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Bethesda Naval Hospital
Gibbs and the director ran into the waiting room, looking frantically for Ziva amongst the people. Spying her, the pair quickly moved to occupy the surrounding seats.
Gibbs had never seen Ziva cry, but in her current emotional state, he wasn't surprised. He quickly sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms. Ziva sobbed into Gibbs' shirt while Jenny went to hassle someone for an update.
Minutes later, Jen returned with a doctor, a grim look on her face. She looked at Gibbs and shook her head, indicating they'd talk later, then returned her attention to the doctor.
"How is he?" Gibbs asked, moving Ziva off his chest for the report.
"I'm afraid it isn't good," the doctor said. "He's still alive, but he's in surgery. The bullet struck him in the right shoulder blade and hit his ribcage, but there was no exit wound. We're trying to locate the bullet now; we think it rebounded off the bone it struck and made its way into his right lung, but the scarring is making it hard to locate."
"How long until he is out of surgery?" Gibbs asked, gripping Ziva's hand tightly.
"I can't give you an estimate, I'm afraid, but someone will be out to update you the minute we know anything," he said gravely. "Luckily, we have plenty of blood on hand in case we need it, but I think we'll be a few hours yet. If you leave a contact number at the desk, you can go home and rest and we'll call you the minute he enters recovery.
"No," Director Shepard said. "We're fine here, just make sure he comes out alive or you'll be hearing from the secretary of the Navy." She flashed her badge at him. "Let's just say he's a personal friend of mine."
The doctor nodded. "Very well then. I'll send a nurse out with news when there is any. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to return to your agent."
"Of course," Jen nodded.
The doctor stood and returned quickly in the direction he came from.
Jen sat down on Jethro's other side and sighed. Ziva collapsed into Gibbs again, tears threatening to spill once more.
"Should we call Abby and McGee?" Jenny asked quietly, knowing Gibbs knew his team better than anyone.
"Yeah," he whispered. "Ducky too."
Jen nodded and pulled out her cell phone. "I'll call Tim first, then Ducky; I'll call Cynthia in the morning and have her clear the next few days so I can assist you. I'm assuming you don't want another team called?"
Gibbs shook his head. "No, just call Paula Cassidy, her team can assist us. I have a feeling we're going to need all the help we can get."
Jenny nodded again. "I'll be back in a minute."
Gibbs only nodded in response and returned his attention to Ziva, his hand continually stroking her hair.
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Tony's Room
Tony was in pain. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He could barely open his eyes.
"He just moved!"
That voice. He knew that voice. Nobody else he knew was that excited when someone woke up.
"Hush, Abby, he is trying to sleep."
He knew that voice too. He loved that voice. He loved Ziva, not that she knew that; not that he'd ever had the balls to tell her. He tried harder to open his eyes, and the bright light hurt them.
"Get Gibbs, he's definitely waking up!"
He heard some shuffling, the door opening and closing, and a hand grasping his tightly.
"We really need to stop being shot," Ziva whispered. "I do not think a new scar is a great way to gain my attention," she added.
Tony groaned but moved his lips into a weak smile. "Thanks," he whispered, trying harder to open his eyes. "Grrrr," he groaned.
"What?"
"The light…"
"Is that all?" He nodded.
Ziva flicked a switch, turning most of the lights off, leaving the room brightened by natural light and a single white lamp above his bed. "Better?" He nodded again.
Before anything else could happen, the door opened again, admitting the rest of the team into his room.
"Oh my god, Tony, you're finally awake!" Abby exclaimed, bending down to hug him.
"Careful, Abs," he moaned, his eyes adjusting slowly to being opened. He was greeted with the faces of Ziva, Abby, McGee, Ducky, Gibbs and Director Shepard.
"DiNozzo," Gibbs said, bending down to his level.
"Yeah boss?"
Gibbs smacked his head. "Stop getting shot. I actually need you on active duty, not sick leave again."
Tony cringed. "Okay, boss."
Gibbs nodded and stood back up. "Good, because you still don't have my permission to die." A low chuckle circled the room. "Now, I have Agent Cassidy and her team working with us on the case, as well as Captain Morris at Quantico."
"Any idea who shot me?"
Abby stepped forward. "Yeah, because the bastard didn't police his brass, we matched his prints. His name's Sayal El Mohabi, a Hamas terrorist linked to a Mossad operation about eight years ago."
Ziva gasped. "Oh, shit."
Everyone turned to look at her.
"Why did I get shot then?" Tony asked.
"The bullet was meant for me," Ziva whispered.
Gibbs placed a hand on her shoulder. "Do you know him?" She nodded.
"Care to explain?" Jenny asked.
She sighed and nodded again. "A few years ago, before Cairo," she nodded to Jen, "I was involved in an undercover Mossad operation to catch a serial killer who would rape, torture and violently murder his female victims. We weren't notified until he killed one of our agents."
"Tali," the director breathed.
"No," Ziva said quietly. "Shiloh, my youngest sister."
"What about Tali?" Jenny asked. "I thought you only had one sister."
"Shiloh's existence was not very well known in Tel Aviv," Ziva continued in the same quiet voice. "I was only 18. Shiloh was murdered by El Mohabi on a Monday; Tali was killed in a Hamas suicide bombing two days later. I lost both my baby sisters the same week." Ziva was struggling to keep the tears at bay, but she pressed on. "We found Shiloh's body in an abandoned hotel room in Jerusalem. I was assigned by the Director personally to catch and eliminate him; he knew all his victims and had contacted them days before their murder. I tracked him for six months before he fell off the map, but never came close enough to catching or eliminating him."
"Radar," Tony automatically corrected her.
"Whatever," she said, still struggling to maintain her composure, but her confidence growing nonetheless. "Every now and then he would pop up somewhere in Europe or Asia, but we would lose him again. Now it seems his targets are on American soil."
"Either them or us," McGee muttered.
"I think I am his target."
"How do you know that?"
Ziva turned to look at Jenny. "He knows I was the assassin on his tail. He knows I was the one hunting him down. He now must know who I work for and how to capture me, his last target. He must have shot at us to try that."
Tony grabbed Ziva's hand harder in support. She smiled softly.
Gibbs sighed. "That's it; you two are going into protective custody."
Tony and Ziva both started to protest. Gibbs put up both his hands to silence them. "Enough! You're going into protective custody and that's final! Just be thankful it's not witness protection."
Tony and Ziva accepted the compromise.
"Where are we going?" Tony asked after a minute.
Jenny stepped forward. "There are three options: my house, Gibbs' house, or a safe house."
The partners shared a knowing look. "Safe house," they replied in unison.
Jenny smiled. "Good, because that was where you were going anyway." Everyone laughed.
"So, when do we leave?" Tony asked, sharing another look with Ziva.
"Tony, you have just had surgery!" she exclaimed, recognising the look in his eye. "I thought you hated being in pain."
"That's what painkillers are for, Zee-vah," he replied sarcastically.
"Well, as soon as the hospital releases you into my medical custody we can leave," Ducky said, speaking for the first time in the room.
"Where?" Ziva asked.
The director smiled. "Ziva, you know as well as everyone else I can't tell you that."
She shrugged in response. "It was worth a try."
A moment later, the doctor entered the room. "Okay, I need everyone to leave the room except Doctor Mallard, and that includes everyone, Officer David."
Protesting quietly, everyone left the room, Ziva sharing a last long look with her partner before closing the door behind her.
