WARNING! This chapter does contain some strong language!
As Ziva settled into the Mossad limo, she couldn't help but to stare at her father, who was sitting next to two Mossad officers. The last time she had seen him face-to-face, he was thin, lined and tired-looking. Now he had filled out, looked younger, and had gone back to his old self- the powerful director of Mossad. Ziva idly wondered what had made him look so much better. Was it possible that he thought that she would return to Mossad? If that was the case, he was greatly mistaken. Just then Tony and McGee filed into the limo and Ziva put those thoughts aside as she helped them pull in her wheelchair. Eli gave the limo driver a signal, and they started off. He then turned back to the NCIS team and spread his hands in a gesture of welcome.
"Shalom, Ziva. Welcome back, even if your stay will be a brief one." Eli smiled warmly, a gesture that Ziva didn't return. She nodded instead.
"Shalom Eli. It is a surprise to see you here." Ziva responded.
"Ah Ziva, can a man not just come to see his own daughter?" Eli asked, raising an eyebrow. Before Ziva could respond, Gibbs snarled at Eli.
"Your daughter? Your daughter! Don't you dare give me that bullshit Eli! I am more her father than you ever were and ever will be! You do nothing unless it is for your own personal gain. So why don't you stop with the 'I just want to see my daughter' crap and get on to the real reason of your visit!" Eli, rather than retaliating to Gibb's outburst, merely leaned back in his seat and smiled a predator's smile. His complete lack of response made the hairs on the back of Ziva's neck stand on end. This is not going to end well she thought to herself. Eli's next words made her go for her weapon.
"Tut, tut, Agent Gibbs, such an ugly temper you have. You really should learn to control it, if you ever want to be a good leader. However, you were correct. I am not here just to see Ziva." Eli's dark smile widened. "I am here to get her back." Eli made a movement with his hands, and suddenly, without warning, the two Mossad officers sitting next to him grabbed the two unsuspecting Marines and slit their throats. The two soldiers had no time to react and they were soon slumped over in their seats, blood pouring down their fronts. The NCIS team, including Vance, immediately drew their weapons, but froze when Ben-Gidon's snarling voice rang out from behind Ziva.
"Drop your weapons or Ziva dies!" Ziva closed her eyes, cursing herself for forgetting about Ben-Gidon. She could feel the cold steel of his knife against her jugular. When the team didn't immediately release their weapons, Ben-Gidon pressed his blade down harder on Ziva's throat, and she winced as the knife drew blood. Eli's smooth-as-silk voice rolled out.
"Now, as Officer Ben-Gidon said, drop your weapons. I would rather not have to kill my own daughter, but I will do as I must to ensure that either I get her, or no agency does." Eli's last few words curled into a frightening snarl, and their meaning caused Ziva to shiver, despite the fact that the movement caused Ben-Gidon's knife to cut deeper into her throat. Eli had gone mad! Sitting stock-still, unable to speak, she fixed her blazing eyes on her "father". The NCIS team's faces showed absolute hatred as well, but they were unable to do anything about it. There was a clatter as the agents reluctantly released their weapons, and one of the officers immediately retrieved them while the other quickly handcuffed the team. One of the officers also went over to Ziva and relieved her of all her weapons, including her backups, and then handcuffed her as well. Once that was done, the officers sat quietly, pointing their weapons at the agents, and Ben-Gidon removed his knife from Ziva's throat, but kept it close by. Eli gave a small sigh.
"Much better. Unfortunately, I am afraid I will have to kill all of you. I cannot have you running back to the United States and coming back to get my daughter, now can I?" Eli's mockingly gentle voice pushed the furious Tony over the edge.
"You BASTARD! That's my WIFE you're kidnapping! Get your filthy hands off of her you-you prick!" Eli nodded at one of his officers, and the man lunged at Tony and slammed the butt of his gun into the agent's temple. Tony immediately slumped forward and Ziva screamed, lunging against her restraints. Ben-Gidon placed his knife against the unconscious agent's throat, and she stopped. Gibbs, blue eyes flaming with fury, growled at Eli.
"Why are you doing this Eli? And how in hell do you plan to explain killing us?" Eli just chuckled, and Ziva could see a flicker of fear in Gibb's eyes- he was helpless to protect his team.
"Oh, I have no intention of letting the United States government know that we killed you. Oh no, your deaths will just be another tragic accident in war-torn Israel. As Ziva knows all too well, suicide bombers are an unfortunate common place here. You all will be casualties of such a bombing." Eli gave a harsh laugh. "I will even have a woman with the same body of Ziva accompany you to your death to make sure that no one comes for my daughter. It will be a shame to have to lose you my friend," Eli nodded towards a furious Vance, "but you have left me no choice. You should have left Ziva here while you had the chance. As for why I am doing this, well, I guess it is not so much fatherly love as the fact that Ziva represents a significant investment for Mossad. She was raised from childhood to be an assassin, and her skills and years of training would only be wasted by NCIS. So, I had to get her back. When Melek failed to retrieve her, I had to come up with some excuse to get her to come back to Israel. Of course, I would have preferred her to come alone, but then again, you idiots would have tried to get her back."
Ziva felt hot tears of anger and pain roll down her face. Betrayed yet again by her people! First Ari, then Michael, and now her own father! How could she have been so foolish to trust this man? She hissed out her next words, her heart breaking.
"So that is all I am to you Eli? An investment? You filthy bastard! After everything I have done for Israel, for Mossad, for you, this is what you treat me as! I am not your daughter- I am not even a human being to you! I am simply a weapon- no more than one of the tanks in our army or the gun at your hip! Well I have news for you Papa." Ziva spat that word out like a curse. "You are going to have to kill me anyway, because I will NEVER go back to Mossad!" Ziva spat a wad of saliva into her father's face. Eli's face went red, and he slowly wiped off the spit, and then drew his gun. Gibbs, Vance and McGee all tried to jump at Eli, but were restrained by the Mossad officers. Ziva sat perfectly still, face emotionless as Eli leveled his gun and aimed it at her forehead. Just as his finger was curling around the trigger, she shouted a word in Hebrew.
"NOW!"
Suddenly the driver jerked the wheel hard to the left, and the limo spun sharply, accompanied by the blare of car horns. Eli's hand flew sideways, and the gun went off, punching a hole in the roof. Before he could re-aim, the two "dead" Marines suddenly jumped up and restrained him, pulling his gun out of his hand and cuffing him. One of the Mossad officers gagged him with a cloth, while the other removed the handcuffs from the NCIS team and gave back their weapons. Meanwhile, Ben-Gidon retrieved a first aid kit from the seat next to him and bandaged the cuts his knife had made on Ziva's neck. When he finished with that, he then produced a walkie-talkie and spoke into it.
"Did you get all of that recorded?"
A male's voice crackled over the speaker. "Copy that, Officer Ben-Gidon. We now have plenty to convict him."
"Very good. We will meet you at headquarters." Ben-Gidon turned off the walkie, and, ignoring the team's incredulous looks, placed a hand on Ziva's shoulder.
"You have Mossad's gratitude, Special Agent David, for agreeing to do this. Without your help we would never have been able to convict your father." Ziva nodded as the team stared at her, dumbfounded. Gibbs was the first to speak.
"What the hell is going on here?" he growled. Just then there was a moan from Tony, and Ziva saw that his eyes were starting to open. She motioned to Ben-Gidon, who pulled a waiting bag of ice out, and gave it to her. Ziva carefully placed it on her husband's temple and gave him a few aspirin to swallow. She then turned back to Gibbs.
"Rule number 18 Gibbs. It is better to seek forgiveness than to ask for permission. When we get to Mossad headquarters, and Eli is locked up, I will tell you everything."
Okay, so I lied, the team's going to spend at least one more chapter in Israel. Because the overwhelming majority of the reviewers said that they didn't like Eli, and I personally don't like him either, I had to do a huge turn-around from what the plot was originally going to be.
So, I hope you all like THIS turn of events! I promise, promise, promise that the next chapter will be the last one in Israel.
Please REVIEW! They make my day!
Yeah, sure, you becha!