VerityFrancesB made me do it all.

I do not own NCIS or any part thereof.

Here for the Party

-6-

She lay on top of Tony not moving for a minute or two. He put his arms around her and held her tight. She hoped it was not in fear of what else she might do to him. She felt the scratchy material of his shirt under her cheek. His breath ruffled her hair. The thick salty smell of him, of them, of their joining filled the air around her. She heard the rapid beat of his heart slowing down to its normal rhythm. She hid her face in his chest not wanting to face the reality of what she had done to him, what she had done to their partnership and to the team.

Tony held her close. He tangled one of his hands in her soft hair, rubbing it between his fingers, loving the texture of it. He could lay like this all night with Ziva's body weighing his down. Although he didn't think it fair she was naked and he still had all his clothes on, more or less.

He had no idea what had set her off, what had triggered her anger at him but he meant to find out. Without a doubt, the last few minutes had been one of the most exciting, intense sexual experiences of his life but having Ziva get so angry at him didn't seem like a smart idea, no matter how good the sex. He was worried about her, his partner. He maybe didn't show it often but he cared for her; she was one of the best parts of his life, maybe the best part.

When she made to stand up he didn't attempt to stop her. He raised up on his elbows and tried to see her face but she wouldn't look at him. She gathered some clothes from her dresser and went straight into the bathroom. Lying back down he put one arm across his eyes. He could still feel her, smell her own distinct woman's scent on his hands, his body. After a few moments he stood up and fixed his clothing. He felt more in control with his pants zipped.

Ziva came out of the bathroom dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt and stood in front of him, still refusing to look him in the face. In her hands she held her holstered gun and her badge. Finally, after what seemed an eternity of him looking down at her and her looking at the floor, she raised her head and he could see she had been crying.

"Do you want to call the police or shall I?" she said her voice steady.

"What?"

"I will do it then."

She walked over to the bedside table and reached down to her cell phone. Tony took two strides toward her and put his hand on top of hers.

"What the hell are you doing?"

She wouldn't look at him still.

"I committed a crime, yes? Against someone who trusted me to have his back. We must call the police and let them arrest me."

"You are crazy, Ziva, if you think I'm going to call the cops and prefer charges against you. Crazy!"

Finally she looked him in the eyes with the familiar little frown lines forming between her brows.

"Tony, I committed a crime. I am a criminal. I can no longer be your partner or work at NCIS. Mossad may even turn me away after I get out of jail. You are someone I am supposed to protect even at the cost of my life and I…I did what I did to you."

She took a deep breath.

"I am sorry, Tony. I am so sorry."

She turned back to the phone again.

"Wait! You don't need to apologize. You don't need to turn yourself in, for Gods' sake. What you did, well, it was actually kind of spectacular."

He leaned his head toward hers, getting close enough to feel her breath on his mouth.

"Really spectacular, Ziva," he whispered. "In fact, it may well have been the best sex I've ever had in my life."

He smiled and moved even closer to her, gently rubbing her lips with his then pressing harder and pulled her to him. Her lips opened to him but he noticed she stood rigid in his arms. He ended the kiss but left his arms around her.

"Ziva?"

She looked at his chest, not meeting his eyes again.

"So this made you happy? Finally we have had sex and now you can mark one more chore as done and move onto the next woman in your sights?"

"You are absolutely not making any sense, Ziva. None, nil, nada, zilch. No sense."

Tony's cell phone rang. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled it out.

"It's McGee," he said.

Then his eyes widened.

"Crap! We're supposed to be at the dead guy's apartment. Gibbs is going to kill us!"

He turned away from her and flipped open his phone.

"Yeah, yeah, McGadfly. We had a flat tire. We'll be there in five minutes."

He turned back to Ziva but she walked past him and out of the bedroom. She picked up her backpack and her NCIS jacket and opened the front door. Not looking at him she said, "I will meet you there."

As she closed the door he stared after her.

Tony didn't move. He knew he had done something wrong somewhere but for the life of him he couldn't figure it out. Shaking his head he left Ziva's place. Worried and concerned and maybe getting the least bit angry he got in his car and left to join his partner at Seaman Jacobs' home.