This story is posted in honor of Sehrezad's birthday today. :D Boldog születésnap, barátom!

A little background is in order for this one. At the end of May, Sehrezad wrote a wonderfully poignant story about Gibbs and Ziva called "Three Days." As often happens with good stories, my mind would not let it end there and this the result of that. Despite the fact that she later posted her own fabulous sequel entitled "The Right Time, The Right Place," Sehrezad encouraged me to post this alternate ending to her original story. It is a good friend indeed who will do that. So, go read her story, then come back and read this. The link to her story is on my profile page or you can find it through hers, of course. Let me know what you think, and wish Sehrezad a very happy day! Enjoy your reading! =)

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Approximately two years later…

Ziva walked – swaggered really – into the NCIS bullpen looking for Special Agent Gibbs. Gibbs. Just the thought of him made her heart beat faster and put butterflies in her stomach. She had the advantage; he had no idea she was coming. But she had known him the moment she'd seen his picture while preparing a detailed dossier on him at her brother Ari's recent request.

God, could this get any more complicated? she asked herself, closing her eyes for a moment. She was here to stop the man she loved – still loved after all this time with no contact and knowing very little about him – from killing her brother. It appeared Ari had murdered one of Gibbs' agents with a sniper shot, and Gibbs was out for blood.

She had dreamed of meeting him again, the man she now knew to be Leroy Jethro Gibbs. They'd had three days on a train that had been nothing short of magical…three stolen days during which they had rarely left her sleeping compartment and had shared so much – all but their names, their occupations and any other identifying information. By unspoken agreement, those details were absent from their conversations, as though the encroachment of real life would somehow burst the perfect bubble they had unexpectedly created.

But she had never imagined their next meeting would be like this: at odds over her brother. There were people, including her own father, saying that Ari had been fooling them all, that he could no longer be trusted by anyone. Ziva, however, just could not believe that. There had to be some other explanation and she was determined to discover it, while saving her brother in the process.

She pulled herself out of her reverie and moved to the only occupied desk. A man sat there seemingly lost in memories of his own. Their exchange ranged from slightly contentious to mildly flirtatious. She was playing a role and she played it well. She learned that this was Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, and that he was not pleased to see her.

Suddenly the elevator doors opened and Gibbs strode purposefully into the bullpen accompanied by an attractive redhead. Ziva couldn't immediately decide if it was better or worse that the new NCIS Director was with him.

Needing a few moments to make sure her composure would hold when her eyes met his, Ziva stepped forward and greeted Director Shepherd first. While they had worked together in Cairo some time ago, they had not seen each other since. After Jenny had welcomed Ziva, she made introductions.

"Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, this is Mossad Officer Ziva David. She will be assisting in your investigation and is to be kept in the loop at all times."

Ziva raised her eyes to his, knowing from his stillness that he'd recognized her – and was reeling from it.

She gave him a small smile and offered her hand. Slowly he reached for it. There was no outward sign of the jolt each received from the contact as their hands met, but they could feel it sizzling between them. As in tune with each other as they had been two years ago, neither spoke of the past.

"Officer David."

"Please. Call me Ziva," she said, pleased with the steadiness of her voice.

The situation was too dire for small talk and the conversation quickly moved into the reason Ziva was there: to stop Gibbs from killing Ari Haswari. She informed them that she was his control officer, but did not reveal that she and Ari shared a father.

After giving orders to the others, Gibbs headed for the elevator. He stopped and looked back at Ziva.

"You're with me."

Once they were inside the elevator, he pushed the stop button and turned to her as if in slow motion. He held himself aloof, but his eyes burned with emotion.

"I still think about you."

She gave a ghost of a smile. "And I still think about you."

He took two steps toward her and gently cupped her cheek. As moths drawn to a flame, their mouths moved inexorably closer until they melted together in a kiss that rocked them both. In the space of a quickly-drawn breath, the previous two years vanished, leaving their world reduced to nothing but each other once again.

When they parted, he rested his forehead against hers, trying to steady his galloping heart. "When this is over, we need to talk."

She pulled back to look up at him with eyes bathed in shadows.

"If you still want to."

He held her gaze for a long moment, knowing she was right. What lay ahead might destroy whatever chance they had at being together - and he didn't know the half of it.

X X X X X X X X

Eventually, it all came down to Gibbs and Ari in Gibbs' basement, with Ziva listening at the top of the stairs, her heart breaking. Gibbs – and her father – had been right; Ari had changed. How had she missed it? No matter. Those thoughts were for another time. Right now she had to stop him. And she did.

As she bent over Ari's lifeless body moments later, she noted somewhat woodenly that she must advise his father.

"Who's his father?" Jethro asked.

"Deputy Director David."

"David? He's your brother?"

"Half-brother."

"You killed your own brother?" Gibbs asked, almost incredulously.

She raised eyes that were already haunted and drenched in tears to his face.

"I could not let him kill you, Jethro," she defended her action in a raw whisper. "Not you."

He gazed into those beautiful brown eyes he'd seen so many times in his dreams. Then he wrapped his arms around her, needing to give her comfort. At first, she resisted, remaining stiff. Then, slowly, muscle by muscle, she softened against him, soaking his shirtfront with her silent tears.

Gibbs' mind was spinning, overloaded with all he'd seen and heard in such a short time, beginning with the second he'd laid eyes on her in his squad room. Suddenly the impact of what she had just done to save his life ripped the blinders from his eyes…and his heart.

As improbable as it seemed, he realized beyond a shadow of a doubt that what they had found together during that fleeting train ride through foreign countryside was worth protecting at any cost…and was perhaps more real than anything he'd ever experienced or even imagined. And she felt it, too.

And in those moments he vowed that, no matter the twists and turns in the road ahead for them, he was never letting her go again.