Chapter 34: The Dance For All The Lovers
Disclaimer: Still nothing! I guess I shouldn't pay in advance for NCIS out of the back of a questionable comic book given to me by a rabid possum, huh?
Author's Note: This one is a better holiday present. It's long and fluffy...I think I just described the pillow that I'm laying on...well, the chapter isn't green and rectangular...wait...it is rectangular...but it's still not green.
"Hey," Tony sat up groggily and gently shook Ziva awake, "Hey, we need to get up."
She groaned and rolled over, away from him.
He smiled at her resistance, "Come on, Sweetcheeks, 's time to wake up."
She mumbled something and pulled a pillow over her head.
He walked over to her side of the bed and turned on the lamp and pointed it into her face.
"Tony," she groaned.
"Wakey-wakey," he half-sang.
She rolled over the other way.
"Alright, if this is how it has to be," he shrugged. He reached down onto the bed and scooped her up, pillow, blanket, and all.
"Tony!" she shrieked.
He laughed, "Awake now?"
"Yes! Yes, put me down! Now!"
He gently tossed her back onto the bed, she glared up at him and he laughed at her.
"Oh, come on. I didn't do anything too bad, you big baby," he teased.
She scrunched up her nose and mocked him again.
"You gonna go get ready?" he asked.
"Go ahead," she waved him off.
He went into the bathroom and got ready for the day; when he came out, she went in and did the same.
They finished packing and headed downstairs.
Using the lobby computer, they printed off their tickets. Then they checked out of their room.
It hadn't taken them quite as much time to get ready as they had thought, so they stopped and got breakfast. The breakfast wasn't quite as good as with Gladys, but it was fast food so they weren't really expecting it to be.
They got on the interstate, via an on-ramp much closer than the exit they had taken upon arrival in Searcy. Tony insisted that they stop and pull over at the Searcy sign and get a picture.
When they got back in the car, Ziva questioned him on this. He said that he always wanted to remember the city where they became a couple. She just laughed and told him that he was really cheesy. He insisted that he wasn't cheesy, he was sentimental. Ziva rolled her eyes.
He reached down and turned the radio on, it was still set to the same Top 40's station that he had tuned it too earlier.
Back to the place
Where we used to say
Man it feels good to feel this way
Now I know what I mean
He wasn't really disappointed to be going back to DC, but he wasn't homesick in any sense of the word. Usually, when he went on assignments like this, he started feeling homesick pretty soon.
He usually felt uncomfortable driving on strange streets through strange towns in a strange car, arriving at a strange hotel and making small talk with a strange clerk, then going upstairs to a strange room with a strange shower and a strange bed.
Travel usually threw him out of his comfort zone. Usually.
Back to the street, back to the place,
Back to the room where it all began, hey
Back to the room where it all began
'Cause it's nine in the afternoon
This time was different. He no longer cared where he was, as long as he had Ziva with him.
He was fully convinced that she was the love of his life, his soulmate, and he hoped that he would spend the rest of his life with her...maybe even have little baby ninjas...actually...that was a very scary thought. Maybe they would hold off on the ninja-babies for a while. Let him get used to the ninja-girlfriend first...ninja-girlfriend...that had a certain ring to it. It made him smile.
Your eyes are the size of the moon
You could 'cause you can so you do
We're feeling so good
Just the way that we do
She saw his weird grin and looked over at him, unable to keep his contagious smile from infecting her face as well. "What's so funny?"
He chuckled a little, "You're my ninja-girlfriend."
"And you're my dorky boyfriend. I don't see what's so funny."
"You're a ninja," he laughed, failing to understand why she couldn't find the humor.
"...At least that's what you call me. Technically, I believe to be a ninja you have to be a master of ninjitsu, which I am not. I am trained in krav maga...which is actually more lethal than ninjitsu."
"...No, no, no...you're missing the point. You are my ninja girlfriend. It's funny. Damn funny."
"...I still don't see how it's funny...Did you get enough sleep last night?"
"...Probably not."
"Ah..."
"I am totally sane."
"That is never true with you, Tony."
"Ha ha ha...I am not sleep-deprived- well- I mean, I am sleep deprived, but it is not effecting my cognitive-thinky-doo-da-majigger...you know..."
"...I think you should stop trying to defend yourself...You are only making it worse."
"Yeah, you're probably right."
'Cause if I got you
I don't need money
I don't need cars
Girl you're my heart
And oh, I'm into you and
Girl no one else would do
With every kiss and every hug
You make me fall in love
And now I know I can't be the only one
I bet there's hearts all over the world tonight
With the love of their life who feel
What I feel when I'm with you
He returned his focus to driving. He just couldn't understand why she didn't find that funny.
He wasn't that tired...was he?
Maybe it wasn't safe for him to be driving.
He glanced at Ziva and grimaced.
Given the options, his sleep-impaired driving didn't seem so bad.
He smiled again. They were going back home...well, his home and her adopted home.
They were going back as a couple.
He never thought that would happen. Sure he had hoped, but you know...Hope in one hand, poo in the other...
But this! This was legitimate! This was real! This was their new life...Their life in love...Their life together...
It had been easy the two days they had spent away from the team, away from work, as a couple. From here on, it would be work. They would have to deal with McGee's 'I told you so' taunts, Abby's squealing, and; worst of all; Gibbs's reprimanding for breaking Rule #12, and whatever the hell Ziva's father would do...God! Why can't these things be easy.
Unbeknown to Tony, across the console, Ziva was having almost identical thoughts. She ran all the possible scenarios of what her father could be predicted to do through her head. None of them ended in a pleasing manner.
She closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath.
Tony reached over and took her hand; he knew, through their special partner-mind-reading-mojo, that she was worried about their future.
He squeezed her hand and offered her a smile, "Hey. We'll get through whatever happens, together."
She couldn't help but smile when he said that last word, "Right."
He didn't let go of her hand, instead he moved it to the top of the console so that he could easily drive and hold on to her hand. She appreciated this action more than he realized.
If you are chilly, here take my sweater.
Your head is aching, I'll make it better.
She knew better than to think that Tony would abandon her if things got rough with her father. He had been through more than that for her as just her partner. Now they were in a relationship.
They would do anything for each other, that had been proven in the past.
Willing to take bullets for one another.
What would some harsh words be?
But what about lost jobs?
What about getting sent out of the country?
She began tensing up and he squeezed her hand again and whispered, "Don't worry."
Cause I love the way you call me baby.
And you take me the way I am.
When she heard his whisper, she relaxed.
She loved the way he could do that.
With two words he could calm her down. He could assure her that everything was going to be alright in something that was, grammatically, not even a complete sentence.
She envied that ability. She couldn't even calm herself down.
She loved everything about him.
I'd buy you Rogaine when you start losing all your hair.
Sew on patches to all you tear.
He smiled when he saw her relax and she smiled when she saw his smile.
They were in this together. Even if things turned ugly with Gibbs or with Ziva's father.
They were in it together. They were in love, above all else.
Cause I love you more than I could ever promise.
And you take me the way I am.
You take me the way I am.
Neither one questioned the fact that they were in love. Even though she was trained to conceal her emotions, it was written all over Ziva's face.
They knew they couldn't keep it a secret at NCIS for long, and they both knew that they should call Ziva's father at the earliest possible time...once they were fully prepared.
This is the dance for all the lovers
Takin' a chance for one another
They both knew that if Gibbs didn't approve, he could have the team separated. He could probably even find a way to have Tony fired.
Likewise, if Deputy Director David didn't approve, he could have Ziva sent back to Israel.
They both also knew that in the event that one or more of these things happened, they would remain together. Even if that meant immigrating to another country...Tony wasn't sure that he could grow accustomed to Israeli life, but if it meant he would be with his Ziva- actually, if Ziva's father disapproved and had Ziva sent back to Israel, it would probably be a better idea for her to become an American rather than him go to Israel. The U.S. is a much bigger country than Israel, with a whole lot more room to hide.
They could come back to Judson Hill, no one would find them there!
Finally it's our time now
These are the times that we'll remember
Breaking the city's heart together
Finally it's our time now
It's our time now
They would deal with what came up when it came up.
There was no sense worrying so much about the future that you failed to appreciate the present.
For now, they had no worries.
They were just a couple in a car driving down the interstate to the airport. On their way home after a pleasant working vacation.
They would worry when the time came for worrying.
This is more than just romance
It's an endless summer
I can feel the butterflies, leading me through it
Take my heart, I'll take your hand
As we're falling under
This is an addiction girl
Let's give in to it
But whatever happened in the future, they knew that they would make it through it together.
They arrived at the airport and Tony parked the car in the rental return lot and got their luggage out.
He insisted on carrying Ziva's bags for her.
They went up the escalators and through the overly extensive security.
While retying his shoes, Tony joked, "They aren't that thorough in DC. Hell! They aren't even that thorough at freakin' Gitmo!"
Ziva rolled her eyes and muttered, "Drama queen."
"Oh, yeah, you get that idiom right," he teased.
They continued on to their gate. They checked in and got their boarding passes, but they still had about an hour to wait.
The restaurants in the airport were beginning to open and the smell of coffee wafted through the terminal.
They found a stand and got coffee and Tony was looking around the concourse with a look similar to a patrolling meerkat. He gasped loudly and nearly dropped his coffee.
"Ziva! Ziva! Look! Look! Looklooklooklooklook!" he pointed manically to a stand that had just opened.
"What?"
"Ice cream! Can I get ice cream?! Can I?! Can I?! Can I?!" he practically bounced.
"You're an adult with money, I don't care what you do with it."
"Yay! I love you, Ziva!" he pulled her into a big, crushing hug.
By this point, several bystanders were watching. Some amused, some confused, some concerned.
"Tony!" Ziva hissed, "Put me down! People are staring at you!"
Tony obliged and then leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.
He skipped dramatically over to the Yarnell's Ice Cream stand; she rubbed her face and shook her head as she followed him.
His nose was practically pressed up against the glass as he read the names of the flavors half-aloud in a sort of rolling mumble. From time to time he would say, "Ooh!" or "Mmmm," but nothing more.
Finally, he stood up and announced, "I have narrowed my selection down to four choices."
"Yay," she said sarcastically.
"No, no, no, Ziva. As my girlfriend, you are now involved in all significant decisions in my life," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her over to the counter.
"Such as choosing a flavor of ice cream?"
"The most important decision of all," he smiled his million-dollar smile again.
She closed her eyes and sighed, "What flavors?"
He began pointing, "Black Walnut-"
"No."
"Cookies and Cream-"
"Sounds like a hooker name."
"I love you...Uh, how about Angel Food Vanilla?"
"As a hooker name?"
"...Never mind," he shook his head then told the, very amused, worker behind the counter, "I'll take two scoops of Woo Pig Chewy."
The worker gave Tony two scoops of some variety of chocolate ice cream with bits of other things in it, he paid and, much to Ziva's relief, they left.
They sat in seats facing the tarmac as Tony ate his ice cream and Ziva politely sipped her coffee as if she had forgotten the 'ice cream fiasco' as they would later refer to it.
"What's in that mess, anyway?" Ziva asked.
"It's chocolate ice cream with chunks of brownie and ribbons of brownie batter," Tony said in his best TV commercial announcer voice.
"That sounds both delicious and deadly."
"That's why I bought it."
"Why is it called that?"
"Woo Pig Chewy? It has something to do with football...don't ask me."
"I just did."
"Wow, is this small talk or is this small talk?" he laughed.
Their plane arrived and they lined up to board.
He noticed that she hesitated a bit at the entrance to the bridge, he grabbed he hand and squeezed it; then he stepped around her and led her onto the plane.
They sat down next to each other and he put his arm around her shoulders.
"We'll be okay. I love you. There's nothing that anybody in this world could do that would change that, okay?" he whispered in her ear.
She nodded stiffly.
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
She leaned up and gave him a light peck on the lips and whispered, "I love you, too."
A.N.: All fluffy! So fluffy! ...I'm talking about the pillow again, aren't I? DANG IT!
The songs were:
1,2,3- Nine in the Afternoon by Panic! At The Disco
4 – With You by Chris Brown
5, 6, 7,8 – The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson
9, 10, 11 – Our Time Now by Plain White T's
Do you remember Gladys? That was a throwback!
Yeah, I don't even know what was so funny about the ninja-girlfriend thing, and I wrote it!...It's too late at night for this...
Oh, the bit about going back to Judson Hill was the original sequel idea, but I scrapped that one.
I don't know if that's what you do when you can actually get a ticket on a plane. Because my uncle works for the airline, we fly nonrev...that's where you don't know if you're on the flight until the plane leaves the ground...because you don't technically have a ticket...
I really like writing for immature Tony...I think that would be cute.
Those are all my favorite flavors of Yarnell's Ice Cream, by the way...even if they do have hooker names.
The name for Woo Pig Chewy (part of a line of Arkansas Razorback themed ice creams including Slap Me Sooie, Pig Trail Mix [pretzels in ice cream? Gross!], Hog Wild for Cookie Dough [they were really reaching on that one], and Hog Heaven) comes from the infamous Arkansas cheer: calling the hogs. This occurs most often at Arkansas Razorbacks sporting events, but may occur wherever a decent sized group of Arkansans are gathered together.
It goes as follows:
1. Stretch out your arms in front of you and wiggle your fingers.
2. Slowly raise both hands (fingers still wiggling) while yelling "Woooooooo!"
3. When your hands are directly overhead, pull them down and clench them into fists and shout "Pig!" then pump one fist into the air and shout "Sooie!" (pronounced 'sue-E')
4. Repeat steps 1-3 two more times.
5. Immediately following the phrase "pig sooie" on the third round shout (still pumping your fist) "ARKANSAS!! RAZORBACKS!!"
6. Repeat until satisfied...or kicked out of wherever you happen to be at.
(There are several demonstrative videos of this on YouTube.)
Thanks for reading this longer than usual chapter. I think it turned out great, please review and tell me what you think.