"Boss, listen, I can explain!" Tony tried to convince his boss for about the billionth time that night as he and Ziva hurriedly followed him off of the elevator. He was keeping a fast pace towards the bullpen before he finally turned on his heel, nearly knocking them both down. Tony had to grab Ziva's arm in order for her to stop.
"No!" he said, thrusting a finger in his face, "DiNozzo, you better learn how to control yourself around her." He said, thrusting a finger at Ziva, "It's a mission, not real life, damn it! Get control of your damn emotions and settle down!" He said, shoving his shoulder with his hand, "Next time you pull a smart ass move like that, you best as hell better like unemployment, cause that's where you're headed." And with that, he stormed off, leaving Tony and Ziva alone in the bullpen. No words were spoken as Ziva moved to her desk and Tony continued to stand there. Ziva silently walked over to him, keeping a relatively safe difference before thinking about giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
She shook her head and then uttered, "Lailah Tov, Tony." She smiled, but he didn't turn to look at her until she was gone from the squadroom and into the elevator.
He took one look at her desk and then another look at his desk before packing up his backpack and starting the same way Ziva had just exited. A drink was just what he needed. He pulled out his cell phone and pressed speed dial as he walked into the elevator and the doors closed. Just as expected, on the first ring, she picked up, "Hey, wanna go get a drink?"
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"Gibbs was really upset tonight at Ziva and Tony." McGee said to Abby, who was getting ready to pack up and leave.
"Yikes, yeah, I know, Timmy, I heard! Remember? I was talking to Gibbs and you guys when you were in the club. Probably forgot to turn off the mike."
"Yeah, well, Gibbs is upset because Tony and Ziva are on the verge of breaking rule twelve. Which is really pissing him off."Abby spun quickly around and smiled a large smile, her cherry red lips glistening as she smiled at him, "Really?"
McGee nodded.
She started to hop around, jumping up and down and in circles, yelling, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" A couple of times before finally stopping and hugging McGee, "It's about time. But I thought they hooked up a long time ago. You know, I thought they were jumping in the sack on their trip to LA instead of protecting the director." She sighed as painful memories rushed back to her, "Oh Jenny." She looked up at McGee with sad eyes, all happiness leaving her body.
"Abs, it's okay. How bout…how about we get a drink and just talk tonight, yeah? Sound good?"She smiled, reverting back to her normal self, "Sounds good, Timmy! Let's go!" She said, slipping her coat on, grabbing her tin lunchbox, and then linking arms with McGee before they headed out of the lab, cutting off the lights, her computers, the music, and locking the door on the way.
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Ziva David walked into her and Tony's normal bar, only to find it less crowded than normal. Tony was already sitting at the bar, sipping what looked like bourbon…or whiskey…it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was already drinking, and she hadn't even gotten there.
She walked in, still dressed in her undercover outfit, which consisted of a shorter, strapless, yellow dress and her infamous silver heels as she headed towards him. She stopped behind the chair next to him and slipped off her jacket, folding it neatly before draping it over the back of the stool. No words were spoken as she sat down next to him, ordering a Mojito before finally turning to him, "You have not told me what is wrong yet," She said, trying to stare into his eyes, which were fixed on his drink as he took another sip. She tried to decipher what emotions she could pick out easily in his eyes. Maybe it was just from being around him for so long, but even Gibbs couldn't pick out all of the emotions that she could, "Tony, is it what Gibbs told you? If so, I am sorry, I am the one to blame. I took it too far. You were only trying to protect me…"
"I'm done playing this way."
She furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion, "What…what are you talking about?"
"I'm tired of playing the idiot, the one that always wants to have fun, always wants everything his way. I met someone like that when I was an agent afloat. Never liked him. And now that I think about it, he's exactly like me."
"Tony…how does this have to do with what Gibbs told you?" She asked as the bartender set down her drink.
"He's right." Tony smiled, but Ziva couldn't help but notice it was a sad one, "I need to take control of my emotions. I let them get too out of hand. And if I can let me jealousy get out of hand like that…." He sighed and turned to her, looking her straight in the eyes, "How long have I acted like an idiot?"
"Childish?"
"Yeah, childish. You know, it seems like only a couple of weeks ago that I was on that stupid website, telling you to act childish." He sighed.
"Tony, it was a couple of weeks ago." She smiled, and he carefully, tentatively, took her hand in his. She looked down at it for a little bit before she looked up at him.
"I'm ready to grow up." He smiled.
"Why?" Ziva asked, "Why now? Out of all of the years that you-"
"I want to grow up because of you, Ziva."
She almost caught her breath in her throat, this couldn't be happening could it? Not to her, she had finally gotten over Tony, after two years, she had finally gotten over him when she had returned to Israel…Michael…Tony. He slowly moved his face closer to hers, and she could feel his hot breath on her face as he was no more than a couple of centimeters away. She had gotten over him, she had! No! She couldn't, shouldn't be doing this. She loved Michael…in Israel…she abruptly stood up, snatching her hand from Tony's soft, loving grip and shrugging on her coat, dropping a five and a one nervously on the counter, next to her barely sipped drink before she realized making eye contact would be the absolute worst thing to do with him, "I…I have to go." She said, muttering to herself in Hebrew before running out of the bar. Running. Running. Far away. It didn't matter where she went, she just needed to run. She climbed into her Cooper and started up the engine, not looking back at the bar as she sped out of sight and towards her apartment.
Once she arrived, she threw down her coat, slipped off her shoes, and then moved to her bedroom, where she changed into her jogging outfit and pulling her hair up into a ponytail before holstering her gun, her badge, and her cell phone. While she was putting on her shoes, she called Director Vance, who wasn't too pleased with her calling him at almost 100h, but she did anyways, to set up a phone call tomorrow, or, she guessed, today. She heard her home phone ring, but she didn't bother to pick it up. As she exited the apartment, slipping in the earbuds of the Ipod Abby had given her nearly a year ago, she started playing some of her favorite Israeli songs. She started on a new course, for different couldn't hurt anyone anyways, could it, and, as the cold air nipped at her skin and the cold, wet pavement, from when it rained a couple of nights ago sloshed underneath her running shoes, she couldn't help but remember Tony's words, flowing through her head, "I'm tired of playing the idiot, the one that always wants to have fun, always wants everything his way. I met someone like that when I was an agent afloat. Never liked him. And now that I think about it, he's exactly like me."
"I'm ready to grow up." She suddenly felt that she was being watched, but her thoughts and mind never left Tony…why had she pulled away? She'd been wanting him to kiss her for almost two years, every since they had gone undercover, and now she was the one that pushed him away? Nothing made sense. She turned around a corner before something hard and metal collided with her head. She dropped immediately to the ground, the earbuds falling out of her ears as she felt the consciousness leave her body completely. But, before everything went back, the last thing she heard were Tony's last words to her, before she had bolted out of the bar.
"I want to grow up because of you, Ziva."
