A/N: I was going to work on an unfinished fic, but I made the mistake of going through my list of prompts instead, and I stumbled across "You're burning up", and then this happened.
He'd been watching her like a hawk ever since she slogged out of the elevator two hours ago, handkerchief pressed underneath her nose. If she turned any paler she would rival McGee's pasty complexion.
He crossed the few feet separating their desks, came to a halt mere inches from her chair—smack dab in the germ-zone—and looked down at her silently.
Ziva heaved a sigh and looked up at him. The menacing expression she was clearly going for, fell short due to the glassy eyes, heavy mouth breathing and rosy, sniffling nose.
"Are you okay?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he wondered why he even bothered with that question. It always got the same reply.
"I am fine."
Yup, that one. Although, it sounded a bit stuffier than usual.
He placed the back of his hand against her forehead. The lack of an eye roll on her behalf was just as telling as the heat against his skin.
"You're burning up."
"Stop telling me how hot I am." She weakly swiped at his hand, sniffled, and turned her attention back to the computer screen.
"First of all, never gonna happen, second of all, not what I meant."
Ziva let out a hoarse huff.
He stared down at her until she faced him again. The miserable expression on her face solidified his earlier intent.
"I'm taking you home."
He grabbed her coat from the back of her chair and held it out for her, standing his ground.
Another sigh, but she got up and slid into the coat without a word of protest.
He picked up his backpack from behind his desk just when Gibbs walked into the bullpen, fresh coffee in hand.
"Boss, Ziva's burning up, I'm taking her home and making sure she stays there."
Tony walked over to Ziva who had finished buttoning her coat, and shouldered both their backpacks.
Gibbs sat down at his desk and looked from Ziva to him. "You sure she's not too hot to handle for you, DiNozzo?"
Tony did a double take at Gibbs' smirk, and guided Ziva towards the elevator. As the doors closed in front of them, he glanced at his partner from the corner of his eye. Her flushed cheeks and glassy eyes did nothing to hide her grumpiness, and he suppressed a smile; even firefighters would think she was too hot to handle most of the time.
A/N: Thank you for reading and the continued support. Being welcomed back so warmly three fics ago after my hiatus was, well, heart-warming (shame on me for not mentioning this earlier).