A/N: Missed me?
11. Damon's Exit
'Are you okay?' Tony asked Ziva. It was somewhere in the afternoon and they were driving to a witness. Tony was driving, not looking at her. Ziva shot him a look. 'Yes, of course. Why do you ask?' He didn't answer, and kept driving. Ziva raised an eyebrow but turned her head back forward when he didn't say anything.
'It's just . . . Abby mentioned something this morning. That she walked in on you and Damon . . . arguing?' Tony asked. He was somewhat proud that he had avoided the word fighting.
'Pfah, Abby does not know anything. We weren't arguing. We just had an disagreement. A small one,' Ziva answered quickly. Maybe a bit too quickly. Tony answered with a hum, turned a corner and check the address again. 'We're here. Listen, Ziva,' he started – and hesitated. 'Yes?' 'I don't want to interfere, or anything, but if you ever need someone to talk to, a friend, you only have to say the word and I'll be there. Okay?' he felt his ears pricking after he finished talking. The silent stretched and he shot a quick look to his right. Ziva was staring at him, dumbfounded. A small frown in her brow, searching every inch of his face.
'What?' he asked.
'I'm waiting for the joke. The punch line. The hidden agenda,' Ziva tilted her head a bit, still looking at him.
'Just for your information, I do know when not to do that kind of thing. I'm serious here. If you need a friend, I'm here. That's all I'm saying,' he shrugged, still feeling uncomfortably, and left the car.
On their way back to the office – without satisfying results, since the witness hadn't seen anything that could help them – Ziva stared out the window, her thoughts with Damon. After they had left Tony's apartment and gotten to her own place, they had gotten into a fight. It wasn't even an argument anymore, they had stood head to toe, yelling against each other. Damon had accused her of not putting enough effort in their relationship, Ziva had countered that he was jealous of the amount of time she spent at her work.
According to Damon, Tony wanted nothing more than to sleep with her, and that she was blind to not see that. That see didn't want to see that, because it wasn't convenient for her. That the evenings spending running with him, were evenings that she spent rather with Tony than with him, even though they hardly ever saw each other. He had blamed her that she would drop anything, the moment her phone went off and it was Tony. And finally he had thrown in her face that if she so desperately wanted to be with Tony, that she should just say it. It had ended with him grabbing his stuff and leaving her apartment, slamming the door behind him.
She had lost self-control and had thrown a glass against the door, which broke into several pieces. After a few minutes she had calmed down and after cleaning up the broken glass, she had sat down on her couch and thought about what happened.
Even now, in the car with Tony, she still didn't know what to do. Damon and she hadn't spoken anymore, but this was not the way she wanted to end things with him. If she wanted to end things with him, she wasn't even sure about that. She shook her head. Of course she knew that she wanted to end things with Damon.
'What?' Tony asked, interrupted the silence in the car. 'You thought of something about the case?' 'No, why?' 'Because you shook her head, as if you figured something out,' Tony glanced at her sideways, before looking back to the road. 'No, nothing,' Ziva answered, not explaining herself. It wasn't until they got back to the Navy Yard that she realized that Tony hadn't pushed her to answering, like he used to do. The thought made her smile, and she suddenly felt better than she did earlier.
Ziva sat in her car and watched the apartment building across the street. She was hesitating, but she knew she needed to talk to Damon. It was just … she did not really want to. It was relatively early, since Gibbs had released them after he finally agreed that their case was not going anywhere, and she had decided against going home. Fifteen minutes later she sat watching Damon's apartment, doubting how she would play this. Finally she made up her mind, left her car and quickly crossed the road.
She knocked, but didn't get an answer. She knocked again, while pulling out her phone to check what time it was. There was a chance he was working, but she had seen lights burning so she assumed he was at home.
'Damon!' she called out and knocked a third time. Finally she heard someone getting to the door. It opened partly, and she took in Damon. His tie was hanging loose around his neck, there was a very clear lipstick mark on the corner on his mouth and another one on the collar of his shirt. His hair was messy… as if someone had ran her hands through it just minutes ago.
Ziva stared at him, forgotten what she had wanted to say. She shook her head at him. 'So one fight and you start running?' she asked, her voice cold as ice. Damon threw a look backwards and stepped outside. 'Come one Ziva, if anyone was always running, it was you. Literally and figuratively. You either were running with Tony or you were having a case.' He laughed mockingly 'and know you accuse me of running? You've made clear where you stand. You'll pick him over me any time!' Ziva swallowed back a harsh answer. 'You know what, fine. You knew my job when we met, you knew that I hardly ever can have social life. Since you can't handle it, we're through. Go back to the girl that's in your bed, and don't ever call me again!' she turned on her heals and left without looking back.
She walked back to her car, pushing back the tears that threatened to form in her eyes. She shook her head, got in her car and drove away. She got back to her own apartment, picked up everything that Damon had left behind – it wasn't much – put it in a box and set in next to the door. She wasn't sure yet if she would just throw it out or drop it off at his place, but for now she was glad it was more or less out of sight.
She walked around her apartment, too antsy to sit, and finally left again. She got in her Mini again, and drove around. Finally she noticed she had driven to Tony's apartment, and she sighed. It seemed to get always back to Tony these days. Doubting that she was doing herself a favor, but remembering that he had said he would be there for her when she needed a friend, she parked and left her car for a second time. This time it only took one knock to get the owner to open the door.
Tony looked surprised when he saw Ziva standing there, and without thinking he stepped back to let her in. 'What's up, Ziva?' he asked, asking after taking another look and he saw the way her jaws were clenched together, the stiffness in her shoulders and the way she clenched one of her fists.
'Nothing,' she answered automatically. 'You don't look like there's nothing,' Tony replied. 'You look pissed. I can't remember doing something you would disapprove of lately, so I assume it's got nothing to do with me,' he continued. 'Wait, does McGee has another one of his auctions and he asked you to be sold again?' he asked. 'No it's … not McGee. I broke it off with Damon today,' she said after a pause. 'Okay … want to sit down?' Tony asked, forcing himself to stay calm and collected. 'No, I need to … Why! Why is he such an ass! He knew that my working hours are crazy, and yet he blames me for never making time for him. While he is the one who ran after the first dress he saw when we were fighting. How does that make sense!' she ranted. Tony frowned for a moment. 'Oh! You mean skirt,' he understood. Before Ziva could rant further he tried to recap what she had said. 'You had a fight? And he cheated on you after that?' Ziva nodded and sat down on his couch, her hands in her head. 'Do you want me to kick his ass?' Tony suggested, sitting down in front of her on his coffee table. Ziva shot him an incredulous look and a small smile curved her lips. 'Okay, I know you could do that yourself. It was an obligated question,' Tony winked. 'What happened, exactly?' Ziva explained about the fight she and Damon had had, that she had gone to see him and what he had said. Tony was silent after that.
'What, no comments Tony? You hated the guy, I thought you would be over the moon right now,' Ziva asked bitterly. Tony scrunched up his face in disgust. 'Come on Ziva, you should know better. I didn't like him, but he seemed to make you happy. I only want you to be happy,' he added with a soft smile. 'But … and let me finish, please … I can see where he was coming from, when you were fighting. I don't condone that he went straight to someone else after a fight with you, but you have to admit: our hours are crazy. And when we are not on a case, we tend to spend time together a lot. As a team, as friends. You can't blame him for feeling ignored and left behind. Just ask yourself: have you put everything in this relationship that you could?'
Ziva stared at him for a long time, but Tony didn't waver. 'Are you really … defending him now!?' she almost shouted. 'No! No, Ziva, I said that I do not agree with his actions, but just look at the bigger picture. When people start dating, they both need to invest time and energy in each other. And Werth accused you of not doing that. When you look back the past weeks, ask yourself how much of a point does the guy has?' Ziva looked down, and knew he had a point. 'But still. He ran towards another woman, who does that!' she started again.
'Someone who doesn't understand you,' Tony answered after a silence. 'Trust me, the guy who understands you, who really appreciates you, won't ever do that. Because you are a remarkable woman. A tad crazy, but nonetheless remarkable,' Tony smiled. Their eyes met again and after a moment it seemed as if the atmosphere gained a electrical hum in it. Before Ziva could say anything, Tony broke the silence. 'You do have to tell me why you came to me about this. You do know that the last serious relationship I've had wasn't even one where I could be myself, right?' Ziva tilted her head slightly, looking at him with a look in her eyes he couldn't define. 'You're my best friend, Tony. I needed my best friend to talk to.' Tony stared at her for another long moment before a warm, sincere smile appeared. Ziva saw it coming up in his eyes and traveling down to his lips. He should do that more often, she thought suddenly. Her heart skipped a beat and she ignored the sensation, pushing it far, far back away. Tony nodded, still smiling. 'Glad to hear you are actually listening to me these days. Now, can I get you something to drink, or do you need some time to wallow? Because I do have chocolate ice cream if I'm not mistaken.'
After two pints of chocolate ice cream, Tony and Ziva sat on the couch together, leaning back in a comfortable silence while they watched Singin' in the Rain. 'You really like this movie?' Ziva asked suddenly. 'Because I'm still not sure about it,' Tony grinned and started talking about how it is considered one of the best musicals ever made. Ziva looked at him sideways, taking in his enthusiasm and the way he was gesturing animatedly about 'the best musical ever'. She felt herself getting more relaxed and noticed again how attractive her partner looked. But he was her friend. Just her friend. She just had the fight with Damon, if something happened now it would not because they were attracted to each other. She swallowed, looked back to the screen and decided that she should be going home. Alone. Even though it was in the middle of the movie.
She reached out and put her hand on Tony's arm, interrupting him with a smile. 'Thank you, Tony. For this. But I should be going, really,' she stood up and grabbed her coat. Before Tony could stop her, she put it on and walked to his door. He paused the musical and quickly went over to her. 'You shouldn't be going on my account,' he said. 'I know. But it's better that I do go. Thank you, for … everything,' she stood up on her toes and pressed a kiss on his cheek. For a moment they were looking each other straight in the eyes, close enough that if they leaned in only slightly … Ziva took a steadying breath when she took a step backwards. 'You are a true friend,' she finally said, and went out the door as fast as she could.