NCIS Christmas Party

Tony tries to get Ziva under the mistletoe.

Team Gibbs was attending the NCIS Christmas party as a team for the first time. Parties weren't really Gibbs' thing, but since all of his agents had decided to attend, he would as well. Abby had convinced Tim, Tony and Ziva to go.

Tony picked up Ziva at her apartment at 1600. The party started at 1700 with an open bar and then dinner at 1800. After dinner there was entertainment and dancing, with a visit from Santa scheduled for the end of the evening.

Ziva was dressed in an ankle length, garnet red, low V-neck dress that hugged her curves. She had her hair in loose curls. Tony took one look at her when she came out of her bedroom and his heart skipped a beat. She was smiling and he couldn't keep his eyes off her. His ninja was gorgeous.

"Wow!" Tony grinned at Ziva, "You look absolutely gorgeous tonight, Ziva."

"Toda, Tony." Ziva looked him over, "And you look very handsome tonight." Tony's tux fit him well. His garnet red shirt matched her dress. The black cummerbund and tie accented the festive look.

"Your chariot awaits, my lady." Tony extended his arm to her and escorted her to his car. He opened the door for her. When she turned to thank him, her face was inches from his. He breathed in her scent, and his pulse quickened. He shut the door and just about ran to the driver's side.

They arrived at the venue where the party was being held twenty minutes later and Tony found a parking spot close to the entrance. The ballroom at the Conference Center was decorated with several Christmas trees, lights, wreaths, and garlands. Tony also noticed that pictures of guests were being taken on one side. Over one of the backdrops for the pictures was a ball of mistletoe. There were other sprigs of mistletoe scattered about the room. He made a mental note to get Ziva under the mistletoe as many times as he could over the evening.

Tim and Delilah were already at the table for the team. Jimmy, Breena, Gibbs, Ducky, and Abby were all going to be at their table. Tony and Ziva greeted Tim and Delilah and sat down so that Ziva and Delilah were next to each other. Within the next twenty minutes the rest of the team arrived.

Tony and Tim had gone to get wine for themselves and Ziva and Delilah, and Tony mentioned the mistletoe to Tim. Tim gave Tony a look, "Are you going to try to get Ziva there?" Tony smirked and nodded, "As often as I can!"

They got back to the table with the wine, as Breena was leading Jimmy to the snowman backdrop for a picture. Abby came bouncing in with Gibbs and Ducky, one on each side of her. Ducky had on a plaid cummerbund and bowtie, representing the tartan of his family. Abby's black dress was simple, yet elegant. Gibbs had on a tux with a black shirt and red tie.

Ziva and Delilah decided to check out the decorated Christmas trees, and Tony and Tim tagged along. A sprig of mistletoe was hanging by one of the trees that was decorated with gingerbread men. Delilah wheeled under the mistletoe without realizing it, and Tim took the opportunity. He leaned in and kissed her and Abby snapped a picture with her phone. Ziva had turned to talk to Breena, and had missed Tim pointing to the mistletoe. She followed Delilah, and when she stepped under the mistletoe, Ducky kissed her on the cheek. 'Crap!' Tony thought.

They continued around the room as a group, viewing all of the decorated trees. At the second sprig of mistletoe, Jimmy kissed Breena and then gave Ziva a peck on the cheek. 'Ah, come on, karma,' Tony was getting frustrated.

The group had almost gotten to the third sprig when the emcee for the evening asked everyone to take their seats. The group headed back to their table. The emcee introduced SecNav, who welcomed the group to the evening. After the applause for SecNav, the emcee introduced Leon Vance, Director of NCIS. Leon also gave a welcome speech and the group applauded. Several other dignitaries were introduced, and finally the emcee announced that dinner would be served.

The first course was an appetizer of shrimp and crab with cocktail sauce. That was followed by a tomato bisque soup. Baby spinach, shredded carrot, and sliced mushroom salad with balsamic vinaigrette was the third course.

The main course was prime rib with gravy au jus, scalloped potatoes, baby carrots in herbed butter, green beans almandine and soft dinner rolls. Each table also had several bottles of wine to have with the dinner.

As the main course dishes were cleared, the emcee introduced the band that provided the evening's entertainment; a mix of holiday songs and dance music. Ducky asked Abby to dance, as Jimmy and Breena and Tim and Delilah also rose to dance. Tony looked at Ziva, "Shall we dance?" She smiled at him and nodded.

Gibbs watched his team with their dance partners: Tim and Delilah didn't let her wheelchair stop them from dancing; Jimmy and Breena were happily whispering to each other; Ducky and Abby were having fun; and Tony and Ziva were oblivious to the others around them, eyes only for the other.

At the second dance, Gibbs cut in to dance with Abby. She steered them towards the mistletoe and Gibbs gave her a kiss on the forehead. She kissed his cheek. Ducky cut in to dance with Delilah, and Tim cut in to dance with Ziva. Somehow he and Ziva wound up under a sprig of mistletoe and Tim gave her a peck on the cheek. Ziva smiled and returned the kiss to Tim's cheek. Tony sighed; everyone else got to kiss Ziva but him.

With the third dance, Gibbs danced with Breena, Tony with Abby, Jimmy with Delilah, and Ducky with Ziva. Abby managed to get Tony under some mistletoe and she kissed his cheek and he kissed her cheek. Tony kept watching for an opportunity to cut in to dance with Ziva again and get her under the mistletoe.

Another dance had Tony with Delilah, Gibbs with Ziva, Jimmy with Abby, and Tim with Breena. The emcee had everyone return to their seats after the fourth dance. Dessert buffets had been set up on the sides of the room, and the guests had a variety of desserts to choose from: cakes, pies, cookies, ice cream and sherbets. Coffee and tea were available as were dessert wines.

Tony and Ziva shared a piece of chocolate layer cake with chocolate crème filling and white fudge ganache icing with a large scoop of chocolate chunk chocolate ice cream on top. The sign by the dessert called it "death by chocolate," which Ziva found amusing.

While the guests ate dessert, the emcee started calling ticket numbers for door prizes. Gibbs was the first one at their table to win a prize. He went up to get the basket and was pleasantly surprised to find it to be a "handyman's basket" with a cordless drill, a set of screwdrivers, and assorted hardware.

Delilah won the second prize at their table. She came back from collecting her basket and opened it to find gourmet fruits and nuts, a dessert wine and an assortment of flavored coffees and teas.

The band returned from their break and the dancing started again. Tony steered Ziva towards some mistletoe, and was just about there when Gibbs came by and kissed Ziva on the cheek.

Tony's face fell into a hangdog expression which Ziva noticed immediately. "What is wrong, Tony?" she asked.

"Frustration, that's all. I've been trying to get you under the mistletoe all night and every time I do, someone ELSE gives you a kiss." Tony explained, as they moved back to the dance floor.

Ziva looked at him, and they fell into each other's eyes. "Tony, if you want to kiss me, you don't need mistletoe!" Ziva whispered to him.

"Well, then…" Tony locked his lips onto Ziva's. She melted into his kiss and they lost all sense of time and place, eyes only for the other.