Socks
In Between Daydreams
The air which they were breathing was laced with annoyance and verbal arsenic. They went through this over and over again. Arguments over nonsense like who was making dinner or who got to choose the movie that night. This time it was that Tony had left his socks in the living room. Yet again. Ziva enjoyed keeping things neat and organized, and when Tony interfered with the whole "cycle" of cleanliness, it annoyed her to a great extent.
"Tony! Why are you always doing this?" Ziva inquired in a rather loud voice.
"Doing what?" Tony responded, slightly confused and frightened. Ziva glared at him, obviously realizing that he was clueless. She held up the socks with a look that Tony knew all too well.
"Oh," he added to his previous statement. "Sorry," Tony finished, expecting Ziva to just let it go. They were just socks, after all.
"Sorry?" Ziva questioned. "You are aware that this annoys me, yes?"
"Zi. They're socks. I could have picked them up later," Tony explained. Trying his best to calm her and prove his point.
"Could have. Not that you ever do," she replied, with a great deal of venom dripping from each word she spoke.
"Woah, Ziva. Are you implying that I am a messy person? You aren't exactly perfect yourself, you know," he responded rather cruelly.
"Really. Is that how you feel? Why do you not just tell me what about me you do not approve of. Because if you really think that little of me, then what are we doing here?" she responded very defensively, referring to their relationship.
"Ziva, that's not what I meant and you know it."
"Then what did you mean to say, Tony?" when he hesitated for a few seconds, she scoffed halfheartedly, obviously hurt. Her eyes filled with angry tears and she picked up her coat and left his apartment. Well, over the course of the last few months, it had slowly become not only his home, but hers as well.
She had dropped his socks as she left. With a sigh he picked them up and put them in the laundry basket. He would give her space for the rest of the day. He could smell the air freshener she had sprayed all throughout the apartment just an hour before. It was his favorite, which is why she always made sure to get it at the supermarket. He really loved her. The way she smelled. She always smelled like vanilla and roses and cherries and it drove him crazy how she always smelled like heaven, if you could even sell heaven in a plastic bottle labeled "Body Wash".
He missed her when she was gone, even when she only went to go pack a bag so that she could stay at his apartment for the weekend. He had no idea how long she would be gone. Sometimes when they fought, they wouldn't see each other for days outside of work. It was good to give her some space, though. He needed to think and so did she.
She was driving like a maniac. Not unusual. But she was angry now. She blinked and whipped furiously at the tears she had shed, which covered her cheeks like a thin layer of snowfall.
Why does he say these things? She thought to herself. When she got home she slammed the door and sat on her couch to think. Something she hadn't done in a while. She really didn't spend a lot of time in her apartment anymore. Books that were previously sat nicely on her bookshelf in her living room were now strewn around Tony's bedroom. She was confused. How could she label what she and Tony had when they fought one third of the time they were together? Sometimes when they fought, one of them won. When they fought like this, when one of them stormed out on the other, it wasn't about winning. It mattered if the pieces they put back together fit properly.
She lumbered down the hall to her bathroom where she turned on the faucet to her sink and let warm, calming water run along her fingers. She splashed some onto her face and let the water drip slowly down her cheeks and onto her neck, before languidly drying her entire face with a soft hand towel. She decided that she would take a shower and go to sleep.
After her shower she wrapped herself in a towel and walked into her bedroom. She reached for a T-shirt and running shorts, changed, and drifted into a fitful slumber.
At Tony's apartment, Tony sat on his couch, and thought about what had happened. They really must start agreeing on something. He slowly made his way to his bed, which was unusually chilly, only because he usually wasn't the only one under the covers. He really missed her warmth right now.
The next morning, the both came in to the office, not speaking to one another. They heard a loud voice from the top of the staircase that belonged to one Leon Vance.
"DiNozzo! David! Agent McGee! Meet me in my office. Now," Vance boomed, startling the three agents out of their thoughts. All three of them slowly rose from their desks and walked up the stairs, each with their respective personal bubble. When they arrived in Vance's office, they stood stiffly.
"What are we doing here?" Tony questioned.
"Glad you asked Agent DiNozzo." Each of the three agents looked very confused, so Vance continued. "Agent DiNozzo. You will be going undercover at a local fight club. Agents David and McGee, you will be running surveillance with Gibbs. He has already been briefed. This op should only take about one night. All we need to do is identify the leader of the club and inform local LEO's." Tony piped up.
"You're saying, Director, that I go in, fight and hopefully not get killed, then identify the leader of this 'Fight Club'?"
"That sounds about right Agent DiNozzo." Replied Director Vance with his signature poker face.
Ziva took in a sharp breath, which only Tony noticed. They both knew that talking about the possible outcome of this undercover assignment.
Later That Evening
Punch
Jab
Kick
Tony was fighting, and fighting well. Even though the other guy, a tall, blonde muscular looking man, landed quite a few good punches, leaving Tony battered and bruised, Tony was still obviously winning. Ziva was watching through a surveillance camera that Tony had placed on a locker and listening to every sound made by skin on skin contact through an earpiece in Tony's ear, which had surprisingly, been left undamaged.
The blonde guy landed a punch in Tony's ribs, they all heard a sickening crack which made Ziva and McGee grimace while Tony suppressed a moan and landed another hard punch at the other guy's forehead, who quickly fell limp on the ground, a mane of straight blonde hair covering his bloody face. Tony looked far from glad as he clutched his chest and made his way to the middle of the room. The leader of the club, Alex Phillips, came up beside Tony and lifted his arm up to show who had won the fight.
Afterward, Tony came out of the emptied building and made his way to the black, NCIS surveillance van across the street. As soon as he approached the van, he was met by a sensitive looking Ziva who cupped his cheek, gave him a once over and pressed her lips to his forcefully. Maybe a little too forcefully. He wrapped one arm around her waist and responded. After a minute or two, Tony leaned down to press their foreheads together.
"I'm sorry." They both say at the same time. Only pausing for a second to speak and then stealing another kiss before Gibbs came out of the van.
"Hey. Keep it out of the office. Remember?" Gibbs bellowed before giving both agents a humorous look and walking back to the van.
Later
The pair sat on Tony's couch in their pajamas, wrapped around one another, kissing furiously, passionately. The other two thirds of this relationship were nice. They broke apart for air and Tony suggested they go to sleep, which wasn't worth fighting, considering what an exhausting day it had been. Tony took Ziva's trembling hand and led her to the bedroom. Everything that had occurred today had left her worried and tired, though she was relieved that Tony was okay.
"I was very worried about you." Ziva said, as she moved closer to Tony, wrapping herself around him, mindful of his injuries and rested her head in the crook of his neck, stealing a kiss from him.
"I know." He replied swiftly, tightening his grip on her body. "And by the way, I put away my socks." Ziva chuckled before adjust herself to look at him quickly, before snuggling against his side once more.
"I love you." She said, eyes closed, ready to fall asleep.
"I love you too." Tony said with a smile that she couldn't see. But she knew very well that it lay on his face.