Disclaimer still applies
Not Beta'd (though my cat has walked across the keyboard when I'm trying to edit, so that could count)
The next morning Tim was ready and waiting for Ziva in his apartment. As soon as she knocked, he checked the peephole before opening the door and admitting her to his apartment. Once Ziva removed her bag from her shoulder and placed it by his couch, the two humans and one dog left for their morning run.
Compared to yesterday's run, this one was quieter, the two only occasionally exchanging words in the companionable silence. As they finished their trip around the park and headed back, Tim commented, "You were right, running is better with a partner."
"Jethro is a great running companion," Ziva teased, "You must know this by now."
Tim snorted at her words, "He can be," he agreed, "But you know that is not what I meant."
"I do," she began, only to be interrupted by Tim.
"Now who's practicing those marriage vows?" he asked with a grin.
"It does take two," she teased, before returning to the original topic, "You are a great running mate as well," she added with a smile, causing a brief smile to be placed on Tim's face before he turned away in embarrassment.
"Even though we didn't really talk today, it was still better than running by myself...or with only Jethro for company," he commented. when Ziva smirked and looked towards his dog.
"I agree," Ziva stated.
"We really should do this more often," Tim added.
Ziva snorted, "This is the second time we have done it this week, how more often can we get?"
"I meant after this," he waved his hand between the two of them, "is finished, after my car is fixed, when everything goes back to normal, we should still run together on occasion."
"Sounds good to me," Ziva agreed, before directing Tim into the bathroom. "Now, we need to get dressed and then grab some breakfast on the drive in. I didn't bring anything with me today."
They followed the same bathroom routine as yesterday, and quickly exited the apartment to head to work. After some discussion, the two agreed to stop by a café close to the navy yard and grab a table there while they ate.
As they sat down, she looked at her partner, noticing the slight frown on his face. "Are you okay? You are awfully quiet."
"I'm fine, just thinking about everything."
"Change of mind?" Ziva asked, "Or perhaps change of heart is a more appropriate question?" she teased.
Tim shrugged, "We haven't really said anything to anyone other than Gibbs, it's not too late to change your mind."
"I won't change my mind," she promised, causing Tim to once more look away.
"What are you worried about?" she asked, getting straight to the issue.
"Gibbs."
Ziva frowned in confusion, "Why? He didn't seem upset by our plan."
"No, I know, but he thinks something might go wrong. He warned us about actions and consequences, remember?"
"Yes. But what could go wrong? Tony can't really get mad at us for playing a joke on him when he does it constantly to you."
"Again, Tim shrugged. "I just hope this doesn't make things worse."
"Everything will be fine," Ziva predicted with a smile.
"With Tony, maybe," Tim agreed, "But there could be more at stake here than just that relationship."
Once more Ziva frowned, wondering if he was thinking about Abby. "What do you mean?" she finally settled on asking.
Tim shrugged, "Just the whole team dynamics could change because of this. Tony could be upset with either one of us or both," he added. "If we pull this off as we planned, the rest of the office could be pulled into it, since we plan on having this start off as rumors, beginning with people noticing us together," he commented with a pointed look at the door.
Ziva turned around, and immediately noticed another agent entering the coffee shop, giving a quick nod in recognition, she turned back to Tim. "What else?"
Tim hesitated.
"Drop it, McGee," she commanded.
"Spill it," he corrected.
"Spill what?" she asked, looking at their coffees.
"The saying, it's spill it, not drop it," he said softly, smiling at her.
Ziva rolled her eyes, "Drop, spill, either way it can make a mess," she muttered.
"Exactly," Tim confirmed.
Ziva frowned, "Now you have lost me."
"Mess. This thing could end up as one big mess."
"Or it could be the exact opposite of a mess," she argued.
Tim snorted, "Neat and organized? Not when Tony's involved."
"Maybe that is the key," Ziva said, continuing before Tim could utter anything more than 'Huh?'. "I too have been thinking about what Gibbs' said."
"Oh?" a puzzled Tim queried, not just confused about her earlier statement, but also about the abrupt change in subject.
Ziva nodded, "Yes. He had a valid point. He said that we were in a relationship, fake or not, that is what it was. He is correct. I believe we need to think of this as a relationship, act as if it was real. Talk with each other when things bother us or if problems come up." When Tim opened his mouth, she continued, "If we need some time to sort out our own feelings and reactions, that is fine, we just need to communicate that part as well. And the other has to respect it," she added. "No avoidance of each other, in fact, we should try to be more open with each other, something I know neither one of us excels at. If we think of it as anything but a real relationship, or act like it is not, we will be more likely to mess it up, the plan and our friendship," she added.
"And the key?" he asked.
She shrugged, "Forget that Tony is involved. After all, if it was a real relationship, we wouldn't do things for his benefit, so why should we do so now." When Tim opened his mouth, no doubt to protest, she nodded towards the door, "If we continue as we have been, morning runs, carpooling, breakfast, dinners, perhaps the occasional lunch during the week, activities on the weekends," she trailed off, letting him mentally add to the list, "Tony and others will talk about it. That is what we want, what we need. It has to be natural. Anything else would seem like a play, a performance. If we acted that way in front of Tony, but not anyone else, like Jimmy, Ducky, or other agents, Tony would hear about it the first time he shared his opinions."
Tim nodded, realizing that she was right in many ways.
"So, we treat this as a real relationship," he summed up.
"It is a real relationship," she stressed, "After all, I am real, and so are you, therefore the relationship is real as well."
"And we behave as we would in that situation," he continued.
"Even better," she clarified, "After all, we do not want to risk damaging our friendship, right?"
"Right," Tim concurred, glad that he wasn't the only one worried about their newly reinstated friendship.
"So we will be open, honest, and real with one another," she stated. "Agreed?"
"Agreed," Tim stated, though part of him wondering if they made things easier or harder on themselves.
5-2-18
This chapter started out much shorter (it almost doubled in size). I wasn't happy with it, which is why it took me so long to post, and then when I tried to save some of my edits last night, I must've lost the connection or something because I got an error message :( Luckily most of them were already saved or I remembered them. There was only one small part I couldn't completely recreate, but hopefully it still works. I would love to know what you guys think.