It was like a scene out of an action blockbuster movie, where the main character breezed through a gun battle with several guns ablaze and the bad guy always seemed to be the one to get hurt. Well, movies are movies. Reality on the other hand doesn't necessarily unfold as such. Well, maybe.

Ziva was in full-on assassin mode, one hand grasping her gun and the other, her back-up which she had retrieved from her ankle holster. She fired continuously at the Russian beast of a man. Who in the world would kill a woman and try to rip her baby out of her? Apparently this guy. She did understand his motives though. A job given must be a job well done. Wasn't that what she learnt from Mossad? That the mission was everything. But working in NCIS for so long definitely changed that warped perspective. And so Ziva found this Russian douchebag-of-the-year to be on her list of people she wanted to cause harm to. Grievious harm. Oh he was gonna get a 'good' christmas present alright.

Left finger, pull the trigger. Again. Right finger, pull the trigger. Pull the trigger. Pull the trigger. Ziva's fingers were on auto as she fired many shots in an attempt to stop this Russian monster from getting to Gibbs and Emma, and the baby who was on the way. It was her top priority at that moment. She could care less about herself, as long as she could keep Gibbs and Emma safe long enough till the baby was born and back-up arrived. Such good reason and motivation to fight harder sent a large bout of adrenaline surging through her veins. Ziva was on a roll. She closed in on her enemy but her ammo had run out after awhile. Must have been some Christmas luck since Russian guy's ammo had run out too. Time for some bodily combat. I was trained for this, give me your best shot, Ziva thought as she charged at the relatively large-built man.

The adrenaline kept coming, pumping throughout every part of her body. Ziva struggled and wrestled against the heavy body mirroring hers. Incapacitating this man was beginning to seem like a hard thing. He had skills. That made it that much harder for Ziva to take control. But she had to admit, weirdly and so very strangely inappropriate that she hadn't felt this pumped up and alive for a long time. It must be the adrenaline talking, she thought for a split second. Struggling. Wrestling. Rolling. Hitting. Panting. Alas, Ziva found herself locking her opponent in place, as well as being locked by him herself. Neither could move. And then, she heard a baby's cries. That miraculous sound gave her another boost of renewed energy. The Russian man had been momentarily distracted by the baby's cries too and Ziva took the opportune timing to swiftly grab the empty gun which was lying an arm's length away and brought it down hard on the man's head before he could react to her movements. Ziva felt the man's grip slacken as his whole body weight fell onto her. She shoved him off her and went to the opposite corner to sit down, legs bent and out front, elbows resting on her knees in a way that left her hands dangling in front of her as she tried to catch her breath and come down from her adrenaline high.

"C'mon McSlowpoke, put the pedal to the metal!" Tony rushed McGee with an exclamation.

They were speeding towards the gas station where Gibbs, Ziva and Emma were supposedly at. Phone lines were down and they had no way of contacting their silver fox of a boss and their own Israeli ninja. "I'm trying Tony! Yelling in my ear doesn't help things!" McGee replied, getting more flustered by the second.

"I'm not yelling in your ear!"

"Yes you are, you're doing it now!"

"No I'm not."

"You were."

"Whatever."

The rest of the short travel to the gas station was spent in Tony and McGee's suppressed silence, coupled with tension and worry for the safety of their colleagues. They were in fact a family, and nobody wanted a repeat of losing any one anytime soon. Screeching to a halt and skidding a bit on the snow, they had finally reached their desired destination. Tension was running ever high, as the gas station looked eerily quiet. The whole place was still. Wait. There was one vehicle present. The Russians. Taking precaution, Tony and McGee approached the suspicious vehicle with guns drawn by their side. Tony brushed up against the vehicle's side, while McGee had his hand on the driver seat's door handle. Tony signaled 'On three. One, two, three' and McGee flung the door open.

"NCIS! Put your hands-" Tony ordered, but was cut off by the limp body that fell out of the car seat.

The body was visibly still breathing and his head was sporting a big ugly bruise. Tony and McGee turned to each other and said the first thing that came to their minds. "Ziva."

Both smiled slightly but put their serious game face back on when they heard a baby's cries. Following the wailing, the two agents hurried towards the convenience store. Nearing the store, they could hear shuffling on the floor and a faint grunt of a male. Tony and McGee ran into the garage with guns in front of them, eyes wildly scanning and searching for their boss and Probette. Tony's eyes were the first to fall upon Ziva's hunched over figure in the corner and he ran up to her, slapping McGee on the arm to beckon him to follow. Reaching Ziva, they saw that she was panting heavily but looking relatively unhurt as far as the eye could see. Across from her was the unconscious Russian being.

"Ziva! Are you alright?" Tony asked as he bent down to her level, placing his hands on her shoulders, while McGee scanned his eyes over her whole body searching for any possible injuries.

"I am...okay Tony, just...catching my breath. You ...should check on...Gibbs and Emma." Ziva replied breathily.

Tony looked unsure. "You sure you're alright?"

"Yes I am. Just go."

"Okay then. McGee, keep an eye on her."

McGee nodded his agreement as Tony hesitantly but hurriedly headed towards the direction which Ziva pointed out to, where Gibbs was. McGee bent down on one of his knees to look closer at Ziva. She seemed okay albeit a bit pale, but he gave the credit to the heavy combat that she just had for the blanche. Ziva's head was still hanging as she still fought to catch her breath, but she could feel McGee staring at her. She knew that he was worried and her lips curved upwards a little into a smirk as she said "I am fine, McGee. Stop being a worrypimple."

McGee relaxed, his features losing some and corrected her with a smile "It's worrywart Ziva. Not worrypimple."

"Gibbs? You there?" Tony hollered, looking around the garage for any sign of Gibbs.

"Over here DiNozzo. How's Ziva and the Russian punks?" Gibbs' crouched figure appeared from behind the car door as he stood to his full height.

In his arms, was a baby. Emma's baby. "Ziva's okay. A little exhausted though. Russian guys were knocked out by our awesome Israeli ninja. You and Emma alright boss?" Tony asked, standing where he was.

"Yeah. What are you standing there for? C'mere!"

"What do you need me to do boss?"

"Hold the baby, I gotta check on Emma."

"Wait boss, I'm not good with kids. This is a bad idea. Boss. Seriously I'm not joking. Wait-" Tony stammered.

TBC