Still in the room, Gibbs checked his weapons, ensuring each was within easy reach. He couldn't look around the room, couldn't bear to look at Ziva's prison or he wouldn't be able to think straight. Silently he opened the door and made a quick scope of the area. He couldn't see Locke anywhere but he didn't believe he'd left or someone would have alerted him. Stealthily he cleared each nook and cranny until he came to a large room almost oppressive with heat. Piles of sand and jars were scattered about. On a table a partially wrapped body lay with Locke working over it. He could have crept up behind the man and caught him off guard instead he leaned against the doorjamb and shuffled his foot along the ground. His rage was so strong so full of a life of its own it cloaked him almost like a blanket, comforting in its strength.
Locke turned Ziva's name on his lips only to find Gibbs watching him leaning almost lazily in the doorway. He stepped back feeling his body hit the table and grabbed for one of the many knives at his disposal.
"I wonder Locke if you know just how strong Ziva is. If you thought you would break her you have no idea how wrong you were. She has walked through fire far too many times in her life to be cowed by a man like you. She would have taken herself from this world long before you could have her or our child." Gibbs twirled his own knife in his hand Ziva's gift to him. "I can see why you would want her, there's a word in Hebrew that means strong and valiant, it is my name for her. Because she is my strength my reason for living, you'll never hear the word because you aren't worthy. For some reason Ziva chose me, not sure I'll ever figure that one out but it makes me damn lucky, but not you. Tonight your luck runs out."
Locke took a bold step forward. "Arrest me then, I'll serve my time willingly." He dropped his weapon and held his hands out empty.
Gibbs smiled but it was empty of true mirth. "Well that might work with another man but I've lost too much. Ziva is mine, will always be mine and you were fool enough to try to take her from me. I can't allow that. You seem to be a man who understands the need for punishment so I figure this is sort of a poetic justice." Gibbs stepped forward and watched Locke hold up his hand.
"Wait this whole building is rigged to blow, I'll go out the window if you step any closer." Locke eyed the window knowing he wouldn't make it but trying to buy time.
Gibbs laughed "You can try. I thought Ziva was dead until I saw her tonight. I was prepared to die tonight taking down this warehouse with you in it. That hasn't changed, seeing her even if it was for the last time was a gift. I am prepared to die Locke are you?"
Ziva stood on the rise watching the warehouse having shrugged off the heavy coat despite the cold. Her blood ran hot with fear as Gibbs words rang in her ears. She was screaming inside but remained strong on the outside, these men would only see her acceptance of what Gibbs had to do, what he was driven to do. It wasn't just about her, it was about the other victims and even a bit about Shannon and Kelly. Ziva knew she wasn't the only one who recognized the intent in Gibbs voice, the driving need to do what had to be done. She watched as one by one the men assigned to find her took the earpieces from their ears and set them aside and then very deliberately turned their backs to the warehouse. The last to do so were Vance and Tony but with no reluctance just a nod toward the building.
It was the second hardest thing she had to do that night but she followed their lead and did the same. She wanted to listen wanted to know but would give this to him when she couldn't offer her aid. Locke was no match for him unless he had a detonator and then Gibbs would not want anyone else to be risked. She felt Tony step up to her a sudden urgency in his eyes.
"Gibbs said he thought you might be in labor I forgot until now. Are you okay?" He saw pain in her eyes but couldn't be sure if it came from Gibbs in the warehouse or the baby.
"I suspect I was but for now things seemed to have calmed down. I will not leave until he is safely out of there Tony, unless I have no other choice."
Tony nodded unwilling to push her when she looked so bruised and fragile. She was trying to be strong and perhaps she didn't realize it but she looked frail and in need of protection. And as long as Gibbs was in that building he was staying right next to her. Instead he led her to the back of one of the suburbans and helped her to sit on the tailgate. She tried not to stare at the warehouse instead she turned to him looking nothing like the woman he'd known before. On the surface she was beautiful, gilded in gold and dressed in silk it was hard not to notice how stunning she was. But beyond that just beyond the veneer she held in place was the hint of something far too close to broken, something he'd never thought he'd see in her eyes.
She'd changed as much as Gibbs had. A shiver ran down Tony's spine as he watched her hand go to her throat. She frowned and then tears gathered in her eyes. He saw the rough abrasions and the bruises and swore softly. Grabbing a med-kit he pulled out supplies. He moved to clean her neck and she flinched while at the same time locking his wrist in a tight hold. The grasp was painful, close to breaking bone and yet as his eyes connected to hers all he saw was pain, deep soul searing pain and for a moment he thought he might cry. Then she was releasing his arm a small sound of distress coming from her throat.
Gibbs still stood relaxed waiting for Locke to do something other than stand there open mouthed gaping at him in shock. In his mind the darkness hovered at the edges taunting him with images of Ziva haunted and worse yet. He had to swallow hard to push away the slideshow, locking it away before it ate him alive.
Locke stuttered trying to slowly move away from the table and toward any exit. He was not in fact ready to die; he had too much left to do still. His work was so close to done so nearing perfection. He stood straighter hoping to appeal to Gibbs' sense of justice. "I had to protect Haven, don't you understand. It was my duty, to make sure Haven was never spoken of."
Gibbs just shook his head; the man in front of him would never understand the madness of his own words. "You took what was not yours to have." Gibbs heard the whispers in his mind; they swirled through his brain demanding action. They warred with the agent he was the one who followed the rules.
"I never hurt her…not much" Locke couldn't hold back the slight giggle that escaped as he thought of how she'd spent numerous hours at his feet waiting for his permission to move.
Gibbs felt the angry red roar of rage and couldn't stop his body from propelling forward. The knife in his hand slashed at an angle cutting just deep enough to inflict real pain but not enough to incapacitate. Only the bright red stain of blood allowed him to settle again calming the loudly chanting voices. "You will die here tonight Locke but it will not be quickly." He stood back watching as Locke looked down at his chest in disbelief.
"Why….I would have made her my Queen, we could have done amazing thing together? Haven had to be protected, when I was sure….I would have." But Locke stopped speaking, seeing for the first time the true fury in Gibbs' eyes.
Gibbs cleaned the knife off against his pant leg and slipped it back in its sheath, then in another rush of motion he had his hands wrapped firmly around Locke's throat. He kept the hold until he saw the light in his eyes dimming. With a thrust of his arms he released Locke watching him crash to the ground.
Locke gasped for breathe stars dancing in front of his eyes. "I can pay you, I have money. Haven has some very lucrative accounts. Gifts from grateful patrons."
Gibbs picked him up from the ground ignoring the blood as his hands grabbed fistfuls of his shirt. He didn't bother to answer the ridiculous offer instead he threw Locke across the room watching as he flew across broken glass and slammed into the opposite wall. That quickly he was on him again. Gibbs felt the strength the long nights in the gym had given him, felt the rage of all the time he and Ziva had lost and again he was picking Locke up and throwing him against the hard concrete floor. He knew he took far too much pleasure in the way the man's head bounced off the ground.
Logically he knew what he was doing was wrong, that his sworn duty was to arrest this man and let the law handle him. But all his sanity could muster was the look in Ziva's eyes as she'd stared at the window looking broken. The knife was in his hand again running a quick slice along Locke's cheek.
Ziva had reacted instinctively lashing out at the first person to show her kindness in months and it shamed her. She bit against her fist and blinked back tears. "I am sorry Tony I did not mean to hurt you." She expected him to step back to move away from her but instead he gently bathed the wound on her neck.
"It's okay Ziva, I'm fine. How is the baby?" Tony was worried, he doubted she'd seen a doctor in the time she'd been held by Locke, and from her words she'd been in labor.
"Active." Ziva managed a smile. "I never realized how much of a comfort an active child could be. My baby was good company." Her voice broke as she spoke trying to ignore just how long she'd been gone. "Tony can I see your watch please." She saw one of the soldiers nearby breathe in deep and wondered at that.
"My watch?" Tony cocked his head and watched pain lance across her face.
"I think I know what day it is but I am not sure and I do not know the time. I am just curious." To her right Ziva heard Vance who had kept his distance curse loudly. She wanted to comfort him thank him for coming but the words wouldn't come. Instead as Tony removed his watch she risked a glance at the warehouse.
Locke stared up at the man who looked nothing like the one he'd first met. Gone was the cautious, but still smiling man. In his place was one full of rage, one so hardened and focused that Locke was fascinated until he felt yet another slide of the blade this time against his belly. The burn was almost unbearable, so much so he was forced to look down and make sure his insides were not about to fall into his hands.
Gibbs watched Locke lever himself up off the ground, moving slowly on hands and knees blood dripping steadily from his wounds. Grabbing a handful of the man's hair he forced his gaze toward him. "Did you make her beg Locke?" Locke paused gasping for air and Gibbs slammed his head against the nearest wall. "Answer me, even once did you make her beg?"
Locke giggled again, he knew he shouldn't but the lovely image of Ziva on her knees forced it from him. "Only for food and only every now and then, she had to understand that I was in charge." The cool slice of metal followed by the hot burn of agony moved across the backs of his knees and he was on the ground again. Spitting out a mouthful of blood he stuttered again. "I…I never touched her body, not like that…" Locke giggled "She had your bastard inside her otherwise…maybe"
Tony had to work even harder to bite back grief. He wanted to know what the bastard had done to her but he didn't know how to force the words out. Instead he handed over his watch. She glanced at it sighed softly and moved to hand it back to him.
"Keep it." He saw her bite her lip and then fasten it around her wrist. "Are you ok Ziva?...I mean." He stopped speaking realizing she may not want to answer that question in mixed company.
Ziva saw real pain crossing Tony's features knew what he was struggling not to ask and why he worked hard to swallow back the words. "Other than smacking me around, occasionally trying to strangle me and such he did not hurt me. He did not rape me if that is what you are wondering." Anger followed quickly by relief was naked on Tony's face. She felt the sting of tears again, this time from the reminder of how much he cared for her. "If I counted correctly I was gone 57 days, yes? Not counting today that is?"
Tony swallowed hard and shook his head, "It's actually been 63 days Ziva." He watched her eyes widen fill with pain and then glance to the warehouse and back to him.
Gibbs fought the demons that had tried for weeks to consume him tried to tell himself that he had no right to take this man's life in cold blood. But Locke's words burned every nerve ending; again he saw Ziva with Locke's hands around her neck offering no fight as the warrior he'd once known would have. The blade in his hand sunk deep in the Locke's belly twisting sharply until he heard the scream he'd been waiting for. Roughly he removed the blade and tossed it aside no longer content with the weapon.
Locke felt the bile rising and couldn't stop from vomiting as Gibbs threw him against the table again. Salt and amulets rained down around him. One hand held tightly against his stomach this time he was too afraid to look down and see just what he was holding. His free hand scraped the ground looking for anything to use as a weapon. Only as he felt himself being lifted off the ground again did he recognize the shape of the detonator in his hand.
Gibbs felt that something in him had shifted, had given way to a man that would always be a part of him. More so even then the bullet that had lodged in Hernandez's brain the feel of his fists sinking into Locke's flesh washed over him in a wave of satisfaction. Only when he could hear the pronounced wheeze of a broken rib and collapsing lung did he throw the man away from him. "She was never yours, you would never have broken her. You are nothing more than a man with delusions of being anything other than a sick and twisted killer." Locke was dying would not likely live past the next few minutes and Gibbs finally felt like he could walk away and let him die slowly and painfully as he'd intended. He turned to walk away only to hear the liquid rasp of Locke's laughter.
Some instinct, some insight he couldn't name told him to keep moving to not look back. Not a man to run from anything he picked up his pace and moved as fast as his feet would carry him.
"He is different, how did he…how has he been." She knew before Tony could say anything had seen it in every new line on Gibbs' face. "You do not have to answer." Her throat was tight with grief, she felt a tear trickle down her cheek and she pushed it away with as much dignity as she could muster. The baby danced wildly and she smoothed her hand over her belly. "I am sorry to ask but I haven't eaten since this morning. He decided not to bring lunch, do you have anything?"
Tony felt his own stomach roll; she asked so carefully her eyes shying away as she spoke until it appeared she remembered and her eyes snapped back to his trying to hide shame. Before he could look through the car one of the swat guys handed her two power bars.
Ziva glanced at the man handing her the food, the same one that had been closest to her all along and smiled. "Thank you." He nodded and turned back to staring into the night. She felt the chilly breeze drift across her skin and despite the shiver she savored the sensation.
Tony lifted the coat she had handed back to him and offered it again. She shook her head and smiled
"This is the first time I have been outside in 63 days I think I will enjoy it." She started to smile again, but suddenly a chill ran up her spine. It had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with the man in the warehouse. She stepped away from Tony drawn toward that building; she pressed a hand to her chest feeling her heart racing. The foreboding crashed in on her just as the building below them burst into smoke and flame.