Mamma Mia!
- Thank You For The Music -
Category: Humor, Romance
Rating: a solid G :)
Contents: Official appointments aren't much fun... are they?
Disclaimer: Nothing mine, but even if it was, I wouldn't do something like that here with the show... because, this is only for fun (and not for profit)!
Official appointments always meant: No fun. They all had known that ever since their first days working for the NCIS. Moreover, if they weren't even as security detail, but as guests at these appointments, it could get more boring than anything else. Nothing to do than sitting around and having Smalltalk was something they simply weren't made for.
Unfortunately, in this case, they hadn't had much of a choice. They had been invited to a party that was meant to be one to honor them for what they had done. So they weren't allowed to play the security detail for their Director, Jenny Shepard, and stand in the corners to keep an watchful eye on the red-headed woman while she was doing politics, but had to sit with her at a table, in between a large pile of other tables with other people they didn't know and, besides that, not really liked. Politicians, diplomats, some bootlickers among them...
Not that they were complaining about having to sit with Jenny at this table; it was only about the fact that they had to sit here. They knew they would never be able to understand how she was doing this, smiling and being nice all the time while they would have liked to punch some of these men around them the stupid grin out of their face.
Their only comfort, although it was a cold comfort, were live musicians who at least brought some passable atmosphere with them to this room.
"So, how long do you think we'll have to sit here?" Abby whispered into Tony's direction who was just grabbing another piece of bread from one of the small baskets standing on the large, round table they had been placed at.
"Unfortunately, Abby, I think it could be longer than you're going to like it," Jenny answered for DiNozzo; sitting next to Abby, she hadn't only heard her whispered words, but also noticed how uneasy the Goth was. In an encouraging gesture, she laid the young woman a hand on the shoulder and nodded smiling.
Abby sighed and looked very frustrated. Not only that she had to wear this dress that was purple; no, she also had to sit still, listen to music that wasn't exactly her taste, eat food she didn't really like - more because of the whole atmosphere and less because the food itself wasn't good - and she wasn't allowed to have some of her Caf!Pow. If there had been a competition about who disliked this event most, she surely would have won it.
Ziva shot her young colleague short glances from time to time, checking the mood of the normally exuberant Goth, missing her constant babbling a bit. But maybe she only needed some cheering up? Normally she would have left this task for Tony, but he seemed to be busy with flirting. Not that this was something that would have surprised her, but the fact that he was flirting with her made the whole thing a bit more complicated. It somehow confused her why he suddenly was flirting so intensely with her, because till now, their relationship had been something between colleagues and friends, but nothing more, although she sometimes had wished for it to be more.
Right at the moment, his flirting was irritating her so much, that it didn't take her long to decide what to do next. And that Abby was much more important. Excusing herself, she stood up and headed for the doors of the big room, ignoring the people who were watching her curiously when she passed them, now, with the dinner still not finished. As soon as she had left the room, her feet followed the path to the small room the artists were sitting in, as she has discovered before while exploring the building to be prepared for any possible contingencies.
Knocking shortly, she opened the door, making the people inside look up, eyeing her questioningly.
"Hi. I'd like you to do me a favor...," she began, making sure the three persons were listening attentively; then she explained what she wanted.
Meanwhile, in the celebration room, Gibbs and his team, as well as Jenny and Ducky, were still trying to make Abby laugh and enjoy the evening even though this event wasn't her imagination of late night entertainment. But they didn't want her to spend the whole evening accompanied by her bad mood, let alone wanted the rest of them this company. They had been sitting here for around three hours now, but nothing had been able to help Abby's mood, whatever they had been trying.
Just as Jenny was considering to send Abby home, to release her from her duties for this evening, something caught the attention of all those present, including the team. From the small stage at the one end of the room, suddenly completely different music was playing and - someone was singing.
"Thank you... for the music...
The songs I'm singing."
Everyone on the NCIS table looked up. They knew this voice. Even Abby recognized it, and with her eyes widening, she scanned the stage because the voice was coming from this direction.
"Thanks for all the joy they're bringing."
That definitely wasn't the type of music the band should be playing this evening; and the voice for sure didn't belong to one of the bands members. Whatever was going on, it was far from being normal. To catch a better view, she stretched a bit from her sitting position, trying to see who the singing woman was, to make sure that she was only hallucinating.
The rest of the ones sitting with Abby on the table had the same thoughts. They simply couldn't believe that the voice they all knew so well really belonged to the person who was singing at the moment, or maybe the other way round, and who was still nowhere to be seen.
"Who can live without it
I ask in all honesty
What would live be
Without a song or a dance
What are we?
So I say
Thank you for the music
For giving it to me..."
Hands of excited people were clapping, their owners completely smitten with the charms of the unknown singer. The still unknown woman with the surprisingly sweet and soft voice. The woman with the voice that left an impression of "very familiar" with guests from NCIS.
And exactly these six gasped when the person the voice belonged to finally stepped from behind the curtains and onto the stage. Well, at least they had been right and their ears hadn't been playing tricks on them.
"Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk
Mhh...
She says I began to sing long before I could talk
And I often wondered
How did it all start
Who found out that nothing can capture a heart
Like a melody can
Well, whoever it was, I'm a fan"
There, on the stage, in her beautiful, Bordeaux colored evening dress that was glittering in the headlights, stood Ziva David, their Mossad liaison officer. Singing.
Especially Tony felt like he was dreaming. Not that he was used to dreaming of Ziva. Of course not, how could he! But as she was standing there, with an angelic smile on her face, and holding the microphone like she had never done anything else in her life, it could be only a dream.
He was asking himself if Jenny knew of this special skill of Ziva's. At least they were women and they obviously were friends and they had been working together and... Oh, stop this, DiNozzo! He told himself, then again concentrated on Ziva, and got totally caught by her magic.
"So I say
Thank you for the music
The songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it
I ask in all honesty
What would life be
Without a song or a dance
What are we?
So I say
Thank you for the music
For giving it to me"
He didn't know was he did in this moment, but suddenly, he jumped up, nearly ran towards the stage and Ziva, sprinted up the three steps that were leading to the top of the stage, and joined Ziva, took the microphone from her hands, and earned himself a shocked glance for that.
Somewhere in the room, a whispered "Please, no!" could be heard - or not heard, due to the loud music - and a certain red-headed woman was practically sinking into her chair, nearly gliding off it, only to hide her face. The memory of Tony DiNozzo singing was still fresh in her mind; she had never forgotten his lame trying while he had been undercover. Not that it had been important at this time, but now, Jenny Shepard really didn't want to be here, as his big boss, when he was disgracing himself in front of an audience of around 150 people.
All the more she was surprised, no, completely confused, when she heard the first notes from him.
"I've been so lucky
I am the... boy with... golden hair"
He looked somewhat desperate, but judging from his mimic, he was only playing his uneasiness, and people around the room were laughing quietly - including the NCIS table. With Abby, who looked very happy now.
Jenny wouldn't want to trust her ears, because what he was doing was no comparison to his undercover ear-torture. In fact, Tony DiNozzo could sing, and he was easily not bad.
"I wanna sing it out to everybody
What a joy, what a life, what a chance!"
Now Ziva was stepping next to Tony, grabbed his microphone-holding hand with one of hers and navigated it so that she was also going to be heard when singing into the microphone. Together, they then sang the next lines.
"Thank you for the music
The songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it
I ask in all honesty
What would life be
Without a song or a dance
What are we?
So I say
Thank you for the music
For giving it to me"
The music in the background slowly faded out, leaving the room quiet except for the soft tune that was still left when the song was nearly finished. With almost no music from the band as accompaniment, Tony and Ziva sang the last two lines of the song, looking deep into each others eyes, faces close, nearly touching, and enchanting guests just like personnel.
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me
As soon as the last note had flown away, the people were jumping up, cheering, jubilating, applauding, and full of enthusiasm. Abby was excited to no end and guessing that Ziva had done this for her because the Israeli woman knew that she loved this song, she silently thanked her friend, the one she had never thought of being friends with in the beginning.
Tony and Ziva, though, just smiled at each other, unaware of all the people surrounding them. Right at the moment the lights went out, Tony placed a soft kiss on Zivas lips...
FIN