Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, nor am I in any way involved with the production or distribution of it.
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Chapter 9: Stakeout
Ziva couldn't remember if she slept at all during the weekend, she only remembered realizing that it was 4:00 am on Monday morning and she still hadn't stopped thinking about Kate.
She wondered if she looked as tired and miserable as the man behind the counter at the coffee shop. Ziva practically collapsed onto one of the sofas and sent a quick glance toward the clock on the wall. 4:30 in the morning, too early to call it a long day.
It wasn't supposed to happen. Kate wasn't supposed to do…that. Ziva could tell that the other woman felt something, whatever it was, she felt something, and she had to push her away. She had been arrogant, obnoxious, offensive, and flirtatious. And she was Ari's half-sister. But the whole incident at the bar still happened, she almost lost it, she nearly broke down, she was weak, and she spent the entire weekend trying to forget about it.
Ziva gave herself a hateful round of applause for her success in walking away from Kate.
The coffee was bitter and tasted awful, but she felt like drinking it black. She curled up on the couch and laid her head on the armrest. Closing her eyes, Ziva held back the sob forming in her throat and thought of Kate's lips brushing against hers. Thinking about her was the closest she would let herself get to Agent Todd.
"Officer David."
Her eyelids fluttered open. Kate sat on the couch across from Ziva and stared back at her, lips pursed.
"You didn't answer my calls, Officer David. I was worried. It's a stupid idea for anyone—especially you of all people—to drive drunk."
Ziva decided that the best option was to say nothing.
"You're just going to sit there ignoring me. I don't know what to say to you."
"Then do not say anything." Ziva closed her eyes and listened to the sound of Kate leaving. There was no comfort in telling herself that pushing the other woman away was the right thing to do, but she knew it was.
Ziva David was Mossad, she didn't know how to love someone—she wasn't supposed to love someone—she was probably going to die before the age of 30, and she knew that eventually, somehow, she would hurt Kate Todd. So she made plans. To push her away, even if it meant making the other woman hate her.
But being inches away from Kate at the bar almost made Ziva give up, she hated that sometimes she wanted her more than anything. She had to try harder.
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Sometimes Kate thought that Gibbs got a kick out of putting her in terrible situations. What in God's name was there to gain from sticking her in a car with Ziva for some stakeout that would have been much easier if it were Tony or McGee sitting in the passenger's seat? But no, that would be too easy. This was a 'team-building exercise'.
After four hours of waiting in silence and staring into darkness, Kate felt like they were less of a team than they were when they started. A difficult thing to accomplish, but Ziva managed to pull it off with flying colors.
For the past hour and a half, Kate had done everything to try and evoke a reaction from the other woman shy of shaking her violently and slapping her on the cheek. But the Israeli sat with her forehead pressed against the glass, refusing to take her eyes off of the cookie-cutter house across the street as if it was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen. The closest thing to any sort of response was when Ziva turned the radio off after Kate tuned in to the nearest talk station and just happened to accidentally turn the volume up as loud as possible. That was forty-five minutes ago.
Was it weird that she was keeping track? Probably. Ziva sighed fifteen minutes ago. Okay, it was weird. But it wasn't as if there was anything else to do.
Kate cleared her throat for the umpteenth time that night. "If you see something, you're going to tell me—right?"
She wasn't surprised that Ziva didn't respond, but her silence shot a pang through her heart anyway. "I'm going to take that as a yes."
Seven minutes later, nothing. "You haven't said anything this entire time, this is ridiculous. It's been over four hours. We're a team here, right?"
Four minutes, and Ziva said nothing. "Is this about Friday, or this morning? Or do you just feel like confusing the hell out of me?"
Kate sighed and stared at the clock for another two minutes, it was 11:00 at night. As much as she tried to will herself to keep her eyes facing forward, she couldn't stop herself from sending a glance toward Ziva. A chill ran through her when she saw a single glistening tear on her cheek. The Israeli didn't seem to notice it. If she did, she clearly didn't care. Kate realized how little she knew about the person that she was falling in love with.
That was probably the most ridiculous thing that had ever crossed her mind. There was a clear difference between a little crush—it probably wasn't even that, right?—and something as dramatic as falling helplessly in love with someone.
But she couldn't let go of the sight of the tear on the other woman's cheek. Kate's hand moved to grasp hers. She traced a pattern on her palm with her thumb. "Ziva."
"I…I said no. At the bar. Friday." Her whisper was weak and labored; words tumbling clumsily out of her mouth in choked, disjointed stutters.
"I know." Kate felt Ziva squeeze her hand and lace her fingers with her own. It took an incredible amount of willpower not to smile at the woman sitting across from her. "Are you saying no now?"
Ziva's dark eyes met hers for the briefest moment, and drifted away again. Kate bit her lip and tried desperately to think of something to say. She let out a soft groan when the Israeli pulled her hand away.
"There is movement near the side of the house." Whatever emotion was in Ziva's voice before had disappeared completely.
What was wrong with her? Kate was screaming at herself inside her head. It was obvious that whatever she was trying to do with Ziva could only end in disaster. There was no reason to have feelings for her; there wasn't even a reason to be her friend. But she wanted to be.
She wanted to be more than that.
It almost made less sense than Ziva did. If Kate was like any sane person, she shouldn't be able to stand the other woman, much less want to pin her against the nearest wall and kiss her senseless every time she saw her. The woman was unpredictable, confusing, irritating, rude, and it seemed like she did it all on purpose.
Maybe it was in her eyes.
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Author's Note: Merry Christmas Eve and Christmas. Not confident with this one at all, but I wanted to post it anyway for some reason.
So I know this chapter was short and you may or may not be ready to strangle me because I enjoy taking my merry time with things, but bear with me, we're almost there.
Also, Snow! I'm excited. It looks like God spilled a giant glitter bottle everywhere when making Christmas cards for everyone. Snow isn't usually so pretty in this part of the state.
Thanks to all who have reviewed, I enjoy reading them! Feel free to review again, I love feedback.
