Disclaimers disclaimed.
Chapter XXII - Pain
No way. This has to be wrong ... like really REALLY wrong. Abby clicked the screen again, going through her findings. "Oh man, this is not good. Definitely not good."
"What's not good?" Ziva asked as she and McGee entered the Forensics Lab.
Abby jumped and quickly closed the window she had up on her computer. "Nothing." Her reaction causing both agents to look at her quizzically for a second. "Seriously Ziva, you HAVE to stop doing that ninja sneaking up on me thing. You're going to give me a heartache."
Ziva rolled her eyes. "What were you just looking at?"
"Um, it's nothing, really." Abby tried to lie but was failing at it miserably. "Just doing some online shopping."
"We have three wanted terrorists we're searching for and you're online shopping?" Ziva moved closer while Abby nodded her head and tried to avoid eye contact. "I'm pretty sure, after our little encounter this morning, that you weren't doing some online shopping. So I'll ask you again, and this time I expect an honest answer. What were you just looking at Abby?"
Abby swallowed the knot in her throat. Apprehensively looking between McGee and Ziva, her eyes locked on McGee for a moment to save her from Ziva's impending wrath.
"Abs", McGee tried to speak a little less harshly than Ziva, "Please, if you found something, we need to know."
Sighing and turning back to her computer, Abby spoke reluctantly, "I ran the ballistics on the bullets and I ran the bloods sample. The casings retrieved from the safehouse are in fact from Tony's sig. Also, the blood found on one of the bullets is ...". She paused, not wanting to speak anymore. Her eyes pleaded with Ziva this time, asking her silently to not make her say it.
Ziva, however, wasn't fazed by the puppy dog eyes. "Abby, who's blood is it?"
Instead of speaking, Abby just pulled the blood match up on the larger monitor with the photo of the person.
"I knew it", Ziva whispered through gritted teeth.
"Son of bitch! Zi, you were right", McGee had all he needed to finally believe Ziva one hundred percent.
Abby looked in shock at his outburst and it was even more surprised at his declaration. "Wait, you guys knew it was Nick?"
"Ziva knew", McGee corrected. "I only thought of the possibility when she said it before."
"But why? He's ... he's one of us ... he's family!" Abby genuinely didn't understand how someone they had grown to trust so much, a member of the team, someone who'd become a member of their surrogate family would be the one who seemed to be at the scene to blowup the safehouse. She couldn't help the tears that formed in her eyes as she looked to Ziva for answers.
"No Abby", Ziva shook her head. "He is not one of us. Loyal men do not turn on their family. He is no better than the man that now employs him. Clearly, his price is above what he considers us to be valued."
"It can't be, I must have done something wrong." Abby started to pace.
"Abs, the forensics doesn't lie. You did everything right. Now we have to deal with it." McGee tried to comfort her but she just pulled away.
"No Tim! No! This isn't right! It doesn't make sense!"
Ziva looked at her watch and rolled her eyes then turned to McGee. "The only thing that doesn't make sense is that it's 11:15 and your agents still haven't brought in Torres yet. I told you, McGee, I want him here by noon. So you have 45 minutes to get him here and put him in interrogation. I'd advise that you go now."
Abby's eyes widened, "Interrogation! But how do we know he did anything wrong? Can't you just have a chat in the conference room?" Her chest was heaving in panic.
"Abby, please, you have to calm down", again McGee tried to soothe her. This time, she allowed him to hug her and rub her back. It slowly started to work as the room fell silent for a moment.
It wasn't long, though, before Ziva was clearing her throat and spoke directly to McGee again, "You now have 43 minutes Agent McGee."
He huffed in frustration and pulled away from Abby, "sorry Abs, gotta go. I promise everything will be okay." He then left without saying another word or looking at Ziva.
Abby, however, still had some things to say. "You don't have to act like you have no feelings Ziva. For the last 24 hours you've been so sour to everyone and that's not fair." She paused as the tears finally escaped and rolled down her cheeks. While letting out a sigh she continued, "I know all of this is bad, especially now with finding Nick's blood on one of Tony's bullets, but we don't know his side of the story. How do you know he wasn't forced into it?"
"Because I know. Plain and simple. Torres has had ample opportunity to be honest with me but instead he lied and then he ran off. This evidence is now my closest link to getting my daughter back."
"But Ziva ..."
"No Abby! You need to get it into your head that sometimes people aren't what they seem. Even those we choose to call family."
"Tell me about it", Abby said under her breath thinking Ziva wouldn't hear ... she did.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing Ziva", she let out another sigh.
"No please, by all means Abby, state your peace", Ziva pressed, "say whatever it is you REALLY want to say."
"Fine. All I'm saying is, you don't have to be such a bitch."
Ziva chuckled, "now you have the guts to say it to my face. Good for you!" She walked to the door but stopped just as she reached the threshold, "by the way, I'll be whatever I need to be to get to the truth and get my child back. Gibbs taught us both a long time ago that 'you do what you have to do for family'. So if I must, that includes being a bitch."
She walked out without letting Abby have another word. What else could really be said after that anyway? Tensions were high for sure. There was no use arguing when the world as they knew it seemed to continue to fall apart.
.
McGee was just about to blindly walk onto the elevator to go look for Torres when he bumped right into him.
"Whoa Boss", Torres laughed, "where's the fire?"
Without thinking, McGee bunched him in the face, completely knocking him out cold. He rolled him over and cuffed him then looked at his watch. 37 minutes to spare. As he stood, he called over to agents to help him lift Torres off the ground. Then he removed Torres' badge and gun from his hip.
"Put him in Interrogation One and make sure the cuffs stay on him", he ordered to agents. They didn't ask any questions as to why their colleague was put in cuffs. Everyone knew that things had been really strange around NCIS lately. It was just better not to ask questions, rather than have Ziva or McGee go off.
As they carried Torres away, Ziva walked up behind McGee and smirked. "Nice work."
He turned to look at her and glared, "doesn't feel nice when one of my team is a traitor." Shaking his head, he got on the elevator. Before the doors closed he spoke again, "he'll be out for a little while, I'm going to go get some air."
When the doors closed, Ziva sighed then made her way to the Observation Room. She wanted to watch Torres while she planned out her interrogation method. Knowing that the next few hours would be crucial to finally blowing the case wide open.
.
Back at the hospital, Gibbs returned to Tony's room with his third cup of coffee of the day. He leaned against the doorpost smiling as he watched Anthony as he spoke to his sleeping father.
"So, Abba, I really think we should go. Like after you wake up and we get Tal back, we should do Paris again. We all need a good vacay! I mean, I've already been out of school for two weeks. Why not take off another couple weeks?" The 12 year old paused to laugh. "I actually kind of miss school though. Can you believe that?" He sighed as he took Tony's hand, "Abba, you really need to come back soon. Ima is like totally going nuclear on everybody at the Navy Yard. I'm not sure if it's good or bad but I know you're like the only person who can activate her chill button. I just want everything to go back to normal."
"Paris sounds like a good idea", Gibbs chuckled as he finally walked all the way into the room. "And don't worry about your mom, she'll go back to normal soon. Everything will be right again, I promise."
Anthony looked up and smiled briefly then his demeanor changed, "Grandpa, can I ask you something?"
"Sure bud, what is it?" Gibbs sat down next to him, waiting for him to ask his question.
Taking a moment, Anthony chose his words carefully then spoke, "well, I know Tal is like super tough for a girl. But she's not like super ninja mom tough ... so I guess ... what I'm asking is ... do you think that Tal is fighting back?"
"Fighting against the terrorists?" Gibbs wanted clarification.
"Yeah. Like I know they're probably really scary dudes, but do you think that Tal is holding her own?"
Gibbs nodded, "I believe she is bud. You're parents have done well in raising the both of you."
"But they haven't taught us all the skills they know. I remember once when Ima and Abba were arguing about something about when she was captured before we were born. You, Abba, and Uncle Tim saved her and she said that she didn't want to talk about it. They never actually talk much about the past but I wish they would. Maybe then, Tal and me could learn some stuff to fight. I mean, maybe they could of prepared us for stuff like this and Tal could have a better chance."
"What happened to your mother before we rescued her, not even I know all the details bud. But what I do know is that not even she was totally prepared for that. You can't prepare for these things", Gibbs tried his best to explain. "All you can do is try to keep your spirit alive and fight until the bitter end. There's no preparation for it. However, I know your parents did try to prepare Tali for it when you guys were younger. You just probably don't remember because you were smaller. I believe, though, that she's fine. She may be hurt, but I know she's a fighter. Just like you are. Just like your parents are."
"I just hope we find her soon." He paused for second to think about whether or not to ask his next question. He decided to ask, "Is it bad that I want to kill those guys?"
Gibbs sighed and put his free hand on Anthony's shoulder. "It's not bad. What you feel is natural, hell I want to kill the bastards too ..."
"But ..." Anthony felt it coming.
"But, let's leave the killing to the agents at NCIS. You're too young to focus on that. Put your mind somewhere else."
"One day I'm going to take out terrorist just like you used to and how ima and abba do now. Those guys are real jerks. I think I want to be a marine when I get older, just like you Grandpa."
Gibbs couldn't help but smile", I do believe you'd serve our country well bud. You've six years before you can join up though, so for now just focus on what's most important."
"What's most important?"
"Family bud, it has always been, and will always be, the most important thing."
Anthony nodded and smiled, "Semper Fi Grandpa!"
"Semper Fi bud!" Gibbs returned his smile and brought him in for a hug.
.
An few hours had now passed by and McGee stood in the Observation Room with Ziva, watching as Torres yelled profane words towards the double mirrored glass. Both looked on with fire in their eyes as their blood boiled knowing he had betrayed them. McGee certainly wanted to know why but Ziva didn't care. There was only one thing on her mind ... where is my Tali?
She took a deep breath then looked at McGee, silently telling him that it was time. He nodded approvingly to her as she walked out of Observation and prepared to step into Interrogation. They had already agreed that she'd have first dibs on trying to break him. Both hoping that it would only take Torres seeing Ziva's enraged eyes for him to tell the truth. If it only it was really that easy though.
Ziva entered Interrogation quietly with a folder in one hand and her phone in the other. Torres shut up quickly when he saw her come in. Taking a seat across the table from him, she didn't look up from her phone. She only listened as Torres huffed and tried shifting in his chair. Her demeanor was rather calm, considering the fact that her blood was actually boiling inside. She felt like she was literally on fine, but she didn't show it ... not yet at least.
After five minutes of silence, Torres finally spoke in irritation, "Why the hell am I here? And why the fuck do I have these cuffs on?"
Ziva chuckled but didn't look up from her phone, "you know why you are here Mr. Torres."
"That's Special Agent Torres", he corrected arrogantly.
Still not looking up, she corrected his correction, "there is nothing SPECIAL about you and, as of an hour ago, you are no longer an agent."
"What? You can't fucking bench me", he yelled and managed to stand up from the chair. "You don't have that authority! I swear to God, you are so lucky I'm in these cuffs or else ..."
"Please sit down Mr. Torres", Ziva interrupted politely, not even moved by his outburst. "And I'd refrain from making threats, you're not really in the best position to carry them out right now."
"Fuck you bitch!" Torres remained defiant and stayed standing.
This time, Ziva looked up at him as she slid her phone back in her pocket. She raised her eyebrow and chuckled, "You know, that seems to be my new name around here. I don't think I've been that bad. Hmph." She shrugged and leaned back in the chair, "You really should take your seat Mr. Torres, we have much to discuss and I want you to be a comfortable as possible." Torres opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off, reading his mind, to add, "as comfortable as possible without removing those cuffs."
Torres rolled his eyes and sat down quietly. His glare at her would put fear in the most seasoned of agents, but Ziva still remained unfazed.
"Now, let's get down to business", she opened the folder in front of her and placed Abby's ballistics findings on the table. "Do you know what this is Mr. Torres?"
Rolling his eyes again, Torres glanced at the paper. "Yeah, it's a ballistics report, so?"
"So, can you explain why Director DiNozzo's sig was trained on you and then shot you on the night ... well technically morning ... of the the bombing? This documents proves that you were the intruder in which the Director was chasing our of the house. Which would also mean that you are the one who set the bombs. Explain."
Torres just looked at her and stayed silent. Aside from the report, there was no other proof of his involvement so he tried to play it cool.
It was silent for a moment until Ziva spoke again, "look, we know that you are involved in this. You have no way of getting out of this so just tell the truth. You've lied enough and made yourself look guilty enough. All I really want to know is, where my is daughter? You give me that information and maybe I can work out a deal for you."
"I don't know what you're talking about", he finally spoke. "I'm not involved in anything. I don't know how that report linked back to me but I'm not your guy."
Ziva sighed, "are we really going to play this game?" She shook her head and leaned forward as her tone shifted to a low whisper, "because I am really not in the mood for games."
Something in the shift of her tone made Torres anxious, but he tried to hide it. He swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to keep eye contact, "I'm not playing any games. I don't know what you're talking about and I don't know where the girl is."
He instantly regretted repeating his statement as what Ziva did next quickly put him in a very painful predicament. Without warning, she had gotten up from her chair and moved swiftly around the table to get right in his face. Her hand wrapped in a vice grip around his genitalia under the table.
"Do you have any idea what your friend has done to my daughter Mr. Torres", her voice was freakishly calm and low despite the fire the raged in her eyes. He whimpered in pain as she tightened her grip. "I will snap your little manhood here off if you do not start telling me the truth."
His eyes widened and he partly believed her threat. "Okay", he choked out. "I'll talk." Ziva let go and he immediately keeled over in pain as he tried to forced back tears.
Not taking any chances on him playing his 'I don't know' game again, she decided not to move too far away from him. Instead, she stood behind him and hovered over him like a lioness ready to devour her prey. She leaned into his ear and whispered, "talk."
Torres couldn't help the shiver that went down his spine in fear. Against his better judgement, though, he still tried hard to not implicate himself. "I was forced to go to the safehouse and blow it up", he partially lied. "I swear, I didn't have a choice, they were going to kill me!" He tried to play the terrified victim and even managed to shed a tear, but something in his voice gave him away.
Sensing it was a lie, Ziva moved from behind him and slammed her hands on the table, causing him to jump slightly. She then grabbed his face roughly and peered deeply into his eye. "I don't believe you Mr. Torres, so I will ask you again ... Where. The. Fuck. Is. My. Daughter?" She put emphasis on each word.
He tried to squirm away but she used her other hand to then grip his groin again. He sat still and winced in severe pain. "Please", he choked out. "Stop."
His pleas only made Ziva grip tighter. "Tell me where my daughter is or I will crush any dreams you have of future children", she demanded through gritted teeth.
"Old warehouse", he panted out through the pain. "An hour outside ... outside of DC ..."
Ziva let go again and stood up straight, "show me."
There was nothing else that Torres could say to her. Shamefully, he just nodded his head and tried to hold back the tears fighting to come from the immense pain.
