Marine Undercover
A/N: Tony's awkwardness is gone because he's getting into being able to show his feelings without really showing them. Plus I'm going to work in a better explanation somewhere; I know the magic vanishing awkwardness was unexplained. Reviewer who asked, you know who you are. Mm, and sorry for delay, Fanfiction was being a butt about letting me upload documents.
Disclaimer: Don't own NCIS. But I should be a writer for it; apparently I think the same as the ones on the show, except I write Tiva into my fics.
Chapter 10
Friday morning. Ooh, it would be a long one. Too long. Ziva woke up late, at about six-thirty, to find Tony already up and making breakfast. He was dressed for the day in his Marine camos, and flashed a huge grin to her when she came inside. "Sleep well?" he called to her retreating back.
Ziva ignored him for the moment, jogging up the stairs and putting away the blankets he had piled on her during the night. When she came back down, still in her pajamas- no use in changing before she took her shower- she sat at the table and cocked her head, watching him cook. "Yes, I slept well, I think. I must have been cold, since I woke up this morning covered in the Mount McKinley of blankets, but I did not notice."
"Everest."
"What?" Baffled, Ziva raised an eyebrow as he turned to face her.
"Usually when people make references to large things they use Mount Everest." Tony set a plate piled with pancakes and turkey bacon in front of her. He sat down next to her, tearing into his own food. "And you're welcome. You were shivering pretty badly when I woke up at three this morning because of someone snoring."
Ziva smiled sarcastically. "Eat your breakfast, my little hairy butt."
Tony narrowed his green eyes dangerously. "You'll pay, Ziva Smith. You'll pay."
"Have a nice day at work," she smirked in return, pressing her lips lightly to his before putting her plate in the sink and heading back upstairs to take her shower. She could feel Tony's eyes on her back for a few moments more before she was out of sight; a moment later, she heard the front door closing and a car taking off.
Twenty minutes later, Ziva was ready for the day. She walked down the stairs slowly, ignoring the dishes in the sink and heading for the phone. Even if the women would be working, many of them would not have work for another couple hours, so calling at seven thirty would be fine. She flipped open the contact book Shelby had left, tracing the names and numbers until she reached a note from Shelby in the back.
Ziva,
Anette Jenkins is a stay at home mom. Her kids get dropped off at seven thirty for school, so call her at about eight. Elizabeth Gordon has a nine to five job which she leaves for at eight, so I'd call her before then. She's grumpy in the evenings. Charlotte Simpers is a babysitter, you can call her at any time before ten. Lacie Johnson and Beth Hanson are retired, they spend most of their time at the local malls, but if you call at about eight they should be home still. Pearl Carter, stay at home mom. Call her at eight, too. Kelsey Steward and Anna Holiday have part time afternoon jobs; call them in the mornings, too. Janine Wright works from home, call her whenever.
Have a nice day,
Shelby :)
Ziva laughed at the note and the smiley face Shelby drew on the bottom of the note. Somehow, despite her surprise at finding it, Ziva had not been startled at the contents. It was very like Shelby, to include a helpful guide like this alongside her humorous takes on the neighbors.
Quickly she called Elizabeth, then Kelsey, then Anna, then Anette, then Pearl Hanson. After a brief, cold conversation with Pearl that ended in a terse truce, Ziva called Lacie, then Beth, then Charlotte, then Janine.
The Israeli sighed, throwing down the cordless phone once forcing acceptations out of each of the women. She flopped onto the couch, drifting into a light, dreamless sleep, letting the light playing across the ceiling lull her into sleep. About forty five minutes later, when Ziva woke at 11.15, she reluctantly rolled off the couch and onto her feet. She would need to clean the kitchen and walk up to the park… Ziva would have liked to go grocery shopping, but NCIS had only allowed one car so she would have to wait until tomorrow before the party, to go with Tony. In any case, going up to the park would be nice.
Ziva scrubbed the pots, pans and plates in the sink, rinsed them, and dried them, putting them back into their respective places in the cupboards. She smiled slightly when she opened the cupboard to put up the plates, placing them on the shelf and pulling off the sticky note on the door.
Ziva,
Knew you wouldn't resist cleaning up! Don't you ever take a day and just chill?
I'll be home later than planned; Bob told me Dad wants to catch up.
xoxo,
Tony.
What on earth did "xoxo" mean? In any case, this might mean Ziva needed to cook tonight. Let's see, she thought. Tony gets off at seven regularly, and is home about seven thirty. He gets off at six tonight, so seven he will be home? Maybe earlier or later? We would still have time for dinner and a movie so we could be home before midnight…
Even though Tony took forever to eat dinner when he went out…
Vaguely Ziva worried about what would happen when Tony was stuck in a stopped elevator with Gibbs again- since that was undoubtedly what Gibbs would do, though maybe not since they could not meet at the Navy Yard. She knew in her mind that if Gibbs saw enough, and McGee was tattlebutt-y enough, then Gibbs would be concerned about his rule twelve.
Ziva zoned as she thought of Abby and McGee, and their relationship versus the one she had with Tony. Working on autopilot, she continued to do some basic cleaning in the house and make herself a quick lunch. "Mmm," she murmured hazily to herself as she pulled the delicious-smelling Hot Pocket out of the microwave a few minutes later. Philly Cheesesteak, of course, because Tony had made sure those were part of the load of food NCIS delivered the day they moved in.
Rap! Rap! Rap! The knocking sound startled Ziva; she jumped around, hand subconsciously moving to grab a gun that was not at her side. Her eyes darted around quickly, and she calmed a tiny bit when she saw Karen Handel and Kelly Anderson waving from the back door.
Smiling her best friendly smile, the one Tony said anyone who knew her knew was fake but most people believed was real, Ziva moved to the door, unlocking it and letting them inside. "Hello, Karen. Kelly."
"Ziva, girl! It's been a while since we chatted!" Kelly gustily hugged Ziva, much to the assassin's surprise and discomfort.
"I meant to call you both this morning, it must have slipped my mind." Karen smiled graciously as Ziva finished. "I am hosting a party tomorrow, would you like to come?"
Kelly beamed and Karen smiled. "We'd love to! Is it a potluck? When should we come over?" Karen asked eagerly.
Ziva laughed, shaking her head at the eager questioning. "Tomorrow is the Shabbat, so I will be cooking everything. If you come at around seven, that is when the other guests I invited should be coming."
"Oh, right, because you're Jewish…" Karen nodded wisely. "I can't wait to see what you cook up," she added genuinely, at least as far as Ziva could tell.
"Yes. So, why did you two decide to visit?" Ziva asked. "Not that I mind, of course."
Kelly beamed again. "We and some of the girls are going in to town to do some shopping. If you want to join, that's great. We would love it!"
"I would not want to intrude. I do not have a car, either," Ziva pointed out. "Tony and I share the Mustang."
"Mustang…" Karen breathed longingly. "And really it's no big deal. You can ride with Kelly and me; I have to get a ride with her anyway since Tom has our car."
Ziva nodded. "I shall ride with you… I can manage that, as long as we return by about six thirty. I need some extra time to prepare for tonight, because Tony and I are going out."
Karen and Kelly looked at each other with matching covetous looks, grinning slyly. "Ooh la lah," Kelly chuckled suggestively.
"If Tom were as hot a husband as your Tony, I don't think either of us would ever leave the house," Karen chortled.
Ziva could feel herself turning a bright crimson under the teasingly jealous looks of the other women. "I believe we should be going now?" Embarrassed, Ziva hastily made her way to the counter, where she grabbed her keys and purse off the hook Tony had put on the wall for her earlier in the week.
****
Ziva tailed at the end of the group, composed of several housewives in the neighborhood- many of whom Shelby had included on her list, and so Ziva had called them. The women- most of them- seemed very excited to meet the exotic Israeli that Karen and Kelly had told them about. Lacie had, of course, not seemed so thrilled, but the other women, Anette especially, had been elated.
Anette glanced around, spotting Ziva at the back of the group as they stepped into J.C. Penney's. Anette dropped back to chat. "I've never understood the appeal of J.C. Penney's," she confided in a low tone.
"Tony has tried to get me to come in before in the years I have lived here. I do not particularly care for stores like this, especially the perfume section." Ziva smiled at the other woman, a plump little blonde who barely came up to Tony's elbow.
Anette and Ziva pushed past the rest of the group to look at some day dresses the others had dismissed as 'too cutesy'. "Ziva, don't worry about anything you hear while you're in the neighborhood. Especially about the Marines and the Middle East."
Ziva looked up from where she held a brown patterned dress up to her body, one she knew would get shark whistles if she ever wore it to the Navy Yard. "I do not let things like that get to me."
"I figured; being a country like this, you can't. I was just saying… Most of the women in here are very patriotic, and they think the best way to show it is by being royal bitches to anyone from the Middle East, male or female. You and other wives like you especially irk them, because they think the husbands were unpatriotic to even think about liking you, much less marrying you and making you citizens of the States by default." Anette paused from her speech, looking at Ziva carefully to gauge her response.
Slightly distressed, the Mossad liaison kept her face its careful mask. She placed the dress back on the rack carefully, and turned to face Anette. "I really will be all right, Anette."
A slight smile perked Anette's pink lips. "I wish I could believe that, honey. Talk to me when you need some girl time." Glancing at the other women, who were ogling one of the salesmen, Anette looked back at Ziva with a larger smile and grabbed the brown dress back. "Take this, honey. You'll look absolutely darling in it. There's nothing like a tiny little dress to make your man happy."
Ziva laughed aloud. Anette was a real character, but friendly. "Thank you, Anette. This means a lot to me."
"Glad to hear that, doll. So, shall we get back to the party?" Anette raised an eyebrow in the direction of the horny middle-aged women.
Still holding back laughter, Ziva nodded, and the two hugely grinning women made their way back to the others for another three excruciating hours of shopping with, as Anette termed them, the "Squat Squad".
****
Residual giggles caused Ziva to smile slightly even still, remembering all the cracks Anette had made during the excursion as well as the stories she had told about her two sons, both in high school. She hummed slightly to herself, some Bach, as she prepared for the evening Tony had planned for them.
Ziva finished blow-drying her hair, leaving it curly, and began getting dressed. Pulling the brown dress on over her head, she looked at her figure in the mirror. If she did say so herself, she looked all right in the dress. It had a brown diagonally striped pattern and cut low on her chest, but not too low, and the thin spaghetti straps left her shoulders bare. The dress came to just above her knees, and Ziva complemented it with a pair of high strappy wedges.
"What's the occasion?"
Ziva twirled around at the sound of Tony's laughing voice. "We are going out tonight, remember?" With her trademark elevator eyes, Ziva took in Tony's own attire. He'd stripped his fatigues so they hung around his waist, and the white tank top was sweat soaked. Tony had obviously been working hard today. "You will need to get ready fast."
Smirking, Tony took in her appearance as well, from her muscular calves to her shoulder length curls. "I will, sweetcheeks." Tony pushed past her into the bathroom, an expression of appreciation on his face as he looked down at her.
Ziva raised an eyebrow teasingly before Tony closed the door. She turned away, sitting on the bed, a huge smile on her face.
Twenty minutes later, Tony appeared from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. He grinned at the expression on Ziva's face before heading into the walk in closet. "Three seconds, sweetcheeks."
Mostly true to his word, Tony reappeared barely a minute later. He twirled around, showing off his classic grey suit. "Acceptable?"
"Certainly." Ziva stepped closer, looking up as their bodies brushed. "Are you ready to go, now? I have been waiting for some time."
"It didn't take me that long to get showered and dressed," Tony objected.
"Come on." Ziva twirled around, taking a dancer's step to the door. Tony followed quickly behind, a huge smile on his face. When they got outside, Ziva noticed Tony immediately turn to the camera above the door and deliver a thumbs-up.
"Take that, McProbius," he mouthed.
****
Ziva twisted the wedding ring she and Tony had picked out for the assignment around on her finger. The sparkling solitaire winked in the light, and a ghost of a smile lit her face. Gently, a hand moved up her arm, and she looked up at Tony across the table from her. "Penny for your thoughts?" he asked.
She knew that one; Tony had asked that enough. "We make a good pair." Ziva watched him carefully, her brown eyes meeting his green. Tony suddenly looked very nervous, not quite fully meeting her eyes.
"Yeah," he replied softly.
"Aww!" The gasp, one of several they heard from the com pieces throughout the night, made both of them roll their eyes, but they said nothing about it since they were in public. Abby was beginning to drive them crazy, and they could tell it was Tim, as well.
"Abby, let them have their date in peace," McGee hissed.
"I am!"
Pushing the bickering out of her head, Ziva looked back up at Tony. "Shall we get dessert?" she asked cautiously. It was somewhat of a good thing right now, for Abby to be monitoring surveillance, since that distracted both of them from having any awkward moments.
"I was thinking we can get some candies on the way to the theater." Tony flashed a smile to her, confusion behind him.
Ziva returned his smile and waved to the waiter, asking for the check. The waiter nodded. "Certainly, signora."
Ziva looked again at Tony. "You sure know how to pick restaurants. I cannot believe you convinced me to come to another Italian restaurant."
Tony chuckled, low and huskily. "You don't object too many things Italian." His voice was dripping with suggestion, and the old man in the booth behind them turned to stare at Tony. Tony smiled innocently at the man, who gave them both an odd look before returning to his meal.
Laughing slightly, Tony took the check from the returning waiter, paying along with a generous tip. "Company cards are good for some things," Tony whispered at the look on Ziva's face. It was a twenty percent tip, which amounted to a good bit of money. It was an expensive restaurant.
Once the waiter returned their credit card, they left the restaurant, arms linked. Tony smiled and kissed her again outside the car, passionately, enough so that when he looked up several of the waiters and diners were staring. Ziva pressed into the kiss, letting her lips linger on his before he kissed down her neck quickly. Ziva drew in her breath as he stepped away, green eyes meeting hers nervously.
She simply smiled, pressing her lips again to his gently before sliding into the Mustang. A huge grin on his face, Tony ran around the side of the car to hop into the driver's seat.
"What happened?" Abby begged. "I know something happened, I heard it in your gasp, Ziva!" They heard Abby draw in her breath. "You kissed. AWWW!"
"ABBY!" Tim yelled. Ziva laughed, as did Tony. This was a good night already.