Truth or Dare
July 4, 2020
"What time is it?"
"It is five minutes later than the last time you asked, Tony." Ziva heard her husband's annoyed huff. "It is exactly...8:47 pm. Are you satisfied?"
"No," he snarked. He hung his head over the back of his lawn chair. "It's almost an hour until the fireworks start."
"You are being a very inhospitable host," Ziva informed him. "Tim and Delilah are going to think you are bored of their company."
Tony looked across the way to where his friends sat. "Oh, they know I'm not bored of them."
"But you are bored?" Tim put in.
"Don't you start, too, Probie."
"Maybe Tony should have gone with his father and the children to get ice cream," Delilah offered.
"If he had, then there would be nothing for him to complain about." Ziva reached over and patted Tony's belly. "If I can wait with a child sitting on my bladder, you can wait just as long with nothing sitting on yours."
"We could play a game," Tim suggested.
Tony perked up at the suggestion. "Ooh! Good idea, Probie! Where's the Frisbee? There's still enough light too…"
"Something everyone can play," Ziva said, rubbing her baby bump for added emphasis. She stared at her husband long enough to remind him of Delilah's condition, also.
"Oh." Tony thought a minute. "Anybody have a deck of cards?"
"In the car...maybe," Tim said.
"But who wants to go get them, right?"
"Yeah."
"I have an idea," Delilah said with a grin. "Even considering how long we have known each other, especially the three of you, aren't there things you still want to know? Aren't there unanswered questions?"
"Like, Truth or Dare?" Tony asked.
"Kind of."
Ziva looked at Tony. "What is Truth or Dare?"
"It's a game that teenage girls play at sleepovers," he explained. "They ask questions like 'Who do you have a crush on?' or 'Did you French-kiss Bobby at the Homecoming Dance?' or 'Do you stuff your bra?' If you don't want to answer, you choose a dare. It can be something simple like making a prank call or more complicated like running through the neighborhood in your underwear."
Ziva laughed. "You are joking?"
"Sadly, no," Delilah replied.
"I'm first," Tim said. Turning to Tony, he said, "Where did you learn to play Truth or Dare?"
"Tim!" his wife chided.
"Dare!" Tony replied before anyone said anything else.
"You are not running through this crowd in your underwear!" Ziva cautioned.
"I think you've all gotten ahead of me," Delilah said. "I'll start so you can see what I'm talking about." She looked to Ziva. "What did you really think of me when you found out Tim and I were dating?"
"That if you broke his heart, I would have to hurt you."
"Oh. Well, that certainly is...honest."
"I am sorry, I did not mean to be rude."
"You weren't," Delilah assured her. "I guess that means it's your turn, Ziva."
"Tony…"
Tim rolled his eyes. "Of everyone here, you choose your husband?"
Ziva proceeded undeterred. "Why did you tolerate all of those head slaps from Gibbs?"
"Good question," Delilah said. "I saw a few of them. They were...disrespectful and demeaning."
Tony shrugged. "It was Gibbs? What could I do?" He gestured with his hands. "He was the golden boy, the face that ran the place. If you didn't believe it, just ask him."
"You gotta admit, you deserved a few of those." Tim smiled at his own joke before he realized he was the only one. "I... I mean, though, not all of them. We...we've all done stupid things, stuff that we regret." He swallowed. "Kinda like me right now."
"How's that foot taste, Probie?" Tony snarked.
"Not...not too good."
Ziva giggled at Tony's remark. "You do not look very well, McGee. I think you have developed a case of hoof-and-mouth disease, yes?"
"Uh, I think you mean foot-in-mouth, but, yeah."
"My turn." Tony sat back in his chair and cast a long look at his wife. "How long have you loved me?"
"You had me at hello," she replied, "or more precisely, 'What can I do for you, Miss David?'"
"Jerry Maguire?" Tim commented. "Really?"
"Hey, you weren't there. How do you know that's not what I said?"
"I have a question," Delilah interrupted. "Are they always like this?"
"Sadly, yes. They argue like brothers." Ziva told her. "I do believe it is my turn again."
Tony saw the wicked glint in her eye. "This is gonna be good," he muttered under his breath.
"How many times did you have sex with Abby?"
Tim's eyes grew as wide as saucers. He whipped his head around to look at Tony. "You told her?" he accused.
"No, you did."
"When?!"
"Just now," Tony informed him. Tim saw the satisfied smirk Ziva wore. "She used her Israeli Mossad voodoo on ya, Probie, the same way she got me to confess that the phone call from the sperm bank was because no one wanted my sperm."
Tim choked out a laugh. "Wait...Nobody wanted your sperm?"
Delilah pointed to Ziva's swollen abdomen. "Apparently someone did."
"Answer the lady, Timmy," Tony prodded. He jerked his thumb in the direction of Delilah. "Dee knows, right?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, she's my wife."
"Then, what do you have to be afraid of...McScaredy Cat?" He'd reached back into his DiNozzo bag of tricks and grabbed a nickname. There was no way McGee would back down now. Tony wouldn't do it in front of the kids, because he didn't want to disrespect his friend, but here and now, it was perfect. He could see sweat popping out on McGee's forehead that had nothing to do with the warm July weather. Under his breath, Tony clucked like a chicken.
"I'm not scared," Tim defended. He swallowed hard. "N-not many. Four?"
"At least one of which was in a coffin," Tony added. He saw Tim's glare and added, "Hey! Don't be mad at me. You admitted that yourself back in the day."
"My turn!" Tim declared. "When did you and Ziva start sleeping together? Don't give me that 'We had a connection,' line either. I know it was before you went to Israel."
"For the first time or on a regular basis?" Ziva answered without batting an eye.
"Both?" was the timid reply.
"The first time was on the undercover op, when we posed as the married assassins," Tony supplied. He placed his hands behind his head and reclined proudly. "After she had some of this, there was no going back."
"Which is why he showed up at my apartment," Ziva told Delilah.
"My god," Tim groaned. "That means…" He looked up with a sick look on his face. "I... I saw it."
"Yeah you did, Probie." Tony let his mind wander back to that plush hotel room. It was all fun and games until Ziva flipped them over. He caught her eye and winked, knowing her mind was in the same moment.
"How many times did you have sex on that op?" Tim knew his face was most likely bright red, but Delilah had said to ask your unanswered questions.
"I'll put it this way. Every time you thought we were...we were. When the cameras were off, you bet we were."
"And when we went radio silent," Ziva added, "we were anything but silent."
"Especially Ziva," Tony supplied with a smirk.
"Wow." Tim stared at his friends, slack jawed.
"Did you ever have sex at NCIS?" This came from Delilah. Tony and Ziva both nodded. "Oh my! Where?!"
The couple started ticking off a list of locations.
"Evidence locker."
"Parking lot."
"Break room."
"Interrogation room."
"MTAC."
"Men's room."
"Ladies' room."
"The elevator?" All eyes were on Tim. He looked up like he'd been caught thinking out loud. "What? It's gone from Truth or Dare to Twenty Questions. I'm just taking my turn."
"Passenger and freight elevators, McCurious," Tony supplied.
"I ride in those elevators," Tim pondered.
"Not like we did." Tony resumed his list. "Let's see...did we say the stairwell?"
"No."
"I forgot about the stairwell," Ziva confessed.
"How can you forget the stairwell?" her husband asked. "Ducky almost caught us."
Ziva giggled. "Remember the futon in Abby's office?"
"Oh, yeah. Right up there with Jenny Shepherd's sofa."
"Okay. Was there anywhere you didn't have sex?" Delilah said.
"Gibbs' desk," the DiNozzos answered simultaneously.
"Please, don't tell me you, uh, used my desk."
"That depends, Probie. Does the chair count as part of the desk?" Tim groaned, making Tony's grin grow wider. "Not the morgue, either. Places where dead people sleep are Timmy-Boy's domain."
"Did no one ever suspect anything?"
"Some of them did, I am sure," Ziva said. She looked at her friend. "I have long thought that McGee suspected because of what he wrote in his book."
"Suspected, yeah, but…"
"I also knew that, even if you did know, you would not betray our secret." She smiled an appreciative smile.
"What about the others?" Tim asked.
"Others?"
"C'mon, Tony. You know who I mean. I didn't imagine the days you came in bragging about the conquests of the week." He looked from Tony to Ziva and saw the look they shared. "Wait. You...lied?!"
"I prefer to think of it as a clever cover story."
"Cover story? As in…"
"As in those things really happened, but not with who you thought."
"They were all Ziva."
"Just so you know," Tony said, "it wasn't because we didn't trust you."
"I understand," Tim assured him. "It's just… Wow!"
Their game was interrupted by the sound of childish giggles. Tali scampered toward her parents with Johnny and Morgan close behind. All three had ice cream cones in one hand and a balloon tied to their wrist.
"Look, Daddy!" Johnny said proudly, wagging his hand.
"I see. Where did you get that?"
"Pop-Pop," the boy answered, pointing to Senior.
"Mr. DiNozzo, son," Tim corrected.
"It's okay, Uncle Tim," Tali spoke up. "Johnny an' Morgan said they didn't have a Pop-Pop so I said I would share mine. Pop-Pop said he didn't mind." She looked to her parents. "Sharing is good, right, Ima?"
"Yes, it is, yadalti," Ziva said. "You are a very good friend to share with your cousins."
"Especially someone you love as much as you love your grandfather," Tim told her. "Did you two say 'thank you' for the balloons and ice cream?" he asked the twins.
"They did," Senior said, "and they are very welcome."
The families settled down to await the fireworks. The evening darkened around them. Presently, Ziva felt a warm breath on her cheek.
"What time is it?" Tony whispered.
She turned her face in his direction. "Half-past nine. Why do you ask?"
"We got time before the show starts. You wanna slip away to somewhere a little more 'private' for a bit?"
She glanced around at the rest of their group. Everyone else seemed preoccupied with one thing or another. "Truth," she whispered in reply.
Author's Note: This story was born out of a late-night conversation with a friend. The idea stuck in my head, so I had to let it out. It's always been my headcanon that Tony & Ziva were a thing from the beginning. Thanks to Jen for being my second set of eyes. Happy reading. TIVA forever.