Author's Note: The idea for this story came to me after watching the episode Enemies Domestic. It was that moment between Tony and Ziva where she's explaining something serious to him and not once does he try to be an idiot. He knows exactly what she's saying. I prefer to think of Mr. DiNozzo as a grownup, because in my view of the show that's what he is. This series has no beta, so if there are any mistakes they are all of my own making. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing to do with NCIS and have no affiliation with any studios or broadcast companies. I am simply borrowing beloved characters for my own entertainment. Not one red cent was or has been earned.
She scares me sometimes when she looks right at me, eye to eye.
Not in the way you might think, though. Sure, she can kill me in more ways than I could possibly imagine, but it's been a long while since I've been afraid of her like that. I know for a fact she would never purposefully hurt me. We're partners. You don't physically harm your partner, even when you're furious. Believe me when I tell you that she's been as furious with me as any human being has ever been with another, yet I'm still here.
She scares me because I know she sees me. The me I hide from everyone else. The me that figures things out when no one else sees it, but hides it behind a veneer of frat boy stupidity. The me who could have long since run my own team, but refused because the prospect of being separated from certain people was too much to bear.
It's strangely comforting to me when she waits until we're alone to treat me as an equal. You would think it would be insulting, right? I want you to treat me like a grownup when the other grownups are around, that way they know it, too. That's not the persona I've spent the last fifteen years cultivating. I'm the village idiot, you see. The senior field agent that is quick to order others around, but rather than take a situation seriously I make a joke or bring up a classic movie reference.
Ziva, though, sees through all the crap. She asks me serious questions and depending on her tone and how she looks directly into my eyes, I know to answer just as seriously. She scares me sometimes when she looks at me like that. Those dark eyes of hers see right through me, and there's not a damn thing I would do about it even if I could.