Tuesday

Chapter 12

Around dawn, the rescuers and rescued people are sitting in the woods near a hill. The group as a whole is resting after a long night of running through the woods. They sit in three smaller groups in separate areas; away from each other. From where Gibbs, Tony and Chioke are sitting, Gibbs continues to glance at Ziva with the group people she's with; the people who helped aid in the rescue. Gibbs clinches onto a gun to be ready just in case. From Ziva's small group, the men are cautious of Gibbs because they don't trust him. Ziva and her friend only talk in Hebrew to each other.

"We need to take his gun away." Jael stated as he notices where Gibbs' hand is.

"Or just kill him to get it over with." Yair said.

"No killing." Ziva stated. "Besides, if you kill my boss, NCIS will just assign another agent to lead in apprehending you guys. It'll never end."

"We can always just kill all of them." Jael said chuckled.

"Like you guys don't regret what happened last time." Ziva said.

There's a brief moment of silence as the men recall the incident from a couple years ago.

"When we heard NCIS was pursuing Amir and finally captured him…" Seth begins to say.

"…We knew it was because of him playing his usual games of cat and mouse." Seff finished the sentence.

"I was asked to do the interrogation." Ziva stated. "Amir committed suicide by bashing his head against the corner of a table."

"We never worried about him divulging Intel on our locations." Yair said with confidence.

"Upon his capture, Amir's loyalty to the crew was never in question." Jael added.

"Once we get all these people across the boarder to South Korea…" Seff begins to say.

"…You should come with us, Ziva." Seth finished.

"You guys are my brothers. My first real family…" Ziva stated. "But I can't go back to that life. Not after the incident. But I've changed. I belong where I am now because I feel more alive than I've ever felt before. I'm happy where I am. And I'll accept whatever consequences I receive upon returning to the states."

"It's understandable. We all lost a piece of ourselves due to the incident. As for coming with us, we're on the run from NCIS, Mossad and a couple other governmental authorities." Yair said. "You've always been a little sister to all of us."

"We've been talking it over… We came to the conclusion that if you decide to not come with us, to give you permission to divulge any and all Intel on us to NCIS." Jael stated. "You're our sister, Ziva. It's been that way since the day the team was formed. You do what you need to do in order to survive, even if that means giving them Intel."

"I could never…" Ziva begins to say.

"You don't have much of a choice." Yair said as he places his hand on Ziva's knee. "If it'll keep you out of prison, we'll turn ourselves in to have you granted with immunity. That's how far we're willing to go in order to lookout for you."

"I love you guys. I always felt part of something with you all." Ziva said as she tries not to get emotional.

"All of us agree that…" Seff begins to say.

"…You're the only family we've ever known." Seth finished.

"Is there ever a time when you two don't finish each other's sentences?" Jael wondered. "We know you two are twins, not identical, but it's like you share the same brain."

"After years of practicing and studying our thought patterns…" Seth begins to say.

"…It just clicks to the point of knowing exactly what the other would've said if they actually finished the sentence before the takeover." Seff finished.

"After a couple years of not hearing the sentence finishing, you actually miss it." Ziva chuckled. "That's the thing I remember most about you two. It makes me laugh when I reminisce about old times."

There's a brief pause of silence as Ziva looks away. She looks in Gibbs' direction where she sees him and Tony chatting. Chioke is sleeping in Tony's lap. Tony has his arms wrapped around Chioke and gently rocking him back and forth. Ziva cracks a smile with seeing Tony and Chioke together again.

Ziva stands. Her heart beat increases as she continues walking in Gibbs' direction. Now, she finds it hard to breathe properly. Ziva stops walking halfway between both families; her old crew and the members of NCIS. She takes a deep breathe. In Ziva's mind, she's conflicted. She knows there's no turning back due to the fact of Gibbs knowing who her friends are and that he definitely knows she lied to him about knowing Amir. The overwhelming feeling of fear quickly takes over. Everything she's worked for is in jeopardy of being lost due what she thinks Gibbs will most likely think as being an unforgivable action. The action wasn't intentional, but since it still happened, is it forgivable even in knowing they were mislead about the job they were being paid for from the very beginning. Ziva recalls the conversation with the man who hired her and her team. She grows angry at herself for not being able to recognize the man was lying about the job. The action which was committed, lead Ziva away from the guys she felt as being family. It wasn't just her family she lost; it was a piece of who she was and wishes to be again, a piece of herself which she'll never get back. The pursuit of finding herself again is what led her to work with NCIS. Working with NCIS is a silent way of being able to seek forgiveness in her own soul. She wants to confront Gibbs and tell him what happened. The only problem is; she's never been so scared in her entire life.

Ziva turns around and walks back to the guys.

Gibbs, who has been watching Ziva just standing in the middle of everything for the passed three minutes, shakes his head in disappointment. In Gibbs' mind, he knew Ziva lied to him about what was said during her interrogation of Amir a couple weeks ago. His suspicions of Ziva knowing Amir and also stealing all record that the interrogation ever took place are now official. In seeing Ziva knows the people who helped rescue them all, he wants justice for the incident which happened a couple years ago. But at the same time, he's conflicted and wondering what role Ziva played, if any. Gibbs decides to not confront Ziva; to allow her to come to him and explain herself. The only problem is; the side of him which seeks justice is the side which may not want to hear what Ziva has to say and may not care to. All Gibbs really knows is that in his heart, he loves Ziva being part of the team and that he's actually scared of possibly losing her. But if it comes to Ziva being arrested, he'll personally be the one to do so.

"Gibbs…" Tony tries to get his attention as Chioke begins to stretch upon waking up from sleeping in Tony's lap. Gibbs looks to him. "Can you hand me some food, please?"

Gibbs opens the bag which lies near him. He takes some food out and hands it to Tony. Chioke rubs his eyes and tries to adjust them. Upon seeing Tony more clearly, he smiles. A ray of sunlight shines on Chioke's face. Tony smiles back as he looks down at his innocent little angel. Tony's face actually hurts from smiling. But the pain of smiling for Chioke is a pain worth going through. Tony raises his right arm in order to help Chioke sit up. Chioke wiggles a bit in order to sit upright from his sleeping position. Suddenly, Chioke's smile disappears.

'Does face hurt?' Chioke signed with his hands out of concern for how his father is feeling; especially with such a battered face.

"Daddy may be a little hurt, but don't worry about it." Tony tells him a half truth because he doesn't want Chioke worrying about the massive amount of pain he feels on certain parts of his body. Tony is more concerned about Chioke's well-being than his own anyway. He brings his left hand closer in order to give Chioke the food. With his little hands, Chioke takes the food and starts munching on it. Tony smiles hurtfully. After taking a couple bites of the food, Chioke holds it up toward Tony's mouth. He presses it against Tony's mouth because he wants him to eat as well. Tony opens his mouth and takes a bite. Chioke continues munching and sharing the food with his father.

Upon finishing the food, Chioke wiggles out of Tony's lap. He walks to the bag which has food in it. The bag is opened and Chioke picks through it.

"You still hungry, Chioke?" Tony wondered. Chioke turns to face him.

'I give food to friends.' Chioke signed with his hands. He turns back to the bag and grabs a couple things. Chioke walks away with the food in his arms.

Tony smiles as he watches Chioke walk toward the nine people who were captives at the trading camp. The smile comes from how proud he is of Chioke's continuous kindness toward everybody.

After giving the others food and sitting with them for a little while, Chioke returns to Tony. He climbs into Tony's lap.

"I'm very proud you, Chioke." Tony stated. He kisses Chioke on the forehead.

'What will happen to friends?' Chioke signed with his hands.

"We'll make sure they get back home to their loved ones."

'You promise?'

"I promise." Tony said with a smile. "And as for you… When we get home, I promise we'll have some pizza and listen to the Llama Song."

Chioke claps his hands in excitement.

"Llama Song?" Gibbs wondered.

"It's a very catchy flash animation song which you can find on the internet." Tony replied. "Chioke likes to dance to it."

'It my favorite song.' Chioke signed with his hands. 'That and Magnum song.'

"He means the second version of the Magnum P.I. theme song." Tony said. "Show Grandpa Gibbs your dance."

Chioke slides off Tony's lap. Tony begins whistling the Magnum P.I. theme song. As Tony whistles the theme song, Chioke dances by moving his body and swinging his arms. Gibbs smiles as Chioke takes hold of his hands. Gibbs forgets the pain of his battered body and dances with Chioke.

From where Ziva sits with her friends, she watches the three of them. Ziva cracks a smile as she's glad to see the three of them being their normal selves. It amazes her how quickly a child can bring out the kid in Gibbs. She now looks directly at Tony. Though Ziva only sees the left side of Tony's battered face, she can tell from his expression just how much Chioke means to him. She looks back to Chioke who is still dancing with Gibbs. Ziva looks down slightly as she feels something inside of her which she's never felt before. Ziva's unclear as to what the feeling is, but she's sure it's good. She smiles and continues to watch the three of them.