THE DARKNESS PULLS IN EVERYTHING pt. 4

As soon as he cut off Gibbs' call, Xander made two calls as he started to move through the hospital. "Maria," he loudly called out when the phone was picked up a second time.

"…."

"Pull everyone tight on Ziva's room," he said. "The guy pulling the strings is in the building."

"…."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," he replied and hung up; concentrating on getting to Ziva's room as fast as possible. He spotted both Diana and Surayya on his way to Ziva's room and both junior slayers fell in behind him. Maria was just outside the door and gave a slight nod as Xander walked up. He gave his daughter a small smile and entered the room. And immediately froze. Ziva had reacted just as her training had dictated and was ready to defend herself with deadly force as the sharpened piece of metal that she was currently pointed at Xander. He saw the point waver as she recognized who had walked in the door and he hurried over and sat on the side of her bed.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm getting better," she allowed. To Xander though, it was clear that the effort at picking up the heavy pole had tired her out. "Why are you here," she asked.

"The guys back at the office did some good work and Tim managed to track the guy who's been pulling the strings in the background and he's here at the hospital. I'm here now and Gibbs is on his way." Xander saw the moment of worry in her eyes but then she relaxed.

"Thank you," she replied and then looked back into his eye. "And my father?"

"Has been informed," Xander told her. She then relaxed and leaned into him and for a moment Ziva seemed to pull strength from him.

"So what have you found out?" she murmured.

Sitting there, Xander laid it all out for her; the smuggling ring, its members and probable evolution; the theory behind PO Mitchel's death and her CO's probable involvement and finally, the discrepancy in the fingerprints. "So we're not honestly sure if this is the real Ray Cruz or not," he ended.

"I am fairly certain that it is," Ziva said.

"You already checked him out, didn't you?"

"Yes and his fingerprints matched those on file at the CIA when we were together," Ziva replied.

"So Ray is planning on becoming a ghost and he needed anyone and anything out of the way that could conclusively identify him," Xander surmised.

"And that is why he both came after me and needed the box," Ziva concluded.

It was then that Xander's phone started ringing.

BTVS-NCIS-BTVS-NCIS

Gibbs was just pulling up to the hospital when his phone rang. "What," he growled out as soon as the phone was live.

"Boss," McGee's hesitant voice came over the line.

"What is it McGee?"

"A report just came in about a Navy doctor who apparently went nuts and is threatening to kill a bunch of re-habbing soldiers in his care."

"So a hostage situation," Gibbs said. "And it's at this hospital, isn't it?"

"Second floor, therapy wing," McGee replied.

"That's about as far away from Ziva's room as possible, isn't it?"

"Pretty much Boss," McGee replied.

"You and DiNozzo get over here ASAP," Gibbs said, moving again. As soon as the orders were out of his mouth he hung up on McGee and hit another speed dial.

"Xander," the voice answered.

"Harris, you're with Ziva right now, correct?"

"Yes sir," Xander replied.

"We've currently got a doctor holding hostages in the therapy wing," Gibbs informed him.

Gibbs was surprised at the depth and creativity of the swearing that followed; he was actually tempted to take notes. Finally Xander said, "You realize that this is a diversion, right."

"Yeah, but are you willing to take the risk that the perp isn't prepared to kill?"

Xander swore some more and then muttered, "I hate clever scumbags."

"Meet me there," Gibbs said and cut the call as he hurried towards the therapy wing to try and keep a bad situation from getting worse.

BTVS-NCIS-BTVS-NCIS

Xander was nearly snarling as he cut off the call from Gibbs. "What is it?" Ziva asked.

"Some Navy doctor is threatening to kill a bunch of rehabilitating soldiers in this very hospital."

"It is a diversion," Ziva said definitively.

"Of course it's a diversion," Xander agreed. "But what sucks is that we can't take the chance that this looney tune won't actually kill someone. That's a fact that you can be sure our little string puller is very much aware of."

Ziva was about to say something else when a nurse walked through the door. As she was allowed in by the girls, Xander figured the nurse was legit, that didn't mean he was trusting her or anything, it only meant that he wasn't on DEFCON 1. "I need to check her before the therapist gets here," the young woman said.

"I need to get going anyway," Xander replied and slid off Ziva's bed. Then he turned and bending low over her, kissed Ziva deeply. At first Ziva's eyes opened wide and were filled with questions but then she melted into the kiss.

"Be careful," she said as Xander stood up.

"You too," Xander replied and headed for the door. He burst through and started off in the direction of the therapy wing. Xander was so focused that he didn't realize that he'd picked up a shadow.

BTVS-NCIS-BTVS-NCIS

Ziva put up with the nurse's fussing and seemingly incessant chatter. Right before Ziva was ready to blow and tell the young woman just exactly what she thought about being where she was, the nurse exhibited her survival instinct and left the room in a flurry of platitudes. Ziva lay back and attempted to relax after the annoyingly cheerful woman was gone. Sadly, her attempt at relaxation was short lived because less than two minutes after the nurse had left, the door opened again and a young man in a nurses uniform walked in. Ziva did not even look up as this was clearly the therapist that the nurse had mentioned and she was focused on getting her bed adjusted just right. Finally she had it perfectly adjusted and she looked up into a pair of very familiar eyes. "Hello Ziva," the man said.

"Ray," Ziva replied with ice in her voice. "I cannot say that it is either a surprise or a pleasure."

"So you were expecting me?" Ray asked with false good humor.

"After what your little mercenary crew was asking about, it was obvious." She leaned forward a bit, "and after a little bit of research, what you are doing became clear as well."

"Then I imagine that you have a lot of questions."

"No," Ziva replied, "I only have one."

"And that would be?"

"Was any of it real?" she asked.

He did not pretend to misunderstand. "You are a very attractive woman, Ziva," he finally answered.

"Which both does and doesn't answer my question," Ziva said after a moment of thought. "You needed protection and aside from my own personal skills, my status as the daughter of the director of Mossad would give you that." She lapsed into silence as the different thoughts whirled through her head. "You are here to kill me, the silenced .22 you have concealed with that clip board tells me that much," she started. "However since you are trying to fall off the grid, you need the ring box and all the information that has been gathered so far." She looked up sharply, "which means that you've sent someone to NCIS to get the box back and 'take care of' anyone who can connect you to all of this."

"Indeed, Agents DiNozzo and McGee will have to be removed as well as Ms. Sciuto and Dr. Mallard. I do this with reluctance except in the case of agent DiNozzo; I won't feel bad about his death. Once you and they are out of the way I will only have to deal with Gibbs, and I believe he can be handled."

"I think you are foolish to believe that, and you are forgetting Alexander as well as my father."

"Agent Gibbs is past his prime Ziva and as for the man you replaced me with . . . ."

"Do not flatter yourself, Xander is far superior to you; a weak man who aspires to be a drug lord," Ziva interrupted.

"However, he has other obligations and no real standing anywhere except in the realm of the supernatural," Ray continued smoothly.

"You knew?" Ziva asked, surprised for the first time.

"I have for some time," Ray said with a bit of a smirk. "And while I will concede that Alexander would be a formidable opponent; I am a human criminal preying on humans and as such out of his jurisdiction."

"And my father?"

"To quote the Godfather, he'll be made an offer he can't refuse, even if it means giving up on avenging his eldest daughter."

"How?" Ziva started but the rest of the words wouldn't come. Then she straightened up in her bed, earlier questions forgotten; "So you are going to kill me now?"

"Reluctantly my dear," Ray Cruz said as he revealed the silenced .22.

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Xander started moving cautiously when he saw everyone running in the other direction. Soon enough he was clear of the mob and it was clear that the Therapy wing was just ahead. Moving even more cautiously he eased through the door and poked his head around a corner. Gibbs was standing behind one of a series of pillars that were at one end of a large room. There were men and women, some in uniform some not, towards the middle of the room and from the direction they were looking Xander could easily pick out the guy causing the trouble.

He was almost the stereotype of the gruff doctor with the hidden heart of gold; tall with dark hair going grey at the temples with a glaringly bright white coat. The man was currently standing near some implements that offered a bit of cover with a young woman in front of him as a shield. She had corporals' stripes and a prosthetic arm while the doctor had what looked to be a 9 mm in his left hand. Xander cleared his throat and Gibbs' eyes flicked over and saw him for the first time. Xander saw his shoulders relax just a little and then Gibbs' eyes flicked over to his left. Xander took a look in that direction and nodded slightly, there were several places on that side of the room that would offer him some cover as well as the possibility of flanking this nut job.

"You still there Gibbs," the perp called out.

"I'm here," Gibbs called back. As he did, Xander used the noise to cover his move from around the corner. Fortunately the doctor didn't notice the movement. Xander pulled one of his Colts and carefully scanned the room and realized that they were on a time table that had nothing to do with getting back to Ziva. All of the hostages were military and despite being short a limb or two, few of them would stand by idly while being threatened with a gun. If he and Gibbs couldn't end this quickly then it would end poorly. Xander prepared to move again when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was all he could do to not jump out of his skin.

He whipped around, desperately trying to bring his gun to bear. But then he froze as he realized who it was behind him.

"Hey Xander," Buffy said in a whisper. "Is this usual for you or did I come on a bad day?"

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They had ghosted onto the Navy yard swiftly and yet without detection. They hurried without looking like they were hurrying because they knew that the clock was already ticking on this one. Two were dressed as Royal Marines, one as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Australian Navy and one as a civilian. The uniforms allowed those wearing them to blend in at the Yard without actually impersonating American officers. Even though they were coming in from different directions, the target was the same for all of them, the NCIS building.

BTVS-NCIS-BTVS-NCIS

Chip Sterling was looking forward to this, more so than he should have; maybe. He'd been rotting away in prison due to Abby, a place that had hardened Chip as it seemed to strip away his humanity. A place that he loathed above all others, but also a place that had allowed him to examine how he had arrived here and who was to blame. It had taken some time to get his head straight, but now he had and now it was his turn to deal out the pain. He'd never met the person responsible for his release only the lawyer who represented his patron. And quite honestly Chip no longer cared how his release had been secured or who had done it. He'd been offered the chance for revenge and had taken it; of course he had, he owed whoever it was everything. The elevator chimed and he stepped off when the door opened. One of the guys had already gotten off and the other two had a different assignment, that didn't matter to Chip, he got Sciuto and that was all he was interested in.

Chip stalked through the lab, confident that he would get what he wanted this time. He saw Abby turn at the noise he made walking into her lab. His smile turned crueler at the look of utter astonishment on her face as she realized who was in the same room with her. He could see the questions in her mind, how was he out, how had he gotten past security and most importantly, what was going to happen next. Chip gloried in his feeling of power at her look of fear as he raised the steel pipe he was carrying. He paused for an instant to let the shear hate wash through him. And that was when his world went dark.

He came too for just a moment, long enough to hear high pitched laughter and someone saying, "Fear the Duct Tape," over and over. He saw a blur out of the corner of his eye and then it was lights out again.

BTVS-NCIS-BTVS-NCIS

Jimmy Palmer looked up at the sound of the elevator. He knew that everyone except Abby was out as something was going on wherever Ziva was and so no one was expected. Without even knowing why he headed in Dr. Mallard's direction, hurrying a little. Two men in fatigues, that looked off somehow, stepped off and Jimmy found himself scared for no discernable reason.

Dr. Mallard was doing a rather routine autopsy on an older Marine who had broken his neck in a training incident and did not even look up as the men walked into the lab. Jimmy kept his eyes riveted on the two men and when they both pulled their side arms, he broke into a sprint and took Dr. Mallard's legs out from under him with a textbook slide tackle. Jimmy was concerned with cushioning Dr. Mallard's fall and then his glasses were knocked off so he wasn't really aware of what was going on. He heard a few initial shots, and then the sounds of a physical struggle, followed by another gunshot and then two loud thumps. He scrambled to his feet, being sure to keep himself between Ducky and the two men when he heard an explosion of Russian profanity.

Where the two men had been, there were now two young women, one of whom was cursing a blue streak and holding onto her leg. The other, who appeared to be Asian was trying to get a look at the leg but was having a tough time because the cursing girl refused to hold still. He turned around and helped Ducky to his feet. The older man appeared to be completely unruffled by the actions of the last minute or so.

"Thank you Mr. Palmer," he said. "That was both quite heroic and a well executed move, do you play regularly?"

"You're welcome," Jimmy replied. "I just joined a recreational league," he continued feeling a bit surreal.

"Well let's see who needs stitching," Ducky said and started moving towards the two girls.

"Are you sure that it's safe?" Jimmy asked, putting his hand on the doctor's arm.

"Of course," Ducky replied. "Who do you suppose let them in?" He then shook off Jimmy's hand and proceeded over and put his arm on the shoulder of the cursing girl. "Let me see my dear."

"It is nothing doctor," the girl replied.

"Let me be the judge of that," he said firmly and led the young woman over to a table. "Could you please fetch my kit?" he asked Jimmy. Ducky then turned to the young Asian girl and said, "I would like to thank you both for saving our lives."

"You are both welcome," the wounded girl said.

"I just wish that Royal Marines were always as pretty as the two of you," Ducky said gallantly as he cut away the wounded girl's pant leg so that he could stitch her wound. He missed them both blush.

BTVS-NCIS-BTVS-NCIS

If he'd been smart, Craig Wienhart would have turned and left as soon as he saw the girl in the office. He'd drawn the easy part of this Op; retrieve a ring box while the other three took care of the loose ends on the lower levels. He'd been told that the area he needed to search would be empty as the people who would regularly be there had been called away.

"Can I help you?" the girl asked as Craig approached. She looked to be about fifteen and spoke with a hint of a southern accent.

"I was sent to pick up something from Ziva David's desk," Craig replied. "I'm her dad's liaison with the Navy while he's here and apparently there's something in her desk that he wanted."

"That's it over there," the girl replied, pointing to the desk with the flag of Israel on it.

"I know, but thanks," Craig said as he sat behind the desk. He appeared calm but inside he was trying to figure out how to contain the situation, being seen had never been part of the plan. "You look a bit young to be here," he said, trying to figure out who the girl was.

"I'm Sarah McGee," the girl replied. "I was supposed to meet my brother here but obviously he got called away without bothering to let me know," she huffed with that overly affected tone that only little sisters can manage to achieve.

Craig relaxed a little, Sarah McGee was a name that had come up in the pre-mission briefing and so her presence here was just one of those bad coincidences. If he kept his cool, he would be able to walk out of here with no one being the wiser. He rifled the desk as the girl prattled on about her inconsiderate brother. Craig let the words wash over him as he focused on the task at hand. Reluctantly he realized that what he was looking for wasn't here which meant he'd have to search the other desks as well. The question was how to do that without alerting the girl that something weird was going on.

As he thought about the girl, Craig realized that something was tickling the back of his mind. As he stood to face the girl it hit him, Sarah McGee was in college, not fifteen. Craig's mind started racing and he instantly realized what he had to do. He was carrying a telescoping baton called an Asp which he reached for, his hand nearly blurring with speed. He whipped it out and around as it snapped to its full length. He was aiming low, trying to incapacitate the girl without doing any permanent damage when everything jarred to a halt way too soon.

This little girl, who couldn't have been over 110 pounds if she was soaking wet, had stopped his arm with her left hand. It actually felt like he'd hit a wall and his shoulder was hurting from the impact. He then looked down and realized two things; one was the twelve inch Bowie knife that was in her right hand and resting, blade up, underneath his groin; the second was the promise in her eyes that if he tried anything the knife would be used. Craig was a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them. He dropped the baton and raised his hands. The knife eased up a bit, much to his relief.

"You must be one of Harris'," a voice called out from the stairs. Craig turned slightly to see Director Vance leaning over the second floor walkway.

"Yes sir," the girl replied.

"Are there any more?"

"Three, but they've all been handled," the girl replied with a smirk. "One of ours was grazed but Dr. Mallard is stitching her up," she continued.

"Carry on then," Vance said after a pause and started back towards his office. "And don't break him too much," he called back over his shoulder.

"Yes sir," the girl replied with an evil grin and motioned with her knife.

Craig sighed; he'd definitely had better days.

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It took Xander a second or two to get his head on straight and when he couldn't count all the questions that were running through his brain. He shook his head and shoved all that aside for now, he had a situation to deal with and a potential solution had just shown up. "It's great to see you Buffy, but do you think we could do the light banter thing later, cause I could really use your help."

"Sure Xander," Buffy replied, "What do you need?"

"You see that guy with the gun?" Xander asked tipping his head in the crazy man's direction.

"Kinda hard not to," she replied in a 'DUH' tone of voice.

"I was thinking that you could sneak around and get behind him and then throw something to knock him out?"

"Why?" Buffy wanted to know.

"Because all the folks that he's holding hostage are either soldiers or ex-soldiers and they're gonna do something heroic real soon if we don't end this quick. And when soldiers do something heroic, people die. I'd like to avoid that."

Buffy just nodded and went to move off when Xander grabbed her shoulder and moved in close. "Two things Buff," he whispered fiercely. "The first is don't make yourself a target, you can heal from a lot of things but a bullet in the head is even fatal for a Slayer." He saw her reluctantly nod and he continued. "The second is don't hit the guy too lightly. If you don't put him out, then he's gonna start shooting on general principles and while I'm good and Gibbs is great, there's no certainty that we'd get him before he could kill someone. So if you have a choice, hit him too hard instead of too lightly."

"And if it kills him?" Buffy asked, mildly appalled.

"Then he dies and I help you deal with the grief because I don't have a lot of sympathy for someone who points guns at cripples."

Reluctantly Buffy nodded again, Xander's logic was cold but correct; better one bad guy die than take innocents with him. She ghosted away to his left and Xander turned his attention back to the perp. It was time to give Buffy some cover. He eased up and aimed his Colt at what he could see of the perp. "You want me to go ahead and take the shot Gibbs?" he called out.

The doctor's reaction was everything Xander could have hoped for. He jerked and then looked around wildly before finally spotting what little of Xander was exposed. He also turned more towards Xander and this gave Gibbs a better shot than he had before.

"Have you got a shot?" Gibbs asked.

Okay, it was time to screw with the nut bag's head. "Of course, I can see him, can't I?" he replied. "Come on Gibbs, you've seen me shoot."

"True," Gibbs replied after a moment of thought. "So which would be your first choice?"

"Well, I've got the right side of his head if we want to just kill the bastard, or most of both legs are visible," and then Xander's voice brightened. "Hey, I've got an idea," he said. "Hey, doc fruitcake," he called out.

"Yeah," the doctor with the gun called out.

"Which finger do you want to lose?"

"What?"

"Well, I was gonna shoot the gun out of your hand, so I wanted to know which finger you wanted to lose." Xander replied. "Now I can't take off your trigger finger cause than might cause the gun to fire so it has to be one of the others and I figured that you should probably get that call."

"Huh?" the perp asked, obviously he wasn't quite with the program yet.

"I'm gonna shoot the gun out of your hand and you are gonna lose a finger when I do, so the question to you is, which finger do you want to lose?" Xander said slowly, like he was explaining something to a child. "Or maybe I should just shatter your elbow," Xander mused out loud.

"You're crazy," the man finally called out. "Cops aren't allowed to do stuff like that, I know my rights."

"Well I'm not a cop so as far as I'm concerned, you've got shit for rights," Xander fired back. "Pulling a gun on a bunch of unarmed people puts you lower than whale shit in my book," he continued. "So taking you apart piece by piece or just putting one between your eyes is not gonna make me lose any sleep. Now, for the last time, which finger do you want to lose or do I choose for you?" Xander could see the guy sweating now, this kind of talk was definitely not in the standard playbook and the perp had no idea on how to react.

Gibbs moved yet again, getting closer to a clear shot. Harris had the guy's attention entirely, allowing Gibbs to move quickly. He had to admit that as far as a distraction went, it was masterful. The only thing he worried about was that Harris wasn't bluffing and really did intend to blow the jerk's hand off. He was just looking out from this new vantage point when he heard a whistling sound followed by a thump. Gibbs watched as the guy with the gun just froze and then slumped, clearly out of it. Figuring that he should secure first and ask questions later, he came out with his gun up and yelled, "Everybody freeze!" He covered the room as Harris approached the downed man, moving carefully, his head moving slightly as he worked to survey the whole room while still keeping an eye on the man on the floor. Gibbs watched as Harris stepped on the man's wrist with his left foot while kicking the thing away with his right all the while his eyes were on the perp, just looking for any sign of movement. The gun skittered across the floor and ended up next to a therapy ball; something about the size of a baseball, but softer. Finally Xander holstered his gun and helped the young corporal to her feet. She gave him a brief hug and then broke it as Harris knelt down to check on the hostage taker's condition.

Gibbs was holstering his weapon as well as he walked up, then he almost pulled it again when a voice at his elbow asked, "Is he gonna be okay, Xander?"

"Who the hell are you?" Gibbs asked the blond girl who seemed to have materialized at his side but she ignored him waiting for Harris to answer.

"He's gonna live," Xander said finally and Gibbs saw the girl relax. "As to who she is, we work together," Xander replied in a tone that cut off any more discussion.

Gibbs looked around to see that security had arrived as well as Alexandria PD. "We better go check on Ziva," Gibbs said. Harris just nodded and they took off towards Ziva's room with the mysterious blond in tow.

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"You know, I thought you were smarter than this," Ziva said.

"What do you mean," Ray asked honestly looking confused.

"If you had simply disappeared it would have taken years to connect the opium ring to you and I probably would have thrown the box away on general principles long before that. But your actions have drawn so much attention to it that even if you kill everyone who currently knows about it, you will be a marked man for the rest of your life. Despite what you say, the Mossad will be after you, Alexander's organization will be after you and since Director Vance knows everything that we do, the American government will be after you as well. That is quite a collection of enemies for one man."

"The number of enemies is irrelevant if they cannot find you," Ray replied. Then his eyes twinkled, "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing everyone that he doesn't exist."

Ziva just looked at the man gape mouthed for a second and then looked up, "What is it with men quoting movies." Then she looked back at Ray, "You are seriously quoting 'The Usual Suspects' right now."

"It seems appropriate," Ray said and started to level the pistol.

Just then the door swung open and a young woman walked in looking at a clipboard; she was dressed as a candy striper. At the noise of her entrance, Ray swung the .22 in her direction.

Seeing her chance Ziva raised the Walther that Xander had slipped her earlier, she was desperately trying to bring it to bear before Ray could kill yet another innocent. Rather than taking the time to pull it, Ziva just raised it under the sheet making an odd looking tent on her bed.

Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Ray Cruz turned back toward the woman in the bed even as the pistol in his hand was coming to bear on the newcomer. He was trying to make sense of what he was seeing in Ziva's bed and then suddenly it became clear what was happening. As Ray realized the magnitude of his mistake there was a flash of light and then all was dark.

Maria watched calmly as the man's body hit the floor. Ignoring the spatter of blood and brains on the wall, she quickly bent down and pulled the small pistol from his unresisting hand. As she stood, Maria faced Ziva. Taking in the smoking hole in the sheet she looked the older woman in the eyes, "Thank you," she said.

"Thank you for the distraction," Ziva answered.

"We take care of our own," Maria said simply.

"But I'm not . . . .," Ziva began.

"Yes you are," Maria replied. "You all are."

Just then Xander and Gibbs burst through the door, guns drawn. Seeing Maria and then Ray with most of his head gone, the guns were lowered and Xander hurried over to Ziva. Gibbs stood back and watched with an enigmatic smile on his face as he took in the dead body on the floor and the scene at the bed. The bad guy was dead and the good guys came out okay; all was right with the world.