Tattoos
Tony mentions Ziva's tattoo in S6, Ep 10, "Dagger." But is she the only one with a tat?
"So I shouldn't know about that tattoo on the inside of your…" Ziva shot Tony a warning glare as the words came out of his mouth.
"I MEANT, I can understand someone wanting to keep their personal and professional lives separate, as should you. It did not end very well when you fell in love when you were undercover, did it?"
He scowled at her, "Thanks for the memory."
"Well, do you want me to mention about that tattoo…" Tony put his finger on Ziva's lips as Tim perked up.
"Shh, Ziva; McNosey is listening," Tony hissed in her ear. "Do you want him to know?"
Ziva nodded and pulled his finger from her face, "Good point; he might write about it in one of his books."
Now they really had Tim's attention. He was trying to continue to work while eavesdropping on their conversation. Ziva had a tattoo? Tony too? How did they know about each other's tats? Where were said tattoos?
Tim was snapped out of his thoughts by a slap to the back of the head by Gibbs. "Need you one hundred percent on the case, McGee!"
"Yes, Boss." He focused on directing Tony and Ziva to the hidden cabin, tucking the little nuggets of conversation between Tony and Ziva into the back of his mind for later. These hidden tattoos definitely deserved some more research.
~Tattoos~
Hours later, the weary team wrapped up paperwork and gathered their belongings to head on home for some much-needed sleep. It had been a bittersweet ending to their case with the little girl found, but their colleague giving her life to protect the child.
Tony held the elevator doors so that he, Ziva, and Tim could ride down to the parking garage together. All three were wiped out from the case.
Tony stretched and yawned and then Ziva did the same. Tim tried to suppress his automatic yawn in response, but he was just too dang tired. Instead, he decided to try to garner some information by making an off-the-wall comment.
"So, what do you guys think about me getting a tattoo?" He watched for any nonverbal signs from his teammates.
"Whatever," Tony was too tired to tease the younger man.
"That is nice," Ziva added; she had not paid any attention to Tim's comment. She only responded out of courtesy to acknowledge that her friend had spoken.
Tim continued, trying to get the other two to react, "Well, not like Abby's tats that everyone can see; well, most of them that people can see… I, um… I was thinking about a small one, hidden under clothes usually, you know, like… um… maybe you two have some experience or suggestions?"
Ziva shot a look at Tony; he locked gazes with her and smirked. The look did not go unnoticed by McThirdWheel.
"Wait, are you saying that Abbs has hidden tattoos?" Tony suddenly perked up. "Did you see them when you slept in the coffin?"
"Um… no… um… the ones on her back… I um… I saw…" Tim stammered as he tried to deflect Tony's prying. "So what do you think of me getting a tat?"
"If that is what you want, then you do not need to ask our permission," Ziva replied with a smile. "You could try a temporary tattoo first if you are unsure of getting something permanent."
The doors opened at the ground floor. The trio exited towards the main entrance and the security desk where the night guard was fiddling with a package. Ziva pulled her knife from her cargo pants' pocket and stepped closer to the desk followed by Tony.
"Let me use my knife to open that for you, Fred," she offered. At his nod, she slid the blade through the tape securing the flaps of the box. Fred lifted the flaps, and a loud 'poof' was followed by a cloud of white powder.
Tony and Ziva got the worst of it, but the four were all wearing whatever substance had discharged from the box on their clothing. Tim had the least on his clothing of the four.
"Call HazMAT," Tony directed the guard. "McGee, secure the entrance, we don't need anyone else exposed to whatever this is." He looked at the others with concern, "Is anyone injured?"
"I am fine," Ziva assured her partner. Tim gave a thumbs' up to the SFA as did Fred, who was on the phone with HazMAT.
Fred ended the call, "HazMAT team is on the way; ETA is about ten minutes. What do we do now?"
"We wait for them to tell us the next steps. But we will probably need to strip to underwear and then go to the decontamination showers," Tony explained. "Depending on what the substance is, we may also need to go into quarantine…"
Ziva added, "Do not touch your eyes, mouth, or nose. Try not to breathe in any of the substance. If you can keep it from entering your body, then you will be less likely to have a reaction to it. Do not move unless you have to." She and Tony had stayed where they were when the powder erupted from the box. They knew protocol required them not to move about if possible and wait for HazMAT to direct their next moves.
To the four waiting, it seemed an eternity for the team to arrive with their white protective gear and equipment to decontaminate the front lobby. In reality, it was eight minutes from the time of the call from Fred. All four were given containers to place their outer clothing and shoes when directed to strip to underwear only.
Fred was the first one ready to be escorted to the decontamination shower; he was given a disposable gown and foot coverings as he was whisked off to the lower-level entrance in a secure van. Ziva placed her foot on a chair to remove her sock; Tim just happened to glance in her direction and noticed the tiny tattoo on her upper inner thigh.
Ziva saw Tim staring and smirked, "Yes, Timothy, that is a tattoo. It is a pair of one eighth notes for my sister Tali." She stood in just her bra and panties as she glared at McGee.
Tim swallowed hard and diverted his eyes, "I… I… I wasn't… looking. I… promise…" He deposited his shirt in the container of his clothing and signaled that he was ready to exit the lobby. "I didn't look on purpose, Tony. Really…"
"Why are you telling me, Probie? It's Ziva you need to apologize," Tony smirked and made eye contact with Ziva as he placed the last of his outer clothing in his bin, leaving just his boxers.
The three were given disposable surgical gowns and foot coverings before they climbed into the sterile van to be taken to the showers on the lower level to decontaminate.
Fred was exiting as the trio entered; he gestured a thumbs' up from the opposite side of the glass as he was led to autopsy to be examined by the night shift ME. Ziva went to the far shower for some privacy as Tony and Tim stripped to take showers in the nearer stalls.
The two men exited their respective showers at about the same time. Tim was not trying to look when he noticed a small round shape on Tony's lower pelvis, almost in his leg crease on the right side. He tried to determine if that was Tony's alleged tattoo or a freckle when the older man startled him by speaking.
"So you found my tat, McSnoopy. It's a basketball if you need to know," Tony chuckled. "Satisfied your curiosity, McInquisitive?"
Tim's mouth opened and closed as he tried to think of what to reply. Ziva appeared in a red jumpsuit similar to the ones left for the men. She and Tony locked gazes.
"We know you overheard that conversation about the tattoos, McGee," she began, "Now you have seen both of them. And yes, I have seen Tony's and he has seen mine before tonight. No, I will not tell you how or when." She glared at her colleague. "And do not write about these in your novel… or I may be forced to hurt you…"
"What she said," Tony added. He was about to say more when the conversation was interrupted by the on-call night agent.
"Good news, guys. The powder was diatomaceous earth, a harmless substance. Seems Fred's brother, Frank the pool guy, played a prank on our night guard as a birthday gift," the agent explained to the MCRT trio. "You're all free to leave and we'll get your clothes back to you in the morning. Good night."
"Who's gonna pay to have my suit cleaned?" Tony called after him, but the agent was too far away to hear.
Ziva patted his arm, "We will cross that overpass in the morning I suppose."
"Bridge," Tony and Tim said in unison.
"It could be worse," Tim added. "We could be going home in those disposable gowns instead of these red jumpsuits."