Setting the Record Straight

AN: The topic of the assault in Season 6 Aliyah has, arguably, been discussed to death. The line in the sand has also definitely been drawn as far as determining where many of the fans stand as far as that scene is judged. A while back, a Tiva fan who obviously never saw anything wrong with Ziva's actions likened the assault to a certain genre of fan fiction known as BDSM. This story, which has been simmering since shortly after her comment on a spoiler site, is intended as a much-delayed response.

The elevator door dinged and Tony looked up anxiously from his desk. He watched as several fellow agents got out of the car, each headed to their own area of the floor. Finally the person he'd been waiting for since arriving walked out. He couldn't help the smile that fell over his expression.

"Probie!"

McGee looked up as he neared the bullpen. "Morning, Tony. You're awfully chipper and wide awake. Kind of odd considering you called my phone around midnight."

Tony grimaced. He'd thought that he managed to cancel that call before it connected when he realized exactly how late it was. "Yeah…sorry about that, Mc-earlytobed."

As McGee walked thru the bullpen to his own desk, he made a point to roll his eyes extravagantly at Tony over the nickname. He didn't mind them and knew that Tony was aware that he mostly looked forward to hearing what the other man would come up with most times. But he had to keep up appearances. It was expected, by the whole team, that he would be upset whenever Tony used a new nickname. Just to annoy the other man, McGee made it a point to not answer Tony until he was situated at his work space with his email loading.

"So are you going to tell me why you called last night? Or is that going to be the morning's guessing game?"

"Timmy, I'm going to do better than that!" Tony rose from his chair with a smirk dancing over his face. He knew that not only would his use of Abby's favorite name irritate his partner but so would the way he was dragging out his big reveal. With a distinct flourish, he produced a flash drive from his jacket pocket as he approached McGee.

McGee retreated as much as his chair would allow as Tony approached. DiNozzo reached around him & inserted the flash drive into the tower. "Ahhh Tony…"

"Relax, Tim…just bring up the file that's on there and prepare to be shocked."

Warily McGee downloaded the information Tony had put on the flash drive. He glanced quickly at his screen before turning his head to DiNozzo. "Where did you find this? And what is it?"

"Fan fiction, Probie! Had some free time last night so I was doing some 'googling'. Stumbled on this after I searched 'Deep Six'. Unbelievable isn't it?" Tony leaned over & pointed his finger at the screen. "Look at this here. If you follow this link, it gives you all the various 'pairings' that have been written about…"

"Wow, "McGee whispered. He'd heard about sites like the one Tony was showing him but he hadn't honestly expected to find the characters from his novel as a part of one.

"Wait a second! I expected Tommy and Lisa but not Tibbs and Tucky or Tommy and McGregor!"

"Look at this, Probie."

McGee followed Tony's finger. BDSM (764)

"That's the most popular warning for Deep Six stories."

"Geez, Tony, BDSM? What kind of monster have I created?"

"You've created a monster, McGee? And what is this BDSM you are speaking of?"

Unfortunately for them both neither had noticed the arrival of the third member of their team. Both glanced up to see Ziva standing very close to Gibbs's desk and looking ready to join them.

"Look at this, Tim."

Tony quietly redirected the other man back to his I-Pad. Very quickly a light shadow fell across McGee's desk.

"I want to know what you have found and are looking at."

"Doesn't concern you, Ziva. It's something I found that McGee here has a vested interest in."

"Are we not a team, Tony? What interests you and McGee should also interest me. Now which one of you is going to explain this BSDM to me?"

McGee didn't even bother to glance up. "Just figure it out for yourself, Ziva. There are plenty of searches out there that can lead you to websites that'll explain it in minute detail."

Ziva's annoyed huff was audible to both but neither reacted at first. Tony was pointing to another point on his screen when the hairs on his neck began to itch. Tony glanced up and caught the near petulant look on Ziva's face. He sighed, nudged McGee with his elbow and moved to close the screen. McGee quickly removed the flash drive and slipped it into Tony's palm. Straightening up, his face wearing a smirk, Tony looked over at Ziva.

"Did you get all those monthly reports filed yet, probette?"

Before she could reply, Gibbs strode through the area, customary cup of coffee in hand. "File later. Dead body first. Let's go, people!"

Carefully balancing her IPAD and a cup of tea, Ziva sat down on her micro-suede couch. It had been a long four days but she was glad to finally be able to spend an evening in her apartment, relaxing on her beautiful couch. She sipped at her tea as she waited for the search results to load. She smirked, knowing that Tony and McGee had undoubtedly thought she'd forgotten about how they'd excluded her from their little, boys' pow-wow before they got the case. She not only had not but intended on doing exactly what McGee had suggested and then would surprise them and get even for the slight.

She clicked on the first link that appeared on her screen – Wikipedia. Settling back more comfortably, she placed her mug on the end table and began to read. Normally it was a site she detested mostly because McGee and Abby seemed to think it was maintained by amateurs. But the site gave her the background information and history she needed. Plus it seemed like her search had given her many other links to cull information from.

Her tea grew cold as she visited other sites, viewed pictures and read personal account stories. A little grin formed on her face as a picture formed in her head. "Why if only I'd understood that then," she whispered.

An old clock chimed in the background and Ziva looked up, shocked at how fast her evening had slipped away. Reluctantly she powered down her laptop before putting it on the side table. She left her mug to deal with in the morning and moved to her bedroom. She had a lot of information she was still processing and she wasn't exactly sure of the best time to confront either Tony or McGee with her knowledge.

Monday morning came far too quickly after a short one day weekend which saw the team individually trying to rest as well as catch up on the minutiae that made up their everyday lives outside of the agency. McGee would have been lying if he'd claimed to have been doing anything but voraciously reading as much of that fan fiction Tony had showed him as he could fit into his free time. Tony had found that he was further behind in his online class than he'd guesstimated and he was grateful his cleaning lady was schedule for Monday as his free time was spent catching up on the required reading and participating in the online discussions. He made sure to include an extra large tip with the check he left on the end table before he went to work. Gibbs had been his normal, solitary self, spending time in the basement, measuring out a new project. Ziva had caught up on tasks around her apartment, did a little grocery shopping and worked out. She still was unsure of how to broach the subject of her newfound knowledge.

Once at the office, the team each found themselves immersed in a variety of paperwork. Gibbs signed off on the last set of case reports before adding his own summation to the file for the director's review. He periodically glanced at his team to make sure they were actually working, wondering again how he managed to build a team that alternately made him proud yet feeling like he ran a daycare on many days. He noted approvingly that a portion of the paperwork that had filled Tony's inbox had been moved to McGee's desk. DiNozzo sharing senior field agent duties meant that he was back to training McGee so that the computer specialist could some day advance to a senior field agent position of his own. Gibbs was glad to see the very obvious return of a partnership/friendship between the two men.

Through the corner of his eye, Gibbs watched Tony get up and idly toss his now empty coffee cup into McGee's wastebasket, ending with a typical 'just shot a three pointer to win the championship' flourish. He waited for the expected snarky remark from McGee.

"Not a three-pointer, Tony. You would have been far inside the line for that."

"Think that calls for more practice, Mc-referee!" Tony flashed his huge, completely fake smile. "By the way, thanks for taking the coffee run this morning."

McGee nodded but didn't respond as Tony headed off down the hall.

Gibbs blinked, amazed at what he'd just overheard. Reaching out, he picked up his own coffee cup and sighed as he realized it was empty. "Going for coffee," he announced to his remaining team as he grabbed his jacket and started off towards the elevators. He paused and headed back to stand near the edge of DiNozzo's desk and lightly tossed his cup into McGee's trash bin. McGee glanced up, and caught a tiny, satisfied smiled fleetingly appear on Gibbs's face before he turned and practically sauntered over to the elevators.

Ziva noted the apparent good moods of her team mates and figured the quiet morning was offering her the best possible chance to speak with Tony. She rose silently from her seat and headed off, confident that she knew where to find him.

Ziva entered the men's bathroom and peered around the short, tiled wall that offered little privacy for those at the sink. A taller tiled partition blocked the urinal area and toilet stalls from the sinks and she heard a faint noise on the other side. Leaning against the partition, she waited for her prey.

A few seconds later, DiNozzo approached one of the sinks, not at all startled at her presence. His lack of reaction disappointed, she straightened, narrowing her eyes as she found herself not knowing how to start the conversation she'd been waiting to have. Tony ignored her presence as he washed and dried his hands, but he made no move to exit the room. Instead he took a minute to finger comb a small part of his hair back into place, waiting silently and patiently for her to reveal why she was there.

"I found the information that you and McGee refused to share with me, Tony."

"We didn't refuse, Ziva. You eavesdropped and then interrupted a private conversation and you simply got told to get the information you wanted on your own. "

She waved her arm in the air. "Semantics!"

"Can be and usually are very important," Tony finished for her as he turned to lean against the counter.

Irritated, she huffed out a breath but didn't reply.

"Now that's not all you wanted to tell me, Ziva. You wouldn't have waited to come in here for something as simple as that. "

Ziva pulled herself up straight and calmly stared at Tony, all hints of irritation suddenly gone. "I found what I read about this BDSM very… interesting, shall we say."

"In what way?"

"A few of our encounters seem to lean towards that type of…"

Tony launched himself off the counter and began to pace. "Are you for real? Or did you just not understand what you read? It's a lifestyle, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Not a five minute encounter in the men's room!"

As he continued to stalk around the small area, Ziva twisted her fingers before flailing her arms, frustrated at Tony's inability to follow her train of thought.

"Tony, I did not mean that!" She took a quick but deeper breath to calm herself. "I was thinking back to that time when I was so conflicted over Michael."

Tony froze shock evident as he turned his head to stare at her. "That had nothing to do with bdsm, Ziva!"

Not correctly reading the expression in his eyes, Ziva took a couple small steps forward. "But, Tony, you'd have to agree that it is about control and I definitely had control over you…"

"It has to do with consent as well as control, Ziva! And the last thing you had was my permission to knock me down to the concrete and then point your weapon at me!"

"You knew what I was feeling and understood what I need then! You gave me the chance…"

"I gave you nothing! You took – like you always do! I knew you were angry! But NEVER did I expect you to conveniently forget the sling I was wearing or to forget that it was concrete you knocked me down onto. Do you know how badly that can jar a broken bone? What you did, Ziva, can never be compared to that lifestyle and we will never be in a position where that can happen again!"

"Tony, we are past that though…"

"Past it? Hardly! You're just lucky I'm willing to put the big picture ahead of what I need or want. And you are very lucky I never told Gibbs!"

Ziva paled. "Tony…"

"Get out! After all this IS the men's room, Ziva."

Unsure for one of the first times in years, Ziva turned and moved around the wall to reach the door. She stopped suddenly, coming face to face with Gibbs, who stood in the doorway, coat still on and a fresh cup of coffee in one hand. He stared at her, expression unreadable before opening the door wider so she could move past him.

He then let the door swish closed and stepped around the wall. Tony stood with his back to him, stiff posture only telling part of the story.

"How much did you hear?"

"Too much but apparently nowhere near enough. Care to fill in some details, Tony."

"Not really, Boss. Some things belong in the past."