Ziva stood in front of the bathroom mirror, the dress fitting her greatly. However, there was one problem. The back. It swooped into a deep V, displaying all her scars of torture and abuse. She knew if they weren't covered and Tony saw them he'd blow a hole right through the roof. He'd never actually seen them, but in Paris he saw just a glimpse of the thin, red lines that criss-crossed on her back and he went on a major rampage. Swearing, stomping his feet, and blaming himself for causing them.

Her decision was made. She'd stolen Tony's OSU hoodie during one of their movie nights. She'd always kept it in her car for some strange reason. The walk down to Abby's lab was a short one, and the smell of him still lingered within the fabric of the hoodie. She took deep breaths as she walked, more to take in the scent of him than anything else.

Approaching Abby's lab she walked right in, to find Abby sitting in her chair and sipping a Caf-Pow lazily. Her eyebrows shot up at the sight of Ziva in high-heels, a baggy OSU hoodie and her short black dress just peeking out underneath the hoodie. "Uhm, Ziva if you're wearing that out I have a few suggestions…"

"Abby - I need help covering my scars,"

Abigail nodded as if she understood and ran to the back of her lab, "I always keep some cover-up,"

"Thank you," Ziva whispered quietly as she pulled off her hoodie and stood there, staring at her reflection in the black computer monitor.

"Now, you'll need to stand still…" Abby said approaching her, but she stopped short at the sigh of the scars, "Oh Ziva!"

A long hug ensued and Abby held her tightly in a hug. "We'll cover those up! I promise. Just a question - why do you want to cover them?"

"Tony would blow a circle through the roof." Ziva looked at the floor, "I accidently let him see a glimpse of my back while we were in Paris and he completely lost it. I've never seen him so angry before,"

Her idiom wasn't corrected. Abby didn't bother. She went right to work, smearing cover-up on the scars and blending them in until they were gone. "And we're done!"

The non-date, or dinner with a co-worker went well. Lots of laughs and chatter, and Tony didn't say anything about the scars hidden well on her back. He didn't even ask why her scars weren't there.

The drive home was silent and still. No words were needed.

He was even more of a gentleman by walking her inside to her apartment. Except he didn't leave right away. He entered the apartment and stared down at her, the door still wide open, "I can see through it, y'know,"

"Excuse me?" she answered back, her voice nearly cracking.

"The make-up,"

Carefully, he spun her around so he was staring at her back. Gently, he ran a finger across her back, removing the cover up that had been so carefully applied. The red lines revealed themselves and Ziva stepped away from him and turned to face him.

His green eyes were very calm and gentle, but hers however — were swimming in tears. They stood in silence for a few minutes, their eyes boring into each other. Ziva couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Tony broke the silence, "You're beautiful,"