DISCLAIMER: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you trying to tell me I don't own NCIS? You are!? Well that's just … true … but sometimes I dream I do, and I put TonyxZiva together ALL the time. *sigh* my dreams are sweet …

Partners?

He sulked, pouted and glared. It just wasn't fair. His mind was playing a loop and he resisted the urge to stomp his foot like a petulant child as the memories assaulted him.

Flashback.

"Ziva. McGee. Observation Room, now." The two had followed the orders; no questions asked, no second thoughts. Tony would not be as easily deterred.

"What about me Boss?" He questioned, his intention clear in the tone of his voice. Why am I being left out?

Gibbs turned to stare at him, a hard look set across his features. "Go over the records, DiNozzo." He turned and began his way down the hall. "Look for anything we may have missed." He sipped his coffee hiding his small smile behind his cup as he pushed his way to the interrogation room.

"Isn't that a job for McGoo?" He questioned the empty hallway. With a huff he walked away to get started on his task.

*

Tony's rage seemed to flare within him as he was once again detained with another memory.

Flashback

"Ziva I want you to go apprehend Lt. Donald Wright." Gibbs barked out. Tony felt his anticipation rise, this was it. It would finally be him and Ziva again, like it used to be –like it should be. He picked his backpack up off the ground slowly, a smirk forming upon his lips. Gibbs' next words stopped him cold. "Take McGee with you." Tony's smirk quickly turned into a scowl.

Tony watched as Ziva pulled her jacket off the back of her chair all the while swinging her bag onto her shoulder. His expression never wavered.

"Tony and I are going to pick up the wife." Gibbs grabbed his coffee from his desk, before breezing passed the stunned Tony. He pushed the call button for the elevator, another smile quirking his features.

"What the hell is going on here?" Tony questioned the room in general, his hands thrown up into the air in exasperation. Wasn't Ziva his partner, or did he miss the memo stating otherwise?

Tony followed Gibbs' path, barely making it to the elevator before the doors shut, Gibbs' still inside. He sulked the rest of the way.

*

He stared across the bullpen to Ziva's desk, Ziva's empty desk. He figured she had been sent out on yet another mission with McGee, because they both had been conveniently gone when he'd emerged from the head and Gibbs wasn't flying into a full out rage at their disappearance.

It irked Tony to no end how well those two had been getting along recently. It was almost too well if you asked him

Flashback.

Tony rounded the corner of the bullpen a wide grin spread across his face. It was quickly wiped from his countenance as he took in the scene before him with narrowed eyes.

He felt a growl try and force its way from the back of his throat. This feeling he was being overcome with was not something he was used to, and he didn't think he ever would be.

He watched as McGee leaned over the back of her chair, jealousy coiling within his belly. Ziva was laughing lightly and neither of them had noticed his presence, which only seemed to increase his anger further. They always greeted him, even if it was just a small acknowledgement.

"What are you guys looking at?" Tony questioned, tossing his bag onto his desk with more force than intended.


Ziva gave him a weird look, but McGee answered the question. "Ziva was just showing me-" McGee cut himself off, watching with interest the silent conversation that seemed to be taking place between his two colleagues.

McGee cleared his throat uncomfortably before making his way back to his own desk. Things had been strained lately to say the least, and with each passing day and each passing case DiNozzo seemed to be getting edgier, everyone had noticed, but no one had said anything. Today though, it seemed that Tony was about to break.

Ziva stared curiously over at Tony, wondering about his behavior recently, and why he seemed to question Gibbs at every turn. He'd never questioned him before, but it would seem that each order he received lately, he had some sort of problem with it.

Tony stared at Ziva, taking in her presence that he had been denied for too long. He hadn't realized he had been slowly making his way over towards her desk until Gibbs walked by, giving Tony a swift blow to the head. "Find out who did it." Gibbs stated, and that was when Tony had decided to use the head.

*

Tony sat tapping his pencil against his desk, he was on edge the longer he sat staring at her desk. It seemed as though she had been gone for days, rather then the few minutes she had been gone. He missed her, yet she was always around. It was strange, but at the same time it made so much sense. Things weren't what they used to be, and he wasn't enjoying the change, at all.

Tony opened his mouth to question Gibbs on why he was splitting the partners up when he heard the elevator ding. He was about to push onward with his line of questioning when he heard her laughter. His spine tensed and his gaze whipped towards the elevator once again. He watched as she stepped out laughing, a chuckling McGee following soon after. He glared at the latter agent, all his rage seeming to focus on him.

His rage simmered until he looked up, noticing Ziva smiling sweetly at him. It calmed him a bit, but he wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.

"Abby found some new evidence, Gibbs." Ziva stated, not taking her eyes off of Tony. "The wife's alibi was not as tight as we were lead to believe."

There was a brief pause, in which Gibbs stared between his two field agents. "Well what are you waiting for Ziva? Bring her in!" Ziva quickly pushed out of her chair, pushing her Sig into its holster as she went. Gibbs watched as Tony let out a disheartened sigh, and he didn't bother to hide the smug smile that spread across his lips. Tony had suffered enough it would seem, may be now he would realize that the woman he had longed for, for some time, may not always be his partner. Gibbs had been hoping for a reaction, he'd been splitting them up on purpose and Tony seemed to get moodier each time this happened. "DiNozzo, go with her." He watched with satisfaction as Tony's face lit up with a bright smile.

Ziva chuckled, "Happy Tony?"

"Well yeah!" He stated, and he seemed excited about something. He seemed to catch himself and he stuttered out, "I mean we've finally got a lead on this case, who wouldn't be excited."

Gibbs sighed, it seemed like Anthony DiNozzo was going to need a bit more of a push.

END.

Uhm. Well this came from watching Season 4 and Season 5 and I noticed that Gibbs didn't seem to be putting Ziva and Tony together as often on missions. It didn't turn out the way I wanted, I think I needed to write this when it first came to me, instead of a month later, but I still kind of like it. That counts right? What about all of you? Did you enjoy it, or did you hate it?

QUESTION: When did you first start to ship TIVA? Or if you aren't quite a Tiva shipper, when did you first start shipping your NCIS OTP?

I can't quite say when I first came to ship TIVA. Years ago, I didn't actually watch NCIS [Sad concept I know, but I used to watch Veronica Mars which at one point was airing at the same time], I would only catch a few episodes here and there, and it would seem I have always shipped Tiva just because I caught glimpses of them before everything. Its hard to explain, but when I eventually became hooked on NCIS I went back and watched all the episodes and it seemed to me their spark was ever-present since that first moment in which they met. I've always loved them together. They just go together like crackers and cheese, or milk and cookies. They're meant to be, and you can't have one without the other. Well you can…but its just so much better when they're together. : D