It was a horrible night. The rain was slashing down, and it was cold and unpleasant. Ziva David picked up her book and settled down on the sofa, she glanced out of the window and shivered a little, glad to be indoors.
...ooo0ooo...
He checked his watch for the fourth time, the rain was really heavy now, and for a moment he wondered if the meet would go through. It seemed simple. Too simple.
A shiver clawed its way up his spine. Something was off, he knew it... He had no idea what, every instinct he had was telling him to leave. But he was an officer following his orders. Orders said that he was to meet with the man in the alley, and receive the package, handing over the money. That part was the bit he found really distasteful. Buying information.
He got out of the car, heading for the alley. The rain soaked his clothes as he crossed the street, a minor annoyance. But still he couldn't shake that feeling, the feeling that something was wrong. He moved more cautiously now. Nothing but the sound of falling rain. Something moved in a dark doorway to his left, he half-turned...
The shot came from his right, it punched into his shoulder and he staggered. There was an instant of numbness then a blinding pain nearly overwhelmed him. Awkwardly he fumbled his weapon into his left hand, firing twice towards the position where the shot came from, he stumbled away in the rain.
He had been betrayed. He had one thought, to seek sanctuary.
...ooo0ooo...
She yawned and stretched a little, and laid her book down. Time for a coffee. She got to her feet and headed to the kitchen.
Ziva measured out her coffee and put the water into the machine. As the machine started its work, she leaned back against the counter and returned to her little problem. Agent Anthony DiNozzo...
She smiled to herself... Tony was special, even though he didn't seem to know it himself. Hiding his true nature behind jokes and foolishness. He always seemed to go too far. Yet there was something very appealing in his sometimes childish behaviour.
Suddenly Ziva stiffened. Instincts kicked in sending her state of alert into hyper-drive. She moved, cat-stepping quietly towards the source of the noise. Silently she retrieved her side arm from the drawer. She couldn't be sure... yet there it was again, tentative scratching sound.
She slipped up to her front door, and quickly checked the spy-hole. An impression of a dark shape just on the periphery of her vision.
She yanked the door open and moved through it in one perfectly executed move, gun levelled.
"Malachi?"
He was propped against the door frame. "Ziva..." he muttered thickly, "I..." He slumped forward onto his knees, and she caught him before he hit the floor, "help... me..."