IMPORTANT NOTE: I own gaben a great thank for this chapter. She has worked really hard on this and corrected many, many mistakes and given me many suggestions to help me through the story without messing things up. THANK YOU GABEN! After you read this story you should check out her profile. All of her stories are GREAT! Okay now that everything is said you can start read
(Don't forget to review, though they make write quicker and better)
The Friendly Giant
"Gibbs? Is Ziva….." Tony didn't dare to say the last word. He kept his gun aimed at the large giant of a man who stood still with both hands raised up in the air.
"She's alive. McGee, check him," ordered Gibbs, keeping his gun sights on Maalik and indicated the fallen intruder slumped at the doctor's feet.
Tim knelt down next to Kraig and felt for a pulse. "He's alive boss." He said as he felt the heartbeats pulsating from the man's neck.
"McGee, press the alarm in the next room. Ziva needs a doctor."
"Yes, boss." He quickly ran over to the room. "Where is it?"
"Red button; next to her bed!" Maalik advised, then turned to Gibbs as the alarm went off, "She will survive Mister Gibbs." Maalik said and wanted to take his hands down, but raised them again as Gibbs made an appellative movement with his gun. "There are no blood bubbles in the corners of her mouth that means her trachea isn't injured and if her carotid or vertebral artery had been hit the pool of blood would be much bigger and she would be much paler. The muscles in her neck may be severely damaged, but nothing more."
"Then why hasn't she woken up yet?" Tony snarled.
"Her body is in shock. She will wake up in a few hours."
"Gibbs? Can I come out now?" A little voice asked, heard from the small opening of the door.
"No, you stay right where you are!" Gibbs ordered firmly.
Nadia however had other intentions. Slowly she opened the door and peeked out as she spotted Maalik her face lit up. "MAALIK!" She yelled, ran to him and hugged his leg. "Can I ride on your shoulders like I did at Mommy's and Daddy's wedding? Please say yes." She begged and looked pleadingly up at him.
"Nadia! Get back here, NOW!" Gibbs admonished afraid the doctor might hurt her.
"No!" Nadia replied defiantly. "Mally is my friend. He's a nice giant. Not a bad one."
Maalik did not touch the child, which was scowling at Gibbs and clinging to Maalik's legs, "Mr. Gibbs, handcuff me if you want and then I'll explain everything." He held out his hands towards Tony, who quickly took out some handcuffs and put them around Maalik's wrists.
"Now, one of you compress your friends wound until the emergency team get here I will just sit here." Maalik said and sat down next to Kraig who still was unconscious.
McGee jumped at the suggestion and quickly returned with a towel from Nadia's' room. He bent down next to Ziva and placed the towel firmly on her neck.
Gibbs moved forward keeping his gun aimed while Tony also cuffed Kraig next to the Doctor. Nadia sat next to Maalik as he had dropped to the floor. He then holstered his weapon and grabbed Nadia, hoisting her easily into the air with one arm and tucked her under his arm. He moved back towards Nadia room where she would not be witness to Ziva's bleeding wounds.
"No Gibbs, let me go, don't hurt Maalik, please Gibbs."
"Nadia I'm not going to hurt anyone, just keep still and stay in your Bed." He put her down and ushered her through the door then closed it.
A doctor and three nurses came rushing through the door. They froze as they saw Maalik sitting handcuffed on the ground an unconscious man next to him and a bleeding woman on the ground.
"Maalik?" The doctor asked, "What….. what happened here?"
"I'll explain later Michael. Take care of the agent, there. He said pointing his cuffed hands to Ziva's slumped form. "She's wounded. Mrs. Van Cleave is okay, I'm okay. GO."
"But ,you…. You're bleeding." He stated.
"I KNOW, NOW HELP HER!" Maalik growled angrily, what the hell was wrong with this man. A woman was badly hurt in front of his eyes and he didn't move a finger. The three nurses however jumped into action. They went over to Ziva and knelt down next to her.
Maalik realized that his colleague still did not move, obviously shocked and mouth gapping like a fish on the dry. He looked over and started to bark commands, "Take her to room 543. It's free. She needs a serum transfusion and a blood transfusion. The wound also needs to be disinfected. Look for the exit wound and check to see if the bullet has damaged her cervical." He turned back to his friend, "Michael for God's sake MOVE!"
Gibbs went over to the man and slapped him on the back of the head. "You heard the man, MOVE!" He yelled. Michael paled and hurried into the room the nurses had carried Ziva. Gibbs knelt down next to Maalik.
"Let me take a look at your arm." He said gently. Maalik nodded and lifted his arm. "Where do I find some bandages?"
"Room 543 grey closet." Maalik replied. He started to feel the pain now as the adrenaline and the frenzy of the fight slowly subsided.
Gibbs went into the room and saw one of the nurses insert an infusion needle into Ziva's left arm, while Michael checked the wound. The young intern seemed to have regained control over himself, working quickly and confidently. Satisfied that Ziva was in good hands now, he went out to the corridor again and looked at doctor Maalik, before returning to the cupboard to retrieve the bandages. He went back to Maalik who was still sitting on the ground eyeing the unconscious man, who was then taken to another room by two newly arrived male orderlies.
Gibbs wrapped the bandage around Maalik's forearm. He didn't trust the doctor, but Maalik needed help. "Di Nozzo! Take him to the NCIS and get him to Ducky. This cut needs stitches."
"But Boss, Ziva?"
"Let the doctors do their Job, Tony. I'll call you later and tell you how Ziva is. Take the gun with you." Gibbs hooked up the gun lying on the floor next to Maalik and dropped it into a plastic bag then handed it to Tony, "Get this to Abby."
Meanwhile Tim led Maalik down to the lift. Gibbs looked over to the room 543. The doctor just stepped back from the bed revealing a sleeping Ziva. Michael hurried over to the next room and started to check the stranger. Gibbs followed, looking at the man's pale face, while the doctor listened to his labored chest. Gibbs took out his mobile phone and took a photo of the man's face, then sent Abby the picture together with the order to perform a face recognition and identity check.
"GIBBS!" Nadia yelled suddenly. He spun around and looked over to her. She was standing in the frame of the door holding her stuffed elephant tightly pressed against her chest and looked over to him. "Where's Mally?"
He ran over to her and crouched down in front of her. "Nothing's wrong Nadia, Tim's taken him to NCIS."
Nadia went to run off towards the double doors of the ward. Gibbs grabbed the back of her pajama top reeling her back in and scooping her up, he cradled her against his chest, "Hey. It's alright, he's alright. Settle down."
Nadia kicked and wriggled trying to get out of Gibbs grip, "No, let me go with him, he's my daddy's friend. He's my giant friend, Mally." That be so little one he thought, but he may also be responsible for his death. Somehow though my gut tells me it's been unintentional, He thought while struggling to calm the child, "Nadia enough!"
Nadia in full tantrum mode tried to pry Gibbs hands away from around her chest. When they didn't budge she dropped her head and bit the webbing between one of Gibbs thumbs.
"Arrhh…" Gibbs released one hand but the other arm held tight as he dropped to one knee and stood the child on her feet, spun her sideways and swatted her backside once. "Hey, No Biting! Now stop this!" he warned.
Nadia stopped immediately, tears forming in the wells of her eyes as she turned to Gibbs, "But he's my friend Gibbs, I..I..afraid for him."
"Okay, I know, I know." He cuddled her, then rubbed her back trying to calm her and stop the tears.
Doctor Michael came from the room and spotted the crying child. "Is your daughter okay?" He asked.
Gibbs nodded. "What about him?" He asked referring to the patient the doctor had just treated.
"Not good I'm afraid, he has a cranial fracture. They're sending up a crash cart, we need to get him to ICU."
"Okay, but my agent goes with you, I have some security sent up…. How is Ziva?" He asked after a break.
"Stable. She'll be alright. They will operate and sew the sinews together a surgeons coming up. The nurses are prepping her now."
"Thank you."
"I wanna go!" Nadia complained tugging on Gibbs sleeve.
"No, I think you need to get back into bed, aren't you tired? It's midnight!"
"No I wanna go with you."
"You can take your little girl home if you like; she is out of danger now. It may be best that she go with you." suggested Doctor Michael.
Frankly Gibbs was relieved at the suggestion, she would definitely be safer back at headquarters, "How's that Nadia, do you think you can stay awake long enough for a drive to NCIS to see Abby?"
"Uhh uhh, will Abby read me a story, bout all the dwarfs this time or maybe Jack And The Beanstalk, cept make the giant friendly like my Mally? Will I see Goliath and Mally?"
"Yep, yep and we'll see."
"Oh okay then, cause I'm not that tired yet."
She raised her arms towards him. He picked her up and she put her head in the crook of his neck cradling her stuffed elephant against her chest. A few seconds later she was fast asleep.
"Not tired yet, huh? You're a bad liar Nadia." Gibbs whispered into Nadia's ear and kissed her forehead. "Okay, all I need is to interrogate a friendly giant and a ton of coffee." He mumbled on his way to the parking lot.
NCIS Headquarters
Gibbs carefully lay Nadia down on a sofa in the conference room. She curled herself together to a little ball and put her thumb in her mouth. He fetched the blanket Abby had found before, tucked her in and assured himself twice that she really was warm enough, before he carefully closed the door and headed for the morgue where Ducky was still sewing up Maalik. This doctor had a lot of question to answer.
As he exited the elevator Tony came out of the room carrying a blood-soaked bandage.
"Hi, boss. Ducky's just finished."
"Good. Continue your research after you've bagged that and get it to Abby. See if it matches any samples from the crime scenes. ." Gibbs ordered and rubbed his eyes. He still hadn't got a coffee.
"Boss. Ziva?"
" She's fine, Tony. No major arteries were hit. They're sewing her up now. We'll know more about any muscle damage in a week or two."
Tony quietly nodded, and turned towards the elevator.
"Hey! Called Gibbs, viewing room one in five minutes agent, Di Nozzo."
"On It Boss!"
Maalik Kutesa was sitting on the chair while Ducky made the last stitch. The Afro-American was admiring Ducky's handwork. "Really quick and very neat, doctor." He praised.
"Thank you. You know normally my patients are dead, but I enjoy it to work with living people sometimes. They can give you an answer when you talk to them."
Maalik chuckled. "I wouldn't be so sure of that doctor. People just want a doctor's help and then they disappear again and they will never thank you for your work. Children are different, one time I had a little girl who had a strep throat. She didn't want to let me to do the test, wailed all the time and tried to bite me. In the end I managed to make the test and as I turned my back to her she put her pacifier in her mouth and went silent. When I returned with the result and gave the father the prescription the girl jumped down from the gurney, came to me all smiles and a mischievous glint in her eyes, thanked me and shook my hand. I swear she did all of it on purpose."
Ducky grinned. "Yes, I can also remember a similar case, when I worked….."
"Are you finished now Ducky?" Gibbs interrupted.
"Yes." Ducky collected his stuff and went out of the room.
Gibbs sat down on the other chair and looked at the doctor who leaned back in the chair and cracked his knuckles.
"Shall I start?" Maalik asked.
"Not yet, I like to tape this. Lets go."
Gibbs escorted Maalik to the elevators and headed to the interrogation rooms. Once there Gibbs, hit the controls to the video recording and sat on a chair opposite Maalik. Gibbs nodded, "Okay start."
"I guess, you've already figured out my past in the CNDP. I was a member there, even one of the leaders, but I left them. I saw what they did to the people. Since then they have wanted to kill me. Adan and his companions came to America to sell diamonds to buy weapons. They were American citizens and had joined the marines, but had still kept their ties with CNDP. They still sympathized with their families, their people and their needs. They thought it would be simple to take some weapons from the base. They worked here for several years, thinking that they were doing good; fighting the oppressors and getting help for those that were starving or ill-treated, wounded and left orphaned. But as they watched TV and saw what the CNDP did with the weapons they had given to them, they became disillusioned.
Adan was the first one who became skeptic and after he met Marie he wanted to leave the CNDP. He found me after months of research, but he didn't sell me out. Instead he came to me and asked me to be his best man and told me that he wanted to leave the CNDP after one last job.
We knew each other from earlier times, better times. We often played together as kids. I was startled of his offer, but of course I said yes. It was at their wedding I met Nadia," Maalik sighed and closed his eyes as the memories filled him.
"She was the cutest flower girl ever. We fought out the title for the best cake-eater; I would never have dreamed of that such a little girl can eat that much cake. However Adan wanted to leave and that's when Abdulla, my brother, showed up. He convinced him to make one last job for the CNDP and then he would be free to leave. Adan agreed, but from there on everything went wrong.
Someone sent out agents to kill all the diamond dealers. It all started in Italia, then it spread to the other countries where we had our contacts. Adan and his friends where the last from the CNDP who got killed, after them there weren't any left and now the agent wants to cover his tracks before he could leave the States….."
Maalik stopped and looked up at Gibbs. It was a calculating look as if he thought if he could trust Gibbs. Gibbs was still only watching him waiting for him to continue. Maalik knew it was time to make things right. And this man sitting in front of him, somehow knew it too. Maalik took a huge breath, "My brother Abdulla… He's in hiding at my house. I don't know how long he'll be safe there, but he'll leave tomorrow. I don't want to have anything to do with him anymore. Lock him away and perhaps he'll finally understand that war isn't the answer. The address is 3016 Ordway Street Northwest."
Suddenly Gibbs mobile phone rang, "Abbs?"
"Gibbs the man which the doctor beat up was Kraig King. A professional killer. The FBI has been looking for him for 7 years."
"Thanks Abbs. What about the sample of blood tony bought down to you? Any matches? "
"You tell me Oh great one, what's your gut telling you?"
"My gut tells me No matches, and maybe Jack tackled the wrong beanstalk."
"Oh right, well… I think, Gibbs have you had any coffee yet?"
"Nope, the blood Abbs?"
"Oh yeah, No matches to any of the crime scenes. Only on the gun that belongs to Kraig. I believe what you have there Gibbs are the blood samples of a hero."
"Yeah, that's what I said."
"You did? Oh yeah right; getting you some coffee right way."
Gibbs pressed the end-call button and glanced at the two way mirror. Tony smiled, then flipped his phone as it vibrated in his hand, "Abbs?"
"Tony get Gibbs coffee fast, he's talking all hinky, about Jack And The Beanstalk."
"On it Abbs." He laughed and recouped his attention to the window and the scene in the interrogation room.
Gibbs looked up at Maalik again, "Apparently the man you knocked out in the hospital is a hired killer. We owe you a thank you. So who do you think he was after, you or Nadia?"
"Maybe both of us. Nadia's anaphylactic episode was no accident was it?"
"No I don't think it was. I think Nadia may have seen her father's Killer. Maybe it was you're brother."
"No I don't think so, Adan was going to give him the diamonds. He hasn't got them, and someone has come after him. He too is wounded. But all this mess is his fault. He should have let Adan stop. He should have let us all stop. Do what was right. I… I don't believe he would have hired a killer to kill Adan or Nadia."
"Well lets hope that whoever hired him can be found. I don't think Kraig is going to talk. His condition is serious, I don't think he will live."
"I don't like such scum.…. Am I under arrest?"
Gibbs shook his head and flipped his mobile phone open again. "No, but you aren't going anywhere until we get this guy and this all sorted out." Quickly he dialed Fornell's number. The FBI could take in this Maalik's brother and Kraig King. He and his agent's needed a break.
Meanwhile at 3016 Ordway Street Northwest
The man looked over to the house. Abdulla was still inside. He checked his watch again, although he had done it the minute before. 01:00 Am. The girl should be dead by now and Abdulla would surely be asleep. He stood up and headed slowly over to the house. A few drunken teenagers yelled something in his direction but he ignored them. They wouldn't remember him.
Before he arrived at the door he took out his lock pick. In less than ten seconds he had picked the lock and was inside. He took out his gun and put on the silencer. Carefully he checked all the basement, but he didn't find anyone. He had to be upstairs. Silently he climbed the stairs. The doors upstairs were all open.
Suddenly he heard a noise. He heard a sharp gasp like someone was trying to hold their breath. He stood still and waited. One minute passed and then he heard someone breathe out. He looked; it was the second room to the left. He jumped over to the door frame and pulled the trigger.
The bullet hit Abdulla in the chest. His eyes went wide and shocked he stared down at the red spot on his shirt which was quickly spreading. He stumbled and stepped bumping against his attacker who simply raised his gun and placed it against Abdulla's forehead and pulled the trigger.
TBC.