Disclaimer: Maybe I own NCIS in an alternate world, but I rather doubt it. I certainly don't own it here!
Alternate Summary: Curious about Wendy and worried about Tony, Ziva does what she does best. No, not kill someone! She snoops… sorry, investigates.
A/N: This fic will cover multiple scenes that we did and didn't see throughout 9x15: "Secrets," with a focus on the Ziva/McGee friendship and the Ziva/Tony friendship. As with most of my NCIS fics, there will be hints of T/Z UST.
Chapter One: A Surprise Visitor
Ding-a-ling-ling.
Ziva's keen ears catch the sound of a text message from McGee's vicinity.
Upon opening his phone, the agent's eyes widen and his mouth drops open a little.
He looks, Ziva thinks, rather like a stunned puffer fish with his bulging eyes.
"Ziva!" he hisses.
"Yes, McGee?"
"You have to see this."
Curious as to what has so excited her normally calm co-worker, Ziva strolls over to his desk and glances at the message that he is emphatically waving in her face.
OMG, Tony's ex-fiancée Wendy is here! it says. Unsurprisingly, the sender's number is Abby's. Look.
Ziva's eyes widen as well.
McGee clicks on the attachment, which is revealed to be a hastily taken picture of Wendy-the-ex-fiancée.
She is pretty. Dark haired, dark eyed, nice cheekbones. Conventionally attractive, but there is a certain firmness to her lips that suggests strong-mindedness. Of course, Ziva would expect no less from a woman that Tony was going to marry.
(Tony. Tony was going to marry this stranger. It still buggles the mind a bit.)
"Wow," McGee says and Ziva can't help but agree.
Ding-a-ling-ling.
McGee hurriedly opens the latest text and Ziva leans in over his shoulder.
They're coming your way. Meow.
She and McGee exchange a bewildered glance – meow? – then scramble to the center of the room. If Abby is right and Tony and Wendy-the-ex-fiancée are coming their way, they'll be able to see them before they arrive.
Out of instinct, Ziva surveys the entrances on one half of the room while McGee surveys the other half. Seconds later, she hears Tony's distinctive voice.
"McGee, here they come. Here they come!" she hisses.
They quickly arrange themselves oh-so-innocently in front of the projector and prepare to watch.
Tony and a slender, dark-haired woman – Wendy – appear through the hallway down by interrogation. They stride up the stairs and Tony immediately corners Gibbs, voice frantic and grip like iron.
It's rare for Tony to confront Gibbs, let alone in public, so the fact that Tony is worked-up enough to do so is significant. And his comments are… intriguing, to say the least.
But Gibbs, like G-d, is merciful only when it suits him, and insists that Tony act as Wendy's liaison.
She and McGee exchange a significant glance and she tilts her head slightly to the side in the direction that Tony just went. Oh yes, they have work to do.
-–- -–- -–- -–- -–-
"Tony did direct her to this room, yes?" Ziva asks in an undertone, ear pressed to the conference room door.
"Maybe they moved? I don't know," McGee whispers, "Can you hear anything?"
"No!" Ziva hisses. "Stop talking, and maybe I will be able to."
Of course, then Tony catches them.
Everything is going according to plan, even if McGee doesn't know it yet. (Oh please. She's a Mossad agent, she knows better than to jostle against a door or to whisper that loudly. And her flustered reaction? Purposeful.)
No, this is all part of her plan. (Although it would have been nice if she could have caught a little bit of Tony's conversation with Wendy. Irritating soundproof doors.)
Nonetheless, what she was really after was Tony's reaction to their presence; and, as she had thought, it speaks volumes. This thing between him and Wendy, it still has… juice.
"She is cute," McGee comments offhandedly to Tony.
"Stop it," Tony grumbles, hurrying after Wendy.
Ziva shoots McGee a brief glare – he's supposed to be on her side, after all – before reluctantly conceding that he has a point. Wendy is cute. And smart. And put-together. And clearly knows her own mind. She even seems nice.
But none of that means anything. What do they know about Wendy, anyway? Yes, Tony was engaged to her, but that was nearly a decade ago. People change.
(Ziva certainly is not who she was nine years ago.)
No, Ziva does not trust Wendy at all.
The woman bears further investigation.