The Tell

Chapter 1

Shmeil was out, she could tell. His car was not waiting in the driveway when she came and the plaid, old-fashioned curtains were blocking the view into his little bungalow. Yet, something made her check if her gun was still in its place on the left side of her hip. She checked if the door was locked. It was. Ziva got out the keys and unlocked it slowly and as quietly as possible. She caught herself thinking this would be just another case and Gibbs was standing behind her, watching her back. But he was not and would never be again. At least, not for a while.

The door opened without any sound, Ziva stepped in and looked across the living room. She couldn't see anyone but an unusual smell caught her attention. It came from the kitchen. Without hesitation she grabbed her gun and moved towards the kitchen.

Suddenly she winced as a voice came out of the room in her focus: "Honey, you're home!"

Confused she moved closer and slowly identified the voice. As she reached the room, her guess was right…

"Tony?!", she wanted her voice to sound strong and steady, but instead all she heard was a surprised whisper coming out of her mouth. She lowered her gun an put it away.

Tony stood in front of the stove holding a wooden spoon in his right hand. As he turned around his smile made her shiver. And now she realized how much she had missed him over the past four months. She had missed him terribly!

"What are you doing here? In Israel? In Shmeil's kitchen? "

„Well, your friend missed me and invited me over for dinner! So I hopped by to whip up some Italian pasta"

Ziva couldn't help it and laughed: "you are crazy! Does Gibbs know…" Then she stopped and looked at him. "Did you…"

"…go back?", Tony finished her question. "Yes I did. In fact…we all did! Back to normal…well…not quite…"

Suddenly Ziva felt ashamed but she kept looking into Tony's eyes. She didn't have any regrets. At least she thought so. Tony's eyes were telling her otherwise.

Ziva heard herself break the silence. "What are you cooking?" A weak shot to change the topic, but Tony went along. This was not the time to discuss this. Not yet.

She stepped next to him and looked at the food he had 'cooked'.

"Hah", she laughed. "So you whipped up some…" Ziva grabbed a glass of tomato sauce and continued: "…Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce!", Ziva chuckled.

"Hey, it took big efforts to get it through security! I was checked twice by big scary Israeli guys wearing guns far from good!" Tony tried to grab the glass and as their hands touched, their eyes met as well and made the moment turn into something, Ziva could not define in that second. She let go of the glass but not of his eyes.

"I missed you", Tony whispered. His voice suddenly sounded hurt and his face turned serious. He dropped the glass on the counter and turned down the heat hoping Ziva would answer.

But she didn't. She wanted to tell him that she missed him as well but that would not make the situation any better.

"You could have called." He finally said and it hit Ziva as she flashed back to five years ago. And she knew he thought the same.

"I thought we were friends, Ziva. I thought we were past that stage"

"We are!" she replied desperately.

"Then tell me, why did you disappear without even a text?"

"I'm sorry Tony! I…I needed time to think"

"Think about what?"

Silence filled the room. And none of them could break it.

Then, finally, someone did.

"Ziva, my dear, you're home!"

Shmeil was standing in the door, holding up a paper bag.

"I got some drinks for tonight! I hope you don't mind if the wine is kosher, Tony!"

Tony forced a smile and shook his head.

"I'm going to get glasses!" Ziva got out of the room and left Tony staring into space.

"She missed you Tony, I can tell!" said Shmeil, unpacking the bag.

"I'm sure she did", Tony replied and turned back to get the pasta ready to serve.