DISCLAIMER: I do not own NCIS. Apologies once again for disappearing.

Chapter 4 - The next day

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Ziva reached out a hand from under the covers to switch off her alarm.

'Why on earth did you put an alarm on?'

Ziva rolled over and saw Tony lying in her bed, his naked torso poking out from under the bed covers.

'It is Friday' she replied, smiling at his messy hair. 'We both have work.'

'You mean I can't stay in bed with a gorgeous, naked woman all day?' he asked jokingly.

'I am afraid not.'

'What time is it?'

'6 am.'

'Seriously Zi?'

'Normally I go running.'

'I thought you did that at 5 am?'

Ziva shook her head. 'Not since I changed jobs. I do not have to be at the office until 9 am and I have a slightly shorter commute at the moment.'

'You gonna run now?' asked Tony, trying not to sound too disappointed. Ziva shook her head again, smirking slightly.

'I think I did enough physical activity last night to earn a day off from running.' Tony chuckled and leaned forward to kiss Ziva. Hands began to roam and getting ready for work was momentarily forgotten.

It was Tony's rumbling stomach that finally got them out of bed. Seamlessly, Tony and Ziva moved around her apartment, making breakfast, showering and getting dressed. It was as if they had always done it, and today wasn't the first time.

Ziva came out of her bedroom, wearing black vest, beige wide leg trousers and some sandals. She had even put a little bit of makeup on. Since starting a new job that didn't involve carrying a gun, chasing suspects, or having to whip out her krav maga to defend herself, Ziva had started experimenting a fraction. Her wardrobe contained a few new pieces (including a couple of dresses), some footwear that were more shoe than combat boot, and updated her makeup bag. It wasn't drastic, or a complete 180. Ziva was just indulging the side of her that she felt couldn't do as a NCIS agent or Mossad operative.

'You look nice' said Tony.

'Thank you' replied Ziva. 'Are you going home to change?'

'Nah. I've got a change of clothes in my locker. I'll change at work.'

'You won't need it over the weekend?'

'I'm not on call this weekend' said Tony.

'Really?' Ziva tried to hide her optimism a little. She didn't want to come over too enthusiastic. Tony grabbed his backpack.

'No. Free weekend assuming there's no last minute case at 4.55 pm today.'

'Do not jinx it' said Ziva, as the two of them walked down to the apartment's parking lot.

'Where did you park?' asked Ziva, looking around for Tony's car.

'Down the block.'

'You want a lift?'

'No. It's not far and I don't mind walking.'

'Ok.' Ziva unlocked her car and put her bag inside. She turned to Tony. 'Do you… um want dinner tonight?' she asked tentatively.

'Yeah. Sounds good' said Tony. He stepped forward and kissed Ziva, leaning her against the car. 'I'll see you later' he said before walking towards the exit.

Ziva smiled and waited a second or two before getting into her car. What had happened in the last 12 hours was something she couldn't have predicted, but God, it was something she wanted.

Ziva watched the hands on the clock tick by. It was now 12.43 and she was starting to think about what to do for lunch. The sunshine was calling her name and Ziva was tempted to go and read in the park down the block.

'Ziva?' She looked up and saw one of her new colleagues standing by her desk.

'Hi Hayden.'

'Some of us are going to The Smokehouse for lunch. Want to come?'

Ziva's phone buzzed. She picked it up. A message from Tony.

Going to Bailey's Sandwich shop. You want your old usual?

Ziva typed out her reply

Yes please.

'Ziva?' She looked back up at her colleague.

'Sorry Hayden' she said. 'I am going to meet up with a friend.'

'Oh Ok. Enjoy.' Ziva watched Hayden walk towards the exit, before turning back to her desk to do a little bit more work.

Twenty minutes later, Ziva's phone buzzed yet again. Tony had arrived with the sandwiches. She grabbed her sunglasses, hat and bag.

Standing in the courtyard, lunch bags in hand, was Tony. Ziva smiled and walked over to him.

'Hey' he said.

'Hello' she said. He leaned forward and kissed Ziva gently.

'One sabich as ordered' said Tony, handing over one of the brown lunch bags. Ziva looked inside. He had even got a bottle of water and a red velvet cupcake.

'Thank you' said Ziva.

'Any suggestion on where we can eat?' asked Tony.

'There's a park around the corner' said Ziva. 'We could find a bench. How was your morning?' she added as they started walking in the park's direction.

'It was fine. Still no new leads.'

'What about that company you mentioned last night?'

'Lots of computer techy data' said Tony making Ziva chuckle. 'McGee and Abby have been going through whilst I've been waist deep in a paper trail.'

Ziva listened to Tony talking about his morning. Whilst she missed working with her friends, she didn't miss the cases with long paper trails or lots of complicated computer data which went right over her head. The paperwork she did now helped people get the right kind of support they needed, or it was the training she was undertaking to become a fully fledged support worker.

They found a bench under a large oak tree and tucked into their respective lunches.

'Let me guess, you ordered a reuben?' said Ziva as Tony unwrapped his sandwich.

'It's a classic and you don't mess with a classic' said Tony. 'How was your morning?'

'Interesting. I had some training on some previous cases; what to do and what not to do. Read up on some psychology stuff.' Ziva hadn't told Tony yet, but she was sort of considering studying psychology in some way.

They sat in the park eating and chatting, watching the world go by. Some cyclists rode by on fancy looking bikes. An old man fed the birds. Over on the play park, kids ran around laughing their heads off. It was a nice summer's day, only made better by the person they were sitting next to.

Tony and Ziva were both well aware that they were no longer colleagues. Rule 12 no longer applied to them but both were acutely aware of the pain they had both felt from past, failed relationships. Neither of them wanted to hurt the other one, or be hurt in turn. As a result, they were both being cautious.

Ziva turned to Tony to say something.

'What is it?' he asked. Ziva paused, unsure what to say.

'Nothing' she said eventually. 'I better get back to work.'

'Ok. I'll walk with you.'

They got up, picked their belongings and walked back to the office building where Ziva worked.

'Thank you for lunch' she said.

'My pleasure' said Tony. He pulled Ziva forward and kissed her. On autopilot their fingers slid together and locked tightly.

But their bubble burst when Tony's phone rang.

'DiNozzo. Uh huh. Uh huh. Ok. I'll be there soon.' He hung up. 'I gotta go. Break through in the case. McGee and Abby found something. See you later?'

'Definitely' said Ziva. Tony gave Ziva one more kiss before leaving. Ziva turned and headed up to her desk.

'Hey Ziva' said Sally, the woman who sat next to Ziva.

'Hi Sally. Nice lunch?'

'Not as good as yours.'

'Huh?'

'Who's that guy you were with?' Ziva laughed awkwardly. Sally's smile grew. 'You two looked good together.'

'Thank you' said Ziva.

'How long have you two been together?' Ziva laughed loudly.

'That is a complicated answer' she said. Somehow Tony and Ziva seemed to have been together and not together for the past eight years.

'Sounds interesting' said Sally.'I meant what I said. You two looked really good together.'

'Thank you Sally. It feels good.'

The work day ended at 5 pm as it did now for Ziva. It still felt odd, having so much time outside of work but Zive was slowly getting used to it.

She pulled into her parking spot at her apartment block and up to her floor. Walking around the corner, Ziva stopped and smiled. She smiled so much more lately. Standing by her front door was him; Tony. Another reason why Ziva smiled so much.

'Hey' she said, walking up to him.

'Hey yourself.'

'Case closed?'

'All wrapped up. Free as a bird this weekend. You?'

'Same. You want to come in?' Tony smiled.

'Thought you'd never ask.'

Again, apologies for taking so long to write this. Life is just busy and I'm not writing as much.

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I don't know when the next chapter will be up but this story is not finished yet. More is to come.