The New Routine: A Day with Tony and Ziva
They woke up in the morning still clinging tightly to each other. They had their routine from before and their routine from now and it was all mingled together. It was the first time Ziva thought about it. She found herself staring at Tony as she thought about how much she was relying on him right now to help her through her hard times and she realized that she could have him for her good times, too, even though she wasn't ready for that.
His eyes fluttered open and he found the chocolate eyes of his partner and the only person he loved with his whole heart. A smile flitted across his lips and he reached his hands up and placed on at the side of her cheek and the other in her hair, pulling her face down to his own, pressing their lips together, since the alarm had not yet gone off.
Ziva inhaled deeply as his tongue traced along her lips, requesting more from her. Her lips parted and their tongues met in the middle. She reached traced patters on Tony's chest with one hand and relished the feel of his hand in her hair, tangled among the curls there.
Their tongues did a sort of tango for a while, until the alarm clock started to ring off, telling them that it was time to get up and go for their morning run, which they had not abandoned with the change in the circumstances. They pulled apart and smiled at each other, still not speaking of these small kisses that they were sharing now.
Ziva reached over and turned the alarm off and got out of bed. She handed Tony some of his spare clothes, which he had taken to leaving at her place, for when she called. They changed and walked outside. Once they were in the warm morning air they shared a look and began their run. They ran for about an hour before turning back into Ziva's apartment.
They shared a kiss and Ziva showered first, followed by Tony. They changed into their work clothes and headed toward the elevator, so they could get their coffee before work. Tony walked her to her car and placed a kiss on her forehead and they drove off in separate cars, meeting at the coffee stand in the Navy Yard.
They walked while drinking coffee and talking of nothings and relaxing before it was time for work, being careful to keep an eye on the clock as they went along with their day. They arrived at work together and on-time and sat at their desks. Work was fairly normal. There was no case and no paperwork so they were looking at cold cases and they just did what they were told. They got their lunch outside on the Navy Yard lawns at noon and sat at a table together eating silently.
Before heading back into the elevator to bring them into the NCIS building, Tony stopped Ziva and looked into her eyes. He pulled her tight to him and pressed a gentle and careful kiss to her lips, to which she responded. They did not get too lost, but their fingers remained laced together as they finally stepped into the elevator, only dropping each other's hands as they reached their destination and the doors began to slide open to the squad room that was work.
The afternoon was quiet as well and they were told to go home at five o'clock. But, Tony and Ziva had already established a routine for after-work times. How would this be affected by their new closeness.
They found a restaurant and ate dinner together and went for a walk on the edge of the water. It was already getting late. Tony walked Ziva back to her car, where the parking garage of NCIS was nearly empty. He put a hand on either shoulder and held her close to him.
"Well, I will see you tomorrow," he said quietly.
"Yes, you will," she responded, also placing her hands on Tony's shoulders.
They pulled together quickly and kissed passionately outside of their place of work. They couldn't resist it anymore since giving into each other a little while ago. When they pulled apart they stared for a moment and Tony smiled at her.
"Goodnight, Zi," he said quietly as he turned to walk to his car.
"Goodnight, Tony," she responded before he turned around.
They drove to their separate apartments, but it wasn't long before Ziva called him again, after having another nightmare and she was back in his arms and really all over him. But, they didn't talk about it. They didn't speculate about it. They just did what felt right and that was all that they could do for now.
It was a new routine that now included nights together and kissing and cuddling. However, they both tried to act as though nothing had changed, even though they were both more than aware that something was definitely changing with them and they were denying it for the sake of rule twelve and what could happen to them if they were ever caught doing this.
Today was the first day that they realized just how much had changed between them and still neither of them said a word to the other about it. Really, they didn't need to. They didn't need to share the changes, because they both knew when the other became aware of the changes. They both knew that the other was aware of what was going on between them, whether it was spoken or not at that moment.
A/N – I had to walk you through a day with Tony and Ziva, because they had a complicated enough routine before Ziva called Tony. When you add in the fact that they are so comfortable kissing and cuddling with each other it complicates the routine a little. However, I think that they are in some stage of denial, because they honestly don't want to disappoint Gibbs or their coworkers with jumping into something when it's clear to both of them that Ziva just isn't ready for what they are doing, even though she is the one who started it with calling Tony and kissing Tony.