Title: Driving me crazy
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on NCIS, I'm just borrowing them for the story.
A/N: The last chapter of this story is up and this is a small Christmas present from me to you. I would like to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS! And please give me a nice little Christmas present-review after you read this. It would make me very happy.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!
CHAPTER 3
Gibbs, Tony and Ziva entered the bullpen and the two younger Agents started putting their weapons away and taking off their coats.
"Tony, put out a bolo for that black Van. Ziva! With me!"
Ziva looked up and froze for a second, thoughts going through her head on what she could have done now. She had not brought up the driving issue the entire way back to the office and all she and Tony had bickered about was what to order for lunch. Gibbs usually cut them some slack regarding bickering over lunch orders since they had such different taste when it came to food that even he could understand why they felt the need to argue about it at times.
"Today Officer David!" he called out, rounding the corner to the more private space by the stairs.
"Sounds like somebody is in trouble again." Tony said in a teasing tone while he sat down in his chair. "What'd you do this time? Hide the boss-man's car keys?"
Ziva picked up a box with paperclips and tossed it at him in anger. Suddenly she felt a hand grab her wrist and she spun around and stood face to face with an angry Gibbs. He didn't say anything but he didn't need to. It was obvious he was out of patience...again. He pulled her determinedly by her wrist over to the space by the stairs. He placed himself in front of her and stared at her until she finally looked away.
"When I tell you to follow me," he tilted her chin so she was looking at him again, "you DO IT. Without delays. Without pointless arguments with Tony." he put up a finger and held it close to her face. "And WITHOUT throwing office material across the bullpen! Is that clear?!"
Ziva dared not look away. She just nodded and shifted uncomfortably under his stern gaze.
"Answer me."
"Yes, Sir." she said in a clear voice to show she was paying attention.
"Good. Then I say that is settled." he held her gaze a moment longer and then let her look away. He could hear her give a small almost not audible sigh of relief. She began to turn, ready to get back to work when he stopped her. "I didn't say you could leave."she looked back at him in confusion. "I wanted to explain a few things about my decision regarding you driving." he could see a small sign of hope appear in her eyes and held up a hand, "That is not the same as saying I can be persuaded, Ziva. My decision still stands." the hope disappeared.
"But Gibbs! I love driving and I need..."
He wasn't interested in arguing with her about this again so he got straight to explaining his reasons, ignoring her protests. "You are dangerous in traffic, Ziva. You don't have enough control of the car or of what's going on around you. Sometimes you look at the person sitting next to you for fifteen seconds or more before you turn your focus back to the road in front of you. You drive too fast..." he continued.
That was where Ziva drew the line. "And that is supposed to come from you! The master of driving too fast!"
Gibbs glared at her. Okay so she could have said that better.
"I'm trying to do this the nice way, Ziva. But I'm not in the mood for attitude. Another comment like that and you'll find yourself over my knee at the end of the day."
She gulped, knowing he meant what he said. Not wanting a sore bottom she clamped her mouth shut and listened to what she mostly saw as unwarranted criticism.
"I could make the list longer from what I've both heard and witnessed you do as a driver. But I won't. I just wanted to let you know what I've based my decision on." he took a step closer to her. "You are not allowed to drive any vehicle. If I see or hear that you have...you will find sitting a very difficult task for a week. Am I making myself clear, Ziva?"
"Yeah, I hear you." she said as she sighed. She had hoped to be able to persuade him but it didn't look like that was very likely to happen. He seemed determined to keep her from driving. "So, you're saying I will never drive for as long as I work for NCIS? That is not fair Gibbs!" she couldn't help adding the last comment.
"I didn't say you can never drive as long as you work here. I am however saying that you will be taking driving lessons and receive a certificate which you will then show me before you'll be allowed to drive."
Her mouth fell open. "What?! You cannot do that!"
He raised a brow at her tone. "I just did. And watch the tone."
She opened her mouth to speak but was actually afraid of what might come out so she closed it again and just glared back at him.
"And don't even think about appealing to the Director because she will agree with me. Or at least she will after I've spoken to her which I will do before we leave here tonight."
They stood, staring at each other for at least sixty seconds before Gibbs felt it was time to speak and put an end to their little meeting. They had a killer to catch.
"Are we clear on the rule, Ziva? And what I expect you to do?"
She thought about it for a few seconds but found that there was no point in objecting at the moment. "Yes." she said reluctantly and looked away.
"Good. Then get back to work. We have a killer to catch."
She started to leave but had only taken a few steps before stopping at hearing Gibbs' voice. "Ziva, I better not catch you driving before you show me that certificate. Understand?"
She nodded and spun around again and continued walking away from him. Making her way over to her desk she accidentally knocked the trash can over in her anger and unfocused state. She slid down into her seat by her computer, looking like she was about to boil over with anger. She looked up as she felt her coworker standing over her. "What?!" she yelled in an agitated voice.
"What did Gibbs say?" Tony asked. He was feeling a little guilty over getting Ziva in more trouble by upsetting her right before her talk with their boss.
"That I am still not allowed to drive and he told me I have to take driving lessons and get a certificate to show I have learned to drive before he lets me."
Tony glanced at her and noticed that she wasn't squirming or looking uncomfortable where she sat so he felt it was safe to assume Gibbs hadn't punished her. Therefore he felt it was within his right to at least tease her a little.
He grinned, "Oh, well, we've all been through that."
"You have?" she sounded utterly surprised.
"Yeah. He did it with me my first year too and most other Agents he has trained."
Ziva just stared at him, picturing Tony proudly presenting his certificate to Gibbs, not to mention Jenny doing the same thing in her days as a probie. Somehow it made her feel slightly better though.
Tony smirked as he could see she was buying it. "Right after he made everyone dress up like pelicans and run around the office pretending to fly." he said and burst out laughing at his own bad attempt at a joke.
Ziva's face grew red, at first with embarrassment over having been tricked by her partner, and then from rage. Stepping around his desk, while he laughed banging both fists on the top of his desk, she grabbed the back of his chair and quickly tipped it backward, sending him falling to the ground with a squeak of surprise and a loud 'HEY!'.
"You bastard!" she yelled and spun around and walked back to her desk with angry strides.
"I thought I just told you not to mess with office equipment." Gibbs said as he entered the bullpen with his usual stealth. He had trouble hiding his grin though at seeing DiNozzo sprawled across the floor, legs above his head, trying to regain his dignity.
"You did not say anything about coworkers." she stated defensively.
"Boss, Ziva..." Tony began his allegations.
"Don't bother Tony. I have a feeling there was a pretty good reason you ended up where you are."
Tony got to his feet and lifted his chair up, placing it back behind his desk and taking a seat as he glared at Ziva the entire time. "You certainly know how to drive someone crazy." he grumbled.
"You have no idea, DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he glanced at the girl, keeping herself busy by her computer with her head held high.
The End
