I wanted to get as much as possible posted before the holiday weekend. This is the last chapter for about a week. Please enjoy the holiday weekend. I left you with one of my favorite chapters. I hope you all love this chapter as much as I do.
Ziva woke up to the feeling of Tony stroking her hair. She was lying across his chest, her limbs intertwined with his. She curled closer into him and pushed one of her legs further in between his. She could feel how much he was looking forward to the day by his considerable stiffness.
"Good morning." She said sleepily to him. Their faces were inches apart and he placed a light kiss on her lips.
"Good morning to you." Tony smiled back at her. Tony moved one of his hands from her back down to her ass. He grabbed a fistful over the sheets and pulled her sharply up and against his cock. She moaned at the feeling. She wanted him immediately inside of her, and from what she could tell, he wanted to be there just as badly. She rocked her hips against him and gripped tighter around his neck.
"Well then we all agree that it's a good morning." A sarcastic, booming voice came from across the room yanking them both out of their blissful, sleepy daze.
Ziva lunged her body across Tony's torso and reached under the far pillow. Before Tony had processed the action she was facing the intruding voice with a gun pointed in his direction. Tony's swiftly shot to life and moved to cover Ziva. She had sat up to point the gun at the intruder, and since they were both completely naked the sheet pooled around her waist exposing her naked front to him. Tony reached an arm around each side of her body and used his hands to cover her exposed breasts from the intruder.
"Gibbs!" Ziva said in shock as she lowered her gun.
"What?" Tony said in a panicked voice. His hands remained covering Ziva while he peaked around her body.
Gibbs was leaning back in a chair with his legs up on the desk in the room. Tony confirmed his presence, groaned, and buried his face in Ziva's back.
"We have been searching for you." Ziva scolded Gibbs.
"Ugh. Ziva." Gibbs jutted his head to indicate her exposed body with Tony's hands covering her.
"Oh." Ziva pulled the sheet up to cover herself realizing the compromising situation he had caught them in. She turned around and gave Tony a wide-eyed look. They hadn't been caught having sex, but this was worse. He'd seen Ziva wake up curled in Tony's arms, and Gibbs' position had given him a perfect view of Tony grabbing her ass and pulling her against him. This was worse than getting caught in the act.
"Umm. Boss. This isn't what it looks like." Tony spoke automatically and didn't even try to sell his words. They just spilled out of his mouth.
Gibbs inclined his head to the side and lifted an eyebrow asking them not to insult his intelligence.
Ziva's searched Tony's eyes asking him their next move. Tony shrugged at her and decided to drop the act.
His next words came in a confident voice that shocked everyone in the room. "Actually, this is exactly what it looks like. I'm crazy about her." Tony spoke proudly to Gibbs. "We respected your rules. We worked together for nine years, and I've been crazy about her the entire time." Tony linked his arms around Ziva's waist and gained more confidence at the beaming smile she trained down on him. "Finally, I had the chance, and I wasn't going to let that pass." Tony tore his stare from Ziva and looked Gibbs in the eyes. "Gibbs, it's Ziva. You know how much I love her." He let his face break into a wide grin. "And dammit Ziva. The safety had better have been on that gun." He scolded her.
Gibbs stoically remained in his angry state for a painful stretch of time before his face softened. He swung his legs off the desk and moved to stand up. "It's about time." He said, letting the hint of a smile creep onto his face. "I've seen glaciers move faster than the two of you. Now, while you two…get dressed, is there somewhere I can get a decent cup of coffee around here?"
Tony answered Gibbs without taking his eyes from Ziva, "Out the door, take your first right, three block, turn left and you can't miss it." His eyes were glued to the proud smile that Ziva blessed down upon him.
As Gibbs pulled the bedroom door behind him he added, "don't take your time." Then he pulled the door shut snugly behind him. As soon as the door clicked shut Ziva dove down to capture Tony's lips.
Gibbs heard the rustle of sheets as soon as he pulled the door shut. He laughed to himself and allowed such a wide smile to spread over his face that it crinkled the corners of his eyes. "It's about fucking time." He said softly to himself.
When Tony and Ziva made their way to the kitchen they found Gibbs reading the morning paper and sipping a coffee at the table.
"Good morning, lovebirds. Took you long enough to play grab ass." He spoke to them without looking up from his paper.
"Boss…" Tony started to explain. "We didn't break any rules. We're not coworkers anymore."
"I didn't say anything." Gibbs added, even though he just had. He took another sip of his coffee and continued to read the paper.
"So what is the plan?" Ziva asked him bluntly. "We both want in."
Gibbs put the paper down and looked at the two of them. "I didn't want any of you involved."
"Since you're here," Tony spoke, "I'm guessing that choice is out of your hands now."
"You guess right."
"Cute entrance." Tony added. "You could have just waited for us downstairs.
"And missed the looks on your faces? Ha." Tony felt himself blush at the pleasure Gibbs was taking in this.
"Let us discuss this over breakfast." Ziva suggested as she walked to the refrigerator. "Gibbs, how do you like your eggs?"
"Scrambled. Just like everything else," he added.
Tony walked to help Ziva prepare breakfast for the three of them. Gibbs smiled as he watched the two of them work seamlessly to prepare the food. Tony opened the cabinet and Ziva took the pans that he held out for her. She opened the refrigerator door handed Tony the various items in an order that allowed him to quickly put them to use. They worked together, with impressive speed, in complete sync.
Tony cracked the eggs and beat them into smooth liquid. He poured them into the buttered pan that Ziva held out to him. He grabbed a spatula and reached over Ziva's shoulder to offer it to her before she even noticed she hadn't was missing it. Tony opened the dishwasher and started to empty the contents as Ziva cooked the eggs. He clicked the washable piece of the juicer into place so he could squeeze some fresh orange juice. Ziva tossed two oranges to him, which Tony caught in each hand. He quickly placed them on the counter to catch the second round that Ziva threw to him. The fourth orange she tossed went wide as Ziva was distracted as she went to move the eggs in the pan. Tony caught it with ease, watching her expressions and not the orange ball she threw.
Tony squeezed the oranges as Ziva cooked the eggs. As he waited for the remaining drops of juice to drip from the juicer he handed Ziva a large platter to transfer the finished eggs.
"Let's use those berries we picked up yesterday." He reminded her.
Ziva's eyes lit up as she made her way to the fridge to retrieve the berries.
Gibbs laughed out loud at the domesticity the two of them displayed. Both Tony and Ziva turned to look at him completely unaware at what amused him. "You two work well together," he said with a sly smile.
"We have been partners for a very long time." Ziva reminded him.
"Yeah. That's it." Gibbs said heavy sarcasm and a final laugh.
Tony and Ziva served an impressive spread before they took their own seats at the table.
"You two are good together…in the kitchen." He added with an intentional hint.
Ziva glared at Gibbs' less than subtle statement. She put her elbows up on the table, interlaced her fingers, and placed her chin on her hands. "Spill." She demanded to Gibbs. "We have been crazy with worry and it is time for you to talk."
Gibbs laughed as he shoveled eggs onto his plate. "Yes, I can see you two have done nothing but sit by the window and wait for my call." He smiled and enjoyed the torture he was inflicting on the two of them.
Ziva grabbed Gibbs' wrist as he lifted a forkful of eggs towards his mouth. Gibbs smiled and glared at her hand until she let go and allowed him to bring the eggs to his mouth.
Gibbs sighed, then started to speak. "These are good eggs." He paused, then continued. "None of you were supposed to be involved. I was promised this was a solo mission."
He ate a few bites before he continued to speak. "Those bastards changed the conditions. I should have seen this coming."
"Who?" Tony asked.
"Who do I hate the most?" Gibbs asked Tony.
"Lawyers?" Tony answered automatically.
Gibbs nodded his head. "And what government agency do I despise above all else?"
"The CIA?" Ziva answered.
"And now those bastards are working together. It's my worst nightmare. Once they
had me by the balls they changed the terms. They want you all involved. I can't pull out now. You all resigned for me. The only way to fix this mess is to follow through with whatever they ask me to do." Gibbs slammed his hand down on the table, rattling the plates. "Bastards."
"Boss, we're all in." Tony assured him. "Wherever this takes us, you can count on us all."
"This was all a fucking set up. Parsons was sent to gain leverage. He was never going to be allowed to follow through with the case he built. He was sent to dig, and put me in a position I couldn't get out of."
"They want you to kill someone." Ziva deduced.
"Is that true?" Tony directed his question to Gibbs.
Gibbs nodded his head with a defeated look.
Tony clapped his hands together. "Well then what's the problem? Let's get this show on the road." Tony's voice was cheerful, trying to lift the somber mood in the room.
Ziva's stare remained trained on Gibbs, studying him. "The problem is who." She answered. Tony's chest swelled with pride at how smart Ziva was.
Gibbs turned to Ziva and nodded. "This isn't going to be easy, which is exactly why they went through so much trouble to get us. I'm going to need the whole team. Everyone."
"They're all heading up tonight. They're spending the weekend here. Tim, Abby, Ducky, and Palmer." Tony informed him.
"What about Brina?"
"She had a bachelorette party this weekend. It's just the NCIS crew." Tony added.
Gibbs leaned his forehead into his hands and rubbed his eyes. "I hate this. I never wanted them involved."
"We are already involved." Ziva reminded him. "And we all want in."
"Can you tell us more now? Or do you want to wait until everyone else arrives?" Tony prodded.
"Honestly DiNozzo, all I want right now is to lie down and take a nap. I haven't slept in two days." The exhaustion showed in the bags under Gibbs' eyes.
Tony stood up and held him arm out indicating for Gibbs to head towards one of the bedrooms. "We have plenty of bedrooms." The idea of the invincible Gibbs needing a nap shook him far more than he let on. Gibbs grabbed a small bag with some clothing as he followed Tony.
"How about we give him the blue ocean room?" Ziva suggested to Tony. He smiled warmly at her, loving that she said 'we', and he led Gibbs to the largest guest room with the best view of the ocean. It was the room where Ziva had slept the first night she was at the house. It only took one night before she was sharing a room with Tony.
"Here it is Boss. There's a full bathroom stocked with fresh towels" Tony declared as Gibbs entered a stunning bedroom with a freshly made bed. "Can I get you anything?"
Gibbs patted Tony on the shoulder. "Nope. This will do just fine. It looks like you and Ziva have been busy." He said with a smile.
Ziva walked in carrying a plate of food. She placed it on the nightstand. It was covered with Saran wrap. "Just in case you are hungry. You did not eat much." She took hold of Tony's arm and pulled him from the room. "Come on Tony. Gibbs needs to rest." She tugged Tony from the room and pulled the door shut behind her.
Tony and Ziva went back to the kitchen to clean up the mess they'd made preparing breakfast. They worked in silence. Tony thought he knew what was on Ziva's mind, but he knew her well, and this wasn't the time to push.
Tony washed the larger platters that wouldn't fit in the dishwasher by hand as Ziva cleared the table. She stopped what she was doing and turned to face him.
"You told Gibbs that you loved me." She said quietly.
Tony answered without skipping a beat, or even pausing washing the dishes. "That's because I do." He stopped his washing and looked at Ziva to gauge her frame of mind. "Nothing will change." He assured her. "I've loved you for years, so this isn't something new. And that wasn't the 'big declaration'. I don't think we're ready to exchange those words yet."
"I am not ready yet." Ziva confessed to him. She looked terrified and paralyzed where she stood.
Tony went over and pulled her in for a hug. "I'm not ready either." He rubbed her back. "Relax Z. We're not there yet." He held her back so he could look her in the eye. "Don't stress about this. I love you but I'm not ready to say those words to you yet either."
"I have never told a man I loved him." Ziva said sadly.
"That's because there's never been a man worthy of you." He smiled at the compliment he'd just paid to himself.
"What if I cannot say it?" She looked so scared. Not scared of the words, but scared that she wouldn't be able to say them. She was scared that she was too damaged to say what she felt.
Tony embraced Ziva in a hug. "You can. And you will." He stroked her hair. "But only when you're ready. I will wait for you for as long as you need." Ziva looked up at him and he felt her release some of the tension she'd been holding. "Do you still want to tell everyone about us when they arrive tonight?" He asked her. They'd discussed their relationship. They both agreed this was real, and they both wanted to tell the rest of the NCIS team. They had planned on telling Gibbs the next time they saw him. They hadn't planned on his ambush this morning.
Ziva wasn't superstitious. But she was a little stitious. She had been the one to insist they keep what had happened in Berlin secret from the NCIS team. She knew that wasn't the reason that things had turned bad back then. But she certainly didn't want to repeat any past mistakes. And this was real. She wanted everyone to know.
Ziva smiled at him. "I am ready. I want to tell them all."
Tony could have kissed her he was so happy. And that's exactly what he did.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. It was so much fun to write.
And, plot time had finally arrived. But do not despair, I'm not done with the smut either. There is plenty of that left too.
And the line about being superstitious(and a little stitious) is actually something I borrowed from an NCIS episode. I think it was also used on an episode of The Office. I took it from the NCIS episode "Good Cop, Bad Cop" from Season 7:
Gibbs tells Vance- "You're superstitious?"
Vance responds- "I'm a little stitious."