Summary: "Lost Moments" is a series of very short stories that are exactly what they sound like; moments that were never shown onscreen, but my friend and I believe may have happened. "LM: Dagger" was written by me, Il fanatico. Review, please!

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.

Ziva David, unbreakable Mossad officer and NCIS liaison, felt tears sting her eyes as she watched Gibbs break the news to Amanda. Tony's gaze was soft and concerned, slowly seeping into her like a bread knife into soft cheese. She glanced quickly at him before turning away, hiding her moment of weakness. The poor girl hadn't yet shed a tear, just run one little finger over the cold metal badge.

She made it into the elevator before the tears started flowing. She flicked the stop switch and fell to her knees, face turned upward. She wasn't sobbing, just silently and motionlessly letting the salty droplets fall.

Another child left without a family. Another child left in the care of strangers who had the wrong impressions about the child's family. She was almost overwhelmed with the strong feelings and memories this moment brought to the surface. She struggled to throw the walls up and stop the flood, but-

"What if you do not come back?" young Tali looked wide-eyed at her older sister, who knelt at eye level in front of her. The girl held a Star of David necklace in her hands, an exact replica of the one around her sister's neck.

Teenage Ziva had no answer for her. And later, when she did come back, Tali was gone.

After a few minutes, Ziva suddenly pulled herself together, standing up and once again flicking the switch. Her expression implied nothing except maybe the weariness after a long case. By the time she stepped out of the elevator at the garage floor, she had dried her face, smoothed out her clothes, and readjusted her waist holster from where it had moved to.

She easily picked out her red Mini Cooper amongst the more common silver and black cars, and wasn't surprised to see that she had parked next to Tony's Mustang. She was surprised, however, to see that Tony was down here already. He was turned towards the driver's side of his car, with his arms folded on its roof. His head laid on top of them, so she couldn't see his face.

"Tony?" she asked concernedly as she approached him. He was like her in some respects, one being that he didn't like to show particular emotions. Especially pain, sadness, or hurt.

He didn't move. Less than half a meter away now, Ziva could see the defeated sag to his shoulders. She placed a small hand on his right shoulder, which was nearest to her.

"Tony," she said again, much quieter now. He moved slowly under her hand, and when he stood up straight she almost slapped the soft grin off of his face.

"Tony, what..." she trailed off and her confused eyes searched his face trying to decipher the meaning behind his expression. It was like the playful one she saw every day, but blanketed with the caring and tender smile that she did not see nearly as often.

"You forgot something," he finally said. He brought up his left hand to his face and dangled a set of keys, a set she recognized as her own. She snatched at them, but he was ready and jerked them away from her. Mentally and physically weary, she became off-balance and fell into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her ear, "And I am definitely driving you home. Then we will talk."

A/N: Look for another LM coming soon! It will probably be from "Nature of the Beast", 9x01.

Suggestions? Requests for a second chapter? Love/Hate? Review!