Chapter Eleven
Tony stayed for dinner and afterwards helped to give Matan his bath and played with him for several hours until he fell asleep. It turned out to be too late for him to leave, so Ziva offered him a guest room. They both knew that they had a great deal to talk about, but neither one of them wanted to jump into that potential powder keg. Instead they enjoyed a state of peace brought about by a father getting to know his son.
As they sat outside, Ziva with a sweater on because she felt a chill, they sipped tea and waited for one of them to start the conversation. Tony couldn't let the silence last.
"I have to be with my son somehow," he stated.
There was no acrimony or angry in his words, just the realization that he couldn't let his son grow up without him. He wasn't his father after all.
"I am afraid to leave Israel. I know that he is safe here. Director Elbaz has gone out of her way to make sure I am secure," Ziva said. "I believe she hopes I will rejoin Mossad eventually as her assistant."
"You could be safe back in the US. We could arrange for something," said Tony.
Ziva stared at him with dark eyes that had no compromise. Tony had seen that look too many times in the past. He decided to back off before they fought.
"Just think about it," he said.
"I shall, Tony," she replied.
He looked at her and smiled.
"You know that I still love you, right?" he said.
"I know," she answered with a slight smile playing on her lips. "And you are still loved."
"You drive me crazy unlike any other woman I've known. Ziva, I still want to be with you and be a father to our child, but I don't know if I can live here," he said.
"I understand, Tony."
"Ziva, there has to be another way. If I found another way would you consider it," Tony prodded her.
"Like what?"
"Let me think about it," said Tony.
"I'm right here if you think of anything," she smiled.
NCIS
The mission was on. A small Kidon Unit along with Tony would head to Beirut and take out Faisal at Arslan's compound outside of the city on the water. Two weeks of training were scheduled, including hand to hand refresher with Ziva. Tony was to take place in all the training, though it wasn't expected of him to become expert, just good enough to keep up with the unit.
Dressed in sweat clothes, he entered the gym with the rest of the unit, Malachi, Layla, Aaron, and Simon. Ziva was in her usual workout gear waiting for them. She motioned them over.
"I will give the class in English since one of your members doesn't speak Hebrew. Time is short for your training, so let's get started," she said. "I want to start with the weakest link."
"You're up first, Tony," said Malachi.
"Hey, I'm insulted," said Tony.
"You are also not trained in martial arts," smiled Aaron.
"Okay, pick on the foreigner," said Tony.
He stood up and approached Ziva. She had a big grin on her face. Tony offered her a smile then without even getting a chance to respond he was looking up at the ceiling.
"Never flirt when you are on a mission unless it is to get the advantage," she said. "Now get up."
For the next twenty minutes, Tony was hip tossed, leg kicked, punched, and savant kicked to the floor. His body ached and he was starting to wonder if he had actually learned anything other than how to bruise. Once he was allowed to sit and watch, he limped his way to a spot and sat down. He watched as Ziva then proceeded to kick the ass of the Kidon Unit. An hour and half later and the lesson was over.
"Tony, take an hour, get food and hydrate then we are doing some scuba training," Malachi told him.
"Oh, joy," was Tony's response.
The Kidon Unit personnel left leaving Ziva and Tony alone. She walked up to him.
"You want to get lunch?" she asked.
"I hit all over because of you," he said.
She knelt down beside him and gently kissed his cheek.
"I need to train you to make sure you stay alive. You still haven't come up with an alternative to our problem," she said teasing him.
"Can we get pizza for lunch?" he asked.
"You sound like your son," Ziva said and then suddenly realized how natural it would be for her, Tony, and Matan to be together. "You need to eat healthy. Come I'll take you to get a rice bowl."
"Oh, goody, a rice bowl," he sighed.
NCIS
The two weeks of training went quickly and relatively painless for Tony. He was able to spend more time with Ziva, which helped immensely. They lunched together, they took some walks together, and they spent time just talking. Tony hated to see the training end.
Tony and the Kidon Unit met in the situation room in Mossad HQ. Orli Elbaz entered along with her two bodyguards and another man. The Kidon Unit and Tony sat down at the oblong conference table and waited for their briefing.
"Moishe, tell them the plan," said Elbaz.
The man stood up and turned on a projection of a map of the coast of Lebanon.
"It is a simple insertion, take out target, and exfil," said Moishe.
With a laser pointer, he pointed to a spot on the coast.
"This is where Arslan's compound is. A fishing boat will drop you off in the waters of Lebanon in a Morena-class rigid hull inflatable boat. Without the motor, you'll paddle to shore right by Arslan's compound. From there, you will be given the security situation. You enter the compound, find Faisal and remove him. If Arslan is there, he is also to remove him. Once the mission is done, you head back to the boat. This time using the motor, you head out into the sea. Once in the water, radio us with one word – rowboat. We will have an Israeli Dabur- Class Patrol boat enter Lebanon waters and pick you up," Moishe explained.
"Won't that cause an international incident?" asked Tony.
"A minor one," smiled Orli. "We are used to minor international incidents."
"When do we leave?" asked Malachi.
"Tomorrow night. There is no moon," said Moishe.
NCIS
Tony was in the apartment supplied by Mossad wondering what to eat for dinner. Tomorrow night the mission was on and he was starting to wonder why he agreed to go on the mission. Faisal -that was the reason. He had to remind himself that Faisal needed to be taken out. The man almost killed Gibbs and he had killed many an innocent. Unexpectedly, there was a knock on the door. He walked over and opened the door. Ziva was standing there.
"Hi, shouldn't you be in Haifa with Matan?" he asked.
"I wanted to see you," she said.
He smiled then said, "Come on in."
He stepped aside and let her come into the apartment. She slipped off her leather jacket and sat down on the couch. He shut the door and joined her.
"So, what brings you here?" he asked.
"Tony, I'm worried about you. Tomorrow, you go on the mission and," she paused. "I arranged for Nettie and Hannah to take care of Matan. I want to stay the night."
Tony swallowed hard and moved from the armchair to the couch. Sitting beside her, he took her hands in his own.
"Ziva, are you sure about this?" he asked.
She smiled and then answered, "I am very sure about this."
She leaned over and kissed him. At first it was a soft kiss but soon it morphed into a deep, passionate kiss. Both of them released all their stored up passion and sexual need and deepened the kiss. Soon their tongues were wrestling for dominance until they had to break apart in order to breath for a moment. Tony rested his forehead on her forehead.
"God, I missed you, Zi," he said.
"Me, too," she replied. "Bedroom, now."
"Your wish is my command," he said.
Ziva stood up, grabbed him by the hand, and pulled him towards the bedroom. Tony laughed as he dutifully followed. As they reached the bedroom, Ziva turned and ripped open his shirt sending buttons off into the corners of the room.
"I liked this shirt," he said.
"You'll like this better," she grinned.
NCIS
It was pitch black on the water without the moon. Tony lowered himself into the boat along with Layla, Malachi, Simon, and Aaron. They were all dressed in black and carried the weapons of their choice. The Kidon Unit carried Tavor compact rifles and Barak sidearms, while Tony carried a Glock 22. All weapons had suppressors. All five members also wore light headsets so they could communicate. Once in the boat, Aaron and Simon began to paddle, while everyone else just sat in silence.
It took fifteen minutes to get to shore with steady paddling. The Arslan's compound was a fenced estate just off the beach. According to their sources the beach was clear of security. The plan was for Aaron and Simon to blow the electrical box cutting off the electricity, lights, and alarms. Since they had night vision goggles it was a matter of entering the compound and sweeping through, finding targets, and removing targets. Malachi motioned Simon and Aaron off with their c-4 to get the job done.
Layla, Malachi, and Tony waited on the beach until the lights went out. Malachi looked over at Tony.
"Light go out, night vision goggles go on," he whispered.
"I figured that," said Tony.
"Stay with me and Layla. And, please, shoot to kill," he said.
"Considering my life will be in danger, I can handle that," said Tony.
Again they waited patiently. Malachi checked his watch and saw that ten minutes had past. He didn't like how much time it was taking.
"Simon, what is happening?" he asked.
"Patience," was the reply.
Suddenly, there was a loud popping sound and the lights of the compound went out.
"Goggles and let's go," ordered Malachi.
The three of them ran towards the compound. They heard gun fire and the muffled sound of suppressor return fire. As they got to the front gate, Malachi placed a small explosive device on the gate and blew it open. They entered.
Tony was surprised at how everything seemed to slow down. He reacted to men pointing guns at him. At first, Malachi had to save his ass, but after the second save, he started using his weapon. Without thinking, he started to return fire taking out security guards before they killed him. Malachi spoke in his headset.
"Second floor, master bedroom. There is a safe room," said Malachi.
They entered the house to meet a hail of gunfire. Malachi tossed a grenade which quickly turned the tide. They headed up the stairs when Layla took a bullet in the thigh. Tony holstered his gun and supported her with one arm, while taking her Tavor from her and using his right hand to fire it. Layla for her part pulled her Barak and started fire with her left hand.
"Tony, Layla, start back to the boat now," ordered Malachi.
"You need backup," said Tony.
"Aaron and Simon will back me up," Malachi said. "GO."
They headed down the stairs retracing their steps. Once the Tavor was empty, he dropped it and pulled his Glock again. They made it back outside. When they exited the front door, Layla used her sidearm to take out two more security guards, while Tony took out a third. Since his Glock was empty, he ejected the clip and put a new one in with one hand then hand Layla prep his gun for him.
In record time they made their way back to the boat. Tony dumped her in the boat and then found the first aid kit and started working on her leg.
"Just stop the bleeding and wrap it. A doctor will take care of it on the boat," she told him.
Over the headphone he heard Malachi give instructions to Simon to blow the safe room door. Two minutes later he heard Malachi announce, "Faisal and Arslan dead. We are on the way."
"Take pictures," Tony spoke.
"Already did," said Malachi. "We are on our way."
In the distance Tony could see military trucks headed their way. The army was finally on the way. He looked over at the gate and saw Malachi, Simon, and Aaron running at full speed towards them.
"Grab the boat and pull it to the water," ordered Malachi.
Tony grabbed a handrail and started pulling the boat towards the water. When Malachi, Aaron, and Simon got there they grabbed the boat and pulled the boat into the water then the four men got into the boat. Aaron started the motor, while Malachi worked the radio, "Rowboat."
NCIS
Tony stood inside of the Mossad equivalent of MTAC. Orli Elbaz was talking to Director Vance. She was proudly telling him that not only Faisal but Arslan had been neutralized. Tony wondered to himself why they used like remove and neutralized instead of killed or murdered. If he ever felt less like a cop, it was today.
"Agent DiNozzo assisted in the operation. Would you care to speak to him?" he asked.
"Please," said Vance.
Tony stepped forward. Vance nodded to him.
"Well done, Agent DiNozzo. You did well," said Vance.
"Thank you, sir," replied Tony.
He no longer wanted to do this for a living, though he still thought of himself as a cop. Finally, he had an idea how Ziva, Matan, and him could be together.
"Sir, do you have any pull with WitSec?" he asked.
"Witness Protect?" said Vance sound confused.
"Yes, sir. I have an idea."
Epilogue
Gibbs drove along the Oregon Road. He was looking for the cut off to a town named Safe Haven. Once he saw the sign, he took the turn and headed into the small seaside town. Usually, he spent his vacations with his father or working on some bit of woodwork, but this year was different. He had some important people to visit.
Coming to the town, he looked for the sheriff's station. After driving around for ten minutes he found it, parked, got out, and headed into the station. As he entered a deputy stopped him.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"I'm here to see Sheriff Paddington," said Gibbs.
"He's in his office. Can I tell him who it is?" asked the deputy.
"Tell him it's Jethro," said Gibbs.
The deputy called to the sheriff's office. He nodded a few times then hung up.
"Sheriff Paddington will see you. Down that hallway and take a right," said the deputy.
Gibbs followed the instructions, came to the sheriff's closed door, and opened it to see Tony in a sheriff shirt, jeans, gun holster, and smile standing behind his desk.
"Hi, boss," he said.
"Sheriff," grinned Gibbs.
Tony offered him his right hand to shake. They shook hands.
"The little one and Maria are really looking forward to seeing you," Tony said.
"Maria?" asked Gibbs.
"She chose it not me," smiled Tony.
"So the witness protection has turned out okay?" asked Gibbs.
"Yeah, it has, boss. They'd be pissed at him for getting in touch with you, but I knew that I could trust you. Plus, I wanted you to see Anthony and Zee, I mean, Maria," said Tony.
"Anthony," repeated Gibbs.
"It's his middle name. Someday in the future he can use his name Matan, but for now he is Anthony or Tony," said Tony.
"Good job, Tony," said Gibbs.
Gibbs smiled at him. He was proud of his SFA. He'd finally grown up and now had a wife and a child. Plus, he still was doing what he was best at.
"Let's go see the wife and kid," said Gibbs.
Tony smiled, "Yeah, let's."