Disclaimer: This might come as a surprise to you, but I still don't own NCIS.
The next couple of days went by in a whir. Ziva and Nick were so busy with work that neither of them had time to entertain Tony who was slowly losing his mind. Luckily he had his trusty friend, the TV, to keep him company and Nick would be getting cut loose that night which meant that both, him and Ziva would not be working much for the next week or so.
Tony had been planning on taking Nick out to celebrate, but he had forgotten that the precinct had a tradition of taking the ex-rookies and TOs for a night out on town. He hadn't even heard either of them coming home last night, so he figured they had had a blast.
The next morning, Tony was reading the newspaper and drinking coffee, when he heard steps coming down the stairs, revealing a surprisingly chipper little brother.
"Good morning, Tony." he said brightly.
Tony narrowed his eyes at him. "Why are you so happy? And why aren't you hungover? I thought you went celebrating last night."
Nick chuckled and went to pour himself a cup of coffee. "We did, but let's just say that my better half drank enough for the both of us."
Tony let out a laugh. "So we can expect a cranky Ziva today? Oh joy."
"Yeah, she's still sleeping it off, so hopefully it won't be too bad."
"I highly doubt that." Tony snorted.
Nick just grinned. "Yeah, you might be right."
He started making breakfast when Tony asked. "So, how does it feel not being a rookie anymore?"
"I don't know. Same I guess." He shrugged.
"Oh come on, Nicky. You're off the leash. Try to feel some happiness about it, will you?" Tony said amusedly.
Nick huffed. "I am happy. If not for anything else then at least because Ziva and I can go public now. It's just-"he paused and let out a sigh. "it's just that I feel more pressure now."
Tony glanced up at him and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "More pressure? How? You have all the makings to be a great police officer."
"That's exactly why! Everybody expects me to do great, but I don't know if I can live up to their expectations."
Tony put down his cup and looked at him with a serious face. "Nick, you don't have to live up to anybody's expectations. Just do the best you can and you'll be perfectly fine."
Nick seemed to have ignored his comment and just muttered. "Not to mention the fact that my older brother is a legend."
Tony scoffed and said sarcastically. "Oh yeah, I have a real talent for messing things up."
That seemed to have set Nick off and he shouted. "Oh get a grip, Tony! The only person who thinks you're a screw-up is you. Don't you get it? You are completely delusional in thinking that all you ever did was make a mess."
Tony just stared at his brother in shock, never having seen him so agitated before, excluding the time Tony had hidden his collection of superhero action figures. "Dad would beg to differ." He tried pointing out.
Nick just threw his hands up in the air. "God, Tony, I don't understand what your beef with Dad is. He only ever wanted you to be just a little more careful about whose toes you were stepping on. He has never not been proud of you." He rambled in frustration and continued, "And as far as I'm concerned, I've always looked up to you, so you have got to get over your little self-deprecating routine. Why do you think I got into law enforcement in the first place?"
Tony didn't know what to say, so he just settled with gaping at Nick. "What do you mean?" he stuttered.
Nick's eyes softened a bit and he said. "I didn't do it because of Dad, Tony. I did it because of you. Yeah, I know you weren't that fond of rules, but you have done so much good. Rules are there to protect yourself, but you didn't care about that. All you wanted to do was protect others. And I thought to myself that I would be lucky if I ever grew up to be half the man you are."
Tony just looked at him in awe. He had no idea his brother had such a high opinion of him. What he said, made his heart swell and he was glad that Tony half-raising him hadn't screwed Nick up.
"Cat got your tongue, Tony? I think this is the first time I've made you speechless." Nick chuckled at his gob-smacked expression. "Usually that's Ziva's forté."
Tony shook his head lightly and said in a serious tone. "Thanks, Nick. I-I didn't know you thought that of me. I appreciate it."
Nick just smiled at him lightly and shrugged. "What's true is true." And sat at the table, eating his breakfast.
Tony tried to go back to reading the newspaper, but he kept replaying Nick's words over and over again in his head. He was brought out of his reverie a couple of minutes later when Nick got up and told him he was going to the store to pick up some groceries for the Christmas dinner Ziva was going to cook tomorrow. Nick was almost at the door when Tony yelled across the hallway. "Bring some painkillers, tomatoes, eggs and OJ, will you?"
"What for?" Nick asked in confusion.
"I'm pretty sure Ziva is going to wake up soon and she's not gonna be happy. You're too innocent to know the perfect hangover cure, but luckily for the both of you, yours truly," Tony gestured at himself, "knows the trick."
"Alright." Nick let out a laugh and went out the door.
After about an hour Nick left, Tony had moved himself to the couch and was watching another episode of Survivor, when he heard slow, heavy steps coming down the stairs. He turned to look over his shoulder to see a messy-haired Ziva sluggishly stomping towards him. He couldn't help but notice that even a hungover Ziva looked pretty damn gorgeous.
"And how are you on this fine afternoon?" he grinned at her.
She just grunted at him and crawled to sit on the sofa.
"Aw, Zi, are you feeling a bit under the weather? I wonder why." He teased.
She gradually opened her eyes, only to scowl at him. "Can you go away?"
Tony shook his head. "And miss this fine opportunity to mock you endlessly? Never." He smirked.
Ziva just kept scowling at him and asked. "Where is Nick?"
"Nicky went to grab some food and I was kind enough to tell him to get you more painkillers." He casually said and let out a small chuckle when he saw Ziva's eyes brightening up a bit.
She opened her mouth to say something, but closed again, furrowing her brows and asking. "I heard some yelling. What was going on?"
"Oh I just pissed off my usually subdued little brother a bit." He shrugged and went back to watching the TV.
"I am surprised it took you this long." She said smugly.
Tony scoffed. "Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine?"
Ziva ignored his sarcasm infused rhetorical question and enquired. "So what did you do to make him lash out on you?"
"Not much. I think I've just misjudged his view on me. I'm really pleased that he thinks so highly of me, but I think we have a difference in opinions." He was delighted beyond reason that Nick considered him to be such a hotshot, but reality was different as far as Tony was concerned.
"We always think the worst of ourselves." She said in a thoughtful tone and turned to smile at him sadly. "Younger siblings constantly believe the older ones live on some kind of a magical level that they can never hope to reach."
Tony glanced at her, confused by the gloomy way she said it. Her eyes had once again glassed over and he had a sudden desire to comfort her somehow, but before he knew it, she blinked and bent over to grab the remote.
Tony automatically leaned back to prevent her from taking it. "Hey, will you cut that out?"
Ziva froze mid-movement. "Cut what out?"
"Snatching the remote from me all the time. You don't even own a TV." Tony responded in disbelief.
"So what? That does not stop me from enjoying it here." She grinned.
"Be that as it may, Nicky might be willing to relinquish his hold voluntarily because you do certain…favors for him." Ziva raised her eyebrows at him after he said that but he continued. "However, that won't work on me."
Ziva smirked at him. "I have other ways of getting it from you. Have you forgotten that I am a Mossad ninja?"
Tony narrowed his eyes at her. "You wouldn't dare."
Ziva let out a smug laugh. "Oh Tony. I always dare."
"Not when I have a present for you." He said casually.
Ziva eyed him suspiciously. "What kind of a present?"
"Oh I don't know." He drew out the words slowly. "Perhaps some painkillers."
Ziva instantly hopped next to him, dangerously close. "Give them to me." She gritted through her teeth.
He seemed to be mulling that thought over his head to tease Ziva. "Only when you ask nicely and let me have the remote." He smirked.
Ziva rolled her eyes. "Fine. Will you please give me the painkillers, oh mighty Tony? Pretty please?"
"And?"
Ziva huffed. "And I will not take the remote from you now."
Tony mussed her already messy hair and laughed. "Good girl." He got up to grab the pills and handed them to Ziva.
She took them eagerly from him and swallowed them right away. Guess she didn't need water.
Tony sat back down on the couch and reached for the remote from the table. When Tony leaned back on the cushion, Ziva plopped her legs on his lap, lying down on the couch in full length, muttering something about sweet reprieve.
Tony let out a small chuckle and went back to watching Survivor, unconsciously rubbing circles on Ziva's legs. He noticed after a while that a soft snoring noise was coming from her, so he got up to grab a blanket and covered her with it.
He couldn't help but note how innocent and peaceful she looked when she was sleeping. Like she didn't have the weight of the world on her shoulders, no matter how much she acted like nothing bothered her. Tony knew she had Nick and he was happy for them, but he had a feeling that perhaps Ziva needed a friend also to help her carry the load.
And he hoped that she would let him be that friend.
Ookay, well, we had some brother time here. But um yeah, I hope you like how the relationship between Tony and Ziva is developing and you're gonna get a couple of answers to their past, soonish. I think.
Anyway, as always, a big gigantic thanks to you all who have reviewed and followed and in general, reading this fic. I'm so glad, cause that's my motivation currently, so I'm really grateful :)
Let me know what you think :)
(Also, I'm gonna try and update Always Save Her soon. I know the break has been way too long, I just haven't had time to actually sit down and write something. But I haven't abandoned it!)