but know,
this night will be mine.
-emery, 'dear death, part one'
…
It's quiet in the office. McGee had just left for the evening while Ziva and Tony are still finishing paperwork. Ziva glances at the piece of paper on her desk, the curious title and the strange things written underneath, and then she looks up at him.
"So why are you creating this buckets list?"
"Bucket list, Ziva," he says with a sigh.
"Does it really matter?"
He looks up from his paperwork. "No."
She raises her eyebrows. "Are you going to tell me or not?"
He avoids her by filling out another line of description, then sets his pen down with a thud. "Because, Ziva. I'm dying. You're dying. We're all just racing toward death and we don't even stop to think about what we're going to do while we're still here. We almost got shot today, both of us, and now we're just sitting here and pretending like everything is fine."
She sets her pen down. "And this bucket list gives you some sort of peace of mind?"
"I don't know what it gives me," he answers, and he's surprised at his own truthfulness.
They are both quiet for a long time. When he realizes she's done, he goes back to his paperwork and she continues to stare at the paper, its words long since memorized. Finally she mutters, "So where are you going to start?"
…
A/N: I know it's short, but I'm thinking of expanding. Let me know how you feel. Thanks for reading :].