Secrecy and Lies

Prologue

Beep! Beep! Beep! Be-!

Ziva slammed her fist down on the amazingly annoying contraption that insisted on going off so early in the morning. She rolled over and snuggled deeper into the bed covers, instinctively moving closer to the warmth on her left side.

Just, however, as she was drifting back into dreamland, the alarm went off again. Groaning, she turned it off and sat up in bed.

Daylight streamed in through the curtains and lit upon the carpeted floor. Ziva rubbed blearily at her eyes and yawned. She looked down at the lump next to her and prodded it forcefully, extracting a loud protest.

She smiled and pulled the covers back, exposing tousled brown hair. "Time to wake up," she teased softly. Leaning down further she blew into his ear. "My little furry bear."

The lump groaned but extracted himself from the bed sheets. "What time is it?" he asked grumpily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Oh-six-thirty," Ziva replied, heading for the bathroom. "I am going for a shower—and no, you cannot join me! The last time we shared, we were both late by an hour."

He grinned and got out of bed, remembering the shower fondly. "I'll get breakfast!" he called as the water started running.

Plodding down the hall in nothing but his boxer shorts, he started the coffee and put slices of bread in the toaster. In five minutes he had the table set for two and breakfast nearly complete, just in time for Ziva to finish her shower. Smiling, he went into their bathroom and started brushing his teeth. Ziva, hair wet and shining with a rosy glow, walked past him to go to her side of the closet.

While she dressed, he took the opportunity to take his turn in the shower, quickly scrubbing down and washing his hair. He took longer than her, but when he finished, she had already dried her hair and applied makeup.

"Breakfast's ready," he called out as he pulled on a white shirt. "I'll meet you there in a minute."

Ziva acknowledged him and went to serve the coffee. She sat at the table and started looking at the morning paper, just glancing through current events. His suit rustled gently as he sat down across from her, pilfering the sports section from the stack next to her. She smiled faintly as a comfortable silence settled over their household.

She took a moment to finish the article she was reading before collecting the dishes at the table. Ziva put them into the dishwasher and cleaned her husband's usual post-breakfast mess.

He got up and gave her their usual morning farewell. She could taste the marmalade on his lips and licked her own, savoring the taste, as they separated.

"I love you," she said softly, looking into his bright green eyes.

"I love you too," he returned, kissing her once more. "You should go. I'll see you soon."

Ziva nodded and left. She got into her red Mini Cooper, quickly turning the defroster on. As she drove to the Navy Yard, she pushed thoughts of her husband away and relaxed into her role as a Special Agent for NCIS.

Once up the elevator and into the large office, she took off her coat and sat at her desk. She turned her computer on and looked around. All the other desks were empty, but the coat by Gibbs' desk betrayed his location. McGee and Tony had not yet arrived.

Ziva had just finished checking her e-mail when the elevator dinged, expelling her two coworkers in their usually noisy manner. McGee looked decidedly ruffled and Tony was looking rather happy for so early on a Monday morning. Ziva greeted them as they set their bags down and started their computers.

Gibbs came in with his usual cup of coffee and sat down at his desk, looking through a file. He ignored the bickering coming from his two male agents while Ziva watched the entire show with an amused grin on her face. When the morning call-in came, she sprang out of her chair, joining her team members in the elevator.

Tony joined her in the back while Gibbs and McGee stood next to the doors. She looked at all three of them, although her gaze lingered longer on her partner. Ziva glanced quickly at his lips and forced herself to look away. Because if she gave into her urge to break rule #12 and kiss him, he'd probably still taste like marmalade.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, nor am I making any money off of this fanfic.

A/N: I suppose this came quite out of the blue, considering that I just recently posted something in Harry Potter fanfic just a week or two ago. Anyway, this was primarily written for the NFA community, and I just figured that I should post it here, for simplicity's sake. My other fanfic will be completed, this was just a short something to get my writer's block to go away. Hopefully I will now continue this. :D Wish me luck! Thanks for reading.