Disclaimers disclaimed.

Chapter XXXVII - Loyalty Never Leaves Us

The tension was palpable inside the observation room as the entire team— Tony, McGee, Bishop, Abby, and even Palmer, squeezed into the small room to witness the interrogation. On the other side of the glass, inside Interrogation 3, Yaniv sat cuffed to a chair positioned at the table which sat in the middle of them room. An empty chair before him on the table's other side, and the two-way mirror behind it. He silently stared at his reflection in the mirror. Unable to see that he had become a spectacle to be watched by the now veteran squad of what was formerly known as 'Team Gibbs'.

Everyone was waiting for the moment that Ziva walked in. All of them wondering how she'd approach the 'interview'. Would she come in quietly and start with a few light questions? Would she storm in, guns blazing, going straight for the whole truth? Would there be a hint of reservation in her? Would there be a moment of feeling guilty or would she just crush him entirely? They didn't have to wonder too much longer as they watched the door open slowly and Ziva cross over the threshold.

She moved in silence as she closed the door behind her. Taking the chair that was meant for her, she pulled it as far back from the table as possible until it was flush against the wall where the mirror was and sat down. Never once did she look at Yaniv. Instead, she opted to pick at her nails, inspecting the light pink color that her daughter had painted them the night before their return home.

The silence was deafening. After a few minutes of watching Ziva's calm and relaxed demeanor, Yaniv became annoyed. His voice cut through the silence, "are we just going to sit here or are you going to talk Agent Dah-veed?"

"You will talk Yaniv", she responded nonchalantly without breaking away from the inspection of her nails to look at him. "Whenever you are ready to begin, you may."

He huffed indignantly as he shook his head. "The Americans have made you soft and vain." His comment elicited a chuckle from Ziva but nothing more. She still kept her her eyes on her nails, switching to look at the other hand. The display making Yaniv even more agitated. "You will look me in the eye and tell me why I am here!? NOW!"

"You know why you are here. My agents have already informed you", was her plain response, still not looking at him.

"Your agents? They are just as cowardice as you. Allowing you to hide from your crimes instead of being brought to justice. You are a murderer and you deserve death!" Yaniv's words dripped with venom, but Ziva didn't flinch. She knew her calm was drawing him out, it was her own way of baiting. But, little did she know, he was about to make her have to change tactics. "What a waste of the great David name and legacy! Just like your father, you will die because you have become weak! You are worthless now! Going against your homeland and your people! You abandoned me! You killed Ilan then hid behind your American husband. He will die with you! And, much worse, you have procreated and passed that weakness on to your children! So, because of you, they will die in the fire too!"

At the mention of her children, Ziva finally looked up. Moving so quickly off the chair that she was almost a blur. One moment she was sitting, the next she was towering over of Yaniv. The table that had separated them now slammed on its side against the wall next to them from Ziva forcing it out of her way. She looked down at him with a malicious smirk as a glint of fear became present in his eyes.

As soon as the table crashed into the wall, everyone in oberservation flinched as they gasped. Everyone, accept Tony. He looked on with a face beaming with pride.

That's my ninja.

McGee was the first to try and exit to go stop Ziva from whatever she was about to do next. His movement causing Tony to turn and grab his shoulder to stop him from interrupting.

"Stay right here Tim, let her work", he spoke calmly. McGee gave him the same questioning look that everyone else now was. Tony further explained, "if we interrupt, she will lose focus and Yaniv will feel like he's won this battle."

"But what if she ..." McGee stopped mid sentence as Tony waved his hand to dismis the thought he knew they all had.

"She won't kill him."

She might hurt him, but she won't kill him.

The confidence in his voice was all they needed to turn back and watch as the new scene began to unfold. All silently hoping, though, that they made the right decision in trusting their leader's judgement on what the fiery Israeli-American would or wouldn't do.

"It is not wise, Yaniv, to threaten my children." Ziva spoke in a hushed but very intimidating tone. Her hands were on either side of the chair's armrests gripping his wrists. Creating pains in his pressure points that caused him to wince. A reaction that made Ziva smirk again before she continued to speak. "Contrary to what you have come to believe, I am very far from weak. If weakness had ever come to be my downfall then I would have never been able to overpower Ilan and throw him to his death."

It was now Yaniv's moment to make a critical movement at the mention of his brother, but he couldn't. Being cuffed to the chair kept him immobile. His mouth, however, was not bound so he hurled more vague threats. "You dare boast about killing a man who was your family too!? You have brought shame to yourself and the world will soon know exactly who you are! You will know the same pain you caused me! Your family will know that you are nothing but a ruthless killer! They will watch you pay for the sins you have committed! Death is coming to you Ziva! You will see!"

"And who is going to show me Yaniv? You?"

Ziva chuckled at the thought then proceeded to apply pressure on the points of his wrists. After eliciting another wince from him, she released her grasp and stood straight up. Turning around, she 'pulled a Tony DiNozzo' and walked towards the mirror to fix her hair. She winked as she leaned into her reflection, knowing that Tony was probably on the other side watching her. When she was finished raking her hair out of her face, she turned back around to look at Yaniv and sat back in her chair.

"Yaniv, I do not think you have the ..." she paused to snap her fingers as she thought aloud, "what is the word I am looking for?" She uncharacteristically clapped her hands then pointed a finger at him with a giggle, "Cojones!? Yes! That is the word! You do not have the cojones to show me anything. But, I do believe that you can articulate what it is you wish to do and I will listen intently. Of course, under the condition that you are honest in how your plan for revenge got you mixed in with monsters like Mohammed Amadi and Adolf Benjamin, yes? Now, you may speak."

"Lekh tezdayen kalba!"

Ziva shook her head as she clicked her tongue. "Tsk. Tsk. Yaniv, I am trying to be patient with you but such language makes it very hard for me to keep my composure. Your mother, bless her soul, would be so disappointed. Let us refrain from cursing, yes? I would rather remain seated and hear you out than to get back up and have to teach you how to have a little respect in the presence of a woman."

"Timtzotz li et hazyn!"

"You would like that would you not?" She chuckled at his invitation for her to 'service' him. "Sorry, but that is reserved for my husband ONLY! Now, this is my last warning, al ta'atzben otti. Seriously. You do NOT want to see what can happen if you do."

Yaniv smirked at her threat and boldly spoke, "Bat zonna!"

That comment was Ziva's undoing. She stood, nose flaring and chest heaving, as she made her way back over to him. This time she leaned over behind him, draping her arms over his shoulders in a backwards like hug. Her lips brushing against his ear as she spoke with venom, "Rivka David was not a whore. And now, you have officially pissed me off." Ziva's left hand pressed and pulled firmly on his chest to keep him from squirming, while her right hand flashed a small silver object that she used to inflict a sharp pain that rolled upwards from his neck to his head. The action causing Yaniv to immediately scream at the top of his lungs and made his body shake uncontrollably.

"Is that a ..."

"Paperclip?" Abby finished Palmer's question with a scrunched up face.

Tony chuckled at the instant memory of Ziva threatening to use a paperclip to kill him in 18 different ways when they were younger agents. "Yes. Yes, it is."

"Um boss", McGee looked on in fear as he also remembered the threat, "doesn't she know how to kill with that?"

"Well yeah, but she won't." Tony had faith that his wife could control herself.

Bishop, on the other hand, was not so sure. "Shouldn't we interrupt now? She could kill him! Plus, this is becoming torture, not interrogation."

"And I'm allowing it", Tony said sternly. "Ziva can restrain herself. She won't go too far."

"Yeah, but how do you know that", Palmer interjected. "Sure, NCIS Ziva would hold back, but she's looking an awful lot like Mossad Ziva right now."

Tony sighed, "guys, I know my wife ... she will NOT kill him. Now hush, he's about to break."

Again, Tony's confidence drew them all back to facing forward and looking through the glass into interrogation. Yaniv let out another scream after Ziva changed positions from standing behind him to standing in front of him. Her body now blocked the view of him from the observation room. They watched her make another movement and everyone flinched when a piercing shriek filled the air.

Ziva stepped back when Yaniv's body convulsed again. He was no longer the bold threatening man he was a few minutes ago as his lip quivered and visible tears streamed down his face. There was no evidence that Ziva had even done anything to him at all. No physical evidence at least. He wasn't bleeding. There were no bruises. Yet, he was clearly emotionally wrecked and petrified. This new state of being causing another smirk to curl at Ziva's lips. She cracked her neck then walked to her chair. Pulling it over to sit right next to Yaniv now. He flinched when she raised her hand, but she did not touch him again. Rather, she raked her hair then leaned to the side in her chair to look at him.

"Now, how did you get involved with Mohammed Amadi?"

Yaniv blinked hard and struggled to manage his breathing as he answered, "Ma ... Mar ... Marko Johanson. His ... his brother and I were ... in prison together before my release." He paused to clear his throat then went on, "Before I left ... Deeter gave me Marko's contact for business. I called when I got out ... Marko introduced me to Amadi then."

"When did Amadi bring you in on his plan to bring war to the US?"

"Last ... last year."

"Okay. I know why he set his plan in motion, but I am not understanding why I am a secondary target for your little group. Explain that."

Yaniv glared at her, "you are an arrogant bi ..."

"You do not want to go down that road of calling me a bitch again Yaniv. I strongly advise against it." She twirled the paperclip between her fingers and his eyes grew wide in fear. Immediately he looked away, shacking his head as another sign that he'd cooperate. Ziva patted his cheek roughly, "Good boy. Now, why am I a target?"

"Making you a target was my personal vendetta. Amadi is only interested in war. Whether or not you become a casualty was just a bonus for him. I wanted you for myself."

She partly believed him, but didn't try to push further on the truth concerning Amadi. Her only desire was knowing Yaniv's truth."Is that why you convinced Amadi to let you recruit Kwanele? So you could hire him to help take my family and I out?"

"I want to see you burn."

"I believe we covered that part Yaniv." Ziva hit another pressure point that drew a yelp and shudder from him. She stared intently at him until his body and breathing were back under control then continued, "Let's not backtrack. Just answer my questions as they come ... it is less painful that way. Now, answer the question."

"Yes."

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, what, Yaniv?"

"Yes, I convinced Amadi to let me recruit Kwanele so he could help take out you and your family."

"Amadi tells us that there are three more bombs. That Kwanele has them, but your little puppet swears that he does not know where they are. My team informs me that they believe he was truthful in not knowing. That you had not revealed the nature of how you were going to do this hit yet. So, is it true, are there three more bombs?"

"I am done talking now."

Ziva's hand quickly captured his wrist again to apply pressure in a move to keep his hand still as she used her other hand to use her current weapon of choice again, that paperclip.

He screamed at the action then answered through labored breaths, "Yes ... three more ... I have them!"

"Good boy", she released him again and went back to her relaxed lean in the her seat. "Tell me, where are the bombs?"

The look of astonishment that played across the team's faces in observation made Tony fill with pride again. Sure, what Ziva was doing wasn't how any NCIS agent was supposed to operate, but she was doing what needed to be done to get the job done. Her 'extreme' interrogation tactic was working flawlessly as Yaniv broke down piece by shameless piece.

"I can't believe this paperclip thing actually works", Bishop whispered in awe of the woman who had become her mentor since the moment of Ziva's return to NCIS. She wasn't as 'hardcore' as Ziva, but she admired her enough to to try to emulate at least some of the things she did. I probably won't be doing the paperclip thing though. How does she even do it?

McGee just raised his eyebrows and nodded while Palmer blinked in disbelief.

Abby's mind was fixed on how Ziva had done as Palmer said before. She's definitely Mossad Ziva again. She shook her head slightly, "It's kinda cool but kinda scary too, she'll turn back to NCIS Ziva after this right?"

"Yup", Tony ensured with a chuckle. "Total and complete relapse when this is all over. Don't worry."

"Shhhh", McGee interrupted lowly. "Yaniv is about to reveal the location of the other bombs."

Ziva stood and began circling him like a hawk about to settle on its prey. Sliding her chair across the room as she did so. The action done with such force that the chair crashed into the wall by the door causing Yaniv to flinch. No longer could he make eye contact with her. All this time, before coming into this interrogation, he saw Ziva as a coward and weak. But now he was having severe second thoughts. He was rightly terrified of her and wanted nothing more than to go back to prison and never cross her path again. His fear rendering him silent now which wasn't good because Ziva was getting impatient.

"Yaniv, I believe I asked you a question. Must you be reminded of our rule? You will answer every question or you will feel more pain. There is no inbetween. There are no brakes here. There is no way out. I gave you that opportunity 18 years ago and you refused my hand. It was not up to me how long you would have to stay in prison, you brought that on yourself when you did not allow me to help you. Now you have given up your freedom again, and for what? To get revenge when you ultimately know Ilan got what he deserved? I am not negating your hurt for losing him, but I will not allow you to bring that same hurt to my family when they are actually innocent. So, I will ask you again and then we will both leave this place." She stopped her circling and stood in front of him again, looking down at his now completely fragile looking frame. "Where are the bombs?"

He lowered his head even more in defeat, much rather pretending to speak to the flow then directly to Ziva. "They are hidden in a self storage locker near downtown."

"Address?" A moment of silence fell again. Ziva flocked his ear as if to loosen the wax and amplify his hearing causing him to flinch again. "Address, Yaniv!?"

"Sev ... seventeen zero one ... Florida Ave ... Nor ... North West."

"And why did you set them there?"

He took a deep breath to control his shaky voice then answered, "They are not set yet. I was meeting with Kwanele to give him the information on where to set them when your agents chased us down."

"I see", she nodded and stepped away to stand by the wall, a sign to whoever was watching in oberservation that she was almost done. "And where were you going to have him set them?"

"One at your house. The other two here at NCIS."

"Have you now told me everything?" He only nodded in response. "Will there be anymore threats or attempts on my family and myself?" Again, he nodded. "Has the threat to national security been neutralized in our capturing you, Kwanele, Benjamin, and Amadi?" A third nod came. "And, finally, are you absolutely sure that all of this insanity is over? I want to close this case before I walk out of this building today."

"I am sure", he spoke in a hushed tone. His voice cracking as he did so. "It is over."

Ziva tilted her head with a raise eyebrow, "look at me." Yaniv reluctantly did as he was told as she closed the gap between them one last time. "Ilan failed you ... just like he failed me. What is sad is that all of this could have been avoided, 18 years ago, had you just cooperated and probably gotten Ilan to cooperate as well. You would have been free and maybe he would have been alive. Who knows? I cannot really say. But, what I do know is that you would have gotten away with this had you not been so bold as to call me with your threats. Again, Ilan failing you by being estranged all those years from you when he was alive. Maybe your brother could have taught you the Mossad art of moving in silence. But, I digress, none of those what ifs matter now. Honestly, I think you called because you were torn by the lust of revenge and the fear of actually being someone you are not in your heart. Because, no matter how angry you get, there is still a part of you that is still the caring boy I knew as a child. The boy who's heart would never let him hurt anyone. The one I knew before all of us grew up in a war torn world. It is truly a shame things had to end up like this. You had a chance to start over, but now that chance is gone."

She stood up straight again and walked to the door. As she opened it to leave she spoke over her shoulder, "Just so you know, killing Ilan was hard for me. It took its toll over time and, believe it or not, I had to grieve him too. There are still nights that I wish things had been different for all of us, Yaniv. I truly wish our lives could have been different."

"Why do you still care?" The tremble in his voice stopped her from exiting completely. Ziva turned to look at him once more, and he finally looked back at her with saddened tears falling. Regret and confusion showing in his eyes as he asked, "Why would you wish for our lives to be different? What was done should no longer be a concern for you."

Ziva sighed, "Maybe you are right in this moment. But 18 years ago, we had a chance to become different people. We could have chosen the path that did not bring pain, yet we did. My reason for still caring, Yaniv, is the same reason you chose the path you did the night we sat next to each other on that plane."

"And what is that reason?"

"Because", she turned back to fully leave this time. Speaking his own words to him as she closed the door, "'loyalty never leaves us'".

Sooooo ... 37 down, 3 to go.

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Review & let me know.

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Later!

- Chide