Chapter 14
Fears Are Not Irrational
~~At the Navy Yard, Post episode of Chimera, in 2007~~
In the break room, McGee stood in front of the bank of vending machines that lined one side of the room. None of the choices that lined the ranks of vending machine displays appealed to him because his stomach was still trying to recover from his sea-sickness from his time on that mystery ship. "Bleh," he muttered to himself as he made a face. Suddenly, he heard a footstep behind him. He quickly turned around to see Ziva walking into the room, smiling at him.
"McGee, are you okay?" She peered around him at the vending machines. "Trying to make up your mind what you want to eat?" she asked as she held out her hand at the vending machines.
"Yeah. I know I need to eat, but nothing here looks filling. I haven't eaten in the last twenty-four hours, you realize that? Ugh," he groaned with a mix of disgust and hunger pains in his voice as he sat down at the table next to the vending machines.
"That's right. You're not the only one who haven't eaten a good meal in as long." Ziva smiled at McGee. "Don't get anything from there. Tony's getting lunch for us right now." Ziva sat at the table next to McGee.
McGee's eyebrows flicked upward and a smile flashed on his lips. "Sounds good. What kind of food?"
"Something from a cow, I suppose." Ziva smirked at McGee. "Hamburgers, maybe."
McGee let out a short chuckle. "As long as the cow's not shooting back at us. Not like whoever blew up that ship." He shook his head, still grinning a bit sardonically.
Just then, Tony walked into the room holding a bagful of lunch food and carrying a drink carrier. "Lunch is served. Oh, so good. Just what a starving man needs," he said with a sigh as he sat down at the table and set the bag and drink carrier on the table in front of him and smiled at them.
Ziva took a whiff of the air close to the bag. "Smells better than those stale crackers we ate. What's in the bag for us?" Ziva smiled as she waved her hands above the bag as if she was ready to pounce on the food.
The smell seemed to have rejuvenated McGee somewhat. He sat up, smiling a bit wider this time, even though his face still looked somewhat pale. "Yeah, what's in the bag?"
Tony passed the drinks out to McGee and Ziva, then opened the bag and started passing out the food. "At least I didn't get more crackers for you, McGee,' Tony said, chuckling at himself. "Here, you go, your fries, and then your cheeseburger. Thought that would be a little easy on your stomach." Tony then cocked his head sideways and looked at McGee. "That medicine Gibbs gave you working for you?"
"That sea-sick medicine? Yeah, but it's throwing me for a loop some. Think the food'll help me some, now that I'm back on dry land." McGee reached out for his fries and burger.
Tony handed Ziva her order of chicken sandwich and fries. "And there's yours, Ziva. Figured you'd be in the mood for this."
Ziva smiled as she took her lunch without looking at her meal, but looking Tony in his eyes. "Thank you so much for this. You must've known what I've been craving ever since I got off that ship – boat, whatever floaty thing we've been on the last how many hours almost getting shot at." She scoffed at the last thought. Her hand accidentally-on-purpose made contact with Tony's as she got her food from him, and her eyes flirted with his.
"Read your mind a mile away on that ship. It stood out like a neon sign for me. Flashing 'Get More Chikin' like that silly ad you see on TV." Tony flashed his hands in sync with the words.
McGee peered at the bag in front of Tony and asked, "Tony, what are you having over there?"
"I got myself this pork tenderloin sandwich and some fries." Tony grinned as he pulled his sandwich out of the bag, then looked up at McGee, who was smiling and trying his best to stifle a giggle.
A scoff caused Tony to quickly shift his attention to Ziva. She had a sharp look in her eye and a small frown on her face. "Tony, pork tenderloin?" An eyebrow slowly rose, and Tony felt Ziva's hand stealthily rub across his knee. Her eyes asked him, what about what I believe in? She casually moved her hair to the back of her neck, exposing her Star of David necklace, then put her chin in one hand, elbow on table, looking at Tony.
Tony blinked at Ziva, sudden understanding as he got the message. He flashed a grin to Ziva and said, "One second." He looked over to McGee.
McGee swallowed the fries he had been eating and smiled at Tony. "Well, Tony, I've got an idea. Let's trade these sandwiches. I'm not really in the mood for cheeseburger anyway. But that pork tenderloin sounds much better to me." McGee pointed toward the sandwich in Tony's hands.
Tony flashed a smile to McGee as he reached out for the cheeseburger with one hand and held out the pork tenderloin in the other. "Why, thank you for saving the day, bro."
"That worked out well. Thank you, Tony." Ziva bowed her head slightly as she leaned slightly closer to Tony, reaching out to pat Tony's hand once after Tony put his cheeseburger on the table in front of him.
Tony pretended to drop a napkin on the floor, so he could lean over to 'pick it up' while he whispered into Ziva's ear, "No problem, I will do anything out of my respect and love for you" Tony stealthily reached out to hold her hand.
"Drop your napkin?" Ziva looked over to Tony. She whispered back to him, "It's all good." Ziva turned and looked back at McGee, who sat blithely eating his food. She smiled internally to herself as she picked up her chicken sandwich.
It didn't take much time for the trio to finish up their lunch because they were so ravenous. Tony sat back and looked at McGee. He smiled and asked, "Feel better?"
"Oh yeah. That food really helped me feel better, thanks" McGee smiled as he sipped his drink, then wiped lips off with his napkin. "I hope to never go back on a ship again. Why do I always say that, and then go back out anyway?" McGee scoffed at himself.
Tony chuckled at McGee. "It's in your blood. You yearn for adventure, but alas, your stomach stands in the way of you achieving that dream, right?" Tony flipped one hand in the air, then flipped the other into the air. "On the other hand, there's something about your father being in the Navy that you can't match up to his expectations of you, I'd say."
McGee scowled at Tony. "The one thing that really bothered me about that ship was the creepiness factor. No one on board, practically no life. Until we found that cook. And we get stormed."
Ziva rested her elbows on the table and put her chin on her hands, looking at McGee. "That ship was off-scale creepy. Why I was able to sense people on the ship before anyone else could, I have no idea." Ziva sharply shook her head.
Tony let out a short chuckle. "Yeah, it was like you were seeing ghosts. Do you still have a fear of ghosts?" Tony waggled his eyebrows as he waved his outstretched fingers in the air by his head.
"Well, it's like I said before. I don't believe in ghosts, demons or monsters." Ziva shook her head slightly at the thought. "I prefer to believe in what I can see and understand."
"But how were you able to know that there was someone else on board, if not a ghost?" Tony looked at Ziva sideways as he put his chin in his hand, elbow on table. "I never heard a thing most of the time. Just thought it was the ship acting weird without a crew on board." He blinked at Ziva, "Wait, would you feel ghosts if they were actually there?"
Ziva shook her head quickly a couple of times. "The weird thing was, I somehow knew they were not ghosts. Only people that were trying to be ghosts. You don't feel ghosts." She shook a finger in the air.
"Hm. Well, that ship was certainly creepy enough with all that scientific equipment on board. He reached up and felt around his throat. "Good thing I survived that close encounter with that rat." Tony shivered in revulsion at the memory as his face contorted in a look of pure disgust.
McGee burst out chuckling at Tony. "Still scared of those rats, Tony?"
"Haven't you forgotten about my close encounter with the plague? Oh, the times I've had to handle dead bodies with rats crawling out of 'em when I was working for the PD. And I didn't think once about the possibility of one of those carrying the plague -"
"Oof," McGee suddenly looked queasy as he put his hand on his stomach.
"- and we had to wade knee deep in rats on this one case early in my career," Tony continued on as if he hadn't noticed the expression on McGee's face change.
Ziva gently backhanded Tony on the arm. "Tony! We just had our lunch. Do you need to go on in gory detail about rats and dead bodies right after we've eaten?"
"He asked, he got an answer," Tony said as he held out his hands in front of him. "Anyway, moving on." He shuddered at the thought of seeing the rat on that crate.
McGee reached out and patted Tony on his shoulder and said, "It's all good. Just a touch of indigestion. It's passed now." He patted his stomach.
Ziva reached out to lean on Tony's arm, and flashed her glance at McGee, then at Tony. "I don't know about you two, but I'm certainly glad we got past the pirates and off that ship with that warhead."
McGee added, "Not to mention that we got off before those missiles hit that ship. Is Gibbs even sure that they didn't know we got off in time?" He shook his head at that last thought because he still didn't quite believe the coincidence between them getting off the boat with the warhead and the ship being blown to smithereens. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of someone walking past the doorway of the break room. He thought that it was Gibbs, so he patted the table a couple of times and smiled at Tony and Ziva but looked past them.
Ziva quickly moved away from Tony, making it look natural, and started gathering up the wrappings and trash. "I think it's time," she said quietly.
"Yeah," Tony replied in the same hushed tone as he stood up from his chair and gathered up the bag and all the leftover papers, clearing away the last of the trash.
Gibbs stuck his head through the break room door and his piercing gaze locked onto the trio. "Got your fill?" he asked in his usual gruff voice.
Ziva walked to the trash can as she looked at Gibbs and smiled. "Just cleaning up. Headed our way up there now," she said.
Gibbs' gaze shot over to Tony and McGee. "You two good?"
McGee smiled at Gibbs. "Yup. I feel more like a human now. Just don't send me back out on a ship anytime soon, please."
Gibbs let out a chuckle. "Can't guarantee that, McGee."
"I'll be up there in a flash," Tony said, holding up a finger.
"Right. Back to work." Gibbs gave a brisk nod and stepped away from the room.
McGee turned to Tony and Ziva and smiled. "Well, I guess that's that. I'm headed back to the bullpen to finish up what's left of the paperwork from the case. See you guys up there." McGee stood up and started walking out of the room.
Tony held up a finger, stopping McGee in his tracks. "Hey, McGeek, I might need your help with some details on my paperwork. I'll catch up in a few," Tony said, flashing a smile.
"Righty-o. By the way, thank you for the lunch, it definitely hit the spot." McGee flicked his eyebrow upward with a smile, patting his stomach a couple of times, then left the room.
"Anytime," Tony said to McGee's retreating figure as he held a thumb up in the air as he nodded. He turned to Ziva and said, "I'll hit the head before I make my way up there," he said, giving Ziva a quick wink.
"Right, I'll see you there," Ziva nodded as Tony left the room. She waited for a three-count, then left the room, then quickly made her way toward the men's room, and then, making sure no one saw her enter, walked in where she knew Tony usually went.
Tony smiled and reached out behind Ziva's back and locked the door behind her, and quickly hugged her and gave her a quiet kiss. "Just wanted to spend a few seconds with you before we had to head in," he whispered to her.
"Well, then, this is as good time as anyway." Ziva paused and swallowed as she quickly framed her next few words, then looked up at Tony. "I just wanted to tell you – away from everyone – about how I felt about how close we came to being blown up."
Tony reached out and hugged her again, comforting her with his touch. "Shh, yes, I know. That was too close for comfort if you know what I mean." He patted his chest and continued on. "Sure took a few years off my ticker here when that ship went sky-high. And so close to that warhead, too." He shook his head.
"Yes." Ziva nodded. She stepped back from Tony and reached up to stroke Tony on his cheek. "But we live to see another day," she said and smiled at him.
Tony sighed and leaned against the sink and considered what Ziva had just said. She was right. "That we do, Ziva," he said, more to himself than to her. He stood up and smiled at Ziva. "Time to get back to work, what do you say?"
Ziva smiled and nodded. "Yes, we better go before they send out a search party for us," she said, chuckling lightly.
Tony smiled back at Ziva and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Back at it, then. Talk more tonight?"
Ziva smiled at him as she put her hand on the doorknob. "Maybe," she said, unlatching the lock.
"Allow me," Tony said, quickly stepping to the door and stepping halfway out and giving the hallway a quick scan as he stepped out. Seeing no one nearby, he quickly motioned for Ziva to follow, patting her gently on her behind as she stepped out of the doorway.
"Behave now, Tony." Ziva shook a finger in Tony's face, smiling at him, her eyes sparkling at him. She turned and walked toward the bullpen.
"Me, behave? Since when do I truly 'behave'?" Tony asked, putting air quotes around the word.
Ziva chuckled at him. "Gibbs, remember?" she whispered at him.
Tony quickly stepped to the side and looked at a bulletin board. "Hm. Looks like someone's selling a car here. I'm still looking for one to replace my Mustang that got blown up. Proving to be really hard to find the same year in good shape," he muttered to himself.
"Tony, Ziver!" Gibbs' voice reached their ears from the end of the hallway.
"On my way, boss!" Tony stepped away from the bulletin board and made haste for the bullpen.
Ziva followed closely behind, hot on Tony's heels. "Coming, Gibbs!" she said, almost simultaneously with Tony. She sighed with relief that Gibbs hadn't caught them together at work; Tony had been at the bulletin board while she was on the other side of the hallway.
They entered the bullpen moments later. As Ziva walked toward her desk, she noticed that Gibbs had disappeared for the moment. She shook her head at his now-empty desk. "Great, the great master calls us back to work, then disappears on us," she muttered.
Tony chuckled as he sat down at his desk. "Just wait 'til the other shoe drops," he said.
McGee looked up at Tony and smiled, his fingers still moving over his keyboard as he searched for data on his computer. "So, what did you say about your paperwork you needed help with?"
Tony blinked at McGee. "Patience, McProbie. It'll come, in time. Like, now." Tony sat up and pulled out a stack of papers and started looking through them, trying to find what he was looking for.
As if on cue, Gibbs entered the bullpen. "Don't you have work to do?" He looked at the trio.
Ziva quickly ducked to her monitor and brought up a folder of her search results that came back from some of her contacts. She muttered in Hebrew, then said more to herself, "Nothing new from the Mossad at this time." She shrugged.
Gibbs shifted his stance, then considered the news, which was pretty much no news. "Right," he said to himself as he walked to his desk and sat down and started poring through the paperwork on his desk.
Tony glanced from his paperwork up at the computer, trying to compare what was on it to the paperwork. As he did so, he gave Ziva a furtive look, and caught her winking at him. He winked back at her and pulled a corner of his lips into a small smile.
A/N: Readers, Wanted to say thank you for enjoying this journey with Tiva, Also thank you in advance for the Reviews, Tweets, Messages and Kudos.