Finding a Routine

Tony and Ziva spent nearly every night together for the next couple of weeks. They were extremely careful at work, making sure they weren't flirting, standing too close, touching, getting lost in each other's eyes, or saying something that was better left unsaid at the office. It was a little strange to not do these things at work. However, they didn't keep all of that out of the office, so it didn't seem suspicious to their coworkers at all. To them, however, they had to make the conscious effort to tone it down, since that was all they wanted to do these days.

Usually they stayed at Tony's apartment. It was larger and more comfortable than Ziva's and closer to NCIS. They had decided that when they stay over they would take separate cars to work and a routine began to develop.

They would wake up in the morning, sometimes before the alarm and enjoy a shower, sometimes together. They would go for breakfast or just coffee, depending on what time it really was when they got ready. Then, they would leave in separate cars, sharing a kiss as if they were going to different places of employment. They continued to keep their lunch breaks together and their walk after work. Then, they would go back home. Some nights they would get take-out and have a movie night in, and other nights they would go out to dinner. On late nights at work they would eat dinner together at work. But, they almost always arrived at Tony's apartment together.

This worked for them. They were never overwhelmed with seeing each other too much, because at work they tried to remain coworkers and at home they remained partners in a different way. It worked for many weeks.

They were good at hiding this because they had pretended to not be in love for so long that it was like jumping back into their old routine with the bonus of spending every single night together when they went home from work. They both realized that home was where each other was and that was a good thing, and something that was no longer scary to either of them.

About three weeks into the relationship though, things started to become more difficult when they slept past their alarm in the morning, because they were up late the night before. They were only about ten minutes late, but it was still enough to get some raised eyebrows, though nothing was said.

Ziva walked from the elevator before Tony, because she drove faster and more recklessly than Tony did. Gibbs eyes met Ziva's, with his eyebrows raised. He watched her walk to her desk and then watched as the elevator opened again to reveal Tony coming along right behind her, looking at him in the same manner that Ziva had.

They were both hoping that he didn't notice that they were five minutes late, but he was Gibbs. Of course he noticed that they were both five minutes late on the same morning. He decided to keep a closer eye on his two agents. He knew something was going on with them, but he just didn't know what. Something had changed drastically throughout their last year working together.

Gibbs needed to think on it. He could see the changes in both of his agents. Tony, who was typically a childish playboy, was not flirting with other girls or talking of his nighttime conquests at all and had not been doing so for over a year. He was staring in one specific direction and Gibbs knew that his eyes were set right where his heart was and he knew where his eyes were staring. They were staring directly across from him at the Israeli ex-Mossad agent that sat across from him.

Ziva, who a year ago was not with them, was found stealing unconscious glances at Tony and sharing unconscious smiles with him as their eyes met. When they would realize that someone saw them, they would both blush. Gibbs had never seen Ziva blush so much in her whole life. He realized that her heart was set across from her desk as well. But, what had they done about it? Had they done something about it?

They didn't flirt more than normal, which Gibbs would have expected if they had decided to take their feelings and act on them. They didn't stand closer than normal. They didn't invade each other's personal space more than normal and they didn't touch more than normal. They were still Tony and Ziva the coworkers, as far as his eyes could tell.

However, Gibbs was neither stupid nor totally blind. He realized that something was going on. He knew that they were putting in a conscious effort, because often times he would see them move to stand near each other and change their minds, or go to say something and then close their mouths.

This morning, however, since their being late, they were slipping up a lot more and Gibbs had to nearly laugh at the amount they were slipping. They were staring at each other often, standing in each other's personal space, brushing past each other as though the room was crowded when it was only the two of them and insisting on working together as partners often today. Gibbs really didn't mind, but he wished the two would come talk to him about whatever they were doing outside of work so he would know.

He nearly laughed to himself. He fully realized that if something was going on it was completely his fault that they were hiding it. He was the one with rule twelve and the one who always lectured about not dating coworkers and how dangerous it was on this particular job. But, he had his secret too. He was the one who had made sure that they only had one room in Paris. He had gotten them to this point in some secretive way, because otherwise they might still not even be looking at each other at all. And, given the alternative, this was definitely preferable, because they were working better together than ever before. So, Gibbs really couldn't complain, could he?

"Alright, everyone, go home," Gibbs said at the end of the day.

Gibbs watched carefully as his agents stood up. He watched as Tony and Ziva's eyes made contact for a minute and he could see a spark light up between them. They grabbed their gear and headed for the elevator their hands meeting just as the metal doors slid closed. Gibbs smiled. He wouldn't say anything and wouldn't treat them differently. It was up to them to talk to him.

A/N – I thought we needed some perspective from our favorite boss! Leave a review and let me know what you think.