A/N: So sorry for the delay. If you've been anywhere near my tumblr, you'll know that real life has been absolutely crazy. I have had rehearsals all over the place, have been away from home, parties, homework, the usual stuff. Sorry to all the people who messaged asking about the lateness, but here it is! The first scene was originally not included, but I added it because I felt guilty for making you wait so long.

Chapter 31—

Tali dashed off to school about ten minutes before Tony and Ziva had to leave for work. Aside from the pleasure that came from staying with her, in her bed, the geographical convenience was amazing. Being a stone's throw from his workplace was definitely a perk of the relationship, but of course he'd never be that shallow.

"Alone at last," Ziva said, still munching on Tony's not-French toast. It was a joke, but he twitched his eyebrows suggestively in reply. "Oh, come on, Tony, you have to show a little control." She conveyed exasperation, but she smiled as he reached over and grabbed her arm, pulling her into his reach.

"Why?" he asked, their faces unbelievably close. "Maybe you're just irresistible."

"Maybe," she replied, brushing her lips against his. It was the barest touch, and he gripped her waist almost in protest. She laughed darkly and dug her nails the slightest bit into his flesh through his shirt, just to tease him. "We have ten minutes."

"Ten? I have a reputation to protect, you know," he told her, kisses separating his words. Their noses touched and he tilted his chin with superiority.

"Your secret's safe with me," she whispered before hooking a leg around his waist and catching his gasped response with her lips.

...

They looked a little more than dishevelled when they arrived to work. Unfortunately for them both, Ziva did not spot that Tony's buttons were done up crookedly until they were in the elevator.

"Here, let me," she insisted, turning to face him and unbuttoning his shirt to fix it and assure that each button was properly aligned. His chest was still almost entirely exposed when the doors opened to their floor, and a tall, chestnut-haired man whom Ziva did not know was standing before them. She stepped away in embarrassment and Tony hurried to fix himself up.

"Stan," he greeted uncomfortably with a nod. The man nodded back in a way that Ziva had always noticed and found amusing in men. Like they were so comfortable talking about sexual stuff until it actually happened. Not that what had just transpired in the elevator had been sexual . . .

"DiNozzo, I was just looking for you," he said cocking his head in the general direction of Tony and Danny's (and Ziva's, but that was unlikely to be the reason for this man's presence).

"Oh yeah?" Tony asked, glad to have something else to talk about and suddenly less embarrassed. "What's dragged you up from the second floor?"

"Just follow me – I gotta talk to Price as well."

The man finished speaking and looked hesitantly towards Ziva. She smiled at him.

Always the charmer, Tony thought affectionately. "This is Detective Stan Burley," he said to Ziva, gesturing between them. "Stan, this is Ziva."

Stan's outstretched hand dropped alarmingly quickly to his side at the mention of her name. "Ah. Miss David, is it?" She nodded with a look of concern on her face. "You should come too."

Any concern of Ziva's only made Tony catch up with Stan's brisk walk faster.

"That was some red light behaviour back there, DiNozzo. Your reputation precedes you but not that much," Stan said under his breath so Ziva wouldn't hear, stifling an amused smile.

"My shirt buttons were crooked – she was fixing them," he explained, though he realised as he spoke the words how ridiculous they sounded.

"And she's your girlfriend, I know," Stan finished. "Come on, we gotta talk." They arrived at Danny's desk, and he was already in. He looked up at the three of them.

"What's goin' on, Burley?" Danny asked.

"It's your guy Scorpion. Went to trial two days ago," Stan opened with.

"And?" Tony prompted.

"They didn't charge him."

"You mean the jury found him innocent?" Danny asked in disbelief. Tony put an arm around a shocked Ziva completely out of reflex.

"Why weren't Ziva and I called in to testify?" Tony demanded angrily.

"The lawyer that got given the case – I know him. He's an ass. Doesn't like witnesses," Stan explained, not seeming happy about it.

"Doesn't like witnesses?" Tony spat.

"Yeah, he says they're . . . look, I don't know. But it turns out Scorpion's family's loaded. They got him a real good lawyer. Talkin' all kinds of bullshit about how you and Ziva provoked him and how he was simply trying to will her to come back to dance for him."

Ziva was breathing hard now, and her grip on Tony's hand was tightening by the second. She swallowed and whispered, "Excuse me, I need some air," before slipping out of the office. He didn't go after her immediately; he had to hear the end of this.

"Do you know the things he would have done to her had he been given the chance? He's a filthy pig – I want him off the streets. He's gonna go after her again," Tony said, throwing a fleeting glance to the back of Ziva as she walked away.

"Her?" Danny asked with scepticism. "Are you kiddin'? She totalled him. He's not gonna go anywhere near her. No, it's you we've gotta worry about."

"Me? Hey, I'm the one with the gun."

"Guys, wait, that's not all," Burley interrupted, shoving a file under their noses. "Turns out he's been arrested three times before for the same kinda stuff. Only they've never charged him. They've never found concrete enough evidence. They got him in '98, '05 and '09."

"He's been doing this that long?" Danny asked with complete surprise. They had little knowledge on Scorpion. He had not been their perpetrator do deal with. Tony and Danny were homicide detective. Until Scorpion killed someone they wouldn't deal with him.

"These girls, they're so young, Tony," Stan pressed out shakily. "Most of them younger than Ziva. They're scared. That's why nobody testified. No one ever had the guts to get up against him."

"We would have!" Tony hissed.

"That lawyer thought he could handle it. He thought he had Scorpion down for the count. But he beat him. Just like every. Other. Time."

"What are we gonna do?" Danny asked, his hand blindly finding the SIG in his holster. Both men looked to Tony as if the question was directly pointed at him. In a way, it was personal for him. Very personal.

"We get him."

"How?"

Tony had a plan.

...