A/N: Here's the latest installment. You'll be pleased to know I am working on the next chapter already! I envision two more for this one.

Thank you for all of your support so far! And thank you for all of your reviews!

As always, mistakes are mine. Enjoy.

Chapter 17 - Concoctions

After the fifth annoyed sigh emanating from the chair that looked out at the front of the house sounded, Eli put his book down and inspected the injured NCIS agent over the top of his glasses.

"Is there something you wish to discuss, Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs shot a glare the Mossad Director's way and returned his gaze to the outside of his house.

"Ziva will be home soon." assured Eli, picking his book up and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I know that." grunted Gibbs. "Just want some decent company."

Eli snorted as he turned a page. "I concur."

A strained, yet comfortable silence descended over the pair and before too long, Ziva's mini pulled up outside Gibbs', well, their home. Gibbs watched as Ziva got out of her car, collected her bag and what looked like takeout, before locking her vehicle and walking up the path that would lead to the front door.

Gibbs frowned as he watched her walking. Something was off with her body language. She almost seemed to be glad she was home. He knew that she'd had a rough few months with the other agents in the building, but there was something tense in the way she walked.

Sure enough, the door creaked open and Ziva expertly closed it with her foot before popping her head around the door frame towards the lounge.

"I grabbed takeout."

"Sounds great." smiled Gibbs, moving to get out of the chair.

"Stay where you are, I will bring it to you." ordered Ziva, an air of finality in her tone, making Eli look up at Gibbs and raise an amused eyebrow as if to say 'I told you so'. "Aba, are you staying?"

"No, bat, I believe I have had enough of the pleasure of Agent Gibbs' company for one day." commented Eli, setting his book down and removing his glasses.

"I concur." said Gibbs, echoing Eli's earlier words, making the older Israeli smirk.

Eli stood, wincing as his knees popped. "I am glad we can agree on something so civilly."

The two men looked towards the kitchen when they could hear Ziva chuckling. Eli allowed a small smile to grace his features before he sobered up and looked at Gibbs. "I understand this will be a regular occurance."

Gibbs shrugged. "So I've been told."

Eli nodded. "How are you with backgammon?"

Gibbs smirked. "I'm okay, much better at chess though."

Eli raised his eyebrows with a smirk. "We shall see." Gibbs watched as Eli gathered his things and disappeared towards the kitchen. He listened as he heard the soft, melodic frequency of the Israeli's mothertongue being spoken. He strained his ears to pick up Ziva's tone and though she sounded calm and was speaking pleasantly enough, he could hear undertones of stress in her voice. He wondered for a second what the two were speaking about, but decided he would find out later, Ziva would share what she was speaking about with her father.

He saw Ziva leading her father out of the house, and with a semi-respectful nod, Eli left.

Ziva appeared back in the house and regarded Gibbs with an amused shake of her head. "I understand you have had an interesting day."

Gibbs laughed. "Yeah, he thinks he's a better shot than me."

Ziva laughed. "At least you did not kill each other, yes?" She retorted as she disappeared back into the kitchen.

"It crossed my mind once or twice."

Ziva returned holding two, steaming plates of food and placed Gibbs' on the table in front of him. "Only once or twice?"

Gibbs raised a dumpling to his mouth and began eating. "I was being polite."

Ziva laughed again and set herself on the corner of the sofa that was closest to Gibbs. Gibbs watched as she picked up her chopsticks and toyed with her food for a moment before deciding on cashew chicken and popping it in her mouth.

They ate in silence for the most part, their chopsticks scraping on the plates and once Ziva had set her plate down, a hefty portion of her food untouched, Gibbs lowered his chopsticks. "Everything okay?"

Ziva looked at him. "I just want things to get back to normal." She shrugged, toying with a loose thread on her cargo pants.

Silent alarm bells began ringing in Gibbs' head, making him start to believe that Tony's call earlier was something to worry about. "Has something happened?"

Ziva regarded Gibbs with a thoughtful look. "No, not really." She shrugged. "Tony is driving me crazy, but that is nothing new."

Gibbs reached over to take Ziva's hand. "Ziva, you know you can talk to me."

Ziva looked at her hand encased in Gibbs' and she bit her lip before looking up at him. "It is nothing I cannot handle. I do not wish to cause unnecessary worry."

"It's Andrew, right?"

Ziva let out a long, deflating sigh. "Yes." She pulled her hand from Gibbs' and moved to stand up. "He cornered me in the elevator and implied that I only married you for a green card."

Anger sliced through Gibbs like a hot knife through butter. "Really?" He watched as Ziva began to pace, alternating between wringing her hands and picking at her nails.

"It is nothing. I know they were only words, they mean nothing. I mean, that might have been how this came about, but it is not what our marriage is now. I love you, you love me and we are married, that is all there is to it."

"You want me to have a word with the new director?"

Ziva shook her head. "No, I have been fighting my own battles for a while, Jethro. I do not need you to get involved in this."

Gibbs snorted and got out of the chair. He crossed into Ziva's space and pulled her close, his arms around her waist. "The whole point of being together, Ziva, is that you don't have to fight your own battles anymore. Whatever fight you have ahead is my fight too."

Ziva lowered her head. "I know."

Gibbs tucked a finger underneath her chin and lifted it so their eyes were connected. "I mean it. You know I've been thinking, at the end of the month, we've met our year's marriage. I know the plan was to get divorced, but we don't have to. We can stay married, if that's what you want."

Ziva smiled. "That is what I want. I am not afraid to say that now."

Gibbs closed the distant between them until their noses were brushing. "That's what I like to hear." He leant in to kiss Ziva, when she pulled away at the last second. He regarded her with a confused expression.

"I have one condition, however."

"Shoot."

"I wish to do renew our vows. I want to marry you properly."

"Done." said Gibbs, a smile on his face.

Happy with his answer, Ziva closed the distance between them and captured Gibbs' lips in a kiss. Ziva moaned when he slipped his tongue into her mouth and allowed him to explore before battling him for dominance in the kiss. Gibbs held her close, one arm wrapped around her waist and the other buried in her curls.

They came apart with a soft pop and Ziva beamed. "I am glad you agree."

"Absolutely."

Ziva pulled away and reached for the plates that were on top of the table. Gibbs reached out to stop her before she got to the doorway for the kitchen. "What about Andrew?"

Ziva shrugged. "When you come back, he will have to go back to the translation unit. I can deal with him for the next couple of weeks."

Gibbs nodded. "Okay." He followed Ziva to the kitchen and after he was scolded for trying to help clean up, he took a seat on one of the stools, watching his wife move around the kitchen. Once she was done, she pressed a kiss to his cheek and informed him that she was going down to the basement to practise her knife throwing.

With a chuckle, Gibbs assured her that he would see her upstairs. He listened as she moved throughout the house and descended the stairs down to the basement. Once he was sure he was safe, he went towards Ziva's bag and pulled out her phone before ambling up the stairs to their bedroom.

He deposited himself on the bed and scrolled through Ziva's phone until he found the contact number he needed.

"Shalom, bat."

"Hey Eli, how are you doing?"

He heard a clink of china on the other end of the phone. "Agent Gibbs, I did not think you would miss me already."

"Yeah, yeah, I have a new plan for tomorrow. Forget backgammon, how d'you feel about taking a drive?"

"I am listening."