She lay on top of him, her head tucked into the crook of his neck. Both his hands were on her back, slightly higher than her ass, where she'd put them after they'd had sex—"Tony, we need sleep, please, not again!"—and he'd complied, moving his hands higher. A cell phone started ringing. Loud. Disturbing her much-needed sleep.
"Tony!" she whispered and tried waking him up, but to no avail. He was somewhere in dreamland thinking about little Ziva's running around; not that he'd ever tell her, though. She grunted and frowned, her sleep-laden body picking the offending phone off the nightstand.
"David," she said, her eyes closed and her head resting back on Tony's chest.
On the other side of town, Jethro Gibbs held his cell phone at arms length and looked at the screen to make sure he had hit the right speed dial. 'Tony DiNozzo' stood on the screen, as if mocking him.
"I called for DiNozzo," he said, keeping his voice neutral.
Ziva held the cell phone away from her; much like Gibbs had done seconds before, and looked at it and... shit. In all her sleepiness—or frustration—she had picked up Tony's cell. Their cell phones looked way too much alike, she thought, as she saw hers sitting peacefully on the nightstand.
"Uh, okay." She really had no idea what to do. Tony and her hadn't talked about a situation like this, what was she supposed to do?
"Tony, wake up, it's Gibbs," she whispered. He simply mumbled something incoherent and pulled her closer to him. She had no choice. When he was deep asleep much like now, she just had to do it. She kneed him in the groin hard, much like that time when they had been undercover. He jolted awake and quickly sat up, and it was a good thing she was holding onto him, because if not, she would've been off the bed and on the floor.
"Tony, careful!" she whispered.
"That really hurts Ziva! Why'd you do it?" he asked. She smiled and handed him the phone.
"Gibbs. Sorry." He wasn't sure if she meant about Gibbs, or the kneeing him part, but he didn't ask, instead more worried about the fact that Gibbs had called him and that shehad picked up.
"Yeah boss?"
"Massacre at a restaurant, three dead Marines," Gibbs said over the phone.
"Yeah... mhm, hold on," Tony said and placed the cell against his shoulder.
"You have a pen and paper?" Tony asked Ziva, who got up and walked out of the room, and it took all of Tony's willpower not to stare at her while she walked away. After a while she came back with a bloc note and a pencil.
"Yeah boss. Uh uh, got it. Be there in twenty," he said, scribbling an address on the paper, as he disconnected the call. She was already putting on a shirt when he got off the bed and handed her the bloc note.
"What did he say?"
"About us? Nothing. The case? Three dead marines at a massacre shooting. It's gonna be a long one, I can feel it." He pressed a light kiss to her neck and walked to a drawer to get clean clothes. She looked at the paper. An address was written in his handwriting. She finished getting dressed and went to the bathroom where Tony was.
"I'm leaving. See you there," she said and gave him a kiss, pushing him away before it became too heated. She smiled and left Tony alone in her apartment.
Tony had been right. It was a long case, as predicted, though she didn't give him the satisfaction of admitting it out loud. They had worked two days straight, and were now working on paperwork, the adrenaline of catching the bad guys wearing down, leaving three sleepy and tired agents. Tony, as usual was not working, and Ziva would take pleasure in the fact that he would get less sleep than her. He was throwing spitballs on her and McGee. After the millionth piece of scrunched up paper and spit hit her in the face, missing her mouth by mere millimeters, she got fed up.
"Tony!" she hissed, and he simply smiled, sending another one her way. She forcefully got up and pushed her chair out of the way and strode over to him, sitting on his desk right in front of him. He smiled innocently like a little boy.
"Tony," she started.
"Yes, Zee-vah," he said, stretching out her name like he knew she liked.
"If you don't stop throwing whatever it is you're throwing on me right now, we will not have sex for a month," she whispered and smiled internally when his eyes went wide and he slowly shook his head.
"You wouldn't."
"I will. I went over four months without it, you think I can not survive a month?" Tony squeaked.
"I'll stop," he mumbled quickly.
"What was that, Tony?" she mocked.
McGee was silently watching their interaction and couldn't help but feel like he was missing something. They had been much more flirty since the team had reunited, and yet, there weren't those sexually powered, tension filled moments anymore. He wasn't sure what was going on, maybe he could write something about it in his next book.
"DiNozzo, elevator," boomed all of a sudden from the elevator, and Tony cast one worried look at Ziva, who shrugged.
"Now!"
"Comin' boss," he said and quickly got up, leaving a worried Ziva and curious McGee.
The doors closed in front of Gibbs and Tony and wordlessly, Gibbs pulled the emergency stop. Tony stood rooted to the spot, expecting to be scolded or slapped or anything, but what came, was a complete and utter surprise to him.
"If you hurt her, I will kill you." Tony's head whirled around to face his boss.
"Sir?"
"You heard me. How long?" Clearly, at the look on Tony's face, he was counting the months.
"Uhm... Six months, if you don't count the four months she was in Israel and I was away," he clarified. Quite possibly a first, Gibbs was surprised. He knew they were together, but he didn't know that they had been before the team had been torn apart. Gibbs gave one firm nod, but Tony was still insecure.
"Sir, what about rule number 12?"
"To hell with it. I can't make the two of you break up, but I stand by what I say, and if I ever catch you two doing non-work related things in the office I will slap you so hard your grandchildren will feel it." Tony gave a small smile and Gibbs pushed back the emergency stop, jolting the elevator back to life.
"Hey Duck."
"Jethro. How can I help you, the case is closed."
"I need some advice," Gibbs said.
"Ah yes, of course. How may I be of your assistance?"
"What do you think of rule number twelve?"
"Never date a co-worker? I find it a bit redundant, but you already know this. I know you made it to prevent your Agents from getting hurt, but, if it really is true love, I think you should let it go."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, nothing. Did I tell you about that time in Scotland where..."
"David, elevator!" Gibbs barked as the doors slid open and Tony exited. As Ziva passed him, he sent her a reassuring smile and a slight nod. Now McGee's curiosity was really piqued. He took the back elevator to Abby's lab. As usual, loud music was blaring from a speaker somewhere.
"Hey Abs."
"Timmy!" She hugged him tight, her pigtails swinging.
"Why the hug?"
"You don't want me to hug you?" she asked. As if, McGee thought.
"What're you here for, the case is over, well, unless Gibbs says get him something and all of a sudden the phone rings with a case, which would be weird, but not unexpected, since after—."
"Abby!"
"Yes?"
"I need you to hack into the elevator camera's." Abby smiled her evil smile, yet she wondered what was going through his head.
"Why?"
"Hunch."
"No, no. Tony has hunches. Gibbs has gut-feelings. You, you are just curious, and so am I. Which one?"
"Third."
Abby quickly and happily tapped away at her keyboard. The inside of an elevator popped up.
"What, McGee? There's nobody there. What are we looking for?"
"Check the tape of the last 20 minutes?"
"No. Not until you bring me Caf-Pow! and explain to me what we are looking for."
"I think Tony and Ziva are dating." Abby started doing a little jig as she squealed, then gave McGee a hug.
"Forget the Caf-Pow!" She tapped away again.
"Tony got in the elevator a while ago with Gibbs, when he exited Gibbs called for Ziva."
"Goody." On the screen a window appeared and it was rolling, it showed Gibbs and Tony in the elevator.
"…in the office, I will slap you so hard your grandchildren will feel it," they heard Gibbs say.
"He stole my line!"
"Yeah Abs. Now forward it a little." On the screen Ziva entered the elevator and as the doors closed, Gibbs pulled the emergency stop button, like clockwork. They stood in silence for awhile, before Gibbs finally spoke up.
"Don't hurt him."
"I won't, sir." And then he slapped her upside the head. Her baffled face made McGee and Abby chuckle.
"What was that for?"
"Not telling me before. I forgot to slap Tony, do it for me, will ya?" And he pushed the emergency stop button back in. Both McGee and Abby had been leaning into the screen and when they stopped watching, they looked at each other. Abby quickly ran out of her lab, leaving a perplexed McGee.
"Ducky! You owe me fifty dollars!"