Valentine's Day at NCIS! OK, counting down the days till our favourite crime-fighting team return to the small screen...September 21! I CAN'T WAIT! BTW I forgot to mention in the first chapter, this story is also meant to reveal some unknown or unexpected (and mostly untrue) aspects of Ziva. Just wanted to point that out before you thought I was making her too OOC.

Valentine's Day: cheesy cards, cheap chocolates and sour candy hearts...great.

Ziva didn't understand the whole realm of Valentine's Day. It was pointless to say that people fell in love more on one particular day of the year than all the others, mainly because of the gifts exchanged. Of course, Abby's Valentine's Day cupcakes weren't bad, they were delicious, but she was sure that would be the highlight of her day.

She was in the bullpen, it was seven thirty, and she was surrounded by her co-workers. Out of habit, she reached for the Star of David necklace that normally hung around her neck, remembering it had broken and was currently being repaired. Tony was on a diet so Abby had just gotten him a card that said with a monkey on it that said "You drive me bananas, but let's never split!" Like Ziva had said, cheesy, but kind of cute.

Apart from the gift-giving frenzy Abby enjoyed each year, the day itself was laid back. No emergency calls, no nothing. The team did as much research as they could on their suspect, Stefan Branson, and McGee kept tabs on his cell phone and credit cards, but no hits. They found out he had been trialled for murder before, and had walked. So, they were dealing with a pro. The only thing abnormal about the day was that Ziva kept feeling Tony's gaze on her.

She wondered what it was. Was he remembering the dress, trying to picture her drunk, or imagining what her tattoo could be? Realistically, those were the most likely possibilities. She had only been drunk a few times in her life, and one of those times had been about eighteen months ago. She and Abby had gone out for a girls' night and things had gotten a little out of hand. Well, Abby and her crazy view of the world had gotten out of hand. One day, she accidentally let it slip to Tony that it had happened. But he didn't know the whole story.

The thing that no one knew was that she actually had a few tattoos. There was a gold Star of David at the small of her back and a small scorpion on the back of her shoulder, as she was a Scorpio. Also on her hip she had the Hebrew symbol for 'strength' in black ink. The one on her thigh, however, was simple, the meaning was not hidden; it was direct. 'I love Tony DiNozzo' in small black writing. Of course, the only thing to stop Abby from blurting it out to everyone was the fact that hers said 'I love Tim McGee', so they had a truce.

When Ziva woke up the next morning (which luckily had been a Saturday) with a headache and pains on her thigh, she was soon filled with a deep sense of regret. Things had gone a little too far this time for Ziva. But still, she had not had the tattoo removed and it still remained there.

Every so often, Ziva would look up from her computer and catch Tony staring at her again. McGee shot him questioning glares, but he ignored them. Finally, by the time Gibbs called it a day, she approached him.

"What is it, Tony? Why do you keep looking at me?"

He bit his lip, but did not answer the question. "Happy Valentine's Day," he said, placing a small blue box on the table. "I know yours is only being repaired, but I saw this and it reminded me of you."

Then he gathered his things and left, leaving Ziva alone to uncover her gift. She pulled out of the box a silver Star of David necklace encrusted with what Ziva was sure were diamonds. Immediately she fell in love with it, fastening it around her neck and feeling the cold touch of the unworn pendant. She bolted out the door, hoping to catch Tony before he left for the day, and was only successful when she reached the parking lot.

"Tony!" she called. He stopped and turned around. She halted about two feet away from him. The warm spring sun cast shadows on the gravel. "Thank you for the necklace. It's beautiful, but—"

"I know, I know, you're getting yours back soon. I just wasn't sure what to get you."

"You didn't have to get me something. I didn't get you anything, and I feel guilty about it."

"Ziva, just you breathing is enough for me."

Ziva had no response to that. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, but no words came out.

"Keep the necklace, you don't have to wear it, just keep it, OK?" Tony told her reassuringly.

"I'll wear it. But only on special occasions, so even if you're not there, I'll have you with me." After reassurance from him, the words suddenly tumbled out of her mouth in perfect form.

"Does that make now a special occasion?"

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, mostly meaningless and harmless, out of gratitude. "Sure."