Disclaimers disclaimed.
Hunter's Fate ... Kinda.
Ziva In Beast Mode ...
Sidebar — I'm aware that this may be slightly out of character but, hey, it's FICTION!
Enjoy!
Chapter XXI - Hurricane Ziva
They had spend all night with Tony in his hospital room. They being Ziva and McGee. Some where around 9:30PM, Ziva had trusted Gibbs enough to take Anthony with him to his house and watch over him. The older man, who had become her father, had still kept his home in DC even after he'd retired and moved to Mexico. He kept it mostly as a place to stay when he visited for holidays but also for times like this when his family needed him around. She knew that Gibbs was right when he had told her that the preteen needed to be away from the Navy Yard and she was grateful, now more than ever, that he was around to carry some of the load that was resting on her shoulders. In the current moment, however, she was silently praying that Tony would wake up. She needed him to be okay. Her biggest fear being what Dr. Copeland had said about his probable temporary memory loss whenever he'd regain consciousness.
The hours seemed to blur together as she looked at her watch and realized it was now 4AM. McGee had fallen asleep in a nearby chair a little while ago with his laptop still open showing various images and notes from the crime scene at the safehouse. Ziva knew how exausted he must have been so she didn't wake him when she decided she needed to stretch her legs and go for some air. She slowly got up from her chair next to Tony's bed, gently closed McGee's laptop, and quietly kissed Tony's forehead before exiting the room. In the hallway, she let out an exasperated heavy sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair.
"Agent DiNozzo?" Ziva turned slightly to see Dr. Copeland walking towards her with a warm smile alongside another doctor. "Good morning!"
"Good morning doctor", Ziva tried to return her smile as she responded and looked at the other doctor quizzically.
"This is Dr. Shaw, he is Officer Amadi's doctor", Dr. Copeland explained once she noticed Ziva's expression. "I was hoping to find you here. Have you been here all night?"
"Hello doctor", she greated and shook his hand as he nodded. Then she turned her attention back to Dr. Copeland, "Yes, I have been here all night. Myself and another agent."
Dr. Copeland nodded, "I assumed when I noticed there were no agents outside of Director DiNozzo's door. Any changes with our patient?"
"No, he's still out. Do you know when he might wake up?" Ziva asked, not hiding her concern.
"I can't really say. It's up to him really. We're only a day in, so it could be this evening or even a few days from now. All we can do is wait." She gave a reassuring smile to Ziva and went on to explain why she was looking for her, "Dr. Shaw wanted to give you an update on Officer Amadi and to ask you a few questions on how to proceed with his care. I just wanted to bring him to you so that you all could go talk privately in his office."
"Yes, that would be fine. Um, Agent McGee is in the room with my husband. He is sleeping. Can I just take a second to wake him before we go?"
"Not a problem", Dr. Shaw finally spoke.
Ziva smiled slightly then went to wake and inform McGee about what was going on. Shortly after, she returned to the hallway to find that Dr. Copeland had left, and Dr. Shaw was waiting on her.
"Shall we", he asked while gesturing his hand in the direction of his office.
"Sure", was Ziva's only response as she began walking with him.
When they arrived a few minutes later to Dr. Shaw's office, Ziva sat down on the small couch just inside while he took a seat in an adjacent chair. They were both silent for a moment until Dr. Shaw cleared his throat and begin his update, "Agent DiNozzo, we've done multiple scans and done a few surgeries over the last 24 hours. The initial surgery had been successful but we ran into some complications with him hemorrhaging so we've had to go back in a few times. As of this moment he's stable again. From the scans, it looks like there is no brain damage to Officer Amadi. However, there will be subsequent memory loss if he wakes up. He is in a deep coma which is why I need to know how to proceed with him being under my care? Usually, even with him being a legal adult at 19 years old, we would notify the parents. I understand he isn't an American and I have been informed by your agents that contacting his parents could result in him being unsafe. Can you elaborate further on that?"
Ziva sighed, "this is still an open investigation so I can't say much. What I can say is that he was placed under the protection of NCIS the night of the bombing. We believe it to be an attack by a few people closely connected to his parents, so we want to keep them out of it for now."
"Okay, I think I understand. My next question, are you aware of how he sustained the notable injuries prior to the bombing? If you can speak on how he got them, it may help explain why he slipped so deeply into this coma. He seems to be experiencing trauma in his comatose state."
"Doctor, I need to be sure that this will not leave this room", she paused for him to assure her that whatever she said next would in fact be kept confidential. He silently nodded, urging her to continue. "Hunter's prior injuries were sustained over eleven days of torture by terrorists. If he's showing signs of trauma, then it is most likely because of that. But if you are saying he will have memory loss, then I don't see how he could be reliving the trauma in his sleep."
"The mind is a tricky thing Agent DiNozzo. Officer Amadi could be reliving the trauma now but, when he wakes up, his natural defense mechanism could be for him to instantly forget when he is snapped back to reality. If he even wakes up at all. I'm still not sure if he will. He's very weak and after something as horrific as torture then the bombing on top of that, it has been a struggle to even keep him stable."
Ziva rubbed her temples as she felt another headache coming. "Are you saying he may not live?"
"Unfortunately, yes", Dr. Shaw spoke honestly. "These last 24 hours have been very taxing and critical. If I can't get him to show full stability within the next 24 hours, then it is probable that we may lose him. Keeping his vitals level has been a challenge. Right now, it seems the internal injuries are just too great."
She couldn't help but to feel sorry for the young man and helpless. Her mind quickly shifted to the fact that Tali may have already endured the same horrible possible fate. Not knowing if she was alive or dead was worse than anything else at the present moment. Motek, ani mitgahahgahat eylayich. Bringing herself back to focus, Ziva pushed down the feelings of vulnerability and shook her head.
"Agent DiNozzo, with there being a possibility of this young man not making it, when do you think it will be okay for me to inform his parents?"
"I will handle it. While he is still alive, he is still in protective custody. I need to work this case further before I can begin to involve them, it's for his safety." Ziva stood up from the coach and walked to the door. "For now, just do all you can to keep him alive."
.
A few hours later, after a new set of agents came to stand watch at the hospital, Ziva and McGee were back at NCIS headquarters. While McGee went over background history about the terrorist trio, Ziva set out to get some information from Abby.
When Ziva entered the lab, Abby was already hard at work going through more evidence and thinking out loud. She hadn't even noticed that Ziva had come in as she continued to talk to herself, "gotta find answers before Ziva gets here. She's like in total beast mode right now. Like she might actually kill someone. Shit, she might kill me. Ugh, I can't stand this new old Ziva. It's not good. Nope not good all. She's all scary and ninja-like. And who could blame her really? I'd probably be the same way if someone took my daughter and tried to blow up my husband. But then again, I mean, does she really have to be such a ..."
"Bitch?" Ziva finally announced her presence by finishing Abby's thought for her.
"Ziva!" Abby was clearly startled and a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't going to call you that", she tried to explain but Ziva interrupted again.
"Yeah, not to my face at least. It's okay, you are probably right. But I do not care though. I just want answers so, have you been able to run ballistics yet and the blood sample?"
Definite bitch. Abby shook her head, "I've only been here for an hour Ziva, I haven't had a chance to yet. I was going over some other stuff first."
"I could have sworn I called you last night and told you to do it as soon as you came in this morning." Ziva's tone and body language screamed that she was pissed.
"You did but ..."
"But what Abby?" Ziva's voice elevated slightly. "That was supposed to be your FIRST priority! I gave you specific instructions and you blatantly disregarded them! I want what I asked you to do done now! No excuses!"
Abby sighed, "look, Ziva, I know you're under a lot of pressure but you don't have to ..."
"Just get it done Abby", she couldn't help but to interrupt again. "I don't want your excuses or your opinions of what you think you know about the pressure I'm under right now. Just run the damn bullets and get me some answers before I find someone else who can!"
Once again, before Abby could respond, Ziva stormed out and made her way to the elevator. Abby let out a frustrated sigh and reluctantly went to do as Ziva requested, all the while hoping that all this insanity would end soon. I just want my bestie back.
.
Ziva got off the elevator and pulled her phone out of her pocket when she felt it vibrate. She looked at the number but it was programmed in her contacts. Thinking that it may be the hospital, she quickly answered while walking over to the bullpen.
"DiNozzo."
"Agent DiNozzo, we have a problem", the man on the other end said.
Ziva quickly registered who's voice it was and responded, "Agent Vincent, what's wrong?"
"Ma'am, we lost Agent Torres."
"You what!?" She screamed into the phone, causing McGee to look up at her from his desk.
"Ma'am, we took him to the hospital as Agent McGee instructed then we took him home. We were supposed to leave to come to the Navy Yard at 0600 but when he didn't come out of the apartment, we entered and found that he was gone. We cannot find him, I'm sorry."
"You're sorry!? Are fucking kidding me!? Get off my phone now and find him! Don't even think about coming back to this building without him!" Ziva ended the call and punched the file cabinet in front of her. The force from her fist immediately denting the front of the top drawer. The display causing a few agents nearby to stop and look but the rage in her eyes when she looked back at them quickly made then turn back to what they were doing.
McGee cautiously stepped over to her and grabbed her hand to inspect it but Ziva quickly pulled away. "Ziva, your knuckles are bleeding, you need to get that checked."
She glared at him, not caring about the state of her hand at the moment. "The protection detail that you assigned to Torres has lost him at his apartment. Can you tell me why you chose to use such incompetent men?"
Oh shit. McGee could see that she was about to snap again. He stepped back before he responded, "Vincent and Martinez are excellent agents, you know that. I'm sure it was an honest mistake. Torres is crafty, they had no way of knowing he'd slip away."
"McGee, I'm losing my patience already today and it's not even 9AM. You better make sure they find him by noon or that's your ass."
"Ziva, you're being ..."
"What McGee!? I'm being what!?" She stepped in his face fuming. Her eyes daring him to finish his statement. McGee however just took a breath and shook his head. "That's what I thought."
With that she stormed off again, leaving McGee standing in the middle of the bullpen bewildered and slightly intimidated. We need to end this nightmare soon so she can go back to normal. After a few moments, Bishop entered and drew McGee from his thoughts.
"Good morning Boss", the younger agent was chipper after obviously getting a good night's rest. "You okay?"
McGee rubbed his forehead absently and turned to look at her, "Yeah. What are you doing here? Aren't you going to see Deeter Johanson?"
"Yes, but not until this afternoon so I thought I'd come in and go over some files. What's going on?"
"Nothing", McGee sighed, "Just had a run in with Hurricane Ziva. Apparently, Torres got away from his protection detail and she's pretty pissed."
"Protection detail?" Bishop didn't hide her confusion. "What happened last night?"
"Well, when we debriefed Torres, he showed signs that Ziva might have been right about what she said to us in Tony's office. And because of it, Ziva popped his stitches while trying to get him to be honest. She wanted a protection detail to watch over him, and they were, but apparently he snuck away."
"Wait, what do you mean he showed signs and why does he have stiches?" Bishop still wasn't following.
"Right, I skipped a detail. So, he initially lied about why he was MIA. Then he switched the story up when Ziva presses him and confessed that he had gotten shot in the arm. According to him, it happened while trying to chase down some lead by himself. But ..."
"But Ziva thinks he's lying", Bishop finally caught on. "What do you think?"
"Honestly, I think he's lying too. But I'm still not completely sold that he's involved in all of this. Not without solid evidence. We'll know more later. For now, I'm just trying to stay on her good side. Last night was totally insane."
"How so?"
"Let's just say Ziva almost killed Torres with her barehands."
"Jesus Christ, glad I wasn't here for that. She seems to be getting out of control really fast. You think SecNav was right in putting her in charge?"
"You're right, she is getting out of control, but I know it's just the stress of it all. At the end of the day, I know she can get results and she'll stop at nothing to get them. So, yeah, I do think SecNav was right. We just have to be patient with her and do our jobs."
"I guess you have a point." She looked over at the file cabinet and gave a puzzled look again, "what happened to the file cabinet?"
McGee chuckled and shook his head, "Hurricane Ziva".
Okkaayyy sooo, next chapter will have a lot of answers and more revelation.
PLUS— we get closer to finding Tali or do we actually find her? ... *Insert Shrug Emoji Here* LOL!
As usual, thanks for reading and please review!
I'll be back later with the next chapter!
Later!
