Chapter 1

Four days had gone by since Ziva had found herself with no place to live. Four days since she had found herself a target of a disgruntled marine who had been charged with the murder of one of his companions. Being released on bail had given him the chance to seek revenge on NCIS. Ziva taking the hit for the team since she had been the one to make the arrest, she had arrived as her apartment went up in flames, not a first for her. She stared at the outside, blackened by fire and burnt to nothing. For four days she had been living at Gibb's house but she felt like she was imposing on him, he liked his alone time, she understood that.

Material possessions had never meant much to her, it aggravated her though the fact that she was not allowed to seek revenge on the man who had done this to her home. She had replaced most of her clothes and stored them in boxes in the spare room in Gibb's. Today she was going to tell him that she was going to check in at a hotel until she could find a new place, which was a hard feat. The real estate market was not the best place to be at this moment in time. Huffing, she threw herself on the bed, McGee had offered his place to her but she knew he really didn't have any room for her, his spare room was filled with all his writing material.

Hearing the front door open, she got up off the bed and headed down stairs to tell Gibb's her decision. However she was stopped at the top of the stairs when she heard another voice, Tony. It would be an understatement to say that she liked him, it was hard not to like Tony but she knew what she felt for him was a lot more than liking. Pure lust was what it was, maybe love if it was nurtured enough. She felt like a teenage girl when he flirted with her, not the trained assassin she prided herself in being. It was hard to remember in that state of mind that flirting was just how Tony interacted with woman; she was nothing special in his mind, just another female in the line of fire. Obviously he valued her as a team member who had his back, she knew that but when it came to the dating scene she was one of many. One time she had seriously considered seeing if he wanted to go out for dinner but stopped herself by imagining the hilarity that would have been plastered over his face. Could she take his laughter without pulling a knife on him to calm her humility? She thought not. Best to avoid the topic at all costs. Pulling herself from her thoughts she caught the end word of Tony's sentence, her name.

Continuing her descent of the stairs, she made it to the bottom in time to heard Gibbs's reply.

"I'd like you to let Ziva take your spare room until she gets her own place"

"My place? Ziva? You can't be serious Boss, as if she would want to live there. I would be there. She can barely stand me for the whole work day"

"It wasn't a suggestion DiNozzo, I think she wants to go into a hotel and it's not safe for any agent to live in such a civilian place especially Ziva"

"Well you're the Boss, but trust me, she won't go for it"

Taking this as her queue to enter the room, she rounded the corner.

"Go for what Tony?"

He cleared his throat, surprised that she had arrived so quickly, he wasn't sure about having her stay, he might walk in on her in the shower, well not that the sight of that would be bad but he was sure she would shoot him, he didn't put it past her to take her gun into the shower. When it became clear Tony was not going to offer any answer to her query Gibb's decided to let Ziva know the news, even though he was fairly sure she had been lingering round the corner listening.

"I've decided you should move into Tony's spare room till you get back on your feet again, it's not up for debate"

She stared at him intensely, weighing up the options, deciding if it was worth the hassle appearing to fight about it instead of just accepting what he was saying although she didn't want to appear too eager to become a roommate of Tony's. "If it is what you have decided then I appear to have no choice it seems".

"DiNozzo will go pack your bags into his car, won't you?"

"On it Boss"

She watched as he hurried out of the room and up the stairs, staying at Tony's, wow. Could she handle being in such close location to him all day, coming home from work and still being around him, what if she slipped up and accidentally made him aware that she liked him. Gibb's studied her face as conflicting emotions splattered over it, he didn't think it would be such a change moving her into Tony's. They were adults, well, Tony was supposed to be an adult, a couple of weeks shouldn't be that long for them to live together. When Ziva noticed Gibbs watching her she automatically pulled her impassive mask on. He was always astounded by how little he could read her emotions when she was guarding them, the sign of very impressive training.

Tony finished loading up his car with the few possessions that Ziva still had and then waited in the driver's seat for her to come out. She was ready to go and made one last sweeping look of Gibb's house to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything that he would need to bring into her. All was clear, she shouted goodbye to him in the basement and shut the door behind her. She could see Tony on the phone waiting on her, as she got into the passenger seat; he ended the call leaving her none the wiser to who he was speaking to. They didn't speak much on the journey to his except when he asked if she wanted a pizza since he was getting one for dinner, she accepted. On arriving she was awed by how nice the outside of his apartment was, she had never been here. It was a sandstone building, with modern lighting illuminating the front, it looked expensive. Inside the building had marble flooring with an usher who stood at the lift, entering the lift he pressed the penthouse button. Ziva gaped at him, "You live in the penthouse of this building?"

"No, I decided to break into it tonight to impress you"

"Oh you are funny"

He grinned; the doors opened to a vast penthouse, bathed in the light from the lighting on the building, black and white seemed to be the colour scheme all over. Everything looked so expensive and too pretty to touch; she was scared she might end up breaking something. He must have had a decorator because this did not seem like Tony at all.

"Well I'm impressed Tony, I did not take you for a penthouse, black and white colour scheme man"

"It's what the ladies like, you like?" He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively and she lifted one of the black plump cushions from his sofa and threw it at his face. It smacked him before he even realised she had thrown it. She laughed and walked around taking everything in, this place was magnificent.

"How can you afford this place?"

"I'm a stripper on the side; just don't tell McGee he might book me"

"I'm serious Tony, this place looks like a palace"

"I'm a good bargain hunter"

She scoffed loudly and sat down on the sofa, he sat beside her and handed her a slice of pizza, he switched on the TV and the penthouse was filled with the sounds of sports. She watched intently, enjoying her pizza, enjoying the quiet company of Tony. This was bad though, she was too comfortable, only bad things could come from staying long in Tony's home.