AN: So I'm having writer's block for my other story, Life Saving (Go check it out! And yes, I am advertising for myself…). I was talking about musical chairs with a friend of mine and this kinda just came into my head. Not that it would EVER happen on the show, but still, the thought of it made me giggle.
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own NCIS or any of the characters. It would be pretty cool if I did though.
"What is the point of this game, 'musical seats'?"
"Chairs, Zee-vah, musical chairs," Tony corrected. "And come to think of it, there really isn't a point."
"Then why do bother playing it?"
Tony sighed. He and Ziva, along with McGee, Abby, Gibbs, Ducky, and even Palmer, had all met at a bar after a particularly tough case, then proceeded to return to his apartment. Somehow, the three young agents and Abby and gotten into a conversation of their birthday parties when they were younger ("We didn't celebrate birthdays like you did, we were congratulated that we survived another year," Ziva had told them), and Abby had said her favorite game was musical chairs.
"Why do we bother playing any games, Ziva? They're fun!" Abby exclaimed.
"But I do not see what is fun about running around in a circle and having chairs pulled out from under you!"
Abby and McGee looked at each other and chuckled while Tony threw his head in his hands in frustration. "The chairs aren't pulled out from under you! You start out with one less chair than the amount of people playing. You walk around the chairs while the music plays, and when the music stops, you try to sit down. The person who is left standing is out, then you remove one chair, and go again."
"I still do not see what is fun about this game," Ziva said, slapping her legs in frustration as well.
"Then let's play!" Abby said, standing up. She ran to Tony's dining room table and dragged a few chairs out to the living room. "C'mon, guys, this'll be fun! Gibbs! Ducky! Jimmy! Wanna play musical chairs?"
Jimmy stammered and blushed while accepting, while Ducky offered to turn on and off the music instead. And to everyone's surprise, Gibbs agreed. Abby cheered and hugged Gibbs while Ziva, Tony, and McGee shared their looks of surprise. Abby took five of Tony's dining room chairs and set them up in a circle, then the six players stood around them, ready to go.
Ducky hit play, and the music started. The six of them walked around slowly, each glancing at each other, getting their reflexes ready for when the music stopped. Finally, Ducky hit paused, and they each scrambled to find an empty seat. Ziva sat down so hard her chair nearly fell backwards. Abby and McGee found their chairs easily, and Tony hip-checked Jimmy out of the way and sat down. Jimmy made one last attempt to get the final chair, but ended up in Gibbs' lap. The rest of the team gave a hearty laugh as Jimmy jumped up, red face and stammering his apology to Gibbs while he took a seat next to Ducky. The old Scottish man gave him sympathetic pat on the back as he started the music again.
The game continued on. Ziva's "crazy ninja reflexes", as Tony called them, allowed her to find a seat easily. Tony was able to hip-check both Abby and McGee, right into their boss's lap, further eliminating them. Everyone was quite surprised with Gibbs' ability to beat his younger agents, and even though Abby was eliminated, she sat between McGee and Jimmy, cheering on her boss.
It had all happened so quickly. Ziva, Tony, and Gibbs walked around the two chairs, keeping their eyes on each other. When the music had stopped, Tony and Gibbs were right in front of the chairs, while Ziva was standing on the side of them. Sensing he had an easy victory, Tony took an extra second to throw a big grin at Ziva while he squatted to sit down, but when he looked, she wasn't there. Before he even realized where she was, he sat down on something that was definitely not a chair. He jumped up and looked down and saw Ziva smiling sweetly at him.
"But… how? What? No way!" He stuttered as everyone laughed heartily. McGee grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him on the couch next to him while Tony grumbled and pouted.
"Ten bucks on Ziva!" Palmer called. Everyone else looked at him, raising their eyebrows or looking at him confused. "What, I mean, I think it would make it more interesting if we put money in on it."
"But that's no fair. We're all gonna bet on Ziva," McGee said.
"My money is on Jethro," Ducky said. Gibbs smirked and nodded his head in acknowledgement. "If Jethro loses, I shall buy everyone dinner tomorrow night."
"OK, so that's forty dollars for Ducky if Gibbs wins, and dinner for everyone on Ducky if Ziva wins," Abby calculated. "Seems fair enough." Everyone nodded in agreement, so Ducky started the music for the last time.
Gibbs and Ziva walked around the last chair, never taking their eyes off of each other. Ducky allowed the music to go on a bit longer than before, extending the suspension and excitement. Ziva smirked at her competitor, but Gibbs face remained stoic, until finally, the music stopped.
Ziva was closer to the seat of the chair, but unlike Tony, she didn't hesitate to get the seat. She threw herself sideways so she would hit the seat perfectly and much more quickly than Gibbs would. Gibbs, on the other hand, had another idea.
When Ziva took the step towards the chair, he grabbed the back of the chair and swung it towards him. He slid it towards him so he would be sitting backwards on the chair, watching as Ziva landed on the floor instead.
"What happened to not pulling the chair out from somebody?!" Ziva cried, outraged that she landed with her behind on the ground. Gibbs gave her a smirk while the rest of the team laughed. He stood up and held a hand out for her to help her up. She took and he pulled her up.
"Never said it couldn't be done. Just usually doesn't happen."
She nodded and smiled. "I think I rather like this game, musical seats."
The team groaned at her mistake. "Chairs, Ziva! Chairs!"