Ziva was creeped out by the time they arrived at 62708 Piscataway Street. Nobody blamed her. She had come face-to-face with her own rapist the last time they had visited this place.
But she had come out on top that night. This mattered more.
Tariq Al-Mubarak was was dead. His associates? Dead. Who could be pulling the strings this time?
Or... was it Jessica? This woman was unusually cunning.
Such a characteristic worried Ziva. Big time.
So she kept an extra sharp eye out while she went out on patrol.
Gibbs, Tony, and McGee kept in a tight formation after sweeping the building's first floor. Each man had his gun drawn. Things were more lit up this visit because it was daytime. Natural sunlight filtered in today, through the open door, broken windows, and overhead lights. It was a drastic difference as compared to last time, when it had been after dark.
Still... it didn't stop the agents from feeling worried.
If Jessica Xander had gone to all the trouble she had, just today, with executing the elaborate plan she had concocted, it mean that she was capable of anything.
But... why?
That was the part that no one could figure out.
There suddenly sounded a gunshot from somewhere on the premises.
Everyone pressed closer together as Tony hissed, "Was that from upstairs?"
Gibbs nodded. "That's what it sounded like. Everyone be on their guard. Startling the lone survivor is not on my to-do list."
"Agreed." Tony and McGee said in unison.
All three of the agents made it to the second floor with no trouble. Felt too good to be true.
Everything cleared until they made it to the last room at the opposite end of the corridor. Jessica Xander was here. Standing over a dead man.
"Xander!" barked Gibbs. "What the hell is going on?"
Right before their eyes, Jessica Xander turned the bad kind of coy as she aimed her weapon on Gibbs' heart. The look on her face was that of the cat who had just eaten the canary. Whole. Now she just wanted to play.
"Special Agents Gibbs, McGee, and DiNozzo—how about that? This is quite an honor. I've been watching all of you closely since my transfer from Japan." she said coolly. "Dare I ask where the fourth member of your outfit is?"
"Outside. Waiting for you to show yourself. I'm sure you've gathered by now that she's the team's best shot."
"Just like I heard that you were a sniper, an entire lifetime ago, and that your eyesight is failing somewhat. How do you still have a job at all? You're old." Jessica was taunting him. "It took this long to locate me? And here I thought the Major Critical Response Team was elite."
Gibbs didn't flinch at all. He refused to give Jessica the satisfaction of rising to her jeers.
Tony pointed to the dead man on the floor. "Who's this?"
"Just some guy I met online." Jessica responded without much concern. "He helped me stage my own abduction, and yes—it was all in the plan to make sure that he wouldn't survive. How's that for clever?"
"Hmm... The phrase I'm thinking of is more 'cold-blooded,' but let's never mind that. We have news for you."
Jessica arched an eyebrow. "Try me. I've had a long day so far."
McGee spoke up. "Annalynn saw you get injured. That really freaked her out. She also had a serious allergic reaction her medical bracelet. She even had a seizure. That was brought on by stress, anger, fear, and confusion."
"What?" this development wiped the coy expression from Jessica's face at once. "I did everything I could to keep my daughter safe."
"You did. That's good." McGee said encouragingly. "Cooperate now, and we can make sure you see her. Does that sound like an alright plan?"
"No." Jessica swiftly shook her head. "Authorities would find a way to put me in jail for the rest of my life if I cooperated now. Why waste it? I'm so close to the end."
McGee didn't miss a beat. "End of what? Please tell me. Why would you do any of this at all?"
Jessica took a small step towards an open door on her left. "Like I'm really going to disclose all that I have to atone for. None of this is worth it anymore. Thirteen-hour days, a very messed up home schedule because of that, and a medically-complex toddler who is always tired because she has no normal concept of time? I'm even a war widow. Tim, the walls are closing in."
He moved towards her. "It doesn't have to be this way."
Jessica took another half-step towards the door. "It does. My daughter is better off without me. The truth of why she came into the world will destroy her when she's bigger. I can't look her in the eye anymore. She deserves a mother who doesn't lie. One who can hold her. Who can love her without guilt. She deserves a father who can do the same. Please tell me where she is now."
"Annalynn is recovering at the hospital. She might even be asleep now."
"I hope so. Has Abby come into the picture yet?"
McGee nodded. "Yes. She took care of Annalynn at the hospital, and even gave her a new stuffed rainbow toy."
"Good." Jessica sounded like she was trying to reassure herself. "My daughter loves all things rainbows, unicorns, princesses, and sunshine. They make her feel better on her less crummy days. Trust me, those will come. Riding out the the storm is the only thing you can do. It ends. Eventually."
"Thank you for sharing that information." McGee said with sincerity. "It must have taken a lot."
Jessica tried sneering at the man's kindness, but her heart didn't seem to be totally in it. "My daughter is the most important contribution I've made to this earth. I love her with all my heart, but I can't take care of her any longer. I just can't."
McGee continued on with his information gathering. "So is that why all that money was left for Annalynn?"
"Yeah. It's every penny that her father and I had." Jessica's bottom lip wobbled slightly. "Promise me that it'll go for her medical bills and her school choices."
"I promise." McGee's tone was quite solemn. "Anything else I should know?"
"Tell my daughter that all of this was for her. So she can have a chance at a normal future. If anyone deserves it, she does. Who took care of her at the crime scene?"
"Ziva did." McGee took another small step forward. "Annalynn doesn't have a scratch on her from that."
Jessica breathed a sigh of relief. "My daughter has been loved."
And Jessica finally bolted out of the door.
To say that Jessica Xander was fast was an understatement. 'Human roadrunner' seemed a much more accurate description of this woman's abilities. None of the others caught her.
Yet… she still chose to cross Ziva's path on purpose.
Ziva called out to her with her gun raised. "JESSICA! HALT, OR I SHOOT!"
The other woman was within inches of what looked like her getaway car.
"Would you really shoot me?" she tossed her gun to the side. "An unarmed mother?"
Ziva kicked Jessica's gun further away but kept her own trained on the target. "If you ask me, you lost the right to call yourself Annalynn's mother from the moment that you first enacted the madness that has been today."
"I had to make sure that your team would be involved because you'll be able to get her to who she belongs with now. Taking that one to the grave, by the way."
Ziva quickly realized that Jessica was literally making her final amends. Perhaps she could keep her talking just a little bit longer. In time for the others to arrive...
"What was the point of the firefight, then?" Ziva tried. "If you went to all the trouble of copying key events from the Onyx Clarkson case—which happened before you made it to NCIS—that means you have been snooping. How was a firefight meant to fit?"
Jessica shrugged. "It didn't. That was my way of making sure that you all knew I hadn't left the area."
"Well, that worked because I protected your child with my body. No bullet struck Annalynn."
"Outstanding. I would have killed myself if that happened, after everything I did."
Ziva tried another lane. "It really does not have to be this way. Please? Jessica, I can bring you to Annalynn. I really can. Really."
"No. When I said good-bye to her..."
"You were truly telling her good-bye."
"Correct. And Ziva? Thank you for being my daughter's guardian angel."
In the blink of an eye, Jessica was in her car, starting it, and driving off at top speed. Ziva didn't even have time to process what was happening. But she definitely registered Jessica's car colliding with a telephone pole. Her wish of escape had come true. There was no way anyone could have survived that.
But now... Annalynn was alone in the world.
Tony caught up to Ziva first. Only minutes had elapsed between Jessica's escape and the collision. He purposefully placed himself between his partner and the now-smoldering wreckage.
"It's over." Tony lowered Ziva's hands with his own. "It's all over."
Ziva holstered her weapon. "I froze. Jessica would not even say Annalynn's name when she spoke to me, Anthony. She did thank me for being her child's guardian angel. Yet... I froze. Now she is dead by her own hand."
Tony chose his words carefully. "The last time I checked, Ziva David, you are as human as the rest of us."
"Yes. I am also human. Shock is a perfectly normal feeling."
"Mhm. Will you be alright?"
Ziva sighed, only because she knew that mandated therapy was on the horizon. "For now. The baby is also fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely." Ziva now sounded like she was getting her confidence back again. "Come—we have a perimeter to maintain, and our friends from the morgue to contact. Perhaps even the fire department. We will be busy."
And she isn't wrong about that, Tony thought as they set about with what they had to do.
Many hands made light work.
Light work made a distraction.
A distraction meant putting out of their minds Jessica Xander's very successful suicide.
But at the very least… Tony was quietly pleased he didn't have to tell Abby about what had transpired.
McGee was going to deliver this update.
At least had volunteered.
