Ziva studied her appearance in the small cosmetic mirror she kept in her desk. She'd managed to untangle all the twigs and leaves from her hair on the ride back from Manassas, but she ran her hand quickly over her head anyway. There were several small scratches on her face from crawling through the bushes, but she could ignore those. What she could not ignore was…
"Can I borrow that when you're done?" Tony's voice was soft; he was testing her mood.
"Sure." She snapped the mirror shut and lobbed it in the general direction of his desk.
He caught it easily. "You should be more careful. It's seven years bad luck to break a mirror. Of course with a little mirror like this you could probably get off light with just three." He laughed weakly and she refused to allow herself to look at him. The last thing she wanted right now was for him to grin at her and make everything okay; she was in the mood to stay mad for a while. He sighed and set the mirror on his desk without opening it. "I said I was sorry."
She touched her forehead self-consciously, running her fingers along the deep scratch over her left eyebrow. "I suppose I should have expected something like this."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"For two weeks you've been talking about exacting your revenge. 'Watch your back, Ziva.' 'I'm planning something special for you, Ziva.' I never anticipated this, but I suppose it was more of a spontaneous thing on your part." She jumped up as he shot out of his chair and over to her desk.
"You can't tell me that you honestly believe I tried to hurt you on purpose."
"I don't know," she said tentatively. She could already feel that she'd taken it too far, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. "Did you?"
He bent over her desk to the point of invading her space. "No. But don't make me wish I had."
She was having trouble reading him. She couldn't tell if he was being completely serious or just baiting her. She gritted her teeth as she leaned toward him. "Now I know you aren't so stupid as to be making serious threats."
"Gee, I don't know. You seem to think I'm stupid enough to intentionally cause you injury."
She narrowed her eyes and tried not to increase her respiration rate as they glared at each other. She didn't understand how he'd gotten her to let her guard down so much that she was able to get this angry with him. In a matter of less than a minute the situation had escalated from mild sniping to an all-out hostile confrontation from which neither would retreat. They stood at her desk, staring coldly across a space of less than a foot; they couldn't stay like this all night. She decided that since she'd started the latest round, she would end it. "Just because you didn't mean it doesn't mean it wasn't a shitty thing to do."
"I know. That's why I apologized, which is more than I can say for you."
She drew back slightly. "You almost put my eye out because I kicked you? Fine, I'm sorry I kicked you in the shin."
He leaned in further, negating the space she'd created. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Much as I appreciate that, I was actually referring to…"
"Huh. Last time I saw you two like this you were at Tony's desk." McGee stood at his desk, watching them with an oblivious smile on his face.
"Shut up, McGee," Ziva replied with far more venom than she'd intended. She sank into her chair as Tony backed away. Her anger dissipated as he got further from her. "Tim, I apologize," she said softly, turning toward his desk. "You didn't deserve that."
He looked up with a forgiving expression that was quickly replaced with one of surprise. "Oh…what happened to your, uh…" he trailed off as he gestured vaguely.
"I had a little accident."
"On the ride back with Gibbs? Is that three or four now for you?"
"At the crime scene, McGee. Why does everyone always associate my driving with bad things happening?" She looked pointedly at Tony, daring him to answer.
He gave her a half-smile. "I'll pretend that was a rhetorical question and go back to McGee's first line of query. Officer David was grievously wounded when my sinister revenge plot failed because I relied on a hedge instead of my Red Ryder BB gun."
"I'm not following."
Tony spared an incredulous look for McGee. "Tune in to TNT anytime on December 25 and you'll figure it out. Long story short, I snapped a branch in Ziva's face when we were climbing out of the hedge and now she thinks I was attempting to blind her as part of my elaborate payback scheme for the handcuff incident."
"An eye for six hours cuffed to your chair? Seems a little extreme."
"He wasn't actually trying to blind me, McGee."
Tony threw his hands up. "Thank you! I've been trying to tell her that all frickin' night." He swiveled his chair to face her. "Why is it the second he shows up you're all hugs and forgiveness?"
Ziva curled her lip faintly. "I wasn't mad because I thought you tried to put my eye out. I was mad because you almost did, regardless of intention. And there will be no hugging."
He had the good sense to look remorseful. "So…does that mean you're not mad anymore?"
"No. I'm only mildly annoyed now." She let her eyes flick in his direction and felt a small smile pull up the corners of her mouth. "Just don't ever do something like that again."
"No problem. When I do extract sweet vengeance, I promise I won't draw blood."
"And I promise not to break bones when I retaliate."
"No, then the score will be settled and we can go back to torturing McGee."
"Deal," Ziva agreed, causing McGee to look up in alarm.
His attention was almost immediately diverted by a series of beeps from his computer. "Guys, we've got a hit on the BOLO Abby put out on Sgt. Neal's SUV. It's been spotted in a staff parking lot at Georgetown University Hospital."
"Who called it in?" Gibbs appeared over the partition, startling the three agents.
McGee was the first to recover, reading from his screen, "Uh, looks like a campus security guard."
"Have him sit on the car until Tony and Ziva get there."
McGee watched them gather their gear. "We're not all going?"
"To peek in some windows and find out why it's there?"
"Well, if that car is our crime scene…"
"It's not."
"How can you be sure, boss?"
"Did the security guy say anything about broken windows or blood everywhere?"
"No, but I haven't actually talked to him yet." McGee picked up his phone and began to dial.
"You obviously haven't talked to Abby, either. She just called to tell me that the tires that made our tracks weren't from an SUV or truck."
Tony paused. "Then why are we still worried about Neal's vehicle?"
"Because he's dead and it's parked twenty miles away from where we found him, DiNozzo. Get going."
"Right, boss."
"Hold on."
"Gettin' a little confused here, boss."
Gibbs walked over to Tony and Ziva, placing a hand on a shoulder of each. "Did you two kiss and make up?"
"Absolutely not," Ziva answered instantly with a scandalized look.
"Well, you're not leaving until you do."
"Is that an order?"
"Yeah. You can bitch at each other all you want when you're going through cold cases, but I expect you to be professional during active investigations. So…" He waved his hands vaguely in a gesture of clearing the air.
"I hardly see how this would be considered professional…" she saw it was an argument she wasn't going to win, though she really couldn't see why Gibbs of all people would force her into this. "Fine," she huffed. She took a step toward Tony, rose to her tiptoes and placed a quick peck on his lips. Turning back to Gibbs, she asked, "Can we go now?"
He looked surprised, but nodded. She tried not to run to the elevator.
Tony remained rooted to a spot in front of his desk, a silly grin on his face. "If anybody explains to her that that was just an expression…" He seemed wake up as Gibbs smacked the back of his head. "On my way, boss."