One Last Mission

"Bevakasha, Gibbs." She murmured, hearing their approach, but unable to see. The darkness was all-consuming, pressing against her like an uninvited visitor. She tensed her shoulders, hoping against hope that she was dreaming, but knowing she wasn't.

A door slammed shut, and she tried not to flinch. Ziva felt the movement of the intruders feet coming closer to her … they stopped mere inches from her body. Discreetly, she pulled at her wrists, trying to free herself to no avail.

"Grandpa is sleeping, yes?" He asked. She felt his hand ghosting her cheek.

"I will bury you." She promised. "I will bury you for what you did to him." Her words were dangerous, and cold as ice.

She heard a chuckle before the man began to sing – low at first, under his breath, then louder, until he was laughing and singing the taunt at the top of her lungs. It sent chills down her spin even as she tried to stop them.

"One blind rat," He whispered. "One blind rat, see how she runs." His voice was a taunt. "See how she runs, she went after the farmer's wife, who cut off her tail with a carving knife, she'll never see another thing in her life, one blind rat!" He spat out the words.

She swallowed at the modified lyrics. "Does that make you the farmer's wife?" She whispered seductively.

There was a terrible roar from the man at her ruining of his taunt. She'd managed to enrage him. She waited for the blow that never came.

What happened was worse.

There was the sound of a fist connecting, a snap and a sickening crunch. Ziva stifled the shout that rose to her lips – why hadn't she known that they'd use him to get to her? She could hear him, conscious through the beating, knew that if she screamed they'd only prolong it …

Flashback

He had eyes on her car, speeding on the freeway. The red mini cooper was swerving in and out of traffic – he kept a two car distance behind and he knew that if she saw him, she'd have already made that known.

From the direction of the car, and from what he'd inferred, he could only guess that she was headed to the airport.

The silence of the car was broken by the ringing of his phone.

"McGee, you'd better have good news for me." He said, keeping his eyes on the speeding red car.

"Uh, boss, she booked a flight-"

"Where, McGee!"

"Uh, this airport in Israel, Hatzor-"

"Time and flight number?"

There was a shuffling heard in the background, and then Abby's voice was on the line instead of McGee's. She rattled off the time and flight number, and he hung up without saying another word, dialing another number.

"This is NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs." He said. "I need you to apprehend a potential suspect, NCIS Special Agent Ziva David."

Author's Notes:

SSW: Well, this chapter was interesting to write, mainly because of the typos that occur when you only have two hours of sleep. Throughout the course of this chapter, Gibbs has a clone that acts as a cell phone (a "self phone"), Gibbs' "found" rang, Gibbs danced the can can on Rukia's dining room table and left a message after the beat, and became Michael Jackson. Yes. I'm serious. CAN CAN WELCOME TO THE CAN CAN. Gibbs phone happened to be the ringtone of thriller, Gibbs phone was on vibrate, and we got weird looks in the school library.

And RUKIA AND DAWN NEED TO BE QUIET SO SOMEONE CAN TYPE.