ATTN READERS: Here is a really long chapter for you! I am as excited about this chapter as I have been with any thus far! PLEASE keep sending me your thoughts in reviews because I love hearing what you think about the different directions I have been taking and such. As usual I will correct any missed type-o's and errors shortly but I get too eager to post!!
~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~
Last Time On The Long Flight Home:
Then just when it seemed the worst was over, all of a sudden the Pilot, Lt. Andrew Carver whom had been walking ahead of his Co-Pilot, Lance Corporal Campbell, without any kind of warning whatsoever, suddenly plunged face first towards the floor, landing in front of his Co-Pilot in a lifeless heap – knocked out from behind by the butt of a 9mm semi-automatic pistol which was now aimed directly at the still frenzied and moaning – Tony.
Gibbs and Vance stopped dead in their tracks, completely taken aback by the unexpected act of violence they had just witnessed – both of them raised their hands up slightly as a signal that they understood the obvious warning.
"Hold on right there, both of you – no one's going anywhere!!"
~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~
The Long Flight Home
Chapter XI
In The Air Above Maryland . . . En Route To Annapolis . . .
As Ducky, Abby and McGee were all impatient during the short flight, anxious to get to Annapolis to learn the fate of their friends . . . and Vance.
McGee and Abby still utilized every moment by continuing to work from their laptops to continue to pull together all of the information that Gibbs had asked them to gather. They had been amazed at the number of other Agents within NCIS who immediately got to work after McGee explained about the possible sabotage to an American Cargo Plane that was carrying Director Leon Vance, Lead Special Agent Gibbs and Senior Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. No one needed any further Intel before they dropped whatever cases they were already working on, and began to assist without question!
So with all of that added help the trio was able to leave NCIS within just 2 hours time so they could swing by Ducky's and then Abby's so they could each thrown a carry on bag of necessary toiletries and clothes together and race to the airport. Fortunately the flight from DC to Annapolis was fairly short so they would not have to wait too much longer to find out how their boss and Tony were doing. But they also had to stay focused on their task of pulling together all of the information that was still coming in from various Agent's that had volunteered to help Tim.
McGee had tried to look up information about flight CD77319Z but to no avail. McGee had even worked his charms on the gorgeous Flight Attendant, Samantha, whom had been flirting with him much to Abby's annoyance. He was able to get her to go in to ask the Pilot's if they could find out the ETA and well being of that flight, since he knew they had the ability to radio ahead to the Airfield's tower. But all they were told is that the tower was unable to give out that information due to a possible terrorist activity 'alert'.
They didn't have to wait much longer and they would be landing and could obtain more information firsthand. 'Alert?? What kind of alert could they mean?' Tim anxiously pondered. Then about twenty minutes before they would have begun the descent to land, an announcement from the cockpit came over the intercom;
"Good evening everyone, this is your Captain speaking and I have the unfortunate honor of informing all of you that we will be unable to land at the Annapolis Airstrip as was our intended destination. Allow me to be the first to apologize for this inconvenience on behalf of our Airline, I'm afraid we are being told by the flight tower at the Annapolis Naval Academy Airfield, that we must alter our flight plans slightly. I'm sorry I do not have any information pertaining to why this sudden change is required, but regardless, they are diverting our flight so we will now be landing at the nearby Baltimore/Washington International Airport with an ETA of approximately 17 minutes.
I can assure you that we have more than enough fuel left with which to accommodate this unexpected flight plan alteration. I can also assure you there is no cause for concern, and since the new destination is only a matter of miles from our initial airfield, we will arrange for some supplemental transportation to get you to your intended destinations, courtesy of the Airline. Thank you and please just relax and enjoy the rest of your flight."
As most of the passengers started chattering to each other absorbing the new information and talking about how it would affect their individual plans and voicing their frustration through complaints and whining. McGee, Ducky and Abby all merely stared at each other in stunned and worried silence. 'What does that mean?' - if someone could interpret facial expressions, that is what their fearful eyes would have been saying.
Before any one of them had found their own voice, Abby's eyes began to fill with tears as fast as their minds were racing.
"Nowww Abby, hold on – don't jump to conclusions." McGee whispered in a very hushed voice right next to Abby's ear, because if anyone around them were to overhear that they knew what was going on – all hell would break lose!
"I told you that Gibbs felt confident that they would land safely – and we should have known the airfield's Security and Safety board as well as the NTSB would have to immediately initiate an investigation into what happened to the plane's engines and . . . hopefully why. It was stupid of us to even think we would be able to land there! Okay?" he said the last word in the sweetest way possible to let her know he cared about her feelings.
Abby nodded as she quietly sniffled a couple of times, she knew her sweet McGee was right. Ducky reached across the aisle where he was seated, and lightly patted her free hand that was resting on the arm of her chair. Tim then excused himself to the restroom so as not to be overheard, where he then placed a call to Tony's old place of employment – the Baltimore PD, he knew that once he explained that they needed to get to Annapolis Naval Academy immediately – and told them it was regarding a seriously injured Anthony DiNozzo – their former Homicide Detective, that they would give them a police escort by chopper, since choppers did not require the runway for which to land. There was a nice rooftop landing pad on-site at the Naval Academy that they could easily utilize and it was also the fastest method of transportation they would find.
Israel . . .
Amit and Ziva had exhausted all of their resources and had still not come up with much more Intel about where the orders came from. They had been hoping to find someone who was either a witness to the fact that Eli David was behind this, or someone who would rat anyone and everyone out just to save their own skin. But Director David was good. He had either paid all of them off well – or his threats were more . . . compelling . . . than his Daughter's were.
Ziva felt occasional pangs of guilt over the fact that she was secretly trying to find proof of her Father's involvement. Proof that would mean the end of his career at Mossad – if not worse. The Mossad didn't mess around when it came to someone using the organization for their own personal vendetta's – Director or not!
She debated on flying to the US although she knew she wasn't welcome right now if she were to suddenly show up on either Gibbs' doorstep, or the NCIS bullpen. She knew they all needed time to heal . . . and to calm down.
Now the duo was headed back to the Airfield, after having gone all the way across town to 'interrogate' yet another slime bag suspected of being involved in obtaining the C4 and the timing devices that were used on the plane's engines and heaven knows where else they may have put them.. They had been successful in getting what they needed from the man, leaving him tied up and bloody, shaking in fear after they threatened to go after his family if he breathed a word about this little . . . meeting – to anyone!!
Ziva would never hurt someone's innocent family – but she needed everyone to think she would. It would be another 30 minutes before they arrived at the airfield, once there they would go directly to the flight tower that was not far from the hangar that had housed the cargo plane prior to take off. Their goal this time was to obtain information – using whatever force necessary – in regard to the status of flight CD77319Z. As angry as she still was at Tony, and now also at Gibbs for leaving her behind without so much as a second of thought, she also didn't want any harm to come to either one of them.
While Amit was driving the Hummer they had rented to get from place to place without being tracked by Eli since both of them would not put it past the corrupt Director to have placed tracking devices on their vehicles just to keep tabs on his more relevant operatives. Ziva sat in silent thought in the passenger seat, staring out the window but not actually looking at anything. Sure she had threatened Tony herself, including brandishing her fire arm and placing the cold business end of the weapon onto various parts of his body – mainly just to make him think that she just might pull the trigger.
But she also knew that nothing ever seemed to really 'scare' Tony. He really was fearless in every way – but she had always thought that to be a dangerous thing since he always seemed to throw himself into the most life threatening and precarious situations with absolutely no regard for his own safety and well being – including his most recent careless move in approaching Rivkin without any back up. The more she thought about it, that was what she was really mad about! Why hadn't she realized that before?
She continued to think back to the entire stressful incident, back then she had thought she was mad at Tony because he had been essentially responsible for taking the man with whom she thought she was falling in love with, away from her - permanently.
But, deep down she also knew that prior to Rivkin, she had secretly been falling for Tony. But she had kept her feelings to herself for over a year because she just wasn't sure how he felt about her. In hindsight it was during Tony's strained yet heartfelt relationship with Jeanne that made Ziva first take notice and see the heart of the man that up to that point, she had only known to be nothing more than a heartless clown with a fear of committed relationships. Then seeing how deeply in love and affected he had been throughout the entire courtship and crumble of his romance with the attractive Daughter of a murderous arm's Dealer – before Ziva even knew what was happening, she found she could not get her Partner off her mind, smiling like a lovestruck teen whenever she did think of him – hiding those feelings whenever he was near.
He had come over to her apartment to talk almost every night after the disastrous break up, his heart truly broken, they would watch movies together to get his mind off of it and their own friendship only grew even stronger. It took all of Ziva's Mossad trained willpower, not to kiss him whenever she hugged him to let him know he could drop his guard and talk about how he was feeling. She had so badly yearned for his touch and to run her own hands all over his tall frame, showing him without the use or words, just how much she cared about him and what he was going through. But having to refrain from doing so, and not being able to tell him how she felt - was worse than any form of torture she had ever endured in her abnormally torturous life with Mossad.
Rivkin's arrival had finally allowed Ziva the distraction she needed, she was now realizing that she hadn't been in love with Michael at all – she had merely fooled herself into believing that she had been. Why? Because it was easier than facing the fact that Tony didn't love her back.
Or so she thought.
It took several factors to finally make her finally begin to see the truth, now as she thought back to that fateful night. She could see now that Tony really had gone to her apartment to check on her, to make sure she was safe – but also to ask her about Rivkin and tell her what he knew. Only to tragically end up killing her newest lover in the process.
Ziva knew Michael well enough to know that he would have easily been able to kill Tony in just seconds on a slow day - and would have done so mercilessly if he hadn't been so inebriated that his own reflexes were significantly slower than usual.
Now that time had stepped between her conflicting emotions – allowing her mind to dissect the events without the clouding fog of those intense emotions – she could now see things as they truly must have been. Tony had killed him in self defense after all, she knew he would never lie to her – she also knew that she could not say the same about herself since she had essentially been lying to him by not divulging her . . . 'relationship' with Michael. Ziva knew firsthand that Rivkin was a mean drunk which made him even more dangerous if provoked after he had imbibed in too many drinks. He would surely have attacked Tony without a doubt, he would have had no choice but to fight back for his own survival – anyone would have done the same.
How could she have been so blind - and so . . . wrong?!
As they drew closer to the main large gates leading to the airfield, Ziva continued to berate herself for the unprofessional and careless way in which she had handled the whole thing. Tony did not deserve to have his own integrity and ethics questioned or doubted in any way. He would never have treated her in such a cruel manner – never! How could she repay him, make it up to him? Would she ever even get the chance? She realized in horror as she thought about him on that plane, exhausted and still injured from the fight, and heartbroken over her mistrust in him. She said a silent prayer that he would be alright, that she would have a chance to make things right no matter how long it took!
On Board Flight CD77319Z – Sitting Sideways Near The End Of The Runway . . .
"Hold on right there, both of you – no one's going anywhere!!"
Words could not describe the looks of complete shock that took over the faces of Gibbs and the Director as they absorbed the scene before them. Gibbs looked down to the ground to check on the fallen Pilot who now lay completely unconscious. Blood slowly trickling from the head wound that the striking pistol had left him with.
"Whoa now, hold on there." Gibbs finally said, "What do you want? What's going on here?!" he demanded.
The Co-Pilot whom had initially introduced himself as Lance Corporal Jefferson "Jeff" Cambell before the start of the flight, replied with more threats, "Look, I am in control now! You will do what I say – when I say it and you will NOT speak until I tell you you can speak! Ya hear me?!!"
Both Vance and Gibbs simply nodded in reply not wanting to do anything at this point, to further jeopardize themselves and especially the even more defenseless – Tony.
"Now – I will have no qualms about putting a bullet in the head of your Agent here if you somuch as THINK about making any sudden movements. You are only to move when I SAY you can move! Now - listen up! One of you is going to comnunicate with the tower and give them my demands! If I so much as hear any kind of warning or signal – once again I assure you -you will be signing your Agent's death certificate by doing so."
Gibbs and Vance could hear the frantic calls coming from the radio in the cockpit, asking for a report of their condition. Jeff pulled out some plastic zip ties and threw them at Gibbs feet. "Now, pick those up and I want you to secure the Director here, to that seat over there, the one closest to the cockpit! DO IT – NOW!" he yelled after Gibbs didn't immediately move to do anything.
Within two to three minutes Gibbs had secured Vance's hands and feet tightly to the chair, the Co-Pilot watching him like a hawk to make sure he tightened the ties as far as they would go, without cutting off circulation. 'So much for faking it by leaving some of the ties loose enough to wriggle out of', Gibbs thought. Now he would have to come up with another plan to take this man down!
Then as Gibbs stood back up having completed the task, before he could blink he watched in horror as the nervous Co-Pilot swung the butt of his weapon once again, this time impacting the side of Vance's head with a crack! Leon's head flew abruptly to the rightand then dropped instantly down to rest on his chest – unconscious but not bleeding. Before Gibbs could so much as react, he suddenly felt the cool tip of the gun as it was pressed into the side of his neck, "MOVE IT! Get up there in the cockpit! You are going to tell them you have a hostage situation and that subsequent demands will follow!"
In no time Gibbs had made his way into the cockpit, almost stumbling a couple of times as his own slight concussion demanded his attention. Each time he faltered, he felt the gun being pressed further into his flesh, almost to the point of pain, then finally after apparently making the already anxious criminal even more flustered and nervous, the man pulled a knife with a 4 inch blade, out of a sheath that had been concealed inside the waistband of his military issued trousers. He didn't trust this Gibbs character to not try to overtake him in order to protect the others.
'Next time I fly anywhere,' Gibbs silently promised himself, 'I am going to personally search everyone on board – flight crew included!' Gibbs then seated himself in the Pilot's now vacant seat, purposely choosing that seat so he could try to keep an eye on Tony, or at least he could see part of the stretcher his unconscious Senior Field Agent resided in.
"So Campbell – if that's even your name - can you at least tell me why you are doing this? Seeing as you are most likely going to kill all of us anyway?" Gibbs asked, ignoring the earlier warnings not to speak.
"No, I do not plan to kill you – I need you to come along with me as a security measure. Then, well I suppose you are right, then I probably will have to kill you. Now shut up and tell them I want a car delivered outside the back doors of this plane, I want it backed up so the trunk will be facing the plane's doors. I want the trunk left wide open so I can see inside, I want the keys left in the ignition with the car still running. Tell them YOU are coming with me to ensure that no one tries anything funny!
Gibbs decided to buy some time, knowing that the flight crew would realize something was amiss and move that much faster to get to them. Campbell hadn't thought this through due to his own paranoid and frantic nature clouding his ability to do so. It was clear to Gibbs that the man was acting on pure adrenalin and fear, most likely something that had been building ever since the first explosion took the first engine down. It was quite possible that the man was an impostor - a plant from Mossad, meant to make sure that the sabotage of the plane was successful.
******
. . . Meanwhile in the rear of the plane, inside the basket type stretcher, the ailing man with the emerald eyes slowly regained consciousness and started to look around – trying hard to recall where he was. This time unlike before, he quickly recalled what was happening. He was on a plane and he was sick and hurting. His gut felt a fire deep within that was like nothing he had ever felt before!
In seconds his eyes had found the trussed up Director who was clearly unconscious and down for the count. 'But where was Gibbs?!' he thought, becoming nearly frantic as he tried to get his sluggish and pain filled mind to focus – he had to find Gibbs, he could be in danger! Tony then started carefully and quietly releasing any straps that were still keeping him somewhat affixed to the stretcher. 'When the hell did I get put in this?' He thought, but then mentally head slapped himself - he could figure that out later!
Then using his one good arm, he held onto his stomach tightly as if the added pressure would somehow cease the painful burning in his gut. He listened carefully as he could now hear the voices coming from a few feet away, inside the cockpit. His mind kicking instantly into professional mode as he decided what his options were and look for the right time to make a move.
******
. . . "What were you assigned to do in the event that the explosives didn't do their job - huh? This smells like a warning to me, a warning perhaps from the Director of the Mossad? Am I right?" he asked, knowing he was going to make the man even more anxious and hence, more dangerous. But he had to stall, he had to find something in the cockpit that he could use to distract the now sweating operative before him, and then take him down!
"SHUT UP!! I told you I will ask the questions!! But I will give you this, you are right in that I am NOT the real Jefferson Campbell – the spineless wimp is now half way to hell thanks to me! That was not part of the plan just so you know! I wanted out, I knew that eventually Mossad would be the end of me, that Director David is known to have had many an operative killed in order to keep his corrupt activities forever shrouded in secrecy – NO witnesses at any cost!! I was not going to align myself with that same grave destiny – I found this flight to be my only means of escape – fleeing to another Country to start over and create a new identity."
Gibbs watched in silent awe, not expecting the man to rant and ramble on with such a detailed explanation of his own selfish mission.
"I simply befriended the real Lance Corporal Campbell at the hangar one day, then after he told me that he had yet to meet the Pilot with whom he was assigned to fly with – I saw my chance – my opportunity to escape was right there in front of me and roughly my same size. I couldn't have wished for things to work out more perfectly!! Then I eliminated the amateur Corporal and . . . well, borrowed his identity. Now that is enough - you WILL do what I say and NOW!" Grabbing the radio he threw it at Gibbs, "Now TALK!!" he shouted.
Then he decided to inflict a harsher warning in order to get the stubborn Agent to do his bidding and stop wasting time! But, due to Gibbs concussed state of mind, he hadn't anticipated the upcoming move as the man suddenly plunged the razor sharp knife right into his right bicep, yanking it out just as quickly as he had thrust it in! The latest rogue Mossad operative then quickly flipped the knife around so the handle was tucked inside his closed fist with the sharp end facing the opposite direction, then brutally swinging the same fist and punching Gibbs with significant force, with a right hook to the side of his face. The move was clearly Mossad, confirming to a suffering Gibbs that his man was most likely NOT, Lance Corporal Campbell.
As Gibbs shook off the newly inflicted wounds and looked up, he was shocked by the sight of the villain in front of him as the evil killer's eyes suddenly widened as large as saucers, almost looking as though they could pop out of their sockets at any moment. His jaw dropped open in shock as blood started to trickle out from the corner of his mouth. His body fell forward, eyes still affixed open, eerily staring directly into Gibbs own surprised eyes as he finally spotted another knife that was now protruding from the back of the imposter's neck having been shoved inside all the way to the hilt!
Gibbs quickly looked up, shock and pain still evident on his own face – as he saw the man who had just single handedly removed their threat in the blink of an eye - Tony DiNozzo stood wobbling in the doorway of the cockpit his blank and staring eyes locking onto his bosses' for a moment before the rest of the adrenaline that propelled him into action, seemed to have drained from his body causing him to lose what little strength he had left in his legs and causing him to fall lifelessly backwards to the floor of the plane.
To Be Continued . . .
STAY TUNED, I have more exciting stuff planned ahead!! PLEASE KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING!!