Another new chapter! Three in a week, a new record, that's a new record for me. Much credit and thanks to AliyahNCIS for being my beta.

Don't Answer

The panther is like a leopard,/Except it hasn't been peppered./If you behold a panther crouch,/Prepare to say Ouch./Better yet, if called by a panther,/Don't answer.

Anthony D. DiNozzo had decided long ago that it was a good thing he owned his own apartment. It was also a good thing that when the team gathered at someone's home, it was usually Gibbs' place. Most of the time there was no reason for anyone from NCIS to visit his humble abode. Since he was hardly there, this was a very good thing. He went back now and again if he needed something, or to clean out the mailbox, or to just be by himself. Occasionally he and Ziva would go back to spend sometime where they had first truly connected, during the summer he had led the team. They had also spent time at her apartment that Gibbs-less stretch of months, but that apartment was no more, so it was his old one they visited.

This was one such night. After they had been released for the night, she had gone home first and met him at the door with a DVD, pizza and told him they were going to his place this time. His old TV was still there, but not hooked up to cable. They had a nicer TV in their apartment, but this one worked just fine. They were watching a classic, one they both enjoyed, and were cuddled together on his sofa. An empty bowl of popcorn sat on the coffee table next to a greasy pizza box with a few crusts and half a slice of pizza. His arm was around her waist; her head lay on his shoulder. His feet were propped up on the table; her feet resting on top of his. He was relaxed and happy. He was with Ziva, they had just had some of his favorite junk food and they were watching one the best movies of all time. What could go wrong?

It was the car lights that first alerted them to trouble. They washed across his living room windows, creating strange patterns on the wall. The lights were followed by the sound of the car stopping, the engine dying and the lights turning off.

Ziva sat up, untangling herself from him. "What should we do?" she hissed at him.

"Go hide in the bathroom. If it's someone not from work, you can come back out," he whispered back.

"Why do I have to hide? What if it is someone from work?" she asked as she got to her feet.

"You have to hide so I can keep my head! We'll figure it out. Go!" he said, standing too and giving her a little shove in the direction of the bathroom. The glare he got in return said quite clearly that under normal circumstances he would have paid dearly for that. She went regardless, and Tony returned to his seat on the couch to wait for the doorbell to ring, the apprehension growing with every second that passed.

Finally, the bell rang. Tony got back to his feet and walked to the door, hoping the person on the other side wasn't Abby…or worse, Gibbs. When he looked through the peephole and saw none other than Palmer, he breathed a sigh of relief. He opened his front door, and before he could even ask why the Autopsy Gremlin was there, Palmer began to speak.

"Uh…hi, Tony. You umm…forgot these at work…" Palmer lifted his left hand, which held an object which looked suspiciously like a pair of Tony's rolled up socks. "I found them underneath your desk. I wasn't snooping, I promise! I just needed to check one of the files from the filing cabinet and they were right there, so I brought them over…"

"Couldn't this have waited until morning, Palmer?" Tony asked, annoyance spilling into his voice.

"I suppose so, but I was in the neighborhood so I stopped over…did I interrupt something?" Palmer asked.

"No," Tony lied, and then said, "Can I have my socks so you can leave and I can go back to enjoying my night off?" Palmer handed over the socks, and Tony gave a sarcastic wave goodbye before turning around and shutting the door behind him. He walked back toward the couch, calling to Ziva that they were clear. "How did these socks end up under my desk anyway?" he mumbled to himself.

"How did what end up under your desk?" Ziva asked as she settled herself back into her place next to him.

"Don't ask." Tony replied.

He was awakened by a slap to the back of his head. He turned his head to see Gibbs standing beside the couch where Tony lay, Ziva still asleep on his chest. Gibbs stared down at them, eyes and face expressionless, clearly waiting for an explanation.

"Uh…hi Boss. If I may ask, what are you doing in my living room?" Tony whispered, trying not to wake the sleeping Ziva.

"Case. Tried to call, no answer. On either phone. You gave me the key," Gibbs answered in his normal fragments.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"Ya think, Dinozzo?"

"I plead the 18th."

"I think you mean the 5th."

"No, I mean the 18th. 'It is better to seek forgiveness than permission'"

Gibbs actually smiled a bit at that, and it gave Tony the courage to go on. "She means the world to me, Boss. When I thought she was gone, when we went to Africa, I didn't plan on coming back. But seeing her alive gave me the will to come home. I love her."

"Okay."

"'Cause I know you have Rule 12 for a reason and I know it's because of you and Jenny and I promise it will be different with Ziva and I and…" Tony babbled, nervous, not hearing Gibbs' answer.

"Tony, I said 'Okay'. Just keep it out of the office," Gibbs interrupted.

"Really Boss?"

"Really."

Ziva had slept through it all, snuggled against Tony's chest, oblivious to the presence of their boss and the crisis that had just been averted. Tony relaxed, hardly able to believe that after all this time, Gibbs knew and they both still had their jobs.

"Thanks. By the way, I asked her to marry me," Tony added, trying to gauge the older man's reaction.

"Well, what did she say?"

"She said yes." The joy at that pronouncement was quiet in the Senior Field Agent's voice, but it was there, and neither man had any doubt of the sincerity of Tony's feelings for the woman asleep on his chest.

"How did it happen?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, Boss, you see…"

"Don't answer."

The panther is like a leopard,/Except it hasn't been peppered./If you behold a panther crouch,/Prepare to say Ouch./Better yet, if called by a panther,/Don't answer.

And thus, this one-shot ends. Gibbs knows and no one lost their heads!

This was inspired by Eric Whitacre, a new car, and a cool fall evening.

-The Lady Grace