I want to talk to you after work

He looked up as soon as the message appeared on his screen. Tim could clearly see it was from Ziva, but when he looked at her, she was heavily involved in her work, not even focusing on him. He furrowed his brow, looking back and forth between the message and her, not quite understanding. What could Ziva want to talk to him about? A couple of beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he considered the possibilities.

As he sat there, sweating over the thought of what he might have done to incur the wrath of the resident ninja woman, he felt a pair of eyes trained on him. He looked up and found himself looking into Ziva's deep, brown eyes. The eyes were narrowed as they pierced through him, her mouth twisted into a wry smirk. She was looking at him in the same manner an eagle eyes its prey and it was only adding to his discomfort. She typed something on her keyboard and sent it. A ding on his computer let him know he had a new message.

Do not try to avoid me...you will only make things worse for yourself

Tim's mouth went dry and perspiration began soaking every crevice of his body. Yeah, he'd definitely done something to piss her off, and he wasn't looking forward to finding out what it was.

The day ticked by slowly. Though he was hoping to prolong the day forever to avoid having to face Ziva and her Mossad-trained skills, Tim felt himself going insane by how slowly the time seemed to creep forward. The more time he had before going home, the more time he spent analyzing everything he had said and done in the past few weeks to figure out why Ziva would be upset with him.

At one point Tony and Gibbs went to interview a witness, leaving Tim and Ziva alone in the bull pen. He expected her to take advantage of their moment alone to discuss whatever it was she wanted to discuss with him. Ziva, though, remained in her seat, going through the phone records she had been assigned. She didn't even acknowledge Tim's presence, even when he stood and began pacing between the desks.

"So, uh…you said you wanted to talk?" Tim asked with a slight quiver in his voice. He'd parked himself behind his desk, figuring the further away he was from Ziva, the better off he'd be.

Ziva, though, simply looked up at him nonchalantly. "After work, McGee."

"Why not right now?"

Her lips pursed as her eyes studied the young computer geek. She could see the fretting in his eyes and the gleam of perspiration that covered the skin of his forehead and cheeks. She could see his leg bouncing up and down as he sat there, a nervous twitch of his that she'd noticed the first time they'd met. She could see that he was both anxious to know what her message that morning meant, yet scared of what she may do to him. Still, Ziva simply shrugged, looking back to her work. "Because, McGee, it is something I'd prefer to discuss in private."

He didn't push the issue; he was too busy wondering what Ziva wanted to do to him that she would only dare do in private. When it came to Ziva, the possibilities were endless.

The squad room grew dark as evening approached. Tim had barely looked at Ziva, let alone talked to her, since that afternoon. At one point during the day, she had walked to the filing cabinet that was situated between his and Tony's desk. She she'd pulled the cabinet open, she looked at him with a sweet smile. Tim immediately averted his eyes, though he knew hers were still focused on him, taking an almost sadistic pleasure in his growing discomfort.

"Perhaps you would like to get a drink with me, Tim."

Tim jumped slightly. He looked across the way to see Ziva leaning over her desk with her eyes fixated on him. Ordinarily he'd be flattered at such an invitation from a woman as beautiful as Ziva. "I…uh…sorry, Ziva…I think I'll be going straight to bed when I get home." He added a pathetically fake yawn in an effort to make his excuse seem more plausible.

"It's only 9:00pm, McGee," Tony butted in. "I think he's just too afraid to actually be alone with a woman," he whispered across to Ziva.

"I am not afraid to be alone with a woman," Tim grumbled. Just a woman with mad ninja skills who I seem to have pissed off recently.

"Go home," Gibbs ordered the team as he re-entered the squad room. "We're not going to get anything else done tonight."

While Tony and Ziva eagerly grabbed their things to leave, Tim sat still in his chair. "Uh, well, I actually was going to, uh, get some stuff done here for, um…"

"Home, McGee," Gibbs said gruffly. "That's an order."

Tim begrudgingly obliged, grabbing his bag and shutting down his computer. "First you said you were tired and planned to go straight to bed, then you try and stay late," Tony commented as Tim brushed past him toward the elevator. "You wouldn't happen to be avoiding someone, would you?"

"Why would McGee be avoiding someone?" Ziva asked innocently. She trailed behind the young agent and grinned when she saw his neck and ears grow a slight shade of pink.

The trio entered the elevator and Tim breathed a sigh of relief. Ziva had she wanted to talk in private, so as long as Tony was there, he was safe. Now he just had to figure out how to get Tony to stay with him as he walked to his car. Once he was safely inside his car, he could zoom out of the Navy Yard, rush home, and take refuge inside of his apartment. The recently added padlock should be able to keep even Ziva out.

"Oh, crap! I left my cell phone on my desk," Tony told them. Tim watched in horror as he inserted his hands between the closing doors just in time and they sprung open. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," he said without even a backward glance.

The doors closed, this time with only Tim and Ziva inside. She leaned in and hit the button for the lobby and the elevator came alive, descending down the shaft almost as quickly as Tim's stomach descended. He stared straight ahead, hoping Ziva had forgotten about whatever it was she wanted to discuss with him.

His hope disappeared when he saw Ziva lean over and flip the switch, stopping the elevator where it was. The lights went out, leaving them in the dark glow of the emergency lights, and the elevator bounced slightly before coming to a complete stand still. Ziva stepped back beside him. Though her head was staring straight ahead, her eyes were strained sideways toward Tim.

"Here we are…alone at last…"

"I swear I deleted those pictures," Tim blurted out, referring to the bikini shots Tony had sent him. It was true that he'd deleted them, though he didn't dare admit to Ziva that before deleting them he had printed them out and they now resided at the bottom of his night table drawer.

Ziva grinned. "I know you did. I had Abby check your computer."

"Oh…well, I wasn't the one who stole your chocolate bar. It was Tony." Tim had seen first hand what happened when you came between a woman and her chocolate, and he had no intention of doing so with Ziva of all people.

"I know that too, McGee."

"Well, I also wasn't the one who spread that rumor about you getting drunk at the bar last week and hitting on Gibbs."

"I know, McGee," Ziva repeated, sounding more and more exasperated.

"Oh, well, I wasn't…uh…" Tim trailed off, racking his brain for what other reason Ziva could have for chewing him out. "…so why are you angry at me?"

Ziva laughed. "Angry at you? When did I ever say I was angry at you?"

"Well, you sent me that message about talking to me after work…"

"And the only reason I could talk to you after work is because I am angry at you?"

"Well, you said you wanted it to be private, so I thought you were, uh, going to do something that you wouldn't want anyone to see…"

"Oh, McGee," Ziva said, shaking her head. "When has the possibility of someone seeing ever stopped me from inflicting pain on someone who has angered me?"

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Tim asked, a bit miffed that he'd spent the entire day worrying about it.

Ziva didn't respond, at least not with words. Her response was in the form of her body flinging against his, her arms wrapping around his neck, and her lips pressing against his. Tim took a few startled steps backwards, stopping as his back pressed against the hard, metal wall of the elevator. As the realization that he was not about to be annihilated by the beautiful assassin dawned on him, Tim felt his body relax in her embrace. His arms returned the favor, tightly wrapping around her waist and pulling her against him.

When Ziva finally pulled away from the kiss, she took great pleasure in the dazed look Tim had on his face. His eyes were glazed over, not really focused on anything in particular, and his mouth was grinning goofily. "You like that, McGee?" she asked in a low, husky voice.

"Yeah…" he said in an equally low voice. "What would you have done if I'd avoided you?"

She grinned wickedly. "I would have had to use my Mossad training to apprehend you."

Tim had to smile at the thought of Ziva clicking handcuffs around his wrists as she pulled him away into her car. "You were going to kidnap me?" he asked in amusement.

"I do not like to think of it as 'kidnapping,' McGee, but rather a rougher version of 'bondage.'" She paused, looking at him thoughtfully. "You did try to avoid me, though, McGee, so perhaps I should punish you a bit…"

Tim felt his throat go dry as his mind comprehended her words, mixed with the impish grin and glint in her eyes as she said them. "And, uh, wh-what would said, uh, punishment, entail?"

Ziva pushed her heels off the ground so that she and Tim were nose to nose and leaned in, pressing her mouth against his ear to whisper her chosen punishment.

Upstairs Tony angrily jabbed the down button again. "Come on!" he muttered in exasperation. What could possibly be holding the elevator up this long? Gibbs was still at his desk, and who else would stall the elevator?

"Still stuck, Tony?" Gibbs asked as he neared the elevator. When Tony nodded sulkily, Gibbs asked, "Weren't Ziva and Tim the last two to get in?"

"Yeah," Tony said slowly, not quite sure where Gibbs was going with this.

The older man nodded toward the stairs. "I have a feeling they're going to be awhile." He began his descent down the stairs, leaving behind an open-mouthed Tony DiNozzo.

Nah…couldn't be…could it?

The end!