AN: Could it be? Are we actually going to manage to get another update in before the weekend? Seems that way. I will say that between getting a second chapter of 'Seams' up and the fact that this is my full weekend to work, I will be lucky to get the next chapter up Monday or Tuesday. Thanks again for all of the wonderful reviews you guys are leaving. I know we normally reply individually, but haven't really had time.
MN: So, while I'm starting to feel better, AJ has some family crapola going on that means that it will be a struggle for me to keep the angst out of this story in all over in 'Seams'. Apologies if it leaks in.
The following Friday they were (finally) on their way home. Ziva closed her book and set it on the table beside her. A quick glance around confirmed her suspicions. She and Greeley were the only two people still awake.
The two of them along with their partners had laid claim to a pair of couches in a segmented compartment in the back of the gulfstream the company had sent for the return flight to DC. Rhodes was leaned back on the couch next to Greeley, his head resting on the couch's back and his legs stretched across the aisle and his discarded magazine in his lap.
Tony, on the other hand, was curled up on the couch next to her. At some point he had worked his head into her lap and she had left it there. He had taken a tumble down a hill the previous day while saving her from her own slip and the fall had aggravated his bad knee. He had resisted taking painkillers until they were boarding the plane. She was fairly certain he had been asleep before they had reached cruising altitude.
Across from her, Greeley set his own book down and stood, stretching before speaking quietly. "You need anything? I'm gonna grab a bottle of water from the kitchen."
Ziva nodded. "Water would be great. Thank you."
He disappeared for a moment through the curtain to the kitchenette then came back with a bottle in each hand. He passed one to her before returning to his seat. "He always sleep like that on a plane?"
Ziva suppressed a laugh. "No. Usually he is much more awake and animated. He has talked solid from DC to Tel Aviv before. He just gets really loopy on narcotics. It is better for everyone if he just sleeps it off."
Greeley chuckled softly. "I'd believe it. My last partner was kind of like that. Had a way of babbling through stakeouts that made your brain go numb."
Ziva hitched an eyebrow. Other than herself and Tony, he was the only one whose previous employment had been in law enforcement. "You were a detective, yes? With LAPD? What made you decide to leave and move over two thousand miles for a job with a security company?"
He stared at her for a moment then looked around. When he spoke again his voice was even lower than before. "I, uhhh, I came out to my partner. He didn't take it as well as I thought he would. They were going to force a transfer on me, but by then he had spread it around. Most of the guys didn't want to be partnered with me. I decided a change was in order. But this time, I decided to do it right from the start. I was up front with the boss about why I left and he made sure Rhodes was cool with it before he partnered us up."
She could read the concern on his face and gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "I will not tell anyone." They lapsed into silence for a minute before she decided to change the subject. "Have you found a place in DC yet?"
Greeley shook his head. "Not yet. I only got to town two days before we left for training. I'll be heading back to the motel until I find a place. My stuff is sitting in a storage unit."
Her next words escaped her mouth before she had even thought them through. "I have a spare bedroom that you are welcome to use."
Her offer seemed to startle him and he gestured toward Tony. "He gonna be okay with that? He seems to be pretty protective of you."
Ziva grinned. "He'll be fine. He knows I sleep with a gun under my pillow."
He looked like he was going to chuckle before he realized she was serious. "Wow. You really are kind of a badass, aren't you? I appreciate it. Thanks."
"You are welcome." Ziva felt the angle of the plane shift and sighed. "We must be descending. I guess I better wake him up."
A sharp rapping on her door woke her and she looked at the clock as her eyes snapped open. It was 0700 on a Saturday morning and she was planning on sleeping in for the first time in ages. She was going to have to kill whomever was banging on her door.
She slid from bed and retrieved her gun before exiting her bedroom and heading toward the front door. She peered through the peephole and was surprised to see Tony smiling back at her. She unlocked the door and had barely opened it when her partner barreled though.
"Why aren't you dressed? You're always up early. I thought we could get breakfast before our run today."
Ziva blinked at him a few times while her brain processed what he said. "I am not dressed because I figured you would not be up for a run with your knee. Why are you up?"
Tony leaned against the door to the coat closet and shrugged. "I slept on the plane yesterday, remember? Then, when you dropped me off I took another pain pill and went back to sleep. So all in all I slept like twelve hours. And I probably won't make it a quarter mile before I crap out on you, but I wasn't about to bail."
"Ziva, everything okay?"
Tony spun toward the voice as Greeley appeared in the hallway, obviously having just gotten out of bed himself. "Woah, My Ninja. Why didn't you tell me you had…company? I would have made myself scarce."
Greeley rubbed his face sleepily and yawned. "Hey, don't change your plans on my account. If you give me ten minutes I can be showered, dressed, and out the door."
Ziva rolled her eyes. It was obvious that Tony had just gotten the wrong idea, and then Greeley had misinterpreted the situation himself. "No one has to go anywhere." She looked at Tony. "Alex is staying in my extra bedroom while he finds an apartment." She moved her gaze to her temporary roommate. "Tony and I have had a standing appointment for a Saturday morning run since we left NCIS."
She watched as Tony looked first at her then Greeley, seemingly trying to decide if she was telling the truth. He must have decided she was because he smiled and crossed to the couch. "Hey, the more the merrier. Slap on shorts and sneakers and join us, Greeley. We're going to go grab breakfast before Ziva embarrasses me."
Greeley looked to her for approval and Ziva shrugged. She did not mind if he joined the run. She had just spent almost two weeks of quality time with Tony, she could use the extra company.
Ziva had changed quickly, but was now in the bathroom attempting to flat iron her hair so she could get it pulled into a neat ponytail. She heard Greeley reenter the living room where they had left Tony flipping through a magazine. The bathroom door was partially open and she couldn't help but hear the conversation between the two men.
Surprisingly, it had been Greeley to break the silence. "So, thanks again for the invite."
She could tell by his tone that Tony was trying to be nonchalant. "No problem. Ziva is going to be a few more minutes. She has to beat her hair into submission before she puts it up."
Alex laughed at that before responding. "The part of that that amuses me is that she really isn't the 'girly' type."
She heard the magazine land back on the coffee table. "She has her moments. But you do know she sleeps with a gun under her pillow, right? And a knife on the nightstand. And paperclips everywhere. She did tell you she can kill you eighteen ways with a paperclip, right?"
She could almost hear Greeley's eye roll. "She did mention the gun thing, but there's really nothing to worry about. She's not at all my type."
She imagined Tony's jaw going slack and rolled her own eyes. "Really? Because in eight years I can't say that I've met a guy that has said that. Or girl really for that matter."
This time she really could hear Greeley's sigh. "Look, seriously, you would have more to worry about with me as a houseguest than Ziva does."
As she tightened the band around her hair Ziva imagined the light going on behind Tony's eyes. "Oh. Got it. Sorry, I was just…"
"I get it, DiNozzo. She's your partner and your friend. You were making sure you had her back. It's all good."
Ziva unplugged her flat iron and checked herself in the mirror then exited the bathroom. Both men looked relieved to see her walk back into the living room. "Ready?"
AN: Somehow this got a little long. Oh well, the better to tide you all over with. Now, it's 3am on Thursday and I'm going to bed. Later peeps!
