"A Night at the Opera"
Tony had exited the stairwell leading to Abby's Lab when he heard Ziva's voice. He silently crept closer to the door, hoping he would not be caught eavesdropping.
"Ziva! That is so awesome; I can't believe you actually got the opera tickets."
"Opera tickets?" Tony mouthed to himself. He strained to hear more. Ziva said something unintelligible and then he realized she was heading in his direction.
He quickly ran back to the stairwell, in a position to be halfway down the stairs in case she decided to use them instead of the elevator. The "ding" told him she opted for the elevator.
Once he was sure she was in the elevator and it was moving he quickly came out of the stairwell and went into Abby's lab.
"Tony! Hi, what's up?"
He looked around. "Uh, Gibbs asked me to come down and see if you got a hit on the facial recognition software."
Abby glared at him. "First of all, no Caf-Pow, no answers. Second, of'course not, otherwise I would have let him know." She turned back to her work.
"Ummm…Abby? Do you know anything about Ziva going to the opera?"
Abby turned her head toward him so quickly; one of her pigtails accidently whacked her in the face.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Tony."
Tony grinned. "Come on, Abbs. It's me. You can tell me."
Abby looked at Tony and put her hands on her hips. "Agent DiNozzo, I think if you want to know anything about Ziva going to the opera, you should ask her yourself!" With that, she turned back to her work.
Upstairs, Tony found himself staring at Ziva most of the day. He never remembered her mentioning liking opera, much less going to one.
But from what he heard, she was the one who got the tickets. Tickets, as in plural; as in more than one.
Who was she planning to take to the opera? This bothered him more than he wanted to admit. Every once in a while, when he glanced at her; he caught her looking at him with that concerned/confused look she always had on her face when Tony was acting strange, well at least to her.
She just then got a text from Abby: "Sorry, too busy to text sooner. T knows that you are going to the opera." Ziva's eyes opened wide, and then squinted, knowing he had to be spying on her and Abby when they were discussing it.
She decided she really couldn't be mad at him. But that didn't mean she couldn't taunt him a little. She got up and left her desk, without saying where she was going. Gibbs wasn't at his desk, so he didn't need an explanation.
Tony looked over at Tim, who was engrossed on something on his computer. Tony decided to take a chance. After all, she came looking for him, didn't she?
He went to the vending/break room, where she had found him. Sure enough, she was staring at one of the vending machines, as if trying to make a decision. Tony came up to her. "There you are…" mimicking her words to him a few days before.
She continued to look at her options. Tony did his magic thing, and out popped a large chocolate bar. Ziva chuckled. "I suppose this means I have to share it with you." She moved to sit down at the same table that had sat before.
Tony sat beside her. "Only if you want to." They looked at each other. Ziva smiled, broke off a big piece of chocolate and handed it to Tony. "Thanks." He said, smiling.
Ziva took a small bite out of her chocolate, waiting for Tony to bring it up. He didn't disappoint. "So…I hear you got some tickets to the opera."
"Yes." Ziva said, nibbling on her small piece. "That is correct."
"Okay…" "I didn't know you liked opera." Tony stated. Ziva shrugged. "It is not my favorite, but I do like the theater, especially musical productions."
"Let me guess: "The Sound of Music?" Tony grinned. Ziva grinned back at him. She then looked contemplatively at him. "Can I show you something?"
Tony felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. Proceeding as expected, he answered simply. "Yes."
Still looking at him, Ziva reached into her coat pocket. She pulled out an old photo. It had been through a lot, not kept pristine in a frame. Wordlessly, she handed the photo to Tony.
He looked at her as he took it and gave it a good look. It was picture of a young woman, who could have been Ziva, standing next to a small child. The age of the photo told him that the woman was not Ziva, but the young child…
"Is this you?" He asked gently. Ziva shook her head, looking at Tony, not the photo. "That is Tali."
"And this is your mother." Tony made it a statement. He was stunned by the resemblance Ziva had to her mother. "She was…"
"What?" Ziva asked, knowing what he was probably going to say, and then he realized what it also would have meant.
Tony panicked. He had almost said that her mother was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Since she and Ziva could pass for twins, he would be admitting he felt the same way about Ziva.
"She was…well I guess you could say you look just like her. You could be twins." Ziva smiled at his save. "My mother loved the opera, and she shared that love with Tali. Tali would sing these arias; ah I miss her voice still." Ziva looked down for a moment.
"You have a beautiful singing voice." Tony said softly. Ziva looked at him in surprise. "What? How would you know?"
Tony had on his "I know a secret" smile. "When you think you are alone in the Bullpen, you are always singing. Once I was walking by the Women's Rest Room, I heard you inside singing. I cracked the door open so I could hear you better.
Ziva chuckled. "The acoustics are very good in there."
"So this opera. What's the deal?"
Ziva looked at Tony closely. "It is just something I thought I should do. It is no big deal."
"Well, who are you going with?" Dammit, that was out before he could stop it.
Ziva smiled softly. "I do not know. I have not asked him yet."
"HIM?" Tony put on his brightest smile, the one he used when he was trying to mask what he was really feeling. "Well, you better get on the stick, there David. Nothing worse than going to the opera all by yourself."
With that, Tony stood and said. "See you later." Ziva watched him leave. She felt bad, knowing he was probably hurt that she didn't share more. But she hoped she could make it up to him.
Back upstairs, they got back to work. Every once in a while, Ziva would glance at Tony but he was studiously ignoring her. Ziva sighed. She hoped he would not duck out the first chance they had to leave.
Much to her surprise, at the end of the very long day, Ziva found that she and Tony were the sole occupants at their desks. Quietly holding onto the opera tickets, Ziva got up and stood in front of Tony's desk.
Tony looked up briefly, again with that super bright smile. "Getting ready to go?" Ziva responded by coming around to the side of his desk so that she was standing next to him. Silently, she placed the opera tickets on his desk and slid them toward him.
At first, Tony looked at Ziva when she came over by him, but when he looked down at his desk, he looked confused. He picked up one of the tickets.
"The Little Prince"; Friday, November 23, 2012; 8 pm, National Theater.
Tony stared at the ticket then looked in shock at Ziva. "You shared something with me about your mother; I wanted to share something about my mother with you." Ziva answered his questioning look.
"You asked me about the tickets before I had a chance to figure out how…"
"Miss David, are you asking me out on a date?" Tony smile was now genuine.
Ziva squinted her eyes at him, not sure if he was making fun of her or not. "I know what this meant to you. When I saw it was playing here; I do not how the opera will compare to the movie, or the book."
Tony stood up. "You didn't answer my question, Ziva."
Ziva looked at him and smiled. "If you wish to think of this as a date, I will not cause a problem about, treating this as a date."
Tony looked down at the tickets again. "The Little Prince." He couldn't imagine how it was possible that the very moment he shared this memory with her that it would be playing in DC, even if it was an opera.
"Well, then. I accept your invitation. Thank you for asking me." Tony smiled.
Ziva smiled back. "You are welcome."
Thanksgiving turned out to be the family celebration that Abby had been hoping for. Every once in a while, Tony would catch Ziva's eye, and mouth the word "date." She would roll her eyes and laugh at him.
Since Ziva bought the tickets, Tony insisted he pick her up. Ziva had dressed carefully for the evening. This was all a bit surreal.
She and Tony had done many things together, but nothing that would be considered a "date." Right on time, Tony arrived on her doorstep. She already had her coat on, so all she had to do was grab her bag.
Tony didn't miss the green high heels she was wearing. She was also wearing more makeup than she did at work and took more care in styling her hair, although it was still down and curly.
Tony offered his arm, which Ziva took. "You know, Tony. You don't have to make such a big deal out of this." She laughed.
"Of'course I do! This is our first date. I want it to be memorable." The "first date" comment caused her pause. Did that mean he was anticipating a second date, or a third?" Ziva cleared her mind. Now was not the time to think of those kinds of things.
Tony surprised her by taking them to his place. At her raised eyebrows, he just laughed. "My place is closer and I thought we should go by cab. Parking is a bitch down there, and outrageous."
"This way, we can go for an 'after the opera dinner' and not worry about having a glass of wine, or two." Tony hoped Ziva would agree to this plan. She eyed him carefully, and then smiled.
"I think that is a very good idea. I would not have thought of that. You must have done this before."
Tony winced at that. "I can assure you I have never taken, or have been taken to the opera before."
"Perhaps not." Ziva responded with a smile.
Tony had called ahead for the cab, and it arrived about two minutes after they got to his place. The cab took them downtown and dropped them off.
They walked into the lobby and headed for the cloak room. Tony dutifully removed Ziva's coat and quickly turned to hand it to the attendant.
When he turned back around, he almost dropped his jaw. Ziva was wearing the same green dress she wore when they went undercover as those married assassins.
Ziva was pleased the dress had the desired effect. Tony walked slowly up to her and put a hand on her waist and leaned into her ear.
"You know, the last time you wore that dress, it ended up in a heap on the floor."
Ziva pulled back and looked at Tony as if in shock. Then she smiled. "I know; I removed it." Tony looked so surprised, Ziva chuckled.
"One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye." Taking his hand, they entered the theater to find their seats.
Hope you liked it. Just a short piece on the previews for Tuesday's ep- "Tony's curiosity is peaking when he learns Ziva is making special plans for the opera."