Lie Again

The Benjamin

If this chapter sucks, just know it's because I'm doing three other things at the same time. I can multitask really well, but sometimes the story suffers.

*****

Everything was back to normal. At least that's how it seemed to Tony.

"Hey, McGiggles, I bet you five bucks you can't get a date with Marie down in Human Resources."

McGee looked up from whatever geeky thing he was doing. "Marie in Human Resources?"

"Yeah, you know, super hot, blonde hair, lot of makeup, little top heavy?" He glanced at Ziva just out of curiosity. Her face was blank, like she wasn't even listening.

"I know her. And we both know she'd never say yes."

"That's true. How about twenty bucks?"

"Make it one hundred, and we have a deal."

"A hundred bucks?" Okay, Marie had high standards, but Tony wasn't sure he could risk one hundred bucks on her turning McGee down. What if McGee got the girl and his money?

"What, are you scared?" Ziva asked. She didn't even look up.

"No, I'm not scared, Zee-vah."

"Then take the bet, Tony."

Tony sighed. "Alright, McGee, it's on. If Marie agrees to go on a date with you, I'll give you one hundred bucks. If she shoots you down, I get one hundred bucks and your hot cousin's phone number."

"Don't push it. You get the hundred bucks and that's it."

"McGee."

"Tony."

"The money is the only thing at stake," Ziva said firmly, walking over to stand between the two of them. She stuck her hands out. "I will hold onto it until the bet is over."

"I like that idea," McGee said with a grin. He confidently pulled out his wallet and handed Ziva a single Benjamin.

Tony had no choice but to pull out his wallet and pick through for all the cash he had. "I only have 23 dollars on me."

Ziva stared him down.

"Hey, if you think I'm going to try to worm out, you can swing by my place later and I'll give you the money." As soon as he said it, he really liked that idea. He hadn't really gotten the chance to speak to Ziva alone since their movie night a couple months ago, and he wanted to know how she was doing.

She continued to frown at him, almost as if she knew he had ulterior motives.

"I'll throw in an extra fifty bucks for you. As a sort of handling fee." He knew by the way her forehead creased that he was just making it worse. "How about I shut up and just cook you dinner?"

To his surprise, her frown eased into a smile for a moment. "Okay, Tony."

***

Ziva knew exactly why Tony wanted her to come over to his place, and it certainly wasn't because of the money, although that was a good cover. No, she knew that he wanted to check up on her, and she thought it was very sweet of him.

She wanted to do something nice for him, so her mind jumped to wine (he's Italian, why wouldn't he enjoy that). It was the best she could come up with, so she stopped by the store on her way over.

"Wow. Where'd you get this?" Tony asked when she offered him the wine.

She shrugged. "I forget." He didn't need to know that it was embarrassingly cheap.

"Oh, well. I'm sure it will be good." He carried it to the kitchen, and Ziva followed.

"What are we having?"

"Spaghetti and meatballs. Nothing too exciting, but it's the best thing I can make."

"I am sure that is not true."

"You'd be surprised. I ruin pancakes."

She laughed, saying, "Well, fortunately I make good pancakes," before she could think it through.

Tony stared at her, and she wanted to Gibbs-slap herself.

What was she doing, implying that she'd be there in the morning, or any morning for that matter, to make pancakes?

"Do you want me to open that wine?" she asked hastily. She grabbed the bottle off the counter and searched around for a corkscrew.

"Here." He opened a drawer. They both reached for it at the same time. Tony immediately withdrew his hand, muttering an apology and something about needing to check the meatballs. He hurried away to the stove, and Ziva was left standing there at the counter, wanting to crawl under a rock and die.

She pulled herself together and poured them each a generous glass of wine. She took a sip and was relieved to discover it tasted better than the price tag suggested.

She took Tony's glass to him and watched with baited breath as he tried it. "Mm. You picked a good one."

"Thanks." She had picked the first one she saw.

"This is almost done, so if you want to go sit down, I'll be right there. The table's already set."

"Are you sure?" Ziva hated to feel useless.

"About the table? Yes, I set it right before you got here."

She hit him with the dish towel. "I was not talking about the table, you idiot."

***

"How's it been going?" Tony asked, pushing his empty plate away.

"Fine."

"Really? Because you can tell me things, you know. I don't share secrets."

The look she gave him was doubtful, and that hurt a little. To his recollection, he had never given her a reason to doubt him.

"Okay. You don't have to. But if you change your mind, my offer will still stand."

"Um... Thanks." She played around with the last bit of spaghetti on her plate before setting down her fork. "I really appreciate this, Tony. I would just rather not talk about what happened. It is nothing against you."

"Sure." He understood that, he really did, but he still wished that she'd feel comfortable sharing her thoughts with him. He just wanted to know how she was doing after her breakup, for Pete's sake. He wasn't asking for a full confession of her most embarrassing childhood moment. Just a little bit more than an "I'm fine."

She picked up her fork again, only fidgeting.

"Let's clean up this mess and then we can watch a movie or something," he suggested.

"Sounds like a good plan." She helped him clear the table, but he wouldn't let her near the dish soap.

"Don't worry about it. They can soak for now and I'll wash them later." He ushered her out of the kitchen. "You can pick the movie, if you'd like."

She gave his movie collection one glance before saying, "I do not know what ones are good."

"They're all good," he said, faking hurt feelings. "These are the best products of the American film industry."

"If you say so."

Nevertheless, Tony chose a movie. They settled on the couch and he was pleased when Ziva immediately leaned into him.

"Comfortable?" he asked. "You look comfortable."

She angled her head so her chin poked into his shoulder.

"Ouch. Thanks for that."

"Mmhm."

*****

Hurrah. Yeah, this is going to be a bit longer. I don't think rushing it would be true to their characters. So y'all are in luck. Lots of updates to come.

Vote/comment/follow!!!!

PS this was written a couple days ago but I was saving it.