A/N: I know, I'm back! Just a random post, I'm not back to anything regular yet. I had a little bit of time to work with – college is just as crazy, if not crazier than everyone says it is – and this just popped into my head and wouldn't leave. I was actually trying to sleep, but eh, it's overrated, right? There will be a second chapter to this, but they are each one shots. I was thinking about what I want to happen if and when Cote returns, and what I want to see happen between Tony and Ziva because of the kiss in PPF. Just a warning, this first one shot is going to be much happier and lighter than the next, though I'll go ahead and just tell you now that they will both end well for Tiva. Here we go…
"Really, Tony? Phone sex again?"
Tony looked up from where he was at his desk, staring at a computer trying to crack the current case. Ziva, obviously, saw he didn't have a phone in hand but hey, a similar line had gotten his attention before…
Realizing who he was looking at, Tony froze in shock. His jaw went slack and he had to work to breathe. There, leaning against what used to be the partition separating her desk from the windows, was Ziva. His Ziva. She looked as stunning as ever; her skin was darker than when he had left her at the airport, a product of her time spent soul searching in Israel. Her accent was thicker too. Her hair was down and wavy, just the way he liked it, and while her clothing wasn't the cargo pants and t-shirt uniform he had seen in the early days or the nicer, business attire she gradually changed to, it wasn't casual either. Her eyes were shinning – whether from tears or something else he didn't know – but most of all he noticed a sense of peace radiating from her that he hadn't seen in a long while.
He quickly came out of his thoughts – that had only been mere seconds – and jumped out of his chair and ran to her. "Ziva!" He scooped her into his arms and twirled around, not caring that the whole office was probably watching by now. When he set her down again he kept his arms around her, and her arms stayed loosely around his neck. He held her as close as he physically could, and placed a firm kiss to her lips. When he finally pulled back, he rested his forehead on hers, still unaware of anyone else who may be watching.
"You're back," he whispered.
Ziva smiled softly. "I told you I would come back when I had come to peace with my past."
"Does this mean…" Tony raised an eyebrow, letting the question linger.
Ziva leaned in, kissing him quickly but soundly. "Does that answer your question?"
Tony smiled. "Oh yeah."
Just then McGee walked back into the bullpen. He stood, shocked, as he watched Tony and Ziva and their quiet conversation, not sure he was really seeing what his eyes told his brain they saw. "Ziva?!"
Tony and Ziva turned his way. Ziva grinned. "McGee!" she began to walk towards him and he met her halfway, engulfing her in a giant hug.
"What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"
"Everything is fine, McGee. I am…back."
"Like back back?"
"If you are wondering if I am back for good, yes."
McGee grinned. "Yes!" Noticing that someone had walked up behind her, he grinned even wider. Before he could say anything about it, the someone in question spoke up.
"Ziver."
McGee smiled, seeing Ziva's eyes light up at the sound of his voice as she turned around.
"Gibbs." Without a second thought she strode over to him, hugging him hard.
"Nice to have ya back, kid."
"It is nice to be back." Looking towards her old desk, she noticed it was now being used. No surprise really, since it had been a year since she had left NCIS. Nodding towards it, she asked, "where is…?" she trailed off, realizing she did not know the name of the agent who had taken her place.
"Special Agent Ellie Bishop. Sent her to go interview someone a while ago. She should be back soon."
McGee piped up. "It's been a rough case. Remember one of your first cases, Ziva, when you and Tony went undercover as married assassins?"
Ziva nodded and glanced at Tony. They shared a small, intimate smile of remembrance before she turned back to look at McGee.
"Well, it's basically that again, except not.
Ziva raised an eyebrow at his description, or lack there of.
"We know who the bad guys are this time – at least, we thought we did - but we don't know who the couple is. We have reason to believe that they are actually the bad guys. We were going to send a team undercover as the couple, but we're having trouble finding someone who'd work."
Ziva looked over at Gibbs, smirking to herself when she noticed Tony had moved by her side without her noticing. Her ninja skills must not be as strong as they used to be. "What is the problem? Why not send this Agent Bishop with someone?"
Tony crossed his arms. "McGee and Bishop have already interviewed the bad guys, and uh, it didn't go so well. We can't send either of them back in without risking compromising the mission. I want to go in, but I don't have someone to go in with." Suddenly, he stopped. He looked Gibbs in the eye. "Boss?" he sounded hopeful.
Gibbs stared at him for a moment. After a couple of seconds, he nodded his consent.
"Why don't you come, Ziva? You used to be an agent, you know how all of this works."
"Isn't that against the rules?"
"When have we ever played strictly by the rules?"
Gibbs spoke up. "It's up to you, Ziver."
She mulled it over for a moment. "I'll do it." Nobody else needed to know this was as much about spending time alone with Tony as it was catching the bad guys. Not that she didn't want to catch these guys, but after a year apart, she wanted to spend as much time with Tony as possible.
24 hours later found Tony and Ziva in a hotel room, similar to their first undercover mission years ago. Knowing they had to act the part because they weren't sure if they were being watched, they began their act as soon as the bellhop left the room. Tony smirked, formulating a plan. He walked over to the TV and pulled out the channel guide, looking it over.
"Oh, 200 channels. Look at this, HBO, ESPN, the History Channel, classic movies…" he stopped as Ziva, who had caught on and was also smirking, invaded his space and placed the channel listing back from where it had come. Tony's eyebrows rose when he noticed the predatory glint in her eyes. She took his hand, backing up slowly towards the bed. "I take it you aren't interested in the premium channels?"
She gave him a quick once over before answering in a sultry voice, "there is only one thing I am interested in right now."
Tony smiled, knowing where this was headed. They both leaned in slowly, giving the other the chance to back out if they wanted. Then, simultaneously, as if they hadn't missed a beat in their year-long separation, they leaned in and their lips met and the fireworks went off. Clothes went flying and Tony steered them towards the bed, bringing them down so that Ziva was on top.
Ten minutes later they had rolled so that Ziva was on bottom, with her head over the side of the bed, supported by Tony's hand. Leaning down, Tony touched his forehead to hers and gazed into her eyes. "I love you," he said softly. The look in his eyes told Ziva that this was Tony to Ziva, not their undercover aliases to one another.
She brought her hands up, cupping his face in her hands. Without wavering, she returned the sentiment. "I love you, too." Tony smiled and leaned down, kissing her so that she had no doubts that what he had said was true. He pulled back, grinning.
"For your information, that's my knee." the look in his eyes warned her not to finish this recall.
She smiled up at him sweetly. "Whatever." She shifted under him quickly, grinning wide at the grunt of pain that came from him.
"What was that for?"
"Because that was definitely not your knee."
Tony shook his head. They had a lot to talk about once this mission was over, a talk that he hoped included her future, and his future, and most importantly, their future.
A/N: There it is! I know it's completely unrealistic and at least a little bit OOC, but what is fan fiction for? The likelihood of seeing this ever played out is definitely not very good, so might as well make it happen in my head canon. The second one shot – coming either tomorrow or Monday – will be more realistic and something much more likely to happen. It will be much more angsty and I really haven't written that, so I apologize now if it turns out really bad! I'm not a huge fan of the end, but I'm getting tired so I'll blame it on that. I know nothing between Tony and Ziva is really resolved and Ziva didn't get to say hi to everyone, but I really wanted this to just be happy Tiva fluff and not let it become longer than it is and turn it into a multichapter fic that I really don't have time for. The alternate one shot will have more of that side of things and be more realistic. Hope you enjoyed and see you in a few days!
~tivafanintheusa