"My pick or yours sweetcheeks?" His mind flashed with pictures of him & Ziva rolling around in his bed, his grin got bigger and he was brought back to reality by Ziva's voice...

"I think i will pick Tony, that way i will at least know what i'm going to sit thru. You, can get the popcorn"! Tony couldn't believe his luck, a night alone with Ziva. Behind them the door opened it was....

Director Vance. He nodded towards Tony, "DiNozzo" and furrowed his brows towards Ziva. "Ms. David is their something I can help you with?" "No, I was just", she paused for a moment, "leaving." She stepped towards the door...

rushing over to her deask she sat down and watched Tony do the same. They stared at each other, there was sizzling tension in the air. If they had been alone they would have....

... a chance to talk, to admit what their eyes wanted to say. Tony was very anxious about...

all these close calls they had been having. He knew they needed to talk, they needed to touch, to kiss, to hold one another, but when would be the right time to tell her. Everytime they tried to talk someone or something interrupted them. Tony looked up at Ziva and smiled in her direction watching her tap away at her keyboard.

Everytime he looked at her before he wanted for her to, just once, look up at him and produce that smile that made his knees weaken. But she never did. Until now.

Ziva's keene senses picked up that a pair of eyes were on here & she ignored it for a few moments before allowing her awareness to get the better of her. She stopped typing, let her fingers lay softly against the home keys and slowly turned her eyes upward. She saw Tony smiling at her and she couldn't help but flash a dazzling smile in his direction with a quick wink before going back to her typing.

Once there...she couldn't stop thinking about that dazzling smile...

she knew tonight would have to be the night. She stood up and walked over to Tony's desk, "you & me, dinner tonight, my treat". "Uh, Ziva I have plans, I can't.." he started to reply. Ziva leaned over his desk and said "do not make me threaten bodily harm Tony."

He decided to be brave. "I'm sorry, Ziva, I have a very important place to be." Little did she know that it was her place he was planning to go to that night.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, right. Sitting at home in your boxers watching old movies is your idea of an important place to be. More important than dinner with your partner." McGee looked up at that, but Tony ignored him. "That's not what I meant." he protested, but not before Ziva turned back to her desk.

Ziva was hurt and annoyed, she looked at Tony and then she turned her face, trying hard not to look at him. But he...

...pulled her by the arm to their meeting spot. Her back was against the wall, but oddly she didn't feel threatened. Tony put his arm on the area of the wall slightly above her head and leaned in towards her. "Ziva, tonight you & I will have dinner at your place, we will talk, we will laugh, hell we may even cry, but tomorow morning when we come into work we'll no longer be just partners." With that he walked away...

...and Ziva stayed there, she could feel her heart almost jumping through her chest, and she take a deep breath. That nigth they would talk, maybe they would admit it everything that was trapped inside of them. She was nervous, for one of the first time in her life, she was nervous. She needed to...

get some air so she went to her desk, grabbed her bag and headed for the elevator. She needed to think, to get her head space sorted. At the bottom floor she walked through the elevator doors and almost bumped into....

Gibbs. "Going somewhere Ziver?" "I just need a moment Gibbs, I will be right back up", she waivered slightly and Gibbs nodded his head towards the elevator. She stepped back in with Gibbs right behind her and wasn't surprised when he hit the emergency stop button. They stayed silents for a few seconds before Ziva started to say something, but Gibbs interrupted her...

??? Someone want to bite? It's been forever since we did this?

"Wanna tell me what you're planning tonight?" he questioned, his silvery blue eyes as piercing as usual. They gave the appearance that he could see right through her. She began stammering, but finally managed to string together a sentence that made sense.
"Gibbs, I...

.. well Tony & I are going to have dinner, together." She sucked her breath in waiting for him to say something about Rule #12.

... But that moment never came. Instead he...

pushed the emergency button without saying a word. The air was tense as they rode the elevator together in silence........

Wasn't he going to slap the back of her head? Read her the riot act? He didn't take kindly to one (or two, in this case) of his team members breaking one of his beloved rules.

But still there was no response as they slowly ascended back up to the bullpen. Ziva let her mind wander to the upcoming dinner between her and Tony. He had said that afterwards, they 'wouldn't just be partners' anymore. Did that mean...? She was sure it did.
At that moment she was cut off by the Ping! of the elevator doors announcing that they had reached their destination. But just as she went to step out, Gibbs uttered one short statement before turning towards Autopsy and leaving her there, dumbfounded.
"Ziva...

Take care of your self. Especially your heart" He pushed the button to close the doors leaving Ziva a little more confused then she had been before. What did he expect? What did Tony expect and what did she exspect?