Today's prompt: mowing the lawn

Established Tiva, fluff. Gibbs fell down the stairs, broke a few bones and refused to stay in the hospital, the team helps him settle in at home.


Pivoting on the rear wheel, he turned the lawn mower to take care of the last stretch of grass, and saw her watching him from the porch, leaning casually against one of the posts. She smiled sadly and took a swig of the beer she was holding. Returning a smile, he finished the task at hand, grateful Gibbs' lawn was relatively small, then left the mower to be cleaned later.

She handed him the beer as he stepped onto the porch besides her. He drained the bottle and smacked his lips. She raised her eyebrows and sent him an amused smile.

"I did not know you knew how to mow a lawn."

"Senior cut off my allowance one summer." He looked at her sideways. "Amazing how much money you can make when you're young, sweaty and shirtless."

She smiled knowingly. "I bet you got more than money."

"Oh yeah," he laughed and looked at her. "I almost got beat up by a girl's father when he found both of us, shirtless and sweaty, in the garden shed."

Entwining their fingers, she grabbed hold of his upper arm with her other hand and leaned her head against his shoulder. Mowing the lawn had drained most of the adrenaline from his body, feeling her close, holding on to him, drained whatever stress was left from finding Gibbs unconscious at the bottom of the basement stairs earlier.

"Did he send you out here to check on my handy work?" He said lightly.

She chuckled and kissed his shoulder through his sleeve. "There's nothing wrong with your handy work."

He smiled and squeezed her hand, warmth tingling throughout his body.

A sliver of worry appeared in her eyes. "He is too out of it from the painkillers, I doubt he even heard you were out here," she continued, then looked up at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said and kissed her forehead without a second thought.

She stared at him, a dozen questions swirling in her eyes. For a second he wished he could go back to the mindless task of mowing the lawn and not having to think about anything.

He sighed heavily. "Things are gonna change for a while, until he comes back to work." His stomach rolled when he saw his own thought reflected in her eyes. If he comes back.

Gibbs wouldn't retire voluntarily—not again—but with a long recovery ahead, and his age, the higher-ups might not be keen to keep him on as team leader. He did want to be team leader again, but not like this. Glancing down at Ziva, who was staring at the backyard lost in thought, he smiled remembering Gibbs' Mexican retirement and long evenings spent with Ziva. Before things got complicated.

Not wanting to waste more time regretting decisions made years ago, he kissed her temple and focused on what he had in the present Her lips curved upwards and she met his eyes.

"When we buy a house with a backyard, you can mow the lawn shirtless, relive your youth."

Her eyes danced with mischief, but it was her use of the word when, not if, that made his heart beat a little faster. He leaned down and murmured, "If you think I'm spending my Sunday mornings mowing the lawn, instead of holed up in bed with you as long as possible, you don't know me at all."

She shrugged, and casually said, "Either way, you will be shirtless."

He chuckled, and briefly grazed her lips with his, lost in their little fantasy.

Her brows furrowed, and she glanced at the backyard again. "We could get a goat."

He guffawed. "I'll buy you a cow if that means we're moving in together."

She met his eyes, surprise visible in her own. They hadn't really talked about taking that step. They hadn't even told the team they were a couple, although they probably had their suspicions..

"Oh, um," McGee stammered from behind them.

Ziva was still firmly molded to his arm, holding his hand, his face inches from hers. He smiled at her mischievously, intent on making McGee uncomfortable for a moment longer. They broke apart, barely, and turned to their co-worker standing in the doorway.

Ziva always took pity on him first. "Did you get him settled in?"

McGee snapped out of his discomfort. "Yeah, Abby's with him." He nodded towards the lawn. "That was a great idea, Tony, I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

"Yeah, he mentioned something about needing to mow the lawn." The gravity of the situation weighed him down once more. "Guess he'll need help with that too for a while."

McGee nodded solemnly, then stood up straighter and suggested, "We could get him one of those robotic lawn mowers."

Tony gasped and looked at Ziva. "I will trade you the goat for a robot."

McGee squinted at them harshly, then walked back inside, muttering, "Why can't you two act like a normal couple."