Summer in New York
Disclaimer: I don't own anything connecting to the show.
Summary: Ziva David goes to New York to spend her vacation with her brother. During her time there she meets a lot of new people, makes some good friends and finds love. Well, what could a summer in New York be other than interesting? (Alternate Universe with Zibbs, Tate, McAbby and a couple of other things)
Here comes a huge "thank you" to my wonderful friend, Zivacentric, who is always there to listen to my babbling and give me advice and encouragement. Thank you!
Chapter 1
In the midst of a large crowd, Ziva David stepped into the waiting area of the airport with an expression of utter exhaustion and boredom. It was a long way from Tel Aviv to New York and she felt as if her flight had lasted for ages. Her whole face lit up, though, as soon as she spotted her brother, Ari Haswari, in the sea of strangers. Forgetting all about her exhaustion, a genuine smile appeared on her face as she made her way towards the man and threw herself into his arms. For a moment, Ari lost his balance as Ziva and her large backpack collided with him, but then he hugged his little sister to himself, laughing.
"Missed me much, Ziva?" He asked the young woman smiling. Ziva didn't answer, though, she just held her brother tighter. "I missed you, too, Princess. Come on." He gently peeled her arms from around him and took her large backpack. "You were up all night. You need a little sleep."
"Are you kidding, Ari? I am way too excited to sleep." And that was the truth. However exhausted she was, she was way more excited to think about sleep. "I can't wait to see New York. And I want to spend as much time with you as I can."
"We have more than two months, Zee." Ari told her, bemused.
"That is right. We have only got a little more than two months."
"Well, I'm certainly not going to argue with you about it, especially not this early in the morning." Ari put his arm around Ziva's shoulder and together they began to walk towards the exit.
When Ari parked the car in the parking lot near his apartment, Ziva exited it with great excitement. It was the first time that she could take a look at the place where her brother lived. Ari got her bag and they started towards his apartment building.
At first sight it certainly didn't look the most welcoming part of the city, Ziva noted as they left the parking lot and they found themselves in the middle of a large street. It was incredibly busy for the early morning. Cars were honking impatiently on the wide road and it seemed that every person on the street was already running late as they desperately tried to get somewhere.
"Is it always this busy here?" She asked curiously.
"Well, they call it the city that never sleeps for a reason." Ari chuckled. "Here we are." They stopped in front of a large gateway which led into the yard of the four-story-building Ari lived in. Ziva took in the large old building. In a way, it was beautiful with its faded paint and large windows whose white frame was flaked off in places. She couldn't help wondering what stories that old house could tell her. She noticed a book shop right under the building, on one side of the large cast-iron gate and she could see the large sign of a bar on the other side of it. She smiled up at her brother.
"That's the Backstage?"
"Yes. I'll show you later. But now, unlike you, I seriously have to catch up on some sleep. Come on."
They passed the gateway and Ari was about to turn and enter one of the stairways that opened on either side of the gateway, but Ziva stopped to gaze around the building. It was perfectly done up on the inside. The tall doors of the apartments and the frames of the large windows were spotless white and the pale yellow color of the walls looked really charming with the black cast-iron railings that surrounded the open corridors that embraced a quite spacious yard.
Ziva was snapped out of her reverie when a tall dark figure bumped into her, nearly knocking the woman off of her feet. She cried up indignantly but the man didn't even stop.
"Wow. He does not really have manners, yes?" She turned to Ari who was still standing in the door of the stairway.
"That's very right." He agreed then walked up to his sister. "But there is no need for it to bother you. He is the man you won't really see anymore."
"Is he moving out?"
"No." Ari laughed out. "But nobody ever really sees him. He is Kort, Trent Kort." He told her secretively. "We just call him the Secret Agent Man."
"Secret Agent? Is he CIA or anything like that?"
"C.I.A., yes… as in Chronically Insufferable Asshole. He is a salesman."
"Really? What does he sell?"
"Baby products." Ari chuckled while Ziva looked at him in disbelief. "No. Really." Ari lifted his hands in defense. "But forget about him. All the other occupants in this house are fairly nice. Well, maybe except for Gibbs." He added with a shrug. "I'm sure you'll love it here, Zee." And at that exact moment a door was snapped open somewhere in the house, accompanied by some loud yelling.
"Go to hell, DiNozzo." A very pissed off woman's voice echoed in the open area.
"Oh, I'd gladly do that, Sweet Cheeks, but I'm already THERE!" A man's equally annoyed voice called back, however, he sounded as if he had been enjoying it.
Ziva turned towards the voices and she could see the man leaving one of the apartments on the third floor.
"Well, maybe there are a little more exceptions." Ari corrected his previous statement as once again silence reigned in the house. "You'll get used to it. The DiNozzos are just kissing goodbye that way." He explained as the man from upstairs appeared from the staircase.
"Hey, Ari." He greeted the other man with a huge satisfied grin as if he had really just kissed goodbye to his wife, then he stopped when he noticed Ziva standing next to his friend. "Isn't it a little early to bring a girl home, Ari? Or is she just leaving?" He winked at Ziva, who wasn't amused at all.
"Isn't it a little early to piss off the missus, Tony?" Ari shot back. Tony was about to answer when a sharp whistle interrupted him.
"DiNozzo." Tony's wife was standing by the railing. "Miss anything?"
"Yes, my peace, Darling." Tony gave her a charming smile.
"Your wallet, you idiot." With that the woman threw it at him but then she caught sight of Ari and Ziva and quickly changed her demeanor. "Oh, Ari. Good morning!" She greeted him with a warm smile.
"Good morning, Kate." Ari waved up at the brunette.
"She is your sister?"
"Yes, she is my little sister, Ziva."
"Hi there! I'm Kate." Kate gave her a friendly smile while Ziva tried to decide what to do with the situation. "We should get together sometime, all right?"
"That would be great, Kate." Ziva answered, somewhat unsure.
"Nice." She beamed down at the siblings. "Now I have to go." She turned to go but then stopped and looked back down. "Tony!" She called to her husband and addressed him in a gentle tone and a warm look. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Katie." Tony watched Kate go with a Cheshire grin then turned to Ziva. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Ziva. See you later, Ari." With that, he was gone.
"They are strange." Ziva noted with a frown and Ari laughed out loud.
"You've got no idea. Now come on, I can hear my bed calling my name."
They were by the door of the stairway when an old man appeared in front of them. Ari and the man greeted each other warmly then the man turned to Ziva.
"Why, my dear friend, what charming company you have! I am Donald Mallard, my dear." The old man took Ziva's hand and kissed it like a gentleman.
"Umm… Ziva… Ziva David." Ziva was momentarily taken aback by the old man's gallantry.
"David?" The old man turned to Ari surprised. "Didn't you mention that your sister's coming?"
"It's a long story, Ducky, but she is my sister."
"I apologize, my dear." He turned back to Ziva. "I didn't want to sound rude."
"Never mind, Mr. Mallard."
"Oh, please, call me Ducky. All my friends do that."
"Alright, Ducky."
"Now if you excuse us, Ducky…" Ari tried to interrupt before Ducky could get too friendly, which he was very apt to do. "We should really get going and get some sleep. Ziva was on the plane all night."
"Oh." Ducky seemed disappointed. "I was hoping that you two could join me for a cup of tea in my store."
"Your store?" Ziva asked before Ari could have declined the offer. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, knowing that now there was no way to get to bed for a while.
"Yes, my dear, I own that book store downstairs." Ducky informed Ziva merrily.
"Really?" Ziva's eyes lit up and Ari groaned. "I would really like to join you, Ducky."
"Splendid. Let's go then."
Ducky opened his store and the small group stepped in.
"Welcome to my little empire, Ziva." The older man patted Ziva's arm in a friendly manner. "Please, make yourself at home." Ziva's eyes were shining and a tiny smile was playing on her lips as she ran her eyes around the small shop which didn't seem that small at all from the inside. There were thousands of books in there neatly arranged on the bookcases. In one of the corners of the store there was a fireplace with an old couch and armchairs in front of it. Ari was already sitting there.
She slowly walked up to one of the bookcases and gently ran her fingers along the spines of the books.
"Wow, I could spend days in here." Ziva said in awe as she walked up and down in front of the shelves.
"Your brother spends a lot of time here, too." Ducky chuckled while occupied with making tea. "But I'm afraid it's not my charming company he seeks so eagerly."
"Why is that?" Ziva asked curiously as she also made her way towards the couch to sit down. Ari buried his face into his hands. It wasn't enough that he wasn't allowed to go to bed but now he was the subject of the conversation, too.
"Suffice it to say that he always shows up when I have company." Ducky chuckled as he placed the tray with an antique china teakettle and matching cups on the coffee table.
"Ducky, please." Ari groaned.
"No, please, Ducky, continue." Ziva smiled at the old man then turned to her brother with a cheeky expression. "Now I am very curious about this "company"." Seeing Ari's distress, she turned back to Ducky with a triumphant expression. "I have a feeling that this companion is a woman, yes?"
"Very right, my dear." Ducky smiled.
"And why have I not heard anything about her, Ari?" Ziva turned back to her brother with raised eyebrows.
"Well, there is really not that much to know, Zee."
"There has to be something, as I understand it. So who is this mysterious woman?"
"Her name is Jordan Hampton." Ari sighed.
"Is it serious?"
"What?" Ari looked at Ziva, stunned. "No. Ziva, I told that there is really nothing to know."
"Oh."
"Ziva, your brother proves to be a shy boy when it comes to courtship."
"Shy, Ducky? I am not shy. I just know that she is not interested."
"She told you that?" Ziva asked, quite sure about the fact that Ari hadn't exactly addressed that issue with the woman. Ari's silence was confirmation enough of that. "Why have you not talked about it with her? Maybe she is interested."
"I don't know, Zee, alright? I just… don't know. Can we drop the subject?"
"We can." Ziva decided on not pushing it any farther. "But I definitely want to meet this Jordan Hampton." She stated.
They spent some more time in the store talking about different things and English literature. It had turned out that Ducky, who was a Professor of English Literature, and Ziva shared a common passion, their love of 17-18th century English drama. When Ari had enough of hearing about different scenarios of deceptions and conquests of love, he stood up and pulling Ziva with him, they left. But not before Ziva had promised to visit the old Professor soon.
Before they stepped into the stairway which led up to Ari's apartment, Ziva stopped when she spotted someone in the yard. The man was sitting in a sun-chair in front of one of the apartments, his shoulders slumped and chin resting on his chest with his legs stretched out in front of him. There was a worn straw hat pulled over his eyes.
"Who is that?" Ziva inquired and Ari just groaned. They would never reach his apartment.
"That's Mike Franks."
"Is he all right? He looks sick."
"Because he is sick. Probably he has a hangover the size of the planet. Come on, Zee. I'm falling asleep on my feet."
"I am sorry." Ziva told him with a gentle smile then pressed a kiss on his cheek. "Let's go and put you into bed."
TBC
Thanks for reading!