Hey. *waves guiltily* if you still remember me. I'm that horrible person who hasn't updated all week :(

an another note, thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! you made what was a dull day good again, and a appreciate every single review that dropped through my proverbial letterbox!

right now i am literally about to fall asleep, and I have a six o'clock start tomorrow. i am sorry this chapter is so short, but i wanted to publish it anyway. there is an appearance for a certain NCIS Ari's Girl (guess who the character is going to be...)

DISCLAIMER: disclaimed

Chapter 4

Tony did not know what it was that drove him to come to the dance studio that day. And yet somehow he found himself there, in his lunch break, pushing the doors of the old dance studio open, and greeting the receptionist who by now was recognising him. He didn't quite know how to feel about that.

In studio C, Tony expected to see a scene similar to the one he encountered yesterday. Much to his surprise, it was a little different.

There were kids who could not have been more than five years old, all in their tiny versions of dance kit, all littered around the room, some doing cartwheels and spins, some using the whole length of the room to do a complicated number of flips and turns in quick succession. They looked like a can of backed beans on a sugar high, bouncing around like there was no tomorrow. It almost made him motion sick watching them. He was so distracted with the kaleidoscope of movement, he almost couldn't spot Ziva among the bodies. But finally he spotted Ziva at one end of the room, trying to coax a little Chinese girl into trying something.

"I know you can land it. And I'll will be over there to catch you," Ziva said softly, pointing over at the other side of the hall. The little girl bit her lip and nodded, and Ziva tapped her lightly on the head. When she was in position on the other side of the room she gave the girl a little nod. By this time, the whole of the room had turned to watch this little girl, all dropping to the lowest decibel that the kids knew (it was still pretty loud). This must have been a big deal.

She took a deep breath and took the first through steps. She pushed of the ground hard, and flipped, almost like a cartwheel with no hands. There was a tense moment where Tony thought the kid was going to land on her head, but she straightened up, and managed to land perfectly on her feet. The kid's face lit up with a huge grin, and she ran over to Ziva who pulled her into a huge hug.

"Did you see me? I did it!" the girl said, her eyes huge with the excitement.

"I knew you could do it!" Ziva said, and she stood up, picking the little girl up. The rest of the class were clapping and cheering, and when Ziva put her back down on the floor her friends all came and hugged her too. Ziva's face flushed with the smile, and at that moment when she looked over at Tony, he would have sworn that he had never seen anything so beautiful.

Ziva looked over at the clock, them back at Tony. She flashed both her hands at him, and mimed "10 minutes?" and Tony nodded in response. She grinned back at him, and went back to her class, ushering them back to their exercises and activities.

Ten minutes later, the parents began to stream into the room to pick up their children. As they left, each one hugged Ziva, and all the parents thanked her, asking her how their kid got on, and with each parent Ziva took the time to explain what the kid did well, never running out of good things to say, and never being afraid of telling the parent how it was. They then left with the children's excited chatter following them out of there, all calling about seeing her the same time next week.

When Ziva had sent the last kid on their way, Tony pushed himself off the wall to greet her.

"Hey!" he said smiling, and Ziva smiled back. But Tony sensed that there was something of nervousness behind the smile. He had almost forgot about the night before, the awkward conversation at the end of the perfect but clearly she had not.

"Hey," she said back, looking him straight in the eye. Had Tony not picked up on her earlier nervousness, he would not have thought that anything was amiss. Ziva was a very good liar.

"Well I was wondering," he started, "do you want to have lunch?"

Clearly that was not Ziva was expecting as a reply, as her eyebrows shot up.

"Ermmm… yeah sure!"

"Why so surprised?" Tony asked. It was then where Ziva awkwardly looked down, suddenly finding the polished wooden flooring very interesting.

"Well, after I kicked you out last night…" she started, then trailed off.

"What are you talking about! You didn't kick me out…" he replied, partly to reassure her, and partly to re-exert his manliness.

Ziva tilted her head to one side, as if trying to figure out how genuine he was being with his answer. When she was satisfied that he was definitely not still mad at her, she gave her answer.

"So," Ziva said, smiling at him, "shall we then?"

oooOOOooo

Half an hour later the two of them sat in the diner. It was a small local thing, all dressed in red and white, looking like it belonged more in a town than in the busy city of Washington. And there the two of them sat, flicking through the menus and making small talk.

"So," Tony said starting off the conversation, "you're Israeli?"

"Very good," Ziva said with that Mona Lisa smile of hers that seemed perfect perched there on her heart shaped face. Tony could not tell whether she was taking the mickey, or was actually impressed, "what else have you found out about me?"

"Well," he started, "I know you have a younger sister, and an older brother who just had an interview this morning for a post at the NCIS legal department."

"Wow, I'm impressed!" she said, and this time there was no question on her sincerity, "your records are good!" Ziva said, now genuinely surprised.

"Not his record…"

*Four hours earlier*

Kate stepped onto the elevator, just having been buzzed through by Stan at security. She pressed the button for her floor, and the doors slid shut as she smoother her hand over her hair. It had been one of those morning where everything had gone wrong. Her run had been cut short because of the rain, her toast had been burnt and her coffee had been cold by the time she had got round to drinking it. She had received a phone call from her darling mother, who was "helpfully" enquiring about how her search for a husband was going (it wasn't). Then the radio station had five minutes worth of adverts, before an actual song came on, and it happened to be a song that Kate had grown to hate, ever since Tony had explained that the whole song was basically a giant innuendo (how was she to guess that a disco stick was meant to mean something else?). There had been better days.

And there she was, frazzled and annoyed, and then, the elevator doors reopened, much to her surprise and distaste.

Standing on the other side of the door was a man dressed in a business suit, and based on appearance alone, she could tell he was heading to the legal department. The second thing that she noticed about him was that he was incredibly attractive.

"Sorry ma'am, but what floor-?" he said with some kind of exotic sexy accent. But Kate cut him off before she could hear more of it.

"Is the legal department? 4th"

If Kate wasn't so busy feeling smug at her accurate prediction, she would have noticed him giving her the same appreciative look that she was giving him.

"Well," he said, after he had got over that, "thank you, Agent…?"

Kate was surprised that he had picked up that she was an agent, but a lucky guess was not out of the picture.

"Agent Caitlin Todd. And you are?"

"Ari Haswari. I have an interview today with legal."

The door pinged open at the fourth floor, but Kate had not noticed the first three floors go. She had clearly been too busy staring at him. As she spent more time looking at him, she noticed the slight chiselled jaw, the piercing eyes that seemed to see through right through her. She had not quite worked out whether this made her feel intimidated or impressed.

Ari was just about to step out, when he stopped the door from closing.

"You are wearing a gun on your left side, you have a knife concealed in your right boot, and you have a back up gun in your bag," he said, answering the question that she never asked. He smiled at her, flashing his perfect row of teeth at her and let the doors close on her shocked yet impressed face.

To an outsider looking in at Tony staring deeply at his computer monitor, they would have thought nothing of it. If anything, they may have applauded the studios nature he applied to his work, especially so early on a Wednesday morning. But those who did know Tony would know that there was more to the scene that met the eye.

Tony's eyes scanned the information on the screen, greedily absorbing every new piece of information as it met his eyes. McGee, who was working at his own desk had first looked over inquisitively when he had walked in, first confused about why Tony was at work before him, and second why he was actually working. but he had then given up trying to work out what he was doing and went back to his own business, working on the assumption that what he did not know could not hurt him. At least, not too badly.

Gibbs was as equally curious as McGee, but having the position as boss did have its perks. So, when he caught McGee's eye and gave him a look, McGee knew exactly what to do.

Wordlessly, McGee tapped away at his computer for a few moments, and then the information that was on Tony's screen transferred itself onto the plasma in the middle of the room.

"Hey!" Tony cried indignantly, and Gibbs let out a small noiseless chuckle.

On the screen lay the background check of one Miss Ziva David. There were photographs and medical forms, everything there was to know about her, there for all of them to see.

"So, Ziva David? The owner of that dance studio?" McGee said, enjoying every minute worth of getting revenge on Tony.

"None of your business, McBigNose!"

"And who are these?" he said, gesturing to the first picture on the right. It was of Ziva standing there, here arm around two people, a girl and a guy, who all judging by their outer appearance were Israeli, "Let me guess, her sister and partner?"

"Brother, actually," Tony said quickly "his name is-"

"Ari Haswari."

All three men turned around to see Kate enter the squad-room, firstly to find out why she was late, and secondly to find out how she knew this guy.

"He just came for an interview at legal. He's very handsome," she expanded.

Each of the men reacted differently to her final statement. McGee, despite the new found physical maturity, looked slightly disgusted, whereas Tony was puffing out his chest, trying to reassert his manly status. Gibbs, however, was trying to look indifferent. Trying, and failing.

Gibbs didn't like the small smile on Kate's face as she talked about this Ari guy. Just by looking at the screen he didn't like this man. As if, in another life they would have wanted to kill each other. It was a strange, supernatural and unexplainable feeling. That combined with the fact Kate seemed to like this guy, well, that did not add to the situation. He felt, angry, frustrated, and for some reason extremely jealous. But he had no right to be jealous, not in the slightest. He had no control over Kate, who she liked or who she didn't. Yet somehow, he was still reacting badly to the whole situation.

He abruptly stood up, claiming he needed to see Ducky, and made a quick exit. Kate turned to Tony and McGee, who were trying to pretend they were still doing work.

"What did you two do to him?"

What she did not know was that she was the one who had caused all of it…

*Present*

As Tony recounted the tale animatedly, Ziva laughed and smiled in all the right places, especially when he heard about Gibbs' abrupt departure.

"It seems to me that Kate and Gibbs have a connection," Ziva said sipping her cup of tea.

At Tony's horrified expression, she laughed.

"I am just stating the obvious!"

Tony could not quite accept that. This was Kate they were talking about. Kate, the girl whose pigtails he pulled on a regular basis, who was one of the few people in the world who could keep up in his verbal sparring matches (not that he would ever admit that aloud). And that was Gibbs. And Gibbs was just, well Gibbs had no words.

"No, that's just not possible," Tony said dismissively.

"Not possible, or not what you want to think?" Ziva said.

"Swings and roundabouts," Tony replied, again sweeping the statement to one side.

"What?" Ziva said, now confused, "I am not seeing how children's play equipment is of any relevance."

"It's a saying? How long had you said you lived in America?" Tony teased, and Ziva pretended to look hurt.

"I speak five languages. Forgive me if I get confused," she tilted her head, "sometimes"

Tony noticed that she had not answered his question, fuelling the fire in his mind about her mysterious past. But he did not want to freak her out, not like he did last time.

"Anyway," Ziva said, "sometimes, you can miss love, even if it is right before your eyes."
Tony was trying to work out if the words had a double meaning. Because if they were applied to his situation, she was the blind one…

please review on the way out XD