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“DiNozzo.” He answers on auto pilot, still in shock from his previous call only a few minutes before.
“Tony, are you okay?” Ziva's voice comes over the phone. He doesn’t say anything, the only thing she can hear is his staggered breathing. “I’m coming over.” And with that, the line goes dead.
It doesn’t take her long to show up, but he wasn’t really paying attention anyways. The shock to his body is enough to suffocate him, and he’s just barely holding on. She doesn’t knock, nor does he answer. She walks into his living room, sits beside him on the couch, and pulls his head to her chest. She holds him silently.
After an hour, they find themselves face to face on the couch, arms wrapped around one another.
“How did it happen?” She asks, her lips barely moving.
He closes his eyes shut, trying not to think about it. “An octogenarian.”
Her brows crease. “Tony, I do not think an octopus has anything to do with it.” His laugh comes out as a snort, an almost real laugh.
“No, no Ziva. An octogenarian , a person who is in their eighties who is still having sex.”
“So like your father?” The man pinches his eyes shut, doing his best to get rid of the images, he nods slowly. “How does an octogenarian have anything to do with your father, Tony?” She asks. He groans and buries his face into the couch.
After a moment he faces her again. “They-” He gulps, squeezing his eyes shut. “They found him with a woman, one who had called the ambulance. He was naked. She was in a bathrobe.” He opens a single eye when he hears a giggle escaping her throat. “What?” Her laughing gets harder. “Ziva!”
“Oh Tony!” She places a hand on her chest. “Do you not think that if Senior wanted to go, this would have been the way he would prefer?” His face flushes. “I think I know another DiNozzo who would want to go out the same way.” A grin grows on his face, thinking of how lucky he would be to even have a chance to do that.