodded. "We should hurry then."