Tony was leaning back in his chair, recounting his "amazing" performance in a football game over the weekend while McGee and Ziva were both busily tapping away at their computers.
"So isn't that amazing? I pretty much single-handedly won that match, the other side didn't know what hit them!" he glanced around expectantly but got no response, "Ziva, c'mon admit you're impressed," he plastered a genial grin on his face which was wasted as she did not even look up as she spoke,
"What I think is amazing Tony is the fact you will continue to talk even though it is very clear that McGee and I are paying you no attention at all." Tony frowned and sat forward clasping a playful hand to his chest,
"Ziva, I'm hurt! How could you not at least pretend to listen as tell you about my hobbies. We're meant to be partners don't you care about my interests? I care about yours, I always listen to you talk about . . ." he frowned slightly and Ziva finally looked across at him smiling slightly.
"About what Tony?" he leant her elbows on her desk watching him desperately try to think of something to say. "What are the interests I talk incessantly about?"
"Ehhhm well knives I guess or, or, or fighting? You like them." Ziva snorted,
"Knives? Fighting? Even if they counted as hobbies, which they do not, I do not talk about them!"
"Well what about McGee, I take an interest in him!" Tony spun round to face the other agent who stared back at him irreverently,
"Calling me Elf lord or McGeek does not count as paying attention to my hobbies DiNozzo!"
"I read your books!" Tony exclaimed indignantly before turning back to Ziva and adding conspiratorially, "And that was no easy task!"
"Hey!" McGee frowned at him and Ziva chuckled softly.
"Still Tony, you were in them so I do not think that counts."
"You are not in them, they're fictional characters!" McGee fumed,
"He's right Ziva, there were many, many differences between us and the characters. Y'know, they had different-ish names so you see we couldn't possibly accuseMcOriginal over there of ripping us off."
"Hmmm, you are right Tony, I'm sure that many Israeli women work with agencies, in teams with Italian Americans andintimidating bosses."
"It is a common situation Ziva, completely coincidental that McGee wrote about one and we just HAPPEN to be an italian-american/Israeli partnership with a thoroughly terrifying boss, a computer geek fellow agent and a slightly crazy forensic scientist."
"Probably all over the country there are teams just like us discussing how much the books resemble their lives, assuming that their lives are the focus . . ."
"Alright ok, ok, c'mon guys just let it go! I already admitted that I might have borrowed a few details from you but they are just characters." Tony and Ziva laughed , "And anyway when did this get turned around on me? Two minutes ago you were laughing at Tony for being self absorbed!" Ziva smiled and raised an eyebrow,
"Ahh you are right McGee I was," she turned back to face Tony and folded her arms, "So DiNozzo, what were you saying our hobbies were?" Tony narrowed his eyes at McGee who smiled sweetly back at him,
"Thanks a lot Probie!" he hissed just as his phone began to ring, after a short conversation he put it down and turned to McGee, "The witness is here, go down and bring her up." McGee frowned at him,
"Why do I need to go and bring her up? Why can't she just . . ."
"Because I said so and I'm the senior agent so off you trot" he gestured for McGee to go.
"Fine, I'm going." he grumbled and walked towards the lift leaving Tony and Ziva alone in the bullpen. Ziva seemed to have forgotten all about Tony and was staring intently at her computer screen. Tony watched her as she scrolled through whatever she was reading, seeing her deep brown eyes glide across the screen. She was wearing a bright jade green shirt today, he thought she always looked more beautiful when she wore vibrant colours, they always just seemed to make her sparkle more, which sounded stupid in his head but somehow they just did. Maybe it was because they set off her eyes or maybe because they brightness gave her more confidence or maybe they just looked amazing against her caramel skin. Whatever it was they made her look even hotter than usual, which he appreciated very much. She moved a hand up to rub the back of her neck, leaning back and shutting her eyes lightly. She sighed and Tony swallowed as he watched her from his desk, suddenly she opened her eyes and caught him staring.
"Hoping that you will suddenly remember something I enjoy to prove me wrong?" he smiled,
"Oh, I'm sure I could think of something you'd enjoy!" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively causing her to chuckle loudly as McGee appeared back with a petite brown haired woman at his side,
"Gibbs says to take her through to the conference room DiNozzo, he wants me to go help Abby." He stepped aside to reveal the woman to Tony, who froze in shock,
"Lena?"
"Hello Tony," she folded her arms in annoyance, "Never thought I'd see you again." she said in a flat tone. Tony laughed uncomfortably and stood up slowly,
"Well life's full of surprises I guess." He walked round to her, "I suppose I'll show you through then, gesturing for her to start walking. The two set off leaving McGee and Ziva looking at each other questioningly.
A few minutes later Tony strolled back to his desk and sat down without a word and avoided looking at Ziva.
"You know that woman Tony?" she broke the silence and he looked up sheepishly,
"Well, that might be putting it a bit strongly." Ziva frowned,
"But, she knows you?"
"Well I guess you could say I know her …well made her acquaintance . . .ahem, once" He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
"Oh," Ziva's face stayed scrunched up in confusion for a second before realisation struck her, "Ooooh, I see you know her, you Americans and your euphemisms, why not just say; Ziva I had sex with her, that would have made it much clearer to me." Tony jerked in his chair looking round to see if anyone heard.
"Ziva, sssshhh! Keep it down!"
"Tony, you of all people worried that people may hear of one of your conquests?"
"What if someone here's, and by someone I of course mean Gibbs, this will not be good if he finds out I slept with the victim's roommate?" Ziva raised her eyebrows as Tony continued his paranoid ramblings, "What if she's the murderer?" He laid his head on the desk as Ziva silently crossed the bull pen. "He raised his head, "I mean she was a bit weird… " He noticed Ziva wasn't at her desk just as she bent her face down to his ear,
"Well Tony considering the poor girl was raped unless there was something very, very unusual about your evening together I think that it is safe to say that she is not the killer." Tony nearly leapt out of his skin and spun round,
"Don't do that!" he rolled his chair back slightly, "But that's a good point, yeah this will be fine. Gibbs probably won't even need to find out about this huh? And even if he did, it's not like I knew is it?" Ziva sat down on the edge of his desk and looked down at him, after a few seconds she spoke,
"You were only with her once?" Tony squirmed uncomfortably,
"Well . . . Yeah, it was y'know bad judgement I guess." she stared at him incredulously,
"I am not judging you Tony, sometimes you just need one night of . . ."
"Woah, in my defence it was just after I got off that boat? C'mon four months? I was entitled!"
"I just said I am not judging you, four months is a long, long time."
"Yeah." They sat in silence for a few moments and Tony took the opportunity to look up at her as she stood in front of him, his face was level with her stomach. Sometimes random urges would seize him at the most inopportune moment and he would have to use all his strength to prevent himself from grabbing her roughly and kissing her; running his hands through her hair; pushing her up against walls or onto beds. Most of the time he just wanted to touch her but right now all he wanted to do was lift her shirt up, pull her towards him and bury his face into her toned stomach, kissing it, sucking it anything. He swallowed and leant back, trying to push those thoughts out of his head and as she did so she began smoothing her shirt down, stroking her abdomen gently. It was as though she could read his thoughts and was deliberately teasing him sometimes.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs strode into view, closely followed by Lena, "Come here" Gibbs reached his desk and Tony leapt up to follow him leaving Lena standing close to Ziva.
"I am sorry about your friend," Ziva broke the uncomfortable silence.
"Thanks, although she only moved in because I couldn't afford my mortgage after the divorce, I didn't really know her that well."
"Oh right."
"That was just before Tony and I, well you know right?" the woman looked at Ziva expectantly,
"Yes I know." she gave Lena a sympathetic look.
"I should have known it wouldn't be that easy right? I met him in a bar, I thought wow all my divorced friends are totally exaggerating over how hard it is to find another good guy, just stepped in here and there's one already!" She laughed cynically, "But then it turned out, not such a good guy after all I guess. Didn't call once, not even ONCE." She folded her arms and scowled at Tony, who was glancing nervously over at them every time Gibbs looked away.
"Mmmmmm," Ziva gave a non-committal response to Lena's rant,
"And that's not even the worse part! He didn't even remember my name!" Ziva raised her eyebrows,
"What?"
"Well," Lena paused and let out an exasperated sigh, "God this makes me sound so pathetic, I can't believe I still waited for a call after this! So we're in the middle of you know "it" and he's you know, about done and you know what he shouts out?"
"Uhm, no."
"Well it sure as hell wasn't Lena! Oh no, some foreign sounding name, can't remember what it was though. Began with a Z I think, uhm Zara, no, Zera. . .no Zena uhm no that's not it either . . ."
"Ziva?" Ziva suggested tentatively.
"YES! Exactly! How did you know?" Ziva shrugged, while her inside she soared,
"Lucky guess"
"huh good guess, anyway I was mad as HELL but he denied he even said it! God, I am such a loser! Can't believe I even took him home so easily!" Ziva smiled comfortingly,
"It is not your fault, he can be very charming."
"Yeah, you got that right!" Gibbs and Tony crossed to join them,
"Ok Ms Webster you can go now, we have all we need from you."
"Uh ok," she replied uncertainly, taken aback by Gibbs no-frills manner, "I guess I'll see you around, or maybe not right Tony?" she turned and walked towards the lift,
"DiNozzo, what is she talking about?"
"Uh . . .I dunno boss I reckon she's cra . . ." Tony was cut off by a slap to the back of the head as Gibbs swept past him
"Ow!Boss what was that for?"
"I dunno but you did something to her that woman to deserve it."
"Well on the bright side she never said anything to Gibbs." He mumbled but then as a sudden realisation struck him he snapped his head back up to look at Ziva.
"What did she say to you?" He asked nervously, "Cause like I said, it think she's a bit nuts, you shouldn't take what she says seriously." He examined her face intently, but she was a blank canvas, carefully hiding the tumult going on inside her.
"DiNozzo, David, you comin?" Gibbs roared from across the bull pen and they quickly scuttled to catch him up.