All is Not Claritin Clear
Ziva was grumbling when Tony walked into the bull pen. This was going to be too easy. She was distracted enough by whatever was ticking her off that she jumped and cursed in Hebrew when Tony jumped up, tugging her hair from behind. "Morning, Ziva!" he greeted in the most petulant tone of voice he could manage. Then he jumped back, hands moving quickly to cover a sensitive area in anticipation of a retaliatory strike. There were paperclips sitting in plain view on her desk. A lot of them. Tony wasn't stupid. Well, not that stupid.
Ziva rolled her eyes, then jabbed him in the stomach when he came close enough. For a moment, Tony was reminded of Kate. He quickly pushed his emotions out of the way. There wasn't any time for that today. It was a long time ago.
"So, my lovely little Israeli," he began, just barely noticing a strange flash of something that he couldn't quite place in her eyes when he called her his. "What is it that's frustrating you so much this morning?" he asked.
"You are!" she growled, half-heartedly lobbing a crumpled ball of paper at Tony's head.
He dodged it and then chuckled in triumph to himself as he noticed Ziva reaching for a tissue. "Awww, does crazy ninja chick have a cold?" he asked, in the most patronizing tone of voice she had ever heard.
"Yes. Now, get me some cough drops, or shut up and go away! I feel like shilshul. Claritin Clear, my tuchus!" she lapsed into Hebrew as she got more and more frustrated.
"Yes, Ma'am. I will depart in search of cough drops," Tony said, saluting her. "Oh, and, Ziva-Claritin only works for allergies."
He ran out of the squad room.
It was much too late when Ziva got home. Everyone but Gibbs had been able to leave before her, but she had so many reports to file, and it took her much longer because she was so tired. All she wanted was a nice bath, and some sleep. Perhaps she would figure out what kind of medicine did work for colds. Ziva was not often sick, so she didn't really keep these things on hand, nor did she keep the information in the front of her mind.
Matzo ball soup! She thought to herself. Jewish penicillin. Nothing helped a cold like a good matzo ball soup. Ziva began to turn away to head to the grocery store, when something caught her eye. Bending down, she found a bottle of honey, a box of tea, and a note.
Ziva-this works much better than Claritin.
She smiled.