Far Away

History Lesson

The ride out was Tony's favorite part.

There weren't many opportunities to go off-roading in DC, so he might as well do it while he had the chance, right?

Ziva just rolled her eyes beside him, swaying back and forth with the motion of the vehicle.

The drive wasn't nearly long enough in Tony's opinion, but he figured it was only fair that Ziva get to see her half of the bargain.

They got out and stretched (alright, maybe two hours was more than enough, he thought as he noticed the ache in his back).

Ziva divvied up their newly-purchased goods- water, snacks, sunblock.

He had laughed when she grabbed the sunblock, but she had shrugged and said, "If you want to burn, be my guest."

She probably knew better than he did.

He grudgingly slathered some sunblock on his face and arms, if only to avoid being made fun of later.

"Ready?" Ziva asked.

"If you are."

She sighed amd then started off towards the site.

The sun beat down on them mercilessly as they explored Knossos, the long-ago palace of King Minos.

"So why do you think the Minoans left?" Tony asked her, just to get a conversation going. He was going to go insane if they walked around the entire thing in sweaty silence.

She shrugged. "Historians have put forth a number of good guesses. No one knows for sure."

"Okay, but what do you think?"

She glanced over her should at him. "Are you going for a career change? Special Agent DiNozzo to history teacher Mr. DiNozzo?"

He snorted. "I couldn't teach history to save my life. I barely passed my history classes."

"Stunning, given your father's favorite pasttime."

He shot her a dirty look. "Hey, I aced anything to do with the Civil War. But world history? Nope. Not even close."

"You knew that Knossos was home to King Minos of the Minoans."

"That's called reading. It says in the brochure."

She swatted his arm, and for a moment he wondered how he could miss her. Yes, she was nice to look at and she was familiar and she was Ziva, but she was also sarcastic and she liked to hit him and, well, she was Ziva.

They drove each other nuts, constantly at each other's throats, and yet somehow Jenny's death had made them forget the real them. They'd been replaced with a different version of Tony and Ziva, a less happy version, a version that maybe got along a little better but wasn't the real version.

This was the knockoff version, that looked the same and behaved almost the same, but deep down, was a big lie. Fake.

His head spun in confusion and maybe a little but of heatstroke.

So were they actually getting closer now, or did they just think they were? Was this just a way to cope with a mutual loss? By putting up more walls, pretending to let the other in?

"Are you okay?"

He hadn't realized that he was sitting in the dust. "Oh. Yeah."

"That is why we got the water. Drink."

He sighed but obeyed. Lo and behold, he felt a little better.

Ziva sat down next to him, and he briefly wondered in how many different countries Ziva had sat down in the dust in those cargo pants. Had to be at least a few.

"Better?" she asked a while later.

"Yep." They both stood up, dusting themselves off.

"I would like to see over there, and then we should head back," she said, pointing to a spot about a hundred meters away.

"Lead the way."

***

It was shaping up to be a good day. She'd been expecting Tony to whine about trekking around in the heat, but he was patient and companionable for the most part.

He still made a few comments that were very DiNozzo, but that was to be expected. And she was glad that he did, because after three years of constant movie quotes, a month was a long time to go without hearing any.

They were just as annoying and out of place as they'd ever been, but they were a part of him, and she missed him.

She turned away from the site to see Tony with his nose buried in the brochure. Even if he was being quiet about it, she still knew he was itching to get out of there.

"Ready to leave?"

"If you've seen everything you want to see," he replied calmly.

She bit back a laugh. "Actually, there is one thing I have not seen that I would really like to see," she said, sidling up to him.

He was holding his breath, barely moving as he stared down at her.

She linked a finger through one of his belt loops and grinned.

He looked ready to bolt. Or...?

She finally laughed, releasing him and patting him on the chest. "Come on, we can stop for dinner on the way back. I will pay."

She was halfway back to the Land Rover before she heard him move his feet, and she couldn't help but laugh again. He was so easy to scare.

*****

Not up to my usual length standards, but I think it was a good chapter nonetheless. I enjoyed writing it.

What should they do tomorrow?

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