Title: Study Buddy
Fandom: NCIS
Author: alidiabin
Genre: friendship (could be more if you want it to be).
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Words: 450
Warnings/Spoilers/Rating: none || S7 pre 7x24 || G
Summary: Tony becomes Ziva's study buddy. Congratulations on passing your test palmersabs.

Study Buddy

Ziva frowned as the she reread the same sentence repeatedly, the information just would not go in. She had tried everything to try to get the information in, mnemonics, mind maps, even reading the textbook aloud in her empty apartment. Nothing worked. Finally, she lay her head down on her desk and groaned.

"Paperwork is not that bad, Probette," Tony declared. She had forgotten he was still at work, she had also forgotten about the paperwork.

"It is not the paperwork," she admitted. He looked across the squadroom at her, with a grin on his face. He was not surprised. "This information is not going in. It's not working."

Tony nodded, grabbed his wallet, and got up, heading to the elevator. Ziva opened her mouth to ask where he was going, but he was already gone.

XXX

Tony returned ten minutes later with two coffees and a packet of candy. Ziva had not progressed any further and was still reading the same paragraph in the American history textbook. The more she reread it, the more it became apparent that she was going to fail her citizenship test.

"First coffee," Tony said as he pulled his chair over to her desk, "then I will quiz you."

"I am not ready for a quiz," Ziva whined, "I will get them all wrong."

"I have an added incentive," he replied, as he pulled out the packet of candy, Ziva's eyes lit up, it was her favorite. "For every question you get right you get a candy, and for every one you get wrong, I get a candy."

XXX

Tony had started with easy questions, to build up her confidence. Even when he moved into the harder ones, she answered them with little difficulty. She was obviously much more knowledgeable. Consequently, she was winning all the candy, and he was wishing he had gotten something more than coffee for a late night snack. He was also re-learning facts that had long been discarded, along with algebra and everything else he had learnt in high school, which seemed such a long time ago.

"What year was slavery officially outlawed across all states?" he asked in an exaggerated quiz show voice.

"December 6, 1865," Ziva replied confidently.

"Show off," he responded as he handed her a candy. She smiled and placed it back in his hand, knowing that he had not yet had one candy.

"Thank you for doing this," she told him. "I know you have better things to do."

"Not really, this is much more fun than paperwork," he replied as he ate the much longed for candy.

"Next question please," she asked in her best quiz show voice.

"Which amendment officially outlawed slavery?"