Chapter 13

A couple vehicles drive down the dirt road to the trading camp. Five vehicles in total are on route to the trading camp for a surprise visit. The vehicles are parked and the people exit. No one comes to greet them. They all look around. A man shouts an order. The people arm themselves and disperse. The trading camp is searched.

A yell is heard, coming from the far side of the camp. Everyone runs in the direction. As they approach, they're eyes widen. On the far side of the camp, where the men now stand, is something which makes them all feel uncomfortable and somewhat scared. They know the rebels are against the slave trade, but what lies before them is unconventional by the rebel's standards. Three of the men turn, lean over and vomit. Two of the men start blaming a demon of some sort.

From the trees, every Korean who was in the trading camp at the time of the raid is hanging upside-down. Each of the victims is skinned and/or mutilated to the point of being beyond recognition. The horrific nature of this brutal act is to send a message to the Korean government.

Meanwhile, deep in the forest of North Korea, the rescuers and rescued people continue on their journey to the southern boarder. The captives and the NCIS team remain in a single area while each of Ziva's crew remains at a distance in each direction. Yair is to the east of the group. Seth is to the west of the group. Jael is to the south of the group. Seff is to the north of the group. And Ziva is walking with the group. From all sides, the group is protected by highly trained assassins.

After an hour, the group is now moving through a rocky area. From the back of the group, Gibbs keeps an eye on Ziva who is in the front. As Gibbs walks by a large rock, he's grabbed and pulled behind it as a knife is pressing against his neck. The person holding the neck to Gibbs' neck is behind him.

"Let's get one thing straight…" Yair begins to say. He speaks in English so Gibbs can understand. "I don't trust you. You can pursue us to hell and back cause of what we did. But realize this… Your own government didn't come to rescue you. We did. And if during our time together, you cross any of this crew… I'll kill you myself." The knife is withdrawn, away from Gibbs' neck.

Gibbs turns around. No one is there. He moves forward to look around the rock. Gibbs looks in all directions. Yair is gone without a trace.

Gibbs returns to the back of the group where Tony is carrying Chioke. Gibbs smiles as he looks at Chioke's face as his head is resting on Tony's shoulder. Chioke's eyes are closed as he's sleeping.

"How are you holding up, Tony?" Gibbs wondered.

"I have no idea how a woman can carry a child for nine months." Tony responded. "My back is killing me."

"You've been carrying him for three hours. Let me take him for a while."

Tony hands Chioke off to Gibbs. Chioke, who is really tired, wakes up slightly while his being handed off. His eyes remain closed. He wraps his right arm around Gibbs' neck, places his head on Gibbs' right shoulder and his left arm is dangling to the side. Chioke goes back to sleep while now in Gibbs' arms.

"You know… When you actually watch Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, specifically the scene where he gets whipped…" Tony begins to say. "Movies really under-exaggerate the amount of pain it makes you feel." He said. "Though, I guess it doesn't help when the wounds won't heal properly because you keep getting beat for another week." He pauses for a couple seconds. "As soon as we get home, I'm going to find a counselor for Chioke."

"I'm proud of you, Tony." Gibbs stated. "You realize this experience has most likely been traumatic for him."

"Things may seem fine at the moment, and I want it to stay that way." Tony said. "I now understand why you have Jamie wearing about ten GPS trackers." He laughed.

"Mr. DiNozzo is becoming overprotective, I see."

"Well… Mr. Gibbs was overprotective way before me."

"Mr. DiNozzo is whipped."

"Mr. Gibbs is stubborn."

"Mr. DiNozzo is allowed to call me dad now, if he wants."

"Really?!" Tony turns to look at Gibbs. He's excited about finally being able to call, Dad, as son-in-laws usually do.

"No, not really…" Gibbs shakes his head as he chuckles. "Mr. DiNozzo is gullible."

"Mr. Gibbs is a manipulative, grumpy old man with gray hair."

As they continue walking, the two of them make fun of each other for a couple more minutes.

Sometime in the evening, as the sun is setting, the group stops to rest in a rocky area as that's what they been walking through for hours. The four members of Ziva's crew are scouting the surrounding area. Gibbs walks in Ziva's direction. Ziva is reassembling her weapon after cleaning it. Gibbs is approaching her from behind. He hopes to finally get some answers from her.

"I know what you're going to say, Gibbs." Ziva said as she continues reassembling her weapon.

"I've been waiting for you to come over and explain…" Gibbs begins to say.

"You've been spending a lot of time up in MTAC lately." Ziva said as she continues to not make eye contact with him and keeps doing what she's working on. "Ever since Amir was brought to NCIS Headquarters, I knew you were assigned to apprehend these guys."

"So now that I know, there's no point in lying to me about not knowing Amir."

"Yes, I knew Amir." Ziva stated in frustration.

"These guys are responsible for the assassination of two NCIS teams; eight agents in total."

"I know."

"How do you know?" Gibbs demanded an answer. Ziva finally looks up at him.

"Cause I lead them in those assassinations."

Gibbs is speechless. He didn't expect the answer to be this bad.

"You knew by coming here with these people your secret would be revealed to me. You knew the risk." Gibbs said. "So why did you come?"

Ziva looks to the side. She looks at Tony and Chioke are sitting near a rock not too far away, but far enough to not hear anything which is said. Ziva cracks a smile.

"I did it for them." Ziva stated with sincerity. She finally turns her head in Gibbs' direction. She looks into Gibbs' eyes. Gibbs can see the sincerity in her eyes. Her face turns away as she feels ashamed. Ziva looks at Tony and Chioke. "You ask me why I did it… I did it for them." Ziva repeats herself as she feels her emotions trying to break free of her holding them back. She watches as it appears Tony and Chioke are having a good time as Tony is tickling him. "I did it for the love of a child." Ziva cracks a smile as she continues to watch them.

Ziva takes a quick glimpse at Gibbs. From the expression on Gibbs' face, Ziva feels he doesn't want to hear her explanation about the incident or the misleading factor which resulted in the mistake. With thinking her explanation will be worthless, Ziva stands and walks away. Gibbs, who doesn't know what to say, just watches her.