"I'm telling you, that, that right there, is not from this world," Tony was trying to tell her.

Trying and failing because Ziva was refusing to be convinced. Mainly because her partner was just being stupid and she refused to encourage that. Also annoying because he was going on and on about it. Could he not tell that she was uninterested and unimpressed? If he did, he did not care because he was still talking.

"Tony-"

"It's a strange and unusual creature and we're probably going to get attacked by it."

Now that got her rolling her eyes.

"You are being ridiculous."

"Says the person who can probably fight a supernatural monster and still live to tell the tale. Me? Probably not."

"I will protect you, Tony," she mocked.

He squinted at her, unconvinced. She rolled her eyes.

"It was probably nothing," she tried to reassure him - he would keep going on and on if he wasn't. "It is the woods Tony. It makes a lot of noises."

"Animal noises?"

"There tends to be animals in the woods so yes."

He looked like he didn't know what to say to that, thankfully. Maybe this way he would actually stay quiet.

"Wild animals?"

"Well, they are not going to be kept in cages like in a zoo."

"Pretty sure zoos prefer using enclosures now," he said absentmindedly as he nervously looked around. "You think there are wild animals here?"

"I am pretty sure most wild animals prefer to stay well away from humans."

This did not seem to make him feel better at all.

"Have you not seen any movies involving mountain lions, bears and wolves? They always go after the lone travellers, walking through the woods."

"Yes, in movies, Tony. This is real life."

"Exactly, real life with no special effects and real blood."

Ziva rolled her eyes. Did he even realise how ridiculous he sounded?

"Anyway," he said, realising that he wasn't convincing her. "Wild animals do go after you. When they have young."

"In October?"

It was quite amusing to watch Tony's face fall like that.

"Pretty sure there are," he said petulantly.

"Of course they do."

Did she sound very condescending Absolutely. Did he recognise this? Also yes. But did he do anything about it? No, except cross his arms like a child. It was amusing. More amusing than him going on about wild animals that probably were not even around due to all the noise they were making.

"It could be some sort of supernatural creature then," Tony said suddenly. "You know, instead of a wild one."

She stood and blinked at him. What?

"It is not some sort of supernatural creature, it is a person," Ziva hissed.

"Pretty big person."

"It is still a person."

"If you say so."

"I do!"

"Well, I don't."

"Tony!"

"What? You'll see. This is going to end up being something weird that we can't explain."

"We can explain a lot of things."

He jumped on that.

"But not everything," he said triumphantly.

She took a deep breath in an effort not to threaten him. This was just getting ridiculous.

"No, not everything," she said as patiently as she could. "But this is something we can explain."

"Well, then, explain it."

"It is obviously an animal of some sort."

That much was obvious. Animals made strange noises all the time, it was nothing to be overly concerned about. Seriously. Tony just had to calm down.

"Yeah. A supernatural animal!"

And he wasnt going to calm down, was he? Of course he wasn't. He was both somewhat scared and having fun at the same time. Look, she did not say that she always understood her partner.

"It. Is. Not. Supernatural."

She was being more snappish about this than usual because she did not know who was making this noise nor could she pinpoint where it was coming from. Which was annoying. Not scary as Tony thought, just annoying. She did not like not knowing things.

A snorting sound that came closer and closer to them. Ziva crept forward and Tony tried to pull her back but she brushed him off.

"This is how someone disappears in horror movies," he hissed.

She ignored him and continued to move closer to the noise. There was a strange stamping sound as well now. What made these noises? She needed to know. Tony made an exasperated noise behind her but followed, muttering under his breath about horror movies.

Then this strange shadow fell across them and a weird noise appeared right in front of them. Ziva hadn't any time to process that when two eyes stared out of the bushes directly at them, warm breath falling on their faces. Both of them jumped back with a shout.

"Who's there?"

Was that the creature talking? Was it actually like one of Tony's horror movies?

"Hello?"

Before either of them could reply, someone burst out of the bushes. A someone not a something. A farmer!

"Aw, it's just ol' Flora Muggins," the farmer chuckled, realising what had happened and affectionally patting the side of what was now obviously a pony.

"Flora?" Tony asked incredulously.

"She's a harmless old soul. Wouldn't hurt a fly."

Flora nickered in agreement at this.

"We like to dress her up for Hallowe'en, give the kiddies a bit of a scare and then let 'em ride her."

"What a fantastic idea," Ziva exclaimed.

"Yeah, great," Tony said unenthusiatically, shifting from foot to foot.

Ziva was now stroking her, whispering in the animal's ear. Now that she was aware Flora was not someone trying to attack them, she was no longer worried. She loved horses and ponies. Her uncle bred Arabians, after all, and had a few other breeds as well. Every time she visited, she rode one of them. Normally more. It was a very freeing activity.

Unfortunately, it soon had to come to an end as Flora had to be moved to a different field and they had to get back to work.

"Technically, I was right," Tony told her.

She raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

He gestured back at the retreating horse.

"That is definitely not a person."