Abby watched Ziva move around her basement lab. It was rare for the other woman to be down there, especially when she didn't seem to actually need anything from the tech. She was just, there. "Can I help you with something Ziva?" The Israeli just shook her head as she continued to look around. "Ookay, did Gibbs send you down here?"

"No."

Well, at least she vocalized her answer, Abby thought as she tried to ignore the agent. "If you need anything, let me know." The tech softly sighed as Ziva nodded and she started her daily ritual of backing up her files and deleting the unnecessary ones. Gibbs never understood her almost OCD need to do this everyday, but he never questioned it. Gibbs never questioned much of what Abby did because when he did, he usually just ended up with a headache.

"Abby, what does butch mean?"

The goth's eyes opened wide and she spit out her Caf-Pow. Spinning around, she looked at Ziva, hoping she had misheard the assassin. "I'm sorry Ziva, what did you just ask?"

Ziva smirked. "I asked, what does butch mean?" The Mossad officer walked up to Abby's table and leaned against it, her elbows resting on top. "Tony and I were at a scene and one of the suspects called me a butch. Tony and McGee just laughed and would not answer me when I asked them. They seemed afraid to answer me."

"Someone called you a butch?" Abby asked.

"Are you going to answer all my questions with more questions?"

"Sorry," Abby answered. "Well, a butch is a woman who acts very masculine."

Ziva made a face. "That's it?" Abby actually blushed a little. "Abby."

Taking a deep breath, Abby gathered the courage to answer. She had an idea why Tony and McGee wouldn't answer her question; Ziva tended to have extreme reactions to things. "."

Ziva frowned. She had worked with the hyper woman long enough to be able to understand her high speed answer, but she wasn't sure how to respond. So she didn't. The Israeli just stood there, looking at Abby. The caffeine addict fidgeted underneath the woman's stare, trying to decipher her feelings. Not quite ready to let the other woman out of her misery, Ziva asked another question. "I do not understand. Can you repeat that, a little slower?"

Abby made a face. She had known the Israeli would not be able to understand her answer, but she really did not want to repeat it. "Did you get anything I said?"

Ziva smiled. There was her opening. "A little bit," she answered, moving around the table and walking up to the tech. "I was able to understand up until masculine. What was that last bit?"

Great, Abby thought, she missed the worst part of the explanation. "Um, thesbian?'

Frowning, Ziva shook her head. "A masculine actor? That's an odd insult."

"Okay, okay. I did not say thesbian. A butch is a masculine lesbian." Abby threw her hands up over her head. "Please don't hit me!"

"Why would I hit you?" Ziva asked, moving right in front of the lab tech. "That's as odd as billing the messenger."

"I think you mean killing the messenger," Abby commented.

"That doesn't make anymore sense," Ziva responded. "So, a butch is a masculine lesbian?" Abby nodded. "Why is that an insult?" The tech shrugged. "Is something wrong Abby?"

"Wrong?" Abby squeaked. "Why would you think something was wrong?"

Ziva inched a little closer, causing the goth to back up. "You are nervous about something. Why does this topic make you nervous?" Abby gasped in surprise as she backed into the wall. "Do I make you nervous Abby?" the Israeli asked as she invaded the other woman's personal space. "Abby?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think I'm butch?" Ziva asked, a slight twinkle in her eyes. Abby refused to look up from her shoes and shook her head. "No?"

"You act a little masculine sometimes, but I think that's mainly from your training as a Mossad officer, I mean, you don't really succeed as an assassin if you get all emotional all the time," Abby babbled. "Also, you can't be all worried about breaking a nail or something."

"Abby, look at me."

The lab tech grimaced, but slowly looked up. "Ziva, I'm sorry, I did not mean to offend you or anything. I wanted to answer your question, but you can be very intimidating someti-umph!"

Ziva smiled against Abby's lips as she found a way to end Abby's babbling without yelling at her. Pulling back just enough so she could see Abby, Ziva smirked up at her. "Finally, I found an easy way to silence your babble."

"You knew what butch meant, didn't you?" Abby complained.

"Now why would you think that?" Ziva answered innocently.

"You did not seem surprised at all about what it meant."

The assassin shrugged as she slipped her fingers through the belt loops on Abby's pants. "Abby."

"Huh?"

Ziva pulled the lab tech into her body, wrapping her arms around the other woman's waist. "Shut up." The Israeli then kissed Abby who willingly followed orders and stopped talking.