Chapter 1
Every morning began the same, Gibbs would already be there working on paperwork with his hand grasped around an ever present coffee cup whilst McGee looked across at his boss awaiting the order that was sure to come 'Grab your gear', Ziva watched them both carefully from the corner of her eye, enjoying the comfort she had found within her team. She looked across at the desk in front of her which was absent of her partner Tony, she smiled to herself wondering what excuse he would arrive with for being only minutes late. Tony had been a source of hilarity within her life from the moment she had arrived in America. The phone rang and it sounded like it was in the distance bringing Ziva back to the present time. Gibbs was quick as always and then spoke the words McGee had been waiting on all morning.
'Where's Dinozzo?' Gibbs asked as he walked by Zivas desk with McGee in tow. 'I don't know Gibbs I called him this morning but it went to voicemail' Ziva replied. Just at that moment the ding of the elevator sounded and the 3 special agents looked up to see Tony looking dishevelled as he exited, Gibbs pointed his finger to the lift and with a spin Tony re-entered in front of them, Gibbs was the last to enter. 'Late night Dinozzo?' Tony looked at both Ziva and McGee before looking back to Gibbs who had asked the question, 'Sorry Boss, met a woman and it turns out she doesn't own an alarm clock so things were hectic this morning trying to leave before she woke up' This earned him a quick slap to the head whilst McGee looked on with a smirk, Tony glanced at Ziva who all of a sudden had a rush of a feeling she had become accustomed to when hearing Tony speak about women, she had yet to acknowledge to herself that this was jealousy. She avoided eye contact with him fearing that he may sense the emotion she was feeling if he looked her in the eye.
The journey to the crime scene was silent, Ziva looked out the window whilst Tony scrutinised her, and he couldn't understand why she hadn't made any comment about his harsh treatment of the woman he had left in bed that morning. He was unsure why he no longer found anyone as attractive as he found Ziva. He knew she would never feel anything romantic towards him but he couldn't help admiring her beauty. Ziva looked over at him and they locked eyes for a moment. He felt like she wanted to say something to him but couldn't, before he could ponder on this the van had stopped and they had arrived at the crime scene.