Chapter 14

Logical Reason to Fight

Tony must find an explainable reason to take out Saleem Ulman, other than his gut and emotions. He must make a case to present to Vance to convince him of this and he must lead the team on a successful mission by putting himself in harm's way.

Characters: Tony, Gibbs, and Vance

Tony's POV

I refused to believe it. Ziva was definitely not dead. Following my gut had worked this far and I knew that I had to trust it still. Ziva was out there, but in my mind this was Saleem's fault. I had to get Gibbs to let me make a case, so a couple of weeks later I went down to his basement again and went right down this time, but watched him as he worked on some wood and drank his bourbon quietly. I knew he knew I was there.

I was silent until he acknowledged my presence in his basement, because that was the only way he was going to get me to speak willingly about what was really on my mind after walking around for two weeks in a thoughtful trance that rendered me fairly useless for work. My heart and soul and head were focused on only one thing. And I broke my promise to Gibbs, because now that the search was over, it was definitely interfering with my ability to work. But, I had to find Ziva.

"Tony," Gibbs said, offering me a drink, that I promptly turned down. "What's on your mind, DiNozzo?"

"She's not dead, boss," I said.

"Evidence or gut, DiNozzo?" he asked as he sat down in front of me.

"Gut, boss," I whispered. "It lead me this far. It's been right up to now. She's not dead."

"I think the same. What're you going to do about it, though, DiNozzo? We can't prove that the female captive is anyone and Mossad isn't talking about anything. I can tell you, off the record, though, that her partner for the mission, Malachi Ben-Gidon, has been seen in the Somali desert. I asked Dunham about it, because I was curious to know if he was around. I showed him the picture and he recognized him almost immediately."

"Got to find her, boss. It's more important than the cases, I think you know that," I said to him.

"Then say no, DiNozzo. But, come up with something better than your gut telling you she's alive. I can't forego a case based on your gut, and I think you know that by now," he insisted.

"What if I present it to you as there still being a terrorist out there that we need to stop before he kills someone else, and go with the theory that Ziva is dead?" I asked him.

"At least I know you're not entirely dysfunctional, DiNozzo. Tomorrow, I guess would be the time to do it," Gibbs pointed out. "Just don't chicken out when I question you telling me no. You know I've got to, and I would honestly prefer if you didn't and don't ever do it again after this unless it's an answer to a yes or no question. That understood, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked. "This one will fall under rule thirty-eight, I think: your case, your lead. This has always been your case, Tony."

"Thanks, boss. That's a lot of talking for a functional mute," I said quietly and he chuckled.

"Good to have some of that sense of humor back, DiNozzo," he said, before pointing upstairs and indicating that I should go home and sleep on this, considering I would definitely need my rest for what was to come, especially with me leading the case this time.

And then, I said no.

"No?" Gibbs asked with a confused look on his face, while McGee stood staring at me as though I had gone totally crazy.

"No," I repeated. "No. Saleem Ulman is still out there and he needs to be stopped before one more person dies."

"Make your case," Gibbs accepted.

And I went to work, with the help of Abby and McGee to find a manifest for the Damocles and past manifests to the Damocles and other shipments that stemmed to going that way. And, there it was. There was one constant on all manifests that told us what Saleem was getting and where it was going.

We presented the case, together, as a team, because it was a team effort to find this information. Then, I met with Vance. But, he said no.

"This is a military act on foreign soil," Vance said. "There's no proof that he's even there and I can't go off the assumption that he needs his daily Caf-Pow. The circumstances just aren't right."

I turned off the monitor and walked out of his office, angrily. "DiNozzo," Gibbs called after me urgently, but I ignored him, needing time to process the fact that I wasn't going after Ziva at all, even after all the hard work that the team and I put in. "Tony!" I turned, still furious. If she wasn't dead yet, she would be before the circumstances were right. "That's it?" Gibbs asked.

"Is there more? Yes, that's it," I hissed. "The circumstances aren't right, you heard him."

"So?" Gibbs asked. "We change the circumstances. Put a couple of agents on the ground. Eyes on the target. Strictly investigational. So, any volunteers for the mission?"

My heart rose. The boss was a genius.

"Yea, me," I said.

"And McGee," Gibbs added sternly. "Go figure out your quiet plan and bring it to me."

And I did. McGee and I were going to Somalia to be eyes on the target, to investigate Saleem Ulman, while Gibbs talked this out with Vance in a way that would appeal to the Director as a Director of a major agency.

We were going to Somalia and would need to check in with Dubai. But, we wouldn't be able to. Instead we would get ourselves captured. In that scenario, Dubai would contact the squad in the Mediterranean, and Gibbs. They would come to us and rescue us. But I had to be careful when talking to Saleem Ulman. I would need to give him the information he wanted in a very specific order, so he didn't lose his cool and didn't figure me out. McGee agreed that me doing the talking was a better option. At least he trusted that my mind was entirely in this without any proof of that. Gibbs knew I could handle this.

The mission was approved that day and Gibbs, McGee, and I spent the rest of our time preparing ourselves for this, with Abby and Ducky's help. The next morning, we flew out of Washington and headed for Dubai on a long and silent flight, considering the gravity of our mission and the danger of it. And, then it started and there was absolutely no stopping it, although McGee was already second guessing himself. And that was another reason why I was leading this mission, aside from the emotions it took to realize that Ziva could be dead or captive be this man. Those emotions were reason enough to keep going.