Chapter Nine
Wyoming followed Idaho then there was Nebraska until they hit Missouri. Ziva drove and maintained her tactic of not pushing Tony too hard. With each succeeding state their sleeping arrangement changed, a sign that the walls between them were slowly coming down. In Wyoming they had double beds and she waited to join him in his bed until his nightmares kicked in. He didn't push her away and he didn't complain. In Nebraska they had double beds in the room but she slept with him leaving one of the beds empty. At first he argued about this but he lost that argument. She said that he needed a night's sleep without nightmares. In Missouri they forwent the double beds and shared a queen sized bed.
"You just want to sleep in the same bed with me because you want my body," Tony joked with her.
"You are not as stupid as you look," she said as she laid her head on his chest.
She lay there listening to his heartbeat. Somehow just listening to his heart gave her a sense of security.
"Why?" he asked simply.
"Why what?" she countered.
"Why me?" he asked.
"Because all the other candidates for me to love for the rest of my life are either dead or doing life in prison," she joked.
Tony chuckled at this. It was nice to know that they could laugh at such a sensitive subject.
"Why me, Zi?" he asked again.
"Tony, I've loved you before Michael, before Ray, but rules kept us apart. Now, I no longer care about the rules. I just want you," she said.
"I'm not worth it," Tony said.
"If you're not worth then I'm not worth it, Ahuvi," she said. "I have done things that I regret, things which leave me with great guilt. Working at NCIS helps that guilt because I know I am doing good there. What you did in Portland should help your guilt because you did good there. You must hold onto the good you do and accept that you are worthy of being loved."
"When did my ninja become so introspective?" he asked her.
"When she stopped being and assassin and started being a human being," she answered him.
He smiled. She saw that it was a sincere smile, one of his real smiles, not a mask covering something up.
"What are you thinking?" she asked him.
"In the movie Diner, Mickey Rourke plays a character named Boogie. He has this great line while talking to this guy who just paid his gambling debt and is offering him a job: If you don't have good dreams, Bagel, you got nightmares. You give me good dreams, Ziva David," he said.
Instead telling him how much this comment meant to her, she showed him by giving him a passionate kiss. He responded in kind.
"I love you, Anthony DiNozzo," she said.
"I guess I love you, too, Ziva David," he said.
"Now that we have that out of the way, can we make love tonight? I am horny," she smiled.
"Damn, I love you, sweet cheeks," he said.
NCIS
Kalil Greene sat in the human resources department of NCIS. Since the contract on Anthony DiNozzo wasn't going well so far, he decided to take a more active role in its completion.
"Mr. Kevin Greene, please come with me," Debbie from human resources said with a smile as she motioned him to enter her office.
He walked into the office and sat down in a chair in front of her desk. She sat and reviewed his resume.
"From 18 to twenty-five you were a marine then you left the marine corp. That was six years ago. You have don't very much since then," she said.
"I admit that I went on a bit of journey of self discovery," he smiled.
"What did you find?" she asked him.
"That my money was finite. I'm broke," he said.
"So you are now applying for a security position here at NCIS?" she said.
"I thought it would be a nice way to serve my country once again," he said.
"Well, you are a patriot," she said.
NCIS
Ziva pulled into the Comfort Inn at Lexington, Kentucky. Finally, they were pulling into hotel, even if it wasn't a luxury hotel, and they were going to sleep in the same bed and maybe they wouldn't even sleep. Tony noticed that Ziva was smiling to herself.
"Why so happy?" he asked her.
"I am tired of motels," she said.
"Yeah, me, too," he said.
"Maybe we even can get some real tonight instead of fast food. I'd like to see you start eating healthy," she said to him.
"Are you trying to prolong my life?" he asked her.
"I may have need for you for some time to come," she said.
"Glad that someone has need of me," he said softly.
Ziva looked at me. It was Tony, maybe not the old Tony, but Tony. And in time she would help him become the old Tony again. She leaned over and kissed his cheek.
"We need to get a room," she said.
Ziva picked the restaurant, or in truth told Tony she would only drive him to a restaurant she wanted to go to. He wore his Armani blazer, a pair of cream colored pants and a blue dress shirt, while she dressed in a black dress cut just above the knee. She brought it just in case.
The restaurant was called Belle Notte. They sat outside under a tree. Since she picked the restaurant she allowed Tony to order for them.
"Would you like to order?" the waiter asked.
"Bene," he said. "We'll start with the Chianti pear salad, followed by Pom Pom salmon, and end our meal with the dolce wood oven roasted banana bread pudding. With the Primi Piatti and Piatti we'll share a bottle of Berigner, pinot noir and with the dolce Italian roast coffee," he ordered.
"Excellent," the waiter said then walked away.
Tony looked at Ziva: "I hope that was healthy enough for you."
"It sounds delicious, but I will have to work off the bread pudding after the meal," she purred making Tony smile. "Do you have any suggestions?"
"I think the hotel has a pool," he smirked.
"Yes, I do feel like getting wet, but not in a pool," she said.
"I see we are going to subtly," he laughed.
"I have to work with who my audience is," she retorted.
"Do you think insulting me will get you anywhere with me?" he asked.
"I'll let you be on top," she smiled.
"You really don't play fair, do you?" he said.
"Not when I want something or someone badly enough," she said.
"Zi, I still don't know if I want to return to NCIS," he said changing the mood of the dinner.
"Why?"
"Being forced by Jarvis took take that op and into hurting you, Gibbs, and Abby was the hardest thing in my life, but even harder was how easy you believed me. No one tried to stop me. You tried to put me in a hospital and Gibbs just turned his back on me. Abby, well, Abby just cried. I felt so alone. I didn't blame you guys but I realized that alone was the way I spent most of my life," he told her.
"Tony, I am sorry for how I reacted. You... you hurt him. More than my father, Michael, Ray, the thought of you betraying my trust gave me such pain I lashed out," she said.
"Zi, I pushed your buttons. I knew what I was doing. Just like I pushed Gibbs' buttons. I manipulated the situation and I paid the price for my fucking skill at pushing people away," he said.
"You cannot push me away. I will not be pushed," she said.
"Zi, all the things I've done the past year or so. The regrets and guilt, sometimes it is almost overwhleming," he confided in her.
"I understand, Ahuvi, better than you realize. I believe you need NCIS and NCIS needs you. But if you want to leave it, leave DC then I will just have to adjust because where you go, I go from now on," she told him.
"Ziva, you don't mean that," he said.
"Yes, Ahuvi, I mean it," she told him.
"If that's the case I'll think long and hard about leaving NCIS, though I am pretty much sure I don't want back on the MCRT," he said.
"But Gibbs won't have anyone else as his senior field agent," she said.
"Stan is doing just fine," said Tony.
"He is what I told Abby even when I thought I hated you - he is a Stan in," she smiled.
"A pun and not a bad one," he said. "You're proud of yourself."
"Yes, I am," she beamed.
NCIS
Fornell drained the bourbon from the mason jar and placed it down on Gibbs' makeshft work table for a refill. Gibbs filled it up.
"Greene is still a mystery to us," said Fornell.
"No theories or ideas?" asked Gibbs.
"The problem is we have too many of those. From he is a ghost, a madeup name, used by many to that he is a naturalized American citizen who converted to Islam but has kept it from most people," said Fornell.
Gibbs sipped his bourbon: "He's real."
"Is that your famous gut talking?" asked Fornell.
"What does you gut tell you?" asked Gibbs.
"That the bastard is not only real but clever," said Fornell.
"We need him if we are going to find the money man and end this once and for all," said Gibbs.
"You miss, DiNozzo," Fornell stated.
"He... being without him the last year has been one of the most difficult years of my life. Not since I lost Shannon and Kelly have I felt this wrong. I knew something was up with him, but I let him push my buttons and manipulate me. I let him down," he said.
"We make mistakes with our children and when we do, we have to make amends with them," said Fornell.
"He's not my child," said Gibbs.
"You're more of father to him than his own, Jethro, and you know it," said Fornell. "He's your son, like Abby and Ziva are your daughters and McGee is your nephew. They are your family."
"Then I let my son down and I have to change that," said Gibbs.
"You'll make it right with DiNutso," said Fornell.
"You think," said Gibbs.
"Yeah, I've never met a man who admired someone so completely as he admires you. He probably doesn't even blame you, but blames himself. The man loves you, Jethro," said Fornell.
Gibbs drank some more bourbon trying to hide his emotions in the alcohol: "Not helping, Tobias."
NCIS
In the darkness of their hotel room Tony and Ziva made love and by doign this he dropped the last of his walls and letting her in completely. All the years of dancing around each other finally had ended. As they climaxed together and fell into each other's arms, both of them knew that they were not going to be parting anytime soon.
"You know I longer have an apartment in DC. I need to get one," said Tony.
"No, you do not need one," she said.
"Yeah, I'm afraid I do. That is if you expect me to remain in DC," Tony said.
"No, Tony, you do not need one," she said again.
"What? You expect me to stay with Gibbs," he laughed.
"Ahuvi, you will be living with me," she said.
"Aren't you afraid that Gibbs will be pissed that we are breaking rule 12?" he asked you.
"No," she smiled.
"Really?" he said.
"If he does then I won't invite him to our wedding," she said.
"Ziva David, are you asking me to marry you?" he asked.
"What is your answer?" she asked.
He thought about it for a moment then smiled: "If you're foolish enought to want me then I'm foolish enough to say yes."
"See, you do not need an apartment," she laughed.