A/N: Hey!

So today's chapter is nice and long, and all those of you who've been asking for Tony to see Ziva teach? You get it! It's one of my favorite chapters, complete with all of the teasing and flirtation we love.

Thanks again for the incredible reviews! I cannot believe you surpassed 300 in only the 13th chapter. Truly, I am amazed, shocked, and falling on my knees honored. Thank you so, so much. Consider this chapter just a little slice of the thank-you you all deserve.

Autumn

"When you love someone so much and that person is away from you, sometimes it literally feels like you can't breathe, as if your body is aching for air. And then that person walks into the room, and all that ache inside of you, all that longing, dissolves and you feel yourself breathe again." — Diane Les Becquets

Monday came too soon. Ziva spent Sunday reading vintage books she found at a thrift shop, ones with pretty covers that caught her eye—and surprised her, as she would never have done that years prior. Tony called her that night and they spent an hour talking about something Abby and McGee did or said—Ziva couldn't remember which, but she knew her stomach still ached from laughing so hard.

"I hate Mondays," Ziva murmured tiredly as students began to file into her classroom for the first class of the day. She smiled briefly though, remembering Tony say something similar to that the first day she worked on the team.

"What was that, Miss David?" a senior named Kelsey asked.

Ziva looked up at her and smiled. "Nothing. Have a seat and we'll get started."

"How was coffee?" another girl asked.

"Coffee?" Ziva repeated, confused.

"Coffee, you know, when you got that call during class a couple weeks ago and made plans to go for coffee and then blushed like, the whole time? How was it?"

Ziva cleared her throat. She stood and moved to the chalkboard and began to write. "Please turn to chapter seven in your textbooks. Ryan, can you read the first three paragraphs? We'll discuss it and--"

Ziva was interrupted by a cough in the back of the room. She turned to see Tony, leaning in the threshold, a charming smile upon his face. "I was wondering if I could sit in on class," he said.

Ziva gave him a small look that only he noticed. "Yes, of course. There's a seat in the back, Mr. DiNozzo, and an extra textbook in the basket under the desk," she said, treating him as any other seat.

For the rest of the class, she had Tony answer questions and read aloud like any other student, and sometimes, when she was sure the class was focused on their textbooks, they would exchange a look and she would turn away, smiling.

His eyes danced as he watched her, so engaged and passionate, making connections from the past to the present. History was a part of everyday life in her classroom, and not only in the black and white texts of the books. The students seemed to love her and genuinely enjoy the class, participating in every segment of the lesson, despite the common sigh shared when homework was assigned.

After class, several of the popular, bleach-blonde girls made their way up to him, chatting him up and flirting with hardly-hidden giggles. Ziva rolled her eyes and moved to where he sat. "Hey," he grinned at her over their heads.

"Hey," she replied, then looked to the girls with a more serious expression. "You have only five minutes to get to your next class, and I happen to know that each of you has a class on the other side of the building. I will personally call each of your teachers and instruct them to mark you tardy, and I know none of you need another poor mark on your records. Understand?"

The exchanged a look and nodded, moving out of the room quickly. "So, do you reserve the paperclips for the really bad students then?" he teased.

"Yes," she elbowed him. "Students like you."

"Me?" he feigned shock. "I was an excellent student!"

She eyed him. "Today you were, at least in this class. How did you get away from Gibbs? You should've been in two hours ago."

"He's in some mandatory meeting with Vance and a bunch of other who-ha's from up there. Vance had to threaten him to get him to come—he's not allowed to get up from his seat for…" he checked his watch. "Another three hours. He tried to sneak out of the last one, but this time Vance is gonna be watching him like a hawk, so I guess he's stuck. And miserable."

"Ah," she said as she moved around the room, picking up some stray pencils and pieces of paper and even a couple of textbooks left behind by careless students. He followed her action, helping as if it were the natural thing to do. "You're a good teacher," he commented. "I wouldn't have pictured you doing this, not in a million years, especially when using weapons or brute force is frowned upon, but… You're good at it. You're good with them."

"Thanks," she said genuinely. "They're good kids. Well, most of them," she eyed him teasingly, a silly grin on her face and he laughed a little.

"Okay, I get your point. Maybe I wasn't the most diligent of students, but I didn't have as interesting a teacher as you. Or as pretty."

Ziva turned, but Tony caught the sweet blush on her cheeks, and the way she clenched her fist momentarily, silently reprimanding herself for the action. He smiled to himself but kept quiet.

She set away the object she had gathered and looked at him. "This next class is my free period. Want to grab some coffee? I could give you the tour of the building."

"Sure."

She brought him to the teacher's lounge, telling him about the history of the school, about the architecture, and little other tid-bits of information as they walked through the grand marble hallways, occasionally peeking through a room or observing a class for a moment through a window. "Do not even try the decaf—someone spoils it every time," she warned him once they arrived in the lounge.

"Note taken," he said, pouring some regular coffee for her and offering it, which she took gratefully.

The door opened and a couple of other teachers walked in. "Ziva, who's this?" Margaret Chang asked her, approaching Tony with a sparkle in her eye.

"This is my friend Tony. We used to work together," Ziva explained, sharing a look with him over the overzealous teacher's head. "Tony, this is Margaret Chang. She teaches Political Science."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Chang," he said, offering his hand.

She took it. "It's Margaret. Now, where did you say you worked?" She tossed her silky hair over her shoulder and turned to him, looking up at him through long lashes, her ridiculous amounts of make-up glistening under the sunshine that spread through the window.

"NCIS," he said.

Her brow rose and she smiled flirtatiously. "Oh, you're a federal agent? That's so--"

Ziva moved in between Margaret and Tony, taking his arm almost possessively. "I was just taking Tony on a tour of the grounds. I think Gregory Caine was looking for you, Margaret. I'll see you later." Ziva led him out of the room quickly, their coffees in tow and sighs of relief at hand.

"What is with the females in this school?" he whispered with an amused smile when the door closed behind them, careful not to let the expansive halls echo his words.

"I have no explanation for that," Ziva shook her head, her own smile playing upon her lips.

"You think it's in the water?"

"What is?"

"Whatever it is that's making all the females fawn over me, of course."

"I do not drink the water—I bring water bottles."

"So are you implying you're fawning over me, so it can't be the water, or it is the water, but you're still fawning over me? I don't really care, either answer is perfectly fine." Ziva slapped him playfully with a chuckle, and he joined her. "Fine, I'm off your case. So where are we going now?" he asked mischievously.

She looked up at him and her eyes danced. "You'll see."

"You like this, don't you? Taking me to unknown places?" he grinned.

"Ha!" she laughed as she led him up the stairs and through another hallway. When they reached a pair of double doors, she paused awkwardly, realizing she had continued to hold onto his arm through the entire building. "Sorry," she said, opening the door with a key she had stowed away in her pocket.

"It's fine," he said, looking around. I miss your closeness. "What is this room?"

"It's a miniature conservatory of sorts," she gestured to the large object in the middle of the room. "This is a telescope,"

"I did not have this when I was in school," he said, looking around with wide eyes.

"You attended military boarding schools—astronomy was hardly their biggest priority. Besides, Allegro has an extensive budget. A number of its largest benefactors have children enrolled here, and they want them to have the best education possible. They believe a giant telescope will help them, and I don't complain," she explained, adjusting it. "Look."

Tony looked through, finding himself gazing at a large view of the moon. "Wow," he said, in awe.

"It's still in view early in the morning—it's a very different view from what we usually see—the shadows are different," she said as she took a turn looking through it. "We only get to see one side of the moon, as it doesn't rotate on an axis like earth does." Her long dark hair fell over her shoulder as she bent over, her slender neck lit by a large window.

"Mysterious as the dark side of the moon," he commented.

"Hm?" she looked up.

"Mulan," he explained.

"'Mulan'?" Ziva repeated.

Tony grinned. "Never mind. Remind me to show you the Disney classics sometime."

"You want to see the library?" she asked him.

"Sure," he said, allowing her to walk ahead of him. He shook his head with a smile.

"McGee's not mad at you for not staying to do paperwork or cold case files?"

"Nah. I think he's down with Abby."

"I see," she said, her eyes glittering. "They are good together. Like it is meant to be," she said, echoing her words from years ago.

"Well, know a person for years, I guess it just becomes inevitable. It had to happen someday." Maybe like us.

"Why did they wait so long?"

"Eh," he shrugged. "Rule Twelve was McGee's excuse for a while. And for like, the first ten years, Abby was a bit of a commitment phobe."

"Sound like anyone you know?" Ziva teased, looking at him over her shoulder.

"Hey, I'm a changed man!" he defended, laughing.

"Shhh," Ziva said, as his enthusiasm was a little too loud. She bit her lip. "Have you been in any long-term relationships in the last five years?" Tony just looked at her silently for a moment. "Sorry, my wording—college did not seem to help with my blunt tendencies. If that was too personal--"

"Hey, it's not a problem. But to answer your question, nope. I dated a little the last couple years, but before that, I wasn't really in any shape to… No, not in a long time," he said. "Maybe I'm not a changed man."

Ziva looked at him, searching his face for a long moment. "Perhaps it is just that you have not had the opportunity to see."

"Perhaps," he agreed.

They had reached the library now, and Ziva opened the door. Quiet whispers filled the large room, students using their study hall to study or play chess, or just kill time. "Allegro has a wide collection of books in every genre—mostly non-fiction, however."

"Never did like non-fiction," Tony commented, touching some books. "Too factual. The world's not about information, it's about how you use it to make your life worth living."

"This is true," Ziva said, her heart growing swollen with a pride she had felt for him years ago. It was warm. She missed that feeling.

They made their way to the garden eventually, where a class on the other side of the large area was studying agriculture. "Didn't know 'agriculture' was a common subject for high schoolers to study," Tony said.

"Neither did I, but apparently there's a crucial wealth of information that every student should be equipped with," Ziva replied dryly. She eyed him for a moment.

"What are you up to, Ziva David?" he grinned.

"How would you like to come speak to some of my classes?"

"Why?"

"We're having career week soon and various people are coming in to speak about their jobs to the students in a mandatory lecture each day. Federal agent might make a good addition."

"Me? I dunno, I've never been much of a public speaker…"

"No, but you have a flair for the dramatic and I'm sure it'd be fine. Plus, they are high school students. It's not a White House press conference. And… I think there's a lot you could share with them."

"You do?"

Ziva nodded. "You know a lot. You can probably relate to a lot of these kids too."

He smiled at her. "Maybe I will."

Ziva sighed now and looked at her watch. "I should go. I have another class in ten minutes."

"Hey, let me walk you back," he said.

She smiled up at him, and he smiled down at her. "Okay," she consented.

"Thanks for the tour," Tony said, motioning with his hand. "It's a beautiful campus," but he looked only at her.

"It is," she agreed. "It's just…"

"What?" he stopped, touching her arm.

"It is nothing," she insisted.

"Ziva," he looked at her seriously.

For a moment, they shared a gaze. She then looked down with a small smile. "You always could tell what was going on inside my head. I don't know how, but my 'Mossad ninja skills' always seemed to fail with you."

"And you could always tell with me—nothing ever got past you," he said. Maybe that's why I always thought we belonged together… "So, what happened?"

Ziva sighed and they resumed walking. "Nothing. Not really. It's just…"

"What?"

"Sometimes my job is exhausting," she said. "Half these kids could have their parents do a background check on me—they'd know everything about me in an instant,"

"Maybe you should tell them first."

"Tell them what? That I was born and raised to be a killer? That I've taken fifty four lives in my lifetime of 35 years?"

"That you've learned from your mistakes. That you can have a second chance."

Ziva shook her head. "They deserve better."

"They deserve someone who cares."

"I was never the one with compassion."

"Yes, you were. You took care of Tali and Ari without anyone asking you to. You believed in Ari 'till the very end—you didn't give up hope. You cared about the victims and their families. You were shaken by death and it started to scare you. You cared about McGee and Abby and Ducky and Gibbs and even Palmer like they're family. And you believed in me when I didn't—saw beyond me, saw something better. You pushed me to be a better man and I am, because of you. All that takes compassion, compassion which you have, Ziva David. If you ask me, these kids couldn't have a better or more worthy person in their lives."

Ziva looked up at him, their eyes meeting for a long moment as they walked quietly. "I'll think about it."

"Good," he said. In a particularly bold move, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. For that moment a time, the world seemed to stop completely. His heart stopped beating. Her heart stopped pumping. Their minds stopped racing. It all disappeared as they took each other in.

A long moment later, Tony let her go, and they began walking in a continued silence, his arm still around her shoulder.

When Ziva reentered her classroom, she found herself feeling giddy, almost—heart beating quickly, a blush to the cheeks, glittery eyes. Part of her felt ridiculous… and part of her liked it. She still wasn't sure which side to choose when her students for her next class began filing in.

"You okay, Miss David?" Jane asked.

Ziva looked at her for a long moment. "I just might be."

Wasn't that such a happy chapter? : ) Don't forget to review!