Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? (Whyns, Ziva)

[SA Dr. John Clark]

One week before the wedding

Clark was pacing their living room nervously, hoping all went well tonight--his past and present were about to meet, and he hoped it would be a peceful blend rather than a violent collision between the worlds of the FBI and NCIS when he asked his old friend and former crush Ziva David over to meet the family and join them for dinner.

Blackout's core was sitting in front of the couch watching his MythBusters DVD's and Clarklet was playing in his crib; the armored Fed had been cooking for about an hour laying on a traditional Israeli menu, and their guest was due any time.

Finally he stopped pacing and turned to Paige, taking his bride in his arms and whispering into her ear. "Honey, are you SURE you're ready for this? Ziva can be as hardened outside as she is soft inside, not that unlike myself in being an armor-plated marshmallow... the problem is, at first you never know which side you're going to be greeted with."

[Deleted]

Ziva had been stuck at the office, it was a good thing she had made her mother's famous desert cake last night and all it needed was to be chilled before she went to Clark's for dinner. She was meeting his..well other half. She wasn't sure what to expect or what tonight's dinner would bring. She was sure thing would go reasonably well. They had too. She didn't want her feelings to get in the way of a friends happiness, much what she told to her partner, Tony. She had just clocked out and already late she only had time to run in, literally, to grab the dessert and run out to the car to speed off to dinner. She was in her work clothes, a nice golden sleeveless blouse and dark brown slacks and off course healed boots. Today she wore her hair in its natural curls and her make up minimal as always. A tan pea coat to top it all off, sat in the passengers seat under the cake pan. She didn't want to block their car so she parked a few blocks down, plus she wanted to give herself time to come down from work and mentally prepare herself for a social evening. Her black boots clacked against the rigid road and she rehearsed how she would address whomever opened the door. She prayed it would be Clark it would take some stress off her shoulders. "How do you do? No..too formal, you must be Paige..no, um I've heard much about you? No..not really, I really haven't it was just recently that I..I should have brought Tony with me..he is good at these social things. I am not, I can barely talk to an old friend without my nerves being wrecked.." She sighed deeply to herself she would just wing it and hope that she didn't sound like a babbling idiot when it came to it.

She held the cake in one hand as she approached the porch, when the lights turned on she glanced around, before raising her fist to knock. She retracted it quickly before turning away from the door. She glanced out into the pale night and sighed shutting her brown eyes for a moment. Be approachable, that was her goal for the night. Turning back she put on a small smile and knocked on the door stepping back a little to put some space between herself and the door she secured the cake with her other hand and held it right about mid abdomen, she looked around nervously, was this a good idea agreeing to dinner? Maybe a few words from Gibbs would calm her nerves but she was not able to fish her phone from her coat pocket before the door opened and the smile that had faded when she was concentrating had reappeared to welcome whoever lied behind the door.

[SSA Paige Whyn]

Paige smiled softly at Clark. "Of course I am. I'll be fine. Trust me." She rubbed his shoulder with her hand in a soothing gesture and kissed his cheek once. "It's going to work out just fine."

There was a knock at the door and Paige's heart beat quickened a bit. She was nervous but she knew to keep it inside. Clark was already nervous enough for the both of them. She ignored her heartbeat and focused on Clark. Patting his hand she spoke softly. "Go answer the door, love."

[SA Dr. John Clark]

Clark started for the door, but Blackout beat him to the punch, a soft whine of electric motors powering the core's treads as he rolled over to the door.

"Miss Ziva! So good to see you again,"[/color] the machine said, provoking a shrug from his parent. "Thank you for coming, Ziva. You remember Blackout, of course, still overdoing it trying to be one of us... please, do come in," he said, waving Blackout to back away from the door and give them room , giving his former colleague a gentle, sibling-like peck on each cheek.

"Shalom, Ziva, welcome to our home... Paige Whyn, my fiancee, meet Ziva David, an old colleague from my Mossad and NCIS days, and Blackout's first combat rescue. The young lady just coming down the hall is her sister Vanessa, and the bundle of trouble over there in the crib is James, our little Clarklet," the former spy said, introducing them. "I owe Ziva my life more times than I care to remember... Ziva, Paige is our team sniper over at the BAU--it's been awkward for them having us work cases together, but the results have spoken for themselves. Please, make yourself comfortable... can I get you something to drink while things finish cooking?"