Tony lets that word slip again. Just like the first time, he can't help it; Ziva is staying in his apartment, and if that won't cause an overwhelming feeling of domesticity, he doesn't know what will. It comes right out- "What do you want to watch, babe?"- and is followed by quiet. Total déjà vu. He has been facing the entertainment center and she is behind him, so he can't see her face. As he starts pounding it into his own head that she clearly doesn't like being called that, a tan arm appears around his torso. Ziva rests her forehead between his shoulder blades.

When she says, "I do not care," he is confused for several seconds before remembering that he did ask her a question. The DVDs are lined up in front of him, but he makes no move to take one. It's hard to concentrate on anything besides her body pressed up against his, especially because he isn't entirely sure what the gesture means. "Tony, I get… I am happy in this relationship. Just now, you asking that question… it felt… good to be the one it was directed at. I love it here. But I hate how the dynamic at work is changing."

Two weeks since they came clean to the team. Honeymoon period is over. Not that things with Gibbs were ever exactly blissful; really, it's their other relationships within the team that are beginning to evolve into something strange. McGee is uncomfortable around Tony and Ziva now. They have made a conscious effort to stay away from public displays of affection, so he has never seen them so much as hold hands, but he still will not look either of them in the eyes. Even Abby is acting differently now; she spent a couple days at NCIS, in the icy silence that is the norm for Team Gibbs' work environment now, and then adopted a less extreme version of McGee's avoidance. The only people who willingly acknowledge and seem pleased with the relationship are Ducky and Palmer- the former because that's how he is, and the latter most likely because he's in love himself.

Tony sighs and turns around. Her good arm, the one she'd had around him, drops to her side. "I don't like it, either."

"Will it go away?" she asks, and he can't figure out if it's a rhetorical question or not. "If we keep going to work and staying focused on our job, will the others get used to it?"

He looks down into her face. This is what she had feared in the first place, and she had obviously been right to. It might require a choice, she had said, and, I would choose you, he had replied. That hasn't changed; it's still the truth. It will always be the truth.

They just might have to make it known a little sooner than they'd hoped.

"I really don't know," Tony answers honestly, reaching up to caress her cheek.

Ziva leans into his touch. "All I want is to emerge from this with our team intact."

As much as he wants to say that they will, it's a promise he can't keep. So he gives her one that he can. "We'll deal with it."

0000000000

Later that evening, he finds himself at Ducky's house. The bag of groceries Ziva had sent him to get lays abandoned in the backseat of his car as he walks up to the front door and knocks. While he waits, he looks back toward the street and notices that Palmer's car isn't there. An entire minute passes and Ducky has not come to let him in. Tony, trying to squelch his worry, finds a spare key under a flower pot. Just as he is about to unlock the door himself, it opens, and there is the doctor.

"Ducky," Tony breathes out in relief, sliding the key back into its hiding place.

"I apologize for the delay, my dear boy. I don't move as quickly as I used to." He stands back to let Tony inside. "Where is Ziva?"

"My apartment. I went to the store. Didn't tell her I was coming here."

Ducky moves toward an armchair and slowly lowers himself into it. He really is much more fragile than before the heart attack. He used to have an air of youthfulness about him. Now, he really looks his age. It quickly becomes apparent, however, that he has not lost his perceptiveness. "Anthony, you look troubled. Have the two of you succumbed to the inevitable lover's spat?"

"No," Tony replies. They are still standing in the foyer, and there are no more places to sit, but he feels that he needs some sort of support. He ends up leaning against the stairs' banister. "No, that's actually not happened yet. Uh, I'm sure it will- I mean, it's me and Ziva- but so far, it's been really good."

"Oh," Ducky says, drawing out the word as if he's just had a revelation. "In that case, I'm guessing this visit has to do with Jethro?"

"Yeah."

"He is not particularly thrilled about this development, correct?"

With a bitter laugh, Tony confirms it. "Correct. Which we expected, but now he's rubbing off on McGee and Abby. I don't think they're intentionally doing it, but me and Ziva are kind of being frozen out."

Ducky ponders this for a second. Then: "I would not worry about Abigail and Timothy. They are most likely struggling to come to terms with the fact that their team has changed, but I do believe that this will pass. As for Jethro… he cares about both you and Ziva."

"I know he does. And I keep telling myself that, but I'm starting to have a really hard time seeing it. If he cares… shouldn't he want us to be happy?"

The older man leans forward as if he has great news to share. "There is no doubt in my mind that deep down, he is cheering for you and Ziva."

"Very deep down," Tony can't help adding.

Ducky looks amused. "No matter the depth, it has been buried."

"Under what?"

"There is a multitude of possibilities. Perhaps a protective instinct?"

The banister is digging into Tony's back. He stands, stretches, hears his bones pop. Considers what Ducky has told him. "He's being an unsupportive asshole because he's trying to protect us from ourselves."

"Eloquent you are not, Anthony. But yes, I suppose that could be it."

A little bit of his annoyance with his boss morphs into understanding. "In a way, I kind of see it," Tony says. "We are the king and queen of screwed up relationships. It makes sense that the two of us being in one together would result in World War III."

Leveling his gaze at the agent, Ducky asks, "Do you think it will?"

He thinks of Ziva. He thinks about everything he sees her do in a day- channel surf, read a book, make dinner, brush her hair- and the fact that he loves watching her. He thinks of her sleeping in his arms and the way she kisses him and how often she smiles lately.

Meeting Ducky's eyes, he says, "I'm gonna do everything in my power to prevent it."

Hola. :D

You don't wanna miss the next chapter.

Just sayin'.