He's DiNozzo.  She's a reporter - a "word-slinger" as DiNozzo puts.  There were engaged, on the verge of getting married, nine years ago.  And she called it off.  And Gibbs puts them together on the case in NCIS 9.15, in a funny Valentine's episode indeed.

Better than usual fine lines throughout, as the team investigate a team of semi-playful vigilante superheroes, one of whom may be killing some of the others, who have in fact been murdered.  DiNozzo admires "Spandaxia" - she's dressed in a tight, gold outfit.  He reminds everyone, "this [any of the costumed super heroes] could have been Magee."  Abbs also gets dinged by this in another scene, when the superheroes mistake her regular garb for a costume.

Over at the word-slinger's house, she and DiNozzo kiss - but are interrupted by her son.  DiNozzo tries to make small talk.  Which Harry Potter movie did you like best, he asks the kid.  "The one where Harry wasn't kissing my Mom," the kid wisely cracks.  A DiNozzo in training?

Turns out that the rapacious father of one of the superheros, named ICU (because that's where he sends the villains), is behind the killings.  He using the killings to lower prices of property in the neighborhoods, which he can then buy up.  When the killer - the father's assistant - tries to escape, ICU levels him with a chop.  He bows to Gibbs - who returns the bow.  Good, again, the see how amiable Gibbs is this year.

And the last scene with DiNozzo and Wendy the Word-Slinger is suitably ambiguous.  She first tells DiNozzo to tell the woman that he loves - Ziva? - that he loves her.  But then she indicates that she, Wendy, is now ready for the kind of relationship she walked out on on DiNozzo nine years ago.

I bow to the future, always brightly opaque.

See also NCIS 9.1: Unpacking Partial Amnesia ... NCIS 9.2: Lying to Yourself ... NCIS 9.3: McGee's Grandmother ... NCIS 9.4: Turkey Vulture as Explained by DiNozzo ... NCIS 9.5: Behrooz's Mother ... NCIS 9.6: Too Good to be True ... NCIS 9.7: "You Were My Shannon, Leroy" ... NCIS 9.8: Intersections with Reality ... NCIS 9.9: Twists and History ... NCIS 9.10: Almost One Agent Short ... NCIS 200

And see also NCIS Back in Season 8 Action ... NCIS 8.2: Interns! ... NCIS 8.3: Tiff! ... NCIS 8.4: Gary Cooper not John Wayne ... NCIS 8.5: Dead DJ, DiNozzo Hoarse, and Baseball ... NCIS 8.6: The Written Woman ... NCIS 8.7: "James Bond Movie Directed by Fellini" ... NCIS 8.8: Ziva's Father ... NCIS 8.9: Leon's Story ... NCIS 8.10: DiNozzo In and Out ... NCIS 8.11: "The Sister Went Viral" ... Bob Newhart on NCIS 8.12 ... NCIS 8.13: The Wife or the Girlfriend ... NCIS 8.14: Kate ... NCIS 8.15: McGee and DiNozzo's Badges ... NCIS 8.16: Computer Games ... NCIS 8.17: Budget Cuts ... NCIS 8.18: Gibbs vs. the Kid ... NCIS 8.19: The Deadly Book ... NCIS 8.20: CIRay ... NCIS 8.21: Mask and Eye ... NCIS 8.22: "I'd Rather Have a Lead" ... NCIS 8.23: Answers and Questions ... NCIS Season 8 Finale

And see also NCIS  ... NCIS 7.16: Gibbs' Mother-in-Law Dilemma ... NCIS 7.17: Ducky's Ties ... NCIS 7.18: Bogus Treasure and Real Locker ... NCIS 7.21: NCIS Meets Laura ... NCIS Season 7 Finale: Retribution

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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

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