Chapter 8
Juggling Home Versus Work
~~After episode Shalom in Season 4, 2006~~
As soon as the elevator reached the parking garage level and the doors opened, Tony, Ziva, and McGee stepped out of the elevator at the garage parking lot level. McGee stopped and turned around to face Tony and Ziva. He smiled and said, "You guys take care and have a good weekend. You know I'm just a call away if you both need anything."
Tony smiled back at McGee. "Yeah, I think I'll just... be chilling in front of the TV watching old classics. Smokey and the Bandit, maybe. Or maybe just binge watch the 007 series." He chuckled to McGee. "I bet you're just gonna be your typical nerdy McGeek self, writing countless lines of code," he said, mimicking banging away on a keyboard.
Ziva shot Tony a look, but Tony didn't pay attention. She scoffed.
McGee laughed. "Actually, I'll be writing. I find it to be a relaxing break from the computer. Just let your thoughts flow onto paper."
Tony laughed. "Why couldn't you just write your story on the computer like any other putz out there writing stories? I mean, as long as you hit Save, you can easily delete the story if you don't like it and start over. No wasting trees, y'know." Tony winked at McGee, grinning at the last line.
"It makes you think before you commit your words to paper," McGee said. "You become more conscious of what you intend to say as you write your stories or articles."
An eyebrow raised on Ziva's forehead. "I didn't know that," Ziva said, impressed.
McGee turned to Ziva and smiled at her. "Yup. You can read about writing stories on a typewriter. Lots of authors actually write on typewriters rather than computers, even in this day and age."
"Where do you find typewriters that still work, thrift stores?" Tony needled McGee.
McGee laughed. "Actually, yes. But in my case, this was handed down to me from my grandfather. I think he was a military correspondent in World War Two and brought the typewriter home with him."
"Oh, wow," Ziva muttered, awestruck. "Where do you find parts for it if it breaks?"
"Yeah, that's what I'd like to know," Tony said, immediately after Ziva. "D'you got a warehouse full of spares somewhere that we don't know about?"
Ziva shot a look at Tony. "Boys! You're too much with your nibbling each other."
Tony chuckled and corrected Ziva. "Ribbing, you mean. I mean, I had to wonder if they still make parts for old typewriters."
McGee raised an eyebrow. "It's hit and miss these days. You do your best to maintain what you can and send the typewriter off to a specialist for the rest."
Tony shifted his stance and looked McGee square in the eye. "Just how many typewriter specialists are there in the city, anyway?"
McGee chuckled. "There's several locally, actually. Only a couple work on my particular brand, though, because they have the necessary parts and if need be, can make replacement parts." McGee held up a hand and rubbed his index and middle fingers with his thumb. "Not cheap, though, if he has to make a good number of replacement parts to restore your old typewriter to normal operation."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Makes me glad I got a computer and can write stories of my choosing on it if I so desire. I don't have to be cluttering up the floor with wadded-up papers from when you screwed up your typing and no amount of correction tape could fix it." He grinned at McGee.
McGee nodded to Tony once. "I'll concede that point. But, there's nothing like the tactile sense of actually writing your thoughts down to paper." His eyebrows jumped and he turned to face Ziva. "Oh, before I forget. Did you get a chance to get your car back from the shop?"
Ziva smiled at McGee and said, "Oh, yes, I did. Fortunately for me, the insurance took care of everything because of the explosion."
"Ah, I was going to ask. That's good to hear that, Ziva. What'd the shop say they had to do?"
"Replacement. They had the same make and model, even the same year. Everything was almost the same, down to the color. The only thing missing was the heated seats." Ziva shrugged. "My car was totaled from the explosion that caused me to have the accident."
McGee raised an eyebrow. "Wow, nice of them." He glanced at Tony, then Ziva, then shrugged and sighed, then said, "Well, I guess it's time for us to hit the road."
Out of the corner of his eye, Tony noticed other people coming off the elevator. "Oh, perfect timing. Let's get out of here," he said.
Ziva nodded. "That's right. I just want to go home and rest. I'm sore and tired." She stretched out the kinks in her arms and back.
McGee started walking to his car and turned to wave to Tony and Ziva. "Catch you both on Monday," he said.
"You betcha," Tony's voice echoed across the garage toward McGee. His steps sounded like small gunshots as he walked toward his car.
Ziva smiled as she walked toward her car. "See you two Monday," she called out to them, before opening the driver side of her car. As she tossed her backpack onto the passenger seat, she got in and closed the door behind her, then let out an exhausted sigh, her shoulders slumping with tiredness. She sat for a few long moments, just allowing her body to relax.
Ring-ring!
Ziva jumped out of her seat, her eyes snapping open.
Ring-ring!
"What now?" she muttered to herself as she quickly searched her bag for the ringing phone. As she pulled it out, she quickly opened it and looked at the display. It said DiNozzo. She smiled, then hit the Answer button and brought the phone up to her ear. "Hello, Tony," Ziva said.
"You doing okay there, Ziva?" Tony's voice sounded over the phone speaker.
Ziva looked up in the rear-view mirror, noticing Tony's car stopped behind hers. "Yeah, just sore." She let out a sigh, then said, "I see you. What's up, Tony?"
Tony let out a short chuckle. "You looked kinda beat back there. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. I can follow you home, if you want." His voice sounded slightly hopeful at the end.
Ziva let out a tired laugh. "That'd be great. I'm just looking forward to a quiet evening relaxing on the couch. With you."
Tony laughed. "Well, alright, we'll do that, then." He hung up and backed his car up so Ziva could get out of her slot.
Ziva smiled as she hung her phone up and put it on the seat next to her. She sat up straighter and pulled her keys out and started the car and put it in gear and pulled out.
Eventually, they were driving through city traffic, when Ziva suddenly had a premonition, and her Mossad training kicked in. She started scanning her mirrors, keeping her head on a swivel. After a few moments, she spotted a car that stood out from the rest of the traffic in the way the car was intently following them. She shook her head slightly, and reached down and hit the turn signal, sighing with relief as Tony followed suit. As she made her turn, however, she was dismayed to notice that the car behind them followed them through the turn. She quickly reached down and grabbed her cellphone, flipping it open single-handedly. As she expertly steered her car through the traffic, she quickly glanced at the phone screen as she scrolled down the directory, stopping on Tony's name on the speed dial. She hit Send and set the phone down, on speaker.
"Yeah, Ziva?" Tony's voice came through after a couple of rings.
Ziva quickly glanced at the mirrors yet again. The car was still behind them both. She noticed it had been joined with another car. She cursed under her breath in Hebrew, then said to her phone, "I think we're being followed. Stay close and follow me."
Tony replied over the phone, "Yeah, I figured as much. I noticed that car behind us for about three miles or so, now. Been turning the same way we do."
"Let us pray they're not who I think they are," Ziva said, cursing yet again under her breath in Hebrew. As she kept driving her car, she quickly looked for a way out, and moments later found it, an entrance ramp to the highway. "Follow me!" She floored her car and the car lurched forward in a burst of speed.
Tony's car fell behind Ziva's but only for a moment. He stomped on the throttle and his car leapt forward, catching up with Ziva's car easily as they both merged onto the highway, passing a couple of tractor-trailers on their right side along the way. "Here we go," he said to himself. "You sure you know what you're doing, Ziva?" he called out on the phone.
"Positive." Ziva glanced up in her rear-view mirror and noticed that the tailing cars were now several car lengths behind them. "Okay – exit, now!" She quickly whipped her car onto the next exit that took her to another highway.
Tony whipped his car onto the exit almost at the same time as Ziva, breathing a sigh of relief as he made it. "Made it!" He glanced up at his rear-view mirror and let out a short chuckle. "Ha! That caught 'em off guard."
"No!" Ziva shook her head. "Not if they're who I think they are. They'll not stop until they achieve their mission." She steered her car through traffic at a rate of speed considerably higher than the posted speed limit.
Tony slalomed his car through the traffic, weaving in and out of lanes, following Ziva. "Who are these people, anyway?" he half-yelled to the phone.
Ziva slowed her car down, only slightly, watching for the tailing cars. She had noticed that they had managed to get back on their trail. She cursed, loudly this time, in Hebrew. "They're behind us again!" she yelled back. "I think they're Mossad!"
As if to confirm this, the tailing car quickly caught up with them. It came abreast of Ziva's car and the driver looked into Ziva's direction. He had a stern look at his face as he pointed to her, then jabbed toward the exit, and was mouthing the words, "Exit off the highway!"
Ziva looked at the driver, puzzled. Why's he wanting me to turn off the highway? she wondered to herself. She looked up the highway toward the exit, then back at the driver, pointing toward the exit with a questioning look on her face.
The driver of the car nodded vigorously at her and jabbed his finger twice toward the exit, then dropped behind her and forced his way in between Tony and Ziva, causing Tony to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting the car.
"What?!" Tony muttered to himself as he let off the brake and caught up with them.
Ziva expertly steered her car onto the exit and drove to a road leading away from the main highway to a more secluded area. She glanced to the phone and said, "I think I know who they really are. One driver. I think I know who he is now."
Tony's eyes flashed toward his phone for an instant, and then looked back up. He said, "Who's this guy? He after us?"
Ziva didn't reply, but stomped on the gas to lure the driver to follow her, which he did. She sighed in relief, because she was leading him away from the city.
The driver of the car sped up close to Ziva's car and tapped her rear bumper, indicating to her he wanted her to pull over.
"Oh, no you don't!" Tony muttered to himself and pulled his car over to pass the offending car, stomped on the throttle, and sped up in front of the car and stomped on the brakes, cutting the tailing car off.
"Tony, no!" Ziva yelled to the phone as she kept her focus on the road, managing to maintain control of her car.
The tailing car maneuvered out of Tony's way and managed to steer into Tony's direction and cut Tony off, causing him to run his car into the ditch alongside the road. As soon as Tony's car came to a stop in the ditch, the tailing car came to a stop and the driver got out of it and walked up toward Tony's car.
Ziva had already pulled over onto the shoulder. Throwing her car into park, she quickly undid her seat belt and opened her car door in one smooth move and got out running toward the driver of the tailing car. "Tony, stop!"
Tony had gotten out of his car by the time the other driver had gotten near. He quickly pulled his gun out and held it up to the driver's face, and the other driver quickly drew his piece and jammed it into Tony's face. "Explain to me why you ran me off the road just now," Tony growled at the driver, his trigger finger just itching to blow the driver's head clean off. His other hand reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and flipped it open, exposing his NCIS badge. "NCIS!"
The driver laughed at Tony. "I know who you are, Anthony DiNozzo. You shouldn't have done this," the driver said in a slightly accented voice. "Your actions forced my hand."
Ziva stepped up in between the two men. She looked at Tony and put a hand on his gun and pushed it down gently and said, "Not here, not now. Let me take care of this." Her eyes flashed a warning to Tony. They said, I mean it. Let me do the talking.
Tony looked into Ziva's eyes, and saw into her eyes. He slowly nodded, and put his gun back in his holster and took a step back. "What're you here for, anyway?" he said, cocking his head toward the driver.
Ziva turned sharply to the driver of the tailing car. "Why are you following me again, Officer Bashan? I thought my name was in the clear with Mossad?" She scoffed at him.
Bashan chuckled. "It is, of course. Remember the dossier I showed you earlier?"
Ziva scoffed at the agent. "And you're willing to get in my way of my developing relations with NCIS so that we can combat terrorism on both sides of the world? You saw what I did in the most recent case." She flipped her hands up in the air, then dropped them down to her sides. "You wouldn't have known it was really the Iranians behind everything without me there, would you?"
Officer Bashan held up a hand. "That's not the concern here -"
Tony cut him off and stepped up to him, but he didn't go very far, because he had gotten the message from Ziva's eyes to be very wary of this character. "Who's gonna pay for my car, now? Look at that front wheel, it's all jacked up." He held out his hand toward the front tire, splayed out from the broken suspension.
Ziva stepped up to Officer Bashan before he could reply. "You're sending the bill to my Abba. And you're going to tell him to stop with the spying on me! I've had it with you and everybody else spying on me ever since I was little!"
Bashan smiled at Ziva, then looked at Tony. "Not to worry, Anthony. It was not intentional, but like I said, you have forced my hand. Nonetheless, we'll foot the bill."
"There's one thing I want to know. How'd you know my name?" Tony cocked his head at the agent, dubious of his claim that he'd be able to make things right with his car.
Bashan chuckled to Tony. "We have a dossier on you, you see. The director of Mossad wanted to see who Ziva was making contact with and if she was doing her job."
Something about the guy's smooth statement struck Tony as sounding off. "More like, you were spying for her daddy to make sure she was not falling into the wrong graces of a lowly individual like moi whose hobby is little more than watching old classics on the TV late at night after work," Tony said, chuckling at the old guy.
"Relax," Officer Bashan said, chuckling at Tony. "We were merely observing your methods of investigation. The way your agency does things is, well, let's put it this way, interesting. We at Mossad do things considerably different than you."
Ziva quickly stepped up to Bashan. "Leave him alone, Michael. I've known him for a long time. Obviously you saw that in the profile."
Bashan chuckled. "Yes, Ziva, I know he's your best friend, I'm the one who profiled him." He held up a finger in the air. "I also know that your Abba is not pleased about this."
Ziva turned sharply to Bashan. "Since when did my Abba feel the need to be spying on me all the time? If you think he's not pleased about how I am, you wonder why I hardly even talk to him anymore? This is why."
"Alright, alright." Tony stepped up between the two, trying to separate them.
"Shut up!" Ziva turned onto Tony. Her eyes flashed fire to Tony. They warned him to not step in at this moment.
"Shutting up." Tony stepped back and let Ziva continue. The look on her face said it all, and he gulped.
Ziva turned back to Bashan. "You still haven't told us your purpose for being here," she said to him.
Bashan let out a heavy sigh. "Your Abba wanted to pass a message to you, but you keep ignoring his requests to communicate with him." He reached back into his car and pulled out a sheet of paper. "He wanted me to pass this to Anthony, actually."
As Tony reached out for the paper, Ziva reached out and snatched the paper out of Bashan's hand and quickly scanned the single page. In it, there was a thinly veiled warning aimed toward Tony, warning that if any harm ever befell Ziva, the consequences for him would be quite severe. Ziva quickly shook her head and balled the paper up and threw it onto the ground, then ground it into the ground. "I'll handle Tony, not you! You're not going to threaten him again, ever. Or I'll be calling my Abba directly." She quickly bent down and picked it up, then threw it back into Bashan's car. "You can take that back to my Abba if you wish." She huffed at him.
Tony stood, in awe, of how Ziva basically stood the guy down. "Damn, woman," he whispered to himself. "Remind me not to piss you off again."
Bashan stood there, looking at Ziva, seeing the fire in her eyes. He could see that she was not going to back down an inch. "I will relay that message to your Abba. Just know that he won't be too happy to hear your answer, though."
Ziva shrugged. "Nothing I could ever do could please him enough. Ever since I've come here to work with NCIS, I've felt more... free. That I could focus on my job and not worry about people looking down my neck."
"Over your shoulder," Tony corrected her.
Ziva turned sharply to Tony and nodded once. "Thank you, Tony." She turned back to Bashan. "So, get off my back, and let me do my job, and you will see results."
Bashan stared at Ziva, contemplating his next words, coming up empty. He slowly nodded at Ziva, relaxing slightly. "Alright, you have a valid point." He turned to Tony and said, "I know you spend some time with her. We're watching you."
Ziva scoffed and stepped up to Bashan. "See, this is what I'm upset about. Why is every aspect of my life so important to you, and by extension my Abba?"
Bashan sighed. "Because you're an important asset, and we expect you to be acting accordingly," he said.
That set Ziva off. "Oh, and it's so important that he has to know everything there is about my best friend?" she scoffed at him. "My Abba will be hearing from me about this soon! Now, you will not be threatening anybody on the NCIS team. They're doing the same jobs we are, and just because we choose to visit each other every once in a while as friends, who's to stop us?"
"Hey, now, let's not forget my car, now." Tony stepped up between the two.
"Oh, right, your car." Bashan stopped himself, and pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. "I'll keep to my word," he said quickly to Ziva before the other end picked up. "Yes, could we have a tow truck sent out for a car damaged in an accident?" He listened for a moment, then gave the dispatcher the location of the accident, then satisfied with the transaction, smiled and put his phone back into his pocket. "And, now we wait for the truck to arrive."
Tony sighed and ran his hand through his hair, thinking about what the next steps would look like when it came to his car. "Thanks, I guess. Gonna be a couple days, I guess."
Bashan chuckled to Tony. "You'll have the car by tomorrow morning, in front of Ziva's home. I'll see to it."
Ziva raised an eyebrow, distrustful of Officer Bashan. "I have your word?"
Bashan nodded. "My word." He turned to Tony and held out his hand and said, "Your keys? So we can have the shop drive it out to her place when it's done."
"Oh, yeah." Tony ducked back inside his car and pulled his keys out of the ignition. Standing back up, he separated the car key from the rest of his keys and handed it over to Ziva, who handed it over to Bashan. "Just because I don't trust you," Tony said while smiling to Bashan.
Bashan chuckled. "Not a problem. You'll have the car by morning. Ah, there they are," he said, pointing to a tow truck coming up the highway toward them.
They waited until the tow truck pulled up alongside them. The tow truck driver rolled down his window and leaned across the passenger seat a little and yelled out, "Which car is it?"
Tony held his finger up in the air and pointed to his car and said, "This one. Which shop is it going to?"
Bashan stepped up to Tony and held his hand out. "Allow me to take care of things," he said. "Go, have a good night's rest." He shooed Tony toward Ziva's car.
"Alright, fine. It's your call," Tony said, and walked away toward Ziva's car.
"Tony, wanna drive?" Ziva held out her car keys. "I'm beat."
Tony's eyes widened and a smile formed on his lips. "Never thought you'd ask." He walked up to Ziva and held out his hand and took the keys from Ziva's hand and walked around to the driver's side and got in. "Oof!" he said, because the seat was just a hair too far forward for his liking. He reached down and adjusted the seat back a couple of notches.
Ziva chuckled at Tony as she got in and closed the door behind her. "Not your usual big car, right?"
Tony smiled and nodded his head at her. "Yeah. Long legs, I guess." He reached down and put the keys in the ignition and put the car in gear. "Ready?"
Ziva let out a sigh as she clicked her seat belt into the fastener and leaned back in her seat, the soreness finally seeping into her bones. "Just drive us home, please."
"Righty-o." Tony put the car in a U-turn, and drove past Bashan, looking at him talking with the tow truck driver. "I'm watching you," Tony muttered to himself.
Bashan looked up at Ziva's car as it passed him, and he looked at Tony and waved at him.
Tony turned back to the road ahead of him and drove on. After a moment, he thought of something to say, and opened his mouth to say something when he noticed that Ziva's eyes were closed as she rested her head back on the seat rest. He thought better of saying something, and reached down and gently took her hand and brought it up to his lips and kissed it.
Ziva let out a sigh and smiled, but kept her eyes closed as she let Tony kiss her hand. Thoughts floated through her mind, going over the recent events that had transpired throughout the day. She realized that no matter what happened, Tony was there for her.
~~Ziva's apartment~~
Ziva sat down heavily on the couch, letting out a deep sigh. "Oh, what a day."
Tony looked at her as he walked to the kitchen. He stopped at the doorway to the living room and looked at Ziva sprawled out on the couch. "Tell me about it. You want dinner?"
Ziva opened her eyes and looked at Tony. She smiled and said, "Sure. Find something in there if you want."
Tony smiled and stepped away from the doorway and said, "Okay, I'll look around and see what's out there." He stepped away to the kitchen. "Let's see what you have in the fridge," he said to himself as he walked over to the fridge.
Ziva chuckled at Tony, and called out after him. "There should be some chicken in the fridge thawing."
"Yup, found it!" Tony called back. He smiled to himself and took a few things from the fridge and then from the pantry. Setting a wok on the stove and turning the burner on medium-high, he started whistling to himself as he started cutting the chicken up into small strips before putting it in the wok. "Stir-fry sound good to you, Ziva?" he asked.
Ziva stepped into the kitchen and sat on the dining chair, smiling. "That sounds delicious. Let's see how you do with the food." She put her chin in her hands, leaning over the table.
"Watch the master at work," Tony chuckled. He glanced back at Ziva, then back down to his food prep. As he slid the chicken strips to the side, he started preparing the onions and greens.
Ziva got up and walked over to Tony's side. "Here, I'll take care of the veggies." She took the onions and greens from Tony. "You do the meat."
Tony looked up at Ziva and smiled. "Just because I'm the king of meat? And you're the veggie ninja." He waggled his eyebrows at Ziva.
Ziva let out a short chuckle as she started cutting up the peppers into thin slices. "No, because I'd rather cook the veggies just so." She held up a finger and thumb held together in an "okay" sign.
Tony chuckled. "So what was that all about back there? With this Bashan guy?"
Ziva gave Tony a look, her left eyebrow raising higher than her right. "He's a deputy officer of Mossad. Works for my Abba. He thinks it's within his right to handle me as my Abba desires."
Tony set his knife down and looked at Ziva. "Handle you? What do you mean by that? Are you going to be handling me the way you did Ari?"
Ziva shook her head vigorously. "No! That guy has been always heavy handed with how he tries to handle me. I've asked my Abba time and again to not have people breathing up my neck and to allow me to do my job and make inroads with NCIS. Which I feel like I've done." Ziva sighed and rubbed at an itch on her forehead with the back of her wrist, holding the knife in her hand, then she set it back down on the counter. "I don't understand why he feels like he needs to be watching you like a hawk as well."
"Down your neck. Breathing down your neck," Tony quietly corrected her. "So, what exactly do you mean by 'I'll handle him!' when you told him off?" Tony asked, mimicking her mannerisms.
Ziva planted her feet and tilted her head sideways and fixed Tony with a dagger stare. "I said that to him to get him to back off. You want to know how the Mossad operates, this is what they do and how they operate. They – the agents – are assigned a handler. All except senior agents and some field agents. A handler is someone who usually passes on assignments in the field, sometimes works with the field agent."
"Oh, so if I was to screw up the mission you'd 'handle' me how?" Tony asked. His nose alerted him to the food still cooking. He quickly looked down, and noted that the chicken was almost done. "Oh, the veggies! They need to go in, soon."
"Oh, sorry about that." Ziva returned to cutting the peppers into slices. She was done in a flash, then started dicing the onions and cutting up the greens to go into the wok. "Here we go," she said as she scraped out the freshly-cut veggie slices into the wok.
The veggies made a sizzling sound as they made contact with the hot oil in the wok. "Ah, there we go. Just at the right time, too." Tony quickly flicked the wok into the air several times to thoroughly stir the contents together, pouring in a couple dashes of soy sauce.
Ziva looked at Tony as he stirred the food in the wok, keeping it moving as it cooked. "How I'd 'handle' you would be working with you. As liaison, of course. I had to say that in order to shut him up."
"Where does he fit in the picture here?" Tony took a bite of his food and looked at Ziva.
"Because I had to go to the Mossad after that explosion." Ziva let out a sigh, and then finished cutting up a bell pepper.
Tony set the spatula down and looked up at Ziva. "So why did you go to him when you could have come to me?" Tony asked, tilting his head.
Ziva looked at Tony, then at the food. "Don't let it burn," she said, pointing to the wok. "I'll set the table, then I'll answer your question."
"Okay." Tony nodded and went back to his cooking while Ziva got out the plates and silverware and set the table. Moments later, the food was done cooking, and brought the wok out and ladled out the stir-fry next to the rice. "There we go," he said, then went back to put the wok back on the stove.
"Mm," Ziva smiled, looking at the food. "Looks good," she said, clasping her hands together in front of her mouth.
Tony returned holding two wineglasses and a cold glass of wine. "Of course, nothing's complete without a good cold glass of wine." He set the glasses down in front of their plates and then poured out the wine, then set the bottle down on the table between them. He pulled up a chair and sat in it, letting out a sigh. "Now, about the reason you went to Mossad first."
Ziva picked up her fork and got a bite of food on the fork and held it in front of her as she said, "I went because I recognized Eschel and had to report a mission that was not sanctioned by Mossad." She put the fork in her mouth and took a bite of the stir-fry and started chewing it. "Also, to make sure that NCIS didn't get drawn into what could have become an international affair."
"And what'd they say then?" Tony asked as he took a sip of his wine.
Ziva let out a sigh and set her fork down. "That's where I found out my Abba has been spying on us the whole time. You and me, together, for several weeks now." She scoffed and threw her hands up in frustration, then slapped them onto the table. "What does he expect from me? Perfection in how I do my job with NCIS?"
"Really?" Tony's face screwed up in puzzlement and surprise and a bit of creeping disgust for the head of the Mossad. "Why?"
Ziva looked at Tony steadily and said, "That's how the Mossad operates. They expect nothing but the best from your performance, and loyalty. That's why I left that day and made the call to Gibbs instead."
"And not to us at NCIS? Or even me, personally?" Tony asked, his face a bit puzzled.
A tear rolled down Ziva's cheek as she said, "I felt that the Mossad wasn't listening, and that I was on the wanted list by every agency you can name out there. That's why I went to ground and called Gibbs to help clear my name."
Tony put his fork down on the table and sat back and looked at Ziva. "So why call him all the way out in Mexico? I mean, it's not like Gibbs is looking to return to work any day now."
Ziva let out a short chuckle. "Because I felt at the moment that he was the only one he could vouch for me. That he could talk with NCIS and clear my name with them."
Tony tilted his head at Ziva and said quietly to her, "You know I'm your team leader. I have an open-door policy, you can come to me any time for anything." He held out his hands just above the table, then slowly set them on the table.
Ziva looked at Tony for a few moments, then looked down at her food as she took a forkful of food and lifted it to her mouth. "Valid point," she said before putting the food in her mouth.
"Hey." Tony reached out across the table and put a hand on hers. "I'm there for you, you know that."
Ziva nodded and smiled at Tony. "I know that. I just had to stop the Mossad from possibly going after you as well. To protect you from them."
"They'll do that?" Tony sat back and looked at her. "Is that why you got on this Bashan guy's case about that dossier he mentioned?"
"And the warning he wanted to send to you. Basically, if you were to hurt me, they would do unspeakable harm to you." She scoffed, then said, "Officer Bashan likes to be a bit heavy-handed in his 'handling' of me."
"Wow, what's this guy's problem anyway? He looked like had a stick up his -" Tony couldn't finish his question because Ziva had cut him off.
"Because he knows I'll be calling my Abba tonight and he did not produce favorable results for himself." Ziva shrugged and popped a bite in her mouth. She looked down at her food and pointed to it. "Food's good. You did a good job with this," she said.
Tony smiled. "One of my favorite things to cook. Always liked cooking it alone, but it's much better with you." He smiled at Ziva. "Tastes better when we cook it together, I think."
Ziva smiled. "Thank you. Relaxes me when we can enjoy good food together, especially after a long day. Glad the day's done."
Tony chuckled. "Yeah. It'll be interesting to see tomorrow morning if this guy'll be true to his word and my car's gonna be out there tomorrow morning," he said, pointing toward the driveway.
Ziva laughed. "You don't know my Abba. I'll handle it if your car isn't there by tomorrow. He'll make sure Officer Bashan's keeping his word." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and set it on the table. "I'll call as soon as I finish eating."
Tony nodded and smiled and went back to his eating.
Moments later, as Ziva went into the other room talking on her cellphone, he started cleaning up after dinner. He could not make out the conversation at all because it was entirely in Hebrew. He chuckled at the tone of her voice as she chewed him out over the phone. "Don't ever upset your daughter, you should know better than that," he muttered to himself as he listened to the conversation.
Ziva walked in moments later, holding her phone in her hands, smiling at Tony.
"You look like a cat that just ate the bird. What'd you say to your dad?" Tony said.
Ziva smiled and set her phone down on the counter and leaned against it, looking at Tony. "I told my Abba that Officer Bashan failed to perform to mission standards. He's seeing to it that your car is in good hands now."
Tony chuckled. "We'll see how well this guy sticks to his word," he said as he walked up to Ziva. "I'm ready to just chill. How's that sound to you?"
"Never thought you'd ask," Ziva said, smiling to Tony. "Couch okay with you?"
Tony nodded and turned toward the couch. "Sure, why not." He walked over to it and sat down in it, letting out a long sigh and stretching his feet out in front of him. "Ahhh, there we go." He snuggled deeper in the couch and then relaxed.
Ziva smiled and walked over to the couch and sat next to him. "That's better, isn't it?" She leaned over onto Tony.
Tony smiled and wrapped his arm around Ziva and pulled her into him gently. "Now, can we talk about anything besides work?"
Ziva laughed. "Before we do, are you sure you want to be with me still? Even with the Mossad up in our businesses all the time?"
Tony turned his head and looked at Ziva and smiled. "Hey now. If I didn't think you were worth it, I wouldn't have been here a long time ago."
"But, the Mossad?" Ziva pressed Tony.
"Ahh, don't worry about 'em. I can handle 'em." Tony smiled at Ziva.
Ziva tilted her head to Tony and raised an eyebrow. "If you say so." She leaned her head on his shoulders. After a moment, Ziva said, "It feels good to be in your arms again. I feel safe, protected now."
Tony looked down at Ziva and smiled at her. "That's what I'm here for. I'll always be there for you. Anything you need, feel free to come to me. We'll get through things together." He gently squeezed Ziva reassuringly. "It'll be fine," he whispered into her ear.
Ziva smiled and held onto Tony, relaxing into his arms. "I love you, Tony. As a very good friend." she whispered to Tony after a few long moments of silence.
Tony blinked, taken aback slightly, and his eyebrows flicked upwards. He thought of saying something, but decided against it and leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on top of her head and hugged her. He couldn't bring himself up to say the words 'I love you' to her, just yet.
Ziva looked up into Tony's eyes, and could see in his eyes that he loved her, wanted to say it, but couldn't because the future was still uncertain for them at least. She reached up with her hand behind his head and pulled him down to plant a full-on kiss on his lips.
After a few long moments, they came up for air. Ziva shifted her position and sat on top of Tony, looking at Tony. She looked into his eyes and asked, "No matter what, we'll be there for each other always?"
Tony smiled as he held onto Ziva's midriff and looked into her face. "Of course, you know that. Now that I understand how those people work, I'll trust your judgment more. You know these people better than I do, anyway."
Ziva chuckled. "But I know you better than they do. They don't know that you snore, for example."
"Hey, now!" Tony looked mock-aghast at Ziva. "You snore, too!"
"I do not!" Ziva put her hands on her hips.
Tony laughed. "What don't they know about you?" He rubbed his hands on Ziva's arms, then took ahold of her hands.
Ziva smiled. "Apparently, they still haven't learned that I do not like my privacy invaded by them."
Tony guffawed. "Hopefully they've learned by now, or will very soon." He held up a finger in the air. "I'm not satisfied until I see my car, looking brand new and shiny, sitting in your driveway next to your shiny new car."
Ziva shifted herself on his lap. "Will you be satisfied if we were to check how your knee is doing?" Ziva winked at Tony and smiled coyly at him.
Tony looked up at Ziva, a bit dubiously. "I thought you said you were sore and tired?"
Ziva smiled at Tony. "Not for you."
"But -" Tony started to say.
Ziva put a finger on Tony's lips before he could say anything further. "Not here, not now," she said, then planted a full-on kiss on Tony's lips. After a few long moments, she came up for air and said, "Let's head to bed." She got up off his lap and waited for Tony to get up from the couch.
"Sounds like a plan," Tony said, as he smiled and got up from the couch. He took a couple of steps toward the bedroom and held out his hand.
Ziva smiled and took Tony's and held it as she walked with him to her bedroom.
A/N: Dear Readers, this is post episode, Shalom in season 4. there will be more to come soon, and wanted to say Thank you for Tweets, Reviews, Likes/Kudos and Messages.