Tony and Ziva walked down the dimly lit hallway. "Apartment 4B." Ziva murmured, as they glanced at the door numbers. "Apartment 4B."

"Have you realized that Gibbs is becoming nice?" Tony mused, as he passed another door. Ziva did not look up at him.

"Yes. For one, he did not throw away the coffee you bought." Ziva said, as they continued their walk. The hallway had cream-colored walls, and the overhead lamps were switched off.

"And he did not give us a huge reprimanding for…yesterday." Tony replied. "Maybe age affects his temper." Tony looked back, suddenly.

"What?" Ziva asked, looking back too. Tony shook his head.

"Nothing. Just instinct. Just that it feels like every time I say something bad about him behind his back, I can feel him-"

"Behind you?" Ziva completed. Tony nodded.

"Yeah." He said. "Gibbs was like this when Kate died. Offered to buy coffee for McGee and me. Called McGee ' Tim'."

"Apartment 4B." Ziva said, stopping. Tony pulled out a skeleton key. From inside, there was a crash, and Tony and Ziva exchanged looks. 'one, two, three' Tony mouthed, and kicked the door in with a crash. Ziva zipped in, sweeping her gun in an arc, Tony right behind her. Shouts of 'clear!' rang through the apartment.

"Tony!" Ziva yelled. Tony entered the bedroom, a plain room with the usual dresser, wardrobe, and of course, bed. Ziva was staring at the mirror in the bathroom. Five red lines were drawn across it. Fingers. Tony made a face.

"Yikes. I'm calling Gibbs." He pulled out his cell phone, and speed dialed. "Hey Boss. I think you need to see this." He paused. "Yes Boss. On it." He flipped the phone shut, and noticed something. "Mm. Ziva?" he said. Ziva looked at him.

"What?" she asked. Tony pointed at her shoes, which were on little puddles of blood, almost drops. "Oh!" she exclaimed, and briefly swore.

"Don't move!" Tony said. Ziva growled impatiently. "Hey! I didn't steal your bone or something! It's not my fault!"

"Tony!" she retorted. "I am NOT going to stand here forever!" Tony smirked.

"Do you good to, little miss sunshine. You need more patience. Way more patience." He said. Ziva glared at him,

"Tony. How do you think Gibbs is going to react if he sees me standing in here?" she snapped. "And that you did not do anything about it?" Tony thought about it.

"Good point." He said. Tony brainstormed about it for a moment, and suddenly thought of one. Oh no. No, no, no, no. He thought. There must be another way. He thought harder, squinting.

"I'm not getting any younger here." Ziva remarked. "Gibbs isn't getting any further away either."

"Wait!" Tony said, mind working furiously. There must be another way. About a minute or two, he gave. "Okay. There is a way. Remove your shoes, and I'll carry you out." Ziva stared at him, as though he had suddenly grown an extra eye.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Do I look like I am?" he asked, looking at her gravely. "Fine. Then you can stay in here. I'll let Gibbs find you himself." He said casually, and turned for the door. Ziva's face changed instantly.

"Okay! Okay, whatever!" she said, and began to slip off her shoes, slowly, and carefully. Tony peeled off his own designer shoes, and pulled latex gloves over his socks. He stepped onto the bath mat gingerly, and lifted Ziva out of her shoes like one would to a small child. "Tony?"

"What?" Tony grunted.

Harder than I thought. Raced though his mind.

"Don't move, there's a spider on the back of your neck. Do not drop me or move suddenly. Or I. will. kill. you." Ziva said slowly. Tony let out a muffled shriek. "Don't. I'm gonna get it off, so .move. Got it?"

"Yeah, got it." Tony forced through clenched teeth, trying to keep as still as possible. At least it wasn't a rat. Ziva leaned over to the grab a piece of paper from the sink top, and started to scoop the spider off Tony's neck.

"You guys having fun?" Gibbs' voice suddenly said, from the bedroom. Tony turned, Ziva still in his arms, legs around his waist, still holding the spider. McGee smirked, choking back a laugh, and snapped a candid picture of the two.

"This is so not what it looks like, boss." Tony said, shaking his head. "I would never break rule number twelve. Ever." (Author's note. Gibbs' rule number 12: Never date a coworker.)

"Ziva. Get off DiNozzo." Gibbs ordered. "DiNozzo. Put on your shoes. What are those latex gloves doing on your feet? Ziva, where are your shoes?"

"Um.." Ziva said, exchanging looks with Tony.

"It's a long story, boss." Tony answered. "Very long." Ziva nodded an agreement. She slid off Tony, who reached down to pull the latex gloves off his socks, and slipped them into his shoes.

"We have all the time in the world, DiNozzo, David." Gibbs said, shrugging. "Go on, I hope you have a very good reason for what I saw just now." Tony sighed.

"Ziva and I heard something inside, we went in. Ziva rushed into the bathroom, stepped into puddles of blood. The only way to get her out without destroying the scene was to carry her out." Tony said. "That's my reason."

"That's basically everything in three sentences." Ziva said. The tips of Gibbs' lips turned up slightly.

"So that's it?" he asked. Tony and Ziva nodded. "Okay. Story telling's over. Get back to work. Ziva.."

"My shoes are evidence." She offered, with a nod. Gibbs raised an eyebrow at her and she nodded. She stood in her socks, thinking. Gibbs turned.

"DiNozzo, drive Ziva back to the office to get her shoes, then-"

"Go to the other house then visit the next-of-kins. On it, boss." Tony said. McGee turned.

"How's Tony going to get Ziva to the car?" he asked. Tony and Ziva spun to face him, stunned. Gibbs smiled, tilting his head slightly at them.

"Aw. You know what that means." McGee added. Tony blanched.

"Oh no, boss. No." he protested.

"Gibbs! No!" Ziva argued at the same time.

"Wait a second, which means that Tony has to carry Ziva into the office too." McGee said. Tony glared at him.

"Or, I can leave Ziva in the car and get her boots, McGee." He snapped. "There's more than one way to solve every problem, McNarrowMinded."

"Suit yourself." McGee said, shrugging. "Well, you still have to get her to the car." He said. Tony glowered at him.

"DiNozzo. Stop the talking and go." Gibbs said, slightly annoyed, bored and impatient all at the same time. Tony was familiar with that look, having been on the wrong side of it more than once. He picked up the latex gloves, and stuffed them into his pockets, and gave Ziva a knowing look that she caught. "Mount." Gibbs said, all of a sudden.

Tony and Ziva exchanged worried looks, the worry more from Tony, but a harsh look from their boss made them obey. Tony lifted Ziva with a grunt, and headed out of the door. Gibbs followed them, heading down the corridor and steps, and was waiting by the door, which he opened for the two agents.

"Thanks boss." Tony said, as he lowered Ziva into the front passenger seat. He straightened his arms, and they cracked. "Ow… Oh that feels good. You're heavy, Ziva." He said, slipping into the driver's seat, and was greeted by a blow to the shoulder.

"Hey! I did not call you fat! I was just saying that you are…" Ziva stared at him icily, daring him to go on. "Um… Muscular! Yeah!" Gibbs, still standing by the car, rapped on Tony's window.

"DiNozzo! You gonna stay here and chit chat all day?" Tony looked at him blankly, realized, nodded dumbly, and pulled off from the curb. Ziva chuckled smugly, as Tony sighed. The world was just so unfair to him.

A/N I ship Tiva really hard so writing this chapter was pretty fun for me when I wrote this story, and so I really hope you liked this, do tell me what you thought in a review :) Thanks for reading, and do favorite/follow!

-Eliza:)