Chapter 3

Ziva woke in a dark room and by the way sound bounced around she knew it to be a large room. They had handcuffed her to a pipe going up the wall. Eventually they would turn the lights on.

She worried because they had just taken her from her home. They didn't even bother looking for anything.

She knew who they were before they entered her room. Four men had entered the home and three had left. The dead body that had been left would be a sign to Mossad. They would believe that what she had told Assistant Director Moshe Gavan was true.

She remembered that today she should have met with Adam and that too, would set off alarms. She just hoped someone would check her home in Be'er Sheva.

Ziva thought back to her meet with Adam two weeks ago. She remembered hearing a conversation between two men. An Israeli man talking to a Palestinian and they spoke of a sale of arms to Hamas leaders. It appalled Ziva that an Israeli would deal with Hamas. She didn't realize until she was home that one of the men was of the Mossad and it made her incredibly angry. She immediately called Gavan and reported what she had heard and seen.

When she spoke with Assistant Director Gavan she gave him the name of the operative and the arrangements that the two were making. Gavan told her that he would look into it and thank you for helping keep Israel safe. She had done her duty as a citizen and reported it, but she felt that she had been dismissed like a young child.

Over the last two weeks Ziva noticed men watching her in the markets, at her meet with Adam and following her home to her apartment. Adam noticed her guarded look and Ziva told him about what she overheard and how she had reported it. She pointed out her follower to him as well. Adam decided to keep an extra watch on her. He began calling her more often. He assigned men to watch her back. She knew what he was doing and why and she appreciated it.

While Ziva spent time thinking about what happened, her subconscious examined her surroundings. Ziva didn't know where the door was or where it led and there were no windows to let light in. She would have to wait for the lights. No one had stayed in the room with her and again she'd have to wait. She could wait for them. She would find out who was behind this and why and then she would act.

These men had just taken her. They didn't search the house. Why not? She knew that she had killed one of them and broke the arm of another. The others had subdued and brought her here. She needed to rest so that when the time came she would be ready to leave.

Chapter 4

Tony dreaded his ride to work the next morning. He felt afraid for Ziva and leery about telling Gibbs of Adam's call earlier that morning. After he sent Margo back to bed, his mind raced. He worked on whether he had time coming to him or how to ask for a leave of absense. He thought of the last time he worked with Adam and Orli Elbaz, the head of the Mossad. It's always a mind game with her. Vance could probably make headway with her, if he would help.

Adam's call had rattled him, a lot. He wanted to help Ziva, he really did, but he left a large part of himself in Israel when he left her there. Learning to live without her by his side made the rest of his life difficult at best and it just began getting to be easier. "That is a big fat lie." Tony told himself out loud. The two or three women he saw while moving on with his life were nice diversions and even Margo, amazing as she is, still not Ziva. After working with Ziva for eight years he knew that she had been the woman for him. He thought that he might have heard from her by now, but no and now this. "What am I supposed to do about this?" Again spoken out loud and it was the question of the hour. What would the answer be?

Tony got off the elevator and walked to his desk. No one was around yet. He was sure Gibbs lurked, somewhere. Tony, sure he didn't want to see him just yet, sat and pondered how to broach this subject.

McGee and Bishop came off the elevator. Tim looked at Tony and saw a man in crisis. "Tony, you OK?... Do you need coffee?... I'm buying."

"Sure Tim, I'll have one." Tony still looked like he could use more sleep and that concerned Tim. It became more of a problem every day. Tony needed sleep and was becoming unreliable. Tim needed someone to watch his back.

"Tony, something's bothering you, do you want to talk about it? Tim's concern came pouring out. This was not the agent that Tim called friend.

Tony got up and went to the window and Tim followed him. "Adam Eshel called this morning. Ziva is missing." Tony looked out over the shipyard.

Tim looked at Tony and could see and feel the pain pouring from him. This made Tim even more concerned. "What did Adam want you to do?"

"Come and help him look for her. He said he would get back to me today and let me know anything more that they found. Orli Elbaz is looking for her too. This could get sticky."

Ellie Bishop, new to NCIS, heard of the exploits of Tony and Ziva. It always sounded like an adversarial partnership, but listening to Tony and Tim made it seem like a whole lot more. Gossip said that Tony had spent four months last year looking for her, only to come home alone and Ziva quitting.

Tim looked out over the shipyard and then at Tony. "What do you want to do?"

"Part of me wants to wait and talk to Gibbs, another part of me says I'm going and the third part says, let Adam handle it. That is how confused I am right now." Tony's eyes surveyed the office. He was still reeling from the phone call. He really needed the guidance of Gibbs.

Gibbs seemed to take her leaving in stride, but Tony saw the underlying aftermath that she had left. Tony didn't want to open that pain again for Jethro.

"Let me know what you decide. If I can help in anyway, let me. Alright?" Tim looked at Tony with worry and sympathy. Tony nodded.

Orli Elbaz did not like to be kept waiting, so when the Director of Mossad called Adam promptly showed up in her office.

"Adam it is good to see you." Orli looked him in the eye as if she could see the answers there. "What has our Ziva got herself into this time?"

Adam knew that Ziva did not see Orli with friendly eyes. She remembered her as the woman who broke up her parent's marriage. She probably would not take Orli's involvement well. Adam looked away and more importantly why did she ask? Didn't her Assistant Director tell her of Ziva's phone call and the rouge agents? "Director, Ziva overheard a Mossad agent and a Palestinian man talking about a delivery of weapons to be made soon. Ziva reported it to Assistant Director Gavan two weeks ago. I am surprised that you do not know of this."

Director Elbaz looked stunned. "No Adam, he has not reported this to me and I will find out why. Did Ziva tell you this or did you witness it as well?" Orli wasn't pleased with her finding this out from outside the Mossad.

Adam told Director Elbaz that he had witnessed it as well. "Ziva said that she would report it to Mossad. When she called, Director Gavan had received the information and dismissed her as if it were not important. Ziva and I meet once a week for coffee at a café downtown. When she did not show or call I got worried. That is not like her. I went to her apartment to look for her. It had been searched thoroughly. I then drove to Be'er Sheva and she was not there and it too, had been searched. Ziva, however, left behind a message, a dead body. It is Menachim Meir, a Mossad officer. She had broken his neck. Gibbs must have taught her that move. She left something else of importance behind…Tali."

Now Orli was angry. How dare men of the Mossad betray the trust of the nation? How dare they take someone who's as close to her as family? "Adam what has been done so far?" Orli, impatient to capture and punish those who would harm her family and her country wore a mask of anger and concern.

Adam could see the anger on her face. Normally she would hide it behind a subtle mask. He answered her slowly and deliberately. "I have taken Tali to her nanny to be cared for until we find Ziva."

"She is good at taking care of Tali?"

Adam knew she meant "Can she be trusted and can she protect Tali?" The answer to both is yes. She is an ex-Mossad officer. She is the normal Nanny for Tali."

"Are the child and nanny in any danger?" Orli wanted to be convinced of the safety of Tali.

"Not that we can see." Adam moved onto the next topic in the investigation. "I then summoned the local authorities to check the scene. The abduction occurred first and then a second team came in to search her home. We believe that it was about six men and they were not that careful. They left behind fingerprints. Forensics will have an answer for us soon.

"Did Ziva take pictures? Write things down or leave any information as to what they are planning? Orli needed actual proof before bringing Assistant Director Gavan down.

Adam didn't know. He had seen the interaction between the two men, but never saw Ziva take pictures or write anything down. "She never took pictures when I was with her. She whispered to me to watch over her shoulder. Her computer and cell phone were gone. They must have taken them."

The director watched Adam's face. "What are you not telling me?" Orli was an astute reader of people. She knew that Adam had held something back.

It was definitely something he did not think that she needed to know, but if he wanted to get the assistance of the Mossad he would have to give her all the information she wanted.

Adam looked down and away to the window and out over the city of Tel Aviv. He really did not want her to know this but he also knew she would badger him until she got the information she wanted. "I called Special Agent DiNozzo."

Director Elbaz's eyes shot up to meet his. He had surprised Director Elbaz. Adam, while not smiling, smiled internally. He enjoyed seeing that she had misjudged him. "Was that wise? Will he help you or walk away again?" Orli really did not know what had transpired between DiNozzo and David. She only saw the outcome. To her, Eli's daughter had become an unhappy person, except with Tali. "I don't want Ziva hurt again." Neither did Adam.

Adam kept quiet about Ziva. She had told him what happened with DiNozzo and while he did not agree with her reasoning, he respected her decision and all the ramifications of it. He just wanted to be there for her. "DiNozzo is speaking with his superiors. I could not read his response over the phone. I woke him up. I am supposed to call him back later."

"Alright Adam, keep me informed and only me." Director Elbaz dismissed him.

As Adam left her office, Assistant Director Gavan saw him getting into the elevator.