1Chapter Five
Delivery
Tony's breathing was ragged, he was laying halfway on top of the now resting Ziva, but he hadn't been able to close his own eyes. With a pained groan he pushed himself up, there was pain shooting through his left arm and he distinctly remembered a riot stick falling against it with a loud cracking noise quickly following. He slowly drug his right hand over the shoulder and then gasped as they came in contact with a protruding bone. Brilliant, he thought as he felt around the shoulder more. There was no place that didn't feel pain for him, bruises were beginning to form everywhere but at least his bleeding had stopped. "Ziva, wake up." He spoke barely over a whisper as he propped himself against the wall.
"Huh? Tony what's wrong?" She spoke softly, concerned as she saw the paleness of his face. She could feel the pain rolling off of him, and those brown eyes almost appeared shattered in the dim light.
"Nothing, I just..."
"Wanted company?"
"You could say that, and Fornell's man isn't much help. We lost in sometime in the night I suppose."
"Tony, he was gone before they threw him in here." Ziva spoke sullenly and moved to prop herself against the wall as well. She could hear the distant beat of footsteps against concrete and spoke softly once more, "Looks like we aren't the only one's awake Tony."
The door to the room slid open, metal raking against metal with a cruel scream as one of the men walked in with a small pouch in his hand. "Atalo gives you food, water. I be back for later." The man had a thick Italian accent, he didn't know much English that was for sure, and DiNozzo stared him down the entire time. When the man exited, after depositing the pouch at his feet, Tony turned to gaze at Ziva.
"He'll take one of us when he comes back, guarantee the food is drugged to make us talk to them."
"Tony..."
"I know Ziva, I'm starting to sound like I've been here before aren't I?"
"No, you are starting to think like me. And that is very frightening."
"You got that right." He flashed that fly boy smile and closed his eyes for a moment, "We have to make them think we ate the food though."
"Why do you think I sat where I did?"
"What do you mean Ziva?"
"I'm sitting in front of Fornell's man, they don't know he's dead yet."
"You wouldn't do that would you Ziva?"
"To survive, yes." And she did, she took everything that was in the contents of the pouch and poured the liquid mess down the dead man's throat. The liquid stayed in his mouth until she stroked his throat, slowly it drained down sliding down to his stomach. She sighed gently, she felt for the man and Ducky when he would get a hold of him at least. She then took the solid food and thought about what she was going to do with it for a moment and then...there was a glow in her eyes not that much unlike Gibbs when he had a thought that verged on being sinister.
"I know that look, it's copyrighted though. Belongs to a Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and you most definitely have a few assets that Gibbs doesn't have Zee-va." He smirked gently, but there was a look of weariness in his eyes as he watched her. She took the food, a few cups of cold oatmeal and spread it out on the floor. She took her finger through the mush there and then pulled it up to her nose. Carefully she sniffed it before looking over at Tony, her fingers gripping more of the oatmeal before she walked over to the dead man. She'd smear the oatmeal over his shirt, cheeks, mouth, and chin before she'd let her body fall back against the wall with a slight grunt.
"And he doesn't own that look Tony, especially sense we don't know if he..."
"Ziva, he's alive. It's Gibbs we are talking about, Gibbs will be the only man left alive on this earth if the Apocalypse ever does happen. He'll be the one throwing that evil glare skywards and complaining that he doesn't have any more coffee to drink." Tony flashed a grin, envisioning it which made him chuckle. The chuckle however turned into a horrible cough and he doubled over in pain. His good arm gripped his stomach and he spit blood from his mouth before relaxing back against the wall again. "Remind me, not to do that again."
"Don't do that again." She spoke sarcastically, with that evil little smirk of her's before she walked over and wiped the remainder of his blood from his lips. "They did a number on you didn't they?"
"Yeah, but hey, I'm a tough guy remember?" He flashed that 10,000 watt smile he was so known for only to be met with a scowl that could rival Gibbs'. "Well, if that is really how you feel about it then...yes they did a number on me but I'll live."
"Tony, who ever they take they aren't going to be..."
"Easy, I know that Ziva. I've been captured before believe it or not Officer David, and they never go easy. I have the scars and the memories to back me up on that. But whoever they choose to take, we have to have our game faces on. I'd say standard military answers. Name, rank, id number. It'll make them hit harder, make them want to kill us more but it's our only strong way of knowing what it is they really want."
"Precisely what I was thinking Tony. But, in the condition you are in do you think you can handle it? Can you muster the strength to..."
"Ziva, have I ever not been able to perform my job obligations when under duress?" He looked her square in the eye, his eyes not losing any of their intensity as he attempted to stare her down. An attempt to prove that he could stand that kind of pain at all costs.
"Alright...I believe you now act like you are unconscious alright?" She smirked and stroked his cheek for a moment before ruffling up his hair in a playful way. Tony smirked and batted her hand away before leaning back against the wall behind him. He slumped down, his arms dangling with weakness before his head lolled forward against his chest. To Ziva the scene he put on sent shivers down her spine, in a way she thought he was not faking it but it was real. Especially when she could see the strained lines of pain that rested below his eyes, she sighed gently and rested her head against the dampened wall.
In her life she had seen much torture, experienced it herself several times and of course used some of the more delicate methods when the time called for it. Her dark eyes blinked closed, her body screaming for well deserved rest that she just couldn't give it. She grunted gently, her arm crossing her body as if protecting it from something. She could hear them again, walking down the hallway to the room she and Tony currently occupied.
Atalo stood in the door way, his eyes scanning the two he knew were alive and he lifted his finger pointing at his cousin with a smirk. "Take to the water room." He spoke in his thick Italian voice, the first time he had held broken English during this entire ordeal. Ziva figured it was to blend in with the others, but Tony knew the truth he was making sure Tony knew that Atalo was taking him and no others.
Two men loamed forward and wrapped their arms around Tony, they threw him onto his feet. One threw a kick to his lower back making the young man scream out in pain, his eyes closing so tight it looked like he didn't even have eyes sockets. Ziva opened her eyes and attempted to move to try and help Tony but received a kick to her chest causing her to gasp violently for breath. Tony forced his eyes to open so he could gaze at her, there was much pain there and a great weakness especially since they kept pulling on his broken arm. Lines of pain crossed his pale face, showing that he was fighting as hard as he could to not scream out again. His eyes said it all though, Ziva needed to back down and protect herself for later. And so, after all the protesting stopped they promptly removed Tony and tossed him into the water room.
