As soon as Ziva stepped off the elevator her eyes went to Tony's desk, just like she had everyday for the past week. He was sitting there, head bent down. She chewed on her bottom lip, hoping today would be the day he finally looked at her.
"Good morning, Tony." She said, dropping her bag on the floor and taking a seat.
"Hngh," Tony grunted, pointedly keeping his gaze locked on the papers on his desk. Ziva frowned, and had Tony looked up, he would have seen tears in her eyes.
"Will you at least tell me where Gibbs and McGee are?" Ziva asked. Ever since Parson had opened an investigation on Gibbs, the entire team had been on edge. ON edge and very protective of their leader.
"Dunno. Coffee?" Those two words were the only ones Tony said to Ziva all day.
The next morning, Ziva came in with new attitude. She was sick of being ignored by Tony and she wanted that to change.
'Tony, please talk to me!" Ziva exclaimed, following him into the break room.
"I don't think I will," Tony replied shortly.
"Damnit Tony!" Ziva smacked her hand on the vending machine, "Talk to me! I am sick of the icy shoulder."
"Why the hell should I?" Tony snarled, "Do you feel alone? Isolated?"
Ziva cast her eyes downward and nodded.
"Well then go sleep with Adam again! I'm sure he makes you feel good." Tony slammed his hand against the wall, causing Ziva to jump.
"That's just it! I felt even more alone when I was with Adam!" Ziva was shouting, although she didn't realize it. "He was a distraction!"
"I don't care, Ziva. I just don't care." Tony matched his volume to Ziva's. "You're a grown woman. You can do whomever you want." He turned, prepared to storm back to the bullpen, when Ziva grabbed his arm. Her tiny fingers dug into his bicep.
"I know you are lying. Just as I lied to myself."
Tony sighed resignedly, "You've got my arm in a death grip, so you've got my attention. Whatever you want to say, say it."
"Adam is nothing but a friend to me." Ziva began slowly, "He was a way to take my mind off of my father, and Illan and…"
"And what, Ziva? I'm tired of this fucking dance."
"And you. I needed to take my mind off of you." Ziva held Tony's stare.
"What did I do that was so bad, Ziva? I tried, I tried so hard to be there for you. I let you push me away and pull me back in." Tony said, his voice dangerously close to cracking. "I can't be jerked around like this anymore."
"I know. I was…am…afraid, Tony. I am afraid that we will ruin us." Ziva finally relinquished her grip on Tony's arm, but he remained standing.
"We're already ruining us. I don't know if you've noticed, but we haven't spoken in a week." Tony offered up a small smile. He was still hurt, but he didn't want to fight anymore.
Ziva smiled weakly in return, "I did notice that the bull pen was quieter." She sat down in one of the chairs and looked at her hands. "I am sorry, Tony."
"I know. We've gotta change this though. I'm tired of pretending." Tony pulled another chair over and sat in front of Ziva.
"You said that to me once before," Ziva mused, "And I thought you meant all the secrets we had while trying to smoke out Lee. I never gave it much thought after that."
"You weren't meant to. I wasn't ready for…this." He waved his hand in the air, gesturing back and forth between them.
"And…now you are ready for…this?" Ziva spoke cautiously.
"You jump, I jump." Tony said seriously.
Ziva narrowed her eyes, "That is from Titanic."
"Caught," Tony's grin was sheepish. "It's a romantic movie, figured it couldn't hurt."
"I suppose you are right," Ziva smiled gently. "If we are going to do this, we must be careful."
"Careful how?" Tony couldn't believe the way this conversation was going. Had he somehow managed to get Ziva David to go our with him?
"I do not want either of us to get in trouble if Gibbs finds out."
Tony thought about the look Gibbs had given him back at the warehouse, and the way he had asked about Berlin in his basement. "I don't think we'll have to worry about Gibbs."
Ziva looked at him curiously, "But, Rule 12…"
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry about it. Right now, maybe we should get back to work." Tony looked up at the clock on the wall. They had been talking for close to an hour.
"Yes, I suppose you are right. I would be nice to actually have Gibbs around to find out about us. I do not think we can handle another situation like Mexico." She said, referring to the summer Gibbs had spent 'retired' in Mexico. Tony nodded and pulled her to her feet.
"Let's go," He bumped her hand with his and intertwined their fingers. Ziva looked down at their hands. Maybe they wouldn't ruin each other after all.
A/N: Yeah, so this kind of came out of nowhere. Well, nowhere and a desire to procrastinate from studying for finals. I really have no clue as to what'l happen between our favorite special agents, but here's one possibility. Please read and review :D