Sequel to "The 3rd Drawer", so go read that or this won't make much sense.. I think.
I hope you enjoy this. Sorry it took so long.
..Review please, I'm in serious need of cheering up.
They had decided to slow things down a little.. (after having sex on the first date, and after the text messaging..) and Tony missed Ziva. All weekend he fought the urge to jump into his car and drive to Ziva's in a way that would make her proud. Instead he visited the gym, hoping the burning ache in his muscles would distract him from the ache he felt in the pit of his stomach every time he thought of her..
He made no attempt to move as he silenced his alarm with a thump early Monday morning. He lay on his bed, arms folded behind his head, and stared up at the ceiling, eyes wide and red. He didn't want to get up. He didn't want to face Gibbs. But, there was no point beating around the bush.. (tree? Damn Ziva for invading his thoughts again) was there? Gibbs wouldn't be that mad? Would he? What was the worst he could do?
Ziva glanced up as Tony tried his best to enter the bullpen inconspicuously. He looked good, as usual. He swung his bag onto the floor, and looked up, startling Ziva with the depth of emotion in his eyes. He placed his gun and badge into his top drawer, his eyes never leaving hers, and sat at his desk. He suddenly broke into a small smile and mouthed "Hi".
Ziva blushed, with no idea why and mouthed back "Hello" with a small smile.
"Uh," McGee began unhappily from his desk "Hi to you too Tony." Tony grunted in reply, making McGee roll his eyes and carried on staring at Ziva as she tucked a small strand of hair behind her ear shyly.
It was at that moment that Gibbs sped into the bullpen, his coat flapping behind him. "Morning boss." McGee said faithfully. Tony shifted in his seat, and Ziva sat up in her chair, they both watched him tensely as he walked over to his desk and began scrambling in his drawer. He stopped suddenly and looked up.
Tony gulped and Ziva wiped her sweaty palms on her pants.
"What?" Gibbs asked exasperatedly, at their stares "What have you both done now?"
Tony and Ziva glanced at each other.
What? Did that mean..? What?Was it possible that Gibbs didn't receive the text?
Gibbs raised an eyebrow, as if to say "Well?" and they both replied in unison "Nothing."
Gibbs frowned before gesturing to the box on his desk.
"You know what to do. I'm going for a coffee." and with that he exited as fast as he had entered.
The bullpen was silent until Tony and Ziva broke into laughter suddenly. McGee watched with a frown.
"What? What am I missing?" he asked. "Do I have something on my face?"
He was ignored.
"I might as well not be here." He mumbled as he stood from his desk. "I'm going down to the lab."
Gibbs strode back into the bullpen a few hours later (He got sidetracked. Plus, he hated paperwork) "McGee." he said quietly as McGee tried his best not to wince and looked up. Gibbs leaned over McGee's desk, and looked around surveying the empty bullpen again before carrying on. "I have a problem with my cell."
McGee blinked, stunned. That was it? Phew, he thought it'd be something about illegal hacking and e-mails and world of warcraft and mohawks and.. other things.
"Well- uh- What's the problem?"
Gibbs moved around the desk, flicked the cell open under McGee's nose and pointed at the little message icon in the corner and McGee fought the urge to burst out laughing.
"It's been like that since yesterday."
McGee tried not to smirk and said as seriously as he could, "It's a text boss."
Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "A text?" he asked incredulously.
McGee, misunderstanding, began to spout "It's most commonly known as a text, but it's also known as an SMS which stands for-"
Gibbs smirked before interrupting and saying, "I know what a text is McGee." causing McGee to flush pink. "I'm just wondering who would send me one. We all know that I'm not exactly a pro at using a cell."
McGee snorted and then swallowed nervously as Gibbs narrowed his eyes at him.
"Well, open it, read it." Gibbs said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
McGee went into the inbox of Gibbs's phone and said, puzzled. "It's from Tony."
"From DiNozzo?" Gibbs questioned with a frown as he peered over McGee's shoulder.
"And it's actually a picture message boss."
"Open it." Gibbs ordered and McGee clicked the enter button on the phone, opening the text.
Neither Gibbs or McGee moved or said anything for a few minutes, untill finally McGee couldn't take the silence that had descended on them.
"Uh- boss?" He asked uncertainly, looking up at Gibbs.
"Yea, McGee?" Gibbs replied, his eyes not leaving the screen of his cell.
"That's Ziva." McGee stated, glancing down at the screen again.
"Yup."
"She's uh- asleep boss." McGee said unnecessarily.
"Yup McGee. I can see that. On what I think is DiNozzo's hairy chest. She's also naked." Gibbs said tightly.
"I uh- don't understand." McGee placed the cellphone gently onto his desk and Gibbs snatched it up.
"I do." He barked before striding out of the bullpen.
McGee stood, "Uh- boss. Where are you going?"
"Coffee" Gibbs growled, without turning around.
McGee looked around the empty bullpen. He needed to find Tony before Gibbs did.
McGee walked back into the bullpen (to find it empty) 30 minutes later, out of breath and fed up. He had looked for Tony in all the places he could think of, and had given up trying to reach him through his cell and had even tried Ziva's a few times too, but had no luck and on top of that, he had been desperate to use the bathroom, for the whole 30 minutes.
He half ran to the mens bathroom, to see Tony just exiting, Tony shut the door behind him, and adjusted his tie, a smug grin plastered on his face.
"Tony!" McGee said and Tony turned, grin and all.
"Hey McGoo." Tony said, happily putting his hands in his pockets and rocking on his heels slightly.
"Where's your cell?" McGee asked impatiently, trying to get past as Tony shifted to stand in front of him.
McGee tried again and Tony moved again blocking the door.
McGee gave Tony a "Are you serious look?" and Tony grinned, placing his hands on McGee's shoulders. McGee looked down at Tony's hands suspiciously, making Tony laugh uneasily and remove his hands.
McGee tried his best to push past Tony and Tony scrambled to keep McGee away from the door handle.
McGee burst into the bathroom to see Ziva, facing the mirror, taking deep breaths to calm herself, she spun around as they entered noisily.
Tony pushed McGee further into the bathroom and shut the door behind him, making sure to lock it, muttering under his breath.
McGee looked from Ziva's flushed cheeks, swollen lips to Tony's creased clothes and untucked shirt, and everything clicked together perfectly.
"You didn't?" He asked in disbelief and Tony tugged at his ear uneasily and shrugged his shoulders.
"McGee," Ziva said, approaching him carefully, as she adjusted her shirt, "Uh- We would appreciate if you didn't say anything to-"
"Gibbs?" McGee asked hysterically. "Gibbs?"
Ziva frowned.
"HAH. That's a good one. Gibbs has been looking for you and Tony, and you've been in here having s-"
"McGee!" Ziva shouted and both the men jumped.
There was a silence as Ziva advanced towards McGee.
"Now," she said calmly, smoothing out her hair "what were you saying about Gibbs?"
"Look," McGee began "Can I tell you after I've.." he trailed off, hoping Ziva would get the idea.
Ziva looked at him deadpanned.
"Well, Gibbs said he had a problem with his cell.." McGee began slowly and Tony and Ziva understood.
Tony let out a little moan whilst Ziva shot him an evil look. She crossed her arms and said more to herself than to Tony. "It will be fine. We knew this was going to happen. What is the worst he can do?"
Suddenly the door handle began to rattle, making them all jump.
"Leave it," Tony whispered hoarsely "They'll give up soon."
The person on the other side of the door knocked. They stood in silence, waiting.. until a gruff voice on the other side of the door said: "Open up DiNozzo."
Tony's heart began to hammer against his chest.
"What do I do?" He hissed.
Gibbs knocked on the door again, and Ziva pushed Tony towards the door, grabbed McGee by the collar and dragged him into a cubicle with her. Tony took a deep calming breath and opened the door, plastering a fake grin on his face.
Gibbs surveyed the bathroom over Tony's shoulder and then once satisfied finally brought his gaze to Tony's nervous expression with a smirk.
"Uh, hey boss." Tony said, laughing both unnecessarily and uncertainly.
"Follow me" Gibbs said, exiting. He then poked his head back in through the door and added. "That means you too, McGee and David."
Tony looked across the bullpen questioningly at Ziva. What the heck was going on? Where were the threats? Where were the headslaps? But most importantly.. Where was Gibbs? Ziva shrugged. She had no idea what was going on, she was completely puzzled by Gibbs's reaction, (or lack of reaction), why was he so.. calm?
Tony glanced over at McGee who was gauging both their reactions (to report back to Abby of course) and nonchalantly flicked open his cell. He needed to text Ziva. Sure, he could communicate with Ziva through just a look, but the looks were sometimes misunderstood, like when Ziva sent Tony a look that said "I like your new shirt" he mistook it for "Let's go have crazy sex in the mens room" ..
He was halfway through his second sentence when he heard McGee's typing speed up and noticed how Ziva became engrossed in her papers.
The hair on the back of his neck stood up and a voice full of amusement questioned, "Still texting DiNozzo?"
Tony snapped his phone shut and shoved it into his drawer hastily.
He stood up abruptly to face Gibbs almost falling over in the progress, and waited for the long speech that never came.
Gibbs chuckled. "I'm not gonna say anything DiNozzo. You're old enough to make your own decisions," he paused allowing time for Tony to process his words and smirked. "But," he began again, his face completely serious "pull a stunt like lunchtime again and I'll make you both wish-"
"Got the message boss!" Tony said, a grin on his face as he looked over to Ziva's shocked expression. "What?" He asked suddenly self-conscious as McGee snorted beside him and Gibbs glared at him.
"Got the message, Tony?" McGee asked smirking.
Tony sat down with a wince as he understood, making Ziva chuckle. Gibbs glared at Tony some more before turning to face Ziva, a genuinely curious look on his face.
"And what is it with you and the mens room?"