Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Thanks to Reader for reviewing 5, 6, 7 and 8; Sazzita and JonnyP86 for reviewing 6 and 8; earthdragon for reviewing 7; Girl with a pink flying carpet, for reviewing 8.

She slipped into the room, closing the door softly behind her, and finding it quiet. Realizing she was alone, she relaxed and moved away from the door. As she peeled off her jacket, she slowly set the accordion folder on the dresser top and moved to open it-

Not daring to breathe, she turned, to find Bishop watching her from the bathroom doorway. Her long blonde hair was down around her shoulders in loose waves- had the woman never heard of an up do whenever they were working?- and she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "'bout time you showed up, David."

"Sorry. I was... busy." Bishop's brown eyebrows shot up into her blonde hair, and she choked on a laugh.

"'Busy', that's your excuse?" She shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "Did you ever consider that we were busy too? Trying to bust this terrorist-"

"I have told you, time and again, Bishop, but Ari Haswari is not a terrorist."

"You seem so certain, David." Slowly, the other woman wandered over to her. "Look, I don't know how you do things in Mossad, but at NCIS, when we go on a covert, we don't keep tabs and then wander off and do whatever the hell we want because we feel like it. We get what we need to done, and then we go home. Now that may not be how they do things at Mossad, but that's how they do things here at NCIS. Got it?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I am starting to think I would have preferred Agent Todd." And then, without another word, she picked up the folder and went to the table by the window, laying the folder on it and pulling out the first chapter.

"What is that?" The Israeli's dark head turned towards her briefly.

"A novel." She flipped over the cover page, not noticing Bishop skulk up behind her.

"It doesn't look like a novel." She jumped, grabbing the stitch in her chest as she turned around to face her partner.

"It is bad enough when Gibbs does that to me, but do you have to do it too?" Bishop glanced at her before looking back at the pages.

"Sorry." The blonde leaned close, reading over her shoulder; she turned her head slowly, unnerved by the other woman's closeness.

"Do you mind?" After several minutes, Bishop backed up, muttering something about anti-social behavior before returning to the bathroom. Once gone, she turned back to the chapter, letting herself become lost in Thom's writing. It was beautiful, brilliant, amazing in every way. His attention to detail was astounding, and his ability to spin a tale with the simplest of phrases was a trait to be admired. But what got her the most were the characters. She could see each of her coworkers in every character- the way Agent Tommy was in a devoted relationship to Agent Maria- even going so far as to propose, but still spent his free time flirting and playing with women; how Tibbs could break a suspect in a matter of a few minutes. "And he knows no one at NCIS except Agent Barrett." She chuckled softly, flipping a page. So engrossed in the novel, she didn't hear the phone ring, and only looked up when Bishop left the bathroom, toothbrush dangling from her mouth.

"'isho." Quickly, the blonde removed the toothbrush. "Sorry, Boss... yeah, she's right here." The former NSA agent turned, holding the phone out to her partner. "He wants to talk to you." She sing-songed, sticking the toothbrush back into her mouth and resuming her cleaning as she headed back to the bathroom, though she left the door open slightly, awaiting the storm that was about to break. She took a deep breath,

"Hi Gibbs." Dead silence met her. "Um, I... I am checking in..." She bit her lip.

"I can tell, David." She swallowed. Even over three thousand miles away, Gibbs still wasn't happy with her.

"I am sorry I did not check in, I just... I... I had..."

"Had what?"

"Had a date." She whispered. She could hear the eyebrow lift even over the phone. "And I... with Agent Barrett's cousin."

"Agent... Barrett's... cousin..." He spoke slowly, as though not believing what she was saying. "David, have you lost your mind? You didn't check in or return to your hotel room to review the case because you had a date with Agent Barrett's cousin? I... I..." He spluttered for several minutes, before, "Put Bishop back on, David. Now!" Swallowing, she did as told, going to the bathroom and handing the phone to her partner before quickly changing clothes. As she pulled her shoes on, she listened closely to Bishop's kind of conversation, before slipping into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. She left the door open slightly, and only looked up when she heard Bishop get off the phone.

"He is not happy with you." Quickly, she turned to find the blonde standing in the bathroom doorway. "You really screwed up, David. As far as Gibbs is concerned, you're on probation-"

"So I am no longer involved with the case?" She asked, her mind quickly latching onto spending as much time with Thom as she could. Bishop snorted.

"No, that means that while we are working the case, I am not to let you out of my sight. He said that if he has to, he will remove you and send someone else in-"

"Like Agent DiNozzo?" She watched as Bishop's face went from shock to horror to absolute disgust in a matter of minutes. The blonde visibly shivered, letting out a disgusted whimper before responding.

"God no, at least I hope not." She tossed her hair, watching as her partner quickly put her hair into a French braid and tucked it under. "No, he'd most likely send over Agent Todd instead of DiNozzo. And honestly? Better her than Cassidy. I can't stand that woman, she's a pain in the ass; thinks she's better than everyone just because she worked at the Pentagon." Bishop made air quotes around Pentagon, rolling her eyes. Ziva watched her, silent; she had only met Agent Cassidy once, and quite liked the woman, for her extensive knowledge of various military weapons. Agent Todd, she wasn't so sure about. The woman struck her as a prude, and someone she'd rather stay away from.

She gave the blonde a big smile before exiting the bathroom. "Well, maybe you will get your fish."

"Wish!"