Chapter 3

"Damn!"

Tony sat at the bottom of an embankment, scree surrounding him as more rubble and displaced soil continued to tumble down the hill after him. He held onto his ankle, cursing the tree root he had stumbled on. He could just imagine Ziva lecturing him. It was not going to be pretty.His ankle was actually starting to throb. He would have to pretend it was okay or he'd never hear the end of it.

"Tony – Tony!" Ziva came running down the embankment, grabbing onto branches for support until she reached him. Puffing from the exertion, she sat down next to him to catch her breath. "I suppose that was planned," she pushed a strand of wayward hair behind her ear. "You are going to tell me you were following our suspect, yes?"

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you Zee-vah." Tony was far from amused.

Ziva saw that he was holding his left ankle. "You are hurt?"

"Just a twist, its fine. Lets get out of here." Tony slowly moved to stand and were it not for Ziva who grabbed onto him, he would have fallen.

"Just a twist, I see." Ziva gave him a look that said she didn't believe him.

"Can we just get back up the hill and onto the track and forget this happened, okay?"

"Fine. Off you go." Ziva let go of him and crossed her arms over her chest in a defiant gesture.

Tony slowly placed his left leg down onto the ground and breathed a sigh of relief. So far so good. But as soon as he started to walk, it screamed out at him. He winced as he tried to hide the discomfort. Slowly he began to ascend the hill.

"Oh for Gods sake Tony will you just admit you hurt your ankle and let me help you?" Ziva never would understand the male logic. Stubborn. Macho. Ego. These were words that sprang to mind. Admitting defeat and accepting help from a woman? Hmmmph. She shook her head and caught up to Tony who was awkwardly if not painfully moving up the embankment, using tree branches and tufts of grass for support. She came up behind him and put her arm around his waist, helping take some of the weight off of his left leg. She gave him a smile as he silently accepted her offer of help.

Together they made their way back up the embankment to the hiking trail.

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Ziva was not sure how far Tony would last with his ankle being as it was. They had managed to progress further along the trail, but at a much slower pace as he needed her support in order for him to be able to walk. "I think we should turn back," she suggested.

"And tell them what? That we lost the guy because I slipped down an embankment?"

"Yes and no. Even if we hadn't had the diversion – and don't give me that look Tony – I doubt if we'd have been able to catch up to him anyway."

Tony leant on a nearby tree to give Ziva a break from his weight. Breathing heavily, he looked up at the sky through sweat soaked eyelashes, the mid-day sun burning hot and intense through the branches. Ziva still wore her daypack, and Tony suddenly realized he must have left his back where he took the fall. He wiped at his brow. How could he admit he had no idea how to get back to the camp? Let alone get from the camp to the general store. They had taken several turns onto different trails chasing after their suspect, one very clever David Murray.

"I know what you are thinking Tony and I do believe we could find our way back," Ziva could read his mind like a book sometimes.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she answered.

"You don't look too convinced to me."

"So what do you suggest, we do nothing?" Ziva was getting frustrated.

"No, I suggest we find the source of that water I can hear and follow it. I remember a stream not too far from the campsite. It may lead us back to where we started." Tony was proud of his suggestion. After all, roughing it to him was a hotel without room service.

Ziva didn't answer.

"What, Pocahontas, you got a better idea?"

"I'm thinking," she replied shortly.

"The longer you think, the more time we are wasting. Coming?" Tony moved away from the support of the tree and attempted to start walking. Ziva immediately followed, her arm going around his waist again to help him walk.

"Stubborn mule," she muttered under breath.

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The afternoon sun beat down on them as they continued along the trail.

"Duck." Ziva told Tony.

"Where?"

"Argh!" A low lying tree branch whacked him in the face.

"I warned you," Ziva mumbled.

Tony rubbed at his forehead, he was convinced a lump was already forming. "No, you said 'duck'. I didn't see any ducks, Ziva."

"Very funny." Ziva was starting to stumble a little under Tony's weight. She insisted on supporting him and he insisted he was fine to continue. It was like a meeting of the minds, both were equally as stubborn and unwilling to cave in to the other, when it came down to it.

A few hundred meters ahead lay a pristine lake, its presence only now starting to make itself known through the dense foliage.

"Its about time!" Tony was visibly relieved. "I knew it had to be close. See Ziva? I told you our best bet was to follow the source of the water I heard."

"Perhaps. But we aren't there yet, Einstein." Ziva still had her doubts about Tony's plan, but she had to admit it was worth a try. Plus a quick dip in the lake may just cool them off a little, and relieve some of the pain in Tony's swollen ankle.

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"Ahhhh…" Tony sat on a nearby rock outcrop at the edge of the lake, taking his shoes off and massaging his ankle as Ziva scanned the area for any sign of David Murray.

"No-one here. In fact I don't think anyone has been through here in quite some time." Ziva walked over to Tony, and knelt down to look at his ankle.

It didn't look all that good.

"Here, let me," Ziva reached over to lightly prod at Tony's ankle.

"Ouch! What are you doing!"

"Trying to see if its broken. I think you may have a sprain, its hard to tell…"

"Hey – that HURTS!" Tony moved his leg away from her.

"Dip it in the cool water, see if that helps with the swelling." Ziva suggested.

Tony swung his legs over the rock and dipped both of his feet into the water. A cool shock ran up his legs. "Man that's cold!"

"Good, the colder the better for the swelling." Ziva stood and began unzipping her cargo pants after already having removed her shoes and socks.

"What are you doing?" Tony didn't know if he was dreaming or if Ziva was intent on torturing him further by stripping down in front of him.

"Going for a swim. You are going to join me, yes?" she turned to look at him over her shoulder as she descended into the water, now completely naked.

Tony couldn't answer. He was busy focusing on her perfectly curved bottom and shapely legs.

"Shut your mouth or the flies will get in Tony." Ziva smirked before she dived under the water, relishing the feel of the clean, coolness of the fresh lake water as it sluiced over her hot skin.

Tony hurriedly tried to remove his clothes so he could be in the water before she could change her mind. Carefully, he slid off of the rocks he had been sitting on and submerged himself in the water.

"Whoa! This is… brisk!" the coolness of the water almost took his breath away.

Ziva languidly swam over to him, her head coming up out of the water to greet him. "Refreshing, yes?"

"That's one word for it," he answered, as he took in her expression. Was she testing him or something? He caught a glimmer of mischief in her eyes. He smiled a half smile and moved closer to her, careful not to put any pressure on his left leg. In fact, truth be told, he couldn't even feel his left leg anymore. The coolness of the water certainly had helped take his mind off his ankle, but it hadn't cooled him down elsewhere, if that were at all possible. In fact, right now all he wanted to do was to run his hands all over Ziva's gloriously wet body and kiss her with everything he had. He licked his lips as the thought of a naked Ziva David so tantalizingly close to him invaded his senses.

"How is your ankle?" Ziva asked him.

"Hmm?"

"Your ankle Tony, how is it?" she tried again, noticing the change in his mood and the intensity with which he looked at her.

"Fine," he responded quietly as his eyes locked onto hers.

Both of them were virtually still in the water, their torsos submerged and only visible from the shoulders up. Tony had watched her from behind as she entered the lake, and he was yet to experience the full beauty that was Ziva David. To his knowledge, she had not seen him at all.

Ziva was enjoying this diversion. She had always found Tony attractive and would be lying if she were to admit she wasn't curious about him. She had no doubt he would be an incredible lover, but crossing that line was not something she had ever envisaged doing. Well, maybe she had, but fantasies were one thing. Now, in the sensuousness of the cool lake water, as the two of them stood so close to each other, nothing between them but the water itself, she was beginning to think otherwise.

Tony took the one step needed to close the gap between them, their eyes still locked. As he reached out to touch her he forgot about his ankle, and put his left foot down. "Arghhhhh!" he gasped.

Ziva immediately put a reassuring hand on his shoulder as he reached down to grab his ankle.

"Stupid ankle! I forgot about it for awhile…" Tony continued to curse as Ziva rubbed his shoulder.

"Come on Tony, lets get you back to shore where you can sit down again." The moment between them was completely broken, and now they were forced into awareness of their dire circumstances all over again.

Ziva began to swim to shore and turned around to see Tony somewhat uncomfortable as he remained in the water. "What's the matter? You worried I might see something I've already seen?" She reached her clothes at the shoreline and began to shake them before getting dressed. Her back remained to Tony, who seemed reluctant to exit the lake.

"No. Wait – you've seen me naked?" Tony asked

"Maybe," she replied as she stepped into her pants and squirmed her way back into her sweaty t-shirt, her body still wet from the lake water. She turned to face him once she was fully dressed, only to see he was yet to emerge from the lake. "So what's the problem, you don't seem like the shy type."

"I'm not."

"What then?" Ziva asked

"Shrinkage."

TBC…