Tony: Hey, come on, I don't need the rescue. Seriously, give me your best shot. Right now. (Punches dangerously close to Tony's abs then pats them playfully)
Ziva: Oh, yeah! Not bad. Not as good as Gibbs, though.
----------
"Seriously?"
Ziva rolled her eyes. How could she possibly expect Tony to let this go so readily? "Do not feel insecure Tony…Gibbs is a lot of things you are not."
Tony was taken back a bit. That was not the answer he was expecting. "Um, I thought we were talking about my abs…"
"We are," she assured him. "Do not turn this into something it is not Tony."
"Me?" He grinned big. "Okay, let's back up a bit. So, you were sparring with Gibbs right…and you forgot to pull on a punch…got a good feel for his abs?"
Ziva shrugged. "Sure."
"Sure? That's it. Sure?"
"Would you rather me say absolutely positively?"
Tony shook his head. "No, it's bad enough that you said it just now…but that is what happened right? I mean what other time would you get that close to the boss?"
"We were sparring Tony…let it go."
Tony watched as she retreated towards the elevator and stepped inside. It was then he decided to join her. "So you were sparring?"
"Yes."
"With the boss?"
"Yes."
"With clothes on?" He noticed a hint of hesitation. "Holy…"
Ziva put her hand up and remained composed. "Of course we had clothes on Tony…that would make sparring rather difficult…besides I do not think Gibbs would approve of such…activities."
"Yeah, if it were at NCIS…not at his house."
She stifled a laugh. "You are stretching Tony…"
"Reaching," he corrected.
"What is the difference?"
He thought for a moment. "Doesn't matter…what does matter is you and boss...particularly you and the boss's abs."
"You are not going to let this go are you?"
"Not a chance."
She flipped the power switch. "Then perhaps we should spar? I win, you never mention it again…you win and I will tell you the whole story…"
Tony scratched his head. "Deal…just one thing?"
"What?"
"Clothes or no clothes?" It went silent for a moment. "Ow!"
It wasn't long after the two got in the ring that it was all eyes on them. McGee quickly started collecting bets while they double checked that their gear was in place.
"Now, remember Zee-vah, we are sparring not fighting…you have to pull punches, kicks, bites…"
She scoffed. "Please Tony, I do not need to take lessons from you."
"Maybe not on this…but if I'm right about my theory; I'm always up to giving you a couple pointers."
And with a wink of his eyes, the gloves were off…so to speak. Tony danced around the ring for a full minute before it took Ziva a total of 2.5 seconds to take him to the ground. "Really Tony, I was hoping for at least a two minute round."
He held his breath as she playfully punched his stomach and helped him up. "Yeah well, I didn't have my Wheaties this morning…"
"Your Wheaties?"
"Never mind." He replied quickly, and couldn't help but notice McGee collecting a fair amount of cash. "How dare you bet against me McBooky?"
Tim slipped the bills into his pocket. "Don't take it personally Tony…it's just business."
Tony had a fair headache well after the proceedings and didn't mind complaining about it. "Do you know the meaning of the word, pull, Ziva?"
"It is not my fault you fall like a ton of wood."
"Seriously…you need help."
"That's not what I here DiNozzo…" Gibbs swooped in and took his place behind his desk before Tony could muster a response.
"Yeah, easy for you to say boss…it's not like you two have ever sparred…" the bait was obvious but he had to take the risk. And although it was subtle he definitely saw the two of them exchange a smirk. He looked back and forth before finally uttering a response. "So just for the record…who usually wins?"
It was then Ziva and Gibbs responded in unison.
"I do."