A Mistake
Very Special Officer Agent DiNozzo stirred from his position on the floor. Slowly, after his eyes had adjusted to the light, he took in his surroundings and found himself to be in the physical training room. Tony couldn't remember exactly how he had ended up there but he was sure that he hadn't merely fallen asleep. After all, his mouth was like sand-paper and his head was throbbing.
Deciding that he couldn't stay there forever, Tony tried to get up. It didn't take long however before he was back on the floor due to the fact that he couldn't feel his legs and his arms were definitely complaining. Being an NCIS Agent, DiNozzo had often been injured but nothing could compare to the agony that he was feeling this time. Everything ached and he hissed in pain as he felt pressure on his knee where a bruise surely was.
"You okay, Tony?" McGee's voice asked him, sounding more amused than concerned for his fellow Officer's well-being. This fact did not go unnoticed by DiNozzo either, unfortunately for McGee.
"Something funny, McGee? No I am not alright by the way, everything hurts, so get your hand off my knee. What the hell happened anyway?" Tony questioned, not liking the fact that he couldn't remember how he had ended up like this.
"Well, Tony, when you insult me next time, I'd think carefully about who else they might offend as well as me before you speak. Then, maybe you wouldn't be in this position." McGee replied, trying desperately hard not to laugh.
Before Tony could enquire more on the subject that he was both intrigued and confused about, the door opened and people entered. Jen was the first to walk in with a very amused expression on her face. Gibbs was close behind her, though with a more serious look as always. Next came Ducky who appeared sympathetic next to a baffled Palmer. Finally, Abby practically bounced in, not even attempting to hide her laughs as she saw Agent DiNozzo on the floor in clear agony.
"Alright, what is the joke that I am missing here? Anyone care to fill me in on how I got here?" Tony asked, frustrated with his colleagues behaviour.
"Well, to be honest with you, Antony, we're not entirely sure. However, I knew it couldn't be good when she stormed past muttering about how rude you were." Ducky filled him in.
"Who walked past?" DiNozzo was growing impatient with these half-answers.
"Who isn't here, DiNozzo?" Jen paused to give Tony a chance to consider this. "Who is the only female you know capable of putting you into this predicament? Ziva Davide, of course."
"McGeeeeeee..." Abby whined, "I want to know what happened! Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me now!"
McGee understandably looked a little scared of the forensic scientist at that moment in time. "Well, Abs, you see-"
But Timothy McGee got cut off by the person who had managed to join the crowd without being noticed. "Perhaps I can explain?" Ziva asked, making all the other people jump despite their training.
"Oh, please do, Zee-vah." DiNozzo replied, purposely drawing out her name in spite.
"Well, Gibbs sent you, me and McGee down here to start training, right?" Ziva paused and looked towards Gibbs who nodded his head in the affirmative; she took this as her sign to continue. "So, you challenged McGee to a fight, because you wanted to prove that you were better than him.
"McGee refused but after a lot of pestering and a bet on who would win, he cracked. Obviously, you won." Ziva took a breath and saw out of the corner of her eye how offended McGee looked at this statement. Before she could apologise though, Abs had gone to give McGee a hug. She smiled at her two friends but they didn't even notice, only making her smile wider still. She decided to continue with her story and apologise to Timothy later.
"So, naturally, you just couldn't resist from a bit of teasing, could you, DiNozzo?" Ziva sneered his name. "You rambled on for a while about how brilliant you are and then you made the worst insult you could have done. 'McGee fights like a girl!' That is what you yelled so that everyone could hear. I felt the need to correct you stereotypical view that every female stutters about on 10 inch heels with a bubble-gum pink skirt and couldn't hurt someone if they tried!
"Personally, I think I succeeded at my mission, don't you?" Ziva Davide asked, accompanying the question with a sarcastic smirk.
Tony could not answer the enquiry though because he was otherwise occupied with training to regain the ability to talk.
"Ahhh, now then, this reminds me of a fascinating tale of a lady who I managed to insult in my youth." Ducky began, his eyes slightly glazed as he thought about the time that this incident had occurred.
"ZIVA! How could you? I didn't mean you! You knew that, didn't you?" DiNozzo exclaimed, interrupting Ducky – for which everyone was thankful. Tony was definitely not thrilled with the explanation of how he ended up on the floor.
"I might have done..." Ziva replied, not noticing that it was a rhetorical question and she could have gotten away with it. Abby's head was the quickest to turn towards the Israeli but the others were quick to follow.
"Ziva? You did it on purpose? Even though you knew that I wasn't trying to insult you? After everything I did for you?" Tony didn't believe it; he was always so nice to her as well.
"What did you do for me, Tony? All I remember is you playing practical jokes, teasing and insulting me." Ziva was quick with her response. DiNozzo opened his mouth to reply but found that he had nothing to say to that. His memory seemed to have magically changed since she before Ziva had spoken and he realized how actually, he could have been slightly kinder towards his fellow agent.
"You should have known that it would come back to haunt you, Tony," Abby laughed. "It's karma!"
"No, Abby, it is not karma. It's Ziva Davide," Jen replied, sounding amused. Ziva just smiled.