The doors flew open, and Sergei's head swiveled to where the intruder was. Ziva didn't have the energy to lift her head, but she knew by the silence in the room that Gibbs was there. "NCIS! Drop the weapon!", he ordered in a dangerous voice.

Abby cheered from her side of the screen, as Tony and McGee entered the room with their weapons trained on Sergei. "We took care of them, boss.", Tony announced with his eyes on Ziva. He saw the burns to her stomach and cuts on her arms, legs, and stomach, but there was too much blood pooling beneath her.

Sergei laughed at them and fingered the knife at his waist. He slid it slowly from its sheath and watched the men before him. "You may shoot me if you wish, because I am already dead.", he told them.

The three men had their fingers on the triggers of their guns, and every single one wanted to pull their trigger. "Give me a reason.", Tony called to him.

Sergei laughed again, but this time he chose not to speak in English. "Я вижу свою Катюшу в ближайшее время, но вы будете помнить меня всю жизнь. (I will see my Katyusha soon, but you will remember me for the rest of your life.)", he said to Ziva.

She laughed through the pain burning throughout her body, because she would never show weakness to this man. "Иди к черту. Я уже начал забывать о тебе. (go to hell. I have already begun to forget you)", she spat at him. Her words angered him, and he lunged at her with the knife. Nine bullets lodged themselves snugly into Sergei's torso, and he fell to the ground.

Tony ran to Ziva and cut the ropes suspending her from the ceiling. She didn't have the strength to hold her own weight and fell against him without the support of her restraints. "Ziva, I'm so sorry.", Tony whispered into her ear.

"Do not apologize, it is a sign of weakness.", she told him before passing out. Gibbs told the others, who were still listening in, that they had Ziva and called an ambulance. When the ambulance arrived, Gibbs had to pull Tony away from Ziva, since he was still holding onto her like she was his lifeline.

"I'm riding with her, boss.", he said when he broke out of the loose grip Gibbs had on him. Gibbs nodded in understanding and let Tony follow the paramedics to the vehicle.

Gibbs and McGee went back to the car, and Gibbs called Vance. "We got her. She's being taken to the hospital now, so we're going over there. Tell Abby and Ducky." The ride was silent after that, and Gibbs followed the ambulance to the hospital where he then followed the gurney Ziva had been placed on. She still hadn't regained consciousness but had remained stable on the ride over.

She was taken to be stitched and cleaned up, so Gibbs, Tony, and McGee had to wait out in the lobby. Tony was pacing the length of the hallway, while McGee sat in a chair, and Gibbs stood with a poorly made cup of hospital coffee. "Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs! Is she okay? We saw the screen go black when everyone started shooting, and we couldn't see if Ziva was okay. She's okay, right Gibbs?" Abby had run up to him with Ducky and Palmer trying to keep up with her rapid pace.

"She's okay, Abs. We got her, and they're just cleaning her up." She hugged him tightly before jumping back.

She gasped and looked around. "I need to get her something. Do you think they have black roses here, or a cute little get well bat?", she asked, looking from Tony to McGee.

Everyone laughed, because Abby had managed to brighten a very tense situation as always. "I don't think she'll mind waiting for her flowers or bats. Maybe you can even get some live ones and tie balloons to them.", Tony said as a joke.

Abby looked at him very seriously in an offended manner. "I would never tie balloons to a poor bat, but maybe Jim can lend me a few." She was thinking aloud to herself, but no one was about to ask who Jim was or why he had bats to lend.

A doctor walked into the waiting room, and everyone there looked up at him. Apparently they weren't the only people waiting for news about a loved one. Tony was scared when he looked to his left and saw a family crying, because their son had just died. "Family of Ziva David.", he called into the waiting room.

Some people's heads turned back to what they were doing, but the NCIS teams stood and walked to the doctor. "You are all the family of Ziva David?", he asked skeptically.

Gibbs gave him a look that said he would accept the answer if he knew what was good for him. "Yes.", Gibbs said curtly.

The young doctor jumped a bit and nodded quickly. "She is stable, but I recommend bed rest for at least a week. She lost a lot of blood, but nothing vital seems to have been harmed. She will need plenty of fluids and a lot of rest. She is also awake and has demanded I let her team in or she will 'shoot her way out of the room', and that is a direct quote. You may go in one at a time for no more than five minutes each. I'm actually not supposed to let anyone in there, but Miss David is a very intimidating woman. She is in room 475.", the doctor said before moving away down the hall.

"I'm going first!", Abby yelled before taking of down the hallway. No one would get in Abby's way when she wanted something that badly.

Abby knocked on the door quietly and entered the room. Ziva was hooked up to so many machines, and Abby almost started crying again. She would have, if Ziva hadn't turned to her and smiled. "Abby.", she said cheerfully.

Abby sniffed a little and held back her tear, and she walked to the side of Ziva's bed. "I want to hug you, but I don't want to hurt you.", she said honestly. Ziva looked like she would break at the slightest touch.

Ziva laughed a little and showed none of the pain she felt when she did so. "A hug would make me feel much better, Abby. I would be insulted of you did not." Upon hearing her words, Abby hugged her loosely and smiled, knowing Ziva was okay. They talked for a few minutes before Abby relayed the doctor's orders to Ziva and said that her time was up.

"I will be out of here soon, and then you can have me all you want.", she said to Abby.

Ducky walked into the room next and looked at Ziva with sad eyes. "Hello, my dear. How are you?", he asked. He walked over to the place Abby had been standing and looked Ziva over. He could see what damage had been done to her but thought better than to bring it up.

"I have seen far worse circumstances than these, and I have felt more pain. I will be well soon if these damn doctor's will let me leave." She added the last part a bit louder than necessary, and Ducky laughed in amusement.

"I am pleased to see that you have retained your back bone. I suppose I must go soon, because everyone is anxious to see that you're okay for themselves." Ducky placed his hand on hers, and she squeezed it lightly. Ducky smiled, because she was okay. "I look forward to seeing you soon.", he said before leaving.

Palmer stepped into Ziva's room after Ducky. "Oh, Ziva you look awful.", he said without thinking. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he clapped his hand over it. "I-I'm so sorry. I- what I meant was- I'm sorry.", he said.

Ziva smiled at him. She could always count on Palmer to lift her spirits by stumbling over his words."It is okay. I am aware that I look like I went ten round with Mike Jordan.", she said.

Palmer looked at her in confusion for a moment but caught on to what she was trying to say. "Oh! I think you meant Mike Tyson the boxer. Mike, well Michael, Jordan is the basket ball player.", he explained to her.

"Ah, thank you. I will remember this.", she said. Palmer didn't use his full five minutes. He cared about Ziva and was glad that she was okay, but they weren't as close as she was with the rest of the team.

McGee stepped over the thresh hold after Palmer's exit. He was taken aback by the vision of Ziva lying in a hospital bed. "Do not worry, McGee. It looks worse than it is.", she assured him when he didn't move forward.

McGee forced himself to walk her bed side. "I'm sorry. I should have been able to narrow down the search or found something to help you." McGee was always the person who found the tech stuff. He should have been able to use it when it counted so heavily, but he hadn't been able to.

Ziva took his hand, so he would look at her. "I am certain you are the reason I was found as quickly as I was. Thank you, McGee." He smiled and squeezed her hand. They chatted about unimportant things, and McGee left after receiving a text. It had been from Tony, asking what was taking so long.

Gibbs walked into the room and looked down at Ziva like a father looks protectively at his daughter. "I knew you would find me.", she said. "The first time Tony and I were separated from the group, I did not believe him when he said you would find us alive, but you did. You always do."

"You're on my team. I will always find you.", Gibbs said. His team was his family, and he was part of theirs. His team was made of damaged people who needed someone they could trust and be there for them, and that included him. They were there for each other, healing the emotional wounds and facing the screwed up hand life had dealt them.

Gibbs left soon after, because neither he nor Ziva did well with sharing emotions and thoughts. Finally, Tony stepped into the room. He looked over Ziva's body, lying in a hospital bed and hooked up to machines. She was like this because of him. He hadn't been there for her. He had made a list of the rules had broken while waiting for his chance to see her, and it wasn't pretty. Rule number one: Don't screw over your partner, rule number three: never be unreachable, rule number six: never say you're sorry, and rule number eight: never take anything for granted (he had taken Ziva for granted when he didn't answer her call). "This is not your fault, Tony.", Ziva said as if reading his mind.

He released a bitter laugh, because it was his fault. "I saw that you were calling, and I didn't answer. I thought...I thought it was work, and you and McGee could handle it without me. If I had thought for a second that you needed me- but you did need me, and I wasn't there." Tony's eyes stung with tears, but he wouldn't let them fall.

Ziva held out her hand, and he walked forward to take it. "You could not have known, and I know that you worked as hard as possible to find me. You did, you found me, and I am okay." He leaned down and hugged her tighter than he meant to, but she didn't mind. They stayed like that for their entire five minutes, taking comfort in the other's arms.

Three weeks later

"Tony, if you do not stop throwing those paper balls at me, I will save any woman from the trouble of bearing your child!", Ziva yelled angrily.

Tony gulped at the though of losing a very vital appendage and made McGee his new target. "Just because you're scared of her, doesn't mean you can throw stuff at me.", McGee said in agitation.

"Actually, McWimp, it does.", Tony replied triumphantly. Gibbs walked through the bullpen and slapped Tony on the back of the head as he walked by. Everything was back to the way it was supposed to be, and their dysfunctional little family was still complete with only a few more scratches to be healed.