5A/N: This is just a short little one-shot. I think you can all figure out who the bad guy is. Hint: this is set anywhere in season 8, maybe more towards the end. If you know me, or know one of the characters I dislike as much as Vance, it's an easy guess.
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it. That all belongs to DPB and CBS. Also, it's almost 2 in the morning. If this doesn't make sense, sorry.
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Tony awoke slowly as the knocks on his door got louder and louder and more frantic as time went on. He looked at the clock on his cable box, it was two thirty in the morning. Who the hell knocked on his door at half past two in the morning?
He stumbled off the couch and took in his appearance before opening the front door. He was shirtless, but wearing sweat pants. Good enough for a two am call.
He opened the door, surprised by who he found on the other side of it.
"Zee?" he asked, rubbing his palms over his eyes, not believing that it was actually his partner.
"Hello, Tony," she said, not looking at him, looking anywhere but at the man who had taken five minutes to answer his door.
"Um, can I help you with something?" he asked.
She hesitated before finally looking at him. She had tried to gauge his reaction, but it was nothing like the one it provoked. "Holy crap, Ziva! What the hell happened?" he asked, all but pulling her inside and closing and locking the door behind her. She didn't look much different than when they'd pulled her out of Somalia. Well, her face anyway. It was bruised and bloody, like someone had used her as a punching bag.
She gave herself a few seconds. What had she been thinking, coming over here? Why hadn't she gone to Abby? Ziva knew that answer, it was because Tony was her partner. Tony was the man she trusted with her life, more than anyone else in the world. Even Gibbs.
"I did not know where to go," she tried to tell him, trying not to sound helpless or weak. As much as she could not go to anyone else, she didn't think she could be here either. It was a stupid idea from the beginning. Being here only made it worse.
"You did the right thing, Ziva. Who did this?" he asked.
She flinched at his question, knowing it was coming, but not wanting to answer it. "Can I just say that you were right and you can gloat about it?" she asked.
He knew exactly who had done it the second she uttered that sentence. He felt helpless, looking at her looking so vulnerable. He'd only seen that look once and he had never wanted to see it again, yet here it was.
"Where is he? I'm gonna kill him," Tony said, trying to make his way back to the door, or to the wall, or anything that wasn't Ziva, who was blocking his path to any surface he could break his hand on and feel no pain because of all the pain he already felt for her.
"He is gone, Tony," Ziva said, moving closer, making sure he could not try to run pointlessly out the door after a man who was long gone by now.
"What happened?" Tony asked, lightly tilting her chin up so he could examine her face. More than half of it was puffy and bruised. Though the bruises were new, they matured quickly.
"He has a temper. It is not a good one," she told him.
Tony rapidly blinked his eyes, trying not to let the tears fall. She needed him to be strong right now; that was why she came to him. But it broke his heart, seeing what a person could do when in a rage. He pulled her to his chest, burying his face in her curly hair that tonight was let loose, like the first time they'd met. He could feel her silent sobs shaking his body and he just held her, letting her get it all out. Crying was unlike Ziva too, but when you needed to get it out, even the strongest cry.
"How many times?" Tony asked.
She knew what he really meant, 'How many times had Ziva been hit before tonight?' He pulled back, wanting to see her face, but she couldn't look at him, ashamed when she said, "Three."
"Why didn't you tell me? Or Gibbs? Or even McGee? We would have helped you," Tony said, ashamed with himself for not realizing a change in her or any of the warning signs. He had been a cop, he'd seen it all, yet when it came to someone he cared about, his eyes glazed over everything.
"I did not know how to tell you. Before, it was only in inconspicuous placed, placed easily covered by clothing. But this was the straw that broke the donkey's back, yes?" she said.
"Camel, but close enough," Tony corrected, getting her point. Ziva was a strong and independent person, she'd been brought up that way. To ask for help would go against everything she'd been taught, it would make her weak, in her eyes anyway.
"I took out my gun and I pointed it at him. I told him that I did not care if he was CIA or that people would find out that I was a murderer. I told him to get out and to never show his face again. I told him that you and Gibbs would go after him if he did. I do not think he is coming back."
Tony pulled her close again. "I'm so sorry, Zee," he whispered in her ear. "I'll be there next time."
It was what he had promised himself in Somalia and he'd let them both down. He hoped there would never be a next time. Not for him, but for the guy on the other end.
-break-
A/N: Reviews would be nice. I'm not a fan of one-shots, but this one just came into my head and I knew it couldn't go any further than this. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.