Hey folks! Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter! This is a reminder that [italicized words in brackets] are actually being said in Arabic. I'll try to get the next chapter written this week, but I can't make any promises. Sorry/not sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger. ;)
Chapter 12
Ziva was curled up on the couch with a cup of chamomile tea. It was a little after midnight. Ellie was asleep in the bedroom, thankfully resting somewhat peacefully. She'd checked on her an hour earlier and she was sleeping soundly. She was grateful that their new friend was able to sleep under the circumstances. She'd texted Dion and let him know that she wasn't going to be home that night, but she'd call him with details the following day.
It was her turn to get some rest finally. She had her gun under her pillow, just in case, and a blanket over her. She'd been asked by McGee if she thought she could get away from Ellie to go spend time with them at the NSA the next morning, and she said she'd have to wait to see how the night goes. If things stayed peaceful, she would join them. If Ellie needed her, she'd stay at home.
She sat in the dim light being cast from the kitchen and thought about how their case had led them to this point. When she and Ellie had gotten to the apartment she'd shown her around and offered her something to eat. She didn't have a lot of refrigerated food in the house, but there were some frozen vegetables and some jars of homemade pasta sauce that Dion had cooked up for her still in the cabinet. She'd made them some pasta, and she was glad to see that Ellie still had an appetite. Things would go a lot easier for her if she maintained good eating and sleeping habits.
She'd offered her the shower and showed her where the towels were, then urged her to borrow some clothes from what she had left in her drawers and closet to wear. Ellie was grateful, but sat on the bed and sighing.
Ziva sat next to her in silence, expecting Ellie to start talking. When she didn't, Ziva realized she needed to say something to start.
"We can go tomorrow and get some things from your apartment. Clothes and other things you may need. You can stay here as long as you need. My lease isn't up until the fall."
Ellie looked at her with sad eyes that somehow showed both vulnerability and strength. "I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to show my face at the office again. I mean, my husband was a sadistic terrorist mole. And I didn't see it. I'm not going to be able to trust any of them, and I don't blame them for not being able to trust me."
"You'll find a way," Ziva said. "You just have to take it one day at a time."
"What's really weird though, is that I trust your team with my life. I mean, I didn't know any of you until the other day, and now I feel like you're the only people I can trust. I know in my heart that I can trust my family, after all they have nothing to do with this, but Jake was my family and look at how that turned out."
"I have felt that exact same feeling," Ziva admitted. "When I came here, I felt an inexplicable trust with these people. I'd lived my whole life watching my family manipulate people, spy on them, and play games with people's lives. I came here and I realized that it didn't have to be like that here. I thought I could see through everyone. I was wrong." Ziva laughed. "I was very wrong. There was such a depth to Gibbs, and Tony, and Tim… they all had pain that they lived with, and they still managed to love what they did, and I learned very quickly that they cared very deeply about each other. They were loyal to each other, and they were soon loyal to me. I would not be here today without them and their loyalty, care, and even love.
"And over the years I have been here that loyalty and love has expanded to include Abby, Ducky, Jimmy, and most recently Dorneget, Elly, and Parke. There is not one amongst them that does not have a story to tell, and yet they all care fiercely about each other and what we do."
"You haven't said anything about Sommers," Ellie pointed out.
Ziva sighed. "He has only been with us two weeks. And yet, even he has a story to tell, it just hasn't been told yet. He started to tell me the other night, and I think if he tries to let us in, he will be a better person for it. It is his choice to make, though. If he shuts down now, he will be gone next week when our boss comes back."
Ellie chewed her bottom lip a moment and nodded. "Elly and Greg told me that I should apply to take his spot when he goes. I have to say, that's especially tempting now."
Ziva raised an eyebrow at that. "It would certainly be interesting. I think you fit in very well here. You should meet Gibbs and Tony before deciding on that. Gibbs is the hardest person in the agency to work for, but he is also like a father figure to us. He is demanding, and he will demand that you face your demons before coming here, but he is the type to help you face them."
"I could use all of the help I can get," she responded. "I really appreciate you being here with me. I know you could be used elsewhere."
"I am right where I need to be," she said with a sad smile. "Make yourself comfortable and get some rest. I'll be in the other room if you need me."
"Thanks, Ziva," Ellie said, getting up with a small smile to head for the bathroom. Ziva got up as well and made her way to the kitchen to make her some tea.
Now she glanced at the door for the tenth time to make sure all of the locks were in the right position and sighed in relief when they were. She wasn't sure why she felt nervous about their situation, but something in her told her that this wasn't going to be as simple as she needed it to be. She closed her eyes and decided to force some sleep while she could get it. It didn't take long for her to drift off.
********WDYG?********
Ned and Elly walked into Ned's apartment with the kind of slow lethargy that came after a hard case. Only this time, they hadn't finished it yet, so there was also a tension in the air. Ned headed for the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He came back into the living room to find that Elly was sitting on the couch. He took a drink of his water and moved to sit next to him, handing him the bottle. Elly nodded his thanks and took a drink, then sat it on the coffee table. He turned so that his back was against the pillow on the arm of the couch, then reached and tugged Ned so that he was laying against him, his head against his chest. They got comfortable like that, and Ned pulled his phone from his pocket to set the alarm. He sat it next to the bottle of water and then wrapped his arm around Elly's waist.
Elly began carding his fingers through Ned's hair silently. After a long few minutes, Ned whispered, "There are some really broken people in the world."
Elly nodded softly, and whispered back, "Yeah, there are."
"I'm afraid I'm one of them," Ned whispered back.
Elly's fingers stopped mid-stroke through Ned's hair. "How do you figure?" he asked.
Ned started slowly, a little more than a whisper. "I feel like two different people sometimes, and I don't understand it. I feel like I'm this big uber-dork, and then this confident, demanding strategist. It literally feels like a split personality sometimes, and it worries me. The day-to-day me is terrified of taking a life, and the other me has already done it. The day to day me can barely look Vance in the eye, and the other one works beside him in MTAC, sometimes even saying things to contradict him. And I know you guys see it too. I know there's my normal side, and the MTAC me, and then that part of me you call my Encyclopedia Ned side. It's all a lot to digest."
Elly was taken aback by the admission. He kind of wished Greg was there to tell Ned he wasn't insane, but when he put it like that, he felt a kernel of worry himself. He shook it off. His partner needed him to comfort him right now, and that's what he was going to do.
"My love," he started, resuming his stroking through Ned's hair. "You've been going through some major changes and growth this year. You're discovering facets of your personality you've been too afraid to share with the world. Eventually, these different pieces will blend together, and instead of it feeling like you're jumping tracks, it will be more subtle, like switching lanes. You do have different personalities, but it's already starting to blend into this concoction that is Ned Dorneget. This case has proved it.
"You have been so caught up in things that you haven't seen what I've seen, and I bet what Greg has seen. You've flowed in and out of Encyclopedia Ned, in and out of the Special Agent Ned Dorneget, and in and out of the compassionate Dorney that we all love. It took all three of those Neds to make the man who sat across from that monster tonight and do what you did. It took your compassion for Bishop not to kill him and to get the answers that you knew that she needed. It took Agent Dorneget to keep a cool head and stay focused on the mission. It took Encyclopedia Ned to know the questions to ask and to focus on that rather than the gross and perverse aspects of what you were being told. Without all of you, there's no way you would've been able to get through that. And it was horrible, and confusing, but I'm proud of you."
Ned turned to lay his chin on Elly's chest and look up at him. "Thank you," he said softly.
"You're not broken, Ned. Not any more than the rest of us at least. And most certainly not in the ways that Jake is broken. You're just experiencing some growing pains."
"Are you going to love me when all three of my personalities merge and blend into one Ned?" Ned's eyes were so sad that it broke Elly's heart.
"Oh, baby. I already love all three Neds, and I'll love whatever pieces you decide to keep when you merge all three together."
Ned gave him a small smile. "I'm glad, because all three Neds love you more than anything in the world."
Elly smiled brightly at him. "Good, because I'd be sad to lose any of them. And honestly, I think we've seen a fourth Ned through this case."
"Oh?" Ned asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah! There's now Sassy Ned! The King of Sarcasm!"
Ned laughed outright.
"You've thrown some serious sass out there, and right in front of Vance. And he's not done anything more than raise an eyebrow at you. You're like, Super Sassy Ned, and I think he actually likes it. I mean, I think we all really like it. It's pretty hilarious, and he's always totally on point!"
Ned laughed and buried his face in Elly's ribs. Elly smiled broadly and continued running his hand through Ned's hair. They both calmed to a happier state than they were when they got home and snuggled in for a nap together. Elly reached for the throw blanket on the back of the couch and covered Ned up with it. It wasn't long before they were breathing evenly together in a deep and comfortable sleep.
********WDYG?********
Tim, Elly and Greg drove together to the NSA. It wasn't a bad drive that early in the morning, but it was still dark outside, and they struggled not to let their moods reflect that.
Elly had noticed that Greg wasn't focused, and finally brought it up.
"You okay, Greg?" he asked from the backseat.
The other man sighed. "Not really, but I guess I should confess my sins." He looked from Elly to Tim, then out the window. "I called the boss."
"What?" Tim asked. "Why did you do that?!"
"It was personal. Tiff and I got into it this morning… and I needed to talk."
Tim nodded, coming down off the emotional cliff he was ready to throw Greg off of for the moment.
"Dude, what's going on?" Elly asked, somewhat hurt he didn't come to him, but understanding at the same time because he knew he had to make Ned his priority, and Greg would've known that too.
"She's losing it. And that makes me lose it. And I'm afraid we're going to lose baby girl, and… she threw the fucking alarm clock at me this morning. Like, barely missed, shattered against the wall, destroyed the damn thing kinda threw it at me."
"Holy shit, man! That's not cool!" Elly said, his jaw slightly dropped.
"Yeah, Greg. That's not right," Tim said, trying to give him a sympathetic look and then focus on the road again.
"I know. And when this case is over, we're getting help. I can't keep going on like this. But I needed to talk to Tony. He and Gibbs are just so…" He shook his head and looked out the window with a sigh.
"I know," Elly said with an understanding nod.
"Me, too," Tim said, sparing another glance at him. Greg nodded back, still not looking at them.
"I feel better about it through. It was actually Gibbs that jumped into the conversation when I didn't even realize he was listening, and he said something that felt… personal. It was kind of a big deal to me to hear him say what he said, and I feel so… cared for. You know? Like they just make me feel like I'm not alone in anything anymore. I'm never going to have to be alone again. I've got you guys, and them, and Shane, and I know, I just know, that Tiffany and I will fix things as long as I've got their support."
"I know that feeling, too," Tim said with a small smile. "They support Abby and I through all of our ups and downs. Ducky, too. We're lucky."
"That we are," Greg said.
"I don't even need to tell you guys how much they've supported Ned and me. I mean… damn."
They pulled into the parking lot of the NSA building and stopped at the gate to give their badges to the guard. Hadley was going to have their passage cleared for them by the time they got there, and they were glad to see it was taken care of as they soon made their way towards the building through the parking lot.
They went inside to find Hadley waiting for them in the lobby.
"Hey gentlemen, follow me," he said, waving them over to him. They headed for him, Elly shifting his laptop bag over his shoulder so it crossed his chest and swung behind him.
They followed Hadley towards an escalator that gave them a great view of the parking lot as they rode it up. It made Tim feel like they were in a mall more than a government building, and he took in the sights around him that Elly and Greg had been able to see when they were there earlier in the case.
They were led to a large room with multiple desks and a conference table in the middle of it. Whiteboards and TVs lined the walls. Some were being used as monitors to beam computers to that were running searches.
"This is our situation room," Hadley explained. "Took us a while to get it set up, but everyone working this case is in this room. Now that Jake has been captured and interrogated we've switched tactics. We're checking all of the files he's accessed and searching for the people on the list he provided. I need to tell you that the data scrub is our first priority. We need to know if he's accessed sensitive information to protect national security. The search for the other members of The Children is secondary."
"Understandable," Tim answered. "Are you finding anything of concern in the data scrub?"
"Not really. Nothing unexpected at least. We've been able to track some of the deep web sites that he frequented though. It's taken a lot, but we're getting in."
"Can you share that information with Dorneget?" Tim asked.
Elly and Greg shared a look of concern at the thought of Ned having to sift through websites that showed people being murdered and tortured. At the same time, he knew that Ned's infamous access to prohibited message boards and other deep web sites was in line with the request. Elly made a mental note to take over this research as soon as possible.
They spent the next hour touring the room and getting acquainted with each person and what they were focused on. Tim and Parke focused on associating with those looking for their pseudo-terrorists and kidnappers. Elly focused on finding out how the data scrubbers were going about it. As he watched he got an idea. If they had the deep web sites that Jake had been using, he'd probably be able to track down X through their user list. He sat with the analyst that was focusing on locating Jake's deep web interactions and opened his laptop, taking notes.
"Elly?" Greg said softly. His blue eyes looked up to meet Greg's brown. "It's 0600." Elly nodded. They had agreed to be out of there by 0615, the time they estimated for Vance to piss off the NSA director and get them kicked out or have their cooperation interrupted.
Elly smiled at the analyst he was sitting with, a middle-aged woman who wasn't exactly taken by him, but enjoyed having knowledgeable company. "We're going to have to leave soon," he let her know, letting regret color his voice. "If you had to give me any advice on what to look for to track these guys, what would it be?"
She was somewhat taken aback by the question. "Um, I guess I'd say that you need to cast your nets deeper, not wider in this case. This is a very specialized dimension, and in order to find what we're finding you either have to have access to everyone in the country's web searches, or you'd have to follow someone in through the wormhole. It's much easier to follow someone in."
"Do you have any suggestions on who?" he asked, trying to project innocence and lightheartedness as if though this information was easily available and not sensitive at all.
"Um…" She chewed her bottom lip as she typed in a few things and investigated her screen and a list that was now scrolling. "Try going through that second site I gave you, and track IP 202.1578942.33, screenname ShineeToyz." Elly typed that into his notes and nodded.
"Why them?" he asked casually.
"They have ties to a number of these sites. Comments a lot and gets replies. Very active for a long time. Daily user. Seems to know everyone."
"Have you ever seen a screenname of DevilsKiss999?" he asked.
"Yeah, that rings a bell. Let me see. Ah! There. Associated with the same site as Shinee, and looks like… yeah. Three others. Numbers 2, 4, 7 and 11 on your list," she said, looking up at him. "Who's that?"
"A screenname offered up by Jake," Elly replied. "He said that's who reached out to him to invite him to run The Children."
"Oh! That's something I wasn't told. I will definitely switch tracks and see what I can find through him. If he's got ties to the handler, we can try to track the big fish, which is much more important that the brats, as we've come to ever so affectionately refer to them."
Elly chuckled. "The brats. I like it!" He looked up at the screen and quickly typed the IP address of DevilsKiss999, though it wasn't offered up. "Well, we're going to head out. I appreciate everything you've shown me. It's given me some great ideas! Good luck with everything." He closed his laptop and slipped it into his bag, getting to his feet and offering a handshake to the woman.
"Likewise, Agent Critten," she said. "We'll get 'em."
"Yeah, we will."
Elly smiled and turned to leave. It was a nice feeling that she didn't say that in a competitive way, and he didn't mean it in one either. They were both on the same sides of this battle, even if they were there for different focuses. He met up with Greg and Tim at the door. Hadley came up behind them and led them back out.
"Too bad you couldn't have stayed longer," he said.
"Yeah," Elly said, taking the lead next to him. "We need to get back though to deal with our director and whatever his directions may be after he talks to your director. I have a feeling we'll be set to task. I got some great information and ideas from working with Marilyn though. Was able to share a piece of information with her that she didn't know as well about the screenname Jake provided us as his initial contact with the group. She's going to track that bastard like a hawk on a mouse. He's a goner."
"Damn!" Hadley exclaimed under his breath. "I'd completely forgotten about that! I'm glad you remembered. She should've known that last night. I was just too much in my head about the whole Jake thing."
"It's all good," Elly reassured with a smile as they stepped off the escalator. "She knows now and she's going to get to work on it. If she can trace it back to the handler and the handler to ISIS, all the better!"
"If anyone can, it's her," Hadley said, stopping at the entrance. The three men stopped with him and took turns thanking him and shaking his hand.
"We'll be in touch!" Elly reassured with a smile. "Let us know if Marilyn cracks the code! I'd love to get that good news!"
"Will do!" Hadley said, then the three left the building.
They walked silently to the car, and once they got in it and all of the doors were closed, Tim looked at Elly who had taken shotgun, and then at Greg in his rearview. "What do you think?" he asked.
"I think we've got some work to do," Greg said, his eyes meeting Tim's in the mirror.
"What did you find?" Elly said, slipping his seatbelt on.
"They started triangulating the data from the apartment, the lumber yard, and marina where Davis was snatched and looking for any cell phones that were active in all three areas. There were no calls made that overlap all three places, but there were data pings."
"Text messages then," Elly said. "Or the kik app they were using."
"Exactly," Tim said as he turned the ignition over and headed for the entrance.
"You get the info?" Elly asked.
Tim looked in the rearview. Elly looked over his shoulder at Greg to see him copying something written on his arm into a little memo pad.
"Did you really smuggle data out of the NSA just now by writing it on your arm?" Elly asked with a chuckle.
"Well, I asked if I could have the information emailed to me," Tim said, and the analyst was incredibly skeptical about even talking to us, nonetheless sharing the specific information.
"But I was standing behind them, and I got busy scribbling," Greg said, rolling his sleeve back down and rebuttoning it as they came to the guard gate to be let out.
Elly laughed and grinned. "I love you guys," he said, continuing to laugh.
Greg smiled at him as he looked over his shoulder at him again. "Teamwork makes the dream work!"
"Hell yeah!"
********WYDG?********
Ned was dressed in his favorite suit. He felt like it was imperative that he exude confidence for this call, though he knew he wasn't going to be the one doing most of the talking, if any. This was a Director to Director discussion. He knew that this wasn't the same as the calls he'd been on so far in this case. There were serious politics at play here. He was there to learn, offer information as needed, and maybe one or two questions on behalf of the team if the opportunity presented itself.
He stood next to Vance, a notebook in one hand, the other in his pocket. He felt solid. Having a little time to reconnect with Elly had done him a world of good. Waking up to his heartbeat under his ear was the best medicine he could've asked for to cure him of the nightmare the previous night's interrogation had been.
"You ready?" Vance asked.
"I believe so. Anything you need from me?" he asked.
"You'll get away with a lot more than I will," Vance said. "That still doesn't mean you'll get away with a lot. What questions do you have?"
"For Spots?" Ned asked. Vance nodded. "I'd like to know what he has been able to ascertain about the safety of the Iraqi women. I want to know if this group is still looking for them. I also want to know what they know about the Bright Jihad, if anything, specifically if they know what kinds of weapons this guy in California has. I want to know what spooked Spots about this so badly that he ran off to Spain and had everyone meet him there. That's all big picture though. Specific to our case, I want to know if there's anything that we need to know about Piper and both Bishops that we don't know. If we can find out about the weapons guy in California, maybe we can use him somehow to track this X guy down."
"Is that all?" Vance asked.
"That's all that I'd have the politics to ask," Ned said.
"What do really want to ask?" Vance inquired.
Ned smirked. "I want to know what the hell he was thinking by leaving his agency unattended during a crisis like this. I want to know how well he knew Jake and whether or not he's somehow aware of his predilections, and I want to know what he plans on doing to support Bishop now that her NSA lawyer of a soon-to-be-ex-husband is about to face the death penalty. And I want to know if he plans on trying to offer some kind of plea deal with him for information, because if they think they are going to make any kind of deal to go soft on this bastard to get information out of him, I'll go downstairs to holding and take him out myself."
Vance raised an eyebrow at his sudden passion. "I just might let you," Vance said under his breath as the screen lit up bright blue, the sign that they were trying to connect to the call. "Let's do this." He looked once more time at Ned. "For the record, I want the same answers."
Ned nodded once, plastering his game face on.
The screen changed to a man sitting at a desk. He looked haggard and tired, and Vance and Ned were both surprised by that, having assumed the delay in their call was because Spots had wanted to sleep first.
"Director Vance," the man greeted solemnly.
"Director Spots," Vance greeted in return. "I'm glad you found the time to talk with us. With me is Special Agent Ned Dorneget, one of the agents on the case and the one who interrogated your man Jake Bishop."
"Special Agent Dorneget," he greeted with a nod.
"Sir," Ned greeted with a nod in return. It was both formal and casual at the same time.
"First, let me apologize for not being able to be reached until now," Spots said, throwing both men for a loop. "I currently have a dozen dignitaries in my small chateau here in Madrid. This is supposed to be my sanctuary, but for the moment it's a safehouse. And getting twelve people from such different backgrounds to share a space and sleep on air mattresses is… well let's just say people are ridiculous."
Vance smiled at him. "I would hate to be in your shoes. Why don't you explain why you're in that predicament though?"
Spots sighed. "It's a long story, but Piper was not only an NSA analyst- one of the best analysts we've ever had- but also filled a crucial role in information exchange between the US intelligence agencies and the intelligence agencies of our allies. He has exchanged information between our country and allies on trips to various islands for years so that these people never had to come onto US mainland where they wouldn't necessarily be safe. Plus, Piper simply enjoyed beach vacations. It was a great front for his work.
"Many Americans have no idea about the types of programs we have with other countries and what kind of information exchanges we do on a regular basis. When Piper was found dead, we activated an emergency protocol and gathered everyone he's met with in the past five years here in Spain. We have Iraqi and Afghani intelligence, the leader of the Uzbekistan Democratic Movement, Oman, Liberia… you get the picture. He's met with all of these people over the past five years, and until we knew the reason he was killed, any of their information was vulnerable. Hadley said that you know what information they were going after."
"Yes," Vance said. "It's the information shared with Iraqi Intelligence about a group of women the CIA were going to train."
Spots nodded. "That's what he said. I've informed Hahmar. She's getting the women relocated."
"Good," Vance said. "What I'd like to know is what's so special about them? I understand that they were going to be spies, but why would so many people go through all of this trouble to stop that from happening?"
Ned raised an eyebrow in thought about how that was a question for the jugular he wasn't going to ask.
Spots looked thoughtful for a moment, then his expression changed to resolution. "They're all members of clans and families that we need them to spy on. Families and clans that may or may not have ties to ISIS and other unpleasant groups. They were going to go back to their families and work as double agents."
Vance nodded, and Ned schooled his expression to not give away his own feelings about that.
"What I need to know is what happened with Bishop to make him turn against us," Spots said.
Vance didn't immediately reply, so Ned stepped in. He remembered what Greg had told Ellie the night before and used it to explain.
"Jake Bishop had devolved into a sadistic personality disorder. His actions weren't based on actual terrorism, but instead on what running The Children of the Prophet gave him access to- specifically victims that he could torture and murder for his pleasure. He wasn't an Islamic terrorist. He was a sadist. And it all began with video in a deposition for an NSA case he came across that unlocked that part of him. He spiraled into the disorder and was consumed by it. He's tortured 29 people in the past two years if you include our victims. And that's only the 29 that we've located."
"29?" Spots asked in disbelief.
"Yes," Ned said. "He was paid in at least two million dollars in cash, and trips to places around the country where people were waiting for him to take out his sadistic urges on. He was also provided a protégé who helped him with these murders, and with which a sexual relationship began. The two of them have been running two homegrown terrorist outfits- The Children of the Prophet and The Only. The Children are based on the east coast, mainly in New York, and The Only is based out of Los Angeles. These groups are made up of young adults, kids even, that are disgruntled and misplacing their anger in this cause. They have killed a few people, tried to set a church on fire, and most recently shot an FBI agent."
"Damn it," Spots said, cracking his knuckles in what Ned recognized as a nervous habit.
"He admitted in his interrogation that he didn't actually care about the organization or it's cause. He didn't even seem to really be keeping up with the information he was supposed to be indoctrinating the group with. His sadism had taken precedent in his life, and everything else was falling to the wayside. His main objective was torturing and murdering people and maintaining his relationship with his protégé."
"How did you figure out it was him?" Spots asked, defeat in his voice.
Ned felt his eyebrow raise as he realized that he hasn't been communicating very well with Hadley if he didn't know.
"You are aware that Jake Bishop is Elenore Bishop's husband, right? Piper's partner?" Ned asked, just a slight edge to his voice.
Spot's jaw dropped against his own accord. "I wasn't aware. I'd heard of Ellie Bishop, and how she was going to take Piper's place one day, but I didn't realize Jake Bishop was her husband. I hadn't put the two together."
"Well, she is. And she went home to get some rest while helping us with the case, only to walk in on Jake talking to his handler on the phone. She revealed him to us immediately."
"Is she being questioned as well?" Spots asked.
Ned set his jaw and was grateful with Vance took over. "She's been a major part of our investigation, serving alongside our teams here at NCIS. She's a victim in this, not a suspect. She's currently in protective custody with one of our agents."
"Why is that?" Spots asked.
Ned jumped back in. "Because she was her husband's next target, and we believe that she may be in danger."
"Oh."
"Yeah," Ned said. He closed his mouth before he could say anything else, because he had some choice words right at the tip of his tongue that he knew Vance wouldn't appreciate him sharing at the moment, no matter how much Elly thought Vance enjoyed "Sassy Ned".
Vance turned his questions on Spot. "Have you ever heard of something called The Bright Jihad?"
Spot frowned and shook his head. "No, I haven't. What is it?"
"It's the name of the plan of action these groups are supposed to be carrying out. There's a weapons dealer in California they were supposed to torture in order to get access to his cache, and that was supposed to be used somehow. We need to know what types of weapons they are, and what this Bright Jihad is."
"Just a minute," Spots said, then got to his feet and left the room.
"You good?" Vance asked.
Ned took a deep breath and let it out. "Yeah, I'm good."
Vance only nodded back.
Spots came back into the room with an attractive older woman. "Gentlemen, this is Milaj Hahmar."
"Director Hahmar," Vance greeted. "I'm Director Leon Vance with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in the United States. We've been working the case of NSA Piper's murder."
Ned offered a greeting as well, only he did so in Arabic. Hahmar's eyes widened slightly, and she focused on Ned versus Vance.
"[They tell me that Mark Piper is dead. What happened? Who is responsible?]" Hahmar asked, her face pulled in a pained expression.
"Sorry, gentlemen. Her English isn't very good. It's made things interesting."
"Not a problem," Vance said.
"[He was killed by a man working for an ISIS based handler, though he wasn't actually a terrorist himself. He was a murderer using ISIS as a front to commit his murders]," Ned explained.
"What is she asking?" Vance asked quietly.
"She wanted to know who killed Piper," he answered quietly back.
"[What do you know about his plans?]" she asked.
Ned thought for a moment about what to reveal to her. She was an ally, but she wasn't a part of the investigation. "[He was supposed to run a US based terrorist group, but it was really just a bunch of kids that were angry and confused. They were being asked to carry out something called The Bright Jihad. Does that mean anything to you?]"
"[No, it doesn't. What can you tell me about it?]"
"[Not much unfortunately. They were supposed to torture a man in our state of California, on the west coast of the country, to find out the location of a weapons cache and use it to do something. We don't have any details. Neither does the man that was supposed to be leading the organization- the man that killed Piper. He's not in his right mind.]"
"[Agent Dorneget, none of them ever are.]"
"[This is true,]" Ned said back with a small smile. He liked this woman. She was direct, but a little sassy, and he related to that. "[Let me translate for them.]" He turned to Vance and let him know what they'd just said. Both men nodded. He then turned back to the woman. "[Ma'am, what can you tell me about your last meeting with Piper?]"
Hahmar sighed and tossed her head to the side a bit and then looked back at him. "[It was half a year ago. He was a complete gentleman. We had dinner together, and then took a walk on the beach, which is where we exchanged information about your intelligence agency being willing to train our recruits. We wanted to be away from everyone and the ocean would drown out our voices from any listening devices. To anyone who watched us, it would have looked like a courting. He even reached out to hold my hand at one point and discreetly exchanged an SD card with the information I needed on it. It was a lovely evening. We were going to meet again this past week, but he wasn't there at our rendezvous point. I looked for him, and when he didn't show up, I thought he'd been spooked, so I left the country immediately. I made arrangements to move the women we'd discussed last trip, and then received the call from Director Spots' people saying we were activating the protocol to come to Spain. I feel foolish being here.]"
"[It's very good you're there. If you were within reach, you could already be dead. They know who you are. If you would've stayed on the island…]"
"[I am in danger at all times, Agent. I'm the first female leader of Iraqi Intelligence. Not only that, but I was a spy my entire life, unlike the previous leaders who are all military. I am used to it.]"
"[Yes ma'am, but you're also now a political figure in this position. It means playing the political game, not the spy game. A blight to all of us who have to learn to play it, I assure you, but a necessary evil.]"
She offered him a smile. "[Indeed. I will look into this Bright Jihad, and I will mourn Mark.]"
"[Thank you, ma'am. I do have one more concern." She looked back up at him. "[One of the women of the group was pregnant apparently with a US Marine's baby. Were you aware of that?]"
"[We did have a young woman in the group turn up pregnant. If you know who the father is, that could help get her safely out of the country. She's in a dangerous position.]"
Ned shook his head. "[He was killed. Tortured by the same man that killed Piper. Is there anything we can do for her?]"
"[That is bad news. I am not sure what can be done now.]"
Ned thought about Amira's mom and the group she was in and bit his lip. He knew that he could tell her about them and neither of the other men would have to know, so he bit the bullet.
"[There is a group here in the D.C. area that I am familiar with. They help Muslim refugees. I am sure they would be willing to help her. You just need to get her here. If you want more information, email me. Spots has my email.]"
Hahmar looked at him thoughtfully. "[You are a kind man. I will be in touch.]" She nodded at him, then turned to leave the room.
"Okay, what just happened?" Spots asked.
"Well, she remembers Mark Piper fondly, and when she showed up at their meeting place this past week and he wasn't there, she knew something wasn't right, so she got the hell out of dodge. She immediately moved the women. She knows nothing about the Bright Jihad, but is going to go look into it for us. She's not happy with being locked away in hiding." He turned to Vance. "She said that she was a spy her whole career and that she's the first woman to run the agency, so she's used to the danger."
He raised an eyebrow at Vance, who raised one back. They looked back at Spots.
"I will set the analysts to look into this Bright Jihad. I'm not sure what we're going to find, but we'll start scanning the chatter."
"Good," Vance said. "Our agents have been at your building for the past hour or so working with your analysts. We're going after the bastards that killed Piper and our Marines, and then we're getting our hands out of this mess."
"What are you going to do with Bishop?" Spots asked.
"We're going after the death penalty. Nothing less is good enough. To see the gruesome ways he tortured and mutilated his victims… he's not getting any leniency," Ned said, his confidence on full volume.
"Understandable," Spots said.
"Would you like a copy of his interrogation?" Vance asked.
"Yes, please."
"We'll be happy to send it over."
"Sir," Ned said before they could lose his attention. "I'm very concerned about the wellbeing of Ellie Bishop. What is your plan to assist her?"
Spots sighed. "I'm not really sure what we can do. Her husband was a treasonous traitor. We have to be very careful what we do."
"Her husband was the traitor, sir. Not her. She's been nothing but an exemplary analyst and support in his arrest. She's devastated right now."
"Understandably. I'm not sure what's possible, but I will look into it."
"I'd appreciate that," Ned said with a nod.
"Have a good day gentlemen. I'm sure we'll be in touch soon."
"I'm sure," Vance said. "Thank you for meeting with us.'
The screen went dark and Vance turned to Ned. "So, what else did she say?"
Ned looked directly into Vance's eyes without blinking. "She knew one of the women was pregnant and asked if we could get the father to get her to the States. I informed her that he was killed as well. She said that the woman was in a dangerous position. I suggested she get her to DC to let The Epiphany help her and told her to email me for more details."
"Be very careful how much you divulge to her. Never tell her the name of the organization or it's locale. Help the woman if you'd like, but remember that Hahmar is the director of a national intelligence agency. Information is her life."
Ned nodded. "I'll tread lightly, sir. Thank you."
Vance nodded. "If only Leyla were still around, she'd make a great ally for the woman. It's a damn shame she's not."
Ned nodded again. "Yeah, it is." They headed for the door with Ned lost in thought.
********WDYG?********
Jethro took Tony's hand across the table. "You okay?" he asked.
Tony smiled at him. "Yeah, just thinking about Greg."
"He'll be okay," Jethro reassured. "We'll be there when he needs us, and things will get better."
Tony nodded. "I know. I appreciate you speaking up last night. It meant a lot."
Jethro shrugged. "I care about them, too. Your guys are just as much a part of our family as my team is. We're just going to have to make sure we include Parke in on things more often. Dorney and Critten are always around, and I imagine Parke will be more now, too. Not a bad thing at all."
"Your words carry so much weight. It was important what you said."
Jethro gave Tony a sad smile. "And it was true. There's nothing like holding your child for the first time. The thing is that the first time we held Amira after she became our child it…" Jethro shook his head slightly.
"Was heartbreaking," Tony filled in. Jethro nodded slowly. Tony's voice was quiet as he shared his thoughts. "I remember things about that day. Like when Amira and I were watching cartoons while we waited for you to get home. I thought about how she'd come home for the first time just then, and she didn't know it yet. And holding her tiny hand in the car after you told me Leyla was gone. Her nails digging into me because she was so afraid. I thought, I'm holding my daughter's hand now, and it hit me like someone had slammed me in the chest with a truck. It was profound."
Jethro looked down at their entwined hands, then sat back and sighed. "I miss her."
"Amira or Leyla?" Tony asked.
"Both," Jethro said with a smirk. "But I meant Amira."
"Aha! See! I knew I wasn't the only sentimental fool amongst us!"
"Never said you were," Jethro said with a sheepish chuckle.
"But I'm also glad we're here together. It's beautiful." Tony turned his view from Jethro to the water of the cove next to them. They were at a café near the sound. Mount Vesuvius was not far and they had a beautiful view. They were planning on going to visit it tomorrow, but today they were exploring the piers. They'd tried little bits of food here and there, and they'd watched the ferry come to and fro. The weather was perfect with a gentle breeze off the water that kept things nice and comfortable. They'd walked for over a mile down the stretch of docks, stopping here and there to take in a shop, a chapel, a vendor. It was a great way to spend their day. Now they were sitting in the café and trying to decide what to do with their evening.
"I need to remember to keep taking photos that Amira might want to see. And Sierra too for that matter. I promised them a slideshow tonight."
"Yeah, you did. We should remember to get one of the two of us together somewhere so we have a mantel memory," Jethro suggested, making Tony raise an eyebrow at the unusual request.
"I think we could do that," he said with a smile. "Maybe tonight we can do that restaurant the lady in the bakery told us about for dinner."
"The one you said has a dock patio?"
Tony nodded. "A little romantic nighttime lighting, a good bottle of wine, good food…"
"The stars and a breeze off the water," Jethro said with a smile.
Tony's eyebrows rose as he nodded. "Something to set the mood."
"The mood for a slideshow with our daughter and her babysitter?" Jethro asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
Tony laughed. "True. We may be able to squeeze round one in before that."
"If you're having a bottle of wine before that you're going to fall straight to sleep afterwards. And I'm not giving them a slideshow while you snore next to me."
Tony reached over and gave Jethro a slight shove on the shoulder, which made the older man laugh.
"In that case, let's pick up a bottle of wine to enjoy during the slideshow. I can have a glass during dinner, then another while we're giving them the tour of Napoli via bad photos and be nice and relaxed by time we're truly alone."
"Sounds like a plan. I know we agreed on keeping our sleep schedule as close to eastern time as possible while we're here, but with our trip to the mountain tomorrow we're going to have to get up early. Probably a good idea not to drink too much tonight. We're not going to get much sleep."
"True. And we need to let Sierra know tonight that tomorrow's call will be early since we're probably not going to be able to stay up until 2AM to make it. We'd warned Ned and Elly that there would be an early night, but she wasn't supposed to have Amira this long."
"Ahhh yes."
They sat there for another five minutes while they took in the view. "You ready to go find that bottle of wine?" Tony asked.
"Sure, let's go." They got up and pushed their chairs in, dropping off their cups at the counter for them to be cleaned, and headed for the street hand-in-hand.
********WDYG?********
It was a little after 0900 and Tim was clacking away at his computer, hoping that they would get a lead soon. He was chasing cell phone tower information left and right trying to track down the phones that had given off the pings with the NSA, but they were burn phones and they were encrypted, so it meant someone on their team knew what they were doing with tech. It was going to take a while.
Sommers and Ziva had joined them in the bullpen and were tracking down whatever they could on the children through tips that had been called in by people responding to the BOLO. Most of them were worthless, but they scoured them for any bit of truth. Ziva had also shared the video footage of Davis' kidnapping with Sommers and they kept playing it, hoping that one of them would catch something to flag their attention.
Greg had gone into interrogation to replay the conversation and see if he could pick up anything from it that they had missed. He wasn't finding anything more than reassurance that there were worse things in the world than his pregnant wife throwing an alarm clock at him.
Elly was working his magic on trying to track the usernames of the deep web sites that he'd been given. He followed them into the dark abyss of the deep web, peeling back the sites layer by layer like the onions they were. Every time he thought he was almost there he fell through another trap door and found himself chasing another ghost. It was frustrating.
Ned had the worst task of all. He was trolling the message boards of the sites they knew about from both Jake and the NSA and was trying to figure out who X was by the messages. He was sure he would have to bleach his brain afterwards. Though he wasn't finding any live feed videos, he found the comments left behind by them and was reading through them to try to pinpoint anything that might help in their pursuit. It was just as damaging as listening to Jake tell his story. The things people were saying on the boards, oftentimes encouraging remarks for the live sessions they'd viewed, were beyond disturbing and he wanted to get away from it but knew he couldn't. He knew Elly was worried about him doing it because he kept catching concerned glances, and though a part of him thought it was sweet, another part of him was annoyed by it. It wasn't helping.
Ned's phone rang in his pocket and he pulled it out in frustration. Who was calling him with everyone that could be calling him sitting in the bullpen? He saw the NCIS switchboard number on the caller ID and blinked.
"Hello?" he answered in confusion.
"Agent Dorneget?" came Evelyn's voice.
"Oh, hey! What's up?" he asked.
"Can you come up to MTAC?"
"Sure. Is everything okay?" he asked.
"That's for you to decide. You've got a call."
"Oh, I'll be right there." He hung up and looked at his phone.
"What's up?" Elly asked.
"I have a call in MTAC. Evelyn didn't say who it was. She was acting weird."
"Want company? I could use a minute away."
"Sure," Ned said. After all, Elly was technically his superior right now. It made sense that he was aware of anything strange going on.
They made their way up to MTAC and scanned in. As soon as Ned's eyes fell on the screen he froze and Elly ran into him.
"What the hell?" Ned said quietly, the wave of anxiety washing over him. He instinctively reached back for Elly's hand and received it.
"What's wrong, honey?" Elly whispered.
"That's Andy," he said, looking at an exhausted man with red eyes on the screen.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Elly asked, staring at the screen with his jaw dropped at the audacity of the man on the screen to use MTAC to get to Ned. He felt a surge of anger and was about to march down there and give him a piece of his mind, but Ned tightened his grip around his hand to stop him.
"Wait, Elly. Something's not right."
Elly looked at him hesitantly and then looked back at the screen feeling conflicted. Ned took a deep breath and walked hand in hand with Elly out of the shadows until they were in view of the camera.
"Ned?" Andy said, his voice breaking.
"Andy?" Ned asked. "What are you doing?"
"I… I tried to help," he said.
"What did you do?" Ned asked, his MTAC persona taking over.
"I looked into that organization you asked me about."
"Fuck, Andy. Please tell me you didn't get involved." Ned shook his head.
"I did." Andy shook his head in return. "I wanted to help you. I thought if I did… Well, maybe I'd get to try to talk to you again."
"Andy, I want you to meet my fiancé, Elly."
Elly smiled at Ned, then smirked at the screen. He almost felt sorry for the man in front of him. He went from looking bad to devastated and hopeless.
"Oh. Hi."
"Hi." Elly's eyes bored into the man's on the screen.
"What did you do?" Ned asked, his voice stern.
Andy looked up and blinked before running his hands down his face. "I got in over my head. I tracked the kids down."
"And?" Ned asked.
"They're all dead."
"How did they die?" Ned asked cautiously.
"Someone… I'd say they killed them, but they did much more than that. There were eight of them, and it was… a bloodbath."
"Damn," Ned said, looking at Elly. "How much do you wanna bet it's X?"
Elly nodded. "He sounds pissed."
"X?" Andy asked.
"Yeah," Ned said. "We have the leader of the organization in custody. He's not a jihadist at all, but a total sadist that partnered with a 20-year-old man that calls himself X."
"And X is probably out there taking his revenge for our capture of his evil fuckbuddy," Elly added.
"A 20-year-old did all of that alone?" Andy asked in disbelief.
"Unless he's taken a protégé of his own," Elly posed.
"An eerie possibility," Ned said, chewing his lip for just a moment. He looked back at Andy. "What did you do? Did you bring in the LEOs?"
"That's what I mean about being in over my head. My superiors don't know where I am. The kids are in the next room. That's why I called."
"Goddamn it Andy! Where are you?"
"7219 Mango Street. There's an abandoned factory. I'm on the third floor."
"You need to get the hell out of there. If that guy can take out all of those kids, you're no match."
"Well, I don't' know about that…" Andy said uncomfortably. "Why do you care anyway?"
"Just because I don't want to be in a relationship with you doesn't mean that I want to find your dead body sliced up in some abandoned building!" Ned yelled. "Now get the hell out of there!"
"Are you coming?" Andy asked.
"No," Elly answered, putting his agent hat on. "Another team is coming. Ned will be needed here to interrogate Sadist Number One so we can track down Sadist Number Two."
"What should I do?" Andy asked.
"I don't know," Ned said. "How about butting the hell out of our case?"
Andy looked dejected. "Fine. One more thing though."
"What?"
"This X left a message."
"Let me guess- it was carved into a body?" Ned answered dripping with sarcasm.
"Yep. It said 'He's mine.'"
"Great. We just became targets," Elly said.
"No, Ellie just became a target," Ned said, turning to him with wide eyes.
"Shit!" Elly said, eyes widening back in realization.
"We need to get to her," Ned said, pulling Elly towards the door.
"Ned!" Andy shouted.
"Text it to me! We've got to go!" Ned shouted back.
Ned finally let Elly's hand drop as they left the room. They hurried down the steps and Ned headed for Tim.
"Andy just contacted Ned in MTAC," Elly started. "He's crashed our investigation."
"Crashed is an understatement," Ned said with a frustrated shake of his head.
"He's sitting in an abandoned building with the bodies of eight members of The Children dead in the next room that X has killed," Elly continued.
"What?" Tim said, getting to his feet with a deathly blank expression.
"I'd asked if he had any information on The Children of the Prophet last Saturday on a whim. I didn't know he was going to butt in." Ned was a little unnerved by Tim's blankness.
"McGee," Elly said, his voice suddenly authoritative. "X is going to go after Ellie. He left a message on one of the bodies- "he's mine". You know what that means."
Ziva had joined them in the middle of the bullpen, and she put her phone to her ear to try to call Bishop. "She's not answering me."
Ned pulled his phone out and tried. "Nope, me neither."
Everyone looked to Tim for direction. He felt a sudden resolve and ground his teeth a moment before he started giving out orders. "Ziva, Elly, Sommers and I will go find her. Dorney, I want you and Parke to go get whatever you can out of Crow. I don't care how you have to do it."
"Not a problem," Ned said, turning to go find Greg.
Tim sat at his computer for a moment and ran a trace on Bishop's phone. "Her phone is still at your place, Ziva."
Elly ran to his desk and grabbed his stuff. He met Tim, Sommers and Ziva at the elevator. Ziva was trying to reach Bishop again, calling first her cell, then her home phone, just in case her cell was on silent. Still no answer.
"This isn't good," Ziva said, speaking quietly.
"No, it's not," Tim said.
"We'll get her," Elly said as the elevator opened to the garage. "We have to."