Forever {ON HIATUS}

Chapter 16

A/N: here you go guys! Enjoy! xx

Gibbs raised his leg and in one powerful stroke, kicked down the door to their suspect's apartment. He looked back at Tony, who nodded.

They entered the apartment, splitting up; Gibbs went to the right, Tony to the left. When Gibbs ducked under a low door-frame, he realized something.

"DiNozzo." He hissed. Tony appeared at his side in an instant.

"Yeah boss?" He asked worriedly.

"Cover me. This man's proven himself to be dangerous. Don't know what we'll find in here."

Tony looked at him. "On your six boss."

They entered the bedroom with guns held high.

"Federal Agents." Gibbs shouted, but the only figure in the room was unable to hear it anyway.

Tony groaned. "Is this really how it ends? He just killed himself?"

Gibbs walked in front of the bed, crouching down beside the body. He checked the man's neck before drawing a finger across his throat.

"Dead." He grunted. "Not long ago. Body's still warm."

"Is it him boss?" Tony asked, clenching his jaw and thinking of the pain this monster had put his Ziva through.

Gibbs offered a nod in reply as he pulled out his cellphone to call Ducky. "Duck?" He asked into the phone.

"Ah hello Jethro, I was just telling Mr. Palmer-" Ducky began.

"No time for that, gotta body. I'll have Tony send you the address."

"Ah we'll be there shortly. And Jethro... What should I do about Miss David?"

Gibbs groaned inwardly. He'd forgotten about Ziva. "Send her to Abby." He told the M.E.

~~~~~~~NCIS Headquarers~~~~~~

"Ahem, Ziva, m'dear, would you mind running this jar up to Abigail?" Ducky asked her.

She was so deep in her thoughts that his words didn't register right away. "Oh. Yes of course Dr. Ma- Ducky." She corrected herself.

As she exited the Autopsy area and stepped into the elevator, Ducky put his plan into action. He dialed Abby's lab and cut off her excited squeals quickly. He explained the situation to her and could practically hear her nodding over the phone.

"On it, Duck-man! You can count on me!" With one last giggle, she hung up. Ducky sighed, wondering where she got all her energy from.

When Ziva walked into the lab, Abby immediately ran over and threw her arms around the younger woman.

"I'm so glad you're here." Abby informed her. "We're gonna have a great time!" She spun in a little circle and clapped her hands like a little kid. "Let's get started!"

For the next hour, Ziva listened to explanations about every single one of Abby's precious machines. The last question she was asked, however, caught her off guard.

"So how are you and Tony?" The Goth scientist asked her.

Ziva floundered. "I-uh-what-I do not know what you mean."

Abby gave her a knowing look. "C'mon Ziva. You think you're the only one from Team Gibbs who comes down to my lab."

Ziva gaped at her. "Gibbs?" She asked.

Abby laughed. "No not Gibbs, silly, he's not one to gossip. Timmy just mentioned something about an exception to a rule..." She waggled her eyebrows.

Ziva sighed and began to tell the story.

~~~~~at the crime scene~~~~~

Tony snapped the final picture as Gibbs bagged up the last piece of evidence.

"Let's roll, boss." He told him, wanting to get back to Ziva as quickly as possible.

Gibbs chuckled quietly. Young love, he thought to himself, before snapping out of it. Now was not the time for memories.

Tony chattered away in the car, talking about cars and the new movie that was set to come out this weekend.

"I really hope we get this case closed so I can go watch it with Zi." He babbled excitedly.

Gibbs momentarily took his hands off the steering wheel to deliver a headslap to his Senior Field Agent.

"Enough, DiNozzo." He told the younger man. "Keep it out of the office."

They passed through the gates leading into the Navy Yard before parking and entering the building.

Tony and Gibbs flashed their badges at security. Tony glanced meaningfully at the stairs and Gibbs sighed.

"Alright, go find her." Gibbs told him.

Tony whooped and raced down the stairs. As he approached Abby's lab, the sound of voices brought him to a halt.

"He is my other half, Abby." He heard Ziva say. "There are so many things I wish I could say to him but I am not yet strong enough."

Then came Abby's voice. "Oh Ziva. If only you knew how much Tony loves you, how much he has loved you for all these years. Just have faith in him."

Their words brought tears to Tony's eyes. He'd never known just how much he was loved.