Disclaimers disclaimed.

— This chapter is the longest thus far and starts to piece together our story. Enjoy!

Chapter X - Faith and Hope


"Dad, dad, dad", Anthony exclaimed as Tony entered the Forensics lab.

Tony nearly fell backwards as the 12 year old wrapped him in an overjoyed and unexpected hug. "Whoa III, what's going on?"

"I found something to help get Tal back!" He stood straight up, beaming with pride.

"You found something", he questioned while looking over to McGee and Abby who matched the young boy's prideful smile.

"Yeah, look!" He grabbed Tony's hand and pulled him over to the wall mounted monitor that showed the dollar that he'd given McGee from Tali's room the day before.

Tony looked at the screen confused, "okay, I see an ordinary dollar. How does this help us get Tali back? No one has called for a ransom son."

Anthony rolled his eyes but kept smiling, "no abba, look closer!"

Straining his eyes for a better view, Tony looked closer but still didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "III, what am I supposed to be seeing?" The boy didn't speak but moved toward the screen and pointed to the bottom corner of the bill. Almost immediately, Tony recognized what it was, "Blood?"

Anthony shook his head in agreement ecstatically. "Blood! Yes! I found blood and it's not Tal's!"

Tony looked down at his son in wonder and then up to meet McGee and Abby's gaze, "How did you even ..."

"III gave me the dollar yesterday", McGee interrupted knowing exactly what his friend was going to ask next. "He found it in Tali's room the morning she was taken."

"At first, we didn't notice anything eithe", Abby cut in, "but then, with a closer look, III noticed the tiny speck of blood in the corner. I cut the corner off and ran a sample. It doesn't match Tali or the other blood belonging to Joey Cortez you guys found in the closet."

They got a new suspect. Tony felt hope rising within him again as he looked at the screen then back at Abby. "So who's blood is it?"

Abby smiled and started typing away to bring up a photo of the man, "our sample donor is none other than ..."

"Marko Johanson", Anthony exclaimed as the photo popped up.

"He doesn't have a rap sheet", McGee further explained, "but he's obviously been up to something if we found traces of his blood in your house. I mean, what are the odds that Tali randomly got that dollar when receiving change at some store?"

"About a billion to one", Abby blurted out. "We're all betting that he's one of the kidnappers."

"Johanson", Tony's face contorted as the name rolled off his tongue. Who the hell is this bastard? He looked at the photo again and it struck a nerve in him. He turned his attention to Anthony, "III, why don't you go grab yourself some snacks from the vending machine then head back up to my office." He pulled a few dollars from his pocket, "here's a couple bucks, there's an agent out there who'll escort you."

Anthony took the money happily and started to leave then stopped. "Abba you know something" , he posed as a statement rather than a question. His happy demeanor shifting as he sensed his father was holding back. "I found the blood, so I should know what you know too."

"I appreciate what you've done buddy, but now we have to work through somethings and I'd prefer you not be in the room. You've earned yourself a break buddy."

"I'm not a little kid", he huffed then rolled his eyes.

"But you're not exactly an adult either III, so when I tell my 12 year old son to leave the room while I run my investigation I expect him to leave without giving me a problem", Tony's tone shifted to a low and stern octave.

Just as stubborn as his mother, Anthony didn't back down, "Tal is MY sister dad and THAT was my find! I NEED to know! I have to help save her! I DON'T WANT TAL TO DIE! PLEASE, LET ME HELP!"

His abrupt explosion of emotions caused everyone in the room to look at him with a mix of shock and sadness. Truthfully, in all that had been going on, Anthony had been reserved with his emotions. It surprised everyone, especially Tony, to see him beginning to breakdown.

It hadn't even crossed Tony's mind that his son might be harboring some deep emotions that were too much for a 12 year old to try to handle on his own. In that moment, he felt horrible for not even considering to push for more when Anthony answered "I'm good" whenever he'd asked how the boy was feeling since this entire nightmare had begun.

Real great parenting Dinozzo.Tony scolded himself mentally then leaned down to wipe the tears that had suddenly started falling from Anthony's eyes and let out a sigh. "Buddy, Tali isn't going to die, okay", his words were desperate as he prayed the boy's hope would be restored. "I know you miss your sister ... trust me, I miss her too. You've helped in a major way. Hell, you may have just broken the case for us. I respect what you found and I promise I will fill you in when I can. I'm not denying you of being able to help, I swear. I just don't want to assume that I'm right and give you false information. You did your part in finding the evidence, now let us do our part in figuring out what it means, okay?"

Reluctant, but knowing he'd eventually lose in an argument against his father, Anthony slowly nodded. "You promise you'll tell me what everything means after you guys figure it out?"

"I promise buddy. I'll tell you everything and we'll find your sister together— you have my word."

Without any need for further assurance, Anthony left out of the lab and headed towards the elevator where an agent had been waiting to escort him.

Abby was the first to speak after the door closed, "poor kid. I feel so bad." She pouted as the entire exchange between Anthony and Tony flashed through her head.

"Yeah, well, I feel worse", Tony admitted as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I'll deal with it later, though. For now, we need to focus. This guy Johanson is a major concern."

"Well he doesn't have a rap sheet", McGee repeated the statement again. "Before today, he's never been on anyone's radar. So either he's new to crime or really good at not getting caught."

"He's definitely not new to crime, I'm sure of that", Tony spoke confidently.

Abby looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "III was right, wasn't he? You do know something!"

Tony looked at both McGee and Abby in disbelief, "You guys really don't see anything wrong with this Johanson guy? Nothing stands out to you at all?"

They both looked at eachother confused then back at Tony.

"I mean, other than his blood being on a dollar found in your house, should we see something wrong with him", McGee asked, not fully picking up on why Tony seemed to be two steps ahead of their own thinking.

"Seriously", he unintentionally raised his voice and slammed his fists on one of the lab tables.

Abby flinched slightly at his outburst causing McGee to step up, "Tony, if we're supposed to know this guy then tell us how. But first, you need to calm down. If you know something then tell us, don't expect us to just figure it out. We're all running on fumes from mental overload here."

He's right I guess. Tony took a moment to level out his breathing then began to explain, "21 years ago we worked a case where we were called out to a radio station after a navy commander, radio host, and music engineer were shot to death. The case led us to the suburban gated community of Royal Woods ... "

"Oh yeah", the details of the case slowly started coming back to McGee. "There was a group of homegrown terrorists made up by some of the home owners named ..."

"MAH", Abby chimed in. "Military At Home."

"Uh huh, and what was the name of the guy who supplied them with the bomb that nearly took us out on the baseball field", Tony asked.

Abby's eyes widened at the realization when she looked at the photo on the monitor again. "Deeter ...", she paused to silently curse herself for not putting it together. "Deeter Johanson the ..."

"South African bomb maker and terrorist", McGee finished shaking his head. "And this guy Marko looks almost identical to him, not to mention the same last name. They're probably brothers."

"Ding ding ding!" Tony's voice dripped with a little more sarcasm than he wanted, but he wasn't going to apologize. "This is not a coincidence. These guys have to be related. I want everything from that case 21 years ago and everything you have on Marko Johanson. Check prison records and see if Deeter has had any visitors, I wouldn't be surprised if Marko's name is on the visitor's log. There's a connection to that case and this one, find it!" He left without another word.


Ziva stood in MTAC watching the video that the Amadi's had given them, on the big screen, for what seemed like the millionth time. Come on, show me something. After seeing it loop back to the beginning, she motioned for one of the techs to turn it off and sat in one of the theater like chairs. She rubbed her forehead in frustration and tilted her head to signal for the techs to give her privacy in the room.

After they left, Ziva let out a discontented grunt. "Dammit, where are you", she yelled to the open air.

"You know, yelling to nobody isn't going to get you any answers."

Ziva turned to see where the familiar voice came from, "Gibbs?"

The silver haired, now considerably older, retired team lead smirked as he stood before her, "hey Ziver."

Immediately, she pulled the man who had become a father to her in for a hug. "I missed you", she paused, "wait, how did you get into MTAC?"

"I missed you too kid", he responded while pulling away. " And, uh, your Director husband had his secretary waiting for me when I got here. Tony called me yesterday to tell me about Tali. Took the first flight out of Mexico to come check on you. Since he's busy, I asked that tech guy, Max, you sent out of here to let me in. Surprised he's still working here", he chuckled.

"I've gotten used to his ... um, interesting ways."

"Hmph, I never got used to that guy. Anyway, enough about how I got here, I need to know how you're feeling", he asked as he searched her eyes with his signature stare.

Ziva looked away then took a deep breath."I'm okay ... all things considering."

"My granddaughter is a fighter, just like her mother, she'll make it through this and you'll find her", he rubbed her arm reassuringly before bringing her face back towards him gently so that he could search her eyes again— needing to know that she believed him.

"I know Gibbs, I'm just worried", she wiped a stray tear. "It's been six days with no contact. Just the first initial call and then silence. I mean, any other kidnappers would have made their demands by now and then tried to go on their way. This whole thing just doesn't make sense."

Gibbs nodded his head knowingly and took a seat. "So, whadda ya got so far?"

"Nothing", she let out a sigh of defeat while taking a seat next to him.

"Nothing?" He looked puzzled. "You've got all of NCIS looking for Tali, trying to run down leads, searching your house with a fine tooth comb, and you mean to tell me you've got nothing?" He shook his head, "no, I don't believe that. You've got something Ziver, you're just overlooking it."

"Gibbs, I do not ..."

"What were you working on in here before you made the techs leave", he interrupted.

"I was trying to find some answers or clues in a video that the kidnappers sent to Director Amadi."

"Who's Amadi?"

"He's the Director of SASS, the ..."

"South African Secret Service", he interrupted again. "I've heard of'em once or twice in my day. So what's the Director of SASS doing getting videos from Tali's kidnappers?"

"His son, Hunter, and Tali we're both kidnapped and are being held together. At least, I'm the video it looks as if they're being held together."

"Why are the kids of an NCIS Director and an SASS Director being kidnapped?"

Ziva took a moment before answering, "we think it may have something to do with a current operation, although the kidnappers haven't exactly been talking to let us know."

"This Op, is it classified?" He knew the answer by Ziva's previous statement but he asked anyway.

"Yes."

"I see, so how do your kidnappers know?"

"Well, that's why I said we 'think' Gibbs."

He noticed her tone shift and took it as a perfect time to exploit her frustration. "So this video, you couldn't find anything on it to help you at all?"

"Nothing at all. The only thing I see is my daughter terrified and the young man being tortured."

"No faces other than the kids?"

"Actually, the lead man does show his face but it doesn't come up in any system when we run facial recognition. Which leads me back to having nothing?"

"You sure about that", he was purposely trying to push her.

"Yes Gibbs, I am sure", she threw up her hands and stood to pace the floor. Another wave of irritation for not being able to find answers hitting her swiftly. Gibbs just sat back quietly and let her vent. "There are no geo tags on the video. No time stamps. No image sources. No data to trace. No traceable faces. No sounds. No distinct wall markings. There is nothing!"

Gibbs titled his head slightly and posed the question again, "are you sure about that?"

Letting out another grunt, she looked at him in anger, "why the hell do you keep asking me that?"

He chuckled, "because I'm not convinced."

Her nose flared as she took to furiously rubbing her head again. "Gibbs, for years we have been able to find the needle in the haystack when no one else could. You've watched me spend countless hours combing through less evidence than this and found links to terrorist cells that we eventually took down. But this ... for this I ..."

"Have nothing?" He shook his head in disagreement. "You just said that you've tracked down entire terrorist cells with less, so I don't see how you have nothing."

"Why must you debate me on this!?"

He stood up and walked over to her, "I don't debate, so stop telling me what you don't have Ziver."

"You think I want to have nothing?" Her voice cracked.

"I think you want this to be like every other case, but it's not. The sooner you get that, the sooner you'll find something and bring Tali home."

"You think I don't know that it's different", her voice elevating again in anger. "My daughter was taken from her bed while I slept in the next room! The men that took her were stupid enough to get into an altercation, delaying their exit, and I sensed nothing wrong in my own home because I never woke up! I never heard a thing! I just stayed sleep while my baby needed me! Now my daughter is out there somewhere with this menace calling himself Lucifer that seems to have no agenda because he still hasn't called us back! The only shred of evidence that I have that could possibly help is a video of my little girl locked in some dungeon and I cannot find anything to help me trace it! It's impossible! This guy is good! Even Abby and McGee aren't that good! He's too good!"

She stopped her rant to level her heavy breathing and realized Gibbs was smirking at her. Reading his eyes, the wheels started turning in her head. No one is that good.

"Gibbs, no one is that good, right?" Her eyes were pleading with him to tell her that it was impossible for her to have nothing again.

"Mhm", was his only response.

The minor confirmation was all she needed though. Quickly, she went over to the computer and began playing the loop of the video on the large screen again. It was short, only about 45 seconds and played on a constant loop. All be it less than a minute, she resolved in herself again that it was long enough for her to find something.

On the left side, it showed Tali tied to a chair and obviously struggling to look away and cringing. On the right side, Hunter was chained to a pipe but still standing. One man was holding Tali's head in place, while two others stood by Hunter. A fourth man, whom she assumed was Lucifer, was between them all and in the middle of cracking Hunter in his ribs with something resembling a bat. She'd counted 3 hits before the loop began all over again. She knew the video had restarted by the way Tali's head seemed to reset awkwardly between the 3rd hit and the middle of what Ziva counted as the 1st hit.

There has to be something here. After the fifth loop of the video, Ziva paused it and stepped closer to the big screen. Her focus centered on Lucifer. Is that ...

"I heard someone finally made it back to NCIS", Tony drew Ziva from her thought as he greeted Gibbs.

"Good to see you Tony!"

"Good to see you too Boss", Tony looked towards the screen then turn to Ziva, "Hun, haven't you tormented yourself enough with this?"

She shook her head, "according to Gibbs, no I haven't. And I'm glad he pushed me because I think I found something." Ziva pointed to a spot on Lucifer's arm, "what does that look like to you?"

Tony and Gibbs both turned their attention to the spot. "A swastika", both men said in unison.

"Yeah, but I know that swatsika", she admitted.

Tony met her gaze, "How?"

"A case, way back when I was Mossad. I don't remember all the particulars of the case, or this guy's face, but I remember that elaborate tattoo. I'm sure if I make a few calls I can get that case file and maybe we can come up with a name."

"You're sure", Tony asked.

"Positive", was her only response as she looked back at the image.

"Told you you had something", Gibbs said with a smirk.

"Well, I have something too", Tony interjected. They gave him their attention before he continued, "actually, III has something, it's a dollar he found in Tali's room that had a speck of blood on it. Abby and Tim traced the blood to a man named Marko Johanson. I think he may be related to Deeter Johanson ..."

"The bomb maker from the MAH case we had over 20 years ago", Ziva asked, not missing a beat.

"Precisely."

"Looks like this case has to do with as much of the past as it does the future of NCIS", Gibbs stated. "So I'll leave you to it while I go see my grandson", he turned on his heal and exited MTAC.

"He's right Tony."

"Yeah", Tony sighed, "and that's what's causing me to worry. If this has to do with a past beef as well as this new peace relations with South Africa, I'm almost scared to think of how much worse this could end up being. Beyond just the struggle of getting Tali and Hunter back, this whole thing can be a play to reset the war and bring it to US soil."

"We have to make a connection between all this information so we can stop this and find Tali", her voice began to shake, "I can't lose my angel again Tony ... I can't ... I promised her I wouldn't."

Tony pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead, "we'll turn over heaven and earth if we have to Zi. We won't lose her."

And as the silence settled in the room, they held each other with tears in their eyes. Both raising silent prayers to whatever god would listen. Clinging to faith and hope.


So, a few key notes for clarification:

1. The main case referenced in this chapter is from the episode - "Dead Air" 8x5

2. Abby left NCIS after Reeves died then returned some years later.

3. Gibbs is retired and in his 70's but obviously still has a deep bond with the NCIS family — especially with TIVA.

As always, thanks for reading! Keep sending feedback! Next chapter to come with more of Tali!

Later!