Lie Again

Dance With Me

Hello, lovely readers! This has been such an awesome experience. Did you notice how many reads Lie Again is at? Wow! Anyway, thank you so much for that. I just wanted to say that I've been keeping a couple updates in storage, but as soon as we hit 1000 views, I will post as many as I have to celebrate. How's that sound?

*****

Tony knocked on Ziva's door, not sure if she'd be asleep or what.

"One minute," she called.

Before he could stop himself, he got a mental image of Ziva changing clothes. It had been a while since he'd seen it in real life, but he knew her well enough. He knew that she never sat down to put her shoes on and that she despised pantyhose (why did he know that?!). Everything was as quick and efficient as humanly possible.

It was all about getting the job done.

The door swung open and Ziva was standing there in same clothes as earlier, except perhaps a little wrinkled.

"Did you sleep?" he asked.

"No."

But at least she must've tried to sleep.

"I thought maybe we could go get something to eat." He tried not to stare at the button that had come undone on her blouse.

She ran a hand through her hair. "That would be nice..."

"But?"

"But my father... has a big event tonight, and..."

"And he asked you to make an appearance because you're in town."

She nodded.

"Fine." He shuffled his feet. "Have fun."

"You were invited as well."

Oh. "Will there be drinks?" He got an extra-stern glare for that.

"Black tie." Ziva started to close the door, but he stuck his hand in the way. She raised an eyebrow.

"What will you be wearing?"

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not." He was just curious. What would Ziva David wear to a black tie event? "Should I be getting dressed?"

She opened the door again. "Yes, unless you intend to go dressed like that."

He looked down at his own wrinkled clothes and shrugged. "What do you think?"

"Go get dressed, Tony."

***

Ziva took a deep breath before the chauffeur opened her door. This wasn't her first black tie event, not even close, but it wasn't her favorite place to be. Here she would be Eli David's daughter, not NCIS Special Agent Ziva David. Here she would be charming and make small talk that bored her half to death.

If she had her way, she'd be chasing down a killer right now, scaling walls and dodging bullets.

"Ziva?"

She blinked, Tony's face registering in front of her. "Sorry."

"No problem." He offered her a hand, always (correction-- almost always) a gentleman.

Only for tonight, she let him lead, and she shivered as his hand brushed up against her skin. Maybe the backless dress hadn't been the best idea.

"Cold?" he asked.

"Yes." It was easier to lie.

"It will be warmer inside." He held the door for her, and she quickly stepped into the hall. Though the event had begun nearly an hour ago, there were very few people wandering around, and she didn't recognize any of them.