Enemies in General

By tivamcabby5

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING! Well, technically I own seasons 3-7 of NCIS on DVD and a few t-shirts and pins…but whatever.

Note: *SPOILER ALERT*. If you have not read the spoilers regarding the 11/16 episode "Enemies Foreign", go to my profile and read them now. If you're trying to stay spoiler free, wait to read this story until after the episode has aired. Thanks and enjoy!

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As they prepared to enter the house of the suspect they were after, Gibbs warned his team. "This dirt bag is supposedly planning a terrorist bombing attack. So be careful."

The team entered into the house, Tony and Ziva going in through the front door, leaving the side door to Gibbs and McGee.

"On my count," Gibbs whispered. "One…two…three, go!"

As they burst through the front door, Tony directed Ziva to go into the kitchen. She nodded and headed left as Tony went straight in the hallway adjacent to the room she was in. "Clear!" she shouted, alerting the rest of her team. On her way out of the kitchen, she saw something sparkle on the ground below the refrigerator. She crouched down to get a closer look, everything above her waist behind the big black box.

She didn't have time to think, let alone move, before the oven behind her across the kitchen exploded. Small fragments of shrapnel shot through the air and into her body, large pieces lodging in her left leg above her knee and also in her upper left abdomen. Knocked over onto her back, she somehow managed to cover her face with her hands as fiery ashes rained down. The ashes cooled as they hit her wounds, but began to eat away at her exposed hands.

Barely able to breathe due to the thick smoke filling the room, Ziva called Tony's name, knowing he was closest to her. But her partner was already there, hauling her out of the burning room and across the hallway.

"Ziva's down, Boss," Tony said as calmly as he could, already applying pressure to the hole in her side.

"McGee," Tony heard through his earwig. "Get him." Tony knew he was talking about the perp, who had gone out the back door just before the kitchen exploded.

Gibbs arrived and tied his belt above the cut on Ziva's leg. He slid his jacket underneath her to help to apply pressure from both sides to her bleeding abdomen, hoping it would help. After dialing 911, he knew he had to go help McGee. "I need to go, Tony. EMTs will be here soon. Keep pressure on her stomach." Tony nodded, barely listening.

"Tony…" Ziva moaned. "Tony, please. Go with Gibbs. He needs your help."

"Ziva, you need my help." He shook off her comment, thinking the pain was making her delusional, but in actuality, Ziva was sure she was going to die and didn't want Tony to watch it happen. "Ziva, I'm staying with you. You're going to be okay. It's all going to be okay," he prayed out loud. "I'd never leave you, Zi."

Ziva smiled and winced in pain. She coughed; it was getting hard to breathe. Tony knew she was losing consciousness.

"Ziva?" he asked, making sure she was still there. "Ziva, it's okay. Just stay awake. Stay right here with me, okay?" He looked into her eyes and away from all the blood. "You need to fight, Zi…it's okay."

He tried to distract her – and himself – with a story. "Hey, Zi. Do you remember when we were locked in that box together? And we started burning that money to try and get noticed?"

"Not…you lightest idea…Tony," she said, smiling weakly.

"Brightest, Ziva…never mind."

Her eyelids fluttered and she almost let them close, but held them open, focusing on Tony's face.

Tony desperately tries to keep her with him, knowing she doesn't have much time left. "No…no, Zi…" he whispered. "Stay with me. Please, Ziva, please. I…I can't live without you," he said, tears starting to trickle down his cheeks. "Remember when I told you that in Somalia? I said you had to fight. I need you to fight now, Zi…I can't lose you. Not again."

Ziva nodded, barely, tears of pain and sadness streaming down her face. She knew she was going to die. She wasn't necessarily sad about herself dying, but sad for losing everyone she cared about.

Tony looked right at her. "I love you, Ziva," he said.

Ziva opened her mouth and closed it, coughing. "I love…I love you, too Tony."

He thought she meant as a friend. "No, Ziva. I mean I love you. So much. I always have."

"I know what you mean, Tony," she said, smiling.

Just then, ruining the moment, Gibbs and McGee rushed in, the EMTs right behind them. With one look at Tony's red eyes – the tears had run out now – Gibbs knew exactly what has just happened between the two members of his team.

Unconscious as she was being loaded onto a stretcher, Ziva lay there lifelessly, her team looking on. Tony quickly asked if he could ride along with them, and after the paramedic looked to his partner, he nodded, instructing Tony to get into the ambulance before them.

So he rode with her, all the way to the hospital, holding her hand and whispering silent prayers that he hadn't said in years.

A/N: So, you like it? Like I said, just loosely based on the spoilers for tomorrow nights episode…GAHH I CAN'T WAIT! Whoaa finger spasm on the caps lock. :)

Moving on…part of this was based on an old Mentalist episode…brownie points if you guess correctly!

This is most likely a 3-chapter thing, with maybe an epilogue if wanted. I will try and have the second chapter up by tomorrow, if not then, certainly before next week's episode, which is when it takes place in my mind. Third chapter shortly after that…whatevs.

Anyways…thank you loverly readers!

TM5