Disclaimer: See the first chapter for all the usual legal mumbo-jumbo.

Authors Note: So, I've been gone for a while. Ten days actually. Went to Florida on vacation with the Boss. No kids. It was great. While I was on the beach on Captiva Island waiting for the green flash (clouds showed up, no green flash) this chapter came to me. This was supposed to be a one-shot. However, both M E Wofford & Betherzz pointed out that the first song was more about Tony than Tony and Ziva. This caused me to re-think the one-shot thing. So here's the second chapter. Ziva's perspective. There will be no third chapter. My head hurts. The song is "Broken" by Seether with Amy Lee (Don't ask). This writing out your comfort zone stuff is the pits. On a brighter note, I also came up with a new Mike Franks plot line. No beta on this chapter either. Going to try working without a net.

Spoilers: Ya think?

Tel Aviv, Israel In front of Mossad HQ

'Cause I'm broken when I'm open

And I don't feel like I am strong enough

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you're gone away

"To save your worthless ass"

Mossad Officer Ziva David was angry. Killing angry. The object of that anger was lying beneath her, her Sig pressed into his chest.

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, her partner was two and a half pounds of pressure from death. And he was goading her! Typical Tony. Didn't he realize no one who had ever seen her like this had survived? Of course not.

"KILL HIM", her forebrain was screaming. However, way back in her mind, a tiny voice was whispering "He was watching your back. He's always watched your back."

Abruptly she stood, slammed the Sig into its holster and walked stiff backed to the doors of Mossad headquarters.

In the reflection of the glass, she watched Tony struggle to regain his feet. She wanted to run back and help him. To apologize for dropping him onto his bad shoulder. She did neither. She walked away.

Interrogation room, Saleem's camp, 4 months later

"There were no survivors"

They had come for her, hooded her up and dragged her from her cell. Ziva David figured she was spending her last minutes on this mortal coil. The interrogations and other activities had stopped at least ten days ago. Ziva had been ignored except for food and water delivered occasionally. Ziva had made her peace with God. She was ready to die. She wanted to die. Her father had betrayed her. Michael had betrayed her. She had turned her back on the only people who really cared about her. She had forced Gibbs to choose. So he had.

As the hood was ripped from her head and she saw who was wire-tied to the chair opposite her's, she couldn't have been more shocked.

Tony had come for her! In her peripheral vision she saw a familiar form stretched out on the floor. McGee!

Oh God, we're all going to die here was her first thought. But Tony was babbling about a plan. He was wire-tied to a chair and McGee was out cold. Some plan! Wait, where was GIBBS? If Tony was here and McGee was here, GIBBS had to be here.

Ziva suddenly started to think like Mossad again. They were in a room with a large window. The plans of the camp that she had studied those many months ago came back. Ziva knew exactly where Gibbs was. Eight hundred meters away. On the ridgeline. With a sniper rifle.

Several minutes later, when the glass of that window broke and the thud of a high velocity rifle round meeting flesh resounded in the room, Ziva David knew she was going home.

Men's Room, NCIS HQ

The worst is over now and we can breathe again

I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away

There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight

I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

"What matters is you had my back. That you have always had my back."

As she leaned in to kiss Tony, the images of Michael and Roy flashed thru Ziva David's mind, causing her to alter her aim and kiss him on the cheek.

Ziva had trailed Tony into the men's room after hearing from her two other friends. Abby's rant and McGee's quiet advice had given her the courage to confront Tony. But at the last second she had bailed. People she cared about had a nasty habit of dying. Ziva thought she'd be able to recapture the imitative. Tony though chose that moment to have a breakthrough about the case and went running for the bullpen.

I'm going to sit him down and we're going to settle this.

Brave words, spoken too soon.

A/N: Well, there it is. As I said, no more after this. Let me know how I did by poking the little green button below. Back to more my style of writing soon. Yes, M E, that means a Mike story in the offing.