Chapter 12
AN: Thank you for the support. PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW.
AN2: As I have said, let me know what episodes you would like me to address. Hope you like this chapter.
About two months have passed since Ziva had appendicitis and ever since, to Shannon's joy, she is calling Shannon Mum all the time.
It is Friday afternoon and Ziva and Kelly are in their room, while Kelly is drawing Ziva is reading, neither having heard the knock on the door five minutes earlier. While the Gibbs sisters might not have heard the knock on the front door they do here the knock on their bedroom door,
"Come in," Kelly says, and Shannon walks into the room.
"Girls, I need to talk to you in the living room," Shannon tells her daughters, sounding tense, and once she does she heads out of the room, causing Kelly and Ziva to become concerned.
Walking into the living room Ziva and Kelly become even more confused when they see another person, a man, in the living room.
"Mom, what's going on?" Kelly asks worried.
"Is Dad alright?" Ziva asks worried, her mind automatically going to the worst possible thing, as all of her instincts tell her to be careful, to prepare for something bad.
"Your Dad is fine," Shannon assures her daughters, as she looks between them. "Girls, I need you to sit down," Shannon says, and as she does Kelly and Ziva exchange looks as they sit down. "Kelly, Ziva, this is NIS Agent Kurt Mitchell," Shannon explains.
"NIS?" Ziva asks confused.
"Navel Investigative Service," Agent Mitchell explains.
"Agent Mitchell is going to be around for a while, he is going to drive us places, and be around the house," Shannon explains to her girls.
"We are in danger, yes?" Ziva asks, as that seems like a protection detail to her.
"I'm not going to lie to you girls, yes, we are," Shannon confirms and as she does Ziva reaches over and takes Kelly's hand.
"Why?" Kelly asks, confused.
"A couple of weeks ago I saw a man, a bad man, kill a marine," Shannon explains, being careful of what she says as she wants to protect her girls, and she knows that no matter what she says Ziva will be able to fill in the pieces, even though she wishes she wouldn't. "The bad man is a very powerful man, and because I agreed to testify against him, NIS have assigned Agent Mitchell to watch over us," Shannon explains.
"Has there been a threat?" Ziva asks, choosing her words carefully, and Shannon looks to Agent Mitchell to answer.
"No, but because of who the man your Mom agreed to testify against is NIS are being cautious," Agent Mitchell explains, and as she does Ziva and Kelly exchange looks, as they do Shannon can see how worried Kelly is.
"Come here, Girls," Shannon says, and once she does Kelly and Ziva walk over to her, and she hugs them. "We're safe, we've just got to be careful. Agent Mitchell is here to look out for us," Shannon explains as she hugs his girls.
"Does Dad know?" Ziva asks, as she hugs her mother and flashes back to how life was in Israel.
"No, your Dad is deployed, I don't want to worry him with this," Shannon admits, feeling like right now her job is to keep her daughters safe and protect Gibbs from what is going on. "Not a lot is going to change, we will just have to be a bit more careful," Shannon explains, as she continues to hold her girls.
For the next ten days Ziva, Kelly and Shannon are joined, basically all the time, by Agent Mitchell, and because it is safer they haven't left base, something which is causing both Ziva and Kelly to become a little stir crazy, though Ziva is better at hiding it.
It is Monday morning and Ziva, Kelly, and Shannon are having breakfast together before school.
"Mom, can we go off base after school?" Kelly asks curious.
"Kelly…" Shannon starts to say, hating to let her daughter down, but feeling concerned.
"I know we have to be careful, but everything's been so boring lately. Can't we go out for a couple of hours?" Kelly asks, looking at her mother with a pleading look.
"Kells…" Ziva starts to say.
"Zizi, you were saying last night that you were bored," Kelly reminds her sister.
"I was, but…" Ziva says, knowing that they have to be careful.
"See Mom!" Kelly exclaims, feeling happy that Ziva just proved her point.
"We can go off base after school," Shannon tells her daughters, and even though Ziva tries to hide it, both she and Kelly look glad about that. "Now go get your bags, you've got to get to school," Shannon explains to her daughters.
"Yes Mom," Kelly and Ziva both say and the two of them get up and head to their room to get their stuff.
Hours later Shannon, with Agent Mitchell in the drivers seat, are in the Gibbs family car outside Kelly and Ziva's on base school waiting for them to come out.
"I don't know if this is a good idea," Agent Mitchell admits, feeling worried about what is going to happen.
"I know," Shannon admits. "When Jethro and I took Ziva in we wanted to give her a life where she wasn't constantly in danger, where she didn't always worry, and now that's the life she and Kelly are living," Shannon says sadly. "I want more than anything for my girls to be safe, but I also don't want them to be afraid," Shannon admits, as she is trying to think of the best thing to do for her daughters.
"I understand that," Agent Mitchell says, and the two of them drift into silence.
For few minutes Shannon and Agent Mitchell sit in silence, but then Agent Mitchell notices a marine coming towards the car.
"Stay here," Agent Mitchell says, as he gets out of the car.
For about a minute Shannon waits, and watches as Agent Mitchell talks to a Marine and the longer they talk the more worried Shannon becomes, but then he finally gets back in the car.
"Change of plan," Agent Mitchell reveals. "We're not going to the mall I have to take you and the girls to a safe house," Agent Mitchell reveals.
"There's been a threat," Shannon realises.
"Yes," Agent Mitchell says as both he and Shannon see the girls.
"Don't tell them until we're there," Shannon says as she doesn't want to scare them like that before she has to.
"Yes Ma'am," Agent Mitchell says, as Ziva and Kelly hurry towards the car and get in the back.
"Hey Girls," Shannon greats her girls as they climb into the car, and she attempts to keep her voice as even as possible.
"Hey Mom," Kelly greats.
"Hello Mom," Ziva greats, thinking that there seems to be something off about her mothers voice but she can't figure out what.
"Did you have a good day at school?" Shannon asks curious.
"Yeah," Kelly confirms.
"Yes," Ziva confirms.
"That's good to hear, buckle up," Shannon tells her daughters, and once she does both Kelly and Ziva buckle up.
After he is sure the girls are buckled in Agent Mitchell starts to drive, being aware of his surroundings as possible as he knows he has to get the family to the safe house as soon as possible.
A little while Shannon, Kelly, Ziva and Agent Mitchell have left base and are driving, heading towards the safe house, but as it is in the same area as the mall the girls haven't realised anything strange, yet.
"You should have seen it Mom, it was great," Kelly says with a grin. "Kyle Chambers dared Zizi to race him, thinking that he wouldn't win, and then she bet him!" Kelly exclaims, sounding excited.
"I was not going to," Ziva admits. "But then he was so confident, so sure that I would not win, that a girl could not beat him, so I had to," Ziva explains. "It was satisfying," Ziva admits.
"It was satisfying to watch too," Kelly reveals, and as she does Shannon turns and smiles at her girls.
Just as Shannon turns to smile at her daughters the glass of the front window breaks and Agent Mitchell is hit with a bullet, and because he is killed instantly the car loses control,
"KELLY! ZIVA!" Shannon yells, as the car crashes.
Having no idea how long has passed since the car crashed Ziva starts to regain consciousness, and she quickly feels pressure, and as she forces her eyes open, just a little, she realises she is pined between the front and back seat because of how the car has flipped.
"Mom! Kells!" Ziva says as she feels something, which she assumes is blood dripping down her face. "MOM! KELLS!" Ziva yells, feeling panicked because she didn't get a response, and so she forces her eyes open just a little bit more, something which is difficult for her to do as she is also finding it hard to focus.
As Ziva forces her eyes open a little more Ziva sees Shannon, and because she is looking right at her she knows, because she has seen it before, that Shannon is dead. "Mommy?" Ziva asks, her voice breaking, tears coming to her eyes. "Kells? Kells, are you okay?" Ziva asks, forcing herself to look away from her mother, which is one of the hardest things she has ever done, as she needs to know whether her little sister is okay, especially now. "Kells? Can you hear me?" Ziva asks, pain in her voice, trying not to fall apart, and as she looks around the car she sees her little sister a little way away from her, but due to the way her sister is lying she cannot tell if Kelly is okay, whether she is alive or dead.
"Hold on Kells, I am coming," Ziva says, and she tries to move towards her sister, but the second she attempts to move Ziva feels overwhelming pain and blacks out.
Far away from California Gibbs is with his division in Kuwait, at camp just talking, and even though he can't explain it Gibbs has a bad feeling, a feeling that is telling him that something bad has happened.
"Gunny Gibbs," His CO say, as he walks towards Gibbs. "We need to talk," he says, and once he does Gibbs gets up and walks away from the rest of his division.
"Sir?" Gibbs asks, once they are several steps away from his division.
"We've just got news from back home," Gibbs's CO tells him. "I'm sorry Gunny, your wife and one of your daughters have been killed," Gibbs's CO tells him. "Your other daughter has been critically injured and is currently in a medical induced coma. The medical personnel don't know if she will survive, I'm sorry." Gibbs' CO says.
"NO!" Gibbs yells, his voice full of pain.
"We'll get you on the first transport home, but I don't know when that will be. I've asked for more information, but it's slow getting to us. We're trying to find someone to replace you on the next mission, but…" Gibbs' CO says.
"I'll do it," Gibbs says, as he needs to do something. Two of his girls are gone, and his third might be gone too, and there's nothing he can do, he might not even get home in time to see her before she dies, but what he can do complete his mission.
"Are you sure?" Gibbs' CO asks, and Gibbs just nods.
A little while later Gibbs, who feels like his world has fallen apart is running though a field with his riffle, and as he runs explosions go off around him, and one of the explosions hits too close and Gibbs goes flying.
"Shannon, Kelly, Ziva," Gibbs says, as he lies on his back, and as he loses consciousness his last thought is off his girls.
AN: I'm sorry about this chapter. Really, but I felt like it was necessary.