Abby heard the familiar ding of the elevator and squealed with delight. "Gibbs!Gibbs!Gibbs!" she hurried over to him and crushed him into a hug. "Merry Christmas , Abs." "You too Gibbs! Now PLEASE don't shoot me down on this, but I was maybe thinking of having a private Christmas party in my lab, just for our team. You know, just Tony, Ziva, McGee, Ducky, You, Palmer, me, McGee, Tony.." she was about to keep repeating herself when Gibbs put a finger on her lips. "How many today Abs?" "Oh Gibbs, You know I hate it when they put nutmeg in it for the holidays. So today I brought a substitute." She gestured over to her desk, where there where about twelve cases of Red Bull were stacked on the floor. "It's not the same as a good old Caf-Pow, but it will have to do. And by the way , I've only had three today." He looked at her and smiled, then said "Just don't let planning it screw with your work." As he walked out, she yelled after him "Not a chance, Gibbs!" She turned back to her desk and mumbled "Three? Try thirteen" as a smile spread across her red lips.

Bullpen

Ziva was angry. She should not be angry, especially during the holidays, but she was. And it was no surprise who she was angry at. "Zee-vah!" Tony whispered, crouching behind his desk. "Pssst! Ziva!" he whispered again, this time an octave higher. "WHAT?!" she said harshly. "Uh…I'm sorry I ate your cookies." He said, standing up from his hiding position. "I was just looking at them, and they looked really ,really, good and I…" she cut him off. "Tony, one of my dearest friends in Israel sent me those cookies. He only makes them once a year and…" He interrupted this time. "Whoa , whoa, whoa…He? A guy made those amazing cinnamon nutmeg cookies?" He said with raised eyebrows . At that moment, McGee walked in ,wearing a red wool sweater with a skull wearing a Santa hat on it. "What's up guys?" he said. "We were just talking about one of your long lost relatives, Mcgumdrop. Speaking of relatives, did your Grammy knit you that sweater?" Tony grimaced, getting an eyeful of Tim's shirt. "No, Abby got this for me for Christmas. I promised I'd wear it for the Christmas party. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to spend my holiday without constant put-downs on my attire." Tim said, rolling his eyes. "Whoa, do I sense a lack of Christmas spirit, McScrooge?" Tony said as he swaggered over to his desk and pulled out a small envelope and smiled. He held it up between his fingers and looked at his teammate. "This" he said "is the key to a successful holiday season, Probie." He glanced over at the stairs to be sure Gibbs wasn't coming, and walked slowly over to his boss's desk. He sat down casually and swiveled in the chair. Ziva and McGee watched skeptically as he slipped the small envelope under a paper so you could just see the corner poking out. After his mission was complete, he looked up to see Gibbs walking towards him from the elevator. He jumped out of the chair and stood by the desk, bracing him self for a head slap. Instead, he felt something being taped to the back of his head. He whirled around to see a very hyper Abby staring at him. "Oh hey, Abs." He said softly as he looked down to see a hand drawn invitation. It had a picture of little reindeer wearing spiked dog collars and pulling a sleigh. Santa was in the sleigh and his suit was all black. "What's this for, Abby?" he said, still trying to get the piece of tape out of his hair. She was handing invitations to Gibbs, Ziva and McGee. "For our Christmas party Tony!" she said, bouncing around as she talked. "I'm Planning a party for just our team. It'll be tomorrow so it wont interrupt the office Christmas party" she said, Grinning a huge Christmas-y grin. "But tomorrow is Christmas day, Abby. Wont we be at home?" Tony asked. Abby turned around slowly and glared at them all. "Who here lives alone?" she asked, as if interrogating at them all, daring one of them to lie. Everyone raised their hand, including Palmer, who had just walked into the room. She bounced over and Handed him two invitations. "Then none of you should have a problem coming in to spend Christmas with your only other Family. Correct?" Everyone nodded. Jimmy looked down at Ducky's invitation and added, "But what about Dr. Mallard's Mother? Wont he be spending Christmas with her?" Abby looked at him and smiled. "look inside Ducky's invitation." she said. Palmer opened the Doctor's paper and a smaller one fell out. It had a picture of Bert wearing a Santa hat on it. Jimmy read it aloud. "This document cordially states that Sir Burton The Hippopotamus has invited Mrs. Mallard to the Christmas party in Abby's lab on December 25th. VIP access". Abby Smiled proudly and said "Mrs. Mallard has a soft spot for Bert. No way she'll turn him down." Then she returned to her lab to do some more decorating. "I'll be there." McGee said to Abby with a smile as she was leaving. "I don't see any mistletoe, Probie." Tony smirked, earning the head slap he'd forgotten about earlier. Startled he said "SORRY, boss…Must be the eggnog." Gibbs sat down, and Ziva and McGee watched to see what the envelope Tony had hidden contained. Gibbs was shuffling through the papers, when he caught sight of it. He opened it up and smiled. "Whatcha got there boss?" Tony said, smiling with raised eyebrows at McGee. "Nothing, DiNozzo. But hey, merry Christmas you guys. I'll be back" he said grabbing his coat and heading towards the elevator with a smile on his face. " Okay, fuss up, Tony." Ziva said. "It's fess up, Ziva, and in that envelope was the biggest piece of brown nose out there." He said smiling. "What was it, Tony?" asked McGee impatiently. "That, McGrumpy, was a 25 dollar gift card to our own personal Scrooges' favorite coffee shop. I do it every year" said Tony, the pride showing on his face, clearly impressed with his genius plan. "Okay, I admit that is a good plan." Ziva said, pointing at him. "But does he not wonder why he gets random gift cards?" McGee looked at Tony, waiting for his answer. "It's coffee, Ziva. Do you really think he cares where it comes from?" McGee looked at Ziva and shrugged. It made sense.