A/N: yeah, again I apologize for the lateness but I've been mega busy and I'm getting a light break this weekend so that's why I'm posting. Please review, seriously they make me write faster and inspire me to keep going.
Tony walked out to his car and drove back to his apartment. He had to rest and recharge a little. He was running on empty and felt dead.
He walked in and put his keys down on the coffee table. The apartment felt ridiculously...empty. He undressed and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. He was surprised at what he saw in the mirror. The man in front of him looked ten years older and sickly. He had dark circles under his eyes and needed a shave. His face looked thinner and his stomach promptly reminded him that he needed food to work properly with a growl.
After his shower, Tony felt remarkably better but was still exhausted. He collapsed, naked onto their bed where he fell asleep after a few seconds.
He awoke a couple of hours later and started to get ready to get back on the case. Instead of a suit, he put on his favorite pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and polo sweater. He tucked his gun into his waistband in the small of his back and tucked his badge into his back pocket. He grabbed a sandwich from the kitchen and picked his car keys back up. He walked down to his car and as soon as he got in, his phone rang.
"DiNozzo, you can come back to NCIS for now." Gibbs said.
"boss I'm..."
"let me rephrase that. Come to NCIS now." and with that he hung up.
"fine. On my way." Tony muttered. His brain was mulling over everything that he had just learned, the entire way.
He walked into NCIS figuring out his next move. He had to talk to Eli about what exactly was going on with all of this.
Tony walked into the bullpen to find only McGee waiting for him.
"Wheres bossman?" Tony asked as he looked around.
"right behind you." Gibbs said.
Tony turned to not only find Gibbs but also, Malachi, Liat, and none other than Director Eli David himself.
"Director." Tony said and held out his hand. His own actions surprised him but then again, the man did have an army of assassins at his command and Tony did just knock up his daughter out of wedlock. And then lost her.
Eli took his hand slightly awkwardly.
"Special Agent DiNozzo."
"We need to talk about these recent...events." he said. Tony could see the worry in his eyes.
"I agree." Tony said, he scanned the catwalk looking for the Jarvis.
"not here." McGee said realizing what he was doing.
"then we can talk freely." Eli said.
"still, maybe we should move to the conference room." Tony said looking around for any people that may be loyal to Jarvis.
The group moved to the conference room only to be met by Abby and Ducky when they arrived.
They all went in and sat down around the table and on the couch.
"what do we know about what happened to Ziva?" Eli asked.
"she was supposed to go out of Dulles to New York then to Paris but their plane crashed by Boston. She survived along with the man accompanying her and was taken care of. They're safe and are soon to be moving on to Paris." Gibbs said.
"you talked to her?" Tony said quickly.
"briefly." Gibbs said.
"and you didn't tell me?" Tony said angrily.
"I'm telling you now DiNozzo. They're fine." Gibbs said calmly.
Tony noticed his emphasis on they and calmed down. The room was silent for a moment before Tony spoke.
"Director David, I need to know what happened when Jarvis was CIA."
"Jarvis is a fool. He sold his soul to the devil and still hasn't gotten it back. What happened then does not matter. What is happening now, he is punishing me. I told the CIA and FBI and my daughter to look into him. Now tell me agent DiNozzo, I know you have such...feelings for my daughter but you are much more...blatant, about it now. Are you seeing eachother?" he said quickly.
Tony swallowed. "yes."
"do you love her?" he asked with a small smile.
"yes." Tony said without even having to think.
Eli hmphed with an odd smile on his face. Tony couldn't tell if he thought it was funnily absurd or he was genuinely happy.
"Enough with the 20 questions." Malachi said. "We tracked Kort and company back here."
"company?" McGee asked.
"An up and coming French arms dealer." Liat spoke up. "he is back undercover. Or so he says."
"They were just doing business in Israel right?" Tony asked hoping that no one would ask where he got his intel from.
"supposedly, the only problem is, we don't know with who or why but we are speculating that it was Hamas seeing as how Alina Haswari is now here at the same time." Malachi said.
Eli looked slightly troubled but didn't say anything.
"do we know anything about what they're doing here other than 'just business'?" McGee asked.
"unfortunately not." Liat said.
"i think it's safe to assume that they're planning something in the states seeing as Alina wouldn't come here on normal business circumstances." Malachi said.
Someone's phone rang and they all checked to see who's it was. Tony's caller I'd read restricted. He had an odd gut feeling about it. He excused himself and went into the hallway.
"hel-"
"I have news," it was Alina. "but it cannot be discussed over the phone. Meet me at the little coffee shop right outside of the Navy yard in 10 minutes. Do not be late." with that she hung up leaving Tony semi speechless.
He ran to his desk and grabbed his gun and badge before running to the elevator. He would really have to hurry out.
He made it to the coffee shop with about a minute to spare. He looked around nervously as the wind whipped his tie and hair.
He waited for any sign of Alina but didn't see anything.
Suddenly, a sack of some sort had been thrown over his head and he was pulled into a van he assumed. His gun was taken along with his knife. The floor was hard and none of his captors said a word.
"can you at least take the hood off?" Tony asked. "it doesn't smell that wonderful." he was trying to diffuse the situation with a little humor but instead got a swift kick to his side. He felt the air leave his lungs.
"ooh. Ok I guess not." he said as he winced and tried to recover his composure. "was the sack really neccessary? I think a simple blindfold would suffice."
He was kicked again but this time he got what he wanted because one of his captors spoke.
"Shut up." he heard in a thick French accent.
These were the same guys that were after Ziva. After all, he didn't believe in coincidences. But what could they want? He didn't know where Ziva was. If they wanted him dead, he would be dead by now.
"do you guys have anything to..." he started but was interrupted with another, much harder kick. He was knocked flat over so his face was pressed into the hard floor of the van. He felt a needle being jabbed into his neck and his vision started to get fuzzier and fuzzier until all he saw was black and he faded into unconsciousness.
Tony slowly came to. He found himself tied to a chair. He looked around, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. He smelled must and mold. He must've been in a basement of some sort. He heard a rat scuttle by to the side of him and jumped with a slight shiver running up his spine. He was in pitch black darkness. No light, no sound, only smell. And rats. Of course it had to be rats.
Anthony DiNozzo was not afraid of the dark, but this scared him. Not really the room but more of the entire situation. He felt his resolve start to crumble as he thought about what could happen to Ziva. Not only Ziva but also their baby now. What the hell was he going to do? He was captured. How can he help save her if he's captured? He was stupid to trust a terrorist. But then again, Ziva trusted her. She also trusted Rivkin though.
He didn't know how long he sat there, alone with his thoughts.
Finally, a light was seen directly in from of him. It was almost blinding. He squinted and looked down to the side. He heard footsteps come closer and suddenly the room was full of light.
He blinked quickly and turned his head up to find a pair of very familiar eyes. His eyes adjusted and found a very familiar face.
"Jeanne..." Tony said in surprise. Then it all made sense. Everything. He was going to kill Kort for blindsiding him like this. He knew damn well.
"Tony." she said bitterly as if his name were poison.
"Jeanne." Tony said slowly.
"it seems we have quite a bit to talk about." she said as she slid a table from the wall over in front of him. She laid out a picture of Ziva with that mornings newspaper in her hands. She looked tired, but overall unhurt. He felt some relief but was soon reminded that she was after all captured.
"well actually, it seems you do." Tony said. He was trying his best to put up his best bravado but it certainly wasn't easy.
"and what might that be about?"
"well, for starters, why am I duck taped to a chair?" Tony said snidely letting his fear show as anger.
"all in due time." she said. "first off, why did you contact Alina?"
"I'm trying to find Ziva. Looks like I've found her."
"hmm." she muttered.
"hmm... What?" Tony said.
Jeanne stayed silent for a moment.
"I have a proposition for you." she said with no emotion.
"I'm all ears." Tony said.
"you are my inside man." She said. "you get me what I need and around the law."
"and what do I get?" Tony asked.
"your dear precious Ziva and child get, relocated, shall we say."
"relocated?" Tony asked.
"permanently. You never see her again. If you try to find her or contact her, they die. She tries to contact you, they die." Jeanne said.
Tony clenched his jaw. What was he supposed to do? He didn't exactly have much of a choice. It amazed him that just the knowledge that he was going to be a father immediately made him want to take it even if he was being a traitor to his country, his job, and his friends.
"I need your answer." she said impatiently.
He didn't respond. He was still trying to figure a way out of this mess.
"3, 2..." she started.
"yes." he growled.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked.
"yes!" he yelled. "but on one condition."
"I'm listening." she said.
"I get to see her one last time." he said, his eyes pleading for some sort of compassion.
Jeanne thought about his request. Why should she? He ruined her life. He used her. Now she was using him. She was going to ruin his. Why not?
She narrowed his eyes at her and walked out of the room.
Ziva awoke to a dark room. She could barely make out the shape of a door in the far corner.
She tried to free her hands which were tied behind her back. Her entire body was sore and she was still groggy from whatever they had used to knock her out.
She looked up as the door opened but was forced to look away because the light was too bright. She let her eyes adjust for a moment to see a woman walking behind her. She felt her bindings loosen and then fall off completely only to have a gun shoved into the back of her neck.
"get up," She said cooly.
Ziva did as she was told.
Jeanne stepped a few feet away but kept the gun trained on Ziva the entire time.
"any false moves and a bullet goes into you back." Jeanne said. "now walk."
Ziva did as she was told. Jeanne directed her down a hallway and finally down stairs to the basement.
"open the door." Jeanne said.
Ziva hesitated for a moment before reaching out for the knob.
Tony looked up quickly as the door opened.
"Ziva..." he said.
"Tony!" Ziva gasped and ran to him.
"you have five minutes." Jeanne said and shut the door behind her. Both Tony and Ziva heard the tumbler roll as the door locked.
Ziva immediately undid his bindings. He stood up and took her into his arms. She pressed her face into the side of his neck as he breathed in her smell. He pulled away slightly to get a good look at her. She looked exhausted but otherwise alright.
"are you ok?" Tony asked as he put a hand up to cup her cheek.
"I'm fine Tony." she smiled softly. "we're fine."
Tony couldn't help a smile overwhelm his face. He leaned down and kissed her. He slowly lowered his hands to the hem of her shirt and pulled it up slightly to reveal her barely noticeable bump. He put his hand over it and kissed her with more passion. They kept kissing for a few minutes before Ziva pulled away.
"Tony, we need to find a way put of here." she said with pained urgency.
"Ziva..." Tony trailed off.
She pulled away completely and went back to the door, trying to find a way to pick the lock.
"We can find a way out Tony, I know it. We can escape and then we can..."
"Ziva no." Tony cut her off.
Ziva stopped and turned around to face him.
"what?" she asked, confused.
"I made a deal with Jeanne," Tony swallowed.
Ziva gave him a questioning look.
He continued. "I'm her inside guy and in exchange, she relocates both of you somewhere."
"that's ok." Ziva smiled hopefully. "you can find me, Gibbs..."
"no, Ziva." Tony looked down. "If I try to find you, she'll kill you." he looked back up to meet her gaze. He was surprised to find tears in her eyes threatening to fall.
"youre giving up?" she stated in disbelief as she took a few steps forward and he went the rest of the way to her.
He slowly wrapped his arms around her. She wrapped hers around his neck and hid her face there. She couldn't help the tears fall as she realized exactly what that meant. It meant that she would never see him again. It meant that she would raise their child alone. And it meant that her child would grow up without a father.
He stroked her hair as she cried. He picked her up and moved them over to the corner. He pulled her down with him, onto his lap. He held her as she played with the hairs on the back of his neck and he breathed in her sweet scent.
"I love you Ziva. I always will." He sighed and kissed her forehead.
"I love you too Tony." Ziva said. She slowly picked her head up to look into his eyes. He looked back into hers and silently tried to reassure her that everything was going to be alright even though he was skeptical himself.
They both tried not to think of this as their last time being together but given their current situation, it was hard for them both. So there they sat for another 2 minutes and 6 seconds, wishing it would go on forever.
A/N: review!