A/N- Wow this story is nowhere near finished, anyhoo I own nothing and apologize profusely for what I'm about to do to you all.


"Who's a good girl...yes you are...yes you are"

Kate smirked when she arrived in Eli's office, knowing immediately which female he was referring to. Tony looked up from her dog bed that had permanent residence beside Eli David's desk and opened her mouth to receive the dog treat.

"Morning lovebirds" Kate teased, taking a seat at the desk and helping herself to a cup of tea,

"Good morning Caitlin" he responded, his eyes filled with mischief

"And how are you finding your job?"

She laughed and added some sugar to the green tea, her nerves calmed by the games played by her and Eli,

"Oh just great, thank-you, the work is challenging but rewarding, there's plenty of opportunities for me to increase my skills and the dental plan is terrific"

He matched her smirk, "Then I'm glad that we scheduled an appointment at eight o'clock on a Saturday morning to discuss this- is there any way in which I can increase your work satisfaction?"

She swallowed the tea she had been drinking, "Yeah, become the next Director of Mossad and be quick about it"

His body twitched in agreement, "Adir seems determined to reign forever" he sniffed in disdain at the older man's refusal to give up work, even though he was well past the retirement age in Israel and his health was steadily declining.

They weren't the only one's showing impatience either, the public wasn't all that impressed that the leader of their most renowned intelligence agency looked like a grandfather, was married to the woman Kate had first mistaken for his daughter and whom he was rumoured to have met in a strip club.

Eli and Adina by contrast appeared all the more stately, moral and appropriate. They were known for their patronage of the arts and numerous charities, every family member served Israel, the only scandal to have ever touched their name was Ari's birth and even that could be forgiven seeing as Eli was a man. Both of them had served in the army and Eli had gone on to earn the title of deputy-director while Adina had raised their children, they had lost a daughter to a suicide bomber and where most would have been destroyed by this, overcame their grief to continue aiding their country. Publicly they were the perfect candidates for Mr and Mrs Mossad Director, and public opinion counted for something in that world.

Privately those that were loyal to Eli David were getting fed up with the obvious animosity shown by Adir and there was a sniff of mutiny and rebelliousness in the air.


A rebelliousness that Kate was feeling as she arrived at Director Adir's office a good thirty minutes after the appointed time. Eli had offered to accompany her but she'd declined, determined to handle the old man herself.

When she was ushered into the office, she saw that it wasn't going to be a private meeting- Schmuel Rubenstein was sitting at the desk beside Adir, reminding her of her two great-aunt's, spinsters both of them with perpetual looks of disapproval on their wrinkled faces.

She had to resist the urge to laugh as she saluted and couldn't repress her smile when they left her standing,

"You wanted to see me Director?" she prompted, causing the old man to nod,

"Yes Officer Todd" his watery eyes looked up from the stack of papers on his desk,

"I wanted to tell you in person that you will be receiving a promotion..."

Promotion?

Kate blinked in shock and knew her face mirrored her emotions. She had known that the job for head of the profiling unit was up for grabs but she'd never once assumed that she would qualify. There were those who had been in the unit for years and who were much more experienced. She forced herself to focus as Director Adir continued speaking,

"You are being appointed the Mossad liaison in America" he finished with a flourish of his pen and a thin lipped grin, "Congratulations"

"What?" Kate looked at the two men, wondering if this was some sort of joke to get revenge for her having kept them waiting, but she sees nothing but thinly veiled triumph in their eyes,

'This is bullshit,' what she wants to say but managed to stop herself in time,

"No I'm afraid I can't accept" she murmurs, trying to make it sound like an apology and this time it is the two men, who are surprised,

"This is not optional Officer Todd, it has already been decided" Schmuel tells her but her brain is finally catching up with her,

"With all due respect sir, I am underqualified for the position and believe it would be of greater benefit for Mossad if somebody with more distinct ties to Israel and no conflicting ties in America were to take the job" she paused and chewed her lips before smiling in what she hoped was a carefree manner, "I'm sure when you bring it up with the Board of Directors that they will agree with you"

"You presence has already been formally requested" Schmuel announced, banging his hand down on the desk to emphasise his point, she flinched at the obvious display of manly force and felt her hackles rise,

"Formally requested or not, it's still the Board of Director's decision" she argued, "And I can still refuse if I so choose"

Rubenstein only snarled, "You don't have a choice" he threatened "not if you ever want to see Haswari again"

Her blood ran cold. She unwittingly took a step back and swallowed nervously as the horrific moment was shattered as Adir attempted to laugh off his nephew's words,

"Is that a threat?" she asked quietly, but Adir only laughed again, ignoring the glowering man next to him,

"Of course not Officer Todd, Officer Rubenstein is simply too emotionally invested in this project and determined for it to succeed" his laughter died when he saw that she was inching closer to his office door and began speaking quickly, "We do believe that you will be the best suited to this position because you have both the cultural understanding and knowledge to adjust to life in Washington with ea..."

"I will have to discuss this with Deputy Director David" she stammered before darting through the doorway and throwing herself down the hall, moving so quickly that she startled the few officers that were on duty that weekend.


Eli was meeting with several politicians when she burst back into his office, his look of annoyance however fell right off his face when he saw her panicked expression,

"Caitlin" he addressed her in English, a semi-private language for them both, "What is wrong?"

She swallowed and tried to breathe past the tightness in her chest, "Adir and Rubenstein threatened Ari, he told me that if I didn't do as he said, I would never see him again"

Like a hurricane that had invaded a sunny, calm day, Eli David resembled nothing save dark fury in that moment. His hands clenched and unclenched and the men who had been sitting on the couches, in relative ease, drinking tea and eating sandwiches, began to flutter nervously and a sudden violent gesture by Eli had them all grabbing their files and scrambling from the room.

Despite the fact that Kate was alone with a man who had just overturned his priceless coffee table and shattered an expensive tea set- she felt secure. Eli stood, stepped over the mess and grabbed her by the shoulders,

"Tell me what they said exactly" he ordered, his voice low and murderous.

Catching her breath, she obeyed him and repeated the threat word for word, not noticing when he dug his fingers into her shoulder blades. When she was done, he released her and cursed before returning to his desk,

"Where are we going?" she asked as he slammed his items into his briefcase with such force she was sure something would break, he didn't answer her but shouted to his secretary in a tone that had her running in, clearly forgetting to pretend that she hadn't been eavesdropping,

"Officer Todd and I are leaving" he announced, "We shan't be returning for a week at least, any and all work is to be brought to my house and any important calls forwarded there. That being said, I am increasing the security around my property and anyone wishing to enter will be forced to go through several checkpoints...am I clear?"

"Yes sir" she saluted and hurried out again, nearly tripping over Tony who had picked up on the tension in the room and wandered to the door. Kate picked her up and scratched her ears as Eli snapped his briefcase shut and placed a hand on her back, guiding her rather forcibly into the halls of the Mossad compound,

"Where are we going?" she asked as they kept their gaze straight ahead, their pace so quick and determined that anyone who was in their path got out of the way.

"Home" he told her, the sound of his grinding teeth audible, "You, Ari and Ziva aren't setting foot off my property until I know you are all safe. I'd consider sending the three of you two Gaza but Adir could order Ari's village to be hit"

They were already reaching the car before Kate swallowed her doubt and spoke up,

"Do you think that maybe it was just an empty threat?" she suggested as he handed her into the passenger seat, "Maybe it was just some sick twisted plan to get us to act this way and make us look bad?"

Eli revs the engine so hard that she has flashbacks to Ari on his motorbike that day in Washington, the tires screech as he yanks the car from its parking spot and leave smoke trails as he speeds towards the exit,

"Caitlin...the Israeli desert is littered with the corpses of those who have threatened my children; everyone knows this, so even if Adir is playing a game, he knows the consequences...besides,"

Away from the public eye he gives her a confident smile that makes her realise that they had just finished acting a play, the script and choreography written by Eli himself,

"Once word gets out that Rubenstein uttered that sentence, it's going to be open season on all of us...and our side has more ammunition"

Kate snickered and scratched Tony's tummy, "Eli, have you ever watched that American teen drama Ziva and I like?"

He sniffed and raced a red light, "Ah, the one with the bee queen that you constantly remark must be based heavily on me?"

"Queen bee" she corrected automatically, not even having to think the words over before translating them to Hebrew, "Except you're a much better dresser"

He grinned, "Toda"


The new security set up was already under way by the time Eli and Kate reached the homestead, Adina and Ziva were standing on the front lawn, watching impassively while the bodyguards and those who worked in the David home were touching base and figuring everything out,

"Where is Ari?" Kate asked, approaching the two women and setting Tony down to do her customary lap around the bushes,

"Gaza" Adina uttered, her face hardening as the small security party scattered, attending their various posts, "I have already sent him warning, he will be here within two hours"

Kate noted the definitive tone of Adina's sentence; the woman had not requested her husband's child to come to her home, she had ordered him. He might be living proof that Eli had touched another woman, but he was part of her family unit and as such she would protect him and thus protect her power interests.

She had learnt long ago not to blame Adina or resent her for the ambitious manner in which she viewed everything about her.

She had learnt that Adina had spent her childhood in luxury until her parent's death had left her to be raised by her resentful paternal grandmother who'd considered materialism to be the height of sin. Adina had been born into Judaism, something which her grandmother had hated, having been a staunch believer of the Nazi party. Her grandmother had refused to allow this to continue and withdrawn her from her private school to send her to a state school, where children made fun of her because she didn't know who Jesus was. As Adina had grown she had seen her childhood friends abandon her for parties she wasn't invited to and toys that she could no longer afford. Every year her life had become more and more intolerable until by sheer chance she had come across her grandmother wearing her mother's jewellery. Diamonds and rubies that had been smuggled from Europe during the war and sent back by a relative afterwards, a small fortune, enough with which to buy her escape. On the eve of her eighteenth birthday, the day after she had graduated from high school and been the only student there without a family or friend to congratulate her, she had broken into her grandmother's bedroom, stolen back her mother's possessions and taken them to the pawn broker she'd had the agreement with. She'd then gone straight from the shop to the airport and booked herself on the first plane to Israel.

She had never found out when her grandmother had realised she wasn't coming back, but a year after being married to Eli she had received a statement for the jewellery, listing it's potential worth and demanding recompense.

She had paid without bothering to send a note.


As they entered the house, Kate heard Ziva sigh with relief and press her fingers to her temples,

"Do you know what is worse than your life being in danger?" she asked her quietly and Kate sniggered at the question,

"Being in danger with a hangover the size of the Middle East?" she guessed, receiving a moan in response as the smaller woman rested her head on her shoulder,

"Why do I like tequila shooters Caitlin?"

"Because you take after your father Ziva" Adina answered from the dining room,

"Now come in here both of you- no point being in danger on an empty stomach"

All throughout brunch the home phone rang off the hook, work colleagues of Eli, Ari, Kate and Ziva's and social friends and acquaintances of the entire family calling to figure out what was happening and offer their support. Kate herself was certain she spoke to every friend she'd made at the language centre and was down to the last of her prayer group before Adina ordered that all further calls were to be answered by the butler in the hopes of giving the family some peace and quiet.

"Does not matter anyway" Ziva mumbles as Kate walks her to her bedroom, watching as she kicks off her shoes and strips down to her underwear before crawling back into the bed,

"The way things are going the news is already around Israel and..." with a large yawn Ziva fell back against the pillows, not even bothering to finish her sentence.

Kate smirked and closed the door, ignoring the shrill ringing of every phone in the house and heading into the library to enjoy her Saturday.

In the small, cosy room she could see a copy of Said on the coffee table and figured Ari must have done some reading before heading to Gaza, still annoyed with her boyfriend, she flung herself down onto the couch and knocked the book with her foot, sending it flying to the ground and causing it to snap shut. As she opened a copy of Bronte, she hoped that when he got home, he wouldn't be able to remember what page he had been on- he got irritated when he lost his place and no doubt would guess that she was responsible, process of elimination really, the rest of the family shared the same literary obsession and considered it a heinous crime to cause someone to lose their page. Her crime committed, she settled down and was making good headway before one of the maids burst into the room, her hands fluttering anxiously,

"Miss Todd" she gasped, hurrying over to the couch, "After that blast earlier I turned on the radio..."

Kate nodded, wondering at the woman's anxiety, it was a clear day in Tel Aviv and she had heard the familiar rumbling of a far off missile or bomb exploding- honestly it had got to the point where you could easily tune them out. When she had first arrived she had been horrified by the distant sound and wanted to know if there was anything she could do to help, eventually Ari had explained to her that it was a part of life in Israel and that all she could do was her job, help them track down the enemies and pray when she heard the life taking blasts.

She hadn't even realised she'd said a 'Hail Mary' until the maid reminded her of the sound.

"Was the attack in your area?" she asked kindly, propping herself up on her elbows from her lying position on the couch, "Is so I'm sure Adina will let you go home for the day..."

"No Miss..." the woman shook her head and wiped the tears in her eyes, "The radio said that the missiles landed in the Gaza strip"

The book toppled from Kate's hands and somehow ended on the floor, somewhere in the house Ziva had started screaming hysterically, but for some reason she could barely hear her, Kate's ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton wool. Her mouth felt the same, it was so awfully dry that she had to swallow a few times before she could speak,

"Khan Yunis?" she whispered, only keeping her eyes on the maid long enough for the confirmation before her head fell back against the pillows and she blacked out.