Inside the chapel, Ziva, Tali, Delilah, Morgan, Johnny, Jimmy, Breena, Victoria, James, Jr, and Ellie were sitting on the prayer mat, Indian style, doing a short meditation with peaceful music. As soon the music was over, Ziva got up, and everyone followed, and created a circle, each person holding the hand of the person next to them. As they bowed their heads down, Ziva started saying prayers in Hebrew, while Delilah translated. As soon the prayers were over, everyone gave each other hugs and were in good spirits. As Ziva was finishing hugging everyone, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Tali standing by her with a sad look, as if she was going to cry. Ziva stooped down and took Tali into her arms, walking away from the crowd to sit on the pew, for a little mother and daughter time alone.
Tali buried her face into Ziva's shoulder as she started to cry. Ziva comforted her as she looked at Tali, shushing her before saying, "Oh my sweet Tali, Tali, please try to calm down, ssshhh, it is ok." As an undercurrent of anxiety started to surface, Ziva took some comfort in the warmth of Tali as she cradled Tali, holding back the tears.
She glanced up at Ellie, who started walking toward to her with an "I'm here for you" look on her face. Ellie came to sit by Ziva, and said gently, "The moment I saw that look on your face, I felt I should be with you, Ziva, so that you're OK." Ellie rubbed her back for a moment. "Tali will be ok, she has good people. Before you know it, she will be all thrilled to see you and Tony back in her arms again."
"If Tali allows me to go." Ziva smiled. "Mind you, she has been very clingy and missing her Abba every night. I've got to do this, for our safety, then it will be all over with, right?" Ziva spoke with a gentle but slightly firm tone at the end, as she raised an eyebrow.
Tali started to calm down for she sensed the presence of Ellie. Ellie looked down at Tali and smiled at her. "Ready to go now? Everyone's getting ready to leave."
Ziva, Ellie, and Tali caught up to the rest of the people. As they walked, Tali looked at Ziva by her side, holding hands, Ziva looked down and smiled back at her, stroking her hair away from her face, as she managed not to cry. Ziva looked down at her necklace, and took it off. Kneeling down in front of Tali, she then put it around Tali's neck, and draped the worn out scarf around Tali's shoulder.
"Ima, the necklace, and scarf, I like them, they make me feel safe when you go away." Tali muttered to Ziva in soft whisper way as if she was struggling to not cry some more.
"These have meaning for me, and it means a lot for you to wear and keep safe. This necklace has Ima and Abba's rings on it; it is for the day we get married. Wear this and remember us." Ziva then palmed the scarf. "Abba got this for my birthday, in Paris. With these, you have us with you, always. I love you so much my sweet Tali Liliana DiNozzo, everything will be ok."
Sometime later, Ziva and Ellie met several other people, military officers that had been designated to be Ziva and Ellie's back up, in the bullpen, then they walked over to an elevator that was not on the normal route. They took it up, into what appeared to be a heavily guarded parking structure. As they walked out onto the concrete, Ziva and Ellie noticed a black van pulling up alongside them. Tony rolled down the passenger seat window.
"You people going our way?" Tony hollered over the engine noise.
"Beats walking," one officer said.
Ziva motioned to the van. "Get in, we're going your way, Tony." The rest piled into the van, immediately after Tony got out of the van to open the door for them.
"Up front, Ellie, you sit with Gibbs. Let me sit with Ziva," Tony said.
Ellie took a look at Tony. "Of course. Thanks." She took her place in the van.
"Hello, you two." Another voice called out to Ziva's left. She looked over to see McGee's beaming face looking back at her. As soon everyone got in, Gibbs started driving. Was this Checkpoint Charlie? Ziva wondered.
"All good back there?" Gibbs asked, getting assents from everybody.
"Yes, so I take it this was Checkpoint Charlie? And why the officers?" Ellie asked Gibbs.
Gibbs looked over at her with a bit of a "are you ok?" look at Ellie. "Yeah. Vance is worked up for some reason, which is why the officers. You know, just in case." Gibbs kept on driving. "Good part is we know where Ray and Zulma are hiding." Gibbs looked at Ziva in the rearview mirror. "Look, if it gets real bad, I have to pull you out of this mission, Ziver." The look on Gibbs' face brooked no argument.
"Gibbs! You know me, I can take care of myself, I want to do this, I want to face him like I did last time, do you remember how I..," Ziva spoke in firm tone until Gibbs interrupted her.
"Ziver, I do remember clearly how you smashed his life right there on the spot." Gibbs slammed the steering wheel in frustration. "I do not want to lose you. Losing people I care about, that's hard enough."
Silence descended over the others, as Tony secretly put his hand on Ziva's hand and clenched her hand. Ziva sat there speechless, she took a deep breath, resting on Tony's shoulder to calm herself, then spoke to Gibbs gently, "I am sorry, Abba Gibbs. I was just wanting it to be all over with, and I just want to protect my family. I know all of you are his targets. Technically, I am not his target, but maybe we could use that to our advantage – I bait him to where you could take care of him?" Ziva raised an eyebrow at Gibbs.
"Never apologize," Gibbs responded, then Tony and Tim joined in with him, "Apologizing is a sign of weakness."
Tony piped up. "Maybe Ellie should go with Ziva. Can't go alone, not with someone as dangerous as Ray." Ellie looked back at Tony.
"Ellie, stick with Ziva." Gibbs made that decision for them.
Ziva let out a small gasp as she felt a sudden small movement within her abdomen. Tony looked at Ziva, looking into her face, checking to see if she was alright. Ziva whispered to herself and patted her belly. "The baby moved."
Tony looked back at her. "My sweetcheeks, are you alright, we could go ahead to the warehouse and you could stay with the officers in here if you need to. Keep the baby safe, right?"
"No. I will go and be the bait. Gibbs is right, I will have Ellie. You go with McGee and Gibbs. Teamwork, right?" Ziva took a deep breath as the others looked on.
Tony hugged Ziva, and said "We'll make sure we got your back."
As the van entered a heavily wooded area, Gibbs turned off onto a trail heading deeper into the woods. After some distance, the woods suddenly opened up into a large field, revealing an abandoned warehouse. Gibbs stopped just before entering the field, scanning, taking in the warehouse. He noticed that there was a set of stairs on the outside of the building to the rooftop. Before everyone got out, he instructed everyone as to what the game plan was, sending the officers out to reconnoiter the area. They linked up with a couple of SEALs in the tree line at the other side of the field. Gibbs had asked Tony and McGee to head to a spot where Gibbs could cover them. Before Tony left, he and Ziva snuck in a quick but tight hug, before looking over at Gibbs.
"Everyone, watch your six. Off you go, then." Gibbs sent them off.
Tony and McGee went off to their locations, while Gibbs headed for the rooftop. Ziva and Ellie walked slowly up to the front of the warehouse.
"Ready, Ellie?" Ziva looked at Ellie.
Ellie kept an eye on the building. "As ready as I'll ever be."
Scanning the surroundings, Ziva motioned her head towards the front door while they were still some distance from the building. Ellie nodded.
"Check the windows too," Ellie said.
Ziva tried to peer through the windows for any sign of movement, but saw none. They carefully approached the door.
Meanwhile, Tony and Tim found themselves a hide in a room below the roofline, with a sightline into an upper room of the warehouse. Gibbs got himself situated behind a rooftop chiller unit, with a slightly different sight line into the room. The military officers had long since retreated into the woods, as outside security.
"Tony!" Tim hoarsely whispered. "Look!"
Tony looked at the small screen, showing a black/white image. Two ghostly appearing images materialized on the screen from one side of the room.
"It's them!" Tony said. "How do we let 'em know?"
Tim looked out the window. "Too late."
As soon the two women got closer to the warehouse door, Ziva scanned the area, with a slight sense of foreboding. As she reached for the knob, the door suddenly opened. Standing there was Zulma. Before Ziva could react, Zulma grabbed both her and Ellie and pulled them in, quickly closing the door behind them. Zulma then pulled a gun out on them.
"We've been expecting you. Do come in and make yourself comfortable." Zulma pushed them sharply down a hallway, frog-marching them into a room with a dilapidated couch sitting in the center of it.
"Now, why don't you take a seat there, you ladies?" Zulma sneered at them.
"You will never get away with this! Your brother will never have me." Ziva flashed her eyes defiantly at Zulma.
"ARGH!" Zulma snarled as she slapped Ziva across the face.
Ellie jumped up but got smacked in the face for that by Zulma. "You sit down and don't get up!"
Ziva held Ellie tightly and whispered into her ear, "Stay away from the windows."
Ellie looked at the windows and started to say something, but Ziva held a finger to Ellie's mouth. Ziva heard footsteps coming from that room, Ziva grabbed Ellie as she was holding Ellie closer to her ears as if to comfort her or tell her one last secret.
"Oh, are you two sharing secrets with each other? I don't think so!" Zulma snapped at the two, gesticulating wildly.
Ziva and Ellie looked at her in disbelief, as if she had lost her mind right in front of them.
Zulma then walked closer to Ziva and Ellie, and snarled, "Well, Ziva, guess I'm taking your girlfriend with me. A special someone will be here to see you soon." Zulma grabbed Ellie and pulled her sharply away from Ziva. After struggling for a couple of moments, Ellie broke loose from Zulma with a reversal move.
Ziva jumped up from the couch to get to Ellie as Zulma started dragging Ellie. When Ellie broke loose, Ziva punched Zulma hard in her face at the same time Ellie gave her a hard shove towards the windows. Zulma stumbled nearby the windows, losing her balance. All of a sudden, a red dot appeared on her forehead and her face suddenly took on a blank look, as she sunk to the floor, followed closely by a gunshot from the outside of the window. Ziva and Ellie got startled when they heard the gunshot going off. Zulma finally fell forward on the floor again, just as Ray rushed in the room.
"Zulma! Zulma!" Ray screamed, running to his sister and kneeled down by her. As soon he held Zulma's head, her lifeless eyes stared into open space.
Letting out a primal, almost animal-sounding roar, Ray flew into a rage, then grabbed Ellie away from Ziva. "I'll kill you for setting her up," he swore vehemently at her while angrily shaking a finger at her.
"No!" Ziva rushed to try to get to Ellie, but Ray pushed her away before dragging Ellie away into the other room and slamming the door behind him, locking it. She heard Ellie screaming as she was being dragged away. Ziva ran to the door and shouldered the door, trying to open it. After a couple of tries, she managed to break the door open. As Ray was strangling Ellie, Ziva rushed over and kicked him in his kidneys until he loosened his grip on Ellie.
"You will not take her! You'll have to go through me!" Ziva rasped at him as she punched and kicked at him.
"She got my sister killed!" Ray roared at her and slapped at Ziva.
Ziva feinted and countered with a double-punch to his solar plexus, taking the breath out of him.
"She's not who you want – I am!" Ziva yelled at him as he tried several wind-milling punches and she easily avoided most of the punches.
Ray suddenly stopped attacking Ellie and turned around to face Ziva. Pure hatred was etched on his face. "She will pay for what happened to my sister." He started attacking Ziva verbally instead. Fortunately for Ziva, she was able to endure his threats and insults, drawing upon her Mossad training.
The sounds of fighting and screaming filtered outside the building, where Gibbs and the others were able to hear it. They decided it was go time, to storm the building. As they got into the building, they started clearing the rooms.
"Gibbs!" Tony whispered across the room to him. Gibbs looked at Tony, seeing him point to something near the windows. As Gibbs followed Tony's finger, he noticed Zulma lying on the floor, her lifeless eyes staring at nothing. He heard something in another room, and he motioned for the others to follow him to the source of the sound. A few yards later, it became clear that the sound was that of Ellie groaning in pain and softly sobbing. McGee ran over to Ellie to check upon her.
"Ellie? It's me, McGee. Come on, you OK?" McGee asked Ellie, as he comforted her.
Ellie groaned, then sat up slowly. "I-I think so... Ray took Ziva..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at the other end of the room.
Just then, Tony ran into the room, followed by Gibbs. Gibbs was about to scan the room when he and Tony noticed that Ellie was on the ground.
"Where did he say they were going?" Tony asked Ellie.
As Gibbs crouched down to check Ellie, he noticed movement in the distance. "He's headed to the rooftop!"
Tony stormed out to that door leading to the roof. Before Gibbs ran after Tony, he paused. "Tim, stay with Ellie, make sure she's OK. I got this," Gibbs said, then ran off after Tony.
Ellie fought with her emotions for a moment, then said, "Ray went nuts when Zulma got popped. He tried to kill me, then Ziva got to him, he got angry. You know Ziva, when she fights, she gets scary. Managed to get Ray off of me." A couple of tears leaked from Ellie's eyes as she was talking.
"We got you. We'll make sure he doesn't get away," McGee replied, in a comforting tone.
On the rooftop, Tony managed to sneak into a hiding spot where he could observe more of the rooftop. Gibbs slowly caught up behind him to get a sight line for himself.
"SEALs are stationed around the building," he whispered directly into Tony's ear. "End-game here. You focus on Ziva."
Tony nodded in assent. "When's the right time?" He kept a close eye on a structure on the rooftop, where he could see some movement.
"You'll know. Never underestimate Ziver. Ray, pop him if you have to." Gibbs gave him a gentle head slap, reminding him of Ziva's proficiency with armed and unarmed combat.
"Oh, right, because she's the Mossad ninja," Tony mock-whispered in a conspiratorial/sultry tone, earning him a look from Gibbs that said, "are you serious?"
"Don't forget, she always carries things that go bump in the night." Gibbs motioned to the structure. "Go. They're moving."
Tony melted into the shadows, hidden from the outbuilding, trying to find a better angle where he could see without being seen. Gibbs worked himself back into position behind a chiller unit that was mostly in shadow, then carefully climbed on top of it, with his rifle that he had stashed previously.
Moments later, a male and female voice filtered back to them. As Tony was sneaking into a hiding spot, Gibbs caught a glimpse of Ziva and Ray. Their conversation carried over to Gibbs and Tony. Gibbs could see that Ray was starting to ramble at Ziva.
"Ziva, being in prison had changed me; I just could not stop thinking of you. I dreamed of us together ever since I found out you were alive." Ziva was taken aback by this, but only momentarily. Ray continued his monologue, starting to gesture more frantically. "And I hear that you're getting married to Tony?"
"Yes. And I am carrying his child. You will never have a child with me." Ziva retorted.
This set Ray off. "Well, this changes everything. Since this baby is not mine, but Tony DiNozzo's, I guess I'll just bump him off, take out the rest of your family and friends so you could be all alone without them."
"Well, you have me here now. What do you want with them now that you have me to take for yourself, just like a piece of meat?" Ziva fired back, with a mocking look on her face.
Ray paced around frenetically for a moment. "Don't you get inside my head, woman!" Sweat flicked off his forehead as he shook his head wildly as if to clear out the cobwebs in his head.
"Look, I know you. I can read you a mile away. Your voice says you want to kill but your face says otherwise. Which is it?" Ziva said, very bluntly.
Ray snarled as he paced furiously, trying to think for a few seconds. He started muttering to himself, throwing his arms around in a mix of exasperation and frustration. Suddenly, his voice took on a different tone, a more decided one. "Maybe I got a better idea."
Up on the chiller, Gibbs was watching Ray's every move, and he happened to see the butt of a pistol under his jacket as he started to get more agitated. He took aim at Ray but held his fire.
In a different vantage point, Tony crept up to get a better view. He slowly moved to where he could see Ziva, but not Ray yet.
As Ray paced and muttered to himself, Ziva carefully watched him, and slowly knelt down as to present a smaller target to him. "I guess since you don't want me back, why don't I make it easier for you? You know, end you, right here, right now." As Ray rambled on, waving his hands in air, his attention on Ziva started to slip. Ziva took advantage of this, scanning the area. She first spotted Tony creeping up slowly, putting a finger to his lips in a "shush" motion. She could then just make out the top of Gibbs' head peeking out from the top of the shaded chiller, and the unmistakable silhouette of a rifle barrel. She shifted her gaze back to Ray, then she lifted up her pant leg and slowly drew her knife from her ankle, then got up slowly.
Ray suddenly looked back at Ziva, who had almost completely stood up from her crouch. "What are you doing? Are you trying some of your Pilates or whatever you do?" he asked in a derisive tone.
"Ray, are you alright? You should know, Pilates are not for pregnant women." Ziva shook her head at him. "I am sorry that you seem to struggle with the concept that I abhor you. I have moved on, I am marrying Tony, and I am having his child, like it or not. To know that you murdered that woman on the same day you chose to propose to me is repulsive. You've painted a huge target on your back for every agency in existence," Ziva responded with fire in her eyes. She wanted him done, out of the picture permanently.
"Oh, seriously. I'm the target? No, I can make you my target. So, a win-win for me here. I kill you, they kill me, so what, big deal." Ray rambled on, fumbling to retrieve something from under his jacket.
Before Ray could draw his gun out of the holster, there was a flash of steel as Ziva threw the knife, sticking it solidly in Ray's chest. As Ray staggered back from the knife hit, a couple of gunshots rang out almost simultaneously, and twin blots of blood erupted onto his chest, to either side of the knife, causing Ray to jerk backwards, trip, and fall over the railing, landing hard on his stomach, causing the wind to go out of him. He did not move afterwards.
"You alright, Ziver?" Gibbs looked up over the edge of the chiller at Ziva, as Tony ran to her.
She got up and looked over the railing, then shook her head. "Thank goodness he's not going to be a problem anymore."
Tony looked down with Ziva. "About time his life got smashed for good." Tony took Ziva into his arms, and Ziva nodded as tears started to flow from her eyes. A moment later, Ellie and McGee ran across the rooftop to the duo, hugging them as Gibbs walked toward them, smiling at Ziva.
"What an endgame, we done real good." Ziva smiled at Gibbs, as Tony hugged her, then gave her full on kiss, Gibbs looked at them and chuckled as he put his gun in the bag.
Once they arrived back at NORAD, going the same way they left the facility, Tony and Ziva headed back to their living quarters after putting their gear away at the bullpen. McGee and Ellie showed up at the bullpen while they were cleaning out their desks, their missions having been completed. On their walk back to their quarters, Gibbs met up with them. They got to their living quarters and opened the door.
"Ima! Abba!" a tiny, excited voice squealed, followed by a very happy Tali.
"Hi, there, Tali!" Ziva and Tony said.
"Why, hello, Tali!" Gibbs chuckled and looked at her.
"Papa Gibbs, thank you for bringing my Ima and Abba home. I love you, Papa Gibbs!" Tali piped up in excitement, hugging Gibbs.
"That's what family is for, right?" Gibbs smiled at Tali, show a softer side of him, rarely seen.
Ziva and Tony beamed, happy to see Tali being happy with Gibbs, as if he was her grandfather, the only one she has ever known. It mattered not that he was not even related to them in any way, but what mattered was what counted, that he was a good father figure to Ziva and a good grandpa to Tali.
That evening, everyone headed out to the airport, and when they got there, they went straight onto the tarmac in front of a waiting Gulfstream.
"Well, I guess time for everyone to fly back to Washington, DC," Tim said.
"I didn't know you were so anxious to get back, McGeek," Tony ribbed Tim. Ziva chuckled at the two.
"Yup, gotta polish my stapler when I get back." This earned a hearty chuckle from Tony.
Ziva looked around. "Where's Gibbs?"
Tim's face lit up. "Oh, he's got some paperwork to finish up. We got some time to talk."
Ziva and Tony looked at each other. Paperwork? Gibbs hated to deal with paperwork, avoided it whenever possible.
The sun set slowly into the early evening sky. "Ziva, Tony, it is always good to be with you guys. I do cherish the memories, and I sure miss our old times. I am glad we all did good and came back safe," Tim said as he stood between Tony and Ziva, putting his arms around their shoulders.
"We will always be together forever in our hearts. You are like little brother to us," Ziva responded to McGee.
Gibbs walked up to them, smiling. He stood with them and embraced them in a group hug, as they watched the sun moving lower in the evening sky. After a few moments, they walked up the stairways into the plane, and the door closed as the last rays of sunlight faded out of existence.
********************************************************* Author's note
This is the final chapter for this story. Certain things I left hanging, for the sequel, such as: Where do they go after they get on that plane? Ziva's baby? the wedding? what their future would be like?
Thank you everyone for your tweets, reviews, messages, and your support to help me to keep writing Tiva stories, so please look forward to the new story coming up soon.
Thank you again, ~StarrylightPaws~