"Ziva?"

She shifted slightly but didn't respond. She didn't want to respond. She was cosy and comfy and she would very much like to remain asleep.

"Mmm."

"Ziiivaaaa."

Why was he continuing with this? Could he not see that she did not want to talk or even be awake? Ziva opened her eyes, glaring blearily at him. Tony's amused face filled her vision. Something she did not appreciate.

"You good?"

A whine escaped her as she curled tighter into herself. Couldn't he just leave her alone? And why did he sound so amused? She did not appreciate that. She was not funny! She was supposed to be scary. Intimidating.

"Comfy?"

An incomprehensible mutter was all the reply she gave him. He chuckled and petted her on the head but she couldn't bring herself to care. This was much better. Warm. And moving would mean losing this heat. No. She was going to stay right here and not move. She would always be able to get Tony later.

"Did it work?" That was Abby.

How many people were in here anyway? Couldn't they see that she was trying to sleep? All they had to do was leave her alone and she would be fine. Really.

"A little too well."

What did they mean about something working too well? Didn't something simply work or it didn't?

"Ah."

Silence. Glorious silence. But Ziva couldn't go back to sleep because she could feel them staring at her. She did not appreciate being stared at.

"Go 'way," she complained, rolling over so she could bury her head further into the sofa.

She didn't sound nearly as intimidating as she wanted to but she really could not bring herself to care. Sleep. Why would they not just let her sleep?

Sleep. She just wanted to sleep. That shouldn't be this hard to achieve.

"It needs to be re-microwaved." Tony said.

Ziva grunted. Not really caring that it was not warm anynore. She was not moving and that was that.

"So?" Abby asked.

"Do you want to be the one to get it off her?"
There was a pause and then she assumed Abby shook her head because Tony said, "I thought so," in a very satisfied sort of voice

They were all talking too much. Why could they not just shut up? They were lucky she was tired or there was no telling what she would do. But, then again, if she was not tired then she would not be this grumpy.

Ziva growled at them and clutched the teddy heat pack closer. No one was taking this off her. No one.

Tony watched with Abby as Ziva's breathing eventually even out and her face relaxed. Finally. He had started to get impatient. Normally it didn't take her that long to get to sleep - her body used to grabbing what rest it could, when it could - but he supposed that he and Abby talking hadn't helped.

"Is she asleep?" Abby asked in a whisper.

He nodded, putting a finger to his lips and gesturing that they should go over to the kitchen. There they could hopefully talk (quietly) without disturbing his partner.
Ziva chose this moment to start snoring. Loudly. Which was really the only way she snored, let's be honest. They both jumped.

"Wow, she really is loud," Abby said with wide eyes.

Tony chuckled. This wasn't even the loudest Ziva's snoring got. Which was interesting considering she had a cold so he thought her snoring would have been worse. She never did act the way she was expected to, even when asleep.

"She is, isn't she?" He said fondly, pointedly ignoring the look Abby was sending him in favour of watching his partner sleep.

There was something a lot... softer about her when she was sleeping. She was peaceful. There was no mask. She actually looked her age. It was odd... in a good way.

"So, now do we try?" Abby asked, craving her neck to see if Ziva had moved.

She hadn't. She really was sound asleep. Tony shook his head.

"I really don't think it's a good idea."

"But it's bound to be going cold by now and she needs to stay warm."

"I know that and keep it down."

Abby had gone back to a normal volume in her enthusiasm.

"We need a plan," she told him.

"I'm aware. I'm all ears."

"Oh, I don't have a plan. I was just saying that we need one."

Well, that was obvious. And unhelpful. Tony sighed loudly. What were they supposed to do now? They were trying to get something from a ninja. To be exact, they were trying to get something that a ninja was holding very close to her. Yeah, they werent going to get it.

Suddenly, Abby thumped him on the arm.

"Ow!"

"No negative thoughts! We can do this!"

"I didn't say anything!"

"You were thinking it!"

Well, he couldn't deny that. Still, she hadn't needed to hit him!

"So, a plan," he said, not wanting to get off track.

"A good one," Abby agreed with a nod.

They both looked over to Ziva who considerately gave them another loud snore. Good. She was still asleep.

"I have no clue," Tony said.

"Yeah, me neither."

Later, Tony and Abby wouldn't be able to tell you how they had managed it but they did it. They had extracted the heat pack from Ziva's grasp. It had been a fiddly, delicate operation that had nearly failed multiple times. Ziva had almost woken up twice. She actually held it even closer to her, if that was even possible. And then she had rolled on top of it!
All had seemed futile but eventually they had got their chance and they had snatched it. Literally.

There was now only one problem. A rather big one.

There was one thing neither of them took into consideration when celebrating their victory in retrieving the heat pack. And that was the fact that microwaves made noises. Espeically when they were done. And Tony knew from experience that it didn't take a lot of noise to wake Ziva up.

Now what were they supposed to do?