Tony bolted awake in his bed, dragging in ragged breaths. Sweat beaded on his brow, plastering his hair to his forehead. His heart hammered in his chest, and the light streaming in through his bedroom window seemed far too bright. “Ziva!” he gasped, the first word in his mind escaping his lips.
There was a sleepy murmur beside him, and he felt a slender finger tracing up his arm. “What is it?”
He took in several deep breaths, trying to better orient himself. He looked to the other side of the bed, which was currently occupied by a mostly-asleep woman. Ziva was entwined in the white sheets, her brown eyes blinking slowly up at him. He smiled softly down at her as his nightmare dissipated.
“Bad dream,” he explained, laying back down on his so that he was facing Ziva. “Really bad dream.”
“You. You went back to Israel. I hunted you for months, but when I finally found you, I couldn’t convince you to come back. You stayed behind and I came back to DC alone.” He shuddered slightly, brushing a strand of dark hair out of her eyes. “Promise not to run off on me?”
Ziva smiled at him. “Never. And why would I choose to stay in Israel? More importantly, why would I give up NCIS? I left everything behind for a reason. I’m a US citizen, worked for years to become an NCIS agent. Going back to Israel, it would not make sense.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Tony agreed, kissing her softly on the forehead. “Something like that would never happen.”