Disclaimer: The characters are not mine... wish they were. But I can play with them for a bit, can't I?
Spoilers: Brief references to "Cloak" and "Road Kill"
Summary: One-shot. Ziva gets caught having her fun and a little mischief ensues.
Author's Note: My first one-shot and NCIS fic. Any grammatical or factual errors are mine, I just guesstimated the time that elapsed between the beginning of season three and this episode. Read and enjoy. Reviews and constructive criticism welcome!
Caught
Looking around the bullpen to insure that she was alone, she raised her arms in imitation of the pictures she'd seen, and accidentally shown everyone else, earlier. Never before had she felt the freedom that came with committing a truly childish act in a public place, knowing she could be caught at any moment by a passing coworker. That is, until a flash went off.
"Not quite as good as mine, but it's a start."
After calming her rapidly beating heart and internally berating herself for being startled, she turned around the face the direction of the voice.
"I thought you left. What are you doing here?" Ziva asked.
"Oh, I did leave. I realized halfway down to the garage I left a file on my desk. I do my best work at night, you know."
"Somehow I do not believe that to be the work you often refer to, Tony," she replied.
He just smiled in response, moving to pluck the file off his desk.
"You know, I think that picture might make a good entry for the air guitar section... I might have to take it upon myself to...," Tony said while reviewing the picture on the screen.
She grabbed for the camera before he could finish the teasing threat. He held the camera above his head, just barely out of her reach. Even on her tip-toes the five inch height difference was too great, so instead Ziva grabbed Tony's free hand by the thumb and twisted his wrist, effectively trapping it against his forearm and between their bodies.
Her breath caught in her throat at their close proximity, reminding her of that all-too-short stint in the closet a few weeks ago.
"Ow! Let go!"
Ziva looked up at his face and smirked, "I cannot help it. Being this close to you just gets me hot under the collar."
"Hot and bothered, Zee-vah. Reaaally? I had no idea!" he said in mock astonishment, "Now if you'll let go of m-"
She glared dangerously as she cut him off, "Not until you promise to delete that photograph from your camera," his face broke into a grin, "Immediately."
His face fell and he relented. She released his hand but didn't step away as he brought the camera back down between them.
"I was just having a little fun, Ziva. Don't worry, I'll delete the picture."
They just stood there staring at each other for a moment, neither wishing to break the spell.
Tony broke the silence first, "It's nice to see you allow yourself to have some fun for a change."
He saw her start to put her guard up, her instincts telling her that he was preparing to get too emotionally close.
"Like I said before, I have plenty of fun. In fact, I had a bit of fun just now. Inflicting small amounts of pain on you can be quite relaxing to me."
"Oh, you're funny. I always knew you were a sadist. You like tying your men up?"
She gave him a sultry and mischievous smile as she said, "Sometimes I even allow myself to be tied up."
Tony stared at her for a moment, at a loss for words. Was she serious? When it came to Ziva and her sexual escapades, she was never one to brag or advertise. What she did in her spare time was a mystery to the rest of the team. Not that he was even interested, of course.
He let out a short, nervous chuckle, "Heh... you can't be...."
He faltered, his normally abundant sexual confidence currently failing him against the still somewhat mysterious Mossad Officer. Who was he kidding? She was more than just somewhat mysterious; even after three and a half years. Maybe that was part of her appeal to him.
"Hmm," was all she said, keeping the same smile on her face.
Realizing they were still close, she backed away and moved towards her desk. Gathering her backpack from the floor and some files off her desk, she prepared to go home for the evening.
"I expect that photo will be deleted by tomorrow morning?"
"Yeah, yeah, it'll be gone."
"I do not trust you. Let me see you delete it," she said as she walked toward him.
"You're not gonna grab my hand again, are you?"
Ziva made to grab him again, to scare him into submission. He picked the camera up off his desk, turning it on. Scrolling through, he found the photo he was looking for and deleted it.
"See? All gone. No need to worry," he said in a placating voice.
"Good. I will see you tomorrow, Tony."
Tony waited until he heard the ping from the elevator and the sound of the doors closing before he popped the memory card out of the camera. He walked over to his computer and sat down, inserting the memory card into the computer....
When Ziva walked into the bullpen the next morning, she expected it to be just like any other day. Perhaps Tony had already concocted some form of silly torture for his favorite probie. Hopefully not one that involved superglue though; she didn't think McGee's skin could take it again.
"Morning, Ziva," McGee and Tony chorused.
"McGee, Tony," she acknowledged.
Only when she looked up did she realize McGee wasn't glued to his desk in some manner or another, but that he was stood next to Tony's desk, staring at the screen with a grin on his face.
"What are you two looking at?"
"Oh, Ziva, I had no idea you were such a pro at air guitar... for being a first-timer and all.... I thought you said such things were too childish for you?" McGee mocked, a tad too smug for Ziva's liking.
"Tony, you said you would delete that photo! I saw you delete it last night," Ziva hissed.
He looked up from the screen and said, "But I did... right after I uploaded it onto ibeatyou(dot)com."
She groaned and walked over to Tony and McGee, glancing at the screen to see the photo for herself. She brought up her hand and made to smack Tony, but instead grabbed for the mouse and clicked on her picture.
Tony started nervously scooting his desk chair away when Ziva spoke,
"Hmm. Looks like I beat you."
Author's Note: Okay, like I said before, this is my first NCIS fic as well as my first one-shot... so please, be gentle with me! Haha. I hope they weren't too out of character in this fic, and I really hope you enjoyed it! If you can, please take the time to review. I would really appreciate it; it'll let me know how I'm doing.