"I have an idea," Tony suddenly said, taking a turn in a direction Ziva knew they weren't supposed to be going.

They were supposed to be returning from grabbing some files from the local precinct (their fax machine was broken and apparently, they didn't trust email) but this road would not take them back to the Navy Yard. In fact, he would take them further away because when they got to the end of the road, they had originally been on they would have had to turn right. This turn Tony made was to the left.

"Tony, we are going the wrong way."

"I know. Actually, we aren't."

"You should have taken a right. This is the left. Which is the wrong way."

"It is but it also isn't, if you get what I mean."

"I do not."

"You'll see."

"I do not want to see; I want to return to work. And as should you."

"We will. Just after a quick detour."

"It is not a quick detour if we are going in the complete opposite direction."

"I'll let you drive on the way back, that way it will be quick."

She perked up at that. It was not always that Tony willingly handed her the keys.

"Really?"

Tony grimaced but nodded with conviction. "Yeah."

Now she was really intrigued. He hated her driving, ways complained about it but yet here he was willingly letting her. And he was expecting her to go fast too. So, what was this all about? She looked at him intently but he steadily refused to look at her. Granted, that could be because he was driving but she knew better. His eyes didn't even briefly flicker her way. He was trying to not give anything away. Which definitely meant he was up to something. The question was what?

Neither of them talked for the rest of the journey. She wasn't sure about Tony but she was too busy trying to figure out where they were going without asking him questions. He would take too much pleasure in not answering her questions. The road or area they were driving along did not look familiar. She could see the sea in the distance but that did not mean anything as this little trip had taken them close to the coast. You could pretty much always see the sea in gaps between buildings. It meant nothing.

Until Tony all that she could see ahead of them was the sea. And the beach, of course. As in, they were driving towards the beach. Parking next to a beach in fact. And now getting out of the car and looking at her expectantly.

"Tony, why are we here?" Ziva asked in exasperation as she joined him outside.

This had better not be another prank of his or something. Though, what he could do on a beach, she did not know. Nor did she want to know. What she did want was to go back to work. Preferably before they annoyed Gibbs. He was already not in the best of moods thanks to the LEOs they had been dealing with. She did not want him to be in an even worse mood. Which he would be in if he found out that they were here instead of heading back to the office. Just what was Tony thinking?

"Well, I thought we'd done enough talking about beaches that we should actually go to one," he said with a shrug

"Excuse me?"

He gestured around them. "Nice to actually do something instead of taking about it, isn't it?"

"Yes. When you do not have work to do."

"Come on, you can't tell me that you don't want to be here of all places?""

She wasn't sure why she let Tony take her here. She wasn't even sure where here was, if she was being completely honest. Though, the area did look somewhat familiar but she wasn't sure why. And of course, she would enjoy going to the beach if, like she said before, it was not in the middle of a work day. For some reason this was not bothering Tony. She would have to make sure to blame him when they returned.

"What is so special about here?" she asked, hoping that if she let him "get it out of his system" as it were then he would be happy to leave.

"This is the beach you told me about the sandcastles," he said, looking extremely proud of himself.

She was not sure why. It was not like it had been anything special, it had just been a beach. Not even a particularly interesting one.

"Are you sure?" She asked sceptically.

This did not look like their old crime scene. It hadn't been that long ago; she could remember how it looked. And this did not look like the beach they had come to then. At least now she knew why this seemed familiar. They had been here for a case.

"Yes! Well, technically you told me a way down there," he pointed down the beach. "But this is part of the beach, so it counts."

"Okay?"

She still was not entirely sure why they were here. Talking a lot about beaches did not mean that you had to go to one. Especially when it was nowhere near summer and the breeze was still cold. She shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. She really should start storing gloves in her pockets. Even American autumns were cold, never mind the start of winter.

"Can we go back now?"

This was all that he wanted, right? To just tell her that? Why he could not have just pointed that out while they drove past, she would never know.

"Can you just let me talk?"

"Can you just get to the point?"

"You see, it's all a part of my master plan-"

She did not even bother to try and hide her rolling her eyes. Master plan? What sort of master plan involved a beach?