A/N: Sooo, I was having some insomnia... it's 2am right now and I just can't seem to get to sleep even though I have to get up at 7 to take a shower before going shopping... but hey, who needs sleep, if there are unfinished stories just waiting to be cotinued?!

Anyway, let's do this :D

Chapter 2:

She wondered why he had not noticed her yet. Normally, he would have done something by now - emptied a jar for her to drink from, or at least nodded into her direction as if saying 'hi' - yet today he just sat there - staring holes into the air, or whatever Americans called it. Even when she started decending the stairs step by step, slowly venturing into his comfort zone, he did not move.

He sat on one of the bottom steps and looked as if the combination of whiskey and coffee had finally taken its toll on his sanity. Swaying slightly and breathing in an uneven - non-Gibbs - kind of way, he was starting to worry her.

It was not until she came to a stop on the step above him that she noticed the bottle of liquor Tony had given them last Christmas, standing on his work bench about two glasses lighter. Tony had said to be careful with the stuff, but Ziva had noticed weeks ago that even the slightest wiff of it could get you about as drunk as you can be. She had had a glas one night and had to call in sick for three days to get the hallucinations out of her system. It seemed quite unlikely that Gibbs would be careless enought to actually drink more than a sip, but then again - there was a lot she did not know about Gibbs, even though he had told her time and time again that she was the person who knew him best - who understood him best. Why would he even need to get drunk? The case had not been too nerve-wracking and it surely had not thrown him off balance emotionally. There was no apparent reason for him to want to drown any kind of feeling - especially not in this kind of drink.

Carefully, trying not to disturbe him, Ziva sat down on the step above him, her legs stretching on either side of his body. She softly placed her hands on his shoulders and whispered: 'Do not be alarmed. It is just me.'

'Ziver.', he hummed, leaning into her touch.

Well, that was quite an unusual reaction coming from her emotionally distant supervisor. Ziva was not sure what she was supposed to deduce from this.

'I know how it feels after one of those glasses. Not so sure about the second one, but if I can do anything for you...'

'You're not real... but it's okay... you rarely are... just stay... just make me forget 'bout everything... reality... crappy concept... I like it better when you're here... with me... not flirting with Dinozzo...', he payed special attention to the word flirting, laying just the right amount of jealousy in there to make Ziva feel even more awkward than before.

'I'm not going anywhere.', she promised.

Rubbing his shoulders in the friendliest way she could manage, Ziva wondered if he really meant what she think he meant. Was he jealous of the way she flirted with Tony? Why would he be? He was all man and she could not imagine him ever feeling insecure about anything - especially not his relationship with her. He should know better than to be jealous of Dinozzo. He would just have to say something and she would be all his. Tony would not have that kind of power in a million years. Part of her mind chuckled inwardly - there were very few people who would ever have that kind of power over her.

She felt Jethro shift beneath her, letting out a frustrated sigh.

'Since you're 'bout as real as those giant letters floatin' through the room, remindin' me of rule number 12, would ya mind helping me get those letters to - ya know - not matter anymore?'

He seemed to be on a bit of a roller coaster here. Yeah, roller coaster sounds right. Leroy Jethro Gibbs was not known to be the kind of guy who talked about feelings. Even drunk he never let anything slip that could incriminate him in any way. Tony's magic potion just might be his weakness.

Ziva would not want to use the situation to her advantage, would she?! No, that was not her style. However, she could not really think of a way to tell him that she really was here, that she was not a figment of his imagination. So she decided to maybe get him to get to more conclusions about himself. After all, her own little experience with the potion had opened her eyes to her own emotions. It had made her realize how much she felt for the marine sitting in front of her and that she needed to find out, if there was a way for them to be more than just colleagues.

'I do not see any letters. Your mind must be playing tricks on you.', she said in the most honest, more lovely voice he had ever heard. She did not have to put up a wall this time. She just had to be herself for once and show him what she felt for him.

Jethro turned around slowly and Ziva suddenly remembered another thing Tony had said: 'The more you drink of it, the worse you'll feel, but the more you drink, the earlier you'll also get back to reality. It's really a weird effect. Though they say that whatever you see while on the stuff - it will stick with you for days, maybe weeks. It is said to strenthen emotions, especially hidden ones - because we all know those are the fun ones - to a point where you either have to deal with them, or you'll be physically sick for a while.'

Ziva had chosen to put her feelings back into hiding after her little moment in weird-poinonous-drink-that-gives-you-hallucination s-land. Therefor, she had been sick for a few days. However, her high had only lasted for about four hours. After that, she had been painfully sober in seconds, remembering every single bit of her experience.

Seeing the look in Jethro's eyes, it dawned on her that twice the amount of liquor would make his high last only half as long - two hours. He was looking at her with the clearest eyes, more sober than he had been since she got her - a lot more sober. The expression on his face told her that he had noticed the way she had let down her walls - how she had tried to tell him, that rule number 12 did not matter to her - as she simply could not see it, while he clearly could. He had realized how she had touched him more gently than he ever would have expected from her.

His eyes darkened with the sudden understanding that he was not the only one hiding something that was way more important than some rule he had made up about stupid romances in the workplace. Rule number 12 came undone in a few simple thoughts, as Jethro noticed that Ziva had not put her emotional wall back up - that she was officially his for the taking. The thing they had - the feelings they had for each other - simply meant more than anything, and even the consequences they both used to think up in their heads seemed meaningless in comparism to what they could have together.

They did not have to say anything. They both knew that their love would never be hidden again. If Vance put them on different teams - so be it. If anyone was not okay with their relationship - so be it. If it would get them into any other trouble - so be it. They would be in this together and that was exactly the way it needed to be.

As they started to lean in slowly, they realized that Jethro would not even have to feel sick in the next few days. He was acting on his newly revealed feelings right now, instead of hiding them again. Whatever this stuff was, it surely had its disadvantages - you know, the hallucinations and all that jazz - but they just did not seem to matter any longer. It had brought them together in a way they would never have expected.

It might not have been poisonous after all. It was just one of those potions that brought out your deepest secrets without having them bite you in the ass.

The End.

A/N: I think I watched Love Potion Number 9 too often... not that I mind :D

How did you like it?! Good for something written at 2am, or good in general, or bad?!

Leave a review, please! I love getting feedback, good or bad :D Can't get better without constructive criticism :D