It was almost 0700 when they reached the hotel. Tony leapt from the taxi and headed towards the doors, leaving Ziva to settle the bill.
"DiNozzo, wait please!" she called after him. Turning to the driver, she offered and apology. "Je suis désolé. My friend, he is very excited to be here. Please, keep the change. Merci."
She hurried after her partner, carrying her bags and one of his which he had left on the floor of the taxi.
"Tony, you are the most forgetful and irresp...What?" she stopped mid sentence.
The look on his face could not have been more different to the one he had had a few moments ago. "What is wrong? Have we got a message? Has something happened? Did Gibbs..."
The hotel clerk, could tell she was tired and interrupted her before she could become more worried.
"I am sorry, Ms David. There is a problem with your room bookings. Your assistant, a Mr," the clerk consulted his computer, "A Mr McGee did phone ahead and make a booking for you today. But he did not specify a time and we assumed that he meant for tonight. We did not expect you so early in the morning."
Ziva was glad to hear that nothing was really wrong but knew that she needed sleep badly. "Is there not another room I can sleep in? Pour aujourd hui?"
"I am sorry, madam we have a floor closed due to bad storms last week. Many broken windows. We have but one room empty until our afternoon check-in. The room for Mr DiNozzo is unoccupied."
Ziva's frustration was growing "But I need a room. I am very tired and tomorrow we have to..."
"Ziva," Tony cut in. "It is ok. You can sleep in my room this afternoon. I'm not spending the day cooped up in a hotel. This is Paris!"
The clerk looked at her, expecting her to object but her fatigue won her over. "That will be fine." she sighed. But she could not resist adding, "Please make sure I have a room for tonight." She glared at her partner. "I did not bring earplugs."
***
"Will you look at that view! What a city. The sounds, the smells... Cigarette smoke. Hmm. Never mind." DiNozzo trailed of as he shut the window.
"Speaking of smells, I think I will call the concierge to have my suit pressed while I have a shower." he admitted. "It has been almost two days since I..."
"I do not need to know the details, Tony!" Ziva stopped him. "Just throw your suit out the door and I will call guest services for you. Then, I am going to have a nap"
"Suit yourself." Tony joked. "I am an American in Paris today! I' got rhythm, I' got music, I got my gal... well, you'll do... Who could ask for anything more?" The sounds of his singing faded as he closed the ensuite door. Moments later his jacket and pants flew out the door. "Thanks! Have a good nap, Sleeping Beauty!"
Ziva stood from the chair she had been curled up in and picked up his clothes, leaving them on the sidetable by the door. When guest services arrived, she gave them the suit then walked over to the bed. She was so tired she felt sick. She lay down on the soft covers and breathed deeply. She could still hear Tony in the bathroom. He had moved onto another song but she tried to block it out.
He could be so annoying sometimes. He really did some things which made her furious. The last year had been difficult for the whole team. But it seemed to have effected the two of them more than it had the others.
She closed her eyes and willed sleep to take her but as she drifted off, thought of pirates and men with bandanas swirled in her head.
***
It was well after lunch time when Ziva woke up. She had not slept well. She rarely slept well anymore, but her dreams had been worse than usual. "Probably because I was so tired" she mused.
Her stomach growled and she calculated how long it had been since she had eaten. A quick snack from the vending machine while she had been typing yesterday's incident report and before that a hurried breakfast of coffee and half an apple. Hardly fuel for a day's dangerous work. Ziva took the neatly folded towel from the end of the bed and headed for the bathroom. DiNozzo had actually picked up his towel, which surprised her. She turned the water on full blast and stepped into the spray. At first it stung her skin but gradually her shoulders numbed to the force of the water. She let it blast her face and tried to clear her mind.
She heard the ancient pipes creak and knew that she was quite possibly about to lose water pressure. She stepped aside but not quickly enough. A sudden rush of freezing cold water hit her face and every muscle in her body clenched with the shock. Would she ever forget how it felt? She has lost count of the number of times she had been ready to just let go and they had thrown the cold water on her, dragging her back to the grim reality.
"Enough." She said sternly to herself, as she stepped out of the shower.
As she dried off, she wiped the steam from the mirror. She was shocked to see how tired she still looked. The nightmares had been taking their toll on her for months now. Recently, she had begun to wear more makeup to cover the dark circles. They seemed to be permanently under her eyes now. So far, nobody appeared to have noticed.
As tired as she felt, Ziva knew that she had to eat something. She considered ordering room service but quickly decided that she wanted to be around people, even if they were total strangers. She picked up her purse, an uncharacteristically feminine handbag with a long shoulder strap and put in her wallet and the room card. No doubt Tony would lose his somewhere in the city and he never could open the electronic locks anyway. She holstered her firearm and locked the door behind her.
Just as she stepped from the elevator into the lobby, her phone rang. "DiNozzo" the caller ID told her.
"Yes?" She answered, a little too curtly.
"I'm sorry. Did I wake you up? I thought you might be getting hungry and I have found a really great little place. About three blocks from the hotel down a little side street. There are chairs on the sidewalk and a guy with an accordion and everything! But if you don't want...."
"No, it is ok." she cut in. "I am quite hungry and I need some air. Give me the street name."
***
As Tony sat waiting at the cafe, he scanned through the photos he had taken that day. Even a PE major could appreciate the architecture of Paris. He was proud of the shots he had taken and could not choose a favorite. Even the side streets with the top of the Eiffel Tower in the background had turned out great. He would make McGee put them all on his Facebook for him when they arrived home.
Halfway through his third cup of coffee, he saw Ziva approaching from the main street. She was wearing a light grey jacket and walking in the brisk way that she always did. He knew that she would be carrying her weapon, despite their day off. She stopped at a news stand a couple of buildings away and picked up a postcard. Tony lifted his camera as the proprietor approached her. He clicked the shutter just as she turned to greet the man. He looked at the screen. "Not like my great shots of the city" he decided. But he would save it. You never knew with Ziva when you would need to use blackmail. She paid the proprietor for her card and continued towards the cafe where her partner was waiting.