This one is a favorite of mine, mostly because I love snow. I am always sad when the snow melts and very happy when it snows.

Thanks for all reviews, they make me very happy. Though, I get more alerts than reviews and I wish that was flipped. So I am offering a sneak preview of future chapters for those who review.

This time I blame the delay on . They refused to give me this chapter back from Wild.

Huge thanks go to my beta, Wildskysong. She helps me with my issues with commas. Commas and I do not always get along very well.

Characters: Tony and Ziva, as well as Abby and McGee

Pairing: T/Z, M/A

Rating: K

Inspiration: Eyze Shelleg! (What Snow!)

What snow!/Like little dreams/Falling from the sky.

The sound of buzzing invaded her sleep. It started out as a part of her dream, finally tugging her toward consciousness. Just as she became aware of her surroundings the noise stopped with a quiet beep that indicated to the half-awake Ziva David that the buzzing had been a phone ringing and that the caller had left a message. Without opening her eyes, she knew that the phone was hers, because it had rang from behind her, which was where her phone sat on the bedside table, next to her sidearm. She knew that it would be best to get up and find out who had called and what they wanted, after all; her team, Gibbs' team, was on-call this weekend, so it could be someone from the office letting them know they had a case to work. Or it could just be someone with a death wish.

She knew she should get up and check, but she did not want to move. She was warm, nestled in her bed under several layers of warm blankets, not to mention she was snuggled against the chest of her own personal heater, which went by the name of Anthony D. DiNozzo. He, thankfully, was still deep in sleep; as evidenced by his deep and rhythmic breathing broken by the occasional snore. He needed the sleep, much more than normal. In the past three weeks, they had worked several hard cases in a row, with barely any time to catch their breath. They came in quick succession like several powerful punches to the gut. The cases had been hard on all of them, for varying reasons, but the one most affected was the man sleeping beside her. Cases had triggered nightmares in both of them, and not to mention the late nights pulled in the office and the damage done by sleeping either on the floor or in their chairs. The dark circles under his eyes were just now beginning to fade, after two nights of unbroken sleep.

After waffling between staying still and checking the message, she finally decided on checking the message. If it was a case, Gibbs would be angry if they were late. She carefully removed herself from the circle of Tony's arms, leaving him still asleep, and got out of the bed. She shivered as her bare feet touched the icy floor boards. Why have we not gotten a rug for this room? The floor is always cold! She thought shivering as she quickly grabbed her phone and raced on her toes into the hallway, skittering down it into the bathroom. As soon as she was inside, the door shut behind her, she sighed in relief. There were warm plush rugs on the floor here. She sat down against the door and opened her phone. The missed call was from McGee, and as she had known, he had left her a message. She pushed the call button to call her voicemail, and after hearing the computerized voice, she heard his message:

Hey Ziva…its me, McGee. I am just calling to let you know that NCIS has shut down for the weekend, so there is no need to come in to work today, and we are off call. I figure we'll get put on-call some other weekend. Hey, do you think you could make sure Tony gets the message? His cell phone is going straight to voicemail and his home phone voicemail is full. See you on Monday, hopefully.

Ziva chuckled softly. Of course his phone was going straight to voicemail. She had turned it off the night before. They had an agreement that one of them would leave their phone on over weekends, and they would pretend to call the other. He would need to empty his voicemail. He never answered his home phone, since it was just an empty apartment now. He owned his apartment after living in it for so long, and when they had decided to move in together, he kept his apartment and her name was on the one they shared, and on all the bills, so as to keep their relationship quiet. They had no desire to be separated in anyway again.

Since there was no need to be up without work to rush off to, she got to her feet and headed back to her warm bed. Turning off the alarm, she set her phone back in its place on the dark wood of her bedside table; she slipped into the flannel sheets. Tony had shifted some in her absence, allowing her to move back into her accustomed place tucked against his chest. It was comfortable there, her head over his heart, placed close enough that her head moved with his every breath. It made her feel safe in a way few things did. She closed her eyes, enjoying the luxury of nowhere to go and nothing to do.

She was woken some time later by the feeling of gentle fingers running through her loose hair. She did not lift her head, but simply lay there, letting him work the tangles out of her mane.

"Good morning, sweet cheeks." He murmured, his chest vibrating with his deep voice.

"How did you know I was awake?" she asked quietly, opening her eyes to glance at the clock. It read 7:15 in glowing red numbers, much later than normal for her to be getting up.

"You stopped snoring." This was a common answer, the default reply used whenever needed.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked now, wondering how long he had laid there, her head on his chest, watching her sleep and playing with her hair.

"Not long. I know we need to get moving so as not to be late for work, but you looked so comfy, I didn't want to move."

She chuckled, knowing he wouldn't even consider waking her by moving. The last time he had done that….it was a good thing she had realized who it was before she had grabbed her gun. Even now, if she was woken from deep sleep by something other than her alarm clock or her phone, she had a tendency to act first, question later.

"Luckily for you, McGee called a while ago and said for some reason the Navy Yard is closed and we are off the line."

"Off the hook, Zee."

"You knew what I meant!" She lifted her head to glare at him now. "If you know what I mean than why do you correct me?"

He looked a bit sheepish. "It's habit by now, and you look cute when you are angry."

She was still glaring at him. He sighed, and then said, "At first, it was because it was something I knew and you didn't, you seem to know everything else. Then it was because it was something we shared, and I didn't want to let it go."

She relaxed, and then moved on. "Anyway, we have the weekend off now, so there is no reason to get out of bed."

"I wonder why NCIS closed…" Tony mused.

"McGee did not say in his message. But he did say that someone's voicemail was full, again."

Tony sighed. "Wonder how many will be telemarketers this time?"

"More than last time."

"Is that a bet?" He was smiling now, she could feel it.

"What are the stakes?" She asked, almost regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth.

"The reason NCIS is closed is probably because of snow, it was in the forecast. If I am right, and there are more telemarketers on my machine, you get to decide how we spend our day off. If there is less, then I get to decide."

"I will be right. Then I will spend the day inside with a book and you will build me a fire in the fireplace."

She had the radio on as she cooked their breakfast. The red radio played classical music from where it sat on the hardwood counter. Humming along, Ziva moved about the kitchen, gathering ingredients for pancakes, putting it all by the two bowls she had out already. One half of the pancakes would be normal, the other whole wheat. This was the compromise Ziva had made to encourage her boyfriend to eat healthier. It was an uphill battle.

The sound of Tony's footsteps nearing the kitchen alerted her to his presence. She turned, and sighed inwardly as she glimpsed the smug grin on his face. He swaggered into the kitchen and sat down at the table, still grinning madly. Ziva turned back to the stove, refusing to ask how many telemarketers had been on the machine and let him gloat out loud. She finished mixing the pancakes, and poured four circles of mix onto the warmed griddle on the stove top. Without looking at him, she said, "Tony if you want to eat breakfast you need to set the table and stop staring at me grinning like that Cheshire Cat!"

He got up and retrieved the dishes and silverware placing them on the table and getting their drinks, coffee for him, tea for her. When the pancakes were finished, she placed them on his plate and hers, and they sat down together.

Tony managed to eat one pancake before he couldn't keep quiet any longer. "So, do you know what we are going to do today since I won?"

"Stay warm and comfortable at home like sane people?" she said, her voice dry.

"Since when was I considered sane?" he shot back, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Tell me again why we are going to go hurtling down a hill covered in snow on a piece of plastic?" Ziva asked, already wishing she was back at home with a book.

They stood at the top of a hill inside on of DC's many metro parks, snow a white blanket thick on the ground as far as the eye could see. All around them children in all manner of snow gear zipped down the hill, widely acknowledged as one of the best in the metro area, on sleds of every shape and color. Tony had on snow pants and a black winter coat, his sunglasses, even though the sky was gray and fat flakes still drifted down onto the city. Ziva was wearing her holiday present from Abby, a full set of winter gear. Abby had told her excitedly that there was predicted to be a good amount of snow this year, and she needed the warm coat and waterproof pants she now wore. Tony held a yellow sled under his arm, grinning.

"We are going sledding because it is an experience you don't have yet, and it is fun!" he told her, setting the sled down at the pinnacle of the slope. "Now," he said, "what we are going to do is: we are going to ride down together, and when we get to the bottom we will brush ourselves off and climb back up. I will sit in back, because the person who weighs more always goes in back." He sat down on the back of the sled and patted the place in front of him with a gloved hand. She sat, and his arms came around her waist.

"Tony!" she hissed, "We are in public!"

"But, Ziva, this is how I hang on when you ride double. Nothing more." He was whining. If she hadn't heard him do it before, she would never believe he was capable of whining. But he was.

"Fine." She growled.

"Here we go!" He cried, and lifted his feet. They started sliding down the hill, faster and faster. They flew down the slope, and Ziva realized she was laughing. They swerved twice to miss children stopped at the bottom of the hill. They came to a stop in a shower of snow, tipping over into the fluff.

"Wanna go again?" he asked as they untangled themselves and got to their feet.

"Yes!" she laughed. It had been more fun than she had thought, flying down the hill and almost crashing before coming to a stop.

They had just reached the top after their third run when they heard someone call their names. Turning in unison, Ziva spotted a familiar figure something through the snow toward them. It was Abby, dressed head to toe in a black ski suit with skulls printed on it. Her head was covered by a ski cap with pink skull rhinestones, her pigtails sticking out of the top through holes cut in the fabric. Her gloves were dark red, and she had a huge grin on her face.

"Well if it isn't Abby? And is that you, McParka?" Tony called.

And it was. McGee was beside the forensic scientist, with a thick, expensive looking parka on, complete with a furry hood. McGee blushed. "It was a gift from my sister."

"Yeah right, McFlurry." Tony said, his signature grin in place. Ziva elbowed him and then asked why they were there.

Abby answered, practically bouncing in place, "Everyone knows this is the best sledding hill around and how often do we get this much snow?"

"Not often." Tony agreed.

"Why are you here?" McGee asked.

"Ziva has never been sledding and this is payback for pounding on my door so early this morning. Couldn't you have called McGee?"

McGee just sighed. Abby piped up, "Hey! Since there are four of us, we could race doubles!"

"Race?" said McGee and Ziva at the same time.

"Yeah! There are two men and two women, so it should be fair. Ziva and I are about the same size." Abby explained, growing more excited by the minuet. "McGee and I will ride together, and you can ride with Tony."

The two men nodded, and Ziva smiled. "May the best pair win." She offered.

"Us" Tony whispered in her ear, and she chuckled. They turned away and placed their sled. When they were all set to go, they looked over at McGee and Abby. They were settling in as well, McGee's arms around Abby's waist. "Told you." He whispered again, and she elbowed him. "Are you two ready?" Tony called.

"Are you?" Abby called back.

"More than ready." Ziva answered.

"On your mark," both teams tensed, "get set….Go!" Abby shouted, and both teams pushed off into the swirling snow.

At the bottom, the winners were clear. Tony and Ziva won merely by reaching the bottom, as Abby and McGee crashed on the way down. They were fine, laughing as they picked themselves up. McGee extended his hand to help Abby up, and Ziva noticed that they held on a few beats too long. "There is something there, is there not?" Ziva asked Tony, her voice low.

"Probably. They have a history, and if the way he looks at her is any indication…" Tony voiced his thoughts quietly.

"Much like us?" came the whisper.

"Very much like us." Was the reply.

Ziva stepped back to admire her handiwork. In the lawn in front of their apartment a snow man with a NCIS hat and a scarf wearing cotton stuffed rubber gloves stood proudly. After Abby and McGee had decided they had enough wrecking their sled, having not once made it all the way to the bottom, the pair had left to find some lunch. Tony and Ziva had come home and on whim on Tony's, began making the snow man. That had been an hour ago, and there had been much laughter while trying to roll the snow balls that made up the snow Special Agent. Ziva was about to look around for Tony and ask him to grab a camera when something icy cold impacted her face from the side.. She whirled around, spotting her partner standing to the side, hands clasped behind him, whistling in a vain attempt to appear innocent. Ziva didn't ask if he had thrown the snow, she simply reached down, scooped up the snow packing it quickly in gloved hands and hurled it at him, catching him with a face full of snow.

"Oh, now it's on!" shouted Tony, and the snow war began. Ziva scooped up more snow, not even waiting for retaliation. She packed with swiftly and was just about to throw it when two snow balls thrown in quick succession caught her in the side. She lobbed the snow ball she held at him and reached for more snow.

Advance and retreat, flank and counter flank; the flying snow hardly paused as they chased each other around the yard. Across the driveway they charged, using cars for cover to create more snowballs while waiting for the opportunity to strike. Emerging from hiding to unleash a flurry of snow at the other. Back through the snow on the lawn they went, being careful not to damage to carefully constructed snow Agent. Laughter filled the air, interspersed with noises of surprise when expert tosses connected. Back to the cars, Tony leading the way with Ziva hot on his heals. Ziva crouched beside her car, waiting for Tony's head to reappear from where it had disappeared. She had not seen him move, so he was still there, she thought, and she could wait to get him when he came out of hiding. But where was he? She was just about to go and get closer when Tony snuck up behind her and dumped a ton of snow on her head. She shrieked in surprise and cold as snow slid down her shirt chilling her back. She sprang to her feet and he wisely started to run and she followed. In the middle of the yard she caught him, tackling him to the ground and shoving snow down his shirt. He yelped and shoved her off of him as she laughed at the indignation written on his face.

He began to laugh. She laughed at him, with snow in his hair and all over his body. He laughed at himself and her ice crystal encrusted hair and eyebrows. They laughed at the yard, covered with footprints and divots caused by scooping up snow. They laughed at the snow Agent, standing on the only calm piece of snow in what had been the battleground. All at once Ziva shivered; the day catching up to her and the snow down her shirt cooling her body. Tony stood, and extended his hand. She took it, and he helped her to her feet.

"Can we go in now?" she asked, feeling the cold.

"Yes, my formerly Israeli ninja." Tony said, teasing in his eyes.

A warm fire crackled merrily in the hearth. Curled in a blanket on the couch facing the fireplace, Ziva did not look up for the book nestled in her lap as footsteps heralded Tony's entrance to the room. She did look up as he set a cup of tea with steam rising from the brown liquid on the coffee table next to her. He carried his own cup and set it down at the other end of the table, sitting down and placing his feet next to hers.

"Enjoying your book, Zee-vah?" he asked as picked up the remote to turn the TV on low.

She smiled at him, enjoying having him close by. "Yes. Thank you for the tea." She said as she extracted her arm from the blanket to pick up the tea. She sipped it carefully, tasting the peppermint.

"You are very welcome. Did you enjoy your day in the snow? I know I did." Tony said, not looking at the TV but at her face.

"Except for the part when you shoved snow down my jacket, yes I did. By the way, how many telemarketers were on your machine?"

Tony shifted uneasily. "Um…."

"Tony." She said, warning in her voice.

"More than last time?" He said, looking sheepish.

She threw a pillow at him.

And so finishes yet another adventure with Tony and Ziva.

Reviews are more than welcome; please let me know what you think and any suggestions for improvement.

See you next time!

-The Lady Grace