WTF! I can't process the news that Ziva's leaving the show. Devastation…
This does change my plan for writing. This means I'm going to give you more Tiva right now when we all desperately need it.
I'm writing as fast as I can.
Tony woke up that morning the same way he had since Ziva had started sharing his bed, spooning her from behind. He nuzzled into her neck. Suddenly, he shot to life, shaking her awake in a panic. She groaned as he shook her out of her sleepy bliss.
"What?" she whined to him. She'd been sleeping peacefully.
Tony held her wrist in front of her face so she could see what he was so upset about. There was a red ring around each of her wrists where the ties had been. They weren't severe, just noticeable red marks that sent Tony into a meltdown.
"Ziva! You should have told me I was hurting you." His voice was desperate. He wrapped his arms tight around Ziva and held her. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."
Ziva sighed, and then fought his tight grip to spin around and face him. He looked so devastated. She held his face between her palms. "Tony," she assured him, "you did not hurt me. You did the opposite."
"Look at your wrists. Why are there marks?" He bowed his head down to kiss her wrist. He was close to tears.
"I am a woman. We bruise easily." This was actually true for Ziva. She bruised like a peach. And she'd enjoyed pulling against those ties. And unfortunately, these marks were only going to become more pronounced as the day went on. Ziva noticed some teeth marks she'd left on the front of Tony's shoulder. She brought her hand to the spot. "I left teeth marks on you where I bit you. My wrists are exactly the same thing. It is no big deal." She tried to reason with him.
"I tied you too tight." Tony chastised himself. He was distressed and becoming more upset.
"No, you did not. I pulled against the ties. I wanted to. I could have untied myself at any time. I gave myself the marks. It had nothing to do with how tight I was tied." She spoke boldly. She needed him to understand. "I liked it Tony. I really liked it. You need to get over this because I want you to do that many more times." She smiled at him.
Tony met her eyes and the guilt started to fade. "I didn't hurt you?" He wasn't yet convinced.
"No!" Her single word was so bold that it convinced Tony to release the breath he'd been holding. He pulled her into his chest and held her.
Ziva didn't want to hide the marks on her wrists before they headed downstairs to start breakfast. Tony wanted her to, but she argued that they'd all be at the beach in bathing suits later in the day, so there was no use in covering them now. She understood why he asked. He didn't want to see the marks. No matter what she said, a part of him still felt like he'd hurt her. He'd probably pad her wrists in bubble wrap before he tied her up again, if he ever did.
Tony looked at the red rings around her tiny wrists and a stabbing pain ate at him. He didn't care what she said, he still felt guilty. He shouldn't have let that happen. She'd trusted him completely, letting him tie her up, and now she had marks that he'd given her. It physically hurt him to look at her wrists. He took one of Ziva's wrists in his hand and brought it up to his mouth to try and kiss it away.
"They are small marks. And the experience was incredible." She gave Tony her best naughty smile as she looked up at him. "I want to do it again very soon."
"I should get some of those restraints they use in psych wards. Those won't do this. They won't leave marks." Tony's words were deadly serious, but Ziva couldn't help bursting into laughter at his ridiculous idea. When he didn't laugh with her she brought her hand up to stroke his cheek. He kept his hand around her wrist, stroking the red skin with his fingers.
Ziva saw the pain in Tony's eyes. He'd agreed that it was her choice whether she wanted to cover up the marks. But the hurt in his eyes killed her. She told Tony she wanted to wash her face and that she'd meet him downstairs in a minute. After he left, she went into the bathroom and smeared a mix of concealer and foundation around her wrists. She smiled as the colored makeup completely covered the marks. She admired how well she'd covered them. Ziva wished she had the same level of skill when it came to applying makeup to her face. She was hopeless with that. She had resigned to the natural look long ago. She made her way down to the kitchen, happy that her wrists were covered from Tony. She laughed at the irony that he was the only one she cared about covering them for.
Ziva walked up behind Tony where he stood over the sink, and wrapped her arms around him. He looked down at her wrists. The marks were gone. Somehow she'd covered them. And she'd done it for him. He spun around in her arms to face her. He wanted to believe that he'd kissed them away, but he knew she'd only covered them. He had red strawberry juice all over his hands, but he didn't care. He bowed down to kiss her, lifting her up off her feet and leaving two bright red handprints on the back of her tan shorts.
They started the routine of making breakfast, which was now a seamless dance they'd perfected in their days together. They laughed and prepared an impressive spread in record time, eggs included. They set the table and prepared for their guests that would surely be lured down by the smell of bacon.
Tony and Ziva thought they'd been quiet the night before, but the smiles aimed at them as their guests filled the kitchen told them otherwise. Now, Ziva was relieved that she'd covered the marks on her wrists. She didn't need to add to any wild speculations about what they'd been up to in bed. Since they were all in law enforcement they'd surely assume handcuffs were involved. That's what she'd think. The bright red handprints on her ass, which she was completely unaware of, only made the smiles on their guests wider.
Abby was the most obvious. "So, how did you guys sleep?" she asked with a smile as they ate. When neither answered, she went on. "I slept well. The beds here are so comfortable. If I had a bed like that at home I'd never get out of it. I'd probably do everything in bed." She was having fun, and loved the slight blush that was creeping up both Tony and Ziva's cheeks.
"You sleep in a coffin." Tim quipped at her. Clearly, he still wasn't comfortable with the idea of his teammates sleeping together, and Abby wasn't helping. It was a long breakfast for Tony and Ziva.
"Holy batshit!" Tony said to Ziva as he held her around the waist as they walked towards where Tim and Abby had set up camp on the beach.
"I know." Ziva said back to him with a laugh. "That is what she has been hiding under those clothes."
Abby Sciuto stood in a tiny black skull print bikini stretching in the sun. Actually, in the shade. She was under a heavy umbrella, completely shielded from the sun's rays. And she was white as hell. She would probably reflect the sun's rays. But her figure was incredible. Tattoos covered what could only be described as an epic body.
In addition to the huge umbrella, there was also a tent set up for her. It was pretty awesome. Two poles and some rope created an ingenious little tent that provided a large expanse of shade. It was shaped like the roof of a house. And there was space between the bottom of the fabric tent and the sand that let the ocean breeze pass through. At least two people could spread out underneath it in the shade it provided.
"She's not you," Tony moved his hand down to lightly pat Ziva's own bikini clad ass, "but I did not expect that."
"She has much bigger breasts than I do." Ziva told Tony playfully.
He stopped her where they stood and took a good look at Ziva's small chest. "Nope." Tony said bluntly. "I prefer yours."
"But you would not mind if I snuggled with Abby?" She taunted him. "I would do that for you." Her voice was husky.
"Have you done that? Been with another woman?"
"I have kissed another woman, a few times undercover. But no. I have never been with another woman in any real way."
"And you'd do that for me?" Tony was touched.
"I would. Do you want that?"
Tony gripped Ziva tighter as a realization hit him. He stopped in his tracks. "Actually, no. Absolutely not! I don't want to share you with anyone. Not even another woman." Tony said these last words in shock. He could never watch Ziva with someone else. And he'd always thought two chicks together was so hot. Especially two chicks who were into men and only putting on a show. Only women in his dirty fantasies offered to do that for him. "What has become of me?" He mocked Shakespearian anguish.
"Not even Angelina Jolie?" she teased him. "Imagine watching her touch me as I kissed you."
"I'd tear off her arm if she touched you." He joked back to her.
"What if only her lips were on me?" She let her words linger.
"I'd break my rule and punch a woman in the face."
Ziva continued to describe various dirty scenarios that would have driven Tony crazy with lust before Ziva. They were smiling and laughing when they approached Abby and Tim.
"What's the joke?" Abby asked.
"Oh it is no joke Abby." Ziva said. "Tony was just commenting on how amazing you look in a bikini."
McGee trained a death stare at Tony.
"Awwww, Tony. That's sweet. I usually don't go out in the sun. But Tim convinced me to sit under an umbrella. He brought this umbrella and that kick ass beach tent."
"Well everyone gawking at Abby on the beach thanks you, Probie." Tony laughed as Tim started to spin around trying to catch the uninvited watchers red-handed. "That tent is pretty awesome, Probie. I definitely need to get one of those. Did you buy it recently?" He smiled at Tim. He knew that McGee had probably run out and bought it this past week to get Abby in a bikini. McGee glared back at him.
"Ziva. Do you want to walk along the shore?" Abby asked innocently.
"Abby." Tim said quickly. "You need to cover up. You'll…burn." He added in a pathetic attempt to hide his jealousy.
Abby pulled on a thin black dress, a black sun hat, arm length gloves, and grabbed her lace umbrella before walking with Ziva down to the water. Tony watched Ziva's lovely ass as they started to walk away.
"Ziva." You should cover up too. Tony pulled off his shirt and ran to thrust it in her hand. Ziva smiled at his jealous gesture and pulled the shirt over her head. Her skin was far too dark to burn after a few minutes in the sun, but she liked how he protected her, and she indulged him.
Once they were out of earshot, Tony decided to stir the pot. "Get your eyes off Ziva's ass." Tony scolded Tim as he watched the two women walk away.
"I wasn't looking at Ziva." Tim spat back at him.
"Busted. I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were looking at." Tony said proudly. McGee realized he'd fallen directly into Tony's trap. "So Probie, how's De-li-lah?"
"Good." Tim muttered under his breath. "It was too soon to ask her away for a weekend."
"Does she have as ass like Abby's?"
"Shouldn't you be concerned with Ziva's ass?" he spat back defensively.
"Oh Probalicious. I am very concerned with Ziva's ass. I watch it very closely and would guard it with my life."
"One more word and I drown the two of you." Gibbs threatened as he walked up behind them with Ducky and Palmer.
"I love the shore." Ducky announced. "Did you know that the world's longest seashore is in Brazil in the city of Rio Grande. It's 1,581 miles long. I once had the grand dream of walking the entire length. When I was there in '74 I did walk 10 miles of it."
"That's fascinating." Palmer praised Ducky. He really was fascinated by the random bit of trivia.
Ziva and Abby were back in less than 10 minutes. Even covered as she was, Abby was so pale that she couldn't stay in the sun. They were back before Gibbs, Ducky and Palmer had even finished setting up for the day.
Abby scooted back underneath the umbrella and Ziva took off Tony's huge shirt and spread out in the sun. They were all perfectly quiet. They sat on the beach without speaking, just taking in the sun.
"So," Gibbs broke the silence, "is this seriously all we do on the beach?"
Everyone erupted in laughter. Palmer pressed the stopwatch he'd been hiding in his bad. "Twenty Three minutes. Dr. Mallard wins." He declared.
Gibbs gave Palmer a stare that mixed annoyance with confusion. Palmer gulped and swallowed his smile.
Ducky saved him. "Sorry Jethro. We all placed bets on how long you'd manage to sit still. I won. I had the 20-25 minute window." He smiled and chuckled at Gibbs.
"So we don't just sit here?" Gibbs asked, sounding relieved.
"Hell no!" Abby blurted. "Hey Ducky. Did you bring the speakers?"
"I certainly did, my dear." He took a small set of portable speakers from his bag. Abby grabbed them and plugged in her iPod, blasting death metal onto the beach.
A chorus of 'no's' quickly protested Abby's music. She pouted. "Fine then. But I want to listen to something."
It took thirty minutes of debate before an iPod was chosen. No one could agree on the music. Everyone wanted his or her own songs played. And Gibbs just nixed what he didn't want to hear. Palmer saved the day with a playlist that was perfect for the beach. Amazingly, not one single complaint was directed at his music.
Tony had also brought a bevy of games. His aunt and uncle had every possible beach game in their house. He had a bag filled with supplies: bocce ball, paddle ball, Frisbees, teja, racquets of every variety, horseshoes, balls of every type, and even an impressive set of cornhole boards that folded open to full size. They even had special tools to craft complex sandcastles.
Everyone rummaged through the bounty of possible fun. Tony grabbed Ziva and pulled her aside, along with a long bag that looked like it might hold a yoga mat. He pulled a strange looking mix of metal and fabric from of the bag and a few seconds later a hammock had popped open. Ziva clapped her hands and laughed. Tony smiled proudly and presented his surprise to Ziva.
Tony spread out on it and patted the space next to him for Ziva to join.
"Can that hold both of us?" she asked warily.
"It holds 300 pounds. Get over here." He urged her. Ziva crawled next to him on the small surface. Her body lay more on top than next to him. But Tony wrapped his arms around her and they spent almost an hour together before they let anyone else have a chance to try the hammock.
After a long day on the beach Tony and McGee headed to the store to buy food to grill for dinner. They had to make a few stops: the grocery store, the farmer's market, and a specialty butcher. The made quick work of the grocery store. Tony took a little longer at the farmer's market; bringing home what McGee thought was a ridiculous amount of heirloom tomatoes.
The last stop was the butcher. Tony insisted that the meat at this butcher was worth the trip. McGee had no problem with it. Even he had to admit that Tony's cooking the night before was great, and he was looking forward to what he'd make on the grill.
They walked out of the butcher with amazing cuts of beef. Tony stopped in his tracks on the way back to the car, suddenly remembering what store was just around the corner.
"One last stop, Probie." He announced.
McGee followed Tony around the corner to a candy store. He definitely wasn't expecting that. He was even more shocked when all Tony bought was a three-foot long, twisted strand of black licorice.
"Ewww." Tim said as they headed back to the car. Tony was grinning like he'd just won the lottery. "I didn't know you liked black licorice." He said with a grimace.
"It's for Ziva." Tony told him with a smile.
"She doesn't licorice. We had an entire conversation about it one day." He told him.
"It's an inside joke, Probie. Maybe when you grow up I'll tell it to you." Tony wiggled his eyebrows.
"I don't want to know. After what we all heard last night I definitely do not want to know any of your inside jokes." McGee assured Tony as they reached the car.
Tony opened his car door. "Even if you did want to know, I wouldn't tell you." He flashed Tim a million dollar smile before climbing into the car.
He spoke again when they were both inside the car. "I didn't think we were loud. We tried to be quiet."
"We all heard Ziva's muffled screams. I had nightmares." Tim said bluntly. "Unfortunately, I'm in the room closest to yours. I probably got the worst of it."
Tony smiled. "I do love to make her scream." Instead of a joke, he said it almost wistfully.
They arrived back at the house to find everyone relaxing on the porch. The men came down to the car to help carry the groceries from the car. When Tony reached Ziva on the porch he asked McGee to carry his bag. Tim rolled his eyes, but took it from Tony's hand. Abby followed everyone inside to help unpack the groceries.
Tony knelt down next to where Ziva was sitting with the long strand of licorice concealed behind his back. "I got you a present." Tony smiled at her. He took the gift from behind his back and presented it to Ziva. She burst out into laughter. Tony wrapped the strand around Ziva and used it to pull her towards him for a kiss.
"We do not need that." Ziva purred to Tony. She felt a throb starting up between her legs.
"Even if we never use it, we do need it."
"What I need right now is a shower. Would you like to join me?" She asked with all the innocence of a hunting lioness.
"Hell yeah. You go up first. I'll help unpack the food and be up in a few minutes." He pulled her in for a last kiss before they both stood and entered the house.
Hi. I need help. Could you please let me know what you would like me to post? Cote's departure changes how I planned to post the ongoing Tiva love story. There's no question that this story will continue as I have planned. But I have a ton of future Tiva stuff that I'm not sure when to post anymore. Should I put it up this summer, before NCIS comes back on? Or do you want me to continue my Tiva story even after Cote has left the show?
I don't think I'm giving away any secrets when I tell you that my happy ending is Tony and Ziva together. I could write my ass off for the rest of the summer and finish their love story. I have a lot written (proposal, wedding, 1st house, 1st and 2nd child). I didn't feel the need to finish these stories and rush to post them since I thought she'd be back. Honestly, I don't think us Tiva fans will get what we want in the one last episode that Ziva will be in. I want to end Tiva my way. I don't see it ending happily on the show since Cote's only going to be in one more episode. Again, WTF!
Another sunset note- it seems I still have not been clear about my sunset/sunrise. This is a house that only exists in my head, and now in this story. Let's just call it magic. It's right on the beach facing the open Atlantic Ocean. Remember, it's magic. All 7 guest rooms of this house have views of the open Atlantic Ocean. Again, magic house. The sun rises over the open ocean, and it also sets in that same spot over the Atlantic. Yup, the sun rises in the east and sets in the east too. Magic house. And both the sunrise and sunset are perfectly viewed from the porch. Magic house.
I'm also writing this quickly. Please excuse any little mistakes.