A/N: I really have nothing to say in this author's note other than this is the last chapter, excluding the short little epilogue I've thought of, and you probably don't want to read this author's note either, in fact you've probably zoomed down to the good stuff already! Heh...well, I hope it's semi-good, but my judgement is not perfect at the moment, considering it's currently 2:45 AM, I got up early yesterday, and the last thing I ate was cold pizza. Anyhoo, get reading! ;)
-15 Minutes Earlier-
"McGee's ready to come in as backup if anything goes wrong?"
"Yup."
"And you're sure this has nothing to do with her brother..."
"Doesn't seem Hamas's style."
"But–"
"Damn it, DiNozzo, if you don't stop nagging me–"
"I can't let anything happen to her Boss, her kid will go crazy worrying." Tony said urgently as Gibbs slammed on the brake and their car screeched to a halt.
"Kinda like you are now?"
Tony gave his boss a look, but didn't reply before jumping out of the vehicle and sprinting towards the apartment building.
Gibbs was right behind him, both men had their weapons drawn. Upon reaching his apartment, he knocked and shouted through the door, gun at the ready for any sign of (as Abby would say) something 'hinky', "Ziva, you okay?"
The lock clicked, and the door was pulled open.
Ziva appeared, ready to go, and made a face at him, though she was obviously reassured by his presence. "I'll be fine once you get your gun out of my face." she retorted.
He gave a relieved chuckle, though still alert for a possible shooter. "Good to see you too." He handed her a Kevlar vest identical to the ones the two male agents wore, and Gibbs lead her down the hall and into the stairwell.
Tony checked the opposite end of the hall, and stood with Ziva until Gibbs told them it was clear out front.
"There was no sign of anyone trying to get into the apartment?" Gibbs asked Ziva as the three agents made their way back to the car.
She shook her head. "No, not that I saw or heard."
Gibbs stopped dead in his tracks. "Tony, take Ziva, get back inside."
"Boss–?"
"There's a car pulling in across the street. Dark green SUV, tinted windows. I'm not taking any chances, so get the hell inside."
Tony grabbed Ziva's hand and pulled her towards the door, but she stopped dead when she heard a familiar voice.
"Lower your weapon, please, Agent Gibbs."
She turned, her breath catching in her throat. "You?"
Demetri Barron smiled, obviously relishing the moment. "You missed me, darling?" He sauntered to the edge of the sidewalk, but seemed to think it wise to keep his distance, perhaps because the guns of Agents' DiNozzo and Gibbs immediately trained on him.
Ziva shook her head. "They said you were dead...they said you–"
"They've said a lot of things."
"Who is this guy, Ziva?" Gibbs asked warily, his gun still pointed at the man across the street.
Still looking startled, she gulped. "He's–"
"Allow me to introduce myself," the stranger put in, his smile reaching to his strikingly green eyes. "I'm Demetri Barron."
"He's Kazia's father." Ziva said quietly. "He was supposedly dead–until now." she continued, a cold note in her voice.
"Yes, they all thought I was a victim...some said I was a martyr."
"And what are you really?" Ziva demanded, seeming to regain a bit of her confidence.
Demetri shrugged, his expression smug. "I am...a survivor, thought by some, a murderer. I could have been a lot of things," he continued, "A father, a husband..."
Ziva met his playful gaze with only coldness in her stare.
"What does he want?" inquired Gibbs gruffly, as a general question to all present.
"I repeat, Agent Gibbs, lower your weapon. And the question really should be, what does Ziva want?"
All eyes turned on her.
"What?"
Demetri flicked his chin-length brown hair out of his eyes, turned, and waved.
Kazia David's round face peered from the window of the SUV, her hands cupped around her eyes, and her eyebrows knitted in confusion.
Ziva dove forward. "Don't you dare– Don't even–!"
Tony held her back firmly. "Wait." he whispered.
She struggled against him, while Gibbs shouted, "Let the girl go!"
Demetri was not frightened visibly while Gibbs still trained the gun on him. He grinned and put his hand into his jacket pocket.
"Keep your hands where I can see them!"
He chuckled and brought his hand back out, but in it, he held a small black remote.
"What the hell does that go to? What the hell are you–?" Ziva gasped, again trying to get at him.
"Put the remote down, dirtbag." Gibbs said dangerously.
Demetri shook his head. "This can end two ways."
"It can end with you giving me my daughter back!"
Demetri clucked his tongue. "Now, now, Ziva, our daughter."
Ziva shook her head disbelievingly, "You stopped being a parent when you abandoned your child, and let us believe you were dead!" she spat at him.
His expression turned ugly. "Well, that wasn't all my fault, now was it? You were the one who ran, you...you should have stayed with me, where the two of you could be safe."
A note of desperation came into Ziva's voice now. "You're not necessarily helping with the 'safe' part now, Demetri." she lamented.
"And shooting your ex is kiiind of frowned upon in the world of relationships." Tony put in sarcastically.
The dark haired man shook his head. "Don't you understand, Ziva?"
"What I understand," she replied slowly, "is that you've always been a selfish bastard, no matter what the circumstance." Silently, she put her hand behind her back; she knew she couldn't retrieve her own weapon without risk of Demetri using his little black remote. Ziva felt the cold metal of Tony's Sig as her lowered it into her outstretched palm, his attention still seeming to be fixed on the situation at hand.
"Let Kazia go." Ziva asked, "she shouldn't be apart of this. Let her go, and we'll talk about it...like grown-ups."
A smile curled around the corners of Demetri's mouth once again. "We're beyond talking here. I want you to know loss, as I have known it–" he lifted the remote.
Three things happened in an instant; a crash of breaking glass was heard, Ziva fired two rounds into Demetri's skull, and Demetri carried out a last conscious act. He pushed the button
A blinding flash of light and sound rocketed through the neighborhood, setting off car alarms and sending dogs into loud bouts of howling.
There was smoke all around, and as Ziva sat up, there was a sickening realization in the pit of her stomach. Kazia had been in that car. There were no words, no thoughts, just fear. Ziva buried her face in her hands and told herself over and over again that she would wake up soon and it would all go away. Nightmares weren't scary once you were awake, she'd told Kazia that a million times.
But the tears came anyway, wracking her body with sobs as she knelt on the ground. She'd known loss, yes, a brother, a sister, friends...never like this. It didn't make a difference when Tony, who had fallen near her, hugged her shaking form to him, and told her it would be alright. It wouldn't be alright, not with what had just happened.
"She's okay!" called a voice, the sound of it muffled in her ringing ears.
Ziva lifted her head.
"Gibbs!" the same voice called out, and a figure came stumbling through the smoke, and Gibbs ran to take the girl from McGee, who was bleeding from a large gash in his arm.
Ziva jumped to her feet, crying out at the sharp pain in her side that told her her stitches had ripped through a little, and ran to them, Tony right behind her.
Kazia wriggled out of the silver-haired agent's arms and limped as fast as she could to her mother, tears streaming down her soot-streaked face.
"Ima," Kazia panted, hugging Ziva tightly, "Ima, ani ohevet otach."
Ziva held onto her daughter as if she would never let go. "Gum ani ohevet otach." she finally managed, pulling back and wiping the tears from both of their faces with a tired smile.
Tony crouched down next to them and put a hand on Ziva's back. "You guys both okay?"
Kazia in turn flung herself at Tony and hugged him tightly, pulling him into their small circle.
Tony grinned, and wrapped his arms around them both, feeling safe in the embrace of his two favorite women. Happier than he'd been in a long while, he kissed Kazia on the top of her head, and Ziva on the mouth.
"Eww!"
---
"Mummy, I love you." and "I love you too." translated into Hebrew by the lovely Liat1989! Thank you so much darling!
xoxoxox
-Ponytails