Author's note:

Hello again, my dear readers!

I'm back with another story as I promised. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it as I'm trying to give all of you something to read during the school or work days and brighten up them if it's possible. :)

So, what this story is about? Well, I want to thank again to my favourite TV show JAG for giving me this little idea and as I promised – unlike my previous story 'Pianoforte', this is going to be story about love – so we'll be dealing with their feelings and unspoken (or spoken? ;)) words and so on again like we did in 'Kissing Deal' but in completely different way. ;) You'll have to read it to see what I mean. Anyway, this story will have three or four parts – each part then consist of various numbers of chapters (I guess between five and ten). I will be honest with you – I haven't finished the first part yet (10 chapters done, still writing) but I have enough material to keep you entertained at least until Christmas. :) So, I guess I have enough time to finish the first part and start with the second one. However, when the other parts will come, I can't tell since I have two important projects to school and I have to write primarily them so the fanfiction is now secondary. Anyway, the deadlines are in March so I'll have enough time for writing after it so you can expect the other parts after that. But don't worry, I'll finish it – I'm not that type of person who would abandon my own story, I'm writing not only for you but for myself as well and I just hate when something is unfinished. So, trust me – this story will see its happy end.

Anyway, the whole story circles around towel which covers Ziva's body in the moment Tony steps into her hotel room. It's AU to Season 9, let's just say they were able to stop Dearing before he planted the bomb and the whole team actually got to attend Jimmy's wedding with Breena. If you ever wondered what Tony would do with such situation, here's my version. Go and read to find out how it will turn out! :)

And why I'm posting this story today on October 17th? Because my dear friend Jasmin (AKA Mine1986) is having birthday today! So, the story is dedicated to her, of course. Jasmin, I want to thank you this way for your friendship, our long and short messages, sharing your life with me, including your amazing baby girl. I've found a wonderful and kind person in you and I'm honoured to call you my friend. I love chatting with you, sharing my own life with you and just being your friend. Thank you for everything, most of all for the amazing handbag you sewed for me and which I got few days ago - it's brilliant and I totally love it! :) And also - good luck to your future. We both know what sort of happiness awaits you next year and you know how happy I am because of it for you. I also truly hope we'll meet next year since we don't live too far away from each other. I hope you enjoy your day, that your celebration will be awesome and here's my little gift to you. :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Disclaimer:

As always – I do not own NCIS or the characters. English is not my first language, so all mistakes are mine. If there's any kind soul who is interested to become my Beta, I'll be only happy. You can contact me through PM. :)

Onward with the story!

Towel

Chapter 1

"Damn it!" Ziva cursed loudly as the echo of the swear word she just let out of her mouth bounced off the bathroom walls.

She angrily turned the tap off, giving up of the hot relaxing shower she was just having and started to squeeze the water out of her hair before she reached out for the towel and dried it with the fluffy fabric, making a turban on her head. She didn't want to leave the bathroom because the shower was really nice and it helped her to ease her stiffened muscles but she'd forgot to take her dress in here and that's what she planned to do in the first place.

She was in her hotel room, currently enjoying the hot water and preparing herself for the wedding rehearsal dinner. She had to give a credit to Jimmy and Breena because this hotel was a fairytale place for a wedding. It was near the beach, the ceremony itself was supposed to be held in a beautiful gazebo in hotel's garden while the party was on hotel's terrace with a free entry on the beach, however, the tonight's dinner which was supposed to be a rehearsal, was held inside.

Her anger somewhat waned when she realized that the reason for her anger was pitiful. She'd wanted to make herself presentable so when Breena had showed her the room she was supposed to stay in, she'd pulled out her dress from her baggage and hung them on a hanger to make them straighten before she'd taken her clothes off and disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower she so much needed after the long ride full of endless chatting with Abby.

Not that she didn't like to talk with Abby but she was relieved she had a moment for herself and that Jimmy and Breena had been reasonable enough and booked room for each of them so she didn't have to share with anyone. She really needed few moments of peace to categorize her thoughts, to weigh the options and decide what to do with her life in the future.

Her life became an emotional rollercoaster again this year and she couldn't help herself than think about 'what ifs'. This whole wedding was just reminding her that she would have been planning her own if it hadn't been for her break-up with Ray. It was unbelievable how her life had changed since the last year when she'd thought she'd had something permanent and something what would last. She'd gone from Ray's disappearance when he hadn't been able to call her to a proposal and almost engagement to the state when she was without boyfriend and with uncertain future.

Until now she didn't have so much time to think about it. Well, she'd discussed it with her therapist but she was somehow afraid to get deeper. But since it was already few months she had dumped Ray, she realized that it was finally time to leave it behind. So after they closed their current case – Dearing got what he deserved – and they all actually were able to attend Jimmy's wedding, she decided that she will enjoy the free time she was offered. She just wanted to have a good time with her friends and don't think about any problems.

She sighed, wondering whether she will ever have the chance to get herself a wedding like those two had and stepped out of the shower enclosure. She needed to go back to her room to get some clothes because she'd left everything there. She cursed herself again for her stupidity – she was supposed to be intelligent enough to know that the clothes wouldn't appear out of thin air if she didn't bring it by herself since she'd gone to the bathroom completely naked.

She reached for the second towel that was in the bathroom and realized that she'd done another stupidity. When she was taking the towel to dry her hair, she didn't pay any attention to the size of it so she took the larger one and now all she was holding in her hands was rather small towel. It was still rather large but she was sure that in the moment she will want to wrap her body into it, it will be shorter than she wanted.

The anger rose again in her as she hastily dried her body off, cursing the hotel staff for their inability to provide more towels in the room for one person. Like if one person didn't need more than two towels. She shook her head at her thoughts and grabbed the bottle of body lotion as she started to apply it on her freshly shaved legs to keep them smooth as they always were.

She chuckled sarcastically when she realized that this was the only thing she didn't forget to bring with her into the bathroom – her bag with cosmetic supplies. She slowly and thoroughly rubbed the lotion into her heated skin, relaxing the muscles even more. The shower was really a wonderful idea, she should get Nobel prize for it or something. Even though she probably wasn't the first person in the world who came up with it.

Then she sighed and wondered how to solve her next problem. Naturally, she needed to go out of the bathroom and find at least some lingerie before she will take her dress on. The first thing that flashed through her mind was rather obvious – to come out naked, like she was. However, she immediately dismissed the idea with a frown. Not that she was insecure about her body, not in the least, but you never know who might be watching. To parade naked in the room where she was all by herself was something she did only somewhere she knew it and felt secure. So, only in her apartment.

Another idea was the larger towel she had on her head and that was wrapped around her hair. But with another sigh she dismissed it as well – it was sodden through and through and she didn't want to wrap her body up into something so dank like that. She wanted something dry to caress her skin, not a wet towel. Especially when she applied the body lotion already.

As her eyes danced around the bathroom, she caught a glimpse of bathrobe and her brain started to scream 'hallelujah'. She didn't hesitate to reach for it and enjoy the fluffiness of the terry cloth. She always loved to be wrapped in the bathrobe while sipping a hot tea in front of the TV during winter in DC. And such memory caused another dismissal in her head. She wanted to wrap into it in the evening, after the dinner, and she wanted the bathrobe to be fresh and fluffy as it was supposed to be, so not an already used one.

Holding the bathrobe still in her hands, she shifted her eyes on the excuse of a towel and wondered whether to risk it. Like she remarked before – the size was sufficient but she was a small bit of revealing almost everything. But on the other hand – she was in her room alone with no one around. Who could possibly see her? It was just a matter of few minutes – just go out, take what she needed and go back.

Well, the problem was that she knew about someone who might see her and she was terrified of the thought. There was only one person, man to be exact, who could spot her in the wrong moment. Tony. He was in the neighbouring room and the worst of all was that he had totally free access to her room. This hotel was one of those where certain rooms were interconnected, separated only by the door.

And she had that luck to be in such room while Tony was in the other. The only barrier between them was the door. Sure, she could lock the door up and not to worry about it anymore but she, of course, had forgot to check whether the door was locked or not. Which was another stupidity she made in the course of few minutes. Now, he could enter whenever he wanted, he didn't have to ask for her permission.

Well, not that he might be the only one who could take advantage of staying in this kind of room. She actually thought about sneaking into his room during the night to watch him in his sleep. He probably didn't have any idea how cute and tasty he looked when he was sprawled across the bed, making adorable sounds with his mouth from his dreams. She couldn't resist and always played with his dishevelled hair between her fingers whenever she had the chance to be witness of his sleeping.

The cuteness of his sleep was something she knew about for years but the desire to watch him was somewhat stronger over the last few months. Her eyes suddenly stopped studying the smaller towel on the bathroom's floor and looked right at herself through the reflection of the mirror. She narrowed them in shock when she saw the silly smile that appeared on her face out of nowhere.

She quickly wiped it off, raking her hair in nervousness, trying to get rid of the warm feeling that spread across her belly. What is happening with her? Surely Tony couldn't arouse such feelings in her... Or could he? She shook her head in confusion, looking desperately on herself and trying to find the answer in her face. Not that it was helping. This wasn't a fairytale, the mirror couldn't tell her what feelings she had towards Tony.

Which was actually the most important question – what it is between her and Tony lately? To be honest – a year ago she wouldn't guess that they could be so close again. She'd been in a relationship with Ray and he'd had EJ. It had been like – this is my personal space, do not disturb. They had been co-workers, partners and friends – but not close friends, just two people who spend the time with each other from time to time.

But then EJ had been gone and he somehow tried to find a way to her heart again. He'd been very supportive throughout her relationship problems with Ray, trying his best to show how much he actually cared about her. She'd found a very solid rock in him, she knew that she could count on him whenever she made up her mind. Not that she didn't know all of this before but somehow it became more significant for her during the last year.

Then Ray's proposal had come and even though she knew it would hurt him, she couldn't tell him about it right away. She didn't know what do with it – whether agree to marry Ray or not. And as she knew Tony, he would do exactly what he always did – support her. Tell her that if Ray was the right man, if he made her happy, then she should go for it and marry him. Which was exactly she didn't want to hear at that time and that's why Tony was one of the last who found out about it.

But it wasn't important anymore because she had broken up with Ray and everything had been gone, it was behind her. However, Tony's mood didn't improve like she hoped. He had kept certain distance from her like if he was afraid she might harm him in any way. Then it had hit her that he was probably giving her the time to heal herself and it really seemed like it because after few days they had been able to normally tease each other like always.

Until they had met his ex-fiancé on the case. She'd noticed his effort to keep her apart from Wendy very clearly and it'd been also rather noticeable that those two had a lot of unfinished business. When she'd offered him that he could confide in her with it, he'd politely refused, claiming that he would manage by himself. However, it hadn't been even few days after and she'd had him on her doorstep as he'd asked her whether the offer still held.

That night she realized how much he'd suffered because of what Wendy did to him and how much it had changed him. She was really glad that he'd told her about it, it revised her opinion on him very radically in certain points. Also, it'd got them back on their track. He'd again become the sweet, loving and caring Tony she'd so much desired to see for a very long time. Not that she admitted it to him, of course.

It seemed that something snapped in him because after their encounter with the woman who probably hurt him the most, he became more decisive, put the past behind him with everything that belonged to it, including his already non-existent feelings for Wendy and concentrated his interest on her. He started to develop a relationship between them but of a different kind than they had had so far.

He asked her out few times, at first on drink but from drinks they shifted to dinners, going to the cinema or just hanging out with each other. It didn't matter to him whether Abby and McGee joined them as well, he didn't take it as dating. She'd asked him once about it – what exactly they were doing and what he was expecting from it and he assured her that his intentions were pure.

He'd reasoned that they were both single and just because they didn't have the need to find their significant other in the near future, it didn't mean they couldn't go out from time to time and enjoy themselves. He definitely didn't plan to stay buried in his apartment and all he was doing was spending the time with his friend who happened to be his partner and co-worker in the same time.

She'd agreed with him because he'd had a point and it felt amazing to feel like a woman, to wear some beautiful dress into a fancy restaurant but knowing that her 'date' didn't expect anything in return. It all had friendly nature – they did the dating stuff without the actual dating. Their physical contact consisted from kiss on a cheek, holding hands or typical nudging each other, nothing more.

But even that had changed after a while. It happened mostly in her apartment when they had a movie night – they usually fell asleep which wouldn't be the greatest problem because she didn't see any problems in the fact that Tony spent a night in her apartment. What troubled her was that they fell asleep in each other's arms and she liked it. She actually liked it so much that she got used to it and always waited for him to doze off before she wrapped herself up into his embrace and drifted off sleep as well, avoiding like that to his possible questioning since she was always the first one who woke up.

That was the time she became aware of her desire to watch him in his sleep. She was able to watch him for hours, especially when she couldn't get herself to sleep. She didn't know whether he knew about it and what his opinion on all of this was but since he didn't say anything, she didn't consider it as something bad. They were just very good and very close friends who worked together and just spent the time with each other because they didn't want to be alone. It didn't have somewhat deeper meaning.

But she started to doubt it because when she looked at her reflection once more, that stupid silly smile was plastered on her face again. She didn't even register that during her mulling she started to smile, not to mention that her heart was beating rapidly, probably giving her some sign. Exactly the same sign as the butterflies in her stomach that were tossing there and making her feel dizzy.

She shook her head, trying to make the dizziness go away but her heartbeat increased even more when she became aware of the feeling she recognized in her heart. No, no, no, no... She couldn't be falling in love with Tony... What they were doing was innocent, and it was supposed to stay like that. She couldn't afford to destroy their friendship by falling in love with him.

But the problem was that she already was in love with him. The love for him grew inside her for quite some time but just lately she started to realize how strong it actually was. It scared her, a lot. It wasn't supposed to happen, he was forbidden for her. Not only because they were partners and there were certain rules about it but he was also her greatest friend and she didn't want to lose him. She was aware of how horrible she was in handling her relationships and she had no doubt she would screw this one up too.

Moreover, she couldn't even imagine how they could even work in a relationship. It was completely surreal and ridiculous vision to visualize in her head. Their dates would be probably similar to those ones they already had together but now including other dating stuff. They would probably end in his or her apartment after the dinner, watching a movie but soon forgetting about it because their desire would overpower them and they would be pleasing each other in no time...

She had to bite her lip to prevent the moan that threatened to escape her mouth at the sexual fantasy she just envisioned. She shook her head dismissively, cursing herself because such train of thoughts really wasn't helping her, especially when she was still standing naked in front of the mirror. She had to stop with thinking about Tony, it was getting very dangerous.

She again began to concentrate of her problem as she looked at the bathrobe, pondering whether to take it on or not but then she threw it away with a huff. She bent down and grabbed the smaller towel, wrapping her body up into it and tightening as much as she could to prevent the towel from falling down. When she inspected herself in the mirror, she was satisfied. It covered most of her body, it ended just below her lap and even though part of her butt was bare, she didn't mind.

If Tony came into her room, so what... He wouldn't see anything he hadn't seen before. The most important thing was that her breasts were covered and the most intimate part of her body as well. Besides, she could always kick him out because she was sure he wouldn't do anything against her will. And it was really just a matter of few minutes, she wanted to go back to the bathroom immediately.

She bent forward and unrolled the turban on her head, freeing her damp hair. She put the towel on its place, straightening it so it could dry out and tossed with her hair to spread it. It was still soggy, she could see the drops on her hair ends but she needed it to dry it up a bit on fresh air before she would use a hairdryer. She secured the towel around her body again, just to be sure and raked her hair to disentangle her locks.

She still couldn't get Tony out of her head as she fantasized about their possible relationship. Even though she found it weird, it had some pluses she would love to experience. But the actual thought of them arriving home from work together and making a dinner, then watching something on TV and going to sleep to their bed... She really couldn't imagine it.

With another unbelieving chuckle she stepped out of the bathroom, yawning and stretching her body. The door from the bathroom closed behind her and she leisurely started her way to the bed where her baggage was. She caught a glimpse of the alarm clock and was satisfied to find out that she still had a plenty of time to make herself presentable before the dinner starts.

But then her biggest nightmare at that time became a reality. She didn't have any chance to react as the door from the interconnected room opened and Tony entered. "Hey Ziv, I'm sorry to interrupt but you left..." He began cheerfully but in the moment his eyes laid upon her, his voice abandoned him.

The End of Chapter 1

Just to let you know – I'm not in the least sorry for the cliffhanger. :D I wrote the first chapter with the intention to end it like that and I'm so satisfied with myself that I achieved it. ;) I want to be cruel again, you already know me.

So, how did you like it? I hope it caught your attention and you are curious how Ziva will react that Tony stepped into her room without permission and how he will react to the sight he has in front of him – the woman he wants just in the towel. Well, that's actually why this story is in the M section. :D

Anyway, if it's not too much to ask – I'd like to know your opinion so please, leave me a review. The feedback is essential for every writer and it keeps the person motivated, plus I really want to know whether you are even interested in such story.

To you Jasmin, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you again. :) I'm sending a hug all the way to Germany.

And since I'm the person, known for brightening up your Mondays, the next chapter is coming on Monday October 27th. ;) Until then, have a nice time!