"Gibbs is gonna be so mad we didn't get the guy." McGee managed to say.
"Yeah. Aw man I'm gonna go bald at the rate he's smacking the back of my hea- hey wait a second. You see that?" Tony had one hand on his head, as the other pointed slightly into the woods, something in the distance catching his eye.
"Is that...a body?"
"Only one way to find out. Come on."
Tony started jogging towards the figure on the floor, McGee only a few steps behind him. As they got closer, it became apparent that the person was still breathing as his chest rose and fell.
"That's Riley Cooper!" Tony said, confused.
McGee went forward, tightening the handcuffs around the wrists of the inert body before shaking his shoulders in an attempt to rouse him from his state of unconsciousness.
When that didn't help, Tony squat down beside McGee and started slapping Riley Cooper on the cheeks lightly.
"Dude wake up already. I'm not gonna haul your ass all the way back. Wake up!" Tony scolded.
That seemed to do the trick for Riley opened his eyes into a squint, a groan escaping from his mouth. His eyes widened and he bolted up into a sitting position.
"Who hit me?" Riley asked as his head whipped left and right, searching for some invisible assailant.
"Huh? Nobody hit you." McGee's voice was laced with the same confusion that could be seen on Tony's face.
"Someone hit me near the neck, somewhere on my shoulder or something, I'm sure!"
Tony pulled the collar of Riley's polo shirt aside, revealing a nasty bruise at a familiar pressure point.
"Well that doesn't look pretty. Looks like the work of someone who knows their way about accupoints. That's rare." McGee stretched his neck out to take a look too.
For some reason, Ziva's parting words rang in his head.
I will always have your back Tony, whether you know it or not. Okay?
"Yeah. Bring him to the car. I wanna look around for any clues on this helpful expert." Tony concluded.
He watched McGee drag the out-of-sorts Riley back the way they came until all he saw were two dots in the distance.
"Ziva! Was that you? Ziva!" Tony shouted into the empty woods, turning around every now and then expecting to see Ziva emerging from behind the bushes or trees.
But of course, she didn't.
"I saw you do that accupoint thing before! Ziva come on!" He boomed once more into the orange evening sky.
All he heard was the sound of nature. The leaves bristling in the wind, the calls of a plethora of animals.
"Ziva!" Tony gave it one last try.
His ears picked up all but a cacophony of silence. He finally gave up and slumped in defeat and disappointment, trudging back to the awaiting vehicle.
Eyeing every movement, a figure resting above in the tree branches watched as the car was started and driven away. After which, the figure took out a cell phone and sent a text message.
'Helped DiNozzo and McGee stop an escaping suspect. Was discreet like you said.'
Ah, it was one of the people on Uziel's surveillance team.
Uziel was getting restless. He doubted brain surgeries would take as long as this. But maybe that was just him being paranoid.
"Officer Lazar?" The sophisticated voice of Doctor Relich called out.
Uziel's head snapped towards the direction of the doctor's voice, to find him standing there with his surgical cap and attire clinging onto his body loosely.
As Uziel approached him promptly, he noticed the bloodshot eyes and the more prominent frown lines on the doctor. But he also saw a slight turn upwards of his lips.
"Is she okay?" Uziel asked, allowing himself to hope.
"The surgery went well. We tried to be as minimally intrusive as possible. Now to be sure her mobility, speech or sight has not been impeded, all we have to do is wait for the anesthesia to wear off and see how she is." The words rolled off Doctor Relich's tongue smoothly.
"Thank you for doing your best Doctor." Uziel shook his hand firmly.
"No thanks needed. Ziva is one special patient." The doctor smiled, a unique sense of accomplishment overwhelming him.
With that, they both watched with keen eyes and followed along closely as the nurses wheeled Ziva into a ward.
"You should go home. Get some rest. The anesthesia doesn't wear off so fast. Come back tomorrow afternoon. I'll be here the whole time." Doctor Relich suggested reassuringly.
It was now that the tiredness hit Uziel at full blast, as he suddenly felt drained of all energy. Deciding that Ziva was in capable hands, he obliged.
He would come back tomorrow.
"I am back Ziva." Uziel announced into the silent room.
The only sounds he heard were the air conditioner blowing and the beeping sounds from the machine beside Ziva's bed.
"Time to wake up and prove to us that you are the same Ziva as before." He cooed as his thumb rubbed across the top of her hand.
The door to the ward opened as Doctor Relich walked in to check on her charts.
"She is not awake yet. Why?" Uziel questioned, concerned.
"Give it time. Maybe her body is taking the time now to catch up on all the rest she's missed out on."
"Okay."
"Ziva, it's been three days since the surgery. That's already enough sleep." Doctor Relich was sitting by her bedside at night.
Uziel had been consistently staying with her during the day ever since her surgery was finished. He waited patiently for her to wake up every day.
But she hadn't.
"Officer Lazar has been hounding me for answers. And I have none to offer. Did I mess up during the surgery? Wake up and tell me I'm wrong."
The doctor was getting worried.
"Sorry. I think she will have the time to call back soon. Maybe next week? Yes, okay. Bye." Uziel snapped his phone shut as he walked back into Ziva's ward.
Five days since the surgery.
"Your friends at NCIS are waiting for you to call them back. Wake up and return their call Ziva. Wake up." Uziel sighed.
The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with Ziva. They checked twice over and there were simply no anomalies.
Even unconscious, Ziva had a way to baffle people.
TBC
Sorry I'm late. Junior College life is getting suckier :(
But here's what I could come up with. Sorry! :)
AND BY THE WAY, THE AVENGERS WAS FRICKIN AWESOME. PLEASE TELL ME YOU WATCHED IT.