Dead at Last Ch.12
"Abby's smile broadened and she nodded. "And now, I have the energy and motivation to get working. Like, right now. I need to get two lovers back together." She winked at me and re-entered the building."
. . .
"So we've figured out that if Ziva's captors are working in a group, they have to be working locally. Like, still in the city, under the radar, kind of place." Abby explained to me in her lab. I'd been zoned out for who knows how long and Abby had just slapped me upside the head to gain my attention. Apparently during my trip to la-la land, she had acquired permission from Gibbs.
I nodded, still distracted and having no knowledge whatsoever on what she just said. I could not, for the life of me, get my mind off of Ziva. It's like the plague. But worse. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face. Every second my brain put forth reassurance that she's okay. Alive. It kept me sane.
Abby slapped my arm, "Tony, you aren't even paying attention1" I flinched and murmured an apology.
"I was!" I paused, trying to find at least one thing I had heard. "Okay, they're working locally. Do you have any ideas in where these people might be?" I asked, putting forth my whole attention to the scientist.
She laughed, a laugh that told me she was enjoying my stupidity of the moment. "Yeah, no. I just started to look." She continued to type, "I'm looking for cell tower usage as well as deliveries to various vacant buildings in the area. It'll be a few before I find any—" She was interrupted by an arrangement of different bells, and I lurched forward, waiting.
"Did you find her?" The desk chair I was sitting in flew backward at my haste. My heart raced in my chest with excitement and my hands shook.
Abby raised an eyebrow, "Tony, calm down. I most likely have a dozen different places to narrow…down." She looked at her screen in bewilderment. "Wowzers, I only have—four locations. Two different warehouses, a town house, and an old apartment building. The apartment building was part of an investigation about two years ago, I'll place bets there. Or the warehouse. Totally, cliché but it works."
I jump toward Abby and moved to kiss her on the cheek, "Thank you, Abby." I started for the door, ready to tell Gibbs about our—Abby's—discovery. I felt her grab my arm just as I reach the door frame and I turn back. "What's up?"
"Not so fast, mister," She laughed as she pulled me back to her desk. I didn't struggle, she would only hurt me. "I have strict orders not to let you out of my sight," she explained, crossing her arms and retrieving my earlier discarded chair. "Sit."
Reluctantly I sat back down. I gaped at Gibbs's precautions, but try to hide my hurriedness. "How will he know we narrowed down the choices?"
Abby rolled her eyes and smiled at something behind me, "Hi, Gibbs!"
I turned and saw my boss standing right there. Speak of the devil. "H-Hi, Gibbs."
Gibbs gave me a concerned look before turning back to Abby. "What do you got, Abs?" I swore, he was just as urgent as me, but that could just be me jumping up and down in the chair.
She hands him a yellow post-it, "The four possibilities of where Ziva could be held listed in relativity to closeness to the office.
He smiled, "Thanks." He kissed her cheek and moved to me and held out a hand for me, "Come on, DiNozzo." I grabbed his hand and pulled myself up following his trail closely.
"On your six, boss!"
. . .
Our first stop was the town house. When we arrived, there were movers up the wazoo, moving furniture into the building. I was left in the car for reasons unknown to myself. I'm left to my own devices with my mind forever glued to her while the two of them question an innocent mover. Not even minutes later, they're back in the car. Gibbs rolled his eyes, "Someone bought it this morning. Not in the system." I laughed—only to receive a head slap. I flinched as we drove off.
. . .
Next, we drove up to one of the vacant warehouses. No activity. We all stepped out of the car, despite the lack of everything. As the door is knocked down, nothing. Not even a box. Defeated, we stroll back to the car.
. . .
At out third stop and our second warehouse, I didn't expect much. Sure, third time's a charm, but with my luck—Ziva wouldn't be at any of these locations. The warehouse looked almost exactly like the last one. No activity on the outside. But, as I stepped out I received a flash of Ziva. Alive.
When we approached the building I could start to make out the murmur of voices on the inside. My heart raced as Gibbs kicked down the door without a word. Neither he nor I gave a damn about the law at that point. No alarms sounded and the voices grew louder. Together, we walked into the building and gazed in awe at the set-up. I could hear a woman barking out orders, a familiar voice, but I couldn't place it.
The building was no vast space, but a series of complicated passageways. After a long period of trial and error—booby traps and dead ends—we reach the shadows surrounding what seemed to be home base. My heart skipped a beat when I spotted Ziva. Sure, she was bloody and bruised, but she was still the woman I know I love.
But the figure in front of her caused my heart to stop. Blonde ponytail. Jeans and work boots. Her hair flew as she turned to face me, obviously because she heard our walking. Her face broke into a grin. "Nice of you to finally join us, Tony."
. . .
A/N: Mwa ha ha ha! Cliff hanger! Any guesses on the blonde? Sadly, I can't really squeeze much else out of this and next chapter will most likely be the ending. Good ol' lucky Thirteen. Anyway, Please Review!