Disclaimer: These characters belong to Donald P. Bellisario, Bellisarius Productions, CBS, Paramount, etc. No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: I am not Jewish, so please forgive me any small mistakes I may make regarding the customs, etc. I'm trying my best to be accurate. It was just too fun an idea to pass up!
December 25, 2008
It was another freezing morning and Ziva wasted no time in tugging off her heavy winter outerwear once inside the warmth of the office. She strode excitedly to her desk and threw the bulky layers haphazardly over the top as she opened the drawer. A beautifully framed 8 x 10 picture nearly filled the entire drawer.
Ziva withdrew the picture carefully and smiled as she looked into the familiar faces of her team. Everyone was in the picture; Tony, McGee, Gibbs, Ducky, Abby and Ziva herself. It wasn't posed of course, rather just a candid shot of the team talking. 'Maybe one of those silly campfires?' Ziva couldn't imagine who would have been able to take this photo.
She studied the photo carefully for a moment and turned to look up at the balcony. She scanned the length of the balcony until she spotted the tiny security camera near the ceiling. Indeed it was aimed directly down at the area of the squadroom her team shared. 'Hmm.'
She gave the camera another glance before turning her attention back to the photo. It was really a remarkable photo now that she knew it had come from a security camera. Usually the security photos and video footage they dealt with were grainy and low quality, and tended to get even worse when blown up for closer inspection. Someone really had to know what they were doing to produce this picture.
Ziva knew only two of her teammates were capable of the task. She looked at McGee's profile, recognizing the determined set of his jaw and that look in his eyes that let her know his mind was racing to analyze data in the same manner as his beloved computers. Yes, he could certainly have captured and enhanced the photograph in her hands.
Then there was Abby. Ziva traced a slim finger over the image of the feisty scientist. She appeared to be the one speaking to the rest of the team, hands flying to emphasize her point and eyes flashing with excitement over some newfound discovery. Ziva smiled indulgently as she thought of just how many times she'd seen that look in her pretty green eyes. Ziva's own eyes widened as that thought triggered another. 'Could it be?' As before, her mind was just as quick to try to dismiss the thought as little more than coincidence. Gibbs may not believe in coincidences, but Ziva wasn't always so sure.