Cracked wall
*Contains sweary words*
"We could do this all day you know." Tony clicked the cuffs around the man's thick wrists as tightly as he could.
Ziva was behind him she was leaning on the wall of the interrogation room panting slightly after restating the beefy man after he had socked Tony one. She glowered at him threateningly. Tony wiped the blood from his recently pounded nose and beckoned her forwards.
She obliged and set her hands on the table in front of him with her knife facing his equally thick gut.
"Name." she demanded calmly.
The man's lip trembled angrily as he restrained from speech.
She took off he badge and threw it over her shoulder for Tony to catch.
"NAME!" she raised the knife and her voice in turn as she pushed his chair back on the the back legs
"Baron!" the man yelled "You crazy bitch put it down!"
She obliged and dropped the chair letting him fall back and bite his over sized tong. As blood mixed with saliva dripped from his stubbly chin and in to his lap, Tony slid him paper and a pen to write with.
"Everything." he ordered he nodded at Ziva who had taken up her past position behind him. She inclined her head back and he left out of the door to clean up. He didn't worry about her being alone. If anything he feared for the man. He kicked the bathroom door open so his bloody hands didn't cover the handle and turned the tap with two fingers cautiously. The blood dripped from his face and hands and turned light pink as it swirled down the basin.
"Lucky me," he mumbled as his nose spirited more blood than possible and in to the sink. He touched his tender nose. Nothing broken. The door whistled as it opened. Then he heard the click of the lock.
"You okay?" she approached him and watched him let his nose drip.
"Yeah. It's finished bleeding finally. He grabbed a hunk of hand paper and cleaned his hand and upper lip.
Ziva hopped up on to the counter beside him and watched him as he remained preoccupied. She reached to caress his lip with her fingertips as it showed a tainted red and puffy look. He winced and looked up at her, his face now bloodless but still red from impact.
"We said we would control our emotions at work." he said as he pulled her off the bench and leaned his forehead against hers.
"I am. It took all my control not to kill that piece of crap." she replied, resting her head on his shoulder. He brushed her hair with his lips and they stood their in embrace until the bathroom door opened. Obviously Ziva hadn't locked it properly. A familiar face of the man that always seemed to find them in here. He was used to it by now.
"Congradz." he never usually spoke but not he seemed to deem it appropriate to congratulate their togetherness before unzipping his pants and peeing in front of them.
Ziva turned her head from him, keeping it rested on Tonys shoulder as they tried not the laugh. The man zipped up and left.
"Oh my god he never washes his hands!" Ziva exclamation was muffled in his shoulder. Tony burst in to fits of laughter and Ziva laughed hard also. Soon they broke apart and headed for the door to see how their dirt bag was getting along. Before she opened the door Ziva popped on tiptoe to lightly kiss Tonys partially swollen upper lip.
*
"How's it coming along?" Tonys voice echoed back to McGee and Ziva as they stood in observation and watched Tony examine the scratching on the paper that was the perps writing.
"What's it like?" McGee asked out of the blue
"What?" Ziva replied as she delayed the actual answering of the question.
"You, him, at work!" McGee gesture to Tony.
"It's interesting. But different and sometimes different is good." Ziva smiled to herself in the dark.
McGee sighed. It was obvious he had trouble adjusting to the situation, his two best friends had hooked up and he was the outsider. Of course not much had changed at work. They all still teased each other but it was the way it felt in general maybe he doubted his future.
"McGee you have time. Don't worry." she touched his shoulder as if she could read his mind.
"It's okay Ziva. Just a little depressing that you two have gotten together and I am the only single young guy, Jimmy is getting married next month, Tony and you have hooked up and I am still single."
Ziva nodded. This was true but in the time being it wasn't something they should focus on. She moved to more pressing matters.
"What should we get Jim as a wedding present?" she asked "Something off his list or something personal?"
"List." McGee said immediately "Abby got him an operation game for a joke but I am just putting money in for his dream blender."
She nodded with a grin. Palmer would certainly enjoy useful gifts. "Thanks." She let the part of her brain that wasn't observing go off on its on train of thought about gifts for Palmer.
Tony took the paper from the suspect and left the room, seconds later the door to observation opened and he came in.
"Where's Gibbs?" He asked, seemingly surprised at the absence of the team leader.
McGee shrugged and took the paper from Tony "I'll run this then."
Tony nodded and McGee passed Ziva with a grin at Tony's bemusement.
"Do you think Boss is avoiding us?" He asked once McGee had left
"Not me. Maybe you." Ziva grinned and switched off the recording of interrogation. "Why?"
"I dunno, maybe he's just busy." Tony chewed on his lip and flicked through his phone for metro's number so they could take their perp down town "I just hope Gibbs is finished with this guy." He held his phone to his ear as it ringed and he turned away.
"Ziva."
"Gibbs." Ziva looked up from her desk to find Gibbs walking past her "Where have you been."
He looked at her silently as if he were measuring her up "Letting you guys take a lead." He tilted his head and paused in mid step. "How is it doing?"
"We got a confession, Abby and McGee are running the details now." She shrugged
"And DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked
"Last I saw him he was handing our dirt-bag to metro, he might be with Ducky, the guy hit him pretty hard."
Gibbs nodded and continued to his desk and sat down, pulling forward his chair.
Ziva smiled to herself and continued talking "He thought you were avoiding him. Tony I mean."
"Nope, just seeing how you run things. Giving some space." He started pushing some papers around as if immersed in his current activity.
"Not thinking of retiring?" Her voice sounded urgent.
"No Ziva, how old do I look to you." He spun his chair to face her as he grew impatient. "Is this conversation going somewhere?"
She shook her head and stood "Not really, I will see you when we solve the case." She left, not wanting to hang around with this grumpy Gibbs so she ventured down to Abby's lab.
"Almost there!"
"More, more!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
A clapping sound, Ziva outside Abby's door and peaked around it to see what these voices were coming from. She hoped it was nothing dirty like her mind was jumping to. Too much time around Tony was not good for her mind. She found Abby and McGee hi-fiving as they sat in front of a satellite image of a suburban area.
"What's going on?" Ziva appeared behind them and gazed at the screen.
"We pin pointed the commanders favourite party spots and matched his call locations to the T.O.D and-"
Abby hit McGee to shut up his rambling, "Shut up Timmy. Ziva I bet all McGee's money that this is the place the commander was stabbed." She handed Ziva a sticky note with the address and name of house owner on it.
"Thank you Abby, McGee can you call Tony?" Ziva smiled at Abby and quickly walked out while talking still to the following McGee.
She flicked open her phone as they stood in the elevator and the doors started to close. "Gibbs we have an address."
"Meet you at the car."
She hung up and waited for McGee to finish talking to Tony. They stopped at the bullpen and Ziva holstered her gun from her desk as Tony rushed in.
"Hey, ready for the case breaker." Tony opened his draw and clipped on his badge and loaded his gun up.
"Defiantly, I can't wait to get home." Ziva winked at him as she strapped on her vest.
"Well I can't wait to get home with you." Tony smiled at her and he stood and had a bit of eye sex which put McGee off a bit.
"Hey! I'm in the room guys!" He yelped and Ziva broke her gaze and lead the other two out to the elevator.
"Sorry McGoo." Tony winked at him and held the doors for the probie who was rushing up to them. "Forgot you were there."
Ziva pushed out her bottom lip out sympathetically at McGee as he shifted uncomfortably. "It is okay McGee, we will find a way to punish him later."
Tony whimpered and gave the grinning probies the evil look. The doors opened and the three hurried out to get to the car to meet Gibbs who was already there and on the phone to someone.
"Yeah Abb's they are here now, Kay bye." Gibbs hung up. "Took your time. Abb's has a BOLO on the owner of the house."
The car trip took about 30 minutes on the GPS but Gibbs cut it off to 10 minutes, after the speedy trip Tony and McGee stumbled out of the car while Ziva and Gibbs looked like they had just been on a nice couch.
"You should be used to it by now." Ziva rolled her eyes but Tony shook his head quickly assuring he never would.
"McGee with me, you two take the back door." Gibbs pushed in his ear pieces as did the others. Tony and Ziva both jumped over the fence and landed softly and were faced with a drooling big black dog.
They stood motionless as the dog began to growl at them.
"God why didn't Abby mention this?" Tony gritted his teeth.
"Don't make eye contact or any sudden movements." Ziva hissed as she moved in front of Tony protectively.
"Zee-"
"Shut up Tony." Ziva growled at him as the dog lowered himself and prepared to pounce. "See his eyes, he is malnourished, probably been left here a while." She gestured at the red vessels in the eyes and the dog's visible ribs.
Tony nodded "Zee I like your face, move behind me so you don't get mauled." He brushed his fingertips over her jackets back.
But she ignored him and held out her hand, the dog became frantic, he began to shake and backed away, the whites of his eyes showing and whimpers in his throat.
"Shhhh its okay." Ziva lowered herself and let the dog sniff her hand.
"DiNozzo, position?" Gibbs' voice echoed in his ear.
"Just got a dog back here Gibbs, looks malnourished, Ziva has tamed it." He rolled his eyes as he looked at Ziva rubbing the dog's stomach as its tong lolled out. Ziva attached the chain from the dogs collar to the fence then straightened up and pulled out her gun,
"Let's go." She stood behind him and he pushed open the door,
"Clear," Tony looked in to the kitchen
"Clear." That was the bedroom and McGee cleared the bathroom.
Ziva looked in to the living room "Clear." She put back her gun.
"No one here boss," Tony noted and looked around
"You two find some blood. McGee check the BOLO." Gibbs walked in to the kitchen and McGee pulled out his phone. Ziva left to look in the living room and Tony wiggled his brows and went in to the bedroom.
Meanwhile Abby sat in her lab with her normal music playing, well she thought it was normal but anyone else with correctly functioning ear holes would complain about the screeching of the music, when her phone rung, she kicked the side of her desk and propelled herself to the landline answering professionally.
"Labby speaking."
"Abb's it's me."
"Oh… hey… me!" Abby put her plat formed feet on her desk and twirled the cord around her finger lazily.
"Abby, it's Mcgee."
She rolled her eyes and replied "I know Timmy what can I get for you?" She propelled herself again, through the doors and in the main part of the lab where she could consult her computers.
"Update on the BOLO."
"One hit in a Freemont Inn in… Woodbridge, Virginia. Hey we've been there before!" She smiled to herself and clicked her tong to read the BOLO more "That's it. I'll call if I get more."
She hung up, grinned evilly and continued with her work.
"Great, I hate blood baths." Tony stepped out of the door of the inn to inhale some fresh air away from the crime scene.
"Especially expired blood baths." Ziva gasped, the expired meats smell had infiltrated her nose and she gagged at the off smell.
"Come on you two, this gentleman can't wait any longer." Ducky stuck out his head with his gloved hands covered in blood with obvious enjoyment as he hadn't received a new friend in a while.
"Coming Doc." Ziva filled up her lungs with air and stepped back inside, Tony sighed as she pulled him with her by his sleeve.
"I love this part." He muttered sarcastically.
The walls and floor were covered in blood and the body was grey and smelling worse than normal.
"Yes he was brutally drained to death, the style of our previous criminal." Ducky noted and stuck in the liver probe
"Duck got a T.O.D on this one?" Gibbs had entered out of nowhere whacking his mobile phone against his palm.
"Uhh just a moment Jethro." Ducky extracted the probe and stood so he could hold it to the light "Mister Palmer could you arrange a gurney for this gentleman." Palmer stood and hurried out to the truck. "Time of dead was approximately 38 hours ago. Almost impossible to tell but the heating was left on."
"That explains the smell." Tony tried to waft the putrid air from his nose but only managed to cop a face full of smell. Ziva put her hand on his arm to silence him. "Gibbs that means we may not be dealing with two killers. Our violent first guy came to us last night."
"Call metro, I want him back in interrogation. We're done here." Gibbs left as promptly as he had arrived.
"Really we have to interrogate that guy again? Isn't one blood nose enough?" Tony flopped his arms then joined Ziva as they walked to the door.
"Another case solved by the great Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his trusty senior agent Anthony DiNozzo!" Tony sounded happy with the outcome of the day and the fact that the guy who had made his nose bleed now had life for murder. He lobbed a wad of paper in to McGee's bin with a practiced hand.
"I'm off." McGee announced as he pulled his pack over his shoulder and turned off his lamp, making his quarter of the squad room seem dark.
"Good night McGee." Ziva smiled and Tony farewelled him by throwing a fierce ball of paper at him which bounced off his head and tumbled across the floor. "I'll get it later." He scoffed as Ziva narrowed her dark eyes at him.
"Your's?" She asked simply
"Mine." He threw a last ball of paper in to the bin betting a whole in one and stood to gather up his jacket and bag.
To the elevators, down to security, out the front doors and in to the dark air, Tony took Ziva's hand in his and the strolled across the parking lot to his car which they had both arrived in that morning.
"You know if you want we could watch No Way out again, I wanted to point out this scene where-" He broke off midsentence and stopped in his tracks.
"What? Tony what is it?" She looked up at him and around until the thing he was looking at caught her eye. "Is that a limousine?"
He tightened his hold to her hand as it looked like it was waiting for them as it sat with the engine running over several free parking spaces. They approached Ziva aware of her knife and gun incase she needed them if the situation went astray. Nothing in the whole world could have prepared them for the person that appeared behind the winding down, tinted window. Tony felt his jaw drop and his name mentioned but all seemed surreal. How had they found him?
Cliff hanger, will try and do more this weekend. I wanted to cool off with some cool investigating team stuff before going off on a new plot. More Ziva sweet couple stuff promised because I know you all love that! Check out my Deviant Art: Yiotsie. I draw mostly NCIS stuff and Tiva and I write fanfiction on there to accompany my drawings so go there and have fun request will be taken but only a few if I get over loaded! And also for Tiva orientated Video's check out my Youtube: Simmietube. Thanks for reading, Review for some feedback!