Title: Illuminated

Author: IronIsraeliButterfly

Chapter Title: All's Fair in Love and War

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, alerts, and favourites for the past five chapters. Much appreciated! Keep them coming!

It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie
The moment to live and the moment to die
The moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to fight

-"This is War," 30 Seconds to Mars

Gibbs stared at her in shock. "What?"

Ziva stood up. "I trust you to keep that information silent. I have to go back to work."

"Ziva, don't leave!"

She turned around. "Nice clothes, Gibbs."

He ran after her. "Ziver, come back. Tell me what happened!"

She looked at him. "I'll call you."

"How do…"

"I'm Mossad. And I got trained by the best."

Gibbs walked into the hotel's dining room to be greeted by a suited waiter who led him to a table. "When a woman named Lisa comes, please send her to me." The waiter nodded.

"Ein ba'ayah, achi."

Ziva slid into a chair across from Gibbs, looking beautiful as ever. She was wearing a simple champagne coloured top and a black skirt and a pair of black heels. "Did you get a new wardrobe?" she asked, looking down her cell, where she punched in several numbers.

"What makes you say that?" Gibbs asked, looking down at his suit.

"Your tie costs more than DiNozzo's suits."

"Always eagle eyed."

"That's my job, Gibbs. What happened?"

He laughed ruefully. "Wanted to impress you, I guess. Took DiNozzo along with me. How you've been?"

She looked incredulous. "I've been okay. I wanted to call you but I couldn't work up the courage. Did Abby mean what she said?"

Gibbs sighed. "No. She said it because she felt betrayed that we were together. She just had wanted to be in on it from the beginning. She also felt hurt that McGee knew."

"How is McGee?"

"Fine. His new book came out two weeks ago. Sent a copy for you."

"And Tony?"

"He's upset. He misses you. Ducky, too. But Abby misses you the most."

"What about you, Jeth?"

He smiled sadly. "I wanted to kill myself after you left. I had the gun to my head and I was going to pull the trigger… but I thought… I thought I might be able to get you back."

Ziva looked stunned. "I can't come back. I have a job to do."

"That's what I don't understand. Ziva, you were married?"

"Yes. And I had a son. They were killed in a bus bombing. The intended attack was for me and them, because we are relatives of Eli David. But I was not on that bus. And it was just them killed. I should have been there."

"Had you been there, Ziva, you would have been dead."

"I should have been there! I should be dead!"

"Don't say that, Ziva! Now, tell me, who are you trying to kill? Isn't the one—"

"Hamas has a unit that kills out relatives of family members that need to be eliminated. I was a threat, but not a big one. I did undercover work. I wasn't working in assassination yet. My father was the threat. At that point he was head of the Operations Department, which is the fast track for a directorship. Nearly every head of Operations becomes director. And Hamas knew that Eli would be a very strong director. He would be a big threat to the operations of Hamas. So they did their research and found my mother, Tali, Ari, me, my husband Eldan and my son Roi. Eldan was a double bonus for them; he was a commanding officer in an elite combat unit in the army. They killed Tali in a dual bus bombing. The second bus held Eldan and Roi. Eldan and Roi were coming from the North, Tali and my mother from a weekend in Eilat. The northbound bus blew up right as it crossed paths with the second bus. They were going to meet each other at the Central Bus Station, here, in Jerusalem. Ari, my father, and I were in Jerusalem. We were going to meet at a restaurant near here for Ari's birthday. Instead, I found out that my entire life was gone. Ari decided to hunt that unit down by disguising himself as a Hamas operative and then he himself got infected. I moved into assassination and became somewhat of a legend because I was so ruthless. And my father… well, he became cold and withdrawn and the director of Mossad.

"When Eldan and Roi died, I felt like my whole world had ended. I had a gun held to my head. I wanted to die so I could be with them."

Gibbs sighed. He remembered when that had happened to him. Twice in his life he stared into his gun: several days after Shannon and Kelly's funeral and the day after Ziva had left. He wondered if he would actually kill himself if Ziva left. "Ziva, I wanted… I wanted to kill myself after you left. I need you to come home."

"Israel is my home," Ziva stated, flagging down the waiter.

"Home is where the heart is, Ziva."

"The last time I checked, I still had my heart."

"I lost mine when you left."

Ziva ordered for them both in Hebrew and then looked at Gibbs. "Why didn't you come earlier?"

"I wanted to give you some time and I was worried about your father. Last time we were here it didn't go down too well."

"So what happened?"

"Your father called me. He said you seemed depressed and he thought I could help."
Ziva took a bite of her food. "I can't come back. I'm still tracking down that unit and I won't rest until I get it down."

"Terrorists are like parasites. The more you knock them down the more they become."

Ziva sighed. "Doesn't mean we can't try."

Gibbs laughed, but then got serious. "Come home, Ziva."

"Did you give up when your wife and daughter were killed?"

"That was one man, Ziva, you are up against an entire terrorist organization with limitless resources and long international reach."

"And I am with Mossad, which is one of the most powerful intelligence services."

"Is there any point arguing with you?"

Ziva's phone rang. "Ken, ani yavo. Ani beyerushalyim achashav, ani yecholah lehyot shamah toch reva sha'ah."

Ziva got up. "There is no point in talking right now because I have to be back at the office. But tomorrow?" she smiled. "I'll pick you up from the hotel and we'll do some touring."

Gibbs got up and kissed her on the cheek. "Tomorrow."

As she walked out of the room, Gibbs sighed. "Ziver, I missed you so much."

I do believe in the light
Raise your hands up to the sky
The fight is done
The war is won
Lift your hands
Towards the sun