I am completely overwhelmed by the unbelievable response to my last chapter. Stunned and shocked might describe in better. Thank you for your continued support and embracing this story that is not always updated whenever one would like. I am taking the NCIS canon into a new direction with this chapter, giving a take on past events that were certainly never shown or even hinted at, but I always wondered about. This chapter will be much shorter so I can get something out there and again I apologize that I am not able to provide new chapters as often as I would wish.
PREVIOUSLY ON "HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT":
Tony had said the words she never expected to hear from him and she answered him back with those same words. They spent the next two days loving each other as if it was the end of the world, and in a way, it was. Ziva would stay and Tony would leave. Because she made him leave. Ziva felt the tears fall as she remembered Tony walking to the plane…the hardest 180 of my life. And then when she found out that in their love they had created a child…
WHAT?
Ziva jerked back, her hands flying to her chest as the realization of the truth came at her as a freight train. Finding out she was pregnant, trying to contact Tony, her call to Abby, the many letters she wrote with no answer, the birth of her beautiful baby girl Tali.
"Tali!" Ziva cried out in terror. Where was her baby, where was her Tali? Tony tried to grab her, to hold her still as she started flailing around in agitation.
"Ziva, shhh…. I have her. Tali is fine. I have her. I have Tali." Tony whispered the words repeatedly, until Ziva finally calmed down enough to hear what he had to say. She burst into tears, clinging to him in desperation.
"You have Tali? Orli took her to you? You…you know about Tali?" Tony looked grim at the reminder of how he found out he had a daughter, but he had no blame for Ziva. Instead, he put his own feelings aside and focused on the distraught mother.
"Yes, Ziva. After we heard that you were dead, Orli brought Tali to me. I must tell you…Ziva? Are you ok?" Tony's tone changed to alarm when he saw Ziva clutch at her head.
"It…it hurts, Tony. It hurts so bad." Ziva moaned. Before he could do anything, Ziva's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed in his arms, unconscious.
Disclaimer: NCIS should belong to anyone but those who own it. So say we all.
Hiding in Plain Sight: Chapter Thirteen
Ziva walked along the wide expanse of the beach, relishing the sensation of the pristine sand squishing between her toes. She breathed in the fresh, salty air, smiling in fond remembrance of childhood summers at Dor HaBonim beach in Haifa. She shaded her eyes as she gazed at the azure crystalline water, the sun's rays dazzling in its brilliance. She waved enthusiastically to the two figures laughing and playing in the waves, feigning no surprise to see her mother and her sister Tali waiting for her, beckoning at her to join them. She felt such joy at seeing her family again, happy and carefree; such a sharp contrast to their everyday lives. This was the allure of the sea…it was a refuge against the hurts and slights that were always hovering and threatening to overtake you.
A loud crack startled Ziva, and she looked over her shoulder, seeing the dark thunder clouds that had suddenly loomed and gasped as the streak of lightning shot from the sky, as a knife blade inflicting a wound. She turned quickly to warn Tali and her mother to get out of the water but to her shock she was no longer gazing at the Mediterranean Sea.
Instead, she was now standing in a hot and dank corridor, the uneven stone walls dirty and stained with blood. She could hear the muffled voices of several men arguing and when her father's voice rose above the others, she strode forward and shoved her way past a crowd of onlookers that suddenly appeared.
"Ah, Ziva. You have come. Sit! We have much to discuss." Her father was curt and abrupt, offering no sign that the woman he had just spoken to was his daughter. She chose to ignore his command and stood in front of him, confused to see him alone at the rickety table.
"What is this? What are you doing, and who are you talking to?" Ziva demanded, troubled by the look of disinterest in her father's eyes.
"I will give the orders, Ziva. I and I alone! Your loyalty is to me, and to only me!" Her father spat. A figure came forward from the shadows and sat near, but not next to Eli.
"She never could follow your orders without questioning them, you know that." Ari chuckled slightly, giving his half-sister a fond but sad smile. "On the other hand, I always did exactly as I was told. I cannot say that it worked out too well for me in the end, would you say Ziva?" Ziva took a step back from the menacing look Ari gave her. She raised her hands imploringly toward him but stopped when a new figure joined the group.
"Good day to you, Ziva. Do you still like your men dark or was that only for my benefit?" Michael Rivkin smiled as he sat down and then looked around. "Is there any way I can get a drink?" Ziva had been horrified when Michael appeared and spoke to her. Michael represented a difficult time in her life and it had taken many years to come to terms with the decisions she had made; and the decisions her father had made for her. What was this? Some sort of trial? And who was the defendant?
"Don't bother, Rivkin. She only has eyes for someone else, isn't that right, Ziva?" Ziva took another step back as Ray Cruz joined the discussion, shocked at his inclusion. It made no sense, none of it.
"What are you doing here?" Ziva's voice was a mere whisper, her distrust of the man as palpable as it was when she discovered he had killed that woman. Ray just smiled and shook his head.
"I have done what I could, but the op has failed." Eli David turned his head to look behind him, focusing on the voice from the shadows. Ziva gasped when Rene' Benoit appeared to take the seat by her father. She cried out in terror when Saleem Ulmann took the seat to Eli's left.
"I will find out everything you need to know. Then it will be done." Saleem spoke to the Director of Mossad, nodding in the direction of Ziva. Ziva stepped forward, anger overtaking her fears.
"What is it you need to know? What is this!" She yelled at the assemblage. Her hand flew to her temple, the searing pain almost bringing her to her knees. She felt the hand at her elbow and looked up in shock at her helper.
"Elan?" Ziva's voice was weak and the alarm she felt by his presence further incapacitated her.
"Yes, Ziva. You have displeased your father. He is my father as well, so you have also displeased me. You and I both know that you do not cross the Director of Mossad, yes?" Bodnar's voice was soft yet so full of venom that Ziva shrank back in horror.
"You are not the Director of Mossad, Elan! I owe you nothing! You are nothing to me! I am blood, you are not! You will never be the son of Eli David!" Ziva spat back at him, stumbling slightly in her agony.
"Yes, you saw to that, didn't you? Always trying to distance Eli from me, always finding ways to undermine my position in the family. Family first, yes? Family comes in many ways, Ziva. As you took my family away from me, I will take your family away from you."
"What do you mean, what are you saying?" Ziva cried, the pain bringing her to her knees. She felt herself go in and out of consciousness, sounds muted and hollow. As her eyes slowly opened, she took in her surroundings, dazed and confused.
She was now seat-belted into the passenger seat of a car…Tony's car. She peered at him, slumped unconscious in his seat. She couldn't quite focus and didn't understand what was happening, and felt rather than heard the movement to her right. Painfully, she turned her head to see who had brought this pain.
"Elan?" Ziva was shocked and dismayed to see the rogue Mossad operative standing outside the car. This man…this inhuman beast…had ordered the killing of her father. Rage boiled up inside her but she had no strength to fight him.
"I told you to walk away, Ziva. Now you must pay the price." The spit from the silencer was far louder than one would think, but it's distinctive sound was recognizable to anyone in law enforcement, or law breaking for that matter. Ziva flinched and felt the searing pain in her head as the bullet glanced off her temple. She raised her hand to the wound in pain, her head drifting to the left…
"NO! TONY!" She cried out when she saw the damage the bullet had done to her partner, her friend, her…
What had she been about to say to him, before Elan Bodnar took away their chance? She would never know, she would never get to say those words that she had kept bottled up inside of her. For she had not been the intended victim, she never had. Her father, Michael, Le Grenouille, Saleem, Ray, and Bodnar…they had all had one target in mind, and his name was Anthony DiNozzo…
"TONY!" Ziva felt hands push her back down into the bed, calming her but also in restraint. The French being spoken to her caused her to look wildly around, taking in the hospital emergency room apparatus and charts that were clearly not America in origin. How was this possible?
"Ziva, I'm here…try to be still ok? You have a head injury but everyone is going to take good care of you." Tony's voice was a beacon of calm in the internal storm raging in Ziva's brain. She looked at him in disbelief, as if he was a spectre from the dead.
"Tony?" She whispered his name, shocked that not only was he standing by her side but appeared to be completely uninjured. "Did you get him? Did you get Elan?"
Tony's heart sank as her words hit him, unnerved by the unwelcome intrusion of Elan Bodnar. That was three years ago, did Ziva think...oh God! Tony realized that Ziva had again regressed into the past, perhaps thinking she was in the hospital because of that damn car accident.
He looked at the doctor who was staring at him expecting an explanation. Tony rubbed his jaw, not sure how to proceed. He knew that he had indeed pushed her too much before and was hesitant to try to make her live in the present again when her mind was unwilling to do so. He took a deep breath as he tried to calm her down but not really answer the question. He gently took her hand, an act not unnoticed by Ziva who looked at him warily. She glanced around for any signs of Gibbs. If he saw them holding hands…
She recalled the moments before they were rammed by Elan, sitting together at the red light, Ziva tearfully trying to make sense of the woman she had become; an existence that could have been so drastically altered if one Orli Elbaz had not entered her father's life. Her sad musings were cut short by Tony, by taking her hand and assuring her that he was quite happy with the way she had turned out. That had both surprised and pleased her in a way she hadn't expected. Their mutual attraction had been present from the moment they met, even if obstacles had always been thrown in their paths. Tony was quick with a joke and innuendo, but this was none of that.
Tony was speaking from his heart, just as he had when she departed from the airport to take her father's remains to Israel. She hadn't thought too much of it at the time, other than one friend trying to support another, but now she realized she had gotten it all wrong and she despaired at her unknown actions in Tel Aviv with Adam, shuddering at the thought of Tony finding out about her moment of weakness. She only grasped how important that declaration had been at the time in that instant in the car and had given him her full attention. She remembered she said his name, preparing to ask him to join her later so they could talk…so she could tell him how important he was to her…to tell him…
"Ziva?" Tony's voice interrupted her thoughts, bringing her eyes to his. "Ziva, everyone is looking for him, everything is under control. I don't want you to even think about him. Promise me Ziva…let this go for now." Tony's voice was low and caring but there was an insistence about it that made Ziva worry that there was more to what was going on than Tony was willing to share with her.
Ziva searched his face for any dissembling, but found she was too exhausted to worry about anything, much less Elan Bodnar. That thought was troubling to her, as she believed she should be trying to fight her way out of this hospital to go after him. But there was something different, something she couldn't quite explain. She felt a sense of release come over her, knowing Tony would be there to take control. Ziva David was never one to let others take control when she could do the job herself. She tried to squeeze Tony's hand tighter but instead felt her grip loosen. She moaned as the searing head pain once again appeared and she lost consciousness.
"It is time." The French surgeon spoke urgently. "I had hope we could get her consent while she was awake but we cannot wait for her to regain consciousness again. You understand and agree, yes?" The surgeon handed the forms to Tony; his hands shaking as he signed the consent for the surgery that could bring his Ziva back; or once again send her to the grave.
NCIS- Forensics Lab- 9:00 am
"Gibbs! Can I please stop wasting my time…Director Vance…? hello." Abby's shrill tone changed in volume as soon as she realized Vance had accompanied Gibbs to her lab. Vance nodded curtly at the hyper woman, narrowing his eyes as he noted Gibbs going to her side; as if taking sides.
The Director sighed in frustration, not understanding the dynamics of what was going on in his house. He was confused at Gibbs taking such a careless attitude regarding Ziva's whereabouts; a woman he had on several occasions likened to a daughter. That she should be summarily dismissed was incongruous to Vance's understanding of their relationship. Vance himself felt a familial closeness to Ziva David, originally because of his friendship with her father, but more recently because of their shared grief and his requirement of Ziva to bring an end to their madness.
Leon was not oblivious that his directives to Ziva probably were instrumental in her leaving NCIS in the first place, and consequently the unbelievable events that brought them to this moment. As Director of a government agency, he had to learn to not feel responsible for any "collateral damage" any of his decisions may have caused and for the most part he had been quite successful. It was the reported death of Ziva David that gave the Director the mental shake he needed to evaluate what he had done in the past and ensure that there would never be a repeat. That Ziva had been found alive was of great consolation, but the burden of guilt was still his to bear.
"Ms. Sciuto, I understand that you have felt it a waste of your time to be searching for Ziva, despite being ordered to do so." Vance began calmly. He wanted to control this scenario and he'd be damned if he was going to allow a single, selfish outburst from this immature woman.
Abby's lips twisted in what she thought made her look like a little girl orphan in need of love, but the Director ignored her expression and held up his hand to stop her from speaking. "You will be happy to know that I no longer require you to continue your search for Ms. David." Abby's tense shoulders sank in relief and she moved back to one of her monitors, thinking that the Director was finished.
"Thank God for that! I have so much work to do, and I'm only one person and it was such a waste of manpower and my babies to keep looking for someone who…"
Vance cut her off before she could continue her speech. "I would remind you Ms. Sciuto that any task that I deem necessary is not a waste of time; nor does any of the equipment in this lab actually belong to you for you to have sole say into what they will be used for. I suggest you remember that." He glared at her, satisfied at her shocked look but not surprised when she started to appeal to Gibbs. For his part, Gibbs seemed to understand for once the seriousness of the matter and said nothing.
Vance started to turn away, and then stopped. "By the way, we no longer need to continue our search for Ziva because Agent McGee found her. Former Agent DiNozzo is meeting with her as we speak." He knew that wasn't quite true, as they had only been notified that she had shown up at a hospital and therefore they knew she was alive. He added the embellishment to get Abby's reaction and was rewarded for his effort.
"Wha…what?" Abby's voice was a whisper, her normally pale face becoming almost white as the blood drained in her shock at the Director's announcement. Tony was with Ziva? Was Ziva going to tell Tony…
Unable to cope with the ramifications of what had just been relayed to her, Abby dramatically swooned into Gibbs' arms, overcome with dread in what was about to come down on her.
Yes, I know. About half of what I normally write, and again a huge cliffhanger regarding Ziva. And yes, I really write Abby in this story as a caricature in this story because that is what she is on the show. Hope you will want to continue reading.