Disclaimers: NCIS, the rights to the show and its characters do not belong to me. No money was made by this.
Spoilers: Season 8's Enemies Foreign and Enemies Domestic
Pairing: Malachi Ben-Gidon/Liat Tuvia

A very big Thank you! to Alice (alidiabin), whose story Conversations, Strange [which you should definitely read, if you haven't done so yet] this is based on. She mentions a lovers tiff between Malachi and Liat, and this is what my brain came up with. Thank you for letting me do this =)

"Liat, now, will you stop walking for a moment?" Malachi yelled at her, quickening his steps to keep up with her fast pace.

"Has it not occurred to you that I am trying to get away from you?" she hissed at him and turned her body to pass through a small crowd of people. Malachi frowned lightly and wondered how they had managed to start fighting while getting dinner. Or when exactly it had been that her mood had turned sour.

"Too bad we are headed in the same direction." he returned, shifting the plastic bag containing the kosher take out and trying to grab her arm. When his fingers closed around it, Liat suddenly stopped in her tracks and whirled around. She yanked her arm from his grip, her eyes blazing at him.

"Do not touch me." she spat at him, glaring for a second before she turned and started walking again. Malachi drew a breath, closed his eyes briefly and then hurried after her.

"Okay, no touching." he accepted. "But at least let me explain." It occurred to him that he was close to begging, and how ridiculous that was. They were just having an affair, just having sex. He shouldn't have to try to make up with her, especially when he didn't even know what on earth had gotten into her yet again.

"Did you sleep with her?" Liat suddenly asked him, standing outside the safe house. Malachi glanced at the window. The lights were on but apparently, both David and Hadar were not around.

"Where are you getting that idea from?" he asked her, trying to get out of answering the question.

His partner snorted. "You cannot go ten minutes without mentioning her in some way or form."

"That's not true!"

"When I placed my order, you said that she liked that dish, too!" Liat yelled at him, drawing a deep breath. "Did you sleep with her?" she repeated her question, and Malachi suddenly started getting really uncomfortable.

"What does it matter?"

"Did. You. Sleep. With. Her." the blond woman hissed, clenching her fists at her sides and he knew that, if he ever wanted to touch her again, he better be honest and nice now. Then again, he wondered how the two would be able to combine, given her reaction to every single time Ziva David was mentioned. Oh, he was going to be in for a real treat.

"Yes." he nodded, setting down the food.

"Unbelievable!" Liat yelled, throwing her arms up and turning around to unlock the door. Malachi grabbed her arm and turned her around roughly. He was far from done with this conversation.

"Is this what this is about?" he asked her, frowning, searching her face. "You are jealous because I had sex with another woman?"

He didn't even see the slap coming, he only felt the sharp sting on his cheek. Her face hadn't changed for the fraction of a second when she hit him.

"Bastard." Liat breathed, blinking her eyes, and as Malachi held his stinging cheek, he suddenly realized that she was blinking back tears.

"Liat-" he started, but she quickly interrupted him.

"No!" she yelled, shoving him away from her roughly and shaking her head. "I am sick of this. I am tired of being her replacement. First the Kidon, then David, and now you!"

Her voice suddenly cut off and she shook her head. "I'm done." she told him, opening the door and slamming it in his face before he could follow her. With a sigh, Malachi hit his forehead against the wood before turning and grabbing the food. Inside, he found Hadar standing in the hallway and staring down it, a perplexed expression on his face. When Malachi walked past him, the older man gave a shrug and followed him into the living room where he started unpacking the dishes.

"Where did Officer Tuvia go?" Malachi asked as the man sat down and started digging into his food, paying no heed to the empty seat at the table.

"She said she wasn't hungry." Hadar informed him, looking up at Malachi who was still standing, staring down at the dish she had ordered. "I'd leave her alone." he warned the younger man and Malachi sat down.

"If she is not reliable-" Eli David started between two bites, but Hadar shook his head.

"She has some impulse control issues, yes, but I have yet to find her moods not to be justified. We all need a break once in a while, let her have the evening to cool off."

The Mossad director seemed to contemplate it and then shrugged, apparently deciding that Hadar knew his team better than Eli did and could be trusted to handle things as they came up.

"I seem to have lost my appetite." Malachi told them, rising and walking from the room. He felt the director stare after him but for once did not care about it. He paused in front of the door to Liat's room and briefly considered going in and trying to talk to her again, but then figured that Hadar was probably right and he should just let her cool off for the time being. With a sigh, Malachi went out the back, deciding that a quick sweep of the perimeter would give him something productive to do.

fin.

Again, Alice, thank you =) And now everyone go read Conversations, Strange.

sidenote: oh thank you, FFN, for not allowing me to use both ? and ! immediately after each other. can you get any more ridiculous with your rules?