The Vows

The Ring

The Kiss…

The elevator shook as the bomb went off. Ziva instinctively wrapped her arms around Tony and squeezed her eyes shut. Tony panicked and followed Ziva's movements he tried to hold their body weight up but gravity was a powerful enemy and they were both slammed to the ground.

Tony felt a sharp pain on the back of his head as he hit the steel door and Ziva's warm body enveloped itself into his embrace. He held her hand as she fell into it. Her face landed on his chest. The elevator plummeted and both their stomachs were left on the top floor.

They could hear the cables above the elevator as they viciously whipped away at the elevator shaft as if they had become wild animals on a hunt. The air sliced through Ziva's hair as the ceiling crashed on their fragile bodies. The sound of metal crushing with ease radiated all around them.

They were trapped, helpless, and falling to their death. Before they hit the ground they both fell unconscious. The elevator crashed on the ground floor and blew the doors into a twisted knot.

The walls of the ground floor cracked and the picture frames shattered as they hit the ground.

Tony and Ziva were buried in debris and both had significant injuries. Hours passed and a rescue team had been initiated; the severely injured being their top priority. Tony was the first to awake and in much agony. His left leg had been crushed and his head stung.

Tony felt he was going to lose the contents of his stomach. He felt incredible nausea when he spotted Ziva in his arms and a stream of blood flowing from her forehead down her neck to her shoulder. She had been hit by a sharp piece of drywall. The drywall was not only responsible for her serious wounds but also for her being in the state of unconsciousness.

Tony did not think twice, he checked her pulse and was relieved when he discovered a light beating. She was alive but Tony was unaware of how severe her injuries were. Just when he noticed her eyelids begin to flicker he suddenly felt the sharp pain in his leg.

He let out an unwillingly scream and this awoke Ziva in an instant. Her eyes fluttered opened and she was immediately in shock. She looked around desperate to find Tony and discern the reason behind his screams of pain. Ziva was lying on top of him, her face on his chest.

She tilted her head upward and saw Tony, his neck was red and his veins looked as if they were sewn into his skin as he screamed continuously for three minutes. Ziva counted.

"Tony." She spoke at last.

Her throat reprimanded her for the action but she paid little attention to her body and the agony she felt. She could feel a thick cloud of dust around her as she spoke but forced herself to speak.

"Tony what is the matter? Can I help-" She was cut off by a fitting cough and by Tony's screams she continued to look at him and brought her hand up to his face and tried to sooth him as best she could.

Then, suddenly as Ziva's shock wore off she could feel pain throughout her entire body. She was starting to feel the damage the bomb and crashing elevator had caused her.

Tony gritted his teeth and tried his best to answer Ziva but the pain was unbearable. He withered in agony then responded to Ziva who was now inhaling deeply trying desperately to keep from shrieking.

"I think… I think my leg's broken. Are you okay? Do you have any serious injuries?" Tony had trouble speaking as the waves of pain drowned him.

Ziva responded honestly although it went against her strong essence.

"I… I'm not sure, yet. I have a headache and by back hurts." Tony bit his lip and forced himself to look at Ziva's back to inspect the damage.

She had drywall digging into her spine trailing all the way down to her lower back. Tony attempted to push it off to the side but there was something heavier holding the drywall in place.

He gave another powerful push which sliced the space between his thumb and index finger on his right hand when his grip slipped. The excruciating pain in his leg prevented him from feeling any pain on his new injury.

"I…ahh…I can't get it off, I'm sorry Zi it just won't budge." Tony breathed heavily and he looked into her eyes helplessly. She understood and managed to give him a small smile through her evident pain.

Tony's leg numbed itself after a few minutes; it was his body's way of shutting down in a catastrophic situation.

"What happened?" He asked Ziva.

"Isn't it obvious? Dearing set the bomb off." Ziva answered surprised he had not remembered.

Tony felt that everything felt so distant. He remembered being in the elevator with Ziva, everything shook and she wrapped her arms around him, they fell to the ground and then everything went black.

After the bomb went off he felt everything went in slow motion and decided to share this with Ziva seeing as they were trapped in what seemed to be and inescapable steel cage.

"Did it seem kind of slow to you?" Ziva sucked in a deep breathe of dusty air then asked.

"What?" She was unsure of the meaning of his question.

"When the bomb went off, did it seem like everything was in slow motion? You hugged me, we fell-"Ziva cut him off before he could go on.

"I did not hug you." She tried to lie but it did not work.

"Oh c'mon Ziva you were… terrified." Tony choked on some dust then finished his statement.

"Tony." Ziva started but was unable to finish so Tony pushed for her to continue.

"Yeah?"

"How do we…" Ziva began analyzing her surroundings suddenly becoming claustrophobic.

"How do we … what?" Tony continued to push for her to finish her question.

"How do we get out Tony? Can we get out? We're stuck and it's really tight and uncomfortable especially with this drywall on my back. Every breath is difficult and your leg…" Tony sensed from the speed of her thoughts that she was beginning to panic which was usual for Ziva but he assumed her nerves were high from the bomb blast.

"Hey, its okay don't worry will make it out. We always make it. You and me, we're…we're a team. We'll get through this one. It's just another challenge. We got each other and we'll be okay, everything's gonna be alright. Okay?" Tony tried his best to comfort her but he was feeling the dreadful emotion of fear and doubt as he started to analyze their situation. Tony repeated his last statement.

"Everything is gonna be alright." He spoke in a whisper and he tightened his grasp around Ziva, as they were still in a semi hug formation.

Although his encouraging lines were meant for Ziva, to calm her, he was suddenly finding himself in need of reassuring words.

"Everything is gonna be alright." Ziva looked into his eyes ignoring her aching body when he repeated himself for the third time.

For the first time in a long time Ziva saw fear in Tony's eyes. She had not seen that emotion in his beautiful emerald eyes for months. Ziva knew in that moment he needed as much comfort as she did.

"Tony," She waited until his eyes met hers to continue, "We're gonna get him, okay." She smiled at the memory of Tony comforting her after Mike Franks' death and this seemed to provide them both with a sudden comfort that they were both in need of.

"I know Ziva. I know." Tony returned her smile.

They held each other hoping, praying that everything would be alright.

Should I continue this? And if I should would you prefer a longer or shorter story? Tell me what you think.

Agent T