Lie Again

Heart to Heart

Tony's head snapped up when the elevator doors opened. An agent from downstairs strode out and made his way to the far cluster of desks.

Tony sighed and returned his attention to his Tetris game. Somehow it wasn't as fun as it used to be, now that he had experienced the wonders of Candy Crush and Flappy Bird.

The elevator dinged again, and once more Tony's head jerked up to see if it was Ziva.

It was.

Her hair was pulled back in her signature style, showing her face to be free of any makeup. Unfortunately, that only showcased the circles under her eyes and the red rim around her nose.

She'd been crying.

Though it was difficult, Tony managed to restrain himself and not start blurting out invasive questions. The urge to ask about Ray and Ziva was absolutely killing him.

"I do not want to talk about it, Tony," she said before he could even open his mouth. She sat at her desk and absentmindedly fiddled with the keyboard's position.

"Talk about what?" Tony was good at playing dumb, or at least he thought he was. He enjoyed it, either way.

She ignored him rather than walk into his trap.

"Oh, right, sorry." Tony picked up a stray pen and clicked it a few more times than was excusable.

"Tony."

He stopped immediately, though his hands ached to be doing something. Strangling Ray would be nice, the perfect way to start the day.

***

Night was falling fast when Tony found himself walking the perimeter of a recent crime scene with Ziva.

"What happened?" he asked once they were out of earshot of the rest of the team.

She turned slightly, giving him a questioning glance.

"Your dinner with Ray. I know it didn't go as planned. You can't tell me it did."

"It does not matter."

"I think it does."

"It is in the past, Tony. It is done."

"Did you and Ray break up?" The thought simultaneously sent a shiver of hope and a twinge of pity through him.

"I don't know... We are taking a step back."

He would have to tread carefully if he wanted Ziva to keep talking. It was like trying to get the perfect photo of a deer. One wrong move, one misplaced step, and she's gone. "What happened that night?"

Ziva sighed. "He did not show up. I sat in the restaurant for three hours. He did not text or call. I figured he got tied up at work. He always does."

"It's the business," Tony said, not sure why he was excusing Ray's behavior.

She shrugged. "He called the next morning. Right after you, actually." Another sigh. "He wanted to talk about it."

"And did you?"

"He was already standing outside, waiting for me to open the door."

"What was the excuse this time?" He held his breath as Ziva gave him a stunned glance. Too far.

He was surprised when she actually answered."Work stuff. He lost track of the time, I guess."

Tony sensed that wasn't the entire truth, but he was afraid to press her for more. Especially when she was reluctant to share as it was.

"I'm sorry."

"It was not your fault."

True. "Does he get one more chance or was that the third strike, he's out?" Tony asked, casting his flashlight over the uneven ground again. You couldn't be too careful.

"I don't know." The words were so soft, he barely heard them. "I do not feel like a priority to him. He gets so caught up in his work, and mistakes are make. Easily preventable mistakes."

Her words seemed a little funny to Tony's ear, but he could see how Ziva would label Ray standing her up as a mistake. Ziva could be vengeful.

"It's all in what you feel, really. If you love him, give him another chance. If you don't feel it anymore, now is your chance to back off. You have to go with what your heart says."

***

Tony's words made her suddenly realize how awkward the conversation was. The two of them never talked about things like this. Never matters of the heart. But now he was giving her relationship advice?

She wasn't sure what to do with Tony's advice, especially since she had long known how Tony felt about Ray. Surely this had to be conflict of interest.

But it was nice of him to try.

"We better circle back. Gibbs will think we got lost."

"Gibbs wouldn't care."

"He would be mad."

"I can see it. We'll get lost out here and they'll find our bodies a couple months from now, and at our double funeral, Gibbs will just stand there between our caskets and shake his head. He'd cuss us out in front of everyone. Well, he'd cuss me out, anyway. Probably slip his hand under my head and slap me goodbye."

Ziva forced a smile, though the death joke was a little too morbid for her current mood.

"He'd leave you alone, though."

She craned her neck, trying to get a better view of the light bobbing along about two hundred yards ahead. "Tony..."

"You're his favorite, of the three of us."

"Tony."

"Has he even ever head-slapped you?"

She grabbed his arm, stopping him mid-step, and switched the flashlight off. "Look." She pointed at the distant light, growing smaller and fainter by the second.

"What is that?" Tony slipped the flashlight into his picket, exchanging it for his gun.

"I don't know." She didn't particularly want to run after it, but it was too suspicious to go unchecked. And since they were closest...

"Fifty bucks it's a UFO."

"One hundred, if you're going to be stupid." She didn't feel at all bad making money off him. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he enjoyed it.

"Deal." They shook on it. "Okay, get your checkbook ready, Ziva, because we're going to catch us a real UFO. I hope you aren't afraid of little green men."