A/N: Hey guys! So, I will be posting the next chapter for "An NCIS Cinderella Story" very soon, but I suddenly had a total mind-blowing (for me at least, I don't know if this has been done already) idea. What if Ziva was there for the NCIS Season 12 episode 14 "Cadence"? I stopped watching the show after Ziva left, but then all of a sudden, this clip from the episode comes up on my YouTube feed showing an episode that brings Tony back to his old military academy! Whhhaaatttttt? It got me thinking about when Ziva told Tony that "if [he] had any military experience then [he] would have learned to follow orders" alllll the way black in "Cloak" and what her response to this revelation would be. Naturally, I freaked out. Then I watched it. And I think it could have been done better. I mean come on, the carpenter? So, I asked myself, what is missing from this episode that I never knew about? Ziva. Soooo, I am happy to announce MY version of "Cadence". Keep in mind in this version Ziva has never left the team, though I think it would be cool to explore the story in another way where she is simply his significant other and not on the team anymore. I'm gonna stop rambling now. Hopefully I'll do it justice.
For as long as I've been reading fanfiction, I've seen people putting disclaimers on their stories. I happen to think that's kind of redundant, but for all intents and purposes, this is disclaimed.
If you haven't seen cadence, this is full of spoilers.
Sorry for the essay :)
Now... on with the story.
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As soon as Tony saw that RMA ring, he knew he was royally screwed.
No way was Ziva going to let him get away with this.
As they walked through the forest in their search for evidence, Ziva immediately began her rounds of questioning.
"So, Tony, military school, huh?" She asked, her amusement palpable.
"Yep. Something you'd like to share with the class David?" He mused, mentally preparing himself for relentless teasing.
He quickly crouched down to take a photo of a tarp.
"No, I just want to know why you never told me. And why you show absolutely no signs of having been under strict discipline such as the type you surely would have gotten in that academy." She said wistfully as she observed the scene.
"Well, I guess it just never came up in conversation. What did you expect? That I would just randomly walk up to you and say hey, did you know I spent time in a military school?" He said sarcastically.
He took another photo as she walked over to the edge of the brush.
"I suppose you have a point, but that does not make it any better. I thought we agreed to tell each other the important stuff a long time ago." She stated.
"Well, I wouldn't classify it as important stuff, It's just a small part of my past. And as for why I show no signs of that kind of discipline, well, I think you know the answer to that question, and just asked to get me to admit to something." He accused, hoping she would get what he meant and drop the subject.
"Hey, I have some tire tracks over here!" She exclaimed.
'Thank God, I thought I was going to have to make excuses forever.' He thought.
"Don't think that just because I found new evidence I have suddenly forgotten our previous conversation, Tony." She said with a mischievous look in her eye as he huffed out an annoyed breath.
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Tony and Ziva were standing next to each other in the bullpen as Gibbs strode in to stand behind them. There was a picture of Private Wallace on the screen as they began his profile. Ziva went first.
"Private Wallace was a scholarship student at Remington Military Academy, top of his class. He joined the Marine Corps just three days after he graduated last Spring." She began, handing the reigns over to Tony.
"Where he also excelled, top of his class in the school of infantry." He said, letting her speak once more.
"His unit was part of the twenty-second MEU, set to deploy on the U.S.S. Edgerton out of Norfolk." She stated.
Tony once again took over.
"Five days ago, he received a call on his cell phone, then he emptied his bank account- 1,500 bucks-and went UA. Didn't use his credit cards or cell phone, just vanished." He finished, allowing Ziva to speak again.
"But what we do have is the last call he received before he went quiet. We traced the phone number back to the Remington Military Academy." She was barely able to finish before Tony began speaking, earning a castrating glare from Ziva.
"It was a house phone in one of the dorms. Any one of 100 cadets could've placed that call." He said, getting a taste of his own medicine as Ziva barely gave him time to finish before she said:
"Whatever was said, Wallace went UA immediately afterwards." She said, finishing with a smug look in Tony's direction.
Gibbs had been standing behind them, surprisingly patient, while they spewed out all the facts about the victim. He finally spoke up and gave an order.
"Ok, go to the school, I wanna know who made the call." He demanded, immediately receiving protest from Tony.
"But boss!" He exclaimed, flustered.
"Snuff it up, Tony." She said in a joking tone as she made her way to the elevator with her gear.
"Are you coming, Tony?"
Tony eventually followed, mumbling the correct idiom under his breath.
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It was a six-hour drive to the Remington Military Academy, which left plenty of time for confrontations. Tony, however, was pleasantly surprised that Ziva didn't even try to pry. When he asked her about it as they pulled into the gate, she only had one thing to say:
"I believe you'll tell me when you're ready, Tony, yes?"
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The man formerly known as coach Tanner met the agents as they walked up the stairs to the school.
"I can't believe my eyes, Anthony frickin' DiNozzo back on my campus! I'm happy to see you." He said genuinely.
Tanner was dressed quite professionally, with a dress shirt and tie, covered by a coat appropriate for the cold winter months.
"Nice to see you, coach." Tony replied as Ziva looked up at him with a softness in her eyes.
"Please, call me Gerald." He requested.
"Gerald, this is NCIS Special Agent David." He introduced the two, hoping to get past the pleasantries and down to business.
He just wanted to get the heck out of there as soon as possible.
"Huh, NCIS, very impressive. I always knew this one would make me proud." He said to Ziva, making Tony somewhat confused at the kind looks she was giving him.
"You did?" She asked with interest. Again, giving Tony a look.
Tony was initially worried about Ziva finding out that he was respected around the school, but again was pleasantly surprised when he looked into her eyes. Instead of the mockery and mischief he suspected to find, the emotion floating around in those dark orbs of hers was something akin to pride.
"Well, we're not here to reminisce." Tony said dryly, hoping to not stay there for longer than necessary.
"Of course not, you're here about John Wallace. How can I help?" He asked with a solemn tone.
"Do you know this girl." Asked Ziva as she showed a picture of a girl that had been found in the victim's hand.
"Of course I do, that's Christine Sanders." He explained.
"We need to talk to her as soon as possible." Tony interrupted firmly.
"Well I'm afraid that's impossible." He said, the solemn tone coloring his voice again.
"Why?" Ziva asked in her usual brusque manner.
"Christine Sanders is dead."
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As Tony and Ziva walked down the steps to talk to other people who could help, they were stopped by coach Tanner.
"Ms. David, might I speak to you a minute?" At Tony's puzzled look, he clarified.
"Strictly business." He said.
Ziva walked back up the stairs and into coach Tanner's office, where she took the seat he offered.
"Ok, I lied to Tony when I told you this was strictly business." He confessed.
"I just was wondering how long you two have been dating?" He asked her, not expecting the flabbergasted look he received.
"What? Tony and I? No. Absolutely not. Not in a million years. Tony has a less than perfect record when it comes to relationships." She tried to claim convincingly, but the blush on her face gave her away.
"You know as well as I do that that is just another one of his masks. I think he would surprise you if he told you about all his accomplishments. For instance, did you know he made the dean's list senior year?" He said with pride in his voice.
The shocked look in her eye told him she was unaware.
"You see, Tony likes to hide the most important things behind jokes and his movie references, but surely you know this." He claimed knowingly.
"I do, but that does not take away from the fact that he and I would never work out." She was convinced that it had never been written in the stars for them.
"That's a lie. Honestly, I am not in any way trying to say I disapprove, I just have known Tony for a long time, and I know the looks he is giving you. That kid- or man rather now-has been through a lot, I just want to see him happy." He said with a caring tone.
'Tony sure has a knack for finding father figures.' She thought with slight humor.
"Look, Gerald, it is very complicated. We have been partners for almost a decade, and it has never been the right time. Not to mention our boss has a strict rule against co-workers dating." She said, trying to come up with any excuse she could.
"Well if you ask me, that's a load of bull crap, and I think you know that, too. If you two love each other, you shouldn't let such trivial things get in the way. A major part of this school is teaching kids to be persistent; to never give up on their goals and aspirations. If you truly want to be together, you need to stop making excuses and take control of your own lives!" He advised her with conviction.
"Thank you for the advice, Gerald. I will definitely take it into consideration." She replied kindly as she bid him a good day.
On the way out, she noticed an old picture on one of the tables out of the corner of her eye. There was no reason it should have stuck out to her, but for some reason it did. As she walked up closer to it, she immediately recognized one of the flag bearers.
'No way!' She thought, excited at her new discovery.
It was a photo of Tony, next to other cadets, dressed all spiffy in his uniform, and holding a flag with perfect posture and confidence.
She quickly snapped a photo for future reference.
She had to tell McGee!
As she walked out the main door, she was bombarded with questions by Tony.
"What did you guys talk about?" He asked until she answered.
"Tony, he wanted my opinion on the school so far. That is it! Are you done now?" She asked him with fake exasperation, silently congratulating herself on the quick lie.
"Fine." He huffed dejectedly as they walked to the car.
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The case flew by.
After almost reaching D.C., they got a call from Tony's former friend in military school, who had some information about Christine's death. He blew a mile wide whole into honor corps, and in turn, Tony's mentor.
"Tony? Are you ok?" Ziva asked with concern as they made their way home.
"I... I just don't want to talk about it right now. Can we talk about something else please?" He asked, only adding to Ziva's concern as Tony almost never showed weakness.
"Sure. What is your favorite song from The Sound of Music?" She asked with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood.
"Oh, God! Anything but that!" He complained in good nature.
And with that, they remained in a comfortable silence for the rest of the ride.
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They eventually-or rather, Gibbs eventually-solved the case. It turned out that because Wallace was trying to out Honor Corps, and in turn shame the school, his mentor-who only Gibbs met for five minutes- stabbed him multiple times to save the school's reputation.
The case might have been solved, but the betrayal Tony felt was nowhere near mitigated. He packed up his things after finishing his paperwork, and went home intending to enjoy a nice movie, and maybe a glass of bourbon.
Upon entering the apartment, he dropped his things by the door, put in a DVD, and plopped himself down on the couch with a sigh. Only fifteen minutes into "The Godfather", Tony's relaxation time was interrupted by a knock on the door.
'You gotta be friggin' kidding me.' He thought as he made his way to the door.
On the other side of the door, Ziva was thinking about the words of Tony's former mentor earlier that week. Something he said struck a chord within her, and she knew he was right.
As Tony looked through the peephole, his mood instantly changed from one of frustration into one of happiness. As he opened the door, he was greeted by Ziva's slightly smiling face.
"Hello, Tony. I hope I did not interrupt anything." She said, knowing that she likely did not.
"Actually, you interrupted The Godfather, which is a crime in and of itself." He bantered with her just as they usually did.
'Ah, he is teasing me. This is an improvement in his mood.' She thought, her spirits lifting.
"Listen, Tony. I think we need to talk."
A/N: What'd you think? Does this call for a companion piece? If I end up doing that, it'll probably be after I finish An NCIS Cinderella Story, but if you ask nicely, I might fast-track it. I hope you all noticed my veiled sarcasm in the paragraph explaining how the case ended. I thought it was a really stupid resolution on the show's part because it barely made any sense, and it was the first person they interviewed! One of the reasons that I loved NCIS was because the culprit's identity was always a surprise, and now they're becoming like other shows and making it the first interviewee? Seriously? Well anyway, I didn't want to go too far into the case because I was hoping to focus heavily on the possible dynamic change between Tony and Ziva, so if you haven't seen the episode and my explanations felt unclear and underdone-they were. I thought the case part of Cadence was reeaallllyyy stupid. I only watched it for a look into Tony's past, which I did think was fascinating. Regardless of whether you liked the story or not, maybe think about dropping a review?