Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS

October 2013

Tony and Tim sat in the car, watching for a suspect to come out of a bar and go somewhere else. It was a tedious job and they only had been doing it for a couple of hours.

Tim glanced at Tony, then quickly looked away. Something was up with Tony and Ziva. Tim knew it. Since they came back from Israel, they had been a little more secretive than usual, longer gazes at each other, longer times spent away from the bullpen together. Something had happened in Israel. Tim, Abby and Jimmy had all noticed it.

Tim took a deep breath and dived in.

'What's up with you and Ziva?' asked Tim. Tony continued to gaze out of the window, waiting for their suspect. 'Tony?'

'We're in love, Tim.'

'What?' Tim spluttered. 'Are you dating? Are you sleeping together? What about rule 1, rule 12?' So many questions flew around Tim's head.

Rule One: Never screw (over) your partner.

Rule Twelve: Never date a co-worker.

Tony gave a small chuckle.

'No, Ziva and I are not sleeping together. Well, we're not having sex, and actually rarely spend the night together in sense. We also haven't actually gone on an official date, therefore not technically breaking either rule.' Tim frowned.

'So, you're not sleeping together?'

'Not at the moment' said Tony, a small twinkle in his eye.

'I'm confused, then. What's going on with you two?'

'We're in love, Tim. Have been for some time. I spend every waking moment with her, sometimes sleeping moments, though not sex. We have done since we got back from Israel.

'Wow' said Tim, under his breath. He had originally thought that Tony and Ziva were simply hooking up, a friends-with-benefits sort of arrangement, that would eventually lead the two of them to fall in love. Tim knew via the rumour mill that it had happened with other agents.

This was different though. Tony had only been in love with two other women, and the last one was seven years ago. For Tony to freely admit to Tim that he was in love with anyone, not just Ziva, it had to be serious.

Tony turned back to look out of the window. After he, Ziva and Tim handed in their badges, it was only a matter of time before Tony and Ziva ended up at one of their apartments, together. The tension between them had reach its peak. Ziva had opened her door to go to Tony's, only to find him standing on the other side. The following week was one of the best weeks of either of their lives. There was nothing in their way; no work, rules or exes. Everything was out in the open and they soaked it all up.

However, Ziva had to go to Israel to deal with her late father's estate and Tony was attacked in his apartment. Ziva quickly went underground and they struggled to find her halfway around the world. Tony somehow managed to convince Gibbs and Vance to send him to Israel to track Ziva down, eventually finding her in the farmhouse.

It was another three days before Tony and Ziva were able to leave Israel safely. The Brotherhood of Doubt was still large, as was Benham Parsa. Ziva's trip to Israel had also been difficult for her personally. She had bumped into people who used to be old friends, but due to time and distance, they had grown apart and friendships had disintegrated. Ziva felt a little lost when Tony arrived at the farmhouse. Those three days, however, were just as good, if not better than the week before Ziva left. They talked about what they wanted with regards to their relationship, and if they were going to do this, then how were they going to manage it with work. They decided to take it slowly, not even have sex yet, until everything was settled.

The four weeks since coming back to the US had not been smooth sailing all the time. Both Tony and Ziva had doubts about whether they were doing to the right thing. Tony wondered if he had forced Ziva to come back. Ziva wondered if NCIS was the best place for her. They both wondered if a romantic relationship was the right thing. Their relationship outside of work, whatever shape it took at the moment, was by no means perfect. They argued a lot, but both had admitted that they loved each other and that they couldn't live without the other one.

They still worked at NCIS, though Ziva had begun exploring other alternatives. Tony had reminded her that it wasn't too late for her to do something different. She was only thirty. So, Ziva started to look at other options; university maybe, or work for an NGO, or something completely and utterly different. There was one thing Ziva did know. Whether they worked together or not, she knew Tony had her back, and that they trusted and loved each other to the ends of the world.

Back in the car with Tim, Tony cleared his throat.

'Eventually we'll have to address… things. But until then things will just stay as they are. They're good. We're good together and we don't want to ruin it by moving too fast.' Tony turned to look at Tim. 'Please don't tell anyone. Not even Abby.'

'You don't want Abby to know?'

'Not yet. Abby can blow things out of proportion, and whilst we love her, Ziva and I aren't ready for that. Again, what we have right now is good and we don't want to ruin it.'

'You really love her, don't you' said Tim, a small smile on his face. All he wanted was for his friends to be happy.

'Yes, I do. She's the most beautiful woman in the world and I can't live without her.'

'Might have to disagree with you on that one' said Tim.

'Huh?'

'Delilah's the most beautiful woman in the world, though Ziva is an incredibly close second. A photo finish would be needed.' Tony and Tim laughed.

'Let's agree to disagree, eh?'

Four hours later, back at NCIS headquarters, Ziva was in the break room, getting a cup of tea. Tony came in and stood very close to her.

'Tony, I thought we had rules. Do not stand too close to each other. Things like that.'

'Yes, we do, but I don't want to shout this across the room. McGee knows about us.'

'What?' Ziva looked concerned.

'It's OK. He figured it out and has promised not to tell anyone.'

'Good' said Ziva. She poured boiling water into her mug. 'I think we need to start figuring out our next step, Tony.' Tony looked at her.

'Really? You think we're ready?'

'Ready as we will ever be.' Ziva turned to look at Tony. 'Dinner at my place tonight?' she offered.

'Sounds like a plan' smiled Tony.

'I love you Tony' whispered Ziva.

'I love you too Ziva' whispered Tony.

The two women Tony was in love with were Wendy and Jeanne.

I got this image of Tony and McGee sitting in a car, just talking. Then I got the idea of Tony and Ziva admitting that they're in love but are in the process of figuring out what their relationship might be.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.