DIOS ME AYUDA
NCIS HQ WASHINGTON DC
BULL PEN
0730 ZULU
"Jethro? I need to see you ASAP please," Director Jenny Sheppard called from the landing just out side of the MTAC control room.
"In a minuet director!" he bellowed back from his desk in the bull pen.
"No, NOW Jethro!" she ordered and watched as he sighed and started to make his way up the stairs.
Ziva looked up as her boss took the stairs towards MTAC two at a time, just like the many times before, she would watch him, she could picture his thigh and tight stomach muscles clenching and releasing with every step he took, she watched as his strong masculine hand gripped the metal railing and the flexing of his fore arm as he propelled him self forward, she couldn't help but imagine his rough, calloused and skilled hands doing something else, something to her, suddenly she snapped back to reality and realised that the object of her fantasies had stopped half way up the stairs and was looking directly at her, his intense ice blue gaze bringing the familiar burning sensation of desire and want that was slowly building in her lower abdomen, braking contact first she looked back at her desk and groaned, 'He's my boss and I am not in Israel, I am not alowed to have these feelings for him,' she thought. Being an Agent in America was different then being an Officer in Mossad, their was no stupid rule about sleeping with ones partner, in fact it was embraced, you didn't know what country you would be sent too for your next mission, or if you would even survive, we classed it as more of a comfort thing, a bit of stress relief before a life or death situation, and every one new that once you joined Mossad they became family, your only family, not a family of happily ever afters or a family with chubby babies, but one of pain, scars, nightmares, suicide bombings and terrorist attacks, she sighed, 'I guess it will just have to be you and me as a family in my dreams, my love.' But little did she know that Gibbs was having similar thoughts of his own about a petite exotic assassin beauty, he filed the still frame picture of her blushed filled face in his mind and continued on up to MTAC.
"Where is the boss Zee-vah?" Tony questioned as he walked into the bull pen.
"Up in MTAC with Director Sheppard!" she groaned again, she realized she was doing that a lot lately, she noticed that Tony was staring at her, 'Oh please don't make me have to listen to another one of his, 'guess what happened to me last night,' speeches, every time he talks about one of his dates its like he is driving another nail into my heart, a constant reminder of who I want but can't have.' She sighed, 'Gibbs.'
"Aren't you going to ask me why I want to know where Gibbs is?" Tony said excitedly.
"Nope!" she stated as she move her fingers across the key board trying to look busy.
"Well since your practically begging me to know why, I'll tell you, I have a date with that blond little number down in accounts and I need to leave early so I can get ready for tonight!" he said proudly.
"I don't remember a blond in accounts is she new Tony? And whats her name?" Ziva asked trying to look interested as she glanced at her boisterous partner.
"Yeah she started 2 days ago and her name is Katrina, Katerina? Or was it Kitty? Any way she is perrrrrrfect," he purred out, "I can't remember her name but I won't ever forget her huge ti......"
"Gear up!" yelled Gibbs as he trotted down the stairs from MTAC, leaning over his chair he typed some commands into his computer and brought up an image of two Navel Officers. McGee, DiNozzo and Ziva gathered around the large TV and waited for their boss to explain their next investigation, when he was finished, Gibbs himself turned to look at the screen but found himself standing painfully close to the very women, that every night for the last two years, had been haunting his dreams. Her sent of sandal wood and exotic spices invaded his senses making it hard for him to concentrate, he watched as she brought her hand up, gathered her long silky black curly hair, and draped it over one shoulder, unintentionally exposing her long slender, golden tanned neck to him, he had to stifle a groan as he licked his lips and watched as the pulsating vein called out to him, 'taste me, bite me, kiss me', it teased over and over again, slowly he lowered his mouth, 'Ding', the sound of the elevator brought him out of his reverie, he cleared his throat, checked to make sure no one had noticed and when it looked to be clear he continued on with the briefing.
When he spoke his voice was harsh and had a bite to it, but at that moment he didn't care, he was frustrated and extremely turned on and he had no way of relieving the, 'tention', "Lieutenant Crowley and Ensign Hilton were murdered approximately 2 hours ago, they were found lying at the side of the road just out side of the Norfolk Navy Base after the local Police Department received an anonymous call, both bodies were bound, gagged and with what looks to be an execution style bullet wound to the side of their heads," he paused and sighed, "the vehicle that the saliors were driving in was stolen, the truck a two and a half ton Deuce was carrying $75,000.00 worth of weapons. Another deuce was supposed to accompany this vehicle with the ammunition for the weapons that were on the first truck but they had engine trouble and will now follow at a later date, they have been ordered to wait for our autherisation before that truck is allowed to leave base, Director Sheppard wants this case classed as top priority and we are not resting until we uncover the missing goods and capture our murderer."
He went to his desk, picked up the phone and called Abbey about getting any information she could from the annomous phone call, he then gathered his badge and gun from his draw and started to walk towards the elevator, he stopped and turned to face his subordinates when he realized they wern't following, "Do you need a special invitation?" he barked before walking into the now open lift, turning to face the bull pen he watched in amusement as Tony, Ziva and McGee scurried around their desks grabbing their own fire arms, bags and badges, Gibbs allowed a slight smirk to pull at his lips as he watched McGee race around the corner of the bull pen first, just before Tony grasped Tim's shoulder bag.
"Oh no you don't probie!" Tony bellowed and pulled McGee back throwing him off balance, sending him to the floor and taking the lead himself.
"Tony!" Tim yelled, DiNozzo didn't get far before McGee stuck out his hand and grabbed Tony around the ankle tripping him to the ground, before the two could get up Ziva bounded over and around the tangled mess of limbs with every poise and grace of a lioness and climbed into the elevator that Gibbs was now holding to stop the doors from closing.
"Todah," Ziva mumbled as she attached her weapon to her hip.
Not wanting to open his mouth and regret saying something stupid he just nodded dumbly, focusing his attention back to the two males on the team still squabbling on the floor he poked his head out and addressed them both, "when your done playing grab ass, Ziva and I will meet you in the garage, if your not down their when we leave you can drive the 4 hours to the crime scene in the back of Ducky's truck!" and with that he let the lift doors close. "Why do I feel like I am running a child minding centre and not a Major Crimes team?" He mumbled more to himself then to Ziva but when she replied it brought a smile to his face.
"That is why I prefer older men, they don't act like children," she stated but when she realized what she had said her face flushed pink and she stumbled on trying to cover her mistake, "Well I mean, take, take, take Tony for example, yes? He is 35, yet he acts 5, and then their is McGee, well McGee is McGee, ahhh, I think I will shut up now," she mumbled as she dropped her head and let her hair fall across her face to mask the now darker shade of colouring gracing her cheeks, he opened his mouth to respond but the dinging of the lift yet again reminded him that it was inappropriate, so he faced the lift doors and closed his mouth.
'So she likes older men huh?' Gibbs thought, after that little Revelation he new that no matter what happened today, there was going to be nothing that would wipe the smile from his face.
When the lift doors finally opened at ground level, Ziva and Gibbs were greeted with 2 sweating and heavily breathing men, "What . . . . . . took . . . . . . you so . . . . . . long . . . . . boss?" Tony panted out as he stretched out a stitch in his side. 'Hang on a second what is that? Is Ziva blushing? That's something new, we have known her for 2 years and yet we haven't seen her blush before, and it's something that I'll have to investigate further, I wonder what happened in the elevator that would have caused that!' Tony thought as looked at Gibbs and realised that he was smiling, it wasn't a fully fledged smile but one that carried a little more enthusiasm then his normal run of the mill smirks, 'yep something happened in that elevator!'
"How in the Devil did you get down here so fast?" asked Ziva once she had composed her self.
"That's . . . . . Hell . . . . . not Devil . . . . . Ziva!. . . . . and we took. . . . . . the stairs," McGee huffed out as they made their way to the car, he never noticed the blush Ziva carried as he was too busy trying to get some very much needed oxygen into his deprived lungs.
McGee and Tony sat in the back while Ziva sat in the passenger seat and Gibbs drove, "So boss was that a 4 hour Ducky drive or a 4 hour Gibbs styled Daytona 500?" asked Tony as he pulled out his cell phone to play tetras.
"Ducky drive!" Gibbs stated as he heard the tell tale sound of beeps and buzzes that told them that Tony was playing one of his usual games. Gibbs looked at Ziva, he smirked when she held up five fingers, and he remembered their conversation in the elevator about him acting like he was five years old.
"Why not Rallying Tony?" asked McGee.
"Ahh my young padawan, now if it were Ziva driving then yes, she does have a thing for off road racing, but at least Gibbs can stay on the asphalt, there fore the Daytona 500 is better suited for him!" smirked Tony.
"So we'll be there in say, three hours and fifteen minuets!" McGee pipped up as he gripped the door handle to stop him from sliding off the slick leather seat.
"Nope giving the speed the boss is driving at I'd say two hours and forty-five minuets tops!" Tony stated as he looked at the speedometer on the car. Tony looked at McGee with a big grin on his face, "Bet you $100.00." 'This will be like taking candy from a chubby little baby!' chuckled Tony.
"Your on!" agreed McGee and he shook Tony's hand.
Gibbs and Ziva shared another look, he rolled his eyes and she just smiled in return, "You do realize that Ziva will be driving half of the way there DiNozzo, McGee!" he said gruffly.
"Well in that case probie, it looks as though we might be going cross country after all soooooo," Tony said as he looked at the younger agent, "I change my time to two hours." There was a long pause, "probie aren't you going to change your bet?"
"I was trying to decide weather or not to choose two hours and fifteen minuets or that we will be involved in an car accident!" McGee scratched his head in a thinking manner.
"Ohhh, you do have a valid point, who knows what we will hit with the crazy ninja chick behind the wheel. . . . ," Tony didn't get to finish.
"DiNozzo, McGee, if you both don't shut up I'll dump you at the side of the road and you can walk to the crime scene and I'll make a bet with Ziva that it will take you 13 hours and 15 minuets to get there!"
"Sorry boss," they replied simultainiously, they quickly made their new bets and settled in for the rough journey.
30MINUETS OUT OF NORFOLK NAVY BASE
HAMPTON BLVD
1015 ZULU
Two hours and twenty-five minuets later they pulled up at the crime scene, the Military Police had put up road blocks in both directions and so the traffic in both lanes were backing up.
Stepping out of their car the NCIS team started to pull out the equipment needed, "Where going to have to make this quick and thorough, by the looks of things I don't think we are going to get much of a say as to how long we get to keep this road closed," he stated as he pointed at 4 cops from the local Police Department and 6 Military MP's that were starting to get into a heated argument over road closure and jurisdictions, Gibbs headed over to see if he could get any information from them.
"So who one the bet?" Ziva asked.
"No one but I was closest, I said two hours while McGee said that we would have an accident!" Ziva gave McGee a murderous look and stepped into his personal space.
"I-I-I, It's, well you see, I-I-I," McGee started but managed to force out, "Please don't kill me!" he put his hands up in a defencive manner, "I'm sorry." 'Please don't let her kill me with a paper clip like she always threatens Tony with, just make it quick and as painless as possible,' McGee thought as he started to hyperventilate,
"Settle down McGee, I wont kill you!" Ziva said innocently as she took a step back.
"You wont?" he questioned as he got his breating under control. 'Oh god, I'm sweating so much some ones going to think I have a glandular problem!'
"Of course I wont, there are to many witnesses! Yes?" she smiled sweetly at him and walked off to get a closer look at the victims and McGee stared at her in shock.
"Give up McGurkle, she's only pulling your leg, and here carry this!" Tony grumbled as he loaded McGee up like a pack horse! 'No wonder Gibbs lets her do some of the interrogations, I thought McGee was going to wet his pants and that was with just a look!' He chuckled.
As they walked over to the two dead marines Gibbs made his way over to them, "Ducky is still a while behind us but we need to clear the scene as we have held up the traffic for long enough, McGee, photo's and sketches, DiNozzo, bag and tag, Ziva I want you to check the bodies and let me know if you know of any terrorist groups that might kill like this and get in contact with your, 'contacts', find out anything you possibly can, and get all the information you can on the type of vehicle and weapons that were stolen," they all nodded and went to their expected jobs.
A short time later Gibbs was standing near the car and was watching his three subordinates work. Tony was annoying McGee as per usual by finding some way to obstruct the view of the photo every time McGee snapped a picture, leaving the quarreling duo he set his eyes on Ziva, she was crouching over the 2 dead bodies, her shirt had slowly risen up her back as every time she stretched to look at something it got caught in her NCIS jacket and the waist of her black boot leg pants had slipped down due to the pull of the material at the knees, thus exposing the beautiful contours of her lower back. 'I wonder what it would feel like to run my rough calloused fingers over her golden silky skin, feeling the tiny ripples of her muscles contracting under my fingers,' he groaned, 'I have to stop this obsession, for starters I'm to old for her, although I now know that she does like older men, but I'm to involved with work, but so is she! I've been ordered to do things in my past that I'm not proud of, but then again so was Ziva, then there are things that no human should ever have to see at any time in their life, and Ziva has too, I've lost to many loved ones and I don't want to loose any more, Shannon, Kelly, but then again so has Ziva, Ari, Talli and her Ima, Ahhh, I think I need to stop talking my self out of this as all I'm doing is pointing out how perfectly matched we are!
"TONY!" yelled McGee snapping Gibbs out of his musings. Sighing he wondered back over to the group and clipped both of the younger male Agents over the back of their heads and reminded them that they should act like the mature Special Agents that they are supposed to be. 'God damn kids' he thought as he kept an eye on them and made sure they got everything that was needed.
One hour later the bodies were finally being loaded into the back of Ducky's truck, "Ducky?" asked Gibbs.
"Well the time of death was 5 hours ago, no bruises on the bodies only the single gun shot wound to the temple, the executioner was standing right beside the victims as he took each shot, but I don't think I'll get anything else from the autopsy as it's all pretty straight forward!" and with that Ducky left making the 4 hour drive back to headquarters.
The car trip home was quiet except for Ziva calling her contacts she had started with the FBI, CIA and ATF, Tony was sure she had contacts in the whole alphabet, but when that brought up no leads she started to contact her friends in France, Russia and Israel. It ended up being another short and frantic trip back to HQ and they even beat Ducky home considering he had left an hour prior to the team, no thanks to the suicidal driving of the Daytona Duo, as Tony had decided to call them, but only after he found out that Ziva could in fact keep the car on the road.
NCIS HQ WASHINGTON DC
BULL PEN
1600 ZULU
"So what did we find out?" Gibbs asked as they all sat around looking at the TV in the bull pen, "McGee you first!"
"Yes boss, well I found two different types of tyre tracks in the dirt at the scene, Ziva and I tracked one set back to the missing military vehicle while the other set is still unknown although Abbey might have some information on that by now," he flicked through some of the photographs that he had downloaded and was showing the group in the bull pen.
"Not much evidence was found at the crime scene boss, I picked up 4 cigarette buts, three of which I think are going to be pretty useless but Abbey was still going to test for DNA and fingerprints, when I was doing my perimeter check I came across a standard Beretta it was approximately 13 meters in the bush from where our two saliors bodies were lying," Tony stated as he then showed his photo's on the big screen TV.
"Abbey, tell me you have something?" Gibbs asked.
"Well with the photo that McGee gave me of the tyre tracks I can tell you for certain that they we're not made from a popular make, which is a good thing as they are not used on any of the new model sedans and hatch backs either, the tyres are in fact called run flats!" She started.
"Run flats?" asked a confused Ziva.
"Yeah it means that if they get a flat tyre they can still drive for approximately 50 miles and due to a case that we did 6 years ago I know for a fact that you have to order them in, so I sent out an alert to all the tyre manufactures and tyre sellers within a 300 mile circumference for anyone that has ordered run flats in the last 8 months, but we wont hear back from any of them until tomorrow. I also picked up a partial finger print on one of the cigarettes that Tony found and it is now running through AFIS and some other channels, now if and I mean if we get any results back it could take a while. Sorry Tony but I couldn't test for DNA on three of the specimens you gave me as they were to contaminated from being squashed into the ground, the fourth is still on the machine though. I have tested the type of cigarettes and they are Roley's which means no manufacturer, so then my next step was to test the tobacco that was used and I found that it comes from a company called Dubek," Abbey said.
"Dubek? But they are Israli" mumbled Ziva, "That brand has to be ordered and imported in, I will ring and find out if any tobacco has been ordered and sent to Washington," she jogged over to her desk and made the phone call.
Abbey continued on while they waited for Ziva, "The only body fluid or blood I picked up from the material that was used as gags and bindings were all from the victims, that's about it Gibbs, that is until my babies are finished!"
"Thats alright Abbs!" he replied, "Ziva?" he questioned as she sat back down.
"They are checking their records and they will get back to us when they have some answers. Now the military truck that was stolen was on it's way to Little Creek and is called the M-35 2 1/2 ton, 6x6 cargo truck, or the Deuce, the vehicle is an early 1980 model but it did have it's compulsory upgrade in the mid 1990's! The CR number on the vehicle is 80 CR 307 MT, this particular vehicle had never been issued with a number plate! None of my contacts here or over seas are aware of any possible Arms deals for buying or selling in the area so far but they are keeping an eye out for us! Weapons that were being transported by the truck was, 4 FIM-92 Stinger anti air craft missiles, a crate of Vehicle mounted M2 50 Caliber machine guns, two crates of Mk 141 Mod 0 hand grenades or 'Flash Bangs', as we call them in Mossad, 1 crate of M40A1's and M40A3 Sniper rifles and last but not least a HMMWV mounted BGM-71 Tow! So enough weapons to start their own terrorist group if they don't already belong to one!"
Gibbs sighed, "At least they didn't get their hands on the ammunition at the same time, Ducky tell me you have something?"
"Sorry Jethro, like I said before at the crime scene, its a very straight forward autopsy. There were no wounds around their wrists or ankles where they were bound so they didn't try too hard to get away, or, they never had a chance to even try, the cause of death was a single gun shot to the head where it entered at close range entering the Temporal Lobe sliced through part of the insular cortex and embedded itself in the Cingulate Gyrus, death would have been instantaneous!" Ducky stated as he brought up pictures on the screen in the bull pen.
"Abbey any clues on the type of weapon used yet?" Gibbs asked.
"Well my bullet diagnostics came back stating that the two slugs that Ducky pulled from both the victims all came from the same gun, a standard issued Beretta M9 9 mm pistol, which I later confirmed with it's serial numbers belonged to Lieutenant Crowley, one of the deceased sailors and no finger prints other then the owners were found! I also found some small black particals from both of the bullets and it turned out to be cotton, so I think the reason that our saliors didn't put up much of a fight is because they had been wearing black cotton bags over their heads, so they didn't see it coming. Oh and I did pick up some traces of cornstarch and talcum powder from the weapon and around the gags, ankles and wrists of the victims, which is commonly used as powder in medical gloves" she replied, "It looks as though this was a previously thought out plan."
"Was any cotton bags retrieved from the crime scene?" asked Ziva.
"No I did a 40 meter radius and there was nothing like that at all," replied Tony.
"Have you been able to trace the anonymous phone call yet for us?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes it came from a disposable cell, the phone call only lasted 45 seconds and I reversed the transmission signal and traced it back to the area where the call was made and it came from the crime scene, only the one phone call has ever been made from that phone, I tried ringing it and all I got was a, 'this number is no longer in service'," she said the last bit with a posh voice, "I'll replay the phone conversation for you now," Abbey bounded over to McGee's computer and brought the conversation over the speakers.
"911, please state your emergency!"
"2 dead sailors, 30 minuets west of Norfolk on Hampton Blvd,"
"2 police units are on the way to that location sir, can I have your name and a contact number please?"
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
"That's all the information that was given before he hung up, sorry boss!" Abbey murmured.
"He is Palestinian!" Ziva stated, "and he sounds familiar."
"Ahhh, excuse me I have a delivery for Ziva David?" someone called from behind the gathered group.
"It's Da-veed!" Tony sounded out.
"Oh ok, just ahh sign here miss," stated the nervous delivery boy as he saw the pictures of the 2 dead sailors on the screen, "Thank you," he mumbled as he made a quick dash back into the open lift, the rest of the team gathered around Ziva as she unwrapped the small box sized parcel.
Ziva opened the blue velvet box and pulled out large gold ring, it contained one large diamond in the centre with amethyst, sapphires and emeralds surrounding it, "Ohhhh, that's beautifull Ziva," stated Abbey as she took it from Ziva's now mildly shaking hands.
"DON'T TOUCH IT!" She yelled as she grabbed a tissue and snatched it back just before she tossed it across the room, by now she had the attention of everyone in the bull pen including the director who was currently in the process of descending the stairs to get a sit rep on their current case, she rushed to Ziva's side.
"Sheesh Ziva it's just a ring, no need to throw it!" grumbled Abbey. 'Tony's right crazy ninja chick!"
"You don't understand Abbey, he has found me!" Ziva dropped heavily into her chair and placed her forehead on the desk.
"Why don't you explain it to us so we will understand Ziva!" stated Jenny Sheppard as she placed a comforting arm around her friend.
"Kamal, Ali, Khalil!" she grounded out through clenched teeth and with those three little words Jenny's face also paled and Tony offered her his own chair that he quickly wheeled around beside Ziva's.
"Shit!" she mumbled as she too dropped heavily on the chair.
"What? Will someone please fill us in!" barked an irritated Gibbs as Ducky quickly assessed and checked over the women that were showing signs of mild shock.
Ziva sighed, "It started in 2004, my mission with Mossad was to track, hunt and assassinate El-Mohummad Khalil, he was a senior member of the Palestinian Islamist Group Hamas and was organizing an attack on American soil, an American and myself tracked him to the Al-Zahera district of southern Damascus, Syria, he had just left one of his meetings and was walking to his car, I was on my way to intercept the target when my phone started to ring, it is compulsory to answer it in case of a change of plans etc, any way I stopped to answer it when the car that El-Mohummad Khalil had just started, exploded, the explosion and flames was so intense that what was left of the body was charred almost beyond recognition, in the report that I had later read claimed that they had even found teeth and bone fragments up on the roof of the second story buildings that towered over the destroyed Pajero SUV, three by standers were injured, I was one of them, I was thrown with so much force I landed on the bonnet of a car 8 meters from where I was previously standing, I smashed the front windshield before rolling up over the roof, bouncing off it and landing on the ground. Witnesses claimed that they had seen me pressing a button on a black box right before the explosion, what they failed to understand or state was that I was only answering my ringing cell phone, my partner Jenny," she looked at the directer and they held each others hand, "then pulled our car up in front of where I was lying on the ground, helped me in, and drove me to our safe house were she attended my wounds."
"Ziva ended up with a right broken wrist, elbow and cracked, broken or fractured ribs, right dislocated shoulder, right knee and hip, sprained knee and a twisted ankle, not to mention the severe lacerations on her torso and shoulders, It took me 12 hours just to pull all the glass and metal shrapnel out of her body, another 6 just to stitch her up," Jenny stated as she rubbed her friends back in a calming manner. "I couldn't take her to the hospital and we had no pain relief at all so we called the Mossad headquarters to ask for further instructions and we then had to wait in hiding for 10 hours before they could send the chopper to evacuate us!" the group looked at them in shock.
"And that is why you can not touch that ring," stressed Ziva.
When they all looked at Ziva and Jenny with confused expressions on their faces the Director now understood why and explained, "The body was to damaged for a formal identification, they were finding tissue matter on cars that were parked 10 meters away and that ring was the only thing left that his family could truly identify him with, and since then his brother Kamal Ali Khalil has had a vendetta out for Ziva even though Mossad claimed that it was not their doing. Some even claimed that it was his own subordinates that had had enough of his dominative ways as he was making things worse rather then for the better, and still to this day, no department or agency has ever claimed responsibility."
"That is why I recognised the voice from the 911 call, it is Kamal Ali Khalil!"
"Do you think that the 2 dead sailors and the missing truck with weapons could be a rouse just to get to you?" asked Gibbs.
She nodded, "he would have to get me out in the open and confirm that it is me first, which due to the ring, I can only assume he did that already this morning at the crime scene, and in the process he got himself a bonus of $75,000.00 dollars worth of weapons."
"Do you think that the rest of us could be in trouble and what about the Directer?" asked McGee getting worried.
"No, none of you are in danger, he only wants revenge and that starts and ends with me, Jenny is not in danger either as we changed her appearance to blend in with the Syrian population, he wouldn't know who she was." There was a few minuets of silence.
"Ziva dear are you going to be alright?" asked Ducky as they all looked at her, she had turned pale and her hands had started to shake again.
Her only reply was, "Dios me ayuda!"
TBC
'Dios me ayuda' is Spanish for God help me!
Please let me know how this is going and if It is worth continuing on with, your reviews are greatly appreciated, but I know I'm not a very good writer as some deleted reviews to my other stories have stated before, so please be kind. ;o)