Ziva knew Tony had a 'hot date' tonight; it was plastered all over his hidden depressive face. He looked like all those before him who had lost their first love. Ziva had learnt as a young woman that you'll love the next one too; it helped her from getting too attached. Tony was doing a poor job of hiding his emotions, he looked so lonely, and contrary to popular belief, these meaningless one-night stands weren't helping much. It was the loneliness that was hurting Tony. He was use to having somebody to talk to when he woke up late in the night. Ziva tried to be there for him, but found treading the line of just friends rather difficult.
"Do you want to come over for dinner tonight Tony? I'm making pesto fettuccini," Ziva suggested kindly. Knowing he would refuse, she just wanted him to know there were other options.
"What time can I come over?" Tony smiled chirpily.
McGee looked between the two, he knew Ziva was trying to comfort Tony otherwise she would have invite him too. But he had the feeling he was missing something.
"Dinner will be served at seven so anytime before then is fine." Ziva smiled, very eased by her dinner dates attitude.
"I'll bring some wine," Tony offered.
The remaining few hours of the afternoon seemed to go faster then they usually would when they were doing paperwork. Ziva fare welled Tony as she waited for Tim to finish packing his backpack; the two live only a few streets apart and had been carpooling for a few weeks. The took driving in turns each day, tonight was Ziva's day, every second day Tim thought he was going to be mangled in an accident, looking forward to the next day. Today was no exception; tomorrow was is turn again, thank god.
Before Ziva knew what was happening her doorbell rang as the buttoned was pressed three times quickly in the same manner a child rings a doorbell. It was another good sign.
When Ziva greeted Tony she couldn't help but notice his positive reaction to her skin tight black dress, which left very little to the imagination. Tony looked a little over dressed too for a casual dinner between friends. His white shirt partially tucked into his black slacks held up by a belt with an oversized buckle.
The conversation flowed natural throughout dinner, with raving reviews form Tony. Ziva was thrilled that she finally got to use her fondue that Ducky had gotten her for her last birthday. Tony broke up and melted the chocolate while Ziva cut up various types of fruit.
After dessert there was way too much chocolate left over in the fondue and they were both full. Tony creatively decided to pour the chocolate onto baking paper covered trays into the letters of their names. With the small amount left Tony randomly made a small love heart to dot the 'i' with. Ziva knew it was innocent, but the fact that Tony didn't see it as a big deal meant that he was feeling better, at the very least more open. After his last relationship he's found it hard to let others in.
That small gesture made feelings Ziva had hidden long ago for Tony re-emerge, the gesture could mean many things. Ziva's mind slowly remembered all the day dreams she'd had about Tony. This was before 'she' owned Tony's heart, Ziva hadn't though about Tony like that in a long time. But now the feelings were back stronger then ever.
"I've got an idea," Ziva suggested in a tone that made Tony anxious, as she grabbed a large duffle bag out of her bedroom. Tony tried to peak into Ziva's bedroom, but failed. He was still convinced that Ziva didn't need to sleep like a normal human would.
Ziva swiftly locked her apartment and headed up seven flights of stairs with Tony, she didn't trust herself enough to take the elevator.
"The gym? You're kidding? Do you know how much these shoes cost?" Tony asked, fearing the worst.
"It gets better," she smiled before pointing to the boxing ring.
"I don't think this is a good idea," Tony said hesitantly but Ziva ignored him, instead throwing him a pair of gloves.
Ziva stretched before throwing a few warm up punches, she was thankful that she had chosen the dress she had as it as very elastic and wouldn't tear easily.
"You ready?" Ziva asked playfully.
"What's this about?" Tony asked softly. He knew she had invited him to dinner to loosen him up, but he knew this wasn't planned, or she would have worn much less attractive, less delicate clothing. Not that he was complaining, she looked positively stunning.
Ziva had always been good at lying on the spot was stuck for words. "You need the exercise."
"After a delicious feast like that, you're probably right. But that's not why we're here. You're trying to avoid something aren't you?"
Ziva was a human lie detector; she would notice subtle changes in posture, facial movements, tone, even phrasings. But how did Tony know she was avoiding something, maybe her sexual frustration wasn't as well hidden as she'd hoped. Tony moved closer.
"Would you ever hurt me on purpose?" Tony asked Ziva.
"No, I mean apart from a few half-hearted punches," Ziva smiled shyly, curious as to what his point was.
"And do you trust me not to hurt you?"
"Yes," Ziva whispered, simply because her words were true. Trust wasn't something Ziva was familiar with. The last person she trusted indirectly made her kill him, hurting her forever.
"Tell me what you're thinking about?" Tony asked Ziva as he threw a relaxed punch at her right arm, knowing this would help keep her calm.
Ziva returned the punch a jab at Tony's chest, "I'm kind of tired."
"Come on Ziva, you can tell me."
"Tony, you wouldn't even believe me if I did tell you what's been plaguing me for the last half an hour." Ziva sighed as she climbed out of the ring. The boxing part of her plan seemed to have back fired, instead of relieving her sexual frustration it was getting worse as Tony interrogated her about her thoughts. Tony looked deep into her eyes searching for answers but Ziva's fort didn't cave that easily.
Ziva tried to ignore Tony as she made her way back to her apartment. Clearly she didn't want to talk about her feelings, or as Tony constantly reminded her, lack-there-of. Ziva now wanted Tony to go, before she un-did all the effort she'd put into 'fixing' Tony.
As Ziva locked the door behind them Tony gentle gripped her wrist, "you look really nice tonight."
Neither moved for a few moments, not knowing what to say or do. Ziva's first instinct was to escape, "I'm just going to freshen up."
Tony slowly and hesitantly let her wrist slip out of his hand. Tony decided to wait for her on one of the bar stool located in Ziva's kitchen.
"In all her years at Mossad Ziva had learnt a lot about what she was capable off, but none of that really prepared her for this. None of her training involved really feelings, just coercion and lust, which allowed her to manipulate subjects.
Ziva approached Tony quietly as her bare feet gently graced the kitchens tiles. Tony didn't even notice he till she walked in front of him and opened the refrigerator, "would you like some of the chocolate?" Ziva asked as she took a bite out of the love heart that dotted her 'i'. Tony remained on the stool paralyzed.
Tony was speechless as Ziva walked behind him, placing her hand on his shoulder. It was the rare occasion that Tony was speechless but his lingerie bound co-worker parading herself to him seemed to shut him up.
"What are you thinking?" Ziva asked as she slid her arms around his neck, form behind and undid his shirts top button.
"That's really not a fair question to ask," Tony said quietly as Ziva undid his second and third buttons.
Ziva gently kissed his neck and undid another button, "I don't really play fair."
Tony placed his hands on Ziva's, preventing them from continuing to undress him. "What are you thinking?" Tony asked as he spun around on the stool, so he was now facing her and her hands were locked together behind his head. One on hand he'd been waiting for this moment for a long time, but on the other he wanted a proper continuous relationship with Ziva. He just wanted to know where she stood.
"Wow. I was actually just wondering why you're still wearing clothes?" Ziva said in an offended manner. "I thought this is what you wanted. It's what I want," Ziva confessed shyly, she could actually feel the pain in her heart as she shared her feelings.
"It is?" Tony asked.
"Tony. Do you know how often I sit at my desk and just watch you? How often I come home and watch a movie with a friends or a date and wish you were there to tell me what movie I recognized the lead from? How I hate cooking for one? How I wake up alone or with someone that looks like you, but isn't?" Ziva gushed, as she took her hands of his neck and took a step back. She hadn't meant to tell him that much, it made her look like a love sick puppy… But it was all true.
Ziva could feel warm tears welling up in her eyes, she was humiliated. Standing there in her favorite Victoria Secret lingerie, shivering slightly even though the room was well heated, but his eyes never left her face. Neither spoke for a few seconds, both afraid of making the situation even more awkward.
Tony stood up and made his way over to the upset looking Ziva, he knew that she was as scared as him. Tony put his arms around her in a comforting respectful way and leaned his head against hers. "Did you know that I can't even look at blondes any more?"
Ziva gave a wet chuckle, "why is that?"
"Because they're not you? Why do you think it was so easy for me to be with... You know? I just pretended she was you, so beautiful but strong. I was kidding myself to make it bearable, all I could think about was when we went undercover, we weren't even together but we didn't get separated for the 24 hours. We got to wine and dine and fool around, it was just great." Tony said as he moved his head to now be looking into her eyes. "Oh, and you need to give me more credit, how easy do you think I am? You can't just get into my pants by prancing around in your skimpy VS underwear." Tony laughed before leaning down and kissing his stunning co-worker.
"It was worth a shot," Ziva joked. The tears were still welled up in her eyes but they were tears of happiness.
"How about we only go first base tonight, I mean I haven't even taken you out to dinner yet. I mean what will you tell our grandchildren?" Tony laughed.
Ziva momentarily thought that Tony was a bit presumptuous using 'our' grandchildren, but she let it slide. Ziva found Tony's hand and lead him to the couch, where he sat down, Ziva smiled vibrantly.
"Considering you've already gotten me out of the majority of my clothes I'm petty sure you're entitled to second base," she smiled as she playfully pushed Tony onto his back.
"Sounds fair enough," Tony said quickly as the slender women climbed on top of him, he placed his hands respectfully on her waist, but they didn't stay there for long.
Ziva's alarm woke the couple at 0500, "Ziva." Tony whined, "What time is it?"
"0500," Ziva said brightly as she turned the alarm off, she and Tony hadn't gone to sleep until after midnight, but she was use to only a few hours sleep.
"Go back to sleep Tony, I'll wake you up when I get back from my run. But first I've got to go call McGee and cancel our carpool this morning; he was going to go to work early today anyway." Ziva smiled as she gave Tony a peck on the cheek, "I'll see you in an hour."
Ziva jogged up the five flights of stairs to her apartment, her legs were very heavy by now, she'd ran extra fast today, she just wanted to get home to Tony.
"Tim?" Ziva asked.
"Why aren't you ready for work, it's six already. I did tell you didn't I, that I was coming early?" Tim asked confused.
"You did, but I left a message on your cell, canceling. You can go without me; I'll see you at work." Ziva smiled.
"Okay." Tim agreed, "Can I just use your bathroom first?"
"Sure," Ziva said before remembering she had a certain house guest.
"How was your dinner last night?" Tim asked the suddenly complexed women.
"Really well," Ziva smiled, there was nothing she could do about it now, he was going to find.
"Hold on Tim," Ziva said suddenly when she realized that Tony wasn't on the couch anymore and that the bathroom door was shut. She always leaves all doors open, so there is nowhere to hide. Old habits die hard.
"You'd better use my ensuite; I just remembered that bathroom's light is broken." Ziva said cunningly.
"Sure, I'll be right back," Timothy assured her.
Once Tim's back was turned Ziva quickly slid into the extra bathroom to warn Tony about their temporary visitor.
Tony walked out of Ziva's ensuite after having a shower with a towel wrapped around his waist and went to get his clothes that he'd left on her bed earlier.
"Tony," McGee shouted, before pulling his hands over his eyes.
"This is awkward," Tony said honestly.
As soon as Ziva realized that Tony wasn't in the guest bathroom she quickly entered her room, just after Tim had.
"Thanks a lot Tony," McGee said slightly disgusted.
"What?" Tony asked, "You didn't see anything!"
"No, I owe Abby fifty bucks." McGee sighed. "Damn it!"
LOL. Cute little fluffy story. Love it/ hate it, let me know.
Reviewers are much loved.
XOXO DF