Lie Again

Intervention

"Can you believe it? Ziva's getting married!" Abby cheered. She was practically bouncing in her seat.

"I'm happy they worked things out. They're so good together." McGee slid his second glass across the counter to the bartender.

Tony, meanwhile, sat amongst his friends, just about fuming. Sure, he put on a good show of being happy earlier, but now the alcohol was getting to his head again and he was more than a little ticked off about the turn of events.

Why did Ray have to propose? What the heck did Ziva see in him? Didn't she see how bad he was for her? Had she somehow forgotten all his transgressions, all the things she moped about in vulnerable moments?

Because Tony definitely hadn't.

Ray was the worst thing that could happen to Ziva. This wedding, and the following marriage, was going to crush the life out of her.

Tony rubbed his face, aware of the dark path his thoughts were taking.

Was it really such a big deal? If she's happy, shouldn't he just let her be?

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ducky asked, cutting through the turmoil.

Tony glanced his way before continuing to rub his face. Why was he so tired all of a sudden? "They're not worth that much, Ducky."

"What's on your mind, Anthony?"

He didn't want to talk about it with anyone. He just kinda wanted to punch the self-assured smirk off his partner's new fiancé.

"Is this about Ziva?"

He didn't want to dignify that with any kind of response, but not responding was a response in itself, wasn't it?

"Of course it's about Ziva," Abby said, leaning in. "Tony holds a grudge against Ray."

That wasn't entirely it, but it was a little less stupid than him saying that Ziva was his partner, his best friend. His.

Why was he suddenly feeling so possessive?

"He doesn't deserve her," Tony got out before he could think it through.

"He makes her happy," McGee reminded him. "She didn't have to say yes."

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like that logic hadn't already crossed his mind.

"How do you know? How do you know he won't do something else? How do you know he won't forget their anniversary? How do you know he won't forget about their dinner plans or about her brithday? How do you know he won't forget that her favorite color is plum or that her favorite movie is the Sound of Music? How do you know he won't break her heart?"

Everyone was quiet for a minute.

"There's no way to know," Palmer said eventually. "Marriage is a leap of faith. You just gotta trust that they love each other and things will work out."

"What if they don't?" Tony's voice was barely audible, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He didn't really want them to hear him sounding so weak, so torn apart. He didn't want them to answer. He didn't want to know the answer. He didn't want to have to think about Ziva being broken.

No one responded. Perhaps it was for the best.

"To faith," Abby said, raising her glass. The others joined in, Tony very reluctantly.

***

It wasn't until the next morning that Tony remembered how touchy Ziva had been about Ray right before the proposal. And it wasn't just because of the forgotten dinner.

He held back all his questions until the afternoon, when Gibbs announced a stakeout. He and McGee would take the one street, and Tony and Ziva would take the street running perpendicular to it.

"How's Ray?" Tony asked, by means of introducing the topic.

"He is fine," Ziva said, a little annoyed. She lifted the binoculars back up to her eyes so she could watch the house at the end of the street.

"Is he-"

"Tony. Hush."

"I don't think the petty officer can hear us," Tony whispered.

She gave him the evil eye.

"What did Ray do the other day to make you so mad?"

"I was not mad."

"Yes, you were."

"Is this your idea of killing time?"

He laughed. "Was that pun intentional?"

She just rolled her eyes at him.

"Seriously, though. It's not good to go into a relationship mad."

"Tony, we are not going to talk about this."

"What about-"

She unbuckled her seatbelt without any warning, startling him. "I am going to grab a coffee. You keep watch." And she got out of the car and walked away.

***

What was his problem? Why was Tony being so nosy today?

Ziva was definitely more than a little annoyed as she ordered her coffee. It was one thing for him to simply ask about her well-being, but to interrogate her about her emotions and her personal life? 

She shook her head when the cashier offered the buy-one-get-one-free donut deal.

She took her time walking back to the car, even though Gibbs would have a few words for her if he found out. That wasn't a big concern right now.

Finally she reached the car, but she was able to get in without Tony saying a single word. They passed the next hour in stony silence, and Ziva had to wonder what he was mad about. It wasn't as if she had been interrogating him. And surely he couldn't be so petty as to be mad about her fending off his questions.

"There's our guy," he said, pointing out the window.

"Wait for Gibbs to say," Ziva replied. She took one last sip of her coffee, ready to bolt out of the car as soon as Gibbs gave the signal.

"He made us."

They both sprung out of the car, feet pounding on the street as they raced after the fleeing petty officer.

Ziva just hoped Gibbs would be waiting around the corner to catch the guy. Well, so the hood of his car could catch the guy.

"He's speeding up?" Tony hollered to her.

How?

She lost no time thinking about it, instead telling her legs to move just a little faster. She pulled ahead of Tony easily, but it didn't seem like she was gaining any ground on the petty officer.

"Ziva! Look out!"

She heard the warning but it was a little too late.

*****

Sorry about the cliffhanger! Just have to make sure you'll come back for the next chapter!

I have an NCIS sort of spinoff I started writing five, maybe six, years ago, and I was thinking of maybe posting some of it on here. By spinoff I mean it started out as a Tiva fanfic but then quickly went in another direction. I changed the characters and the agency to suit the storyline, but the team dynamic is still there. I'm kind of hesitating to post it though because it's been my secret world since seventh grade and, well, secrets are a little hard to share sometimes. It's been really close to my heart, so if I end up sharing it with you guys, I just hope you can appreciate how much I care about it and how hard it is for me to share that part of myself with others.

That got kind of weird but thanks for reading. I hope I can update this within the next day or so.