Chapter 25

Ziva's POV

I woke to the sound of annoyed groaning, and classical music.

Slowly flickering open my eyes, I glanced around the surrounding area.

I was in a building, a warehouse of some sorts, with concrete walls, concrete pillars, and a concrete floor that I was currently lying on.

Shifting slightly, I immediately stopped and winced in pain as a throbbing ache became apparent in the centre of my chest.

"Yea, I wouldn't do that if I were you".

I frowned, and forced myself to ignore the pain in favour of turning around, "… Tony?"

He was propped up against the wall only a meter or so behind me, with both hands tied in front of him.

As were mine, I suddenly realised, awkwardly pushing myself into a sitting position, wincing once more.

"It was the dart" He continued, "They tranquilised us. Knocked us out… And I pretty sure that whatever they gave us, it was strong enough to knock an elephant… Hey, you know what that reminds me of? Did you ever see that movie-"

"DiNozzo" Someone snapped, and I frowned, shuffling forward, only to find Gibbs also awake and leaning back against the wall, his hands secured by cable ties.

His blue eyes pierced mine as the unspoken question hung between us.

You okay?

I nodded.

He gave a small smile, before his 'Gibbs-mask' was back in place, "Right, well, unfortunately, we have no idea where we are, or where the others are. All we know for certain is that whoever the hell else is in this building, they have a thing for Mozart".

He paused, and in that silence, I could clearly make out W. A Mozart's 'Turkish March' playing quite loudly from some other part of the warehouse.

Tony groaned, "And it's been playing none stop for hours!"

I frowned, "How long was I out for?"

"No idea" Gibbs replied, "But I've been awake for about 3 hours now, DiNozzo's been conscious for 2 of those, and it's only now that you've woken…"

His voice trailed off, but the protective, fierce expression his face held left no room for doubt on what he was about to say next.

I was worried.

Whoever took us are going to pay.

I looked around at the nearly empty room we were in, hoping that something might click as to where we were, "You guys have any idea at all as to what happened?"

"Nope" Tony replied, shrugged.

Gibbs shook his head, "Nothing seems familiar… The last thing I remember was SCORPIA busting into the court room, and Alex giving the all-clear to shoot us".

I winced.

Alex.

What the hell had he done?

Gibbs studied me closely, "Ziva… Whatever personal connection you have with him, it needs to end. And it needs to end now. What he did was… He betrayed us. He betrayed us, he betrayed his country, and he betrayed you. You can't have any hope for him anymore. I don't want someone getting hurt because you hesitated on pulling the trigger-"

"It won't come to that" I replied quickly, "I don't know what Alex has gotten himself into, but that's not my Alex. That's not how he is, how he behaves. He would never betray us. He's not a traitor, Gibbs. He's just-"

"Just what, Ziva? Misunderstood?" He shot back, "He turned traitor the second he accepted Ash's help. He wouldn't have pointed that gun at the Judge's head if he was still on our side. He deceived us, Ziva, he lied. He's a double agent for SCORPIA and you know it".

"My, my, my, Agent Gibbs. You really have lost all faith in me, haven't you?"

We all jumped at the voice, and spun around only to find the teenager in question casually strolling towards us.

"Alex, please tell me this is all just a joke!" I begged, and he smirked, "A joke, David? You think that me abandoning those monsters at MI6 and making more money than you could ever dream of, is all just a 'joke'?"

I stared at him, "… You're not Alex".

His grin grew even wider as he came to a stop in front of me, "Then pray tell, who am I, exactly?"

I shook my head, "You're not the same Alex I met over 2 years ago. You're not the same boy I knew".

His expression hardened, "The boy you knew is dead. And he died the second he disappeared at 16".

We all stared at him.

'The second he disappeared at 16'.

Alex never spoke of what had happened during that time.

"But of course, back then, I was still MI6's little pawn, willing to do whatever they pleased" He continued, abruptly straightening up and quickly pacing in front of us, "They knew what they were sending me into. They knew everything. Probably even set it all up. And I never even suspected a thing, not until I landed in the airport anyway. And then I was caught, found out, cover blown, end of. 7 months I was there for. 7 months in the heat and the rain and Cambodia and-"

"Alex" Someone snapped, and I looked over only to find Ash standing a few feet away, an emotion quite similar to worry flickering through his eyes as he stared at the teen.

Alex met his gaze squarely, and for a few minutes there was nothing but silence and that god-awful Mozart playing in the background.

And then, just like that, the moment was over.

The 17 year old turned back to us, "… There's a reason that I didn't kill you. That I brought you here instead… And at the end of all this…" His voice trailed off until it was nothing but a whisper, his back turned as he began walking away, "… I just hope you all understand".