Tony passed through the door coming to stand in front of the bed. "I can't believe the hotel over booked," he said as he tossed his overnight bag onto the bed. He turned as Ziva came into the room behind him. He reached in the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a quarter. "I'll flip you for it," he said as he flicked the coin in the air. Ziva caught it with her free hand. "There is no need. I will sleep on the couch." She dropped her bag on the floor near the sofa. Tony flashed a smile. "Thanks Zee-Vah. That's really nice of you." He turned and began unpacking his bag. "I am not being nice. I simply do not wish to hear you complain of a sore back or listen to an unending tale of how Chivalry is not dead because of you." He turned back to face her. By this time, she had moved to the sofa and was unpacking her bag there. Her back was to him. "We could share." She turned to face him. "It's not like we haven't done it before," he said with a small smirk. She shook her head. "It was a requirement of the mission, Tony." "The same thing could apply here, Ziva." She considered his logic for a moment. "Fine, but I get the bathroom first." She picked up her toiletries and went to get ready for bed.
When she returned, he was lounging on the bed channel surfing. "It is all yours." He glanced up at her. "Thought you might have fallen in," he said getting up to take his to take his turn. "It was a long flight. I needed to rewind." He smirked as he passed by her. "It unwind not rewind. It's a good thing there's not an American idioms section on the citizenship exam, because if there were, you might need to do a little more studying. By this time, he had reached the bathroom door and was closing it just as a throw pillow sailed toward him.
When Tony returned from the bathroom, Ziva was propped up on pillows reading. He smiled apologetically. "Hey. I was just kidding about the test thing." She looked up at him. "I know, Tony. It is part of the case file." "Oh." He came around to his side of the bed and climbed in. "You mind if I watch TV for a while?" "No," she said, her eyes never leaving the page she was reading. They sat in silence for a while. Then Ziva spoke. "Tony, I have a question. "Shoot," he said never taking his eyes from the television. "Out of everyone in the world who could have come to Somalia to find me, it had to be you?" The images on the screen stilled as he stopped changing the channels. He couldn't imagine why she was bringing this up now. He turned off the television and turned to face her. "You weren't glad to see me?" "You should not have come." "Well, it was a little difficult for me to leave after I got taken prisoner." "Why were you there?" He shrugged, "Couldn't live without you, I guess." "So you were willing to die with me?" He took both of her hands in his. "Yes. I was willing to die with you and for you." She pulled out of his grasp and turned away from him. "I did not ask anyone to put themselves in harm's way for me." He shook his head in the negative. "You most certainly did, in a roundabout way, of course." She looked at him, puzzled by his statement. "How so?"
"You asked me once if when I looked at you, I saw something worth dying over." Realization dawned as she recalled the conversation. She nodded "I seem to remember that you weren't so sure that what you saw was worth dying over." "Well, after everything that happened, I decided that I liked what I saw, and you were worth dying over." She turned back to face him. "Tony- "You're welcome." He turned from her and slid down into the covers. She put the file on the nightstand and turned off the light. She mimicked his earlier action, but in the opposite direction. "Good night, Tony," she said. "Sweet dreams, Sweet Cheeks."
