A Test in Partnership — Chapter Eleven
Half an hour.
That was how long it had been since Ziva had disappeared to deal with the phone call from CI-freakin'-Ray without having to also deal with the piercing green gaze of her obviously-furious partner. Tony couldn't figure out what was taking so long — how long could it take to say, "Lose my number and never darken my doorstep again?"
"Where'd Ziva go?" McGee asked tiredly as he made his way back in to the bullpen. Tony welcomed the distraction of his obviously put-out teammate.
"Taking a call in private. What's up?"
"Oh you know, the usual…talking to Abby, open foot, insert mouth."
Tony snorted, trying very hard not to laugh. He knew McGee always felt bad when he said something stupid to Abby — especially when it resulted in him not speaking to her for hours on end. "Way to go. Please tell me you at least fixed it before you dragged your sorry butt back up here."
"Yeah, it's fixed. Kind of. I had to sell my soul to the Caf-Pow gods." Tony made the rather smart decision that he didn't want to know what that meant. Luckily he was saved from having to ask by Ziva coming back in to the bullpen. All other thoughts flew from his mind.
"What's up?" He asked, instantly turning his attention to his partner. McGee rolled his eyes as he sat down at his desk. Tony had such a short attention span sometimes…
"Ray is in town."
McGee instantly turned to look at his teammates. This may have just been Tony rubbing off on him, but he'd never really liked Ray. Which was terrible, he knew — after all, the man had made Ziva happy. Wasn't that all that mattered? But something about the fact that they hadn't even known his name for the longest time and they hadn't met him until nearly seven months after he and Ziva had started going out had just made McGee suspicious. And of course he knew why Tony hadn't liked the Miami man.
"You're not going to see him, are you?" Tony asked. He'd been trying to go for casual; he failed.
"I…have not decided yet."
"What's there to decide?" Tony asked instantly, all attempts at a pretense gone. "You told me you were done with him, remember?"
"And I am…but I should probably tell him that, which seems like a rather tactless thing to do over the phone, wouldn't you agree?"
Tony scowled, running a hand through his hair. It was obvious he didn't like this, and McGee wasn't sure he didn't disagree with the senior agent's misgivings. Ziva had been dealing with a lot lately, and Ray seemed to have a habit of leaving a mess in his wake when he was in DC…would she be able to deal with Ray on top of everything else?
Gibbs walked in to the bullpen then, effectively putting an end to the conversation. The three agents returned their attention to their computers, though none of them were actually focusing on their work. Ziva was thinking about what she should say to Ray, Tony was wondering if it would be worth his life to follow Ziva and spy on the exchange, and McGee was wondering how far behind he was on the times, considering he had no recollection of Ziva ever saying she was done with Ray.
Dr. Leslie Thompson looked up as someone knocked on her office door. She shifted her eyes to the clock — it was just after noon. Who would be coming to call during lunch?
"It's open."
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Candace White said as she walked in to the office. She was holding a rather thick file in her hands. So this was a business call.
"Just a mediocre cart lunch," Leslie replied with a smile as she pushed her sandwich to the side. She already had a feeling she knew what Candace wanted to talk to her about. "What can I do for you, Candace?"
"I need to talk to you about a patient of yours." And there it was.
"Did we forget about doctor-patient confidentiality?"
"I don't want to talk about particulars, just the things your patient and mine have in common."
Leslie was already standing to get the file of the patient in question. "Let me guess — Agent David and Agent DiNozzo."
"Was it ever really a question?" Candace's eyes widened when she saw Ziva's file. "Wow. And I thought Agent DiNozzo had a lot going on."
"It certainly is an impressive file," Leslie agreed. "She's made quite the record for herself during her time here. Now what was it you wanted to talk about?"
"Have you cleared Agent David for duty yet?"
"Not quite." No need to tell Candace that Ziva had absolutely zero interest in being cleared for field duty. That was something that would stay between doctor and patient. "She's on desk duty for the time being." Candace took a couple of notes on the front of her folder. "Why do you ask?"
"I've been…having some trouble figuring out what to do with Agent DiNozzo. His attitude has done a complete one-eighty since the last time we spoke, but I still don't think he's ready for field duty yet. I feel like I'm not wrong in assuming, though, that the one-eighty has something to do with Agent David. You didn't happen to notice any changes in her between this appointment and the last one, did you?"
"As a matter of fact I did — she was actually willing to talk to me." And given what Leslie had read in Ziva's file that was saying something. Candace made a couple more notes, frowning a bit. "Something wrong?"
"There's just something so…odd…about this partnership. Have you noticed?"
"His life has been threatened far too many times because of me. It needs to stop."
Leslie frowned as well as Ziva's words from their first session came back to her. "Agent David seems to think that she's put Agent DiNozzo's life in danger in the past. I get the feeling she thinks if she wasn't around, Agent DiNozzo would be safer."
Candace looked up from the notes she'd been taking, pressing her lips together as she thought about the conversation she'd had with Agent DiNozzo just a few hours earlier. Agent David was a little mixed up, from the looks of it.
"Oh boy. I'd recognized your thinking face anywhere. What's up?"
"Well it might be nothing," Candace said slowly. "There's just something about Agent DiNozzo and Agent David that's worrying me. This partnership of theirs…"
"It's definitely odd," Leslie agreed, echoing Candace's words from a few minutes before. "But we're not evaluating their partnership, remember?"
"Well…maybe we should be."
"…Stop staring at me."
"How do you know I'm staring at you? You're not looking at me."
Ziva turned her eyes away from her computer screen, her gaze meeting Tony's. "Stop staring at me," she repeated with a slightly triumphant smirk. Tony made a show of sticking his tongue out at her before returning his attention to his "work" — except he wasn't really doing work. He couldn't force himself to focus long enough to do anything.
"What are you going to do?" He asked finally. He'd been biting his tongue all afternoon, waiting for a time when they were finally alone. And five minutes ago, it had happened. Gibbs had left (probably to get a coffee refill), and McGee had taken off after receiving a text message; Tony had heard him muttering something about being a Caf-Pow slave as he'd left.
"I do not want to talk about it," Ziva replied after a rather lengthy silence.
"You're going to break it off with him, right?" The glare that Ziva threw at Tony wasn't quite up to her usual standards. But the fact that she was glaring at all was a good sign. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry. I just…I'm sick of seeing him jerk you around. You deserve better than that, ya know?"
Ziva's expression softened and she looked down at her desk. "I am going to break up with him." It almost sounded like she was making a promise. "I have had enough of him and his games. Nothing good can ever come from associating with the CIA, yes?"
It took everything Tony had in him not to cheer out-loud. Finally she understood. Now wasn't the time for cheering, though. "Well you know if you ever need help with a difficult boyfriend, I'll always have your back."
It was a risky joke, and Tony was immensely relieved when Ziva actually smiled a bit. "I know. Thank you."
Her phone rang then; a check quick of the caller ID had her expression falling faster than a rock through water. "CI-Ray?" Tony guess, and Ziva nodded as she hit the 'accept' button and put the phone to her ear.
"Hello…yes…yes…all right. I will be down in a minute." She looked rather put-out as she ended the call.
"Call me if you need me," Tony said as Ziva stood up, pulling her jacket on. "Seriously," he pressed when Ziva didn't say anything. "If you need anything — anything at all — call me. Please."
Ziva hesitated for a moment right on the edge of the bullpen. "I will," she said quietly, and Tony's heart soared. "Thank you."
And then she was gone.
Ray Cruz was sitting on a park bench across the street from the NCIS building. Ziva hesitated as she stepped outside and her eyes landed on him. So much — so much — had happened in the time that had passed since he'd bestowed that empty ring box upon her. Ziva wasn't even sure where to start.
Crossing the street might be the best way to start, a snide voice that sounded suspiciously like Tony's spoke up in the back of Ziva's head. She almost smiled as she decided — sarcastic or not — the voice was right.
"Hello Ray."
The man looked up, his expression brightening when he saw Ziva standing over him. "Ziva," he breathed as he stood up and stepped towards her, his hands coming up to cup her face. It was almost instinctual for her to flinch away from the touch — she stepped back, holding up her hands as if they were a shield. "What's wrong?" Ray asked, his expression morphing to concern in the time it took to blink. Why did he have to make things so difficult? Ziva knew, in his own way, that he cared about her. His intentions were so misplaced though, his loyalties everywhere at the same time…
"We need to talk."
There. That was a good start. They started down the path that cut through the park, and Ziva was reminded of walking down this same path so many months earlier — she had been mad at him then, so mad.
She almost wished she could have been that mad now, too.
"What's wrong?" Ray finally asked, breaking the silence. Ziva sighed. She knew where she needed to start.
"I still have friends in Mossad, you know." Ray's expression froze at that. "Friends I talk to on a daily basis. Friends who know I have been dating a CIA agent since last September. Some of them even know his name. And luckily they do not hesitate to call me when the man I have been dating has been working with my father."
"Ziva—"
"I do not care what your mission was," Ziva cut Ray off at once. "It is none of my business. You should know, though, that I decided a long time ago that I want nothing to do with any man who is involved with my father. In any way."
Ray was no idiot, thankfully; he didn't ask what Ziva meant by that. "It's not what you think—"
"I told you — I do not care."
"Can I please explain?" Ray asked, and Ziva noticed a note of forced patience in his voice. She hesitated for a moment before nodding, forcing an apathetic expression. "Yes. I was working with your father. It was temporary, though. It's over now, and it'll never happen again. I would rather resign than have to work with him again anyways."
Ziva almost smiled at that. Almost. "He has that effect on people," she admitted, ducking her head so her eyes were on the ground. "Did you ever plan on telling me about it?"
"You know I couldn't—"
"You're right," Ziva agreed quietly. "You couldn't. Which is exactly why we—" She gestured between the two of them, "will never work. I have had enough of secrets. And I have definitely had enough of boyfriends disappearing for months at a time without calling."
"You knew when we got involved that this was the way it would be—"
"And I thought I could be okay with it. But that is not what I want anymore. It is not something I want to be a part of my life. Not anymore."
For the first time Ray's mask slipped, and Ziva saw that he was angry. "So what do you want me to do? Do you want me to quit my job?"
"If I wanted you to quit I would have said that," Ziva shot back, anger slipping in to her tone as well. "Your job is who you are, and that is not something I would try to take away from you. But your job is being secretive and lying and disappearing for months on end. And that is not something I can deal with. Not anymore. I'm sorry."
She started to turn away, and was surprised when Ray grabbed her wrist.
"Ziva, wait—"
His voice got lost in the sudden din that was filling Ziva's ears; she could feel herself being dragged back to the basement…
"Let her go or I will gladly give up my badge to punch your damn lights out."
Ziva and Ray jerked their heads around to look at Tony, who was leaning against a tree a few feet away. As wrapped up in their conversation as they'd been, neither had noticed the agent following them.
Ray looked back at Ziva; he was surprised to see that most of the color had drained from her face, and he released her wrist quickly. She wavered for a moment before taking a step back, away from Ray — and towards Tony. "Please," Ray begged quietly. Ziva shook her head.
"I'm sorry."
And with that, she turned and walked away. Tony shot a murderous glare in Ray's direction before jogging to catch up with his partner.
The walk back to NCIS was spent in silence. As the building came in to a view, Ziva pulled out her cell-phone and pressed a button before putting the phone to her ear.
"Who—?"
Tony's question was cut off as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, not bothering to check the ID before he accepted the call.
"DiNozzo."
"Want to get something to eat?" Tony was surprised when Ziva's voice echoed down the phone line. "I will buy."
Tony almost laughed.
Author's Note: I feel like this is kind of rushed…but I wanted to get it out before Tuesday, lest I accidentally copy the break-up scene I hope to god is included in this week's episode. That said, I am ninety-nine percent positive that this will be Ray's only appearance in this story — unless the plot bunnies come back to bite me. Hopefully they don't. Ray is annoying. Anyways, review please? — Sam