Description: Ari gets cut off from Mossad or "burned" because his cover gets blown and he must find his own way to survive without their protection. It's kinda like Burn Notice but with NCIS. Not a cross over but inspired by. AU. Takes place mid season 2. Kate's still alive and the team hasn't met Ziva yet. Going to be Kari because I love them so much! Also starring lots of Ziva!
Disclaimer: Don't know who owns the characters but it's not me! I'm borrowing!
Author's Note: For those of you who do not know a burn notice, according to Wikipedia, "is an official statement issued by one intelligence agency to other agencies. It states that an individual or a group is unreliable for one or more reasons or purposes. This is essentially a directive for the recipient to disregard or "burn" all information derived from that individual or group." I have no idea if Mossad would operate this way, but let's say that for the sake of my story, they do.
Burnt & Burning
By Ari's Red Motorcycle
"Spies don't get fired, they get burned… I used to be a spy. Until... 'We got a burn notice on you. You're blacklisted.' When you're burned, you've got nothing: no cash, no credit, no job history… You're stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in… You do whatever work comes your way... You rely on anyone who's still talking to you... Bottom line? Until you figure out who burned you... you're not going anywhere." - Burn Notice
Chapter 1: New Orders
Ari Haswari sat in a booth by himself at a diner somewhere in Maryland. He had been waiting 2 hours, for someone to meet him and explain what had just happened in the last 3 days.
It was late at night and not many people were in this diner, but the ones that were noticed Ari. His face was bruised and swelling, though it looked much better than it had 2 days ago. He had at least one broken rib and 2 broken fingers on his left hand which he put in a cheap split he made himself. If he wasn't wearing pants and a jacket, everyone would see more bruising along his entire body.
In the past few days somehow he was discovered by Al-Qaeda to be a mole working for Mossad. He wondered how that happened. He was almost positive that it wasn't through any fault of his own. But it wasn't that important. What was important was that he find a way to hide from his many enemies that would now be coming after him. That was why he was sitting at a hole-in-the-wall-diner waiting for his contact, who must still be on Israeli time.
He could not help but go over everything in his head. One moment he was giving instructions to the cell and the next they had turned on him. He could recall one of the members receiving a phone call before everything fell apart. In his escape he was forced to kill 2 of the members of the cell. This left 4, who were going to come after him. They had to be taken out and Mossad was going to do it. But the damage has been done and now Al-Qaeda and Hamas were never going to stop hunting him.
When his contact finally walked through the door, he had never been so happy to see Ziva David in his whole life. She spotted him easily and sat across from him.
Once she saw him up close she could only stare for a few minutes and eventually say in their language, "Ari… how did this happened?"
"I'm not sure Ziva. Somebody exposed me as Mossad and I have no idea how." Ari stopped speaking as the waitress came over.
"What do you want to drink?" She asked Ziva. The waitress was annoyed that Ari had been in the table for hours and only drank one cup of coffee and was not concealing her frustration.
"Coffee is fine." Ziva said in English. The waitress left. "Are you sure you didn't do something to expose yourself?" Ziva continued the conversation in Hebrew.
"I don't think so."
"When we found out that your cover was blown, we came immediately. The D.C. cell has been eliminated. You don't have to worry about them coming after you." Ziva wanted to give him some sort of comfort.
"But I do have to worry about every other terrorist on the planet, who will eventually find me! Are you sure you got them all?"
"Only 4 left correct? Yes and we blew up the safe house. There is no evidence left that you were there."
The waitress placed the coffee on the table and walked away without another word.
"I think your losing your charm Haswari!" Ziva tried to lighten the mood.
Ari smiled. Their waitress was attractive and any other day he would be charming her but he bigger things to attend to at the moment.
"Are there any more Mossad agents in the area?" Ari asked.
"No they got on the plane a few hours ago. I was supposed to be on the flight with them but I couldn't leave without making sure you were alright." Ziva reached across the table and placed her hand on his. For only a second they shared a sibling moment. Ziva was the only person on earth that Ari cared about and he still hated showing it. Ziva was really worried about him and her eyes said it all.
Ari moved his hand out from under hers and attempted to still her worrying, "I'll be fine and in a few weeks this will all be forgotten." He hoped. "What are my orders?"
Ziva looked away for a second. She had more bad news and didn't know how to tell her only brother. "Father thinks it is best for you to lay low for awhile."
"I assumed that was the plan but is there something else?" She never could lie well to him and he knew she was trying to sugar-coat something.
"You were burned by Mossad." She said slowly.
"You're joking!"
"No. Father is really upset that your cover was blown and that Mossad had to clean up after you."
"Tell Deputy Director David" Ari emphasized not calling him his father, "that I didn't do anything wrong and that someone in Mossad blew my cover."
"I told him that, and he said if you get burned and lay low for a few years, you will be allowed back. We just have to figure out who did this to you first."
"A few years? I have given up my life for Mossad and after everything that I have done, they are questioning my loyalties?"
"I'm not."
"Who blew my cover?"
"I don't know." Ziva was telling the truth.
"Anything else I should know?"
"You have been burned and Mossad has destroyed all records that ever said you exist."
"They got my accounts too, didn't they?"
"Yes and I am going to figure this out so you can come home."
"I have more enemies at home than I do here. And I guess they want me to stay right here?" Ari said bitterly.
Ziva nodded.
"Why here? The nation's capital of the country Al-Qaeda hates the most?"
"I don't know why but it's what he said. I think that he believes that Al-Qaeda will assume that you fled the area and will not be looking for you here, not immediately anyway. He also told me I was to leave after the cell was destroyed without seeing you. I think he doesn't want anyone to ever see you with a Mossad agent until this is cleared up."
"Maybe you shouldn't disappoint him." Ari was surprised that Ziva disobeyed Eli. She was always the perfect child who always did what she was told. He was the one who never felt guilty about disobeying Eli's orders.
"Ari…" She paused and then remembered something. "I got you some money to get started." She reached in her pocket and pulled out an envelope. She passed it to him and he didn't look inside.
"How much?" He asked while placing it in his jacket
"Ten thousand American"
"Thank you." It was a lot but not going to get him far if he couldn't work.
"If you need anything there is a number inside to my private cell phone that Mossad doesn't know about. Call me. I'm also going to work on getting you some forged papers so you can have an identity."
Ari nodded in gratitude. "Are you sure you want me to call?" He didn't want her to risk her career and end up in the same position.
"Of course."
"I'll be fine Ziva." Ari felt the need to repeat it. He knew he would be able to find some way to make money and lay low. The only thing that would be a problem would be watching out for assassins. "And you should get home before Eli finds out."
"There is a plane leaving in an hour."
"You should get going then."
They left money on the table and walked out together. Before she left Ziva gave her big brother a hug and hoped it wouldn't be the last one. When she was in her rental car, she left a tear leave her cheek.
Ari sat on a bench outside for awhile after she left. He had nowhere to be. When he left he rode his motorcycle back to the motel he had been staying at for the past 2 days. Due to his injuries, riding was painful but bearable.
When he arrived at the motel he took some pain killers and got into bed. His last thought before he fell asleep was about how miserable the rest of his life was going to be.
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