Hammer and Nails
He had been in the dark for hours. He only knew he was Tony and he had killed Rivikin. What had he done wrong? Who was Ziva? She was Ari`s half-sister, he remembered suddenly. Who was Ari? He hated this feeling of knowing but not knowing. He was being left in the dark by his own felt so helpless. Everyone knew everything about him except himself. Tony placed his head in his hands. He wiped the blood off. The Mossad were brutal at torture. He was sure a friend had told him that. His friend was Ziva. Ziva, came after Kate died. He paused; who was Kate? She seemed so special and important. Why couldn`t he remember?
Suddenly the door swung open. Someone placed a cup of water down on the floor then left. The door swung shut. Tony crawled over to the cup. He picked it up. It was small thin and smooth like wood. His hand was shaking. Tony sipped the water. It was so sweet. Life`s essence was pounding into him and saving him from the darkness. He drunk the rest of the water quickly. He felt stronger. A pang began to gnaw at his stomach. He was hungry. He hadn`t eaten anything. There was nothing to eat though. He sighed. Tony placed the cup on the floor and slumped against the wall.
"Tony," Ziva hissed.
"What?"he whispered back.
"Are you okay?"she asked.
"What does it look like?"he replied.
"Uhh. Listen keep acting mad. You haven`t done anything wrong and acting mad will buy us more time,"she advised.
"More time for what?"Tony asked.
"More time for me to work out a way to get you back to NCIS," she snapped in frustration.
Ziva looked like she was under tremendous amounts of pressure.
"NCIS is where you and Kate worked," Tony remarked.
"Tony I left NCIS and Kate died years ago," Ziva replied in suprise at his statement.
She looked at Tony. He could barely remember anything. Her father had beaten him up badly. Mountains of blood grew across his face. He was covered in dust. His blue shirt and smart ebony trews were ripped and as clean as a hippo in a mud bath. Tony`s hair was a field of dead grass drowning in a flood of blood. She felt sorry for him. Guilt gnawed at her. It was her fault that Tony had been kidnapped. If she hadn`t been so one-sided and had seen Michael was using her. Tony would be back at NCIS. She probably would have been there as well. She regretted leaving NCIS; she loved Mossad. Except now she had to decide. If she helped Tony escape she would have to leave Mossad but if she didn`t Tony would die. My life or Tony`s she asked herself. NCIS or Mossad. How could she choose? It was an impossible decision but she had to make it. It had to be made quickly or Tony would be killed. Yet even if she decided to help Tony how would she help him escape? Everywhere in the complex was heavily guarded. Even if she got them out the city was full of Mossad spies. Her father would find them in minutes.
The door creaked open. She fled. The last thing they needed was for her to get caught. She was the only one who could help Tony. She could not get caught.
Tony looked up. It was the men in black again. It was the same routine as before: he was gagged, blindfolded and bound. They dragged him out of his cell. He stumbled along. Then his feet touched hard stone. He slipped. They held him up tightly. Tony stumbled down what felt like stairs. He hated not being able to see. He wanted to know where he was going and what horrors were to befall him. Suddenly he was thrown in to a room. The door was swung shut with a clang.
Tony had never felt more cut off in his life. He didn`t dare to move; he had no clue what could be around him. For all he knew there were needles lining the ground. He patiently stood. Perhaps Ziva would come and rescue him. It seemed unlikely. After several minutes, his nerves were at breaking point. At every little tap he heard he panicked. The darkness was taunting him. It was playing with him. He was trapped by an ever-growing darkness which feasted on his thoughts. It became silent. He wished the silence would end. His foes-silence and darkness-attacked him.
"Hello Tony," Eli broke the silence.
Two hands ripped of the blindfold. He wildly looked at his surroundings. There was a dark ceiling with small amber light. The walls were dark. Everything was dark except the tools which glinted menacingly amongst the darkness. Eli grabbed Tony`s chest and threw him oh to a stone slab which lay in the corner of the room. The stone punched him. His head throbbed. He tried to call out; the gag would not allow him to. Eli quickly tied Toni's chest to the slab. Tony could hardly breathe; it was so tight. Eli undid the gag. Tony breathed deeply. He stared at his captor.
"You have a minute to answer the question Tony and then I begin. This time it will hurt!"Eli promised.
Tony panicked. He couldn`t remember the answer to the question. Then he remembered: he had killed Rivikin in self defence!
"Self-defence," he blurted out.
Then he kicked himself inside. He was supposed to have acted mad!
"I knew you were only pretending yesterday Tony," Eli remarked, "but that was not the correct answer. You murdered Rivikin. Admit it. Admit it!"
Tony stayed silent. Eli glared at him. Then picked up a nail and a hammer. They sniggered in delight. Eli viciously grabbed Tony`s hand and placed on a wooden plank which ran along the top of the stone slab. He banged the nail into Tony`s hand. Tony cried out in agony. He couldn`t move his hand! Blood seeped over his fingers painting them red. The pain was becoming unbearable. Maybe he should just give Eli the answer he wanted.
"Don`t give in DiNozzo!"he heard a voice yell.
It was Gibbs. His boss, Gibbs. Gibbs had said that to him when he was in prison after Chip framed him. He had to stay strong. Gibbs would never abandon him. Tony was filled with a new confidence. Adrenaline obliterated the pain.
"I already told you," Tony began confidently, "I killed Rivikin in self-defence."
Eli was enraged at this answer. He went berserk. He grabbed Tony`s other hand. The hammer shoved the nail through the flesh and deep into the wood. Tony whimpered. The blood spurted into the air. The pain was killing him.
"I am telling the truth," Tony yelled out.
The smell of blood invaded his nose. Eli refused to like his answer. Fists battered Tony`s face rapidly. The stone drowned in a tidal wave of red. Tony went numb with pain. At last Eli stopped. He stared at Tony in irritation. He smiled. He bound Tony`s feet to the slab then loosened the rope around Tony`s chest.
"We shall see how you are tomorrow, DiNozzo," Eli announced.
He pulled a lever. The stone slab turned upside down. Tony hung of it. His hands and feet were drenched in immediate pain. Eli left the room quickly. The pain enraged him. His weight put so much pressure on his limbs. Blood trickled across his body. The darkness consumed him and everything faded to nothingness.
Ziva stared at a long sheet of schematics. Squiggly lines danced into patterns and moved to a different space every time she looked at them. Planning an escape seemed so hard. She swore out loud. Even if she made it out of the Mossad building how would she get Tony to America? This time there was no Gibbs or Franks to help her. Franks! That was it! She remembered Franks and his son had used a private airline haulage company to smuggle Franks`s daughter in law out of Afghanistan. Could she pull of a trick of a similar kind?
Tony opened his eyes. He had suffered days in a surreal world of topsy-turvyness and pain. It was like nightmare; this was reality.
"Tell me what I want to know!"Eli David roared from above.
Tony couldn`t see; he had been blindfolded. He shook his head; he could not give up.
Ziva stared through a crack in the wall. She knew Tony would not last much longer. It was time for her to act. Her plan had to be made quickly.
Inside the room Tony groaned. Then an infestation of nausea set in...