At Ziva and Tony's living quarters, Tony, Ziva and Tali were having breakfast, spending some time together before they had to go to the airport. Ziva was struggling to not cry, Tony glanced over at Ziva, then got up and walked closer to her, rubbing her back, then held her hand.
"Ziva, are you okay? I don't want you to be sad all the time, it breaks my heart. You know what they say, emotions do affect the baby. Tali, she is struggling because she is sensing something is going to happen. I have hard time to figure out how to explain it to Tali, without making her think I am running away from you both, and it is not something that I wanted to do. It's just work. I'll make sure, my sweetcheeks, that I put a bullet in Ray's head in a blink, got it?" Tony managed to comfort Ziva with his calm, reassuring tone, as an undercurrent of stress flowed beneath his surface. He managed to not let the stress show, for he did not want to add any more stress to the family.
"Tony, all of this, everything is so much to digest, but I think I will be ok. I will make sure the baby will be ok, Tali will be alright; she will keep me on my toes. I'll keep an eye on you, along with Ellie, and track the mission. With Nick going to Mexico, and you guys flying out soon, we better clean up before Ellie stop by to guide us all to the secured van upstairs so we all can go together to see you go on the plane. But I want you know that I love you so much, I will do anything to protect my family. I've been having those weird feelings ever since last night, though. But I just hope it is just the nerves I have, I will be ok," Ziva got up from her chair, to hug Tony, with full on kiss, then they cleaned up and got things going until Ellie Bishop knocked the door, as it was time for them to go. They then headed out to the secure van.
At the airport, Ziva, Tali, Delilah and the children were able to be in an isolated area to bid farewell to Tony and McGee before they get on the plane. Before Tony and Tim were about to leave, Tony went to Ziva, hugged her tightly, as they both tried not to show their tears front of Tali.
"You take care, Tony," Ziva said as she released her grip on Tony.
Tony gently stoked Ziva's hair, kissed her full on as Tali looking up at her Abba, started to cry when she sensed her Ima Ziva being sad.
"Oh my Tony, this brings me a flashback of us before I left on the plane, but I will try to be strong for our children, I will be right here when you come back, please be safe, I love you so much, and I will do my best with everything. It is so weird that I am not the one out there but that is ok, I understand and it is for us, so go on get that dirt-bag down, like you did with Kort, I think you can do it with Ray." Ziva replied softly, trying to stay strong for Tali, looking down to Tali, noticed that she was crying, so Ziva picked her up into her arms, comforted her and told her to give her Abba hug.
"Ima! Ima, I don't want Abba to go, please! Is he going to run away like you, Ima?" Tali wailed in tears, tugging at Ziva and Tony's heart strings. Tony gently took Tali into his arms from Ziva, as Ziva held Tony's arm looking at their daughter, heartbroken to see her all upset to see her father leaving.
"Tali, listen to me, please try to understand this, I am not going to run away, I have to work, Papa Gibbs needs my help, Uncle Tim is going with me. I won't be all alone, and you know what, when I can, I will call you and your Ima every day. I would rather stay with you and Ima, but I gotta travel, because it is part of my job. Tali, please help your mother, make sure you help her feel not all alone, everything will be alright, I love you so much, and I will be back before you know it, alright?" Tony managed to stay calm as strong he can be for his daughter, and Ziva, knowing that missions of this nature can be indefinite. He hugged Tali and Ziva in his arms, kissed them both good bye, then he walked away as Tim started hollering for Tony at the top of the stairs. Tony quickly ran up the stairs, but paused partway up to gaze back at Ziva and wave at her and blew a kiss to her and Tali. Then, he ran up to Tim to on the stairs to get on the plane.
Ziva held back tears, holding Tali as Tali buried her face into Ziva's shoulder, as they both tried so hard to not cry. After a couple of moments, Ellie walked to her, to inform Ziva know that it is time for them to go, as Delilah and the children were ahead of them walking to the secured van. Ziva built up some confidence that Tony and Tim will be in good hands with Gibbs while being on black op mission but something still was bothering Ziva that she could not put her finger on, but she put out of her mind for the time being, so she could concentrate on helping everyone with the mission.
Ziva and Ellie had been ordered to lead their small team in the mountains working with NSA, and communicate with Washington, DC, and the military including Gibbs. Delilah was asked to join Ziva and Ellie, while Jimmy and his wife were asked to help keep an eye on the McGee kids and Tali while everyone had to work the mission through.
Back at the NCIS bullpen, Nick Torres was at his desk gathering up some more things to take with him to his mission to Mexico. As he was packing up his things in his backpack, he noticed in the periphery of his vision someone standing in front of his desk. He turned to face him as he realized he knew this person... well, sort of.
"Hi, uhh – Carl, right? Been a while." Nick said.
"Carl Jackson, yes. Just got into probie school here at NCIS. Cool, huh?" Carl's eyes perused Nick's desk décor.
Nick looked up from his organizing. "Oh, nice. When'd you start?"
As Nick continued to pack some papers, something caught Carl's eye, but Carl didn't let on. "Where you headed?" He had seen a piece of paper stuck in a folder, and he noticed what was on it. What he was able to read was "XICO" and a partial number at the top right of the ticket.
"Ohh – off to vacation. Going to some nice sunny beach down south to work on my tan... meet some babes..." Nick winked and smiled.
"Nice, anywhere in particular?" Carl asked, as Nick grabbed the folder to put it in the bag, without looking at Carl.
Nick was starting to get a little annoyed by the questions but did not let it show. Who was this person, that I don't know, to ask me about what I'm doing? Nick thought to himself. "Nope. Gotta go, see you around sometime."
Carl looked at Nick's receding figure, knowing he would not get an answer out of Nick, but that didn't matter, he had found out anyway what he had wanted to know. After he left the bullpen and went to a secluded location, he pulled out his phone and pressed a speed dial number. The name on the screen said "Zulma". The other end picked up.
"Mexico." Carl simply said into the phone.
Tony, Tim, Gibbs and a company of SEALs had landed somewhere in Arizona at a remote military base there to set up a base of operations and link up with Washington DC and the MTAC at NORAD for mission tracking, GPS geolocation, and trying to track Ray and his henchmen. At nightfall, they headed out under cover of darkness, making way for the border. They slipped across the border undetected and paused a few klicks past the border.
Back in MTAC, video images started appearing on the large screen TV. Ziva and Ellie were setting up communications with Gibbs, and his visage appeared on the big screen.
"Ellie, Ziva, Delilah, communications check, can you hear me and see me?" Gibbs squinted at the screen as night sounds filtered through in the background.
Gibbs, we have good video and audio. Everything good there?" Ellie asking Gibbs, as she looked at the big screen, standing by Ziva and Delilah in her wheelchair.
"Huh, nothing new with Tony, always up to his antics," Ziva replied in a bemused tone. She had heard Tony and Tim in background, Tony ribbing McGee. With an exasperated look, Gibbs landed a firm smack on the back of Tony's and Tim's heads, causing everyone to giggle softly.
"Get back to work, you two." Gibbs looked back at the screen. "Yeah, Ziver. They're fired up, keeping me on my toes ever since we got here. I called you all to make sure all is good there."
"We have Nick and his group on visual at the moment, so you're good to go." Ziva and Ellie glanced at each other.
"Ooh-rah everyone. Sit tight, and I'll get back to you," Gibbs said before cutting the video.
Meanwhile, as Nick and his group of men was trekking through the trail toward the Mexico border, they took a breather before crossing over, checking for possible places to retreat should things get dicey, then headed off. After some hours of walking through rural landscapes, passing through some very small villages they encountered mostly silence, seeing hardly a soul. As Nick and his group got into an open field, they heard some frantic fluttering sounds suddenly sounded out from near a tree line, which put everyone was on alert. Suddenly, all hell broke loose, with tracer rounds searing through the sky in all directions.
"AMBUSH!" DOWN!" A SEAL screamed before getting shot. Everyone hit the deck, trying to find any sort of cover. Nick managed to jump into a ditch and jammed himself into a culvert in an attempt to hide from the ambushers, and scrambled to get his sat-phone out. He mashed the speed dial to MTAC, and was connected.
"Mayday, we got ambushed! Send the cavalry! We got one guy shot. I think I got separated -" Silence fell upon the MTAC room as the audio feed cut off.
"Nick! Come back! Can you hear me?" Gibbs shouted. Only silence answered him.
"Gibbs, I can't pick up his sat-phone anymore, must have been turned off, or shot." McGee typed some words on his terminal and looked up at the screen. Gibbs swore, and hung up the phone.
In a dilapidated hut somewhere in a small village, Nick woke up finding himself in a room, tied up to a bedpost. As he came to, he looked up to see Ray standing in front of him, right before his world spun again as he got a solid smack in the face. Nick grunted with each blow that Ray delivered.
"Nicky, you look lovely with those blood streaming down from your head, and nose...you need to tell me why are you here to look for me? A little birdie told me that you were sent to maybe find me. Is that right?" Ray squeezed Nick's neck, then spat into Nick's face, before kicking him in the abdomen several times.
"Maybe I'm here because I don't like the shoes your momma put on you," Nick inhaled painfully, before coughing up blood.
"Oh you think you're being cute, don't you? Maybe you got me all wrong. Maybe I'm not looking for who you think I'm looking for." Ray slapped Nick.
Nick gasped. "Oh sure, because you like me so much you wanna kill me slowly." He blinked back sweat and blood from his eyes. "Not gonna help, anyways. They'll come after you."
"Good, let 'em. After all, I want Tony gone. Ziva is mine. MINE, you hear? I would do anything to have Ziva back. But, since she chose someone over me, why not make her the miserable woman by taking out the people she loves the most. Yes, I take out her man out, then take her daughter out, right then and there." Ray laughed maniacally. "When I heard she and Tony are getting married, I cannot allow that!" Ray snarled angrily as he pummeled Nick until he remained motionless, unconscious from the pain he was in.
During the wee hours of the night, Gibbs, Tony, Tim, and the SEALs burst into the hut. They fanned out to search the hut.
"Yo, over here!" One of the men found Nick all blood up laying on the floor, all tied up in uncomfortable position. Tony and Tim burst into the room, followed closely by Gibbs. Before they could react, Gibbs rushed past them check on Nick laying on the floor.
"He's alive. Let's move him, but be careful. Looks like Nick was all beaten up badly and was left to die," Gibbs looked up.
A couple of SEALs ran out of the room while the medic attended to some of Nick's more grievous wounds. A stretcher was fashioned out of BDU's and whatever long rods they could find. They gently moved Nick onto the stretcher, then put him in the bed of a pickup truck. Everybody then piled into the truck and they drove back to the remote base.
The next day, at the hospital near the remote military base, Gibbs, Tony, Tim stood around Nick's bed, looking at him.
"Gibbs, something's fishy here. How did they know Nick was in country? Did someone know about our mission that was not supposed to know?" Tony spoke under his breath to Gibbs, being puzzled.
"Hmm, something is not right. How were they able to get to him so soon? I hope Nick pull it through and tell us what happened." McGee responded with a concerned look.
"Mission might have been blown. Someone tipped him off, and I am thinking this could be a message to us from Ray and his people that they know we're after him. Find out what really happened. May have to abort this mission. But I am not leaving this boy until we know what happened." Gibbs, struggling to keep himself calm, seethed as he spoke through gritted teeth to Tim and Tony.
Tony nodded his head and grabbed Tim's arm and guided him out of the room to the waiting room, claiming two seats. They were the same seats that they had been camping out in the waiting room, in case they were needed.
A couple days later, about midday, Nick grunted and stirred in his bed, slowly waking up. He drew a deep breath, and looked up to see Gibbs walking into the room as he drank his coffee. A couple of nurses and doctors were hovering over Nick, checking his vitals and his neurological status as Gibbs stood in the corner, watching. Once the doctor gave him the clear, he motioned for Gibbs over to talk with Nick. Tony and Tim stood back in the corner as observers. Nick winced in pain, raising his freshly-casted arm in the air.
"What happened, Nick? How'd you get separated? Good thing we found you. When you went silent, we went full speed looking for you. You were within an inch of your life when we found you," Gibbs said.
"Gibbs, I never saw it coming. As soon as I got out of that culvert after sending the mayday, I got jumped from behind. Last thing I remembered before waking up, tied up, and seeing Ray. Next thing I know I'm getting the snot stomped out of me. Ray stood there rambling, calling all stupid. I think he's lost it. He played us," Nick struggled to respond to Gibbs's questions.
Gibbs looked incredulously at Nick. "What do you mean, he played us?" Gibbs scratched his head as Nick tried to sit up higher.
"He's not after Ziva, he's after her family. He just wants to make Ziva suffer by losing her family and friends, since he feels nobody should have her except himself. He also kept making reference to little birdies telling him things." Nick responded to Gibbs as much he could but he was very sleepy.
"After Tony and Tali?" Gibbs replied to Nick with a sigh, looking at Tony and Tim as if there is a concern.
Nick struggled to speak due to the pain in his abdomen, and only managed to grunt out a few inaudible words. Gibbs bent closer to Nick, putting his ear closer to his Nick's mouth. Nick whispered saying "I think the mission's been blown. He knows." Gibbs bent back up looking at Nick. Nick nodded off to sleep as the pain medication started to take hold.
"What'd he say?" Tim asked, while Tony looked on attentively.
"Tony, McGee, the mission is aborted" Gibbs spoke in an authoritarian tone as he rushed out of the room. Tony and McGee quickly followed close behind as they left the hospital.
As the trio stood by at the remote base, Vance answered the video chat from NCIS MTAC. Anger was etched upon Gibbs' face.
"Vance, I had to abort the mission based on new developments. Nick woke up hours ago. Doctors say he will recover, but he was lucky we found him. At the moment he is doing okay, but is loaded with pain medication." Gibbs paused, then continued on." From what Nick said, I think we got someone compromising us. They had Nick whacked and left for dead, we were very lucky we found him. Ziva is the target here but not in the way you think. He's going after her family, and Tony especially, wants her to suffer for dissing him."
"It now all fits. I just got word that Zulma Reynaldo from homeland security had not shown up to work. They thought that was suspicious so they passed that on to me to check out. According to her background, she is related to Ray – she's his sister. We think she was the mole, she was in the meeting with us. Also I need to tell you that Carl Jackson, my cousin's son, he was found dead in his car by Metro the other day. He left a suicide note. In it, he tells me how sorry he was, how he was full of anger towards his father, he understood why I gave him tough love all the time. He also confessed in the note that he was helping Zulma, in order to gain intel on our mission to hunt Ray down." Vance nodded once, curtly. He was visibly upset, holding up the suicide note as solid evidence that his words were true.
Gibbs, Tony, and McGee looked at each other, speechless, trying to process the information. "Zulma is out there, where would you think..." Gibbs began to ask when Tony gasped with sudden recognition.
"Gibbs, Zulma was in the meeting! She is leading Ray over there!" Tony shouted out as he figured it all at the same time, then he grabbed McGee, and they both stormed out of the secured room. Before Gibbs could chase after them, Vance sharply called out Gibbs' name.
"The mission is still on, you go back to NORAD, and finish the job. Keep me in loop, see you later," Vance spoke in a blunt tone, then hung up on Gibbs, prompting him to start packing everything up and heading to the airport.
At the NORAD bullpen, Ziva, Ellie, and Delilah were alerted to an incoming call at the MTAC room while working on documents. As they entered the room, they noticed Gibbs was on the big screen. They noticed that he was in a private jet, with Tony and Tim sitting behind him, all with a concerned expression on their faces.
"Is everything ok? Where's Nick?" Ziva asked.
"Mission went sideways. They did a number on Nick, but he'll be okay. Bad news is Ray is en route to there with the help of his sister, Zulma. We found out she is the mole; she was in the meeting and she knows where you all are. Watch your six, she might be there somewhere. Ziva, you and Ellie go to Checkpoint Charlie, we will meet you there soon as we get there." Gibbs said, giving them a running update before he hung up.