The prompt was reciprocity which means, "a mutual exchange." I promise that the prompt is in here. I don't own NCIS.


"Are you sure you aren't a couple?"

"Yes, I am positive. We are not a couple."

"You definitely look like a couple," the waitress said.

"WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!" both Tony and Ziva yelled in unison.

Everyone in the bar turned and looked at the partners, confused. The waitress raised her eyebrows before closing her notepad and walking away.

McGee and Abby laughed as Ziva groaned, placing her head in her hands. Tony shook his head and reached for his beer, taking a drink.

"Why are you two laughing? This is not funny," Ziva said, looking over at McGee and Abby across the table.

"Yes, Ziva, it is funny," McGee replied, stifling his laughter and looking at her.

"How is it funny? Can someone please explain to me how it is funny?" Ziva asked. She then looked over at Tony, who was sitting next to her in the booth, and watched him. "Tony, how can you be so calm about this? This is ridiculous. Why would anyone think we are a couple?"

Abby, who had finally stopped laughing, looked over at Ziva. "It is funny, Ziva, because the waitress doesn't know you. You guys look like a cute couple, but you two would never date," Abby explained.

"Yeah. You and Tony would kill each other five minutes into a date," McGee added, smirking.

Ziva looked at them and thought about what they said before looking back at Tony. "Do you have anything to say about this, Tony?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Tony took another drink of his beer and shrugged. "It's been happening so much, Ziva, that I don't really pay too much attention anymore," he admitted, looking over at her.

"So half of this "couple" denies any relationship while the other half just doesn't care," Ziva replied, groaning again. "This is just perfect."

"Why are you so angry about this, Ziva? It's not like anyone else matters. Don't pay attention to them," McGee slowly said.

"Yeah! What people think doesn't matter. As long as you guys know the truth and McGee and I know the truth then the other people don't matter," Abby added.

Ziva sighed and shook her head. "Okay, okay. Let's just throw this subject and talk about something else. Please?" she asked, taking a drink of her beer.

"Drop. You drop the subject, not throw," Tony automatically corrected.

Ziva glared over at him. "Whatever. Let's drop the subject then and talk about something else," she replied, looking away from him and over at Abby, who was smiling.

"Abby, what are you smiling about?" Ziva added, raising her eyebrows.

Still smiling, Abby took a drink of her beer and shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Ziva," she replied with a smirk.


It was well past midnight when they left the bar. McGee and Abby left, leaving Tony and Ziva alone.

Yawning, Ziva got out of the booth and reached for her jacket. "I'm going home, Tony. I will see you tomorrow, yes?" she asked.

Tony got up after her, also reaching for his jacket. "I'll walk you home," he offered, looking down at her.

"No, Tony, I will be fine. Thank you, though," she replied, smiling sweetly at him.

"Let me walk you home."

"I am fine, Tony."

"What if someone tries to attack you?"

Ziva opened her jacket slightly, revealing the gun that was holstered to her waist. "I still have my weapon. I think I will be perfectly fine," she replied.

Tony grabbed Ziva's arm and led her out of the bar. "I know you'll be fine; I was just trying to use that as an excuse to walk you home. Now, are you coming or not?" Tony said, looking back at her.

Ziva sighed and walked next to Tony. DiNozzo smiled to himself and then the two partners walked in silence down the empty street.

After a few minutes, Ziva stopped and looked up at Tony. "So, Tony, why did you not do anything back at the bar?"

DiNozzo stopped next to her and sighed. "I already told you, Ziva. It's happened so much that I've just gotten used to ignoring it," he replied, looking down at her.

Ziva looked up at him, studying his eyes. She looked behind him, reaching for gun.

Tony watched her and then turned around quickly. Ziva laughed and then moved her hand away from her waist.

DiNozzo turned back around and watched Ziva laughing. "You tricked me," he muttered.

"See, if someone was there, I would have shot them within five seconds. It would have taken you longer. I think that means I can take care of myself."

Tony laughed and shook his head. "Come on, Ziva. Are we going to continue walking?" he asked.

Ziva slipped her hands into her jacket pocket. She smirked at Tony and started towards her apartment again. The silence came between the two partners once more and Tony looked down at her every couple of minutes.

"You know that today is Valentine's Day, right?" he suddenly asked.

Ziva looked up at him curiously. "Yes, I did know that, Tony. Why?"

They finally reached Ziva's apartment. Tony stopped and looked down at her. "Because, well..." he trailed off, reaching into his jacket pocket. DiNozzo pulled out a small red box and held it out for Ziva to see. "I got this for you," Tony added handing her the box.

Ziva took the box and opened it, gasping slightly. A pair of diamond earrings were sitting there, sparkling under the street lights. "Tony, they are beautiful," she whispered. Then, Ziva laughed and reached into her purse.

"I did know it was Valentine's Day. If I knew that you were getting me an expensive gift, then I might have gotten you something more," Ziva said, handing him a long thin box.

Tony took it from Ziva looking at her curiously and opened it. A simple pen was sitting inside the box.

"You always lose pens, Tony," she said with a laugh.

DiNozzo laughed along with her. "It's great, Ziva. Thank you," he replied with a smile.

Ziva stopped laughing and looked up at him again. "Do you want to come inside?" she asked nervously.

DiNozzo looked down at her and smiled. "Yeah. Yeah. I would love that," he said.

A few minutes later they were in Ziva's apartment. Tony was setting up a movie and Ziva was in her room. As the movie started, she came out of the bedroom and entered the living room, holding another box.

"What's that, Ziva?" Tony asked, looking at the box curiously.

"I lied," she said, handing him the box.

DiNozzo took the box and opened it slowly. Inside the box was a silver watch. "Ziva..." he muttered, looking at her.

"Like I said...you are not the only one that knew it was Valentine's Day," she said with a smile.

Then Ziva helped Tony take the watch out of the box and put it on. DiNozzo looked at it, still surprised. He looked down at her and kissed her lips gently. She kissed him back, moving closer to him. After a moment they pulled away, still standing close.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Tony."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Ziva."