Warnings: This story deals with child molestation, sexual harassment and assault but no graphic descriptions. It also deals with homophobic behaviour.

Also I have to issue warnings about major multiple cliffhangers and character death in upcoming chapters.

N.B. This chapter has a crossover of a character from Criminal Minds and the very minor appearance of another. You don't need to be familiar with the show to follow the proceedings.

A/N Just a quick thank-you again to everyone for their reviews, favs and everyone who is following Betrayals. Sorry for the wait for this chapter. I have recently started a new job and with it a great deal of inevitable stress that comes with any new position. Adding insult to injury I have been sick with a number of ailments that add to the challenge of deadlines and restricted my time for FF writing. This chapter isn't Beta'ed so hopefully there are too many errors :)

Just to clarify the time line for this story, it takes place in season two. Don't Ask Don't Tell was still in effect.

Betrayals

Chapter 21

Mossad Officer Ziva David stepped out of the shower and reached for a bath towel and an extra one to wrap her wet hair in, as she dried herself quickly before she donned her favourite yoga pants and a long sleeve T-shirt. Ziva was still feeling somewhat tense after opening the 'fake' biohazard letter although a little part of her couldn't help but wonder if it was indeed genuine. Settling on the bed, she thought about her brother and her misgivings, which unsurprisingly led to her reminiscences about her childhood and her little sister Tali. She had lost her sister when she was just sixteen, in a terrorist attack.

Feeling increasingly maudlin as she thought about her innocent baby sister, the Mossad spy rose off the bed and went to her duffel bag and retrieved the childish picture book that had been Tali's favourite story when she was a little girl. No matter how many times Ziva would read it to her sister, the Israeli fairy tale The Red Slippers about the little girl Rosy-Red who had a pair of magical red slippers, Tali always wanted to hear the story one more time before she went to sleep with her favourite stuffed kitty. The child's picture book evoked happy memories of their time together and Ziva carried it with her constantly as a reminder of her beautiful sister and the happy times she had spent with her. She also recalled special times when their elder brother would settle down to listen to the simple story with an indulgent smile on his face when the three siblings spent time together.

Her thoughts returned to the much-loved patchwork cat, Gila that had been Tali's transitional object as a toddler and she had insisted on sleeping with her long after her need for a security blanket had passed. Ziva still carried Gila around in her voluminous handbag too and feeling uncharacteristically disconcerted between her doubts about Ari, and the threatening letter she rose again from the bed and retrieved Gila cat from her bag. Clutching the fabric cat that was a little the worse for wear between her shoulder and cheekbone, Ziva read the fairy tale aloud and felt the usual soporific effects as she crawled under the bed covers and blocked out reality for just a short time.

Waking many hours later, she groaned as she became aware of a frightening lethargy. As she crawled out of bed, she was very surprised to see she had slept through the night. Grabbing the television remote control, Ziva switched it on and cursed that she couldn't get ZNN on the TV since this was a very modest Mom and Pop style motel complex. She preferred to stay in places that weren't high-profile, five-star hotels since their security systems were usually very primitive and it helped her fly over the rainbow. Of course when she was on the run, she would opt to stay in the type of flea pits favoured by street crawlers and their Jones since anonymity was paramount in such situations. Cursing that she couldn't get the 24 hour news channel, she had to settle instead for the local DC channel, knowing that they would have a morning news program. While they wouldn't have any international news unless it was a big story, she was a news addict and especially when she was on a mission Ziva liked to keep abust of current events.

Seeing Jenn Shepard reading a prepared statement as the Director of NCIS was definitely a shock! Ziva realised that events had moved faster than her father or Shepard had anticipated if Jenny had been appointed as the newest Director of the NCIS. An agency that for some reason which remained obscure to his daughter at least, her father seemed to favour over the more obvious counter intelligence organisations like the CIA. Focusing on what her friend and sometimes partner was saying, she realised Jenn was announcing that the Major Case Response Team had survived a crime scene blast that had been booby-trapped with a car bomb. There had been with only one fatality and several injuries ranging from serious to fairly minor injuries.

The report caused a frisson of dread to wash over the Mossad assassin but she quickly dampened down her treacherous thoughts that Ari had tampered with the crime scene. He was undercover and there was no way he would risk the mission simply to get petty retribution on Gibbs, who was after all, just another arrogant ass sniper anyway, unlike the élite operatives of the Kidon unit. She wondered idly, which one the NCIS agents hadn't survived the bombing. She had a needing acquaintance with them after compiling intelligence dossiers for Ari.

Still as much as she refused to entertain for an hour, the idea that Ari had anything to do with the attack on Gibbs' team, she decided to contact him. She was his handler after all so she was within her rights to know what he was doing. so after she sent him a text to contact her urgently. After which, she crawled back into the bed to wait for him to respond.

Feeling nauseous and chilled to the bone, she piled on blankets and tried not to think that it was because she was finally starting to believe that Aba might have been right since that would mean she would be forced to dispatch her own brother. Focusing on the television, she waited for Ari to call or text her back and by the time that the news started reporting an abortive terrorist attack on the Naval Base at Norfolk with the death of several terrorists, Ziva knew that she needed to go and talk to Jenny Shepard and find out who had been involved.

Not even realising that she was still dressed in her sleeping clothes she gathered her bag and phone, sent another text to Ari and several to her other DC contacts to see what they had learnt about the terrorist attack. Shaking and finding it hard to breathe she wondered if this was what it was like to have your heart-broken which was pretty damned ironic since her father had done an excellent job of making sure she wasn't encumbered by superfluous emotions since he said they got in the way of an assassin being able to carry out her missions. But perhaps instead of eradicating them, he'd merely driven them down deep under the surface simply waiting for the right time and stimulus to resurface. Standing up shakily and stumbling across the room, her head pounding, she decided that if this was what it felt like to experience fear, grief and guilt that perhaps Aba had done her a favour after all. As a sudden bout of coughing overcame her and left her gasping for breath and dizzy, the Mossad Officer felt her legs give way and her head collided with the cheap set of drawers on her way down.

The Israeli slipped into unconsciousness just as her cell phone started ringing, as one of her contacts returned her earlier call, which when she failed to answer went to voicemail.

~Betrayals~

Fornell burst into Jethro's hospital room to find Haswari slumped to the floor beside the IV pump on the left-hand side of his hospital bed and Tony stood on the other side of the bed with his sig resting loosely in his right hand held beside his thigh. Gibbs' monitors showed that while he was still unconscious, the steady beep of his heart rate and blood pressure indicated that he was unscathed by the assassination attempt. Tobias heaved a relieved sigh because as much as Jethro was a butt head, he was one of the FBI agent's best friends and he would miss him if he wasn't around. Although the attempt had failed, it had not been without cost since Tony's left hand was elevated and the FBI agent could see a lethal looking knife buried up to the haft, with the blade penetrating through the middle of his palm with the serrated blade protruding sickeningly out the back of his hand.

The Fibbie stared at the weapon, recognising it as a knife that was favoured by Ari for up close wet work. Mentally reconstructing the scene based on his observation, plus what he'd heard over his cell phone, he had trouble figuring out how Tony had end up with that particular injury. It was what Ducky would call a defensive wound and he had shot to kill after all. He cocked an eyebrow before quizzing the NCIS agent.

"Decided to audition for a knife catching job, DiNotzo?"

"Never neglect an opportunity to add to the old skill set, Tobias. Since I developed proficiency at Summer Camp as a kid in throwing them, I thought I might work up a circus act, if my gig as a super special agent doesn't work out, "Tony deadpanned back at him.

"Don't you know you're supposed to catch the handle not the blade?" Fornell bantered right back, the tension bleeding off them both with the comfortable yet by now, familiar snarking.

"Damn it, why didn't someone explain that to me?" he teased.

Suddenly grave, the Fibbie frowned. "Seriously, all jokes aside, how the Hell did you get a defensive wound?" He paused as he suddenly started putting together the scenario in his mind. "Ari wasn't aiming to kill you was he? He was trying to kill Jethro? But he must have known that you would shoot to kill and that at point-blank range, Blind Freddy couldn't miss, let alone Gibbs protégé!"

"Yeah, death by cop but he was determined that Gibbs was going down with him. Did you hear his confession? His father must be a real bastard, I almost felt sorry for him...until he tried to take Gibbs with him. Nothing more damn cowardly than killing a comatose victim, is there?"

He looked down at the body of Gibbs' Great White Whale that his mentor had been so obsessed with and wondered what had drawn the two individuals together with the gravitational pull of a black hole. Feeling the pain in his hand, Tony realised that the adrenaline high was subsiding and his hand was starting to hurt. He knew from his undergrad studies that there were several vital tendons in the vicinity of his wound and knew that he was looking at delicate surgery to try to repair any damage, not to mention to remove the damned thing. Just as well it wasn't his shooting hand although he could shoot left-handed if he needed to…well that was before he tried to stop a knife with it. Still at least being his non dominant hand would make it easier to cope with being one-handed while it healed.

Tobias pulled a face as he revealed, "Yeah, heard everything. His old man is Deputy Director of Mossad and his daughter is a Kidon trained assassin too. Ari was right about one thing at least… the guy is a cold-blooded bastard, alright. Can't image ever doing that to Emily, making her over into an assassin; word is he started her training when she was still a child. She was Ari's handler, you know?" he looked at Tony who shook his head.

As agents started pouring into the room, Tony said to Fornell, "There's a syringe somewhere down there near Ari that you might want to secure. I'm assuming that it has something pretty lethal in there so you may want to be careful how you handle it."

They looked up as Cassie and Derek burst through the door along with the Chief Neurologist Dr Ford who insisted on gaining admittance despite being told the room was a crime scene. Taking in the scene, the Doctor pushed Tony into the visitor chair, seeing that he was showing signs of shock and he reached for the pulse in his neck and found it galloping rather alarmingly.

"We need to get this hand seen to immediately and we need to get Special Agent Gibbs out of here and into a new room. I take it that this was the man who you've been searching for and that he is beyond my skills?" the doctor quizzed Fornell.

"Yeah this was the terrorist and he's dead alright. DiNotzo had no choice since he was going kill Gibbs. We need to process the site but you're right, we need to get Gibbs outta here, Doc. Need to do it with as little disturbance as possible though. Anyone found Special Agent Tomkins?"

Derek looked sombre. "They found him trussed up like a turkey in a supply cupboard, Fornell and barely alive, not clear if he's going make it either."

"Damn, I told him to take care; I hope Haswari's burning in Hell right now!" He took the bagged syringe and handed it off to another agent with an admonishment to be careful til they found out what was in it. "Gotta talk to the powers-that-be, I guess. Tony?" he asked, suddenly aware that Tony was speaking but not making eye contact with anyone in particular.

"We got him just like I promised. I told you he wasn't gonna get away this time," the NCIs agent said softly, staring at thin air.

Exchanging worried glances with Yates and Morgan, Fornell approach Tony and laid a gentle hand on his right shoulder. "You okay there, Tony?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!"

"Who were you talking to?" Derek wanted to know.

Tony smiled at no one in particular before shaking his head. "Gibbs," he said but Derek wasn't sure he believed him. Standing up shakily, Derek took his good arm ready to take his weight if he collapsed as they made their way out of the room and to a waiting wheelchair. Realising the lack of protest was testament to the degree of discomfort he was experiencing, Cassie and Derek escorted him to the emergency department where Dr Ford had arranged for their foremost hand surgeon to assess the knife wound.

~ Betrayals~

Tobias Fornell knocked on the hospital door of the NCIS medical examiner and hearing the dulcet English accent call, "Come in," entered Ducky's room. He still found it hard to reconcile that the man was actually Scottish by birth since he didn't have the gentle Gallic burr nor did his dotty mother Victoria, for that matter. Both of them sounded more like upper class members of the aristocracy and spoke the Queen's English, in his humble opinion.

"Tobias, what can I do for you, my friend? You're looking rather strained."

The agent smiled mirthlessly. The ME had a genius for understatement. "It's DiNotzo, Ducky. He's disappeared from his room again. I swear, the man is worse that Emily was when she was a toddler. Have you seen him at all today?"

Ducky who was still looking rather the worse for wear and being careful not to gesticulate with his head because of the concussion, smiled wanly. "Yes, he's…"

"Here." Tony finished Ducky's sentence as he wandered out of the bathroom. "What sup?"

"Tony, you're supposed to rest not roam around the hospital, visiting people. I need to talk to you. Something's happened."

He nodded, "Yeah I know, Tobias. Ducky and I were just discussing it and what to do about it."

The fibbie looked surprised. "How did you find out about it? It's totally on the QT at the moment."

"He's obsessively private, but I didn't think it was a state secret," Tony commented, puzzled and Fornell frowned.

"What are YOU talking about DiNotzo? I thought it was your hand that needed medical attention, not your head."

Tony sighed and looked at Ducky who looked equally mystified but because of his concussion was less voluble than usual and shrugged. The agent countered, "We're talking about the fact that when Gibbs deigned to wake up from his coma today, he'd apparently decided to forget the last fourteen years. According to Doc Ford, he's convinced that he's just lost his family and he doesn't recognise Ducky or me. Madame Director's miffed because he apparently doesn't remember her, despite their "close" relationship. Looks like you might be right about them getting hot and heavy because she's acting more like a woman scorned that a concerned boss," he smirked exchanging amused looks with Fornell while Ducky tried to look innocent.

Fornell nodded. "Ah… the dissociative retrograde amnesia; not what I was referring to. So, what conclusions did you reach?"

"That we need to find someone who knew Gibbs in his Marine days. His CO is still being stabilised on his anti-psychotic meds but Ducky says that there's a congressman that served with him that might be willing to help. What the Hell are you talking about?" Tony questioned hoping that nothing else had gone wrong.

"Tony, what do you know about Ari's half sister, Ziva David?"

"Nothing Tobias, until yesterday I wasn't aware of her existence. You told me about her, remember? Why?" he probed.

"Because there's been a biohazard attack and you seem to be involved, somehow."

"Me? What do you mean?" Tony demanded while Ducky piped up with, "What was the biological Agent, Tobias?"

"It was a genetically modified version of the Y-Pestis. According to the lunatic that sent it, it was modified with a suicide chain so it was rendered harmless after 36 hours but it was also made resistant to antibiotics," he revealed focusing on Ducky's enquiries.

"What the devil is Y-Pestis, Ducky?"

"It is one of three strains of what is commonly called the plague, my boy/ Or sometimes also known as pneumonic plague," the medical examiner explained worriedly.

"What do I have to do with the freakin plague and how the Hell is Ari's sister involved? Is this payback for me killing her brother that has gone wrong?"

The FBI agent looked at Tony and was glad that he had an alibi for the last few days. Since returning from Denver, he hadn't ever been alone long enough to have had anything to do with this latest fiasco but that still left open the possibility that this was just a tragic coincidence that Ziva David had opened that damned letter. If that was so, then did that mean that Tony was the intended victim and if so, what was the motive? Was that letter genuine or was it a merely a ploy to disguise further homophobic hate crimes, although that it seem extremely unlikely.

"Because Ziva David opened a letter that contained the bio-agent and the letter was found in a low-budget motel along with various items that have your fingerprints on them and about thirty cards and notes all addressed to you. Plus some photos of you and Gibbs' team. So you can see why all this is raising red flags with the FBI and the CDC. Luckily, your every move has been alibied since you went to Denver or they might suspect you of being complicit in the attack," Fornell explained, gently.

Ducky looked equally shocked and began to ask typical medical questions about contamination issues and causalities. Fornell responded that so far there was only the Mossad officer who had been confirmed as having contracted the bacteria. The CDC had quarantined the motel, its workers and guests and were decontaminating the building and pumping out their closed septic system since there was evidence that Officer David had used the shower although they couldn't be sure if that was before or after the contamination occurred.

Tony was relieved that the biohazard attack was so far, contained to just one victim but still it was early days and there was no way to know if the victim had managed to infect anyone else or not. Time would undoubtedly answer that question. But was the attack part of Haswari's sociopathic plans or were there more than one set of terrorists running around loose and intent on hurting innocent Americans?

"So any leads, on who is behind the bio-hazard attack?" he asked Fornell.

"Well if the letter that delivered the y-pestis can be believed and it is being investigated, a parent intent on revenge for her daughter's alleged rape by Navy personnel was the motivation. Special Agent Yates says she remembers the case from her probie days with Special Agent Pacci." Fornell revealed sombrely.

"So how did my stuff come to be in Ziva David's motel room since to the best of my knowledge I wouldn't recognise her from Eve if I saw her? Since when does Mossad engage in petty larceny? Has anyone asked her why she had my personal effects and how she got them, damn it since I certainly didn't give them to her?" Tony challenged heatedly.

"Or how she came to have a biohazard letter addressed to an NCIS Special Agent; but the consensus is that it was taken from your desk in the bull pen which suggests that the letter was meant to infect either you or perhaps Special Agent Yates who has been using your desk and apparently worked the case in question."

Ducky frowned, "That can't be right, surely Tobias? NCIS in line with other Federal organisations have mail screening and irradiation protocols in place to kill bio-hazard agents such as anthrax and Yersinia Pestis. How could it have possibly gotten through those firewalls? There must be some other explanation," the ME argued.

"Oh this 'crazy' was still damned clever Ducky. The bacteria apparently had been kept alive by encasing it in a moisture strip and the irradiation process was by-passed by having a SWAK on either side of the envelope where the moisture strip was situated. The SWAK was lead-lined lipstick, if you can believe that?" the veteran Fibbie shook his head, incredulously.

Ducky looked at Tony who was looking conflicted. Disgust battled awe and Ducky felt confused. "Anthony, it is clear you know what Tobias is referring to so perhaps you will enlighten me as to exactly what is a SWAK?"

Tony smiled but it was a tight cynical smile, a far cry from his usual offerings. "Um it's an acronym for sealed with a kiss Ducky," he explained.

"Ah I see; thank-you my boy. I must say that a SWAK certainly doesn't have the same romantic connotation by any stretch of the imagination but in this particular case I suppose that it fitting. You know, I have been the recipient of more than a few missives over the years that were sealed with a kiss but luckily none of them contained a bio-hazardous agent, I'm pleased to say. Although I remember one time in…"

Fornell, sensing one of Ducky's rather convoluted parables decided to interrupt even if it made him feel like a pale imitation of Jethro. "Yes well I'd love to hear about it some other time Ducky, but as it stands at the moment the theory is that the SWAK must have been with your other mail since it was discovered with the other items belonging to you. And until we get to the bottom of this Tony, I'm afraid that you are going to have to accept a protection detail."

Seeing that he was about to object strenuously the Fibbie interrupted him. "It's already been decided by the higher ups, DiNotzo. Yours and mine and you can bitch and moan all ya like but it won't change their minds. Even apart from this crazed bioterror attack, even if it is just a genuine loony tunes, garden variety wingnut, my Director is still concerned that with your involvement with both of these FUBARs that Eli David will want your head on a platter. He's one mean SOB."

Ducky, who had followed their discussion closely, interspersed a question, following up on one of Tony's earlier ones that had gone unanswered. "Surely Miss David will be able to reassure her father that Anthony is entirely blameless when it comes to the Y-Pestis situation, Tobias? Unless she is refusing to talk, since I presume she is now being questioned as to her role in this mess? I understand that Mossad trains its operatives to resist interrogations? Although surely as allies, we can persuade her to reveal how she came to be in possession of the letter that you feel was clearly meant to infect the good folk at NCIS."

Fornell shook his head soberly. "Officer David won't be talking I'm afraid, Ducky. She was found this morning by a maid at the motel where the contamination occurred, collapsed on the floor near the door and barely alive. By the time the EMTs had transported her to the closest emergency department; she was DOA. The medical examiner says that she had a subdural hematoma although we're not sure yet if that's what killed her; he's thinking that it was respiratory failure. He does think that the head injury resulted in unconsciousness and he has conjectured; based on the lack of victims so far, that it prevented her spreading the disease, thank heavens."

They were all silent as they contemplated just how badly the attack could have ended and while it would be a while before the CDC would give the all clear, it did seem like they'd dodged a bullet. More likely a bazooka!

"So Tony, you see the need for you to have a protection detail, at least until the dust settles." Fornell stated trying hard not to sound like he was pleading with the stubborn NCIS agent to see sense. Before Tony had a chance to protest that he didn't need a babysitter, a familiar voice filled the silence.

"Yeah and that's why he's going stay with me so I can watch his back, Fornell." All three men jumped as Derek Morgan entered the room and smiled at them. Before Tony had a chance to protest he explained, sending his temporary partner a meaningful look. "We still have a few loose ends to tie up anyway on the Patchwork case and Baby Girl is going to come around tonight and give us a hand on that other project," he looked at Tony's heavily bandaged appendage that was currently in a sling to post-op swelling and smirked. "No pun intended, man!"