I wanna say thanks to all of you who reviewed. Seems you all like this story so far and i hope i dont disappoint with this chapter. I dont think it's that great but then again I wrote it at 2 in the morning after a night at the bar so, sorry.
A/N: Dont own any of NCIS.
The door to the apartment slammed shut. The coat and backpack were thrown into a corner unceremoniously. Shoes were kicked off down the hall. Ziva leaned against the door to her apartment and slid down until she was resting on the ground. She was lightly banging the back of her head against the door.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid woman." She said to herself. Her mind raced with thoughts. "He kissed you, he kissed you and basically admitted that he was in love with you. And what do you do? You stand there like an invalid." She thought angrily to herself.
But what else should she have done? Her mind raced with different ideas on how she could have or should have handled the situation but she kept coming to the same conclusion…I have no idea.
Should I be angry? Should I be happy? A thought popped into her head at that time and she let out an audible groan into the silence of the apartment. Things are forever going to be different now no matter what. He had finally stepped over that invisible line that they had kept in place for years. The flirting the banter the veiled threats were all in place and as long as they hid behind them they knew where they stood with each other. But now that he had pretty much ran over the line, walked back to it, stomped on it a few times, then continued running how was this going to affect them?
Her mind drifted back to the conversation she and Tony had had that started this whole mess.
She was sitting at her desk looking over some case files. The bullpen was quiet which either meant that Tony wasn't there or he was actually working. She cast a quick glance in his direction noticing that he turned his head quickly towards his computer.
She kept looking at him until he turned his head back towards her and he smiled knowing that he had been caught. "Yes Tony? Can I help you with something?" She asked. His smile got bigger as he asked, "Why do you ask, Officer David?" She replied, "Well you keep looking at me every five minutes. Is there something on my face?" She wiped her hand across her face wondering if any lunch was still present.
He chuckled and said, "No, your face is good." She picked up the case report again and looked back at him. "Well then?" He looked thoughtful for a moment then said, "Oh nothing. Hey what you doing tonight David?"
She looked at him curiously, "Why do you ask, Tony?" He shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "Just making conversation." She smirked and thought of the best way to torture him. She replied, "I have a very special evening planned, Tony. Wine, candles, and a man that I am beginning to enjoy curled up on my couch together."
As she described her evening Tony got a look on his face she had not seen before as he asked, "Who's the lucky guy, Ziva?" She smiled a dazzling smile and said, "Samuel Clemens. I did not like him at first but now I find him very…enjoyable."
Tony looked crestfallen until he heard McGee chuckling to himself. Now his ire was directed towards him. "And just what is so funny McGeek?" He snapped out at the younger agent. McGee just shook his head and turned towards Ziva. "Don't worry Ziva. I find him just as enjoyable."
Tony shot an exasperated glance between Ziva and McGee. Ziva began to chuckle to herself at Tony obvious lack of knowledge of American Literature. Finally she stopped her laughing at Tony's ignorance and decided that she would just tell him so he would quit pouting. "Samuel Clemens is best known as Mark Twain, Tony. Abby gave me one of his books and that is my plan for the evening. Reading." She said while still smiling at Tony.
He held up his hand in defeat, "Yeah, yeah, okay you got me." They all returned back to their work. A few moments later Tony asked Ziva, "So, let me get this straight. It's Friday night and we have the whole weekend off for a change, and your going to spend it reading?"
She shrugged her shoulders and looked back to the case report in her hand while she asked, "What else should I be doing, Tony?" He thought for a moment and a large smile graced his face as he said, "Well you could go out on the town with a devilishly handsome charming rogue like me."
She chuckled to herself and replied, "Thank you but no. I prefer my men to be a little more mature and sophisticated. Not a perpetual sixteen year old trapped in a mans body."
Gibbs came into the bullpen and said, "Come on, Abby's got something for us." He continued walking towards the elevator while everyone rushed to join him.
Tony didn't say a word that wasn't case related the rest of the night.
She got up off the floor and slowly walked to her bedroom. She was exhausted and all she wanted to do was sleep but her mind wouldn't let her. She stripped down and walked into her adjoining bathroom and started the shower. She put her hand into the stream of spraying water testing the heat of it. Satisfied it was hot enough to endure but not burn her she slowly stepped into the tub and into the spraying water. She took a quick breath in at the shock of the hot water on her body. She quickly washed and rinsed her body and hair and then stood under the hot deluge hoping that it would relax her enough to sleep. She stood there for a good twenty minutes until the water had turned from excessive heat to lukewarm.
She turned off the water and quickly dried herself with a towel from the rack and wrapped another one around her hair. She made her way to the bedroom and put on a pair of boy shorts and an old NCIS T-shirt.
She took the towel from around her head and dried her hair as best she could before throwing the towel in to the hamper by the bathroom door. She pulled the covers back on the bed and slide into the cool sheets.
She was more relaxed lying in bed but her mind still whirled at the enormity of Tony's confession. She looked at her clock and sighed when she noticed the time. "No run for me today." She said to herself. She reset the alarm on the clock for a seven a.m.
Her exhaustion was finally getting the best of her and she started falling into a fitful sleep. The last thought that ran through her mind was, "Do I like him too?"
Next morning 8:58 a.m.
Tony was pacing in the elevator. He had only had two hours of sleep and he knew he looked like crap but he was anxious. He knew Ziva would be acting differently today and he wondered exactly how different it was going to be. He thought to himself that he never should have opened his mouth about the whole thing. But she had him cornered and he didn't want to lie to her, not anymore.
He had thought and rethought everything that happened last night until the wee hours of the morning and had come up with the conclusion that the ball was in her court. He said what he said and now had to deal with the ramifications that were undoubtedly to come.
When he finally did fall to sleep he was awoken by the image of the girls eyes in his mind. Those two orbs piercing into his own. He lay there for an hour after that trying to remember the last time he slept without having any nightmares. He realized the only time since the bombing was when he and Ziva slept in Abby's lab. That had a lot of implications that he didn't want to think about at the moment.
But not only was he nervous about Ziva but the information he uncovered the night before might lead them to somewhere. With a new name came new leads to follow. And even though he was worried about Ziva's reaction to his confession, the case was still a top priority for him.
The elevator opened and he quickly walked into the bullpen. He noticed that neither Ziva nor McGee were at their desks. He wondered if they were late or if they had come in gotten a lead and left again. He threw his backpack into the corner and placed his firearm into the top left drawer of his desk. Turning on his computer he sat down and looked at the stack of papers on his desk.
Gibbs came down the stairs and walked into the bullpen walking by Tony's desk towards his own. "Got anything yet DiNozzo?" he asked as he sat down in his chair. "Umm…I just got in Boss but…no. Not yet." He replied as the older man stared him down. A second or two passed until Tony asked, "Umm Boss? Am I late or early? Where is Ziva and McGee?"
As soon as he finished uttering those words the elevator opened revealing McGee and Ziva walking hurriedly towards the bullpen. When Ziva saw Tony she seemed to hesitate then continued her trek towards her desk. When she was seated she looked up over at Tony and he didn't know what to do so he just smiled his most dazzling smile. She gave a weak smile back and turned to her computer.
The morning past without much conversation which Tony and Ziva were both happy about. McGee was doing searches of Ryan Johnson's alias when he uncovered something. "Boss, I got something." He said loudly so everyone could hear. "This is really big boss." Gibbs stood from his desk and stood behind McGee leaning over his back looking at the computer screen. "What you got McGee?"
McGee began, "I was checking on Johnson's alias and I got a major hit. NCIS has two open cases that have his name attached." He stood and walked to the plasma by his desk and pressed the clicker with Gibbs following and Tony and Ziva joining them. File reports and pictures appeared on the screen. McGee continued, "Seems Johnson's name came up while agents were investigating an arms dealer out of England. The second case is the bigee. His name is brought up in a homegrown terrorist cell called Islamic Dawn." He paused for a moment then finished with, "And boss. Agent Shaw was investigating the terrorist cell and Alonzo and Hallsten were after the arms dealer."
Gibbs took in the information and took a step back. Three of the four agents who died all had Johnson under suspicion for something and now all three of them were dead. Now we know why they were targeted. He needed more information on the files of the fallen agents. He started walking towards the stairs and he declared angrily, "I want all the information you three can get on both those reports and Johnson by the time I get back!" And with that he climbed the stairs to MTAC.
Two hours later
Gibbs stormed back into the bullpen yelling, "DiNozzo what you got?" Tony stood up quickly at his boss's words and began reciting the info that he had uncovered. He said, "Oh your gonna love this boss, Islamic Dawn founded three years ago by a group of ex-cons who converted to Islam in prison just like Johnson. Started out as an advocacy group to stop the war in Iraq. Guess they got tired of no one listening to them though boss and they are suspected in four deaths of American soldiers in the last two years. From what I can get from Shaw's files she thought they might be planning something a little bit bigger than a few American soldiers boss."
"Like what DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked irritably. "Um…not sure boss. No clear indications but in her notes she said that Alonzo and Hallsten might be able to help her uncover some more. I'm thinking that Johnson was the go between for Hallsten and Alonzo's arms dealer and Shaw's cell. I mean it makes sense."
Gibbs nodded in Tony's direction then turned his attention to Ziva, "Ziva?" She straightened in her chair and began; "Hallsten and Alonzo were working on an arms dealer codenamed Bulldog." Tony chuckled at this and said, "Jeez, do all arms dealers have stupid code names?" Gibbs glared at him and Tony said, "Shutting up boss." Gibbs smirked and nodded for Ziva to continue. "From what they could gather Bulldog is working out of London and is responsible for equipping insurgents in Iraq as well as militia's all throughout Africa. The name Muhammed Al Shaleed came up as a possible buyer."
She continued, "I believe Tony is correct." She glanced at Tony then back to Gibbs. "Johnson must have been the go between for the two groups. But my question is who ordered the deaths the dealer or did the cell just take it upon themselves?" she asked.
"Not just that Ziva." McGee piped up and all heads turned to look at him. "How did either know exactly who was investigating them?" He asked.
"Someone told em McGee." Gibbs said as he stormed back to his desk. "McGee you got an address and phone number for Johnson's alias?" McGee nodded. "Good, get Balboa and Jensens teams doing surveillance on both. I wanna know where he goes, how he goes, and why he goes. Gets taps on his phone too." McGee nodded and picked up his phone. "Tony, Ziva. I want you on the arms dealer. Find everything you can. I don't care who you have to call to do it. FBI, CIA I don't care. Just get me something." Tony and Ziva both sat at their desks and began working quickly.