Hey guys,
I know I haven't updated We Found Love in the longest time, this fic is to make up for that, I'll be back to write that soon! Trust me! ;)
So, I'm going to stop bantering and get on with the fic now. This is going to be a one shot unless requested otherwise.
Chapter 1:
"Beep, beep." Tony's phone vibrated and sounded amidst the banter of the Thanksgiving spirit at Gibbs' place. Everyone was seated at the dining table eagerly waiting to dig into the traditional feast set up at the dining table.
Tony swiftly flipped open his cell phone and skimmed through his inbox message.
"Tell Gibbs and the rest to go ahead without me first, I might not be dropping by after all, need time to think. Thanks. :) –Z"
Tony sighed. He was really looking forward to the empty seat next to him being filled. "Well," he thought, "If Ziva needs time to think, I can respect that." He passed the message to the rest of the team and despite Abby insisting they should wait on, they finally gave in to huger and dug in exchanging stories and cracking the occasional joke.
At a pub,
Ziva was downing shots like there was no tomorrow, shot after shot. She didn't even stop to think, just grabbed glass after glass and chugged it down. Dry, strong, vodka.
At that time, Tali meant the world to her, damn that stupid Opera house for having too little tickets, if only they had tickets left, she wouldn't be here, after the opera she would usually be too exhausted to even drag herself to a bar. Damn him, Dinozzo, why did he have to be such a sweetheart. She found herself inevitably falling for him, a little, not a little, maybe a lot. Well, rule twelve still stands.
She signaled for another shot and the bartender swiftly slid it over the countertop. This was going to be a long night.
Back at Gibbs' place,
The whole team was gathered around the fireplace and giving thanks for their many blessings in life. The most common topic being that they were blessed to be working with the most dedicated, loving and caring team that felt more like a family than a team. Tony was constantly gripping his cell phone and hoping that Ziva would text and say that she would be coming over. To be honest, he was worried. He immediately perked up when he felt the vibration. He hurriedly scrolled down to his inbox.
"Your monthly subscription to Maxim women is expiring soon, would you like to express your renewal?"
He groaned and kept his phone away. That sucked, now he had to worry about Ziva and his magazine subscription. Nevertheless, he put on a party mood façade.
Back at the pub,
This was her, number what shot? She lost track, she didn't think it was possible for a person to drink this much. She proved herself otherwise. She had switched from vodka shots to mojitos to currently margaritas. She wanted to get the worst hangover and forget everything that happened today. How much was the tab now? Ah, whatever, she was going to drink to her heart's content. She hasn't a care in the world now. In this quiet lonely pub, Ziva David was going to get a hangover on Thanksgiving. She needed to forget about today. She was going to let loose, going to stupid, wild crazy things, she wasn't going to do it alone. She glanced over at the awkward bartender and smiled.
Back at Gibbs' pad.
The team was all gathered playing truth or dare, so far Timmy had been dared to run to Gibbs' neighbor's house, knock on the door, and laugh at whoever opened the door and Ducky had admitted to his secret fetish for bow ties rather than ties.
Tony's head was not in the game, it was on Ziva, well, not so much about his Maxim subscription now. He wondered what she was doing. Then, the bottle pointed it's nozzle at Tony.
"TONY! Truth, or…dare?" questioned Abby
Somewhere in Georgetown,
"Um, Miss, what exactly are we doing?" asked the nervous bartender who was now riding shotgun with Ziva. Somehow, she tried to persuade and adverted to threatening the bartender to close up early and follow her.
"I don't know, I'm just driving to God knows where." She replied.
They passed a tattoo parlor, she smirked. The bartender flashed a nervous grin and she nodded.
In the tattoo parlor,
"Choose, hurry and choose." Ziva told the bartender
"Um, why am I…"
"Just do it, trust me, after you do it, you'll feel like a man."
'Can I not…"
"No."
"What if I don't?"
"I have the gun remember?"
"Um, okay, I'll get the unicorn one…"
"What is the matter with you?! I'll pick, give him the double gun one."
The artist smiled and went to work.
Back with the team,
Tony had tried calling Ziva several times, all went to voicemail. He was getting increasingly worried by each passing minute. The team noticed this and asked him to relax, they tried to assure him that Ziva was a grown up and could take care of herself. He sure hoped so.
Back in the car,
"Ow, my butt." The bartender complained.
"Be a man alright? The pain will subside in a few days."
"How am I supposed to work?"
"That can wait, now, for being a man, you get to drive."
"Where to exactly?"
"Drive us to the nearest beach."
The bartender eased down slowly and hit the gas.
A few minutes later,
The bartender parked the car and Ziva got out, removed her shoes and ran towards the sea. The bartender couldn't run so he walked quickly trying to catch up.
Ziva crashed straight into the waves and fell backwards into the soft sand. She sat up and screamed at the top of her lungs. She laughed and collapsed back onto the sand.
The bartender came over and sat down next to her.
"So, I don't really know you and you sure drank a lot. So, anyways, I'm Mike."
"Ziva." She whispered without looking at him
"So, no one drinks that much without a reason."
"This is completely stupid and crazy, talking to a stranger. But maybe it's better."
"So, Ziva, mind sharing?"
She hesitated for a few minutes but decided to go through with it.
"Tomorrow's the death anniversary of my sister who died in a bomb attack."
Mike went silent for a while.
"Geez, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, don't say sorry, it is a sign of weakness."
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing, just a rule of my boss at work,"
"You have a scary boss,"
"He's alright, he's interesting. In many ways."
And so, for the next hour, the two complete strangers exchanged stories, apparently, Mike lost his cousin in a car accident two years ago just two days before. "Funny how the world seems to take lives so unexpectedly." Ziva thought, the duo spent another half an hour listening to the waves and settling for a comfortable silence.
"You keep mentioning this Tony guy, he special?"
"I don't know, I think I like him."
"Then did you tell him?"
"Nah, my boss has this strict rule about dating co-workers and stuff."
"Does he mean a lot to you?"
"The world probably."
"Then, screw the rules. It's better to bend the rule than live in doubt."
She sat in silence for a while.
"You know Mike, I think I need to go somewhere, finish up my thanksgiving celebrations."
"Sure."
They hopped into the car and Mike followed Ziva's barely sober directions to Gibbs' place not before making a pit stop at Wal-Mart to get some more booze.
At Gibbs' place,
The team was settled in front of the television with bowls of ice cream and desserts watching a movie when an unexpected knock on the door came. Gibbs paused the movie and went to answer the door.
"Hey Gibbs! Happy thanksgiving!" screamed a drunken Ziva who was leaning heavily on Mike.
Gibbs was stunned to see his agent in such a drunken state. Her hair was messed up and had sand particles caught in the messy tangle, her blue dress was soaked and had the smell of saltwater.
Tony recognized it as Ziva's voice and went to the front door. She flashed Tony a toothy grin.
"Bring her over," Tony opened his arms to catch Ziva.
Mike passed Ziva to Tony and sighed.
"Yeah, we didn't do much. She just got drunk at the bar and I decided to give her a lift."
"Why does she smell like the beach?"
"Uh, long story."
Ziva laughed and stumbled over to Mike, giving him a hug.
"Thanks, I'll never forget this night."
"I highly doubt it but, same to you."
She snagged a pen from her purse and wrote her number down on his palm.
"Maybe next year again?"
"Maybe without the tattoo and the booze, sure." He smiled at her.
"See you then." She slurred and flashed him a megawatt grin.
He laughed and she yelled to him while he was walking out,
"I HOPE YOU CAN WORK PROPERLY TOMORROW! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!"
Mike smiled and walked off.
She collapsed into Tony's arms. He carried her towards the couch and laid her down while Gibbs got a bucket ready, he knew what to expect after a hangover.
Tony sat at her side and asked,
"What were you doing?"
"Stuff." She smiled to herself.
"I can't wait to hear about it."
Tony got up to leave but she pulled him back down.
"Sit with me?"
"Sure."
At that point, she turned to face him. She couldn't resist, they drew nearer to each other and leaned in for a kiss sweeter than pumpkin pie on thanksgiving.
R&R maybe?