Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A.N.: Thank you to x-men are awesome, MissOrlane, MissJayne, Pixie-Galaxy-Dust, jstapny, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, LyssLovesTiva33, Tony and Ziva forever, Hiphuggers2 and Tempe4Booth for reviewing!
Ziva knelt in front of the door and peered at the lock, noting that it was a simple pin and barrel. She smiled grimly and then looked through the key hole, trying to glimpse the guards outside, if there were any, but she couldn't make anything out. There was no breathing behind the door though, at least none she could hear, and that was a good sign, at least for them. Jenny still hadn't come back, a few minutes ago she had been sure she could hear her screaming, but the silence since then was oppressive. The women in the room had already begun to mourn Jenny while they could, believing that the silence had signalled her death. Ziva should join them, she should let loose the tears that burned behind her eyes, but she couldn't, not yet. She still had a job to do.
She closed her eyes and leant her head against the cold steel door, hoping to centre her thoughts and get her feelings under control. Soon they would be making a desperate escape from their prison, so silence would be imperative. She was scared though, scared that Jenny could still be alive and that by leaving her behind, she was signing her death warrant, but as the women had said, she had other responsibilities right now and Jenny would never forgive her if she got the others killed just to come looking for her.
Squaring her shoulders Ziva picked up the piece of metal and inserted it into the lock, twisting and turning it until the lock clicked and the door opened slightly. She held it closed for a moment, straining to hear if anyone had been alerted by the noise, but she heard no footsteps or shouts of alarm. She looked behind her at the hopeful yet terrified faces of the women and then nodded to them. They nodded back and grabbed onto their babies and the weakest of them, helping them to their feet.
Ziva looked once more through the keyhole and then pulled the door open, sneaking out into the corridor and making sure no one was around. The corridor was empty so she turned to the women and beckoned them towards her, wincing at the pain the simple action caused her and she watched as they spilled out into the corridor as swiftly as they could.
Recalling what Jenny had told her about the layout of the complex she led them down the left corridor, watching behind her in case someone should try to flank them. It was dark; lights were situated intermittently down the corridor outside certain doors, which she figured must contain something special. The corridor itself ran straight on, occasionally bending slightly, but always going straight on, doors peppering each side of them.
It was eerily quiet, there were no raucous male voices echoing down the corridor to them, where were they all? Ziva shook off the nightmarish visions of them waiting in the corridor ahead of them, guns drawn to just mow them down when they thought they were free. She glanced around her as she led the women down the corridor, watching all of the doors carefully as they passed. What if Jenny was just behind one of those doors? What if she was just waiting for her to open one of them and save her? What if her body was behind one of them? Should she leave it? Should she put the others at risk just to satisfy her curiosity?
She curled her hands into fists and rushed on ahead, trying to get away from the temptation to reach out and turn the handles. The women glanced at her curiously, some fearfully, and she tried to smile back, to show them that everything was alright, but they didn't look convinced. The corridor opened out into a small circular chamber with a set of stairs going up on the left and two doors, one straight ahead, one on the right. Ziva stopped the women in the chamber and snuck closer to the stairs, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Something was wrong here.
Suddenly she heard something that stopped her dead in her tracks, and made the women cower, pressing themselves against the walls of the chamber as if they could become shadows. It was men laughing, chuckling to each other over something, and it was just ahead of them, coming from the door right ahead. Immobilised by the sound they watched in mounting horror as the door handle turned and the door swung slowly inwards.
Jethro shook his head and passed the binoculars to DiNozzo, he had seen enough for himself already to know that this would be a little harder than he had originally thought, but certainly not impossible. The Hamas cell was indeed in this little settlement, and it looked like they had taken over the town hall as their base of operations. They had parked their car and turned off the headlights as soon as they had spotted the lights coming from the supposedly deserted village structures. They had carefully driven a little closer, but were unwilling to give their position away from the sound of the engine. Their caution was well placed but probably not needed as the 'guards' were not exactly top of the range.
There was a squad of three guards stood outside each of the two entrances, and it was obvious that they were not taking their duty seriously. They were drunk, with three or four empty bottles lying at their feet in the sand, and another bottle being kicked back and forth between the two lookout details. They didn't seem to think anyone would attack them, a fatal flaw that Jethro and his team were more than willing to exploit. The only problem that they could see was killing the six men silently when there were only three of them.
Gibbs walked to the boot of the car and opened it, pulling out the case he had brought especially for this kind of situation and opening it. Inside, encased in foam was his trusty sniper rifle, his specialist weapon, the one he was most proficient in, though he was great with any projectile weapon. He lifted it from the casing and put it together, flicking the sight cover off and shouldering the gun by the strap. He walked back around the car and then moved closer to his Agents.
"We could take them out from a distance, but that will definitely give us away. The noise from the guns alone would draw out everyone from inside the complex, and there are more targets now than we could take out safely. If they all came out, we would be seriously out gunned, probably killed. You two will have to get closer and take them out as quick as you can, I'll pick them off from a distance and then join you once they are dead." Jethro said, directing his Agents to do the most reckless thing he had ever asked them to do.
"You won't need to boss, one of the squads is going back in, if we are fast, we can kill the others, stash the bodies and wait for them to come back. We could do this silently after all." Tony reported, a flash of morbid delight in his eyes, making Gibbs frown. As good as DiNozzo was, he had hoped to never see delight at the thought of killing from him, never, though that was probably just the effect of losing someone he cared for so strongly. Gibbs nodded his agreement and passed the rifle to McGee.
"Cover us." He ordered, knowing that the young Agent wouldn't be able to slash someone's throat, but he would be able to save them with a gun. McGee nodded and shouldered the rifle, knowing that he would probably not need to use it, but prepared to learn how to, and fast, just in case. Jethro turned to Tony and they both pulled out their weapons, checking their ammo and then putting them away again. They wouldn't be caught short. Tony bent over to pull a knife from his calf and Jethro saw a flash of gold around his neck. He was wearing Ziva's necklace. Tony caught him looking and pulled the chain out in front of him gently.
"For luck." He explained, tucking it inside his shirt and then checking his knife. Gibbs nodded, accepting the explanation and promptly ignoring the flare of jealousy that erupted inside him. It was his own fault really, but he had nothing to remember Jenny by, no memento of their time together since he had given her the only picture he had kept, the one from Serbia. The rest of her things had been destroyed in the fire that he had started in her home, as much to protect her privacy from the press who would have done anything to infiltrate her home and find her secrets if he had left it standing, as to hide Svetlana's body.
"Let's go." He said, shaking himself from his reverie and starting across the desert towards the settlement under cover of darkness, running flat out and hoping that the remaining guards wouldn't suddenly take their jobs seriously and look out across the moonlit sand. They wouldn't be easy to spot, but it wasn't impossible for them to be seen by the drunks. Once they were two hundred yards away from the enemy they slowed and pressed themselves against the side of the buildings, attempting to catch their breath before trying to sneak any closer. Once they had their breathing under control Gibbs motioned for DiNozzo to follow him and copy him as much as possible.
Gibbs stayed close to the walls of the buildings but didn't press back on them, instead running freely from shadow to shadow, stopping for a few seconds after every move. He signalled to Tony and the both of them moved at the same time, Tony running to the place Gibbs had just vacated and then they froze and repeated the movements, making their way slowly towards the guards, who were none the wiser that their lives would shortly be ending. Soon they were only ten feet away from them, hiding in the shadows the lights created around the building, waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
One of the men picked up a bottle and started to drink, while another walked away from the light to take a leak against the building and the last man began to sing badly. Gibbs signalled to Tony who melted away into the shadows, preparing to take out the man answering a call of nature and Gibbs snuck up behind the one drinking. His knife was out and slashing the throat of the drunk before him in seconds, making sure that it was deep enough to kill him outright. The singing man picked up a bottle and laughed, downing the last of the liquid and looking back at his friend only to see Gibbs right in front of him, his bloody knife already arching towards his throat. The guards body fell to the ground, a low gurgle the only sound he made.
Tony walked into the light, his face a mask of ambivalence, not letting what he had just done get to him. He may have killed a defenceless man, but they had done worse to the women that Agent Hilliard had reported seeing, so his conscience was clear, it should be clear. He stooped and grabbed the feet of one of the bodies, helping Gibbs to drag it out of the light and then returning to move the other. Just in time.
The second squad of drunks came back out of the other exit and resumed their drinking, oblivious to the absence of the other team. Gibbs and Tony made their way towards them, hoping that they would remain oblivious for just a little longer. They watched the men for a few minutes but it was clear that these were the more sober of the two groups and that it would take a lot more alcohol before they were as complacent as the other group.
Deciding to risk it, Tony snuck up behind one of them and slashed his throat, watching Gibbs out of the corner of his eyes as he brought his knife around the neck of another. Dropping the man he had, he took a big chance and stepped forward towards the last man. He entered the circle of light and heard the sharp intake of breath as the guard got ready to scream, but instead he just gurgled as Gibbs' knife struck home. As one they both then advanced on the last man, just as he turned around.
For a second his jaw went slack and he stared at the bodies of his comrades, then his attention snapped back to the men before him and he pulled out his gun. Tony threw his knife at him and it sunk several inches into his neck before his guttural cry of rage could manifest itself. The last guard fell to the ground, staining the sand red and both Gibbs and Tony sighed heavily in relief. They had remained undetected and they were unharmed, a very good outcome.
They took a moment to relax, but the screams that suddenly cut through the air startled them, and they started towards the doorway, peering down into the dimly lit structure. The stairs went down quite far, making seeing inside difficult. The screams of the women that were inside drove them on, and they pressed themselves to the side of the stairwell and descended into the semi darkness.