Chapter 3: Not one of us.

"Why was I taken off the roster and registered as an inactive agent?!"

Eli hadn't so much as flinched at the sound of his daughter raging into his office, slamming open his door in the process. Why would he anyway? He had all but expected such a reaction from his daughter. So with his head still buried in the report before him, he dismissively addressed her.

"You should not be here."

"Tell me!" She shouted, her voice reflecting just how irate she truly was.

He didn't reply right away, instead choosing to finish the paragraph he was on before finally meeting her eyes. His daughter predictably so, had been as restless and defiant as ever and had chosen to disregard the doctors' orders of staying home and resting. Which left him with no choice but to put in place something to garner her attention, and force her listen. So he had gone ahead and taken away the one thing that mattered to her. She would not be allowed to be a part of any upcoming missions for the foreseeable future.

His expression gave away nothing as he finally answered.

"It is for your own good, go home Ziva."

"I refuse! Allow me to redeem myself, whatever it is I will do it."

"There is no doubt in my mind that if you could, you would do so tenfold."

"Then why will you not allow me to go?"

"Circumstances have changed."

"Nothing has changed, I am still me!"

Eli chose that moment to lean back in his chair and appraise his daughter, knowing what he did, there was only one conclusion he could come to.

"You will never be the same." It was a simple fact but one that seemed to strike a chord within his daughter.

"How could you say that to me?" A pained expression flashed across her face as a feeling of lost begun to settle within her.

"What are you not telling me?" She demanded, her eyes now narrowed accusingly at her father. She hadn't wanted it to be true but her upbringing would not allow her to be so naïve. Something indeed was terrifically wrong with her for her father to say something like that.

Eli had been fully preparing himself for the moment that Ziva would realize that her test results had revealed far more than what her doctors were telling her. Also the fact that it would be his orders that were now preventing her from knowing why exactly she'd had such a reaction to the drug when all the other agents hadn't.

"In time, for now go and rest". He would wait. At the moment, he was unsure of what his daughter would do with this knowledge and he wanted to ensure that she complied to his will.

"I do not need it."

"Still you will have it". With that said, Eli adjusted his glasses and returned to the report that had been left neglected for far too long, giving a silent dismissal to his daughter as he did so.

Sensing rather than seeing, he felt Ziva's presence as she continued to stand in open defiance.

"You are still here?" He asked after about five minutes, his eyes still concentrating on the words before him.

A look of hurt flashed across her features before quickly being concealed. She turned her back and stormed out of her father's office, clearly, she knew she would not be getting anywhere with him.

Once the door had been re-sealed Eli allowed himself to exhale a small breath, while pinching at the bridge of his nose. Abandoning his report yet again in the process. His daughter had always been more stubborn than both himself and his former wife. He had known as much from the moment she had been born and had decided she would not cry no matter how hard the doctors and nurses tried with her. It was only when her mother called for the nurse to bring Ziva to her and she held her for the first time, did his daughter allow herself those first cries. Throughout her life he had watched on in pride at how strong willed and determined she was. She would put her mind to something and without a doubt it would be. Now however he was strongly contemplating how the next few months of her pregnancy would go, also the fact that it may just be the end of him, if she still refused to rest. He would have to find a way to keep her occupied, for everyone's sake. It was at that moment a single thought crossed his mind and without pause he was reaching for his phone. Quickly dialing his intended contact. It was only one ring before the person on the other end answered, Eli managed a quick greeting before establishing the reason for his call.

"Have the NCIS agents brought to my office as soon as they land."

…

Arriving at her locker she reached for her pack and begun rifling through for her workout gear, maybe she would be able to run off some of her anger and frustration. She had just located them when a pressure begun to build in her head accompanied by the unmistakable feeling in her stomach, that she would have to get to a restroom as quickly as she could. Her head was feeling light as she sought after the bathroom allocated for the workout center.

Finding a stall, she did her absolute best to not make a complete mess as she'd made this morning in her own bathroom. She had to pull herself together, she couldn't afford to be throwing up at work as well. It would only make her appear to still be vulnerable. Which may just invite a challenge she may not be ready for as yet but one she would not refuse, regardless.

Standing up from her previous position she allowed herself a moment to stabilize before going to rinse out her mouth and head back to her locker. She decided she would just keep her time on the machine as short as possible for now until her nausea wore off.

She had just exited the restroom when she caught sight of Noam, one of her father's men waiting for her. She stayed where she was and allowed him to approach her. Once he did she wasted no time in pleasantries, already feeling fatigued from throwing up a breakfast she didn't even have, and slightly irritable as another wave of nausea seemed just about ready to hit her over again.

"What do you want?"

"The director has an assignment for you."

She narrowed her eyes at that. Her father had never been one to change his mind so easily, she would know that from personal experiences.

"What kind of assignment?"

"I was sent to escort you." Noam relayed, out rightly ignoring her question, much to Ziva's ire.

"I do not need an escort." She snapped, ready for this whole conversation to end and for him to be out of her sight.

"You say that as if you have a choice, I was given a direct order to not leave you until you arrived at the director's office". Noam conveyed hardly seeming to care that he was mere moments away from bringing her wrath upon himself, instead he chose to observe a few agents that were at this time sparring farther to their left. Affronted, Ziva took a threatening step towards Noam.

"I'd be very careful if I were you."

With an air of indifference, he slightly lowered his head locking his eyes with her own in challenge. His voice was cool as he addressed her.

"Shall I inform the director that even after all you've caused, you are choosing to defy his orders?"

They stood there for a moment as their wills clashed against each other. In the end, she slightly jutted her chin upwards and settled for dismissively brushing past Noam.

As she headed for her father's office, she made a point to put at least three feet between herself and Noam.

As they made their way through the various corridors. Brazenly Ziva held her head high as she blatantly ignored the varying looks of scorn, fear and hatred that were directed towards her.

News of what had happened on her last mission had spread like a wildfire throughout Mossad, with varying details of how exactly everything had gone down. She had been accused of being reckless, mutinous, weak and even a traitor. Ziva didn't care, their opinions never mattered, they could stare all they liked, as long as they never passed their place with her.

Arriving at her father's office for the second time that day she purposefully strode past his secretary and entered without notice. Her face was blank as she took in the room and the persons that now occupied the space along with her father. They seemed a bit surprised, clearly not expecting her.

"Ah Ziva, you have arrived". Her father greeted. "Come in and meet our guests." Indicating from his far right he went along with the introductions. "Special agents Gibbs, Mcgee, Todd and..." before he could finish, the agent who had not as yet been identified stepped forward, with his hand extended to her and a smile to match a Cheshire cat.

"Very special agent Anthony Dinozzo." She took a moment to take in the agent, though the thought he was fairly attractive did cross her mind, it did not prevent her from dismissively brushing past him and going to her father. Something that obviously displeased Eli.

"What is this?"

"This is your new assignment, you will be assisting with their investigation." He leveled at her with a slight rebuke. "And I expect nothing less than your full co-operation."

He held her gaze and silently tested her to say or do anything contrary, it was one thing to defy the doctors' orders and still come to work, After all he himself had never been a fan of idle hands. He would not however, allow her to defy him. Her back stiffened and he thought she might try to refuse but instead, she turned her back to him and made her way to exit his office for the second time that day.

She paused at the doorframe, with an insipid tone requested the agents to follow her. As they moved to do so, Eli made mention for the team leader Gibbs to stay behind for a bit and informed his daughter he would escort him later on. Not that it particularly mattered to her, as she was moving off without a backward glance, not even a second after he had finished speaking.

Marching along the corridors, the jet-lagged agents couldn't help but feel a little tense. At first, they hadn't thought much about going to set up their new area that they would be working from, while at the spy agency. But the more their journey prolonged the more paranoid they became, it appeared their presence was not welcomed. Every corner they turned, every hallway it was the same. They were met with a severe chill in the air and a feeling that they very well may be in danger.

It was apparent on Mcgee's face just how uneasy he really was, and though Kate hid it well she couldn't help but cast distrustful glances at the operatives every now and again. Tony, never really one to hold back his thoughts and make his concerns known, spoke up after feeling that he had stayed quiet for far too long.

"Is it just us, or.."

"It's not you." She responded coolly making her way around yet another corner.

"Then what exactly is their problem." Kate asked irritated at having to feel like such a leper.

Ziva didn't answer right away, instead choosing to pause at the door located at the very end of the corridor they had been traveling along, turning to face the group of agents with look of indifference, she supplied a curt response before entering the intel room assigned to them. "Me."

The agents were surprised at this revelation, not expecting such an answer. After sending each other varying looks of apprehension and concern. they wasted little time in following their Mossad escort, whatever reason her own people would have for behaving the way they were, would have to take a back to seat to their mission.

…..