"The last time I saw Mike Franks was about three months ago in his little house in Mexico. Aleksandr is the one after Ziva. He discovered my identity and is coming here to come after the people I love. Do you understand?" Rivka spoke thoroughly trying her best to make her explanations comprehensible.
"Yeah, I do." Gibbs whispered back as he remembered the time he and Agent Barrett's team were after Cobb, aka the P2P killer.
"How is Mike? Have you spoken with him?" Gibbs got the impression she had no idea of his death.
"Mike's dead." Rivka's eyes shot open and her jaw fell.
"What? That soon, but the doctor said…" She lost her train of thought, and then Gibbs explained.
"He was murdered. Stab wound to the heart by a serial killer." A signal tear ran down Rivka's left cheek and landed on her bare chest.
Rivka's heart sank, and her head fell to her hands. She didn't cry. The one signal tear she allowed to escape was the only tear seen by Agent Gibbs, Ziva, and Tony. Moments later she lifted her head and acted as if she had never been told of Mike Franks's death.
"I can not do this anymore." Rivka spoke breathlessly.
"I can not answer anymore of your questions. I must protect Ziva. He should be here soon and I do not want to be caught off guard." Rivka stood and when Gibbs tried to resist she grabbed him by the forearm and pushed him against the wall.
"Enough! If I couldn't keep my partner alive…my friend alive then I will find a way to keep Ziva alive. She deserves a happy life. Even if it means I am not a part of it, but I want to protect her and not you or any one is going to prevent me from protecting my child. The only one I have left." Gibbs was confused.
"How did you know about Tali and Ari?"
"I wasn't held in that camp forever, only 18 months, and when I had free time. When I didn't have a mission I would check up on my children as any loving parent would. When I saw Tali's profile and Ari's …I called Eli immediately to see if it was true. When it was confirmed I fell to the ground in despair. I could not breathe. I could not think. I could not fight. I have lost two of my children Agent Gibbs. TWO!" She lifted two of her fingers and showed him to emphasize her point.
"I will not lose all three. I will not let her die. I promise you. I will not give up on her. Every drop of blood running through my veins will have to be spilled upon this floor before I ever let her down. I wasn't allowed to be with my children for fifteen years. In that time I lost two children and my husband. I didn't lose my husband to death, but to the truth. I realized he is a coward, and everything he has told me has been a lie. In the fifteen years I was: captured by the Russian's and I had trusted Eli to save me. Months went by and I never saw a sign of him. I met Mike Franks when he was investigating a murder, with NIS, and he happened to stumbled upon the warehouse were I was kept underground. I was skin and bones, as he described me. I could not walk without his help. He dragged me out of that hell. I owed him my life." Rivka released her hold on Gibbs and picked up the picture of Mike and her on a mission when they were younger. She felt a horrible sorrow in the pit of her stomach.
"He was such a beautiful man and very handsome. As I look at him now in this photo I long to speak with him and have a drink with him. Mike helped me so much and he wanted nothing in return. I could not believe his generosity." Rivka continued to look at the picture as if she was reliving the mission.
The picture showed Mike and Rivka, gun's drawn in the hall way of a fancy hotel in Moscow. Both their faces were unmistakable. Gibbs grew curious and began to ask questions.
"What were you two doing there?"
"We were looking for a man. I don't know his name. All I know is what he looks like and that he was Brazilian. We found him that night. It was raining. I remember it very clearly. We were lead to him, after I had found a letter in a room Aleksandr was supposedly staying, but it turned out to be a trap and that night was when I discovered it was a trap. Mike shot the man after he spoke. He would have been killed by Aleksandr anyway, or worse, tortured until he died. We believed if we killed him it would be more humane. Than again murder is never humane." Rivka sighed and continued.
"This night was a very special night; at least it was for me. I do not mean the mission part, but what happened after." Rivka admired the handsome young man in the picture and slowly brushed her finger across his face.
"He had beautiful eyes. I remember them so clearly because on that night... on that night Mike and I…" Rivka stopped herself and Tony's jaw fell in surprise.
"What! What'd they do?" Tony practically yelled and Ziva shifted uncomfortably.
Rivka changed the subject,"As I was saying before. When Mike had taken me to safety NIS waited until I was healed to speak with me. Later on when I was able to explain who I was, he offered to help me find Aleksandr. I accepted his help. We have been going on mission, after mission, after mission, just trying to find information on the man. Now that I finally have him in my grip, I make a mistake. I was going to kill him in a big city in Bangkok, which was the last place I chase him to. He saw me before I pulled the trigger, and I ran. He searched my face, my life, my family. I know this because I went to the little apartment he was staying at in Bangkok and there was a message on the computer. It was there because he knew I would find it. The messaged had pictures of everything before 1996 when I first went after him. It showed Ziva, Tali, Eli and I altogether. Under it read in red, Death to Ziva. I can not do anything but wait and hope I see him first. So I can protect my family, and all those years of hard work between Mike, and I with some help from Eli." Rivka took a pause, and then caught the site of Gibbs eyes.
They were saddened by the memory of his old boss, and Rivka understood Mike had meant a lot to him.
"Mike died a hero. He was my hero, my prince charming or my knight in shining armor." Gibbs laughed and Rivka smiled. It seemed to lighten the tension.
"He was a great man and…so are you." She placed a hand on his cheek let it fall.
"Is that all you need to know?" Rivka asked hoping the questions were over.
"Yeah, let's go see what we can do about Aleksandr." Gibbs yet again said the name slower then the sentence.
The red light on the interrogation video went black signifying it was over. Tony and Ziva waited in observation for a while. Tony was the first to speak.
"Hey! Mr. Brains…ya you with the headphones on. Can't you see the interrogations over? Can you give us a minute?" The young tech worker or better known as the young man who recorded interrogation, left observation disgruntled.
Tony waited for the man to leave to speak with Ziva who hadn't moved.
"You alright?" Tony wondered.
"I am fine Tony." Ziva lied. She was boiling with so many emotions inside. She had just witness her mother somewhat admit that she was cheating on her father with Mike.
"You sure, because that's a lot to take in Ziva." Tony desperately wanted her to speak to him, but she never would.
"I said I am fine." Ziva snapped and looked him straight in the eye.
"Alright…" Tony said soothingly.
Ziva was drowning in the tension between them and wanted, so badly, to leave his side. She decided to leave and when she opened the door there stood Agent Gibbs.
"Dinozzo!" Gibbs barked the senior field agent's name loudly.
"Yes boss." Tony spoke acknowledging he was listening.
"Take Ziva home. Make sure she get's some rest. You stay with her until further notice."
"Got it boss I'll do-"Tony was cut off before he could finish.
"No, Gibbs I can take care of myself. My mother's probably lying to scare me or something, but I'll be fine-"
"David it's called an order for a reason." Gibbs said in a brighten tone.
"Goodnight Gibbs." Ziva stated defeated.
"Oh c'mon it won't be that bad." Tony attempted to comfort her as he walked up behind her and guided toward the bullpen.
"It'll be fun just the two of us." Tony finished and Ziva rolled her eyes.
"I am not going to enjoy this." Ziva replied wry of Gibbs decision.
Thank you, for all your lovely comments and guesses. I thought it was really fun to do that little guessing game thing. I am glad some participated. Anyway, here's another concluded chapter. Thanks again and I hope you enjoyed it!
P.S You'll see more Tiva next chapter!
Agent T