"What was that all about?" Tony finally asked Ziva a few minutes after Abby and McGee has left the room.
"I think she wanted some alone time with Tim." Came Ziva's distracted response.
"Huh. And now you're upset cause your stuck in the room with me."
"I am not upset. I am simply bored. I do not care to watch TV all day."
Tony sat up so that he could look at his partner more fully. "Well we don't have to keep watching TV. I'm sure we could find something to do that could occupy our time."
"We are not going to make up." She responded not meeting his eyes.
Tony studied his partner with a look of confusion on his face. "What are we fighting about?" he asked her.
Now it was Ziva's turn to look confused. "We are not fighting. Are we?"
"Well you just said we're not going to make up. How can we make up if we're not fighting in the first place.?"
"I do not understand what you are talking about Tony." Ziva said getting exasperated by the conversation.
"That makes two of us then." He replied sliding back down on the bed to stare at the TV. They continued to watch friends for a few more minutes before Tony was sitting back up and staring at Ziva a look of triumph on his face.
"You meant make out. You're thinking about kissing me." He noticed the faint tinge of red that seemed to slide over her cheekbones.
"I do believe I said that I was not going to kiss you Tony."
"Yeah, but in order for you to have said that it means that you had to have been thinking about kissing me in the first place." He rambled the grin never leaving his face. "You're taking Elsa seriously."
Ziva let out a giant huff. "Just because she said it, does not mean that it's something that we have to do."
"But you're thinking about it." He taunted her.
"Clearly as are you." She responded her voice seeming to go up just a little bit. Not so much that anyone else would have noticed it; however Tony was used to reading the inflection in her voice and his grin seemed to get a little bit wider.
"You know we could just give it a shot and get it over with. No one would ever have to know."
"I do not thing it is such a great idea."
"Oh come on Ziva, loosen up a little bit. What's one little kiss between two consenting adults?"
"I know we do not discuss this, but frankly you are hot. I don't trust us." She responded throwing his previous words back in his face. However she didn't get the reaction she had hoped for.
"You think I'm hot?" He asked grinning at her. He had to admit, he was getting a gross amount of pleasure out of this entire conversation. He always had fun baiting her, but this was turning out to be way more fun then even he had expected. She was obviously thinking about the kiss as much as he was. He knew they were attracted to each other; ever since they had met there had been chemistry between them. He was sure however, that they could share a kiss and not have any lasting effects. They had after all, been a married couple while undercover. Other then a few uncomfortably nights they had gotten through that all right.
Ziva let out what sounded like a growl and got off the bed. "I am going for a walk." She told him briskly before heading to the door of the hotel room.
"Hold on and I'll come with you." He replied getting up off the bed.
"We are done talking about this." She told him as he walked over to where she was standing.
"For now." He replied a cheeky grin on his face as he held the door open for her.
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"This is going to be so much fun McGee!" Abby exclaimed as they left Elsa's office and headed back upstairs. "Operation Tiva is in effect! Now what do you think we can do to put them in some uncomfortable positions?"
"I'm still not sure this is such a great idea Abby."
"Else said they belong together and she's a professional. What more proof do you need Tim?"
"Gibbs isn't going to like this."
"Are you planning on telling him?"
"Well no-"
"Then how is it even an issue Tim? I'm trusting you to help me with this. Besides, maybe Tony won't pick on you as much is he and Ziva are together."
McGee snorted. "I'm pretty sure that there's nothing in this world that would cause Tony to stop picking on me."
"Then this will give you some material for your next book. Ha- think of the payback.."
"Well we need to come up with a really good excuse for sneaking off to see Elsa all the time."
"No problem, I've already got that one covered."
McGee stopped and looked at Abby for a moment. "You do?"
"Sure. It's pretty easy. We just act like we're the ones hooking up."
He stared at her incredulously for a moment. "You really are trying to get my killed by Gibbs aren't you?" His heart rate had sped up a little bit at the thought of he and Abby getting back together.
She gave him a smug smile. "You're just annoyed you didn't think of it first. Again, what Gibbs doesn't know doesn't hurt him."
"What don't I know Abby?" Came the voice of Gibbs from just down the hall behind them.
Abby turned panicked eyes to McGee. Dang Gibbs and his stupid ninja skills. If he found out this could ruin everything. They needed to make sure that Tony and Ziva had realized their feelings before Gibbs could stop them.
McGee groaned silently in his head. His boss had the worst timing of anyone he had every met. Or the best timing depending on how you wanted to look at things. He desperately searched his mind looking for a reason to explain away the last bit of their conversation.
"We were just talking about the new Blackberries Boss. Abby is thinking about buying you one and well," he gave a sheepish smile "You know how you are with technology."
Gibbs started at McGee and the younger agent looked back steadily. He knew they were lying, Abby looked far too ashamed to have been discussing technology but he was proud of his younger agent for holding his ground and so he let it go. Truth be told he wasn't so sure he really wanted to know anyway.
"Where's Tony and Ziva?" he finally conceded and asked.
"We left them upstairs when we decided to go for a walk." Abby responded threading her arm through his and leading him towards the room. "We were just about to go get them for lunch."
He allowed himself to be led upstairs by Abby. He wasn't too sure how he felt about his agents pairing off however he knew he was better off not saying anything in this case. They walked into the room and noticed that Tony and Ziva were gone.
"Guess they decided to go out." McGee said.
"You think McGee?" Gibbs sighed. "Let's go downstairs and get some lunch. We still have that thing with the CIA this afternoon."
"I don't think I want to play with the CIA." Abby told them. "They're not exactly known for playing fair."
"How bad can it be Abbs?" Tony asked her. "We're at a team building camp where all activities are monitored. What can they possibly do?"
"It's the CIA McGee. I'm sure we'll all be surprised with what they can do." Gibbs answered.
"Well I refuse to do anything where they tie me to any of them." Abby opposed vehemently. "There's just no way I want to be a part of anything like that."
"Don't worry Abbs." Gibbs assured her with a smile. "There's no way any of us are going to be tied to the CIA."
They headed down to the lunchroom and were surprised to see Tony and Ziva already at a booth saving them a seat. Abby made sure to slide in next to Ziva forcing her to move even closer to Tony in order to make room for her on the seat. McGee rolled his eyes at the gesture but said nothing as he sat down across from them with Gibbs.
Gibbs narrowed his eyes a little as Tony's arm draped across the back of the seat behind Ziva in order to create more room. He noticed Ziva move naturally into the space created and saw Abby's triumphant look. He realized instantly what his forensic scientist was up to. He turned his speculative gaze to McGee and knew that the younger agent could deny Abby nothing. He inwardly groaned. This was a disaster. He reflected a little bit on Tony and Ziva. He wasn't blind and could obviously see the chemistry that everyone else noticed. But was it enough to put them over the edge?
"What's everybody going to eat?" Tony asked the table at large before lightly tugging on one of Ziva's curls.
Gibbs shook his head. It was more then enough to put them over the edge. Somewhere along the line the chemistry had morphed into actual caring. The question was, would he allow them to break rule 12? He thought about it while they submitted their orders to the waiter that had appeared to serve them lunch. They weren't he and Jenny, he knew that, but the rule was there to keep them from getting hurt. He acknowledged that it was partially his fault. Where he had made sure that Tony and Kate were fully aware of rule 12 he had never really discussed it with Tony and Ziva. He watched as Ziva elbowed Tony in the ribs over some comment he had made causing Abby and McGee to laugh. He would let them break it he decided. If it meant that they were happy, as long as it didn't interfere with work he would allow them to break it.
"Why so silent Boss?" Tony finally asked as he had noticed that Gibbs hadn't been participating in the conversation.
"Just wondering how to get you to shut up." Was the response he got for his trouble. Gibbs gave him a smile to take the heat out of his words as the rest of the team laughed.
"Are we ready for team CIA this afternoon?" Abby asked everyone.
"Bring it on." Tony answered for the team. "I for one am ready to kick some CIA ass."
"To kicking CIA ass." Gibbs said raising his glass in a toast. He smiled as his team proceeded to clink glasses. It would be a fun afternoon.
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A/N: Sorry it's been a bit since I've updated...I'm struggeling with some writters block I do believe. Hopefully it's cleared up and I can get you another chapter soon! Thanks so much for all your reviews! I'm happy that you seem to be enjoying the story! I hope you all have a GREAT New Years!!!
-Kris