Her World

A/N My take on what could happen in tonight's premiere.

When NCIS learned Ziva David had been captured by terrorists in Somalia, her (former) partner, Tony DiNozzo, had immediately volunteered to go rescue her. That had been the easy part.

Going to Somalia had required a long, tedious and bumpy ride on two separate C-130 Hercules. Setting himself up to be captured by those same terrorists wasn't that difficult, either. Neither had being subjected to several hours of interrogation and beatings. Nor, for that matter, his subsequent escape from holding cell. For some reason, they (the terrorists) thought because he worked for some obscure branch of the U.S. Navy that he would be easy prey for their interrogation techniques. Sadly, for them, they were wrong. Dead wrong.

It hadn't taken Tony long to find her cell. He had heard her screams as they continued to torture her. Each cry only deepened his resolve to save her and kill anyone who had touched her. Patience and the aforementioned carelessness gave him the opportunity he needed to escape, kill his captors and locate Ziva. Two quick rounds from a dead terrorists Glock killed the two guards outside her cell. The cell door was surprisingly flimsy and shattered under his rage-enhanced kick.

Tony stepped into the room, quickly assessing the situation as he had been trained years ago. Two men in the room, one heavily armed, the other unarmed but with blood on his hands. A snap shot to the head killed the armed terrorist. The other went for a gun but dropped wordlessly as Tony put two rounds in his chest. The man coughed, in obvious pain, and tried to reach for the gun. Tony walked over and kicked the gun far out of reach. Then, he saw Ziva.

Tony knelt down next to her, his heart screaming in horror at the beatings she'd endured. The left side of her face will swollen to the point her eye was almost invisible. Both arms looked broken and the obvious trouble she was having breathing indicated one or more broken ribs. She appeared to be barely conscious but was unresponsive to his gentle touches while he checked her pulse and then her injuries. Each touch brought a soft moan from her. Each moan ripped away a tiny piece of his heart.

"Ziva? It's me, Tony. I'm here." He looked over the terrorists with rage-filled eyes. They were dead, or soon to be. "Ziva? Can you hear me?"

Long moments passed before Ziva lifted her head slightly. Her right eye widened slightly when she recognized him. "Tony?" she said in a bare whisper.

"Yeah. It's me. I'm right here."

"Hurts."

"I know. I'm going to get you out of here shortly. Gibbs and a company of Marines are waiting for my signal. Then they're going to level this place."

"Hurts."

"I know. The guys who did this are dead or bleeding out."

Something flashed in her eye. Recognition of her situation, perhaps. "Salim?"

Tony blinked. "The guy who was beating on you?" He waited till Ziva nodded. "He's got two in the chest. He's not going to be around much longer."

Ziva slowly felt life returning to her body. Tony was here. He had come for her. She was going to be leaving this place soon. Go home. Then, it registered. Salim was still alive. She barely noticed as Tony began cutting loose the plastic restraints that bound her to the chair. The pain from her injuries was more than she could bear. Her breathing came in shallow gasps. Her arms, face and chest hurt so much. She'd never, in her career with Mossad, experienced this amount of punishment. But, she could not let it prevent her from fulfilling her mission. She could barely move much less hold a gun. There was only one option remaining. One she'd hoped she would never have to use.

"Forgive me," she whispered. She noticed Tony's surprised expression as he looked up from cutting the restraints on her left leg.

Tony looked down for a moment and tried to think of something to say. "Don't worry about it. It's over. Done. We were both just doing our jobs. Let's let it go at that," he pleaded, hoping his words would help bridge the gap between them.

"Forgive me," Ziva said again.

"Ziva..."

Ziva turned her head to look at Salim. Surprisingly, he was still conscious and watching the scene unfold before him. Ziva felt a wave of anger flow through her. It gave her the strength to say the words she wished she would never have to say to Tony. "Finish him," she said. "For me."

Ziva's hard Mossad training failed her and a tear trickled down from the corner of her right eye. There was no way she could do it herself. She would have to rely on Tony to complete her mission. To make him become like her. To forcibly push him into her world. A world of death.

Tony looked at her in shock. He glanced over at Salim. The guy didn't have much time left. He contemplated her request for a moment before responding. Ziva was asking him to kill a wounded, unarmed man. "He's what this is all about? The guy Rivkin was after?" He waited for her response, a soft gentle nod. She wanted him to kill the man responsible for many deaths. The man who had personally tortured her for information. Tony reached down and picked up the Glock. He checked the magazine. Three rounds in the magazine, one in the chamber. He stood up and walked over to Salim.

"No trial, eh?" Salim gasped. "American frontier justice?"

Tony smiled. "Well, I could say that what the lady wants, the lady gets. But, the real reason is much simpler." He paused for a beat as Salim tried to digest that information. "Vengeance."

A single gunshot reverberated through the empty halls.