"Now, this is good beach weather," she said happily.

She was the one dragging him out of the car for a change. And he had to be dragged because he was not happy about this. Not happy about this at all. Which was in stark comparison to his partner who was positively gleeful. It was a weird twist of things.

"It really isn't," he contradicted.

"It is the perfect weather for the beach."

He looked up at the sky suspiciously and shook his head.

"No."

F9r good reason because the sky was actually clear for a change. There wasn't even a cloud in it. Perfectly blue and crystal clear. Which was contributing to the current problem.

"I do not understand you, Tony," she said, looking confused. "You want to go to the beach when it is cold but not when it is warm? I thought Americans went to the beach in the summer."

"We do!"

"Well, it is summer."

"No, this isn't summer. This is hell."

"I thought hell was supposed to be underground?" She asked, looking far too amused. "And I do not think the sea is in your hell."

"Wait, what do you mean my hell?"

"Judaism does not really have a concept of hell," she said dismissively. "And I do not think that the beach qualifies as it anyway."

He was going have to come back to the idea of hell at some other point because the more pressing matter was to get Ziva to understand that this was not the time to go to the beach.

"You don't go to the beach when it's this hot," he tried to explain. "You don't even go outside!"

Aircon, he needed aircon.

"Surely you would want to be out of the car at least?"

"The car has air-conditioning."

But even as he was talking, he was getting out of the car because she did have a point. And she knew it. The car was going to slowly bake in the heat which he wouldn't be able to stand so being out side was a smidge better. A smidge.

"Ziva, we're in the middle of a heatwave," he tried to explain patiently. "That parasol over there looks like it's about to ask for an icy glass of lemonade."

God, he could do with an icy glass of lemonade. Or even just ice. Just ice would be great. A whole bath of it that he could submerge himself in. He leaned against her car and immediately recoiled. That was hot.

"I just got burned!"

"That is what happens when metal heats up."

He did not appreciate her tone. Glaring at the car, he made sure he was a safe distance away from it before trying to defend himself.

"It won't even be fun when it's warm like this," he argued.

Because you got all sweaty and gross and constantly thirsty and the sand would burn your feet. Definitely not his idea of a good time.

But all she did was scoff at him. Scoff!

"It is not that warm."

She even turned her nose up as she said that. Not warm? Not warm? He was pretty sure he was melting into the pavement as they spoke. He could feel steam coming off him as he slowly boiled. It wasn't helped by the fact that she was walking away from him. How was she even moving?

"If I shrivel up into a crisp and blow into the sea then you're going to have to be the one to tell Gibbs!" He called after her. "Or If I melt and become one with the sand! You won't be laughing then! How do you think you're going to explain that?"

It would be her fault, after all.

"I will scoop you up in a bucket and bring you back to the office. I'm sure that Gibbs will find some use for you like that."

He probably would too. Tony grumbled, not being able to think of anything else to say.

She gave him a long look before rolling her eyes and walking far too quickly away from him. Did she want him to chase her or something? That want happening. There was no way that he was chasing after her. It was just too warm; he would probably collapse. But he also couldn't go back into the car because that was now even warmer and he doubted air conditioning could even shift the heat. No, he was going to have to try and follow her while walking very slow in an attempt to not aggravate the heat. How were those kids even running about like that? Didn't they feel the heat? Weren't they supposed to be more sensitive to it than adults or something?

Suddenly Ziva appeared behind him, making him jump.

"Weren't you in front of me?" He gasped, hand on chest.

Seriously, she had been right there. Right there. He had looked away for not even a minute. How had she moved so quickly? And in this weather? Even the thought of moving quickly made him feel exhausted right now.

She didn't say anything but handed him a plastic cup of something. His fingers immediately clenched around it, grateful for the cold they could feel. It was so cold against his hands that it actually hurt but Tony didn't care. He swore his hot fingers sizzles against it.

"What-?" He asked, peering into it but all he could see was floating ice.

"Just drink it," she instructed, taking a long sip of her own drink.

Berry mango madness smoothie, from the looks and smell of it. She could be so predictable sometimes. Deciding that it didn't really matter what she had given him, as long as it was cold, and took a massive gulp. Almost instantly he got a brain freeze for his trouble but his eyes widened in delight at the taste.

"Strawberry lemonade?" He asked after he took a breath from the incredibly long sip he took, holding the cup up to see it.

It was identifiable now that he was refreshed, a yellow drink tinged with pinky-red. The red syrupy bit was blending more in with the yellow now that he had swigged it back, making a very satisfying peach coloured drink.

"You remembered I liked it," he said, pleased.