Chapter 9
Real Life Instead of Fiction
~~After the episode of Twisted Sister in S.4, 2006~~
After McGee spent the Saturday morning doing some chores, he fixed up some coffee and got his story writing area organized and turning his computer on. As he waited for the coffee to brew, he sat in front of his computer, contemplating what next to add to his latest masterpiece that he was writing. "Yup, good time as any to do some more research for my story," he said to himself as the computer dinged its readiness. After all, he wasn't expecting any visitors because he had planned on doing nothing except writing for the weekend. It was his form of relaxation, a way to pass the time.
The coffee pot burbled at McGee for a bit, then stopped, alerting McGee to the coffee's done-ness. "Oh, my coffee!" McGee jumped out of his chair and went over to the kitchen and poured out a cup. Returning to the computer, he sat down and set the coffee mug on the desk between the computer and typewriter. Letting out a satisfied sigh, he started reading up on the computer, taking notes, digging down pertinent details for his story, and switching back and forth between typewriter and computer.
Ring-ring!
McGee startled at the sound and his hands froze on the typewriter. He glanced down at his story, making sure that he hadn't accidentally struck a wrong letter on the typewriter when his phone rang. He glanced up at the clock on the wall, and gasped at himself. Afternoon already? He thought to himself, shaking his head in disbelief. Where'd the time go?
Ring-ring!
"Hold on a second," he muttered to himself as he looked for his phone and found it next to his monitor. He picked it up and answered it. "Hello?"
"Well, hello there, McGeek. You home writing your story?" Tony's voice sounded over the phone.
Outside McGee's door, Ziva stifled a chuckle. She whispered to Tony, "What're you doing?" Ziva shook her head grinning and doing her best to not burst out in laughter, holding a book in her arms.
Tony looked back at Ziva and grinned, holding a finger above the doorbell as he waited for an answer from McGee.
Inside, McGee looked at his computer monitor, his face remaining in a neutral expression as he said, "Yes, I'm home. Enjoying the sounds of my typewriter." He tapped a couple of keys on his typewriter as if to prove his alibi. Suddenly his doorbell rang at the same time he hit the second key, and his hand jerked back from the typewriter. "Someone's at my door. I wonder who that could be," he said to the phone as he got up and walked over to the door.
Tony held the phone, listening to the noises over the phone. "He's coming," he whispered to Ziva quietly, then turned to look at the door again and waited.
Ziva's face looked like she couldn't contain her laughter anymore, but she was doing her best to keep it inside her.
Still holding his phone to his ear, McGee opened the door and said, "Hello -" He stopped short and realized who was standing in the front of his door. He blinked once, then hung up his phone and dropped his hand. "What are you doing here, Tony?" He glanced over to Ziva, who he hadn't noticed until moments after he saw Tony. "Oh, hi, it's you two. Didn't expect to see you here," He smiled at Tony and Ziva, but his face gave the slightest hint that he was surprised that they had come over to see him on a weekend day.
Tony took a step toward McGee and clapped him on the shoulder, causing McGee to stumble slightly. "Hi McGee, enjoying your day? Can we come in?" Tony looked down and up at McGee, taking in his weekend attire.
"Uh, yeah, sure." McGee gulped as he stepped back to let Tony and Ziva in. "What brings you here?" McGee asked, a smile on his face. He glanced at Ziva, who was waving the book she was carrying at him.
Ziva closed the door behind her and her eyes roamed around the living room, noticing the small library that filled half his living room. Her eyebrows raised as she was impressed with the number of books that filled the shelves. "Enjoying your time off?" Ziva asked McGee.
McGee nodded once. "Well, sure. A quiet day of writing for once -"
Tony cut him off as he advanced on McGee, a smile on his face. "What exactly are you writing now, your latest sequel?"
Ziva held up the book she was holding. "What exactly does 'deep six' mean?" She tapped the title of the book.
McGee smiled. "It's a Navy term for dispose of, get rid of."
"Right!" Tony said brightly. He took a quick peek around the corner into the empty bedroom. "Anybody else here?" he called out. Hearing no response, he turned back to McGee, but then his eyes landed on McGee's computer and typewriter. "You're all set up to write all the way through weekend. So it's just you and your typewriter? How's your sister?"
"Oh, Sarah's doing OK. Decided to put the schooling on hold, and went to spend some time with my grandma in Nebraska. She should be on her way with my dad right about now." McGee nodded as he glanced up at the clock. He noticed that it was close to that time that his father and sister were getting on a plane headed for Nebraska.
"That's good to hear." Tony stopped in the middle of the living room, looking around the room. He cracked his knuckles, waggling his eyebrows at McGee as if he was contemplating punching the lights out of McGee, and walked up close to McGee. Grinning at McGee, he said, "McGeek, we've gotta talk. Not too happy with you right now."
McGee gulped and took a couple of steps back, stopping only because he bumped into a bookshelf behind him. "Whoa!" McGee said, steadying himself against the bookshelf. He was surprised at how upset Tony was. "What's up, Tony?"
Ziva opened the book and started flipping through the pages as she walked around McGee and Tony, chuckling at the passages McGee had written about the characters Tommy and Lisa. She paid the two men no attention for the time being as she read the book. "Oh, looky here. Tommy and Lisa having a little fling here, again." Ziva pointed her finger to a passage in a chapter she'd flipped the book open to at random.
"Wha-?" McGee started, but was cut short as Tony stepped up to him.
"Alright, now McGee..." Tony said as he stepped up to McGee and put an arm around McGee's shoulders and patted him on the chest a couple of times with his other hand. "Remember that little talk we had a few months back about us? The vow?" Tony flicked a finger between him and McGee and Ziva in the air.
"Uh, yes, I seem to recall that conversation," McGee said after a split-second. It had taken him that long for his mind to file back into the past and find the particular memory and bring up the details of that day.
"Well, I see you're working on your next story, looks like here," he said as his eyes landed on a stack of papers near the typewriter. He let go of McGee and walking over to his desk. "Oh, what's this?" Tony picked up the sheaf of papers and held it up in the air, the pages flopping loosely in his hand.
Ziva looked at McGee, smirking slightly at McGee's sudden change in his expression as he reached out for his manuscript. "T-that's my manuscript, Tony." McGee pointed toward the papers.
Tony held the manuscript up in his hand and looked at the title of the manuscript, and said. "Oh, this must be the sequel to your story there, right?" Tony smiled at McGee.
McGee gulped at Tony and suddenly felt the heat as Ziva tilted her head and looked piercingly at McGee. He glanced over to Ziva for support, but found none. Her face remained neutral except for the small smile she kept on her lips. He looked back to Tony and said, "Yeah, that's the next installment in the series. I'm not quite sure what to call it yet." He shrugged his shoulders. His eyes flicked toward the manuscript, then back up to Tony.
Tony dropped his hand to his side, still holding the manuscript. He said, "Oh, that's cool. What if Gibbs comes over and finds it? And realizes that what happens in the story is more true than fiction?"
Before McGee could answer, Ziva said something in Hebrew, then said, "Oh, look, Tony. Tommy and Lisa are talking about getting married in this story." Ziva snapped the book shut. "Because Tommy was a bad boy and got her pregnant, apparently."
"Oh, really?" Tony exclaimed to Ziva. He looked at McGee. "He did what?"
Ziva shook her head and reached over and gave Tony a gentle head-slap.
Tony gasped as his head lurched forward from the head-slap. His hand let go of the manuscript and flew up to the back of his head. The manuscript, which was conveniently dangling right above the feed slot of the shredder that stood near McGee's desk, fell in and the shredder started munching its way through the thick stack of papers, groaning under the thickness, then finally jamming three-quarters of the way in, with the various sheets of paper cocked at odd angles to each other. Tony sharply looked down at the shredder and shrieked as he tried to stop the shredder, but clumsily failed to hit the Stop button in time.
"Oops," Ziva said, her hands on her mouth, her eyes wide with surprise.
"My manuscript!" McGee quickly tried to jump over to the shredder to stop it, but he was too late. He reached it and quickly tried to reverse it as it started to jam itself. The shredder groaned in protest as it tried to regurgitate the papers, but failed, stopping. McGee groaned in frustration as he tried a couple of times to clear the jam, but the machine started smoking as it tried one last time, then died for good.
"No!" Tony dove down to unplug the shredder before it caught fire from trying to strain its way through the jam. "Good thing I unplugged it in time." He let out a sigh of relief as he stood up.
"That's just great!" McGee huffed. "Now I have to recreate the entire story from scratch. Do you know how long it's taken me to get this far?" McGee scoffed and threw up his hands in frustration.
"Maybe it was meant to be," Ziva said. She walked up to McGee and said, "What if I said that Tommy and Lisa are too much alike to Tony and I? In more ways than one?" She flicked an eyebrow up to McGee.
"What do you mean by that?" McGee blinked at Ziva, then glanced over at Tony.
Tony shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe a little education may be in order. You spend way too much time indoors, not interacting with the world much on the weekends." He stepped over to McGee and patted him on his shoulders.
"I beg your pardon, but I do get out from time to time," McGee nodded and smiled at Tony.
Ziva chuckled at McGee and said, "Maybe to go get your groceries and pay your bills. But from the looks of it, you tend to stay home the minute you get off work." She smiled and winked at McGee. She pointed to the book. "You write stories about relationships but have you been in one? Especially one where you would have to live a double life at least for a long while?"
Tony flicked a finger in the air once. "And the boss at work cannot ever find out about it. And now you know, and if boss-man finds out you knew and didn't tell him, guess who risks losing their job?" Tony raised an eyebrow and poked his finger into McGee's chest as to drive home the point that it would be McGee's head on the chopping block as well, not just Tony and Ziva.
McGee blinked at Tony as contemplated what Tony had just said to him. "Well, what do you mean by that? Gibbs has some rule against coworkers seeing each other?"
Ziva stepped up to McGee and said, "Rule twelve. Never fraternize with your coworkers, I believe he said."
"That's the one," Tony said. "So, now, at work, we're just partners at work. Just do our jobs as normal. You're working with us all the time. Better that way so Gibbs doesn't know." He smiled at McGee. "Less he knows, the better."
"But what about after work?" McGee looked at Tony and Ziva.
Ziva looked at Tony, then back to McGee. "We're just friends." She did air-quotes around the word 'friend', and continued talking to McGee. "As far as Gibbs is concerned. That's why if you're around us, Gibbs will think we're just friends after work."
"But -" McGee's face was a bit puzzled.
"Ah, ah!" Tony wagged a finger in the air. "I see that our Padawan is a bit confused, so I think the best way for you to understand what we mean by "friends" is to show you." Tony air-quoted the word. He winked at McGee and said, "How about we head out to this bar and grill that I know about?"
McGee blinked at Tony. "What's a bar and grill have to do about my manuscript?" He looked down at the dead shredder with the papers still sticking out at wonky angles to the shredder slot.
Tony scoffed and said, "Hey, forget about your manuscript. You'll be glad you did once you see for yourself out at the bar and grill. Get out and enjoy some good man-food for once." Tony let out an "arr-arr!"
Ziva looked McGee up and down. "You're not going out in that," she said, pointing a finger to what McGee was wearing. "Unless you want people to know you're a house-body?"
Tony stifled a snigger and said to Ziva, "Homebody. It's 'homebody.'" He turned to McGee and said, "She's right. Better go put on something presentable. You got two minutes. Chop-chop!" Tony flashed two fingers in the air and shook it a couple times.
"But -" McGee stammered. "I wasn't planning on going out!"
Tony grasped McGee's shoulders and turned him toward the bedroom and gave him a gentle shove and a gentle head-slap. "Go. Change. Two minutes."
McGee made his way to the bedroom, propelled by Tony's push. "Alright, alright! I'm going!" McGee said.
Sometime later, McGee, Tony, and Ziva arrived at the bar and grill, McGee driving his own car, while Tony and Ziva drove together. McGee stepped out of his car and walked to the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. He looked up at the facade and sighed, wondering why Tony and Ziva wanted him to come out of the house for once.
"Place is hoppin' tonight, looks like." Tony chuckled. "Good food, good drink, good fun." He rubbed his hands together. "Best enjoyed with friends, right, Ziva?" He turned to Ziva and smiled.
Ziva nodded and smiled back to Tony. "Yup, and good music." She winked at Tony and turned toward the establishment and walked ahead of Tony and McGee.
Tony quickly grabbed McGee's shoulder and said, "Come on, the night's young." He walked behind Ziva, guiding McGee toward the bar and grill. "Let's get us a table."
Moments later, they sat at a table near the dance floor, eating the food that they had ordered. Tony took a bite out of his rack of ribs, then set it down on the plate and wiped his hands off on the wipes that the bar and grill provided. "Fit for a king, eh?" he said.
McGee smiled. "I guess. I'd have to agree with you on the food, though, it's really good."
Tony chuckled at McGee. "Told ya so." He reached down and picked up his ribs.
Ziva took a bite of her salad and nodded. "Better than being in that cave all the time, right?"
"It's not a cave," McGee protested, but it was only a token protest. He shrugged his shoulders. "At least, not in my eyes. It's more of a safe haven where I find comfort in my books."
Tony mimicked typing on a keyboard. "And your computers and your typewriter. D'you wanna be spending your life known as lonely and heartbroken author who could never find love except for what he wrote in books?" As Tony said the last line, he sat back, still looking at McGee, and reached his arm around Ziva's shoulders and rested it on the back of Ziva's chair.
Ziva looked at Tony and her eyes flirted with Tony as she smiled, then she looked back at McGee. "Have you ever experienced love? Or I should say: love from afar and love over a long period of time?"
"And yet, not be able to commit because of whatever factors in life? Like work, for example." Ziva added.
McGee blinked at the two. "And here I was thinking that love was more straightforward than this." His shoulders sank as he looked down at his food, thinking about his story, about what he had written about the two characters Tommy and Lisa in the book and their story lines.
Tony nodded sagely at McGee and said, "Y'know, I read a little more of that book, and more often than not, the characters were closer to real life than not. Like us."
Ziva smiled at McGee and said, "But, take heart that the characters were not totally like us. Does not tell how they met, for example."
"And my manuscript was about that," McGee said, crestfallen. "I guess it's just as well that fate, or destiny, or whatever you might call it, intervened."
Ziva looked at McGee a bit intensely, but only for a split second. The word 'destiny' rang in her ears. She blinked and shook her head slightly, but said nothing.
Tony had caught the look on Ziva's face. He knew exactly what she was thinking – that Destiny had stepped in to save the day. He looked back to McGee and said, "Yup, Destiny." He air-quoted the word. "It's what's kept us together for all these years. Even if we meet for a day or two at a time and then spend years not seeing each other before we see each other again."
McGee blinked. "You're kidding."
Tony took a sip of his drink, then put his hand on the table, casually putting his hand onto Ziva's. "Nope. It's something we can't really explain. I guess it's meant to be, that we're together."
Ziva shrugged her shoulders and held her hands up in the air briefly before she picked up her fork. "Whatever it is, I cannot explain it either. It always seems that in extreme times of need, we always end up together."
Tony looked down at Ziva's plate. "How's your food so far, Ziva? Taste good for you?"
Ziva jabbed her fork into her salad and picked up a piece of meat with the salad and took a bite and smiled at Tony. Her eyes told Tony exactly what he wanted to know and smiled at him.
"See, good food here, good music, a way to have some fun." Tony held out his arms in the air and looked around him. "A world of difference from staring at a screen for hours at a time, right?"
"Different perspective," Ziva smiled at Tony.
McGee had noticed the subtleties between Tony and Ziva, how they finished each other's sentences, or complemented each other's remarks, how they touched each other. "I think I see what you're saying now. I've never noticed that much until now."
Tony held up a finger in the air. "Exact-a-mundo. Just like agents living double lives. Maybe even triple lives if you're undercover on top of that."
McGee's eyes widened a bit. "So you're saying -" His mind flashed back to the undercover mission that Tony and Ziva did.
"I know what you're thinking, and before you do that, let's just say some things are better left unsaid and in question." Tony winked and smiled at McGee. "Y'know, make it more realistic. It's an acting game, after all."
"Ah." McGee sat back and considered what he had just heard. "So, maybe it happened, and maybe it didn't." He shrugged his shoulders. "In any case, I haven't seen anything or heard anything." His face changed into an expression of a person who willfully forgot what he had just seen happen not thirty seconds ago.
Tony smiled at the change in expression. "That's the spirit. As long as only you and me and Ziva know, it's better if it stays that way."
McGee glanced over at Ziva, who had one arm down below the table. He noticed that her arm was over Tony, and he realized that she had a hand on her lap, and was caressing it up and down sensuously. "You've got a point, Tony." He smiled at Ziva, then Tony.
Suddenly, the sound of a phone ringing sounded from the area of Tony's pocket, causing everyone to jump slightly. Tony looked down at his pocket and clawed at it for a moment before he managed to grab his phone out of his pocket. He flipped his phone open and looked at the display and saw the name on the phone. He let out a scoff and flipped the phone shut with an audible clack as he got up from his chair. "Just when we start having a good time for the evening, work calls. I gotta take it. I should be back in a second, I hope," Tony said, holding his phone up in the air and then stepping away toward the front of the restaurant.
Ziva's forehead furrowed in puzzlement as she let out a scoff. "Work? What kind of work call is this?"
McGee raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. "No idea." He reached for his phone and looked at the display. No text, no missed calls. "Huh, nothing on my phone."
"I would have known if something came through on my phone," Ziva said. "Oh, look, he's coming back," Ziva had suddenly noticed Tony walking toward to her and McGee from the front part of the restaurant.
Tony sighed as he sat down just long enough to take a bite from his ribs. "Can't believe it," he muttered to himself. He reached out for his glass and took a long drink from his glass, emptying it, then set it down on the table before he got up. "Looks like I have to go in to work. Would you mind coming with me for a second, Ziva?"
"Sure." Ziva smiled and wiped her mouth off with her napkin, then set it on the table and got up. "I'll be back," she said to McGee.
McGee smiled back at her. "Go right ahead. I'm not going anywhere," he said.
Tony and Ziva smiled at McGee, then stepped away to the front of the restaurant.
McGee sat in his chair, looking around at his surroundings, letting the music float over him. He took a few bites and contemplated how he was going to write his story now, but then shook his head, deciding against starting over on the story line. As he took a sip of his drink, an idea formed in his head, that he would write a completely different story, now. He happened to glance out the front window of the restaurant and noticed Tony and Ziva standing in front of it, engaged in conversation. His eyebrows raised as he saw them move closer to each other and kiss. He averted his glance, looking down at his food and using his fork to gather together some of his food so he could take a bite.
"Hey McGee, I'm back." Ziva sat down in her chair. "Enjoy the view?" Ziva chuckled at McGee. She had seen him look their way through the window and knew he had seen Ziva kiss Tony.
McGee smiled. "View? Oh, yeah, it's good."
Ziva let out a sigh. "Tony's asked if I wouldn't mind riding home with you because he's not sure if he will be able to get back in time tonight."
McGee shrugged and tilted his head. "I don't see why not."
Ziva smiled as she took a bite of her food. "If he's working undercover, let's hope things turn out for the better. This case is really something."
McGee nodded his head as his eyebrows flicked upwards. "D'you think it was the director calling him in to work on a case?" he asked Ziva.
Ziva shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised. Just wish it didn't happen on weekends, but so be it. It's the job." She picked up her fork and grabbed a bite of her food.
Eventually, after they had spent a little more time at the bar and grill finishing their food off, they had returned to Ziva's apartment. As they stood outside Ziva's door, Ziva turned to McGee and said, "It's getting late. Why don't you come in?"
McGee stood rooted for a moment. He hadn't expected Ziva to invite her in, especially not after what had happened earlier at the bar and grill, the chemistry he'd seen between Tony and Ziva. His mouth moved for a moment before it found words to say. "Sure, I'll come in," he managed to say.
Ziva nodded and smiled and unlocked her door and stepped into her apartment and waited for McGee to enter before she closed the door behind him. "Make yourself comfortable," she said to McGee as she walked across her sparse apartment and set her things down on the small table that stood near the doorway.
McGee nodded and went to the living room and sat on the couch there. He looked around the living room, and said, "What was it like, in the past?"
"The past?" Ziva looked at McGee as she entered the living room.
"Yeah, what was he like when you were young?" McGee asked.
Ziva chuckled. "Oh, like you see him today: hard-working, dependable. He hasn't really changed over time."
McGee smiled. "So he's always been there for you even after all these years."
Ziva turned the TV on and flipped it to a news channel and turned the volume down low. "Like we said, Destiny has brought us together and it's something that I – we – didn't notice until Rome, I think. I wasn't sure of it until I came to NCIS and saw that Tony was working there."
McGee raised an eyebrow. "Wow." He sat there and wondered about fate, Destiny, the cosmos, how certain things all seemed to just click in place for some people. He certainly noticed how things just seemed to flow well for Tony and Ziva when they were together. "You know, I never noticed how well you two worked together until now. Now I think I understand," he said at length.
Ziva smiled and sat in her chair next to McGee. "And now, we wait for Tony. Might as well watch a movie or two to kill some time, right?"
McGee smiled. "Sure, why not. We don't know how late Tony will be, do we?"
Ziva shrugged and shook her head. "Tell you the truth, I don't know much of anything with that phone call except it's work related. So I never really know. Could be hours, days." Memories of her working undercover for the Mossad filtered through her mind. She settled deeper in her chair and held the remote out to the TV and turned it to the DVD machine input. "What do you wanna watch?" She got up from her chair and walked over to the DVD collection and picked up a box set. "Star Wars collection?"
"Sure." McGee smiled at Ziva. "If he's not back by, say ten o'clock, I guess I'll head out then," McGee said.
Ziva smiled and said, "It's settled, then." She got the first DVD out and popped it into the machine. As the DVD player took the disc in, she settled down in her chair and covered herself up with her favorite throw blanket.
"That's a nice blanket," McGee pointed to the blanket. "Where'd you get that? I've not seen anything like it."
Ziva smiled at McGee. "Tony got it for me in Rome. I've had it since then."
As the opening credits rose on the TV screen, McGee smiled at Ziva and said, "Oh, wow. What did you see together, over there?"
"The Coliseum, the ancient Roman baths, the Pantheon. And a lot more than that. He helped me with my Italian back then, when I was struggling to get a taxicab. I ended up riding with him the whole time I was there."
"Ah, nice." McGee smiled, then turned to watch the movie. After some time, a question popped up in his head. "What'd you see when you went to -?" He stopped short because he had turned to look at Ziva and noticed that she had fallen asleep watching the movie. He chuckled to himself, then went back to watching the movie.
Later, in the wee hours of the morning, Ziva woke up, and saw that the movie was still going. Confused, she sat for a moment watching the movie. She sat and watched it for a bit and realized that this was not the same movie that she started watching on. She turned to look at McGee, expecting to see him engrossed in the movie and watching it. But he was sound asleep. She smiled and shook her head to herself as she got up and put a blanket on McGee, then turned the TV off and sat in her chair and fell asleep again.
Next morning, Ziva's ears picked up the sound of keys in the door lock, causing Ziva to suddenly stir awake. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked at the door, and noticed that McGee was still asleep. She reached out and shook McGee awake and said, "I think Tony's here."
McGee startled awake, momentarily confused as to where he was at the moment. He looked at Ziva. "Tony?" He looked toward the door as it swung open, revealing Tony.
"Hi Tony," McGee said as he stood up from the couch, waving at McGee.
Tony blinked at McGee, a puzzled look on his face, his head pounding from the hangover that was building inside it. "Oh, hello there, McGeek."
McGee smiled at Ziva and said, "I think I'll take my leave now." He got up from the couch.
Tony walked up to McGee and stopped him. He said, "Hey. Thanks for helping me out here and getting her home." He staggered off to the bedroom. He had a somewhat haggard look on his face.
Ziva looked Tony in his face. "Long night for you?" she asked him.
Tony held up a hand. "Don't ask. Going over some case details, trying to see what we might have missed. Someone had a gut call and wanted to check something."
Ziva tilted her head. "Gibbs?"
Tony shrugged at her. "No, not Gibbs." His eyes flicked over to McGee standing there. "No, this came from higher up."
Ziva nodded. "Gotcha."
McGee spoke up. "I guess this is where I'll take my leave." He stepped toward the doorway and put his hand on the knob.
"We'll see you Monday," Tony said to McGee. "Again, thanks for everything."
"Not a problem," McGee said as he smiled and stepped out the door and closed it behind him.
Ziva turned to Tony and said, "What exactly is going on? Who exactly is calling the shots, if not Gibbs?"
Tony let out a long sigh and sank into the couch. He looked up at Ziva, smiling at her. "No, this isn't his. It's that person sitting in that director's chair up there. Something's bothering her, I can't say what yet. But enough about work." He sat there for a moment with his eyes closed, as if he was resting his eyes.
Ziva walked up to Tony, and her nose detected a particular kind of aroma on him. "You haven't had the chance to get cleaned up, have you?"
Tony shook his head on the couch, eyes closed. "No, I haven't. Shower sounds nice. Wanna hop in the shower with me?" He opened his eyes and smiled at Ziva.
Ziva chuckled and nodded. "Sure, why not. I can help clean you off," she said. She reached down and grasped Tony's hands and pulled him off the couch and caught him as he came up standing. "Let's go in there," she said as she walked with him.
"Oh, yeah," Tony smiled and walked with Ziva to the shower. Various pieces of clothing came off, leaving a trail leading toward the shower.
Tony and Ziva stood under the stream of hot water in the shower moments later, letting the hot water massage their muscles. "Oh, yeah, that feels good," Tony said, smiling.
Ziva chuckled at Tony. "Maybe this will help it feel even better," she said, then pulled his head in close for a full-on kiss.
Moments later, after they had concluded their lovemaking in the shower, they stepped out and dried themselves off. As Tony wandered over to the bed, naked, Ziva watched him as he flopped onto the bed and passed out, exhausted. She shook her head, and walked across the bedroom, picking up the pieces of clothing to wash. Suddenly, she spotted a business card next to Tony's pants. Puzzled, she picked it up and looked at the name on the card. "Why would he be going to see a doctor?" she asked herself, holding the card to her chest.
A/N: Hello Readers, Wanted to say thank you for enjoying this, there will be more to come. With this, I want to say thank you in advance for the reviews, tweets, messages, likes/kudos.