AN: Set during S5 E4
"I hope your friends know that I am here under duress," Tony informed her as they got out of her car.
Ziva raised an eyebrow at him, which he mistook for her not understanding what he meant.
"It means that you -"
"I know what it means."
"Of course, you do."
Ziva shook her head. "And you are not here under duress. If you were, you'd be tied up."
"Didn't know you liked that sort of thing, Zee-vah," he leered.
She almost - almost - stuttered at that but she managed to regain herself to give him a flirty smirk.
"Oh, you have no idea what I would like."
Which was definitely not being tied up, by the way. Far too much of that happened because of her job - she did not need that anywhere else. But she would still let Tony think so, or at least let him think it was a possibility. This was the closest they had come to their usual flirty banter in a while.
Nonetheless, her comment had made Tony interested and probably inspired some inappropriate curiosity in him.
"Oh, really?"
She just smirked at him, a pleased feeling coming over her. She had forgotten how much fun this was.
"Just behave," she admonished him
It was probably a futile endeavour but she felt like it had to be said. Now it was Tony's turn to smirk.
"I always behave, Ziva."
"Not well."
He opened his mouth to protest that and then realised he couldn't and shrugged instead. Ziva rolled her eyes. Hopefully he wouldn't be too obnoxious. They wouldn't be used to his personality (though Raphael and Francisca may just rival him), not like she was. Which, admittedly, worried her. She wanted her out of work friends to like her work friends. Because, let's be honest, she was closer to her team than anyone else.
McGee and Ducky weren't people she had to worry about; McGee was likeable in a quiet sort of way and it was impossible to dislike Ducky (she would love to see someone try) but Tony... well, Tony was something else, wasn't he? Of course, she liked him but he was her friend. What if they didn't after all their eagerness in meeting him? Well, it was a bit late to worry about that now.
"So, who all is here?" he asked as they walked out the driveway.
"Francisca, Amelia and Raphael, definitely," she replied, trying to think of who replied on the group chat.
There had been an awful lot of discussion over the past few days (and the recent hours as well). Especially since she shot a quick message checking if it was okay to bring Tony with her.
"That seems to be a small group."
"There are more," she replied with a frown. "I am just not sure who else can come."
Liu wasn't, she had an exam that she was studying for (again). Maybe Lukas? She didn't know.
"I suppose we'll find out soon enough," Tony said with an anticipating smile as she rapped the door.
It did not take long for it to open; Francisca must have done that teleporting thing that McGee always said happened in his sci-fi movies and books.
"Ah, Tony DiNozzo is here!" Francisca said happily, ushering him in in front of Ziva.
A ragged cheer actually came from the room in front of them at that announcement. Raphael even poked his head around the living room door to check for himself.
"He is here?"
"In the flesh," Tony replied, gesturing down at himself.
Raphael beamed at him and stepped out into the hall. "So, you are! Oh, hi, Ziva."
His whole tone changed as he saw her, much to her amusement.
"You are always more excited to see my friends than me," Ziva complained good-naturedly, following them and closing the door behind her.
"That is because you are boring."
Tony snorted in disbelief at that.
"Ziva? Boring?"
"Yes, we see her plenty of times and she never gives much away," Raphael said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"And you're expecting me to give something away?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes."
Tony opened and closed his mouth and just nodded.
"Fair enough."
"Tony!" Ziva hissed.
He was going to say nothing. Nothing. Ziva gave him a warning look as Francisca took their coats and ushered them into the living room where everyone already was.
"I just want you all to know that I have been forced to come here," Tony announced to the room at large in his usual dramatic manner.
"Tony!" she scolded, elbowing him sharply.
Not that that stopped him. Did she really expect it to?
"See?" he wheezed out, clutching at his side (which was completely unnecessary - she did not elbow him that hard). "She keeping me in line under threat of pain."
Ziva did not know whether to be embarrassed or annoyed. Especially when she saw the looks all of her friends were exchanging with each other. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all...
"That is good," Francisca said with an approving nod.
"Excuse me?" Tony spluttered.
Francisca did tend to get that reaction from people. It was funny seeing Tony get caught out by someone's personality for once.
"Francisca!" Amelia scolded.
"What? If he is annoyed at Ziva, that means that we will get more out of him about her, won't we?"
"No," Ziva said firmly.
Francisca and Tony gossiping about her? She shuddered. That was something that would definitely not be good for her. Unfortunately, Tony had that mischievous glint in his eyes that meant he thought it was an excellent idea.
"No," she repeated, not even bothering with a firm tone and going straight to the threatening.
Which didn't work except for a brief hesitation on his part. It looked like he was becoming desensitised to it. Something else that was definitely not good.
"Well?" Francisca asked, hands on her hips. "Will you talk about her more than that Timothy did?"
Ziva groaned at that as Tony showed his tell-tale signs of competitiveness. Why did she have to bring up McGee? That was the sure-fire way to challenge him and Anthony DiNozzo never turned down one of those.
