Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. I do own William "Billy Goat" Crawford, Shawn "Pete" Peters, Diego "Doc" Valle and Matt "Matt the Knife" Brown, OC's all. They sprang from my brain fully formed. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead is a total accident.

Author's Notes: Several people wanted a follow-up to "Like a Rock". This is it.

I use some terms in this chapter that bear explaining:

The Company- Spook talk for the CIA

Stop & robs- cop talk for convenience stores

Throwaways- those cheap cell phones you buy in a stop & rob

Casvac- casualty evacuation

Bill (William) Danforth appeared in the season three episode Family Secret. Gibbs fakes evidence so a friend of Danforth's deceased son can stay in the Marine Corps.

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf"- George Orwell

Gibbs' house, Saturday 0200 hrs

Senior Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs stopped halfway between his basement and front door. He had just finished talking to his old Sergeant Major, Matthew Brown. Brown, who Gibbs thought may be working for the Company had found Ziva.

Maybe.

The info sounded good, but Brown was going to dig a little deeper. Gibbs was supposed to call him back in two hours.

Gibbs forced himself to sit, and stared at the ceiling for about forty five minutes.

In that time plans were made, examined and discarded. Until one remained. It was only a framework but it sounded workable. He stood and walked into his kitchen; picking up the phone and dialing a number from memory. After a half a dozen rings there was a fumbling noise.

"Somebody had better be dead, Gibbs" said a voice on the other end of the line.

The voice of Senior Special Agent William "Billy Goat Crawford.

"Not currently, Goat, but that could change in time" said Gibbs.

"So….." said Crawford.

"I found her, Billy" said Gibbs.

Across town Billy Crawford abruptly sat up in bed. Billy knew exactly who Gibbs referred to.

Ziva David, formerly Mossad Liaison Officer to NCIS. Part of Gibbs' team.

"Need to talk to you" said Gibbs.

"It's 0250, Gibbs" said Crawford.

"Is that a problem?" said Jethro.

"Well, yes…" looking at the woman sleeping next to him. "Ah, no, I mean…ah hell, I'll be over in about twenty five" said Billy.

Gibbs smiled.

"Stop off and buy at least four throwaways and calling cards" said Gibbs. "I'll see you in twenty five."

The line went dead.

Billy Crawford levered himself out of bed. Six feet tall with black hair and sky blue eyes, Crawford, a former SEAL Team 3 member was used to being awoken at odd hours. Not so his bedmate.

"Where the hell are you going Crawford, its 3am" she said.

"Sorry, baby. Work."

"You're on vacation, Billy" the woman said patiently.

"A Federal Agent is always on duty" Billy said virtuously. "I'll only be a little while."

The woman snorted. "Right, the last time you said that, I didn't see you for a week and you came back with a bullet hole in your thigh."

"But I came back, didn't I?"

"Go on," the woman said with a sigh "Get outta here."

So, he did.

Gibbs' house, Saturday, 0330 hrs

Billy walked through Gibbs' front door, and followed the noises into the kitchen.

"Getting domestic in your old age, Gibbs?" said Billy.

"Figured the least I could do is make breakfast" said Gibbs. "You get the phones?"

Billy held up a plastic bag. "Four phones, four different 'stop & robs', cards the same way."

"Good" said Gibbs. "Billy, we're going to have to do this thing off the books."

Crawford raised an eyebrow.

Gibbs continued, "I don't trust Vance as far as I could throw him. I trust Daddy David even less. SecNav has a stake in this too. So it's gonna have to be off the books."

Crawford turned pensive as he considered what that meant. 'Off the books' meant unsanctioned, on their own.

"How good's your intel?" asked Billy.

"My old Sergeant Major from Desert Storm, Matt Brown gave it to me."

The Goat smiled, "Ol' 'Matt the Knife'?"

Gibbs sighed, "He hates that nickname."

"Then he shouldn't have stabbed that pimp in Naples with his own switchblade." replied Billy.

"Are you in?" said Gibbs.

"I was in the moment you called me, Jeth" said Crawford. "But it's gonna take more than you and me. We're going to need a corpsman and at least one more shooter."

"Got anybody in mind?" asked Gibbs.

"You bet" said Billy. "But let's eat and get a little sleep and I'll make some calls at a decent hour."

Gibbs ' living room, Saturday, 1020 hrs

Shawn 'Pete' Peters was the next man through the door. He was 6' 4", lanky, with light brown hair and sea green eyes. He shook hands with Crawford and turned to Gibbs.

"Shawn Peters, my teammates call me Pete."

"Jethro Gibbs. My friends call me Gibbs."

A quizzical look appeared on Pete's face.

"Marine Sniper, right?", "Panama and Columbia?" asked Pete.

"Yeah and….."

"You're 'El Fantasma'" Gibbs started. Nobody had called him 'The Ghost' in a long, long time.

"The beaners were scared to death of this guy, Goat" said Pete. "Still good in the woods, Gibbs?"

"I do Ok" said Gibbs.

"Cool". Peters looked at Crawford. "What's the job?"

Billy Crawford ran the whole thing down for him.

"So you think 'Matt the Knife' will go for the whole 'we rescue David and you get the Al Qaeda cell leader as a bonus' deal?" asked Peters.

"That's how I'm gonna sell it" said Gibbs. "It's all gonna depend on how high up the food chain the guy is."

"So, Brown's people put up the weapons, etc and we get Ms. David out how?"

"I've got that covered, if we get the go ahead" said Gibbs.

"I'm in" said Shawn Peters.

Diego "Doc" Valle arrived twenty minutes later. At 5' 8" and stocky with black hair and deep brown eyes he was the polar opposite of Pete.

His reaction was the same though. As soon as he heard the job he opted in.

"I need a pad and pen so I can start to make up a medical equipment list" said Doc. Crawford handed him both and Valle sat and started to write.

Gibbs took a throwaway phone off the coffee table.

"I've got two calls to make, one to Brown and the other to the casvac provider" said Jethro.

"Pete and I will work on the equipment list," Crawford said "If he bites tell him we'll call him back with it."

" 'Kay" said Gibbs. He was going to talk to Bill Danforth first. He wanted Ziva's ride out confirmed before anything else. Gibbs walked into the kitchen to make his calls.

Gibbs basement, Monday, 0040 hrs

Gibbs dusted off his hands and headed up the stairs. Later this morning he would put in his request for two weeks vacation. Vance would have a hard time turning him down. Human Resources were always sending both of them memos that Gibbs was not using up his accumulated vacation time.

He had called Mike Franks. Told him he was coming down to do some fishing. That and some repairs to Mike's house. Mike was surprised, but pleased.

The weekend had been a blur of planning and logistics. Matt Brown had gone for the deal. It turned out that the leader of the Al Qaeda cell that had Ziva was Qadir ibn Hassan. Hassan was the number four guy in AQ's Horn of Africa organization. Brown's people wanted ibn Hassan.

So the rescue was a go. Equipment lists had been submitted. A rendezvous at the Novotel Paris Charles De Gaulle was arranged for the upcoming Wednesday. Brown would be providing a briefing and laying out the next leg of the mission.

Gibbs had removed a set of false papers he had used in Europe from their hiding place in the attic. He would fly to France from Mexico.

The rest of the team had scattered. Crawford to go back to his place to make peace with his girlfriend. Peters to get a head start on getting to France. Valle to say goodbye to his wife.

They would all meet again at the airport hotel in Paris. Then, move to the staging area near Somalia.

Gibbs showered and lay down; suddenly feeling very tired. He allowed his mind to wander.

Paris

The first time since ninety-nine

A/N: elflordsmistress took a look at this story for me and gave me sage advice. Being an FNG and male, some I followed, some I didn't. Any screw ups are mine. I hope you will read and review.