Ziva was exhausted. After they had discreetly bagged and tagged the letter the furniture had arrived and they had spent the next couple of hours setting up their new bedroom. They had no idea if the house was bugged as they wouldn't be able to get a team in to sweep until the morning, or risk blowing their cover, so they were playing the happily married couple, who were confused about the note on their door. She wanted nothing more then a long bubble bath and then to retire to her own bed, however that wasn't going to happen for obvious reasons.
"You look exhausted honey." Tony said as he came up behind her and started rubbing her shoulders. "Why don't we head to bed?"
Tony was concerned about his partner. She looked absolutely drained, and he thought they could both do with some sleep. He at least had the knowledge that he could get up the next day and go into work; they knew that the killer watched the houses; however he never followed the husbands, so Tony had the luxury of heading in to headquarters during the day. Ziva however was going to have to stay at the house to unpack and make friends with the neighbours. He didn't envy her the task of staying there. She was going to go stir crazy after a couple of days.
"I just want to unpack a few more boxes." She answered as she unconsciously leaned in to Tony's touch. She had to admit that the shoulder rub felt amazing.
Tony could feel Ziva starting to relax so he dared to contradict her. "I think we're done for tonight sweet cheeks. You can keep unpacking in the morning." He offered his hand to help her up from the floor. "Come on, it's off to bed for you."
Normally Ziva would have hurt Tony for daring to tell her what to do, however she was still restricted to playing the dutiful wife so she settled for glaring at him while allowing him to help her up. She decided that she wanted to get even so once she was up she stood so close they were almost touching and then leaned in to ask "Hairy Butt, did you unpack the pyjamas?"
Tony visibly gulped. He hated when she played on him like this. He was after all a guy, she knew that. And she was hot. He couldn't help but react when she stood so close and he could feel her breath on his face. He decided to up the ante.
"You won't need them sweet cheeks." He said leaning in just a little bit more. He gave her his famous leer to call her bluff. Usually after the leer he could get her to back off. It was game they had played more then once, although truth be told he was starting to long for the day when one of them wouldn't call the other's bluff.
Ziva took a step back. She wanted nothing more then to step forward and crush herself against Tony; however she knew it was a game to him, and she didn't want to be the one who broke the rules.
"I'm sorry hairy butt; however I am just too tired tonight. I'm afraid it will have to be a pyjama night after all."
Something like disappointment flashed quickly in Tony's eyes before he quickly schooled his face into a smirk.
"That's too bad sweet cheeks. I guess we'll have to break in the house some other day. And I did unpack the pyjamas. They're in our new drawers."
Ziva gave Tony a grateful look before heading upstairs to change into her pyjamas.
Tony just stood there for a moment needing to get some control back. He shook his head ruefully. It was going to be a long night with them sharing the bed. He only hoped he didn't do something to embarrass himself or he would never live it down.
Meanwhile back at headquarters Gibbs was informing McGee and Abby that he wasn't going to need them to go undercover after all.
"But Gibbs! I really wanted to go. Look I even still have the rings Timmy gave me." Abby complained as she held up her hand to display the wedding rings that McGee had given her. Gibbs raised one eyebrow at McGee who simply shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm sorry Abs. But I need McGee to go in as the tech guy. I need someone I can trust to sweep for bugs and to set up surveillance in the backyard. I promise you can go visit Ziva soon, besides the killer has already made contact so things are rolling more quickly then we anticipated. I don't want you getting hurt Abby."
"You know," Abby replied, "I'm not a 5 year old that needs to be protected. I fought off the crazy lab assistant on my own, not to mention the time I was kidnapped. Besides Ziva taught me how to use a gun."
McGee visibly shuddered at the thought of Ziva teaching Abby how to use a gun. That's all they needed in the office were two crazy ninja chicks.
"I'm sorry Abby but it's not going to happen." Gibbs said resolutely. I'm going to need you here tomorrow once McGee brings back our letter. I need you here Abby. I don't want anyone working this that isn't the best." He kissed her on the forehead and walked out of the lab.
Abby whirled to McGee. "This isn't fair McGee! I never get to do anything fun. I wanted to go play house!"
"Tell you what Abbs, keep the rings and you can pretend we're married when you go and visit Ziva. You can even keep all the fake ids. The only thing that will have changed is we're not living down the street. You get all the benefits without being in any danger and you can sleep in your own bed. It doesn't get any better then that."
Abby appeared slightly mollified. "I still don't think its fair." She finally bit out before conceding defeat.
"I'm sure Gibbs will make it up to you Abby." McGee said as he walked over and gave her a hug. "He wouldn't have pulled you unless it was necessary."
"It's always necessary." Abby muttered while hugging him back.
"Come on Abbs, it's getting late. We should go home."
"Thanks Tim."
"For what?"
" For making me feel a bit better. You're a good agent. Don't ever let Tony tell you otherwise." Abby said with a grin.
McGee's ears flushed pink as they walked out of the lab.
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He found the new couple intriguing. He had learned there names were Eugene and Muffy, and despite the heat between the couple that were currently just sleeping. He would have thought they were setting him up, except for the way they had curled around each other as they slept. You couldn't fake that kind of intimacy.
He had run a background check and had learned that Eugene was the CEO of a shipping company and just as he had thought Muffy stayed at home. Just thinking about it filled him with rage. She would be his next victim, of that he was sure. All he had to do was plan, he could be patient, there was going to be something different about this one he could already tell. His blood started humming as he packed up his stuff and started off for home. He was going to enjoy this.
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Sorry this chapter is kind of short. I'll update soon I promise!
