Disclaimer: Unfortunately, they aren´t mine and probably never will be... It´s sad to say, but I´m just borrowing them.

A/N: Okay guys, this is my first attempt at fanfic and I´m not a native speaker. So don´t expect this to be a masterpiece and please don´t expect regular updates, either. I´d love to hear your thoughts about it, just tell me if its worth continuing or what I need to change...

As usually, her father refused to acknowledge her presence as Ziva entered the deputy director´s office. In this office, she was simply one of his soldiers, albeit a very good one. Still, she had no right to demand any personal privileges.

Ziva was unsure whether this was better or worse than his behavior at the rare occasions they saw each other privately. Yesterday evening had been one of those meetings – it resulted in a spectacular yelling match and a hard slap across her face. Despite her extensive knowledge of self-defense, she always stood helpless when it came to her father, who had been a person of authority for all she could remember. And no one, not her mother and none of her collegues or friends dared to confront him either. If it wasn´t for her brother Ari, who tried to protect his little sisters as much as he could, she would probablly suffered from far more than just a slap here or there.

Right now, however, her father looked perfectly composed and calm. He simply pointed at a manila folder which laid at the far corner of his desk.

"You got a new assignment. Your plane will leave tomorrow at 0600 for Washington D.C.. All other information is listed here. As we normally do not operate in the US officially, you were provided with a fake passport and an extensive cover story. You probably should go and see Amit, he may explain you further details and procedure which cannot be described as standard in this case, I guess. Good luck."

Ziva swallowed hard. This was usually the moment when her father asked her for a kiss. No matter how bad things were – and hell, they had been bad- he always made sure to bid his daughter a proper farewell, after all, this could always be the last time he would see her alive. But obviously, yesterdays fight still bothered him more than his stoic Mossad mask would show.

I won´t give in, though. Ziva told herself, he hurt me and this time, it´s enough. Maybe some time apart from him will do me some good. The next second, however, she scolded herself. After all, time away from Israel and her father usually included a mission, which more often than not, inevitably lead to a person´s death. And no matter how well-deserved death might seem for some of the monsters Ziva had been taking care of in the past, she still condemned her second nature as a cold and heartless killer. But these thoughts were completely out of place in her father´s office, where it was all about business, power and secrecy.

"And, Ziva? This assignment is of outmost importance. I am sending you, because you will get the job done, no hesitation, no questions, no extratours. This terrorist poses as a danger to Israel and he needs to be stopped."

"I understand, father", with these simple words, she left her father´s office and searched for Amit. While strolling through the headquarter´s extensive hallways, Ziva began to read in the folder. Sometimes, her training for multitasking actually came in handy, as she managed to walk to Amit´s office without any collisions, all the while reading about her next target.

"The US Navy has been suspecting Qassem Al-Farsi to be responsible for the explosion at the Naval bases in both Virginia, Maryland, Marseille and Jakarta. More importantly, he is believed to be part of Hisbollah, with close ties to the Taliban and al-Qaida. He has acted as an important strategic planner for several bombings in Israel, but also supports terrorists with laundered money and weapons, some of them from the French and American Navy. Therefore, you will get in as Genevieve de Vincenz, working for the French military law enforcement, with a background in the DGSE. We have to little on him, so you need to find out what NCIS knows, help them find him and kill him silently before they try to arrest him. Got it?"

"Who will be my partner, my handler?"

"Contact me if there are any problems, otherwise you´ll be on your own."

"Amit..." Ziva didnt know how to continue. It was a pure suicide to attempt to get this operation done without any backup, any person having her back or helping her to disappear. She knew she wouldn´t have any problem with the actual assassination part, but this operation was so poorly planned with so little information that the real challenge here was to infiltrate a law enforcement agency and to disappear quietly from a country she wasn´t even supposed to be in. And all of this without someone by her side... That called for trouble and a lot of problems.

"Ziva, I know, believe me. But those are direct orders from your father and the director. I can´t help you. You should probably go now."

Refusing to show any emotion on her face, Ziva left the Mossad headquarters and headed for her apartment. Sometimes, she tought, I hate this job. My father and all of his little soldiers. Not even the director would stand up to him and it was a known fact that he would soon take over the institute anyways. How could I ever be so stupid to give him the complete control over my life? But deep down, Ziva knew she never had a chance. When your Daddy was determined to climb the ranks, the children had to comply. It was as easy as that.

While she started to pack – which involved a few quick decisions on clothes and some more difficult ones on the weapons she might need – her mind wandered back to the task at hand.

Luckily, my French is pretty good. But my experience with law enforcement work ... Well, it lacks fundamental knowledge, I guess. I will simply concentrate on the human resources at hand.

From the files she had read, it appeared to be pretty clear cut: the leader Senior Special Agent Gibbs, the jock Special Agent DiNozzo, and the computer geek Special Agent McGee. They formed the team reponsible for chasing down Al-Farsi, and everything else or anyone else should unimportant for her mission.

I just hope these guys cooperate and find me Al-Farsi quickly, so that I can leave soon again. Afterwards, I should maybe ask father for a long-term assignment, some place far away where I don´t have to see him that often. Maybe, I could even join Ari in London, or wherever he was right now. That is, of course, if I even manage to get out of the US completely on my own.

Ziva sighed while closing her small bag. This mission hasn´t even started and it is already giving me a headache.

A/N: So, what do you think? Should I continue?