Title: Permanent
Author: Carly
Characters: Tony/Ziva
Pairing: T/Z
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: She wanted something permanent, something to call her own and getting a condo was the first step to creating it.
Chapter One: Condo
"You know you did not have to come with me." Ziva stated as she pulled away from the Navy Yard with Tony in her passenger seat after he yelped as she darted between a semi and a garbage truck.
"It was either deal with Gibbs or die with you." He said, adjusting his grip on the handle.
She rolled her eyes. "You are very noble aren't you, Anthony DiNozzo?" She asked sarcastically, but smiled at him as she wove in and out of traffic.
He shrugged and shot her his most charming smile. "You got me." He said sweetly, placing a hand dramatically on his chest before he sobered up. "Where are we going anyway?"
She glanced at him as she pulled the car to a stop. "I have a last minute appointment with my realtor." She answered glancing in the mirror and switching lanes. She had been looking to move for awhile, because her sublet was about to run out and it was time to become a permanent fixture in Washington D.C. "She called me and said that I," She held up her fingers in air quotes, something she had picked up from Abby. "'just had to see this place that had just been put on the market'."
Tony only shrugged and shifted in his seat. "Whatever, I've got no other plans." Tony said lacing his fingers behind his head.
"Except work, maybe?" She asked, knowing both of them would have to stay late to catch up on the paperwork they were missing. Gibbs, though in one of his moods, had graciously let her go to her appointment and he had even suggested taking Tony with her, to get him off Gibbs' hands. The dry spell between cases had been painful for all of them and with Tony finishing up his paperwork he had become especially irritating, mostly because of the warming weather and the downtime restlessness.
He shook his head. "Where's the fun in that?" He questioned with an eye roll.
"I would like to see you explain that to Gibbs." She said with a glance, she almost convinced that Gibbs was going to smack him into a concussion because his restlessness turned more violent than Tony's irritating restlessness.
Before he could retort, she pulled into the parking lot of Arcadia Heights at Georgetown and Tony sat up, in awe of the location. The condo sat right on the Potomac River and the view of the city was to die for, the view of the Kennedy Center and the Washington Monument was to die for. Though he had been living in the area for years, he always did love the view that Washington D.C. had to offer. "If you can afford this, you should take it." He said as she put the car into park.
She gave him a pointed look. "We haven't even seen the inside yet." She answered.
He climbed out of the car and stood to full height. "Doesn't matter, I like the view from the parking lot."
She rolled her eyes again, this time of year he was easily excitable and she led him across the parking lot into the building where an eager blond dressed in a pant suit with a brief case hanging from her hand. "Ziva! I am so glad you could make it on such short notice." She said before extending a hand to Tony. "Hi, I'm Danielle."
"Tony." He said taking her hand in his, giving it a tight squeeze.
"Well I am glad you both could come look at this beautiful condo, you are never going to find a better location. . ." She started rambling on and Tony shared with Ziva that spoke volumes, this woman was a blond version of Abby.
They followed her into the elevator and she pressed the seventh floor as she started to spout off facts about the building. ". . . so this one has two bedroom and two bathrooms, with the biggest bathtub ever in the master bedroom!" Danielle was very excited for this condo. "With the big kitchen you wanted."
His eyes widened, Ziva's new apartment would be a major plus for him. "That is great." Ziva said with a smile.
They stepped off the elevator and Tony's hand slipped to the small of her back as they followed Danielle towards the end of the hallway. Danielle thrusted the door open dramatically and allowed Tony and Ziva the first step inside.
It was everything she promised and more. The room was lit up by the wall of windows that shared the view of the river and the cityscape and was only closed off by the floating counter/sink into the kitchen. The set up of the space didn't allow for a formal dining room, but the space could be used as such if need be. "This is amazing." Tony commented and Ziva nodded in awe as they walked through the kitchen. The said kitchen was one from the Food Network and could test her every culinary skill with the stainless steel appliances that fit in with the black cabinets and countertops.
"Let me show you the rest of this fabulous apartment." Danielle said interrupting the thoughts running through their heads. The followed her down the hallway to the first full bathroom and to the first bedroom. "This is the smaller room, you know for a child's room. . ."They shared an amazing/panicked look respectively and it did go noticed by the real estate agent. "Or the perfect guest room, or whatever you want it to be really."
She pulled opened a couple of doors and on the other side was a washroom, Ziva lit up brightly and Tony gave her a pointed look. "What? It is what I wanted." She exclaimed and Tony only shrugged, mumbling under his breath something that sounded like 'women.'
Ziva poked him in the arm with her sharp finger and yelped loudly. "If you follow me this way, I will take you to the master bedroom." Danielle interrupted, oblivious to this particular moment and pushed the last closed door open.
The room was big.
Not only big, but GINORMOUS and with the same view as the living room. Tony wandered across the carpet and opened the closet, stepping inside he disappeared. "This is bigger than my bedroom." He exclaimed and Ziva met him inside the walk in closet. It was lined with shelves and drawers and still had room to park a small car inside.
Ziva rolled her eyes at his excitement and she opened the bathroom door, while Danielle stood in the corner watching the pair explore. Inside the last door was the biggest prize of the whole apartment in Ziva's book. It was the master bath, and it was exactly that.
The jetted tub glistened under the light and she barely contained her excitement as Tony joined her. "Woah." He said and Ziva nodded.
She turned to look at him and his jaw hung open slightly. "You are going to catch fleas in your mouth if you do not shut your mouth." She said lightly, overcoming her stupor first.
"It's flies." He corrected and clapped his hands together. "This is the most amazing bathroom I have ever seen in my life."
Ziva smiled lightly and looked in the mirror, looking at him in the reflection. "I agree." She said with a smile. "It is a very nice bathroom."
Tony looked her over, trying to gage her excitement level and though she wasn't showing it in her face he could feel it radiating off of her. "Well?" He asked in a whisper, he could hear Danielle walking around in the bedroom, mumbling onto her cell phone excitedly.
She turned to look at him, somewhere in the millisecond of not seeing her face, her smile lit up the room. "What do you think?" She asked, already knowing his answer.
"What do I think?" He asked wide eyed. "This place is the most amazing place in the whole city! The view is to die for and the neighborhood is super safe and you are like seven minutes from work. . ." He took a deep breath to control his excitement. "What do you think about this place?"
She nodded passively. "I agree, it is a very nice place and . . ." She started and paused, Tony's excitement was filling the bathroom. "I think I would like living here."
"You think?" He gasped and for a brief moment his heart stopped for a moment and she smiled, she psyched him out.
"No, I know I like this place." She said. "I just wanted to see your reaction."
He didn't respond because Danielle stepped inside the bathroom and even in the big size it felt crowded by her ruining their moment. "Well?"
They shared a look and both looked back at her, both speaking at the same time a "I'll take it/she'll take it" respectively.
Danielle clapped her hands excitedly. "Great! Let me run downstairs to draw up the paperwork." She said and turned on her heels as Tony and Ziva stared at each other until they heard the door shut in the living room.
Before Tony knew what was happening one hundred and fifteen pounds of excitement jumped into his arms, nearly throwing him off guard, but he quickly caught up and wrapped his arms around her tightly with her feet off the shiny tiled floor. "I'm buying a house." She said excitedly, burying her nose into his shoulder. His scent excited her normally, but even more so when she was excited and she closed her eyes allowing herself to get caught up in the moment.
"Yes you are." He whispered with a smile, he buried his nose into her hair.
A vibrating cell phone cut the embrace short and Tony slowly sat her down onto her feet, pulling his phone out of his breast pocket and put it to his ear. "Hey Boss." He said and Ziva wandered away, allowing herself the distance from Tony. "A case, finally . . . no it's not a good thing, well it is . . ."
Ziva wandered back to the sitting room and looked at the view of the city. Buying a home was a permanent as one could get and she was going to buy this beautiful place that was everything and more she had asked for when she had hired Danielle.
Tony had appeared behind her, close enough that her back rested against his chest and the faint smell of Armani sounded her as did his hand, resting it on her hip. "What are you thinking?" He asked from behind her. His voice was low and his breath against her neck.
She smiled and glanced behind her with a smile up at him. "That this is real, I am an American citizen and I now have my own home." She whispered back to him. "It is like my own American dream."
He didn't say anything and the moment called for him to kiss her.
Her eyes went to his lips and her eyes started to close, Tony leaned forward and just as his lips neared hers the door opened and they jumped apart. "I have all the paperwork right here for you, Ziva." She said cheerfully, oblivious to the moment she interrupted.
They gathered to the counter as if nothing had happened and she sat down the stack of about two hundred sheets of paper. "That's it?" Tony asked slightly mortified and his cell phone chirped. It was McGee telling him that Gibbs' time extension was revoked and they were needed ASAP. "We don't have a whole lot of time to go through all of that. . ."
Danielle shrugged. "That's fine. The manager likes the idea of a federal agent in the building and is willing to work with you." She said flipping a couple of pages. "I just need a couple of signatures and the rest of it is community rules and such. I will get them the deposit check and do the rest of the work and you will be able to move in probably next week once we finalize the lease . . ."
Ziva started to tune her out as the blood rushed to her ears as she took the pen from the woman, signing her name line after line as Tony slid his hand onto her back, reading over her shoulder like he had done a trillion times in the past, but only this time she had allowed herself to shiver under his touch.
And after the last Ziva David was signed they stood to full height and shook Danielle's hand. "Thank you Danielle." Ziva said sincerely and both of them shook her hand.
A key was finally put into her hand and final details were given before they were finally alone in her condo and he gathered her back up in his arms. "You deserve this, Ziva."
"Thank you." She said her voice waivered slightly against him.
They stood there, ignoring the beeping coming from both of their cell phones, just for a moment longer until he finally broke the hug away. He liked it when she let her guard down enough to be excited, especially when she allowed him to pull her close. He turned back to get one last look at the view. "This place is amazing! I mean look at this view. . ."
She smiled again and pulled him by the arm about the door. "We have to go before Gibbs kills us." She said dragging him and he groaned dramatically. "It is not like you will not be back again."
His frown turned into his biggest charm smile to date, but was satisfied with her answer. "Right. You have the best seat in the house for the fourth of July and . . . " He said and pulled the door shut behind himself as he placed his hand on the small of her back, leading her to the car knowing full well that Gibbs wasn't going to be impressed with them, but Tony didn't care.
His partner was happy.
So he was happy.