"I have been thinking." Ziva said as she caught Tim in the break room for a few minutes. She was aware that this wasn't the greatest setting to discuss what had been on her mind ever since her conversation with Tony, but her thoughts had been circling around this topic, and she felt that she had to get them out or risk blurting them the next time Gibbs came asking for new results.

"Huh?" Tim asked distractedly, whacking the vending machine. "This thing ate my dollar!" he exclaimed in frustration. Ziva rolled her eyes and kicked against the side of the machine, making it drop something. Tim reached down and got the Mars bar, making a face at it before sighing and holding it out to her. Ziva shook her head.

"Sorry. What did you say?" her boyfriend asked as he found another dollar in his wallet and drew a deep breath before starting the task of inserting the crumbled bill into the machine. Ziva blinked in surprise, waiting briefly, but he made no indication that he would stop what he was doing and give her his undivided attention at the moment. So she worked up her courage, or at least, she tried to as she found her irritation suddenly building quickly.

"That I have been thinking, and- could you at least look at me?" Ziva demanded in exasperation when he continued to focus on the task of getting himself fed. Tim's head snapped up in surprise as Ziva's eyes widened and she took a deep breath. "I am sorry, I… forget it." she shook her head, her nerves getting the better of her as she grabbed the bill from him and inserted it into the machine before punching in the number for the Nutter Butters. When the bar fell down, Tim made no move to get it. Instead, he gently touched her arm and made her turn around.

"I'm sorry. What is it you were thinking about?" he asked her, his green eyes apologetic. Ziva drew a deep breath and bit her lip.

"Us." she whispered, closing her eyes briefly as she searched for her courage and exhaled slowly before looking at him again. G-d, she loved him so much… She reached out and gently stroked his cheek, a soft smile starting to appear on Tim's features after the brief flash of panic had washed over them. "I want to get married." Ziva husked, swallowing thickly against the lump in her throat. Tim blinked, his smile crumbling.

"You… what?" he breathed and Ziva clenched her jaw. Not the reaction she had been hoping for, but then again, her declaration did come as somewhat of a surprise. Just weeks ago she had told him that, while she was allowing for the possibility of them getting married in the future, she was nowhere near ready for that big of a step at the moment.

"I want to get married." she repeated. "To you. I want us to get married." she clarified when he still looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"Are you… proposing?" Tim frowned and Ziva shrugged.

"Well, yes, I guess I am." she allowed, frustration starting to build. "Do you want me to go down on one knee?" she asked him, growing impatient and increasingly nervous. Again, Tim blinked, slowly shaking his head.

"No. No, I… jeez, you're-" he cut himself off before wrapping his arms around her tightly as his lips descended on hers in a passionate and needy kiss. Now that was a reaction she could accept, Ziva thought before kissing him back, tangling her hands in his hair.

"God, I love you." he breathed against her lips, holding onto her between kisses.

"So, is that a yes?" Ziva got in, holding onto him. Tim broke their lip lock and stared at her with an incredulous expression.

"Are you kidding me? Of course!" he exclaimed, taking her face into his hands. "Yes, I will marry you, Ziva David." he promised her, grinning when Ziva's lips tugged upwards and her face split into a happy smile as she felt a huge weight lift off her chest. Why had she been so nervous about this, anyway?

"Good." she nodded, pulling him in for another kiss.

"Ugh, guys!" Tony exclaimed as he walked in on them then, scrunching up his face. "Break's over, come on. The boss is pissed and I'm tired of being the only target in sight." he told them. Tim rolled his eyes as he reluctantly let go of his girlfriend, no, his fiancée and the three made their way back to the squad room. He needed to get her a ring, as soon as they caught Dearing, he would move it at the top of his to do list.

"Why are you two grinning like that?" Tony asked them, narrowing his eyes at them suspiciously when he noticed the happy mood his co-workers were in all of a sudden. He couldn't see a reason for the huge smiles on their faces, seeing as the lunatic Dearing was still running around.

"Nothing. Just happy in general." Ziva shrugged.

"Yeah, impending weddings make me all fuzzy on the inside." Tim added in a teasing tone, his eyes finding her dark ones and delighting in the joy he found in them.

"Get out! Everyone out of the building!" Tony called, helping Ziva shoo the other people along. "Okay, come on, we need to get out of here." he told her grabbing her arm. Ziva nodded and made to follow him when she suddenly froze.

"Ziva, come on, this isn't-"

"Tim." she breathed, her eyes widening in fear.

"Probie's fine, come you, we have to get out of here." Tony insisted, trying to pull her along. She stared at his hand before yanking her arm from his grasp.

"Ziva!"

"Go on, I'll just check that he got out." she told him, already sprinting down the hallway towards the bullpen.

Tim rose from his seat and yanked the USB drive out of the socket, hoping that the files didn't get damaged by the abrupt removal. He pocketed it and eyed his backpack before deciding that he was going to be faster without it. The squad room was nearly deserted. He took a step towards the elevator before remembering that the director's car was parked out front. If it went up, it would be safer to take the back exit. There was another staircase there, if he hurried he could probably make it…

He turned and started jogging in the other direction, running into someone just as he rounded the corner.

"Dammit, I'm sorry-" he started, steadying the other person. "Ziva?" he breathed, panic bubbling up inside of him. She wasn't supposed to be here, she should have left with Tony minutes ago.

"I wanted to check that you were gone, and-"

"We've got to get out of here." Tim cut her off. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along before Ziva picked up the speed and they started running again. As they reached the end of the hallway, Tim slammed his hand on the elevator button in frustration, but Ziva shook her head.

"Fire drill." she threw at him before opening the door to the stairwell, waiting for Tim to slip in before she went after him, casting a last look down the hallway. They had barely made it down one floor when the force of the explosion shook the building. Tim had reached the landing and stopped, his arms going out as he tried to keep his balance, but Ziva had been mid-step and lost her footing, crashing into him and sending them to the floor as the ceiling started raining down on them and the lights went out...

And that was Fools Who Fell Behind. I want to thank everyone for reading and leaving your thoughts and the alerts and faves this story received. I'm sorry I kept you waiting so long at times.

I'm not sure if I will do something like this again next season. I know I would like to, but that depends hugely on the direction Season 10 (wow, is it ten already?) will be taking.

Again, thank you for reading.

Doro =)