A/N: Okay, so I was looking through an NCIS meme on the internet and found this string of Kate/Ziva prompts. Now normally I would never pair Kate with anyone but Gibbs or Abby (Yes, I've done both, though not at the same time, that would be too confusing for my head.) but because the prompts were just so sweet and perfectly connected, I decided that I had to take them. Now, I'm planning to post individual portions on the meme along with their respective prompts, but I have also decided to piece them together here and make a nice little short-chapter story to tell the tale of Kate and Ziva's life together from a little before they started their relationship, to how they got together (and who helped out) to their coming-out conversation with both the team and Kate's parents. I get the feeling that last bit will be the most heart-rending. Anyway, now that I've explained my plot-bunny, I shall proceed. By the way, for those of you who read my other stories you may notice that I either have no author's notes or entire paragraphs. I'm intending to edit some of my older stories to make them more readable; it took me a while to figure out the process. Also, I don't have a beta. For any of my stories. Sad but true, so I take full responsibility for my mistakes and welcome any critiques, whether they're on plot or on grammer/spelling. Hope you enjoy!
Kate frowned as she knocked on Ziva's front door again. "Damnit, woman, open the door." She growled in frustration, tapping her foot anxiously against the concrete. When another minute passed, she sighed and pulled out her spare key, slipping it into the lock and twisting it before pushing the door open. It wasn't the first time she'd been to Ziva's house, but it was the first time she'd had to use her spare key. She had one for everyone's house except Gibbs's. No one had a key to Gibb's house because no one needed one. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her, but then she paused. She could hear the muffled sound of music from the other room, and what sounded like...singing. "Ziva?" she asked again, craning her neck a little as she tried to figure out which door was blocking the sound.
When she found it, she opened the door and stopped dead. Ziva was seated on her bed, her fingers strumming gracefully over the strings of an acoustic guitar. Her eyes were closed and she wore a pair of expensive DJ's headphones over her ears as she sang along with the song. Kate couldn't understand the words and she guessed that they were Hebrew. She stood in the doorway, feeling a little uncomfortable and unsure how to interrupt. Eventually she gave up and just walked over a tapped Ziva on the shoulder.
The Israeli's eyes flashed open and Kate found her wrist locked in an iron grip. Ziva blushed and released the other woman quickly as if she'd been burned. She pulled off her headphones hastily and set her guitar aside. "Um, hi Kate." She muttered, blushing deeper.
"Hi." Kate was blushing a little too. "Um, well, Gibbs wants us back in the field, he called me and told me to come get you."
Ziva sighed in frustration. If she didn't know better, she'd suspect Gibbs of trying to set her up with the former Secret Service agent. But she did know better and so did Gibbs. While she might be perfectly comfortable in a relationship with another woman, she knew that Kate was as straight as...a very straight thing...and besides that, she was a devoted Catholic and her religion forbade her from ever considering such a thing. "Alright. Give me a minute and I'll be ready to go." She got up and strode over to her dresser, pulling out a fresh set of work clothes.
"Kay, well, I'll be out in the car." Kate flushed a little deeper and hurried to leave. She was not unaccustomed to the feelings she had for Ziva, but she was far more nervous than she usually was. She knew Gibbs had seen through her 'boyfriends' quickly enough, and that he was trying his hand at playing matchmaker by always pairing the two women, but Ziva was not the relationship kind and Kate was. It could never work between them even if Ziva were interested in her. Sure, the young Mossad officer flirted, but then again, she flirted with everybody, she was as bad as Tony that way.
She'd only been sitting in the car for a few minutes before Ziva came out and got in the passenger seat and Kate started the car back up. They drove in silence for a moment before Ziva cleared her throat nervously. "Um, Kate?" she asked hesitantly. "W...would you mind not telling anyone about that? Tony would never let me live it up if he found I play guitar."
"I think you mean live it down." Corrected Kate automatically, smiling over at Ziva. "And yeah, of course I won't tell them anything. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."
Ziva smiled in relief. "Thanks." She sank back into her seat and offered a silent prayer that Kate didn't understand Hebrew, or this night would've been a lot more embarrassing. What would the young agent have thought if she'd known the song was about her?
A/N: Aw, what a sweet start. More will be up soon, but I warn you all, my updating pattern is extremely erradic. (So is my life and my internet connection, so I do apologize.)