Author's note:
Hello, readers! And welcome to the last week of August!
Thank you very much for your heart-warming reactions on the last chapter, I was really so happy with that. I am really glad you accepted Ziva's roommate because we'll see more of her in the following two chapters, so I hope you'll look forward to that. And your reactions towards the Orli talk were simply amazing.
Dear Guest, thank you for the appreciation of the chapter.
Ever-wonderful Debbie, thank you very much for your review. You always know what to say to make someone smile. :) I completely agree with your assessment of Eli and Orli. And I can promise you that at least one romantic date will be eventually seen on the yacht in the future ;)
Dear SkiGirl, my dear German neighbour, thank you so much for your lovely review, you warmed my heart greatly. I am so happy you love this story and I hope that you will get visit Prague and see all her beauty. Thanks!
Big thanks to Thewayshelooksatme (Kamille) for offering to do Beta reading.
Great thanks to Lipush for her amazing and kind help with Hebrew language.
And hug bear hug to my surrogate sister Athina. Love you sis, stay strong. XOXO
Well, let's start with the chapter, shall we?
Disclaimer:
Oh wow... So, I don't own NCIS or the characters. And I am really sorry if the real person mentioned in the chapter would get offended or affected by any means by my utilization. I just tried to be accurate.
Christmas Meeting – Chapter 20
Once inside the car, Tony adjusted the driver's seat according to his needs, while Ziva typed in the route into GPS, instructing him how to get to the University of Haifa. In less than two hours, they should be there which gave them enough time to get their things done and look around, as well, as it was around 9 AM at the moment. The Israeli sun pleasantly shone on their way as Tony leisurely started to drive through the streets of Tel Aviv.
"So, how did you and Terri become such friends?" He asked her eagerly, watching as she opened the glove compartment and pulled out a tablet with the portable keyboard.
"We're in the same class, so when she was looking for a place to live, I offered her to live with me." She answered as she switched on the tablet and waited for everything to load.
"She's not Israeli, is she?" He noticed that her accent was purely American. South-eastern, probably North Carolina, he would guess.
Ziva secured the tablet on the tablet holder she had in her car and attached the portable keyboard, constructing a laptop substitute. "Well, she was born in the United States. But she's half-American and half-Israeli." She replied as she stuck inside the USB modem, connecting the tablet to the internet. "Her father is Major in Marine Corps, and her mother is Israeli surgeon."
She looked at the road to see if Tony was driving in the right direction, but since he could drive only forward on the Namir Road that led straight to Highway 2 where Haifa was, it wasn't too hard. Thankfully, the traffic was okay so far. She prayed for no car accidents or traffic restrictions on the way so they wouldn't stick somewhere. She really didn't have much time to just loaf around.
"Retracing her roots here?" Tony asked in a knowing tone, guessing that she had related with Terri on that level.
"Not exactly." She replied, throwing away a bunch of spam emails from her email box, freezing when she noticed 'Merry Christmas Wish' from Abby. After a moment of hesitation, she moved the email to a folder called 'Abby' and labelled it with red colour so she wouldn't forget to return to it later.
"Her parents divorced when she was sixteen and she decided to stay with her father because of school and friends. Her mother returned back to Israel together with her little brother but she visited them often. " She explained further after she had overcome the shock because she hadn't gotten any email from Abby for quite a while. Not even for her birthday. "When she got the chance to study her beloved history here, she took it. David also played part in her decision."
"So they knew each other before?" Tony questioned further, gearing up as the line in front of the light had moved and they continued their way forward.
Ziva nodded in affirmation as she opened a new email and put Orli as a receiver. "He works at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv and before that, he was assigned to the British Embassy in the US." She replied as her fingers hovered over the keyboard, mulling over whether to write the to-do list in the order of importance or just write down the first thing that came to her mind and then re-order it. "Her father introduced them on some soirée."
"And what's up with the engagement?" Tony took interest in the excitement he had witnessed back on the yacht. "It seemed as if it should never happen."
Ziva started to type and chuckled. "Because it shouldn't. You see, David is from very wealthy and traditional family. An only child whose parents dote upon. The only heir of the vast inheritance."
Tony nodded in understanding, speeding up the car and checking the GPS to see if he was going the right way. "They don't see her as worthy, do they?"
"Indeed." Ziva replied with noticeable disgust in her voice. "She's from a broken family, her parents live a world apart and moreover, she's a half-breed, as they once called her." She shuddered at the memory since she'd been a witness to this failed meeting with David's parents.
Tony rolled his eyes but didn't comment further. Some families, especially those traditional ones, clung onto the purity of their lineage. It was typical that one of the family members broke the rule at some point and married to a commoner. He could imagine what kind of insults Terri must have gone through during the meetings with her boyfriend's parents. And he felt sorry for her.
"I couldn't believe my ears when they also said 'feel free to have fun with her but never even consider marrying her'." She added as her fingers flew over the keyboard, hitting the 'Enter' button a bit too violently. She just didn't like when the people she cared about were demeaned for whatever reason. The more she had been angry when David had said nothing to oppose his parents.
He shook his head in disbelief, changing the gear to the higher speed as he finally had a free road in front of him. "One would wonder what they would do if she got pregnant." He remarked, looking over at her and admiring her focused stance.
"I don't think I want to know that." She answered, knowing that if it ever happened, it wouldn't be pleasant for anyone and least of all Terri. "Not that it matters, anyway. I guess that he has stood up to his parents, if he proposed."
She registered his humming in acknowledgement, while she minimized the email she was currently writing and clicked on a tab with her mailing list to give Orli the right contact. She copied the email address and returned back to the email, pasting it inside. Intending to do the same thing once again, she minimized the window and clicked on the tab with her mailing list while she threw an eye on the road.
When her eyes focused again on the screen, she saw that she hadn't clicked on the tab she had wanted to, but on the 'Abby' folder. The 'Merry Christmas Wish' was almost reproachfully shining at her with the red colour of the label as if it demanded from her to stop ignoring it. She opened it and couldn't help but chuckle as a gif of a dancing skeleton wished her Merry Christmas.
"You didn't tell anyone about us, did you?" She asked him for assurance as she still wondered why Abby had suddenly sent her an email after such a long period of silence.
"No," Tony replied, looking over at her to catch her biting her bottom lip. "McGee thinks I'm still in Prague, so no one knows. Why?"
She sighed, rubbing her chin in contemplation. "Abby sent me a Christmas Wish. Which is odd because she didn't send me anything for more than a year." For assurance, she checked the folder with the name of her Goth friend but her claim was true. "She used to send me an email once in a while but then it suddenly stopped."
Tony gulped and tried not to think about that date when Abby had most likely decided not to write Ziva any email anymore. He was pretty sure when it had stopped. The conversation he had had with Abby down in her lab would forever stay in his memory and it was certainly the reason why Abby had decided not to contact Ziva any longer since all her emails had been without any response.
He remembered very well the way she'd hugged him and told him that they needed to talk, because he'd been refusing to talk about anything connected to Ziva or even admit that the year had been really hard for him. He had tried to convince her that he was happy with his life but it'd been fake and she had seen right through it. She'd also known who was still on his mind, never leaving and always remaining.
He recalled clearly as she'd forced him to say that person's name aloud, after so many months of holding it back. Ziva's name had been on his mind constantly, but he'd avoided of saying it as it would have meant that his grief had been too real, too painful. And he had had no strength to deal with that. It had been better to pretend how happy he'd been and occupy himself with something else, than trying to heal his damaged heart.
I love Ziva, but she left us. She is gone. Those were the words Abby had said afterwards, and he realized that it had been the moment Abby had finally accepted that fact, too. And you can't keep putting your life on hold, waiting for her to show up, because... she probably never will. He couldn't help but wonder how Abby would react on Ziva being back, considering what she had said. That email certainly was odd, he had to agree. Well, their homecoming certainly should be interesting...
"I think you read too much in that." He eventually commented because Ziva was watching him intently, apparently waiting for some reaction. "After all, you'll have a chance to ask her about it soon."
"True." Ziva agreed and returned back to writing her email, letting Tony drive in peace and with his own thoughts.
In no time, they were on the road leading straight to Haifa and the Eshkol Tower*1 towered on the horizon in front of them. Ziva switched off the tablet, putting it back into the glove compartment and started to stare out of the window on the nature around them. Since they were riding along Carmel Hai-Bar Nature Reserve*2, there was a lot to observe and see.
The civilization welcomed them unexpectedly as a huge parking lot for the Mount Carmel National Park full of cars appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Ziva indicated to Tony to turn right on the oncoming traffic circle behind the notice board with 'Haifa' inscription written in Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin to get them to the campus of the university. After a couple of minutes of searching, they managed to find a good place for parking the car.
Tony felt the change immediately when they both exited the vehicle. He always had that feeling whenever he found himself within the premises of university. This was a place of the academic world. Educated people, the best of the best passed on their professional knowledge and wisdom, and their students listened to them (mostly) with interest. It was always like entering a completely different world.
Even the Ziva he knew changed. She was no longer the ex-Mossad ninja assassin, but a dutiful student, despite her age. Her posture somehow changed, her head proudly raised as she observed their surroundings, apparently being delighted to show off in front of him. Because if he deserved anything, then it was to know what her life was like after she'd refused his offer for a different kind of living.
And she did so. When they entered the main building, she showed him everything she could and what it meant for her. And so he briefly saw Hecht Museum*3 with its displays of archaeology and history of Israel, including Ma'agan Michael Ship, a well-preserved boat from 5th century BC, a library, a bookstore, her favourite copy machine, coffee shop, restaurant with an overview of her favourite meals, and even a vending machine she used to buy drinks and other various snacks.
He made a joke about Bishop loving the place with all the junk food around while they were taking the stairs up towards the Student Administrative Division to which Ziva replied that she didn't believe to all his stories about Ellie's appetite. He didn't mind it, though, knowing that it had to be witnessed to really believe it. But he knew that she would be surprised soon enough.
She hesitated before knocking on the door of her study department supervisor since she knew that what she was about to do, couldn't be easily taken back. Having the open back door for so long, she couldn't help but being afraid of finally closing it. And as always, he made her decisions easier. He stood up behind her and lightly put his arms around her waist to give her more confidence.
"Breath in and out." He whispered and she did as he commanded. "I know it's going to be a hell of a change, but we're going to make it."
He simply felt that she could be reluctant to do this step. After all, she was transferring her courses for this semester only to go with him to D.C. right away. There was another option – letting her to finish the new semester here, in Israel and leave the moving for summer with application to the University of Maryland in the meantime. But he desperately needed her to be with him the whole time. And she was doing everything she could to execute it.
She tilted her head to accept the sweet peck on her lips and resolutely knocked a couple of times on the door, ignoring his teasing hints in the form of clicking his tongue how he imagined she should have knocked. Opening the door, she remained standing on the threshold. She introduced herself first and present the reason why she'd come before the woman invited her in, telling her that she was expected.
When the door closed behind her, logically leaving Tony abandoned on the corridor, he shoved his hands into his pockets, looking around to find anything interesting. He tried the display cases if they held any noteworthy information but all the text was mostly written in Hebrew, so completely unreadable for him apart from a couple of words he recognized.
He sat down on one of the benches on the corridor, feeling unsettled. Since he'd left the Unites States, he hadn't had any silent while for himself. And he hated to be with himself, honestly. It challenged his mind in a way he would love not to at the moment. He wanted to enjoy his current happiness and not to think about the team's reaction to Ziva's homecoming, his relationship with Gibbs and how to fix it, not to mention his relationship with Zoe and their inevitable break-up. It all still seemed to be in a distant future.
With his elbows on his knees, he rubbed his head with his palms, trying to sort out his thoughts, but failing miserably. His mind was reeling and he cast longing looks at the door in hope that Ziva would show up and save him from this madness. He realized how her presence was important to him for not going insane and how she was able to keep him on the top of the things and make him feel secure.
When he thought that his head would burst out, one of the doors on the corridor opened. He immediately shot a look in that direction, hoping for Ziva but was left with disappointment when an older white-bearded man with white hair held the door for a younger one with brown hair to leave. They exchanged some words in Hebrew from which he distinguished only 'shalom' as they said goodbye to each other.
The older man closed the door behind him and the younger man went over to the bench, putting down his briefcase so he could stuff some papers inside without crumpling them up. He lifted his head up when he registered that he wasn't alone in the corridor and sent the motionless Tony an awkward smile, typical for two strangers who accidentally met. Tony returned the smile in the same way but didn't lower his eyes.
He noticed that his unexpected companion was well-built, though he could use some exercise to gain some muscles. It was clearly evident thanks the casual attire the man wore. He had brown hair and brown eyes and the shade of skin a little lighter than Ziva's. He looked more like European, to be honest, although unmistakeably Jewish according to Tony's personal experience. His age was around 30, maybe slightly over 30 but still far away from Tony's actual age.
"Good Morning." Tony greeted him after the man looked at him once more, apparently feeling his gaze on him. He used English instead of Hebrew to sign that he wasn't Israeli.
"Morning." The man replied politely in plain English but with a discernible Israeli accent. He narrowed his eyes as he measured Tony with sudden interest. He had the impression that he might have seen his face somewhere. "Waiting here for your daughter?"
Tony had to bite his tongue strongly to stop himself from a snarky retort that was creating on his tongue. He certainly didn't look that old to have a daughter on the university, but whatever. That man was just well-mannered, trying to converse with him. There was no need for Tony to be impolite just because that man had guessed wrongly his reason for being here.
"No, girlfriend." He answered instead and threw another longing look on the door behind which Ziva was.
"Ah." The stranger remarked and returned back to arranging the stuff in his briefcase.
Tony didn't like the tone at all. Actually, he came to the conclusion that he didn't like the man, either. There was something about him that just felt... wrong. Maybe him being snotty or haughty, or the fact that he had considered him being a father to an already adult child, he didn't know what exactly it was. But he knew that if the man wanted to spend some more time in the corridor with him, he didn't want to be there.
"Look, you seem to know your way around here." Tony began and stood up to level himself with the stranger, dropping all formalities. "Do you have any idea where restrooms are?"
Again, the man just narrowed his eyes and measured him as if eyes had inbuilt laser vision or something. For a moment, it seemed that he finally remembered where he'd seen Tony's face but then the moment of recognition disappeared out of his face as he internally dismissed the idea. "Sure. At the end of the corridor." He pointed out with his hand.
Tony thanked with a nod and passed by the man, feeling relieved that he didn't have to be in his presence anymore. He'd noticed that he'd tried to recognize him and wondered himself who the man could be to have the feeling that they might know each other. Because he was sure that they hadn't met. Still, the hunch that he shouldn't like this man and trust him was pretty much present.
He opened the door from restrooms and slipped inside. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he checked it and saw a text from McGee who just wanted to assure himself that Tony was coming back to D.C. on Sunday as planned with Merry Christmas written at the end. For a minute, he pondered whether to text back or not as he knew McGee's IT skills were admirable and if he dug deep enough, he could find out his current location.
Eventually, he decided to answer the text because silence could be exactly that trigger for Tim to start snooping around. And he was sure that especially after his mysterious escape to Europe, his surrogate brother was constantly on alert about Tony's mental state. He was incredibly grateful for all Tim's support because he would have gone insane if it hadn't been for the voice of reason of his favourite nerd.
He dutifully answered on all the Christmas Wishes he'd gotten, smiling at Abby's typically Goth attitude and heart-warming wish from his father who was uncharacteristically sweet. He realized that his trip to Europe must have been discussed among his colleagues because Ellie texted him a lovely message saying: "Wherever you are right now, have a Merry Christmas. We all love you. Ellie."
As he was in the restrooms, he decided to use the toilet and after he washed his hands, he thought he heard some voices on the corridor. Praying that the stranger was gone as he'd given him like 15 minutes to disappear, so he could wait for Ziva in peace, he opened the door from the restrooms and stepped back out on the corridor, immediately turning his head to see if Ziva was out already.
There were a couple of students just passing through and chatting among themselves, but Tony had eyes only for the two people on the farther side, his blood boiling in his veins. He saw that the stranger hadn't left yet. No, he was currently talking to Ziva, his girlfriend, and as he could see, he was purposely disturbing her personal space, his face too close to Ziva's for his liking.
He was expert in flirting for years, so he didn't need much to know that the man was flirting with Ziva. His hunch was totally right, there was something wrong about him. He had to know that this woman had to be the girlfriend he was waiting for. How did he dare to go for a taken woman? So much for his politeness, when he had the impudence to steal women who belonged to someone else.
His legs carried him numbly, yet decisively through the corridor, reducing the distance between him and the talking pair. He could see that Ziva was smiling at the man with a smile of familiarity. Yet, she was distant enough not to give him any chance to become too much intimate with her. Not that Tony had any worries about her, her ninja moves might not be that nimble as they had used to be, but still that kind of training she'd been through wasn't something a person would forget easily. Especially if self-defence was instinctive.
He didn't really think through what he would do once he reached Ziva and the stranger, but he knew that he wouldn't become violent or anything like it. Ziva wouldn't welcome it, anyway, and he really had no mood to argue with her. He needed to play it out carefully. Simply, give the man a hint to bugger off and leave her alone, while not looking as obsessively possessive boyfriend.
"Are you already done?" He asked Ziva, interrupting her conversation with the stranger, encircling her from behind and smiling widely when she didn't startle but comfortably snuggled against his chest.
"Not yet. She's processing the documentation right now." Ziva replied, touching his arm warmly and momentarily having her eyes only for him. "She'll call me in when she's finished."
Tony sent a threatening look to the stranger who just stood there and observed closely their interaction. Ziva disentangled herself from his embrace, realizing that she should do the proper introduction as she knew both men. She didn't want this accidental meeting turn to into some awkward battle between them, treating her like some sort of an object. And she felt Tony's effort to prevent it, as well.
"Uhm Tony," she turned to him with a smile and waved her hand towards the stranger, "this is Ben."
Her tone was firm enough, secretly saying 'you-know-who' and Tony recalled their conversation from the first day they had met. Ben, her ex-boyfriend, a guy she had dated with. Ben who had had the same function as Zoe in his life. The man who had momentarily filled the void in her heart, but never for real. A former teaching assistant who should be in Rhode Island right now, teaching at Brown University.
"Since he has Christmas break, he came home to visit his family." Ziva explained Ben's presence in Israel as if she read Tony's mind.
"And Ben," she turned to the other man, repeating her gesture but towards Tony, "this is Tony DiNozzo."
"Your boyfriend." Ben stepped in boldly and reached out his hand to shake it with Tony as if it was some competition who was more polite and so better for Ziva.
Tony accepted his hand, using the most firm squeeze he was capable of. "Well, nice to meet you, Ben." He said as he looked straight into the man's eyes. Again, Ben's tone was too haughty when he'd acknowledged him as Ziva's partner and it annoyed him. "I've heard about you. A little."
He wanted him to know that even though he had dated with Ziva, she was completely healed out of her relationship with him and she didn't have any reason to recall what it'd been like. Thus, she had no reason to tell anybody about her time with him since it was so meaningless. His squeeze was crushing right now, but so was Ben's. The man didn't seem to want to step down.
"Strange. I haven't heard about you a single thing." Ben retorted with a mocking smirk, returning the firm squeeze of hand with an incredible force.
Tony immediately knew that it was a lie. If his name slipped out of Ziva's mouth here and then as Terri had said, then she'd also had to say his name in front of the man she'd dated with. It's not something anyone could control. Besides, he finally realized why Ben had been measuring him up so closely earlier – he'd recognized his face. Ziva had probably kept some photo or something, and Ben had seen it.
"It doesn't surprise me." Tony didn't let himself to be thrown off balance, refraining to accuse Ben of lying. "After knowing Ziva for a decade, I know that she doesn't talk about her past with people she doesn't completely trust to."
It was like a knife stabbed into Ben's chest and twisted for increasing the pain. Tony sensed quite well that one of the reasons for their break up had been Ziva's inability to open more. And considering how she really felt about him, it hadn't really had any meaning to share her past with him. Ben hadn't been her future. It was also Tony's inner victory as he was one of those with whom Ziva has shared her past without actually knowing him. He'd known about Tali long before anyone else in the team.
While Ben stood there like a dejected fool, Ziva leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, not interjecting into the interchange. She'd expected a scene like that since she'd left the supervisor's office and had met Ben on the corridor with Tony nowhere in sight. It'd been only a matter of time until he would show up. And it was highly amusing to watch the suspenseful interaction between them.
If she omitted the lie Ben had said, the meeting had been civilized so far which she was satisfied with. So unless things got violent or too intense, she knew she had to give them the space to measure who was better. Not to mention that she would be lying if she didn't admit that she felt a certain level of satisfaction that she was wanted by two men. It was... rewarding, in a way. And flattering.
"Shalom, Miss David. Ani ro'e She'at lo mebazbezet z'man."*4 A deep voice behind the trio addressed to Ziva and she immediately stood to attention, making both men to do the same.
"Shalom, adoni. Ata tsodek."*5 She answered in Hebrew with a smile to the bald old man whose presence caused natural respect in the nearest surroundings.
He returned her the smile and turned to Ben, exchanging with him a couple of words in Hebrew, as well. They seemed to know each other which wasn't a surprise, considering that Ben had worked as a teaching assistant on the university. Ziva turned back to Tony and whispered words 'Ami Ayalon' to him, so he would know who the man was and pay the appropriate respects to the older man.
Tony remembered the name clearly as Ziva had mentioned him as an old friend of her father. Former director of Shin Bet, commander-in-chief of the Navy and Minister without Portfolio, currently doing many other things, utilizing his professional experiences. He'd been one of the recipients of Ziva's email with her request to transfer courses to the United States.
The conversation between him and Ben seemed to gain some of the younger man's confidence back as he proudly stuck out his chest when the older man squeezed his arm friendly while speaking. He felt more important than Tony now. The current Chairman of the Executive Committee talked to him first, not paying attention whatsoever to the American outsider.
When they broke off their dialogue, the former Shin Bet director finally turned his attention to Tony with a question in his face. "I'm Anthony DiNozzo." Tony reached out his hand in an introduction which the man accepted with courtesy. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."
The man nodded in greetings, his eyebrows furrowing in contemplation. "DiNozzo, DiNozzo... I've heard that name." He said, trying to classify Tony somewhere in his mind.
Each of them reacted differently to this piece of information. Ben shot an odd look to Tony, wondering who the hell he was that such a man like Ami Ayalon would know his name. Tony had that 'oh-no-another-one-that-knows-my-father' look on his face and Ziva just smiled sadly, having the notion what her father might have said about Tony to other people.
"You work for NCIS, right?" Ayalon eventually asked Tony, putting two and two together as he knew most about Ziva's career.
"Yes, sir." Tony confirmed with evident relief that it wasn't about his father. "With Special agent Gibbs."
"Formidable agent as I have heard." The old man assessed, glancing at the crestfallen Ben who just realized that he was completely out of their league. World of secret agencies was something absolutely unfamiliar to him. "How's Director Vance doing?"
Now it was Tony's turn to feel all confident and he didn't omit to internally dance over Ben's failure. "He's fine. Definitely better than he was, sir." He replied sincerely, guessing that the old man knew about all the circumstance of Eli's death and that had been the reason why he'd asked such a question.
"That's good, especially after the unfortunate death of his wife." Ayalon confirmed Tony's guesses and lightly squeezed Ziva's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her and she gratefully accepted it. Apart from Ben who looked more and more confused, they all knew what had happened that fateful night when Eli David and Jackie Vance left this world forever.
"And what is Tom Morrow up to these days?" The old man asked after a short moment of silence.
The change of the topic was welcomed by all of them. "Still with the Department of Homeland Security." Tony replied and took Ziva by her hand as she made a step closer to him in sudden need of his proximity. "We see him once in a while."
"When you do, give him my regards. It's been some time since I've had the pleasure to talk to him." Ayalon said, closely observing the interactions between the couple in love. Tony nodded in affirmation with a smile and put his arm around Ziva, rubbing her back soothingly.
"Well, I have to go." The old man announced and looked straight at the only woman in the corridor. "I'm sad that we're losing such a talented asset like you, Ziva. But I can see the reason why you're doing it." He then looked directly at Tony and a silent understanding passed between the two men about ensuring Ziva's happiness.
They bid their respective goodbyes and Ayalon started his way out, leaving the trio behind him. "Are you coming, young man?" He addressed to Ben who unhappily stood in the corridor, not knowing what to do with himself.
Ben lifted his head up and looked at the old man with surprise. Ayalon was giving them all chance to end this little meeting with dignity, plus giving Ben the honour to accompany him and leave Tony and Ziva alone. He turned his head back to Ziva who almost imperceptibly nodded in agreement. She was really happy to see him once again, but her heart was already done with him.
"Well... I guess that's goodbye." Ben commented sadly and leaned in to give Ziva a peck on her cheek, but Tony turned his body to create a shield between him and her. Ben gave up and only lifted his hand to caress her lightly on her face.
"Addio*6, Ben." Tony said more sternly than he had intended, but it had the desired consequence. Ben retreated after Ziva bid him farewell, too, and turned on his heel, following Ayalon.
The couple stared after them, watching the tentative Ben walking away and catching up with Ayalon. Ben suddenly looked over his shoulder and Tony had enough. He took Ziva by her hand, swirled her around and pinned her against the wall, crashing his mouth on hers. Ziva yielded to his amorous assault, hooking her arms around his neck to bring him closer, not protesting for even a second.
Ben hurtfully turned his head back as Tony tasted the delicious corners of Ziva's mouth who returned him the kiss with the same amount of passion. His hands gripped her by her waist with urgency to prove his love while she leisurely played with the hair on the nape of his neck, making him to momentarily forget where he even was. He didn't even know anymore why he had kissed her, but he knew that he didn't want it stop.
"Never look back, son." Ayalon warned Ben, having pretty good idea what was happening behind them.
"No, sir." Ben replied, but his head turned anyway, his heart getting another hole.
Tony and Ziva were too wrapped up in each other to notice anything around them. When the need for oxygen prevailed, nevertheless, Tony broke the kiss regretfully and inhaled deeply. Ziva just leaned her head against the wall, grateful for being between the firm concrete and Tony's body because she doubted she could ever stand with weak knees like that. She still had a hard time to deal with such a mighty kiss.
"Whoa, what was that for?" She asked him breathlessly, fanning herself with her hand. She knew quite well what was going on here but she wanted him to admit it.
"Nothing, just..." He licked his lips, trying to come up with some good excuse but it seemed almost impracticable due to the haze he was in. "Just got overwhelmed by my love for you."
She raised her eyebrow in question, wondering if he really thought that she would believe him that. Carefully, she studied his face as he tried very much to hide the real reason for his sudden passion. "You're jealous." She accused him with an amused smirk on her face.
"No, I'm not!" He denied far too quickly, his ears reddening which gave him away more than anything.
"Yes, you are." She argued but nothing of her behaviour seemed that she minded it. If anything, the wide smile on her face certainly didn't look as if she was angry.
So he gave up on covering the truth and embraced her more tightly. "He hoped you're still available." He complained with a pout like a child, immediately hiding his head in the crook of her neck to breathe in her smell. He felt as if he had been about to lose her.
"He could hope for whatever he wanted." She said, rubbing his back soothingly to calm him down. Then she gently pushed him back up so she could look into his eyes as she held her finger under his chin. "I'm forever yours."
He swallowed her with another kiss, loving her so much for the words she'd just said. He knew that he was being silly since she'd assured him many times over the past few days that she had been serious about them. Yet, the fear that she would leave him – for another man, because of some stupid situation – was still deeply embedded inside him. He knew he had to work on it or the fear would destroy their relationship.
Their smooching session was interrupted by her study department supervisor who called her in to give her information she needed for the new semester abroad. Ziva dutifully and with pink cheeks went inside while Tony sat down again on the bench and patiently waited, feeling a lot better than he had earlier. At least he'd gotten to know the man Ziva had dated with and taken care of that potential threat.
Less than an hour later, they were sitting back in the car with Ziva behind the steering wheel as she headed towards what she called 'the best falafel in town'. Since she knew the way, he let her drive despite her obvious fatigue, but she insisted on driving, anyway. On the other hand, he had a wonderful view on the city of Haifa and it was a breathtaking sight for him.
Their way mostly led through the city circuit, so the traffic was quite smooth and their ride was even quite fast. He made a notice of the great contrast between modern architecture and the ancient one. It was completely different collision of cultures than he'd seen in Prague, but equally intriguing. It was fascinating to see how mankind had evolved in constructions and materials used during the building.
In the meantime, they discussed the order of the packing. When they would eat their lunch, they needed to go back to Tel Aviv to Ziva's apartment. Ziva reasoned that most of the furniture should stay here. It was a needless load that would cost money to transport and Tony's apartment was fully furnished. Besides, he told her that she could buy some new pieces in D.C. if she wanted to.
He counted with some different arrangement in his apartment, anyway. So far, his sanctuary was furnished just for one person. That had to change inevitably as he was supposed to have someone to share his living with. Bed shouldn't be a problem, but some new wardrobe in the bedroom for Ziva's needs was certainly needed. His bathroom was large enough for her to add her stuff. His kitchen was probably the only place she'd always envied him, so he didn't suppose that any changes would be needed. And the biggest adjustments would fall naturally on the living room.
When the furniture was decided, Tony suggested to Ziva to take the most of her clothes she could, because that was something she would need in any case. Ziva feigned her disappointment, pouting that she thought that she wouldn't need any clothes and they would spend all their time in bed. Tony retorted that if she insisted so, he would gladly fulfil her that wish and kissed her passionately when she stopped the car at the traffic lights.
It took her some time to recover but she continued in their ride smoothly, smacking his thigh to wipe off that self-satisfied smirk on his face. Either way, it was decided that she would take with her all of her clothes and other little necessities, while the rest would go into boxes and get delivered a bit later. If anything, most of her old stuff was stored in Gibbs' house, so she could also use those.
After a couple of minutes of driving, she parked the car on a busy street and made him get off. She led him through a street towards some fast food, as he guessed, stopping in front of a simple entrance to one of them with inscription Falafel Hazkenim above. One of the older men, apparently the owner, immediately went over to Ziva and gave her a kiss on a cheek.
Those two started to chat in Hebrew while their orders had been prepared and Tony observed with interest the man who cooked their falafels. He could choose how much salad, vegetables, hot sauce and tahini dip he wanted into his pita bread together with the falafel balls. He was excited, because even though he'd heard about falafel, he'd never had it. And Ziva had usually agreed with his choice of a take-out whenever they'd eaten together in the past.
When their orders were finished, they bid their goodbyes and went outside to walk through the street back to the car. While Ziva was explaining to him what falafel was made of – ground chickpeas, fava beans of both, and that this recipe held a certain secret ingredient and that was the reason for its unique and delicious flavour – he inspected his pita bread filled with the vegetables and covered with the sauces.
"So, basically..." he commented on falafel and leaned against the car as Ziva bit from her own portion, "it's a substitution for meatballs."
I can understand your suspicions, given what we have about you in your dossier... Agent Meatball. He internally shuddered at the voice of Michael Rivkin starting to sound inside his head. He couldn't believe how many years had passed since the moment he had heard those words and how different people he and Ziva were. Well, Rivkin and all of Mossad could go to hell for all he cared. Ziva was his now, no matter how they all tried to misdirect her from him.
Ziva froze and looked up at him suspiciously. Just tell him 'Agent Meatball' says "Hi". She remembered what he had told her when she went to have a dinner with her father. And she also remembered what she had answered. He would not be joking with you if he did not like you, Tony. She had never liked the way her father had nicknamed Tony and refused to call him like that. Her father had thought it was funny, though, due to Tony's Italian-American origin.
Tony's amused look told her that they were thinking about the same thing – his nickname given by Mossad. "I know what you want to say or ask, Tony." She said slowly and saw as the corners of his mouth twitched in a smile. "But I'm telling you right now, drop it."
He cheekily crossed his ankles and smiled at her cockily. "Well, I think I deserve an explanation." He commented as he bit into one of the falafel balls and hummed in appreciation over its deliciousness. It was pure curiosity that was driving him right now.
"Tony..." she warned him and took a step closer to him, "Stop it."
"But..." He tried to protest but did a muffling sound in the next second as she took his pita bread and stuffed it into his mouth, smearing the sauces all over his face.
She started to giggle as he bit on the bread since had no other chance, trying to catch the sauce that seemed to be everywhere. She opened the car and took a napkin box, handing it to him so he could clean himself. She held his bread while he tried to wipe the sauce off his face, eating her own in the meantime. According to her wish, he dropped the topic and afterwards focused on eating as they had a way from Haifa back to Tel Aviv in front of them.
The End of Chapter 20
*1 Eshkol Tower – skyscraper in Haifa in the premises of Haifa University. It has 30 floors and height of 102 metres. It's named after Levi Eshkol, fourth Prime Minister of Israel (third one if we don't count the second term of David Ben-Gurion).
*2 Carmel Hai-Bar Nature Reserve is a 1,500-acre centre for breeding and re-acclimation of certain species of animals (griffon vulture, roe deer, fire salamander etc.) situated within Mount Caramel National Park.
*3 The Reuben and Edith Hecht Museum – established in 1984. The exhibits include coins, weights, Semitic seals, jewellery, various artefacts, stone vessels, woodworking, glass making, mosaics and so on. There are also paintings of Manet, Monet, van Gogh, Modigliani etc.
*4 Hello, Miss David. I see you're not wasting time.
*5 Hello, sir. You're right.
*6 Addio means goodbye in Italian.
I know this chapter was quite uneventful but I'm glad I gave some background for my two original characters – Terri and David – because we will see more of them in the next chapter. I am also happy that I showed you Ben and that we visited University of Haifa.
If there is any JAG fan that knows some of the scenes from the show by heart – there was another treat for you in this chapter, a certain peace of dialogue I lent, influenced by re-watching JAG at the time of writing the chapter. ;)
Thank you very much for reading, have a great week and to those who are returning back to school (or have returned already) – good luck for the new year! See you next time! :)