A/N: Sorry it took me so long to post. I've had finals and since Spring break has started I've been watching my nephew and helping my mom with my other brother's scholarships…. Ok, enough excuses. Here's the chapter!
McGee and Lee pulled into the hospital parking lot. It was conspicuously empty. They turned to watch as another car pulled in beside them. Director Shepard had been able to get into contact with Mossad and two of their agents were meeting them. McGee eyed the two agents. There was a man and a woman, and both looked as deadly as Ziva.
The group quickly gathered and attempted to form some sort of plan. Lee wanted to go in pretending to need medical attention, the Mossad officers wanted to walk in with their guns drawn, while McGee wanted to see if they could do any sort of reconnaissance without committing to a plan yet. Finally it was decided that McGee and Lee would go in, gauge the situation, and if necessary the Mossad could come in guns blazing.
McGee's stomach tightened as they approached the hospital doors. Neither he nor Lee spoke Spanish, so they were going in as tourists. Lee was pretending to be ill, grasping her stomach and leaning against McGee's side. The doors slid open and they walked into the Emergency department waiting room. Almost immediately two ELN militants jumped to their feet from their chairs against the wall. They started shouting in rapid Spanish, waving their guns threateningly. McGee tried to steel himself as he held his hands up placatingly.
"My girlfriend is sick. She needs help. Medicina," McGee pled in a desperate tone that he didn't have to fake.
The ELN continued to shout and McGee was on the verge of pulling Lee out of the hospital when a doctor arrived. He spoke quietly to the ELN, receiving shouts in return. He seemed to find some courage and he said something to the militants that caused them to pause and then nod. He turned to McGee and Lee and asked in accented English, "You need help?" McGee nodded and the doctor motioned them to follow him.
They followed him down the hall, walking slowly to give McGee the chance to glance through the windows of the different rooms. They passed the trauma rooms first, in the third door McGee caught a glimpse of Ziva sitting by Tony's side. She appeared to be crying, and it took every ounce of McGee's will to walk past and keep up the charade.
The doctor finally stopped and opened the door to an examination room. "Wait here," he said, motioning them inside, "Nurse come." He gave them a reassuring smile and left them alone in the room. McGee spun around to face Lee, who had already sat down on the bed.
"I saw Ziva and Tony in a room a couple of doors down. You stay here and if the nurse comes tell her I went to find the bathroom. I'm going to ask Ziva how many of the ELN are here, and then we'll try to think of something."
Lee nodded and quickly removed her gun from her waistband, hiding it under the mattress of the examination bed.
Ziva sat holding Tony's hand and staring at the floor. She suddenly felt incredibly tired, so she pushed back her chair and rested her forehead on the bed next to Tony's shoulder.
The door opened quietly, but Ziva didn't turn to look. Another nurse to come in and tell her Tony's condition had worsened. She wasn't sitting up for that. A hand clasped down on her shoulder and a voice whispered in her ear, "Ziva, it's me."
Ziva jumped to a standing position, turning around. Stunned by the sight of McGee, her mouth dropped open and she backed up slightly, afraid she was hallucinating.
"Ziva, how's Tony?" McGee asked, quietly looking down at Tony's inert form.
Recovering from her shock, she joined McGee in looking at their fallen partner. "They think he may be going into septic shock," Ziva answered, trying to keep the emotion from reaching her voice.
McGee eyed her curiously before refocusing on the mission ahead. "How many ELN are here?" He asked in the most professional tone he could muster.
"Four," she answered, swiftly shifting into her agent mode. "Three have hand guns and one has an assault rifle."
"There were only two in the waiting room; do you know where the other two are?" McGee asked urgently. Every moment he spent in the room increased his chance of being discovered. Ziva shook her head.
"OK. I'm going to go back and talk with Lee, we also have two Mossad officers waiting outside. You just stay here and I'll try to come back to update you." With that McGee gave Ziva's hand a quick squeeze and left the room.
The car pulled into a small camp and Gibbs knew that they had reached their destination. The car stopped and his door was quickly opened from the outside. Stepping out, Gibbs caught sight of a stern looking ELN member, scowling at him from over the bandanna that covered his face. Two more ELN stood behind him.
The stern man, whom Gibbs promptly recognized as their leader, walked forward and placed himself a scant two feet away from Gibbs.
"The money, Mr. DiNozzo," the man asked immediately.
"Where's my son?" Gibbs asked back, trying to strike a balance between subservience and defiance.
The stern man's eyes seemed to smile maliciously. Suddenly his hand shot out and he grabbed the suitcase from Gibbs' hand. Tossing it back to another militant, he backed away. Quickly opening the suitcase, the other two ELN starting rifling through the money. One of them yelled something in Spanish to his boss.
Pausing for only a second, the stern man walked back up to Gibbs and pointed his finger at him. "Where is the rest?" He struggled in his broken English. His anger emanated from him and Gibbs had to struggle not to smirk.
"You'll get it when I get my son," Gibbs answered icily.
