Do You Trust Me?
The NCIS gang is in a team-building training and part of the training involves a trust walk. Who trusts whom to walk them through an obstacle course blind-folded? October 2012.
"We have a fifteen minute break; when we come back, we'll start the trust walk. Think about who you want for your guide and who you would like to guide through the obstacle course," the session leader called out to the agents that were nearly fleeing the room for a break. Not all of them were eager participants in the team-building exercises that spanned two days.
Tony, Ziva, and Tim had barely cleared the doorway when Abby came barreling through. "Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!" The Goth rushed past everyone in her dash to the team leader. "You HAVE to be my guide; I only trust you… Please, please, please?"
"I was going to ask Gibbs," Tim murmured to the other two. "Great, now I have to find someone else…" He grumbled and went towards the table of snacks and beverages set up for the training participants.
Tony and Ziva shared a gaze; their eyes locked and in that moment both knew that they would be each other's partner for the trust walk. No words were needed. Their eyes were still fixed on the other when Tim came back to the pair.
"Tony would you…"
"Sorry, taken already," the chocolate pools held his gaze.
"Ziva?" Tim looked between his two team mates, slightly confused.
"I am sorry, McGee. I have a partner already," she replied without tearing her eyes from the emerald green ones looking back at her.
Tim looked back and forth between the two again; crap, he was in the middle without even realizing it. "Oh… I… gotcha…" he walked over towards a group of probies which included Dorneget.
"Fifteen minutes are almost up; time to get back to training!"
The others filed in to the training room as Ziva and Tony continued to look at each other; their silent conversation was interrupted by slaps to the backs of their heads.
"You can continue whatever you were doing on your own time, agents," Leon Vance motioned for the pair to enter the training room as Gibbs smirked at them.
"Yes, sir," they replied in unison and moved to their seats. Once seated, they rested their inside knees and thighs against the other's; something to have that constant contact both seemed to need after their elevator experience. During the morning session, each had occasionally slipped a hand onto their partner's thigh, and two or three times, their hands had met briefly.
A brief glance generated a cleared throat behind and to the left of them, so each gave a smile with the eyes and turned to pay attention to the presenter.
"… each pair will head to one of the two obstacle courses set up outside," the presenter droned on about the trust walk. Tony half-tuned him out; he would much rather give his attention to the distraction by his side.
Ziva partially listened to the monotone instructions; she was trying to figure out a way that she would not have to be blind-folded. Plus the distraction of her partner at her side did not help her attention one bit.
"… Hold up your hand joined with your partner," the instructor moved around the room looking for anyone unpaired. Ziva quickly processed the directions and grabbed Tony's hand and held it high.
"Ziva? What the…" Tony spoke in a low voice. "I thought we were…"
"Hush, we have to show who is our partner by holding up joined hands," she responded just as softly.
"OH!" he grinned at her and squeezed her hand in his ever so slightly. He would gladly take this excuse to hold the Israeli's hand in public. He looked around the room; Abby had Gibbs' hand in hers, while Jimmy and Ducky had their joined hands held up. He looked for Probie; Ziva nudged him.
She leaned towards Tony, "Look at Tim's face." She nodded towards their partner where he was sitting with, of all people, Leon Vance. Tony had to cough into his free hand to suppress a laugh at the look on the McProbie's face.
"This will be good," he whispered.
"Group B," the instructor stood in front of Tony and Ziva; then moved to the pair to Ziva's left. "Group A." Each pairing was assigned to a group; the two groups assembled on different sides of the room and then followed one of the course leaders out to their assigned obstacle course. Tony and Ziva were grouped with several pairs of probies and agents from other teams. The rest of the MCRT, Leon, Abby, Ducky, and Jimmy were all in the other group.
"For each pair, the person with the most years of service will be blind-folded first." Ziva let out a small sigh of relief; it was not unnoticed by Tony. He would have volunteered to go first, anyhow, just knowing that she would most likely be dreading having a blindfold over her eyes.
Each pair started the obstacle course by a flagged entrance; they goal was to get to the exit with the same color flag. Ziva noted that their flag was a neon orange color. She mentioned it to Tony who was now wearing a blindfold.
"We can't escape the orange, can we?" he quipped.
"You are going to have to be quiet, Tony, so you can hear me give you instructions," Ziva warned her partner. "Do you trust me?"
"With my life, sweetcheeks!" He grinned at her and gave her a thumbs' up gesture.
She grinned back and then realized he could not see her; somehow she knew he could tell she grinned though. "Take two of your normal steps forward; follow my voice," she instructed as the pair began their trek through the obstacle course.
Tony concentrated on the sound of Ziva's voice, tuning out the others and their laughter as they tripped, ran into things, and messed up on the paths. Ziva gave him precise statements and commands; he did exactly what she told him and the pair navigated the entire course without mishap. They were the first pairing to finish and sat watching the others flubbing and floundering their way through.
"We are good," Tony remarked to his partner. "None of them are really listening to each other."
Ziva nodded, "Yes we are, my little hairy butt. Trust is important." She looked into his eyes as she spoke; his gaze held hers and with no words, he let her know that he understood her fears. She knew she could get through the obstacles and the blindfold with his help.
"It's okay, I get it, Ziva," he spoke to reassure her. "Do you trust me?"
"Completely, fully, with all of my being," she whispered so softly he almost didn't hear what she said.
"Time's up! We move to the other course for the second part," the instructor gathered the group and led them to the second obstacle course. "Same colors as the other course to make it easy for everyone, but this time the one who was previously blind-folded leads the other partner."
Ziva swallowed hard; she looked at the blindfold that Tony held out to her. She could do this; she trusted him with her life after all. He would lead her through and reassure her when the panic started.
"Deep breath, Ziva. You can do it," he encouraged softly. "Focus on my voice; it's just you and me out here…"
She nodded as she wrapped the blindfold over her eyes; she could feel the panic and anxiety starting already. Tony watched her carefully.
"We are on the beach; the sand is beneath your feet. Focus on my voice, Ziva; ignore everything else…" he reached out and placed a reassuring hand on her arm before they actually started into the obstacle course. "Safe word is 'porcuswine.' Got it?"
Ziva grinned and nodded; just that one word alone calmed her somewhat. He always knew how to reach through the layers and the fog when her mind got lost in itself. "I will not need it," she was determined to make it through the entire course with his help.
"You are going to step up like on a staircase onto the balance beam in the dance studio," he began a soft-spoken narrative to her that provided both a distraction and instruction for navigating the obstacles. "That's it; two more steps and you are at the end of the beam to step down."
All of the ambient sounds were nonexistent to the pair as they navigated the paths, obstacles, and challenges of the course layout. Tony kept up his quiet- and calm-voiced narrative as Ziva focused on his voice and presence. At the half-way point, neither noticed that everyone around them had gotten silent as they watched the couple navigate the hurdles. Even the other group came over to watch something magical between the two agents.
"What's he saying to her?" someone asked quietly.
"I think he's telling her a story as they go," another replied.
"Are they always like this?" a probie asked Tim.
"Yeah; they are communicating on so many levels. It's like their very souls are linked," McGee was in awe of how his teammates moved as one even with one of them blind-folded. He knew that Ziva was uncomfortable with having her eyes covered.
Out in the obstacle course, Tony checked over his shoulder to gauge how close to the end they were. "One last up and down, you are climbing on the stage to get your diploma. Up the steps, that a girl… now give it your best proud strut across the stage… almost there… stop and turn to your left to show your Ima how proud you are. Okay, now we gotta get off the stage by going down some steps and then you are only a few feet from goal…"
He stepped backwards as she moved towards him by listening to his voice. He backed over the finish line near the neon orange flag and held his arms open. "Your family is waiting with open arms to congratulate you, Ziva. Walk into the hug," he waited for her to get to him and wrapped his arms around her. "You did it Ziva!"
She pulled the blindfold off and leaned against her partner, "With your help." She sighed against his chest as he placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'd do it again for this reward…" she grinned at him with that smile she saved for only him.