As promised, rewritten and improved, plus a new chapter!

One

Ziva rolled over in bed and grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand. She flipped it open without looking at the caller ID. "What?" She asked sharply.

"Ziva, I need you down at George Washington Hospital ER." Gibbs said.

Ziva sat up. "Why? What happened?" She asked, slightly panicked.

"Something happened to Tony. I'm not exactly sure what." Gibbs told her.

"Is he okay?" She asked, already thinking the worst.

"He won't tell me anything and he won't let anyone near him." Gibbs said.

Ziva sat for a moment. She's never known Tony not to talk. "Give me ten minutes." She told Gibbs before pressing the end call button.

She threw the blanket off of her body and grabbed her car keys. If Tony was hurt she sure as hell wasn't going to take the extra time to change from her sweatpants and tank top into a business suit or something. She fumbled with her keys for a moment before she locked her apartment door and headed outside to her car.

XXXXX

Ziva walked through the sliding doors of the Emergency Room seven minutes later and spotted Gibbs sitting in a chair in the corner.

He stood up as she walked toward him.

"What happened?" Ziva asked.

"Two uniformed cops found him in a parking lot, naked, bleeding, and beat up." Gibbs told her.

Ziva's breath caught in her throat. "Why do you need me here?" She asked. Not that she didn't want to be there, but still.

"Because he won't talk to me. He won't even let me in the room. I'm hoping he'll talk to you." Gibbs said.

"Why would he talk to me?" Ziva asked.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow in that 'you know what I'm talking about' way, and Ziva nodded.

"I will try."

Gibbs nodded. "That's all I'm asking." He told her. He led Ziva down a hallway by the nursing station. "Room one-fourteen, two doors down on the right." He said.

Ziva nodded silently and walked down the hall to Tony's room.

She knocked on the closed door quietly.

"Go away Gibbs." Tony said, his voice hoarse.

"It's me." Ziva said gently. "Can I come in?"

"I guess." Tony replied quietly.

Ziva turned the doorknob and walked into the small sterile room. Keeping her facial expression neutral as she looked Tony over, it pained her to see that the right side of Tony's face was almost black with bruises and his eye was close to swollen shut.

He looked up at her, and a look that resembled something between fear… and shame crossed his face before he looked away quickly.

"How are you feeling?" Ziva asked as she sat down in the chair beside his bed.

"Fine." He said quietly.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Ziva asked.

"Is that the only reason you're here? To take my statement?" Tony asked angrily.

Ziva shook her head, resting a hand on his leg. He flinched at the contact and she pulled her hand away quickly. "Of course that is not the only reason I am here. But it is still important Tony."

He shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Tell me what happened, and then I will decide for myself whether or not I believe it, okay?" Ziva asked.

Tony nodded. "I think I can do that." He says.

Ziva smiled softly, even though he was looking away from her. "Okay." She said as she sat back in the chair. "Whenever you're ready."

Tony nodded. "I don't know where to start." He said.

"The beginning is normally a good place."

"Right, the beginning… Uhm, I was at a bar, dancing, having a good time on my night off, and this girl started dancing with me, so I was like 'yeah, okay, this is cool,' and apparently she had a boyfriend… he didn't like that I was dancing with his girl. He got physical and we took it outside." He said as he reached for the glass of water on the table in front of him.

He winced when he stretched, and Ziva handed him the cup.

"Thanks." He said softly. He wouldn't look her in the eye, he couldn't.

"Is that all that happened?" Ziva asked.

Tony shook his head no. "The other guy was a big talker, but he couldn't fight to save his life. I got a good swing in an he went down, and he ran off with his girl, and I figured since I'd already been kicked out of the bar I might as well just go home. I didn't have anything to drink, I just wanted to dance, so I was headed to my car when they grabbed me from behind." He said, taking another sip of his water.

"How many of them were there?" Ziva asked.

"Two."

"Men?"

Tony nodded.

"What happened after they grabbed you?" She asked.

"They dragged me behind the dumpster behind the bar, one of them pinned me down and the other kicked the crap out of me. I couldn't figure out how to fight them off. I tried twisting and throwing them off of me, but it didn't work. I just… I couldn't get them off." He said quietly.

Ziva nodded. "Tony, when the police found you, you had no clothes on." I say.

"It doesn't matter." He said.

"It matters to me Tony." Ziva told him.

He looked up at her with tears in his eyes and told her exactly what she didn't want him to say.

"They raped me."

Ziva sat quietly for a moment, trying to think about what she should say to him.

Tony looked away. "I told you you wouldn't believe me."

"I believe you Tony." She told him firmly.

He looked back up at her. "You do?"

Ziva leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she looked into Tony's eyes. "Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "Because I'm a guy." He said simply.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ziva asked.

"You know, guys are supposed to be tough. We're supposed to be able to take care of ourselves." He said.

"It is hard to take care of yourself when you have been grabbed from behind Tony." Ziva told him.

"I'm a federal agent! I shouldn't have let them get behind me in the first place." Tony said.

"How were you supposed to know they were even there? Do you have eyes in the back of your head now?" Ziva asked.

Tony shook his head. "I shouldn't have let it happen." He said as tears ran down his cheeks.

"You did not letit happen Tony." Ziva told him as she gently wiped the tears off his face.

Tony looked up at her. "I guess you have to tell Gibbs don't you?" He asked.

Ziva nodded. "Yes."

"What's he gonna think of me? He'll never let me out in the field again." Tony said.

"Why do you think that?" Ziva asked.

"Because I couldn't fight them off!" He yelled.

Ziva flinched at the sudden loudness of his voice and he calmed down.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have raised my voice, it's not your fault." He said.

"Can I say something now?" Ziva asked.

Tony nodded.

"I'm in the field." She said.

"What's your point?" Tony asked.

"The logic you are going by is that because you were overpoweredby two people, and something terrible happened to you, you will not be allowed in the field anymore, right?" Ziva asked.

Tony nodded. "Pretty much, yeah."

"Then I shouldn't be allowed in the field either, correct?" She asked.

Tony looked puzzled. "Why wouldn't you be allowed in the field?"

"Because of Somalia, and Saleem." Ziva told him, trying her best to make him understand what happened in Somalia without having to say it out loud.

"You mean he…? He trailed off.

Ziva nodded. "I was there for three months Tony, surely you did not think I was tied to a chair and left aloe the entire time?" She said.

"You never told me." Tony said.

"I never told anyone."

Tony reached out to hold Ziva's hand. "You could have told me Ziva." He said softly.

Ziva smiled softly. "I know I could have. I was dealing with it on my own, that was how I was taught."

He nodded. "You know it doesn't change anything right?"

"I do." Ziva told him. "So why is it any different if it is you?"

"You didn't tell anybody. Gibbs doesn't know." Tony said.

"Gibbs knows everything Tony." Ziva said.

Tony smiled. "That is true, isn't it?"

"It took a while for me to believe it, but the man is gifted." Ziva said with a small laugh.

"What's McGee going to think of me? All this time I've been making fun of him for being small, and weak, and now I'm the small, weak one." Tony stated.

"He loves you Tony. You're like his brother, he will not think any differently of you."

Tony nodded silently.

"Can you tell me what they looked like?" Ziva asked.

"They were white, both about six feet, one had brown hair, and the other, the one that held me down was blond, with blue eyes, and he had a birthmark on his neck and the right side of his jaw." He said.

"Did they use a condom?" Ziva asked.

Tony shook his head no. "I don't think so."

Ziva nodded. "Okay Tony. I'm gonna go tell Gibbs so McGee can put out an APB." She said as she stood up and started to head for the door.

"You're gonna come back right?" Tony asked.

Ziva turned back to face him. He looked terrified that she would leave and not come back. "Of course I will." She said.

"I don't want to see Gibbs right now. I can't." He said.

Ziva nodded. "Alright." She said softly. "I will be right back." She said before pulling the door open.

She walked back down the hall to the emergency waiting room and Gibbs walked back over to her.

"He must've said something for you to be in there that long." Gibbs said.

Ziva nodded. "He was attacked from behind by two men. They dragged him behind a dumpster and while one of them held him down, they raped him Gibbs." She said with a sigh.

Gibbs just nodded. "Description?"

"Both were about six feet, one had brown hair, the other was blond, blue eyes, with a large birthmark on his neck and the right side of his jaw." Ziva old him.

"I'll call McGee." Gibbs said as he began to walk toward Tony's room.

Ziva ran after him and stopped him about five feet from the door. "Don't go in there right now Gibbs."

"Why?" Gibbs asked.

Ziva bit her lip. "He does not want to see you right now." She said.

A look of hurt crossed his face. "Why not?" He asked.

"He is scared of what you will think of him." Ziva told him.

"I don't think any less of him." Gibbs said quietly.

"I know that, but for some reason he does not. He is… vulnerable right now… I think he just needs time." Ziva said.

Gibbs nodded. "Alright. I'll go back to the office, have they done evidence collection?" He asked.

"I am not sure. I will check, and have it sent over to Abby as soon as it is finished." Ziva said.

"Take care of him, Ziva." Gibbs said.

"I will." She declared.

Gibbs nodded, and Ziva stood, watching him walk of the building toward the parking lot.