Rule Number 12

A/N: This chapter contains quite a bit of dialog from Kill Ari, Part I and Part II. No infringement is intended.

Chapter 6

Tony ran across the rooftop, crouching low and weaving to avoid the gunfire volleying across the space. He managed to take out several of the shooters as he stayed on Gibbs' six, protecting the lead agent as much as he could. Finally they managed to kill the man running the controls and Gibbs, in his indeterminable style, destroyed the controller for the drone that McGee hadn't managed to stop.

"Looks like we did it, Boss."

Before Gibbs could reply his shoulder exploded in a red mist, splattering Tony before the lead agent dropped to the ground. He rushed to help the injured man, ignoring the shouted questions from McGee over his com as he peeled off his jacket and used it to apply pressure to the gaping wound in the top of Gibbs' shoulder.

"Boss? Tony? Are you—" The crack of a gunshot echoed through the storage yard, causing Tony to flinch and duck behind the wall.

"Sniper. Where is he?"

Gibbs groaned. "Tell McGee…call for backup."

"McGee? McGee? Do you read me?"

Silence.

"Tim!"

Nothing.

"Damn it, answer me!" He turned to Gibbs and froze when he saw the look on the older man's face, the reality of McGee's silence finally sinking in. "No…"

"Go check, Tony."

"Boss…"

Gibbs raised his arm to press Tony's jacket against his shoulder. "I got it. Go."

Tony crept across the room, wondering if he'd even hear the shot if it took him out, and finally made to the stairwell. He dashed down the stairs and slowly opened the door, waiting for another volley of gunfire.

Nothing.

Tony peeked around the door and saw the sedan…and the pair of brown corduroy-clad legs stretched out on the ground on the other side.

"Oh God…McGee…"

He bolted from the doorway and soon reached the other side of the sedan to the still form of his partner, blood seeping from the wound on his head. Bracing himself, Tony reached down and felt for a pulse.

Nothing.

XXX

Tony jerked awake with the start, the remnants of the nightmare still fresh in his mind. Just a dream…

In reality he had been able to detect McGee's heartbeat, prompting him to call for an ambulance and for help from any agents in the area. He had waited with McGee, and they were soon joined by Gibbs-who collapsed as soon as he reached them—and spent the time until the ambulance arrived trying to keep them both alive.

After Kate had left, Tony had taken the gathered evidence back to NCIS. Breaking the news to Abby had been one of the hardest things he'd ever done. He had been wary of leaving her alone…which turned out to be a good thing, and he was there to protect her when the sniper—Ari, according to Kate—tried to take out another member of his team. A full night of gathering more evidence and standing guard over Abby while she worked to determine the source of the bullets had left him exhausted, and thus had led to him falling asleep at his desk…until the nightmare woke him.

Tony rubbed his face and glanced over at McGee's desk, empty and silent. After a few moments he had the distinct sensation that he was not alone and looked up to see a dark-eyed woman, her nearly black hair wrapped in a green scarf, silently watching him.

"Sorry, I didn't notice you there. I was…daydreaming."

"Not good dreams, I take it?"

"No. Who are you?"

She pulled out an ID wallet and showed him the contents. "Ziva David. Mossad."

"You're Israeli?"

"Very good, the way you made that connection: Mossad, Israeli."

"What can I do for you, Ms. David?"

"I am here to see Agent Gibbs. He is the lead agent for the MCRT, yes?"

"Right now he's incapacitated. What do you need?"

"I understand you are hunting Ari Haswari."

"We are."

"Then I am here to protect a fellow Mossad officer."

"He shot Gibbs and McGee, so I very seriously doubt anyone can protect him now."

"Where is your evidence?"

"Down in the lab, being analyzed by our forensic scientist…that he also tried to kill."

"He would not have done that. You are being manipulated."

"Looks like I'm not the only one."

Before she could respond Tony was distracted by the sight of Gibbs, immediately followed by Kate, walking across the catwalk from the elevator to MTAC. Ziva followed his gaze.

"I thought Agent Gibbs was 'incapacitated'," she remarked as Gibbs and Kate disappeared through the doors into MTAC.

"Well, nothing ever keeps him down for long. Looks like he's busy, though. You'll have to wait."

"Fine." She started towards the desk next to Tony and he moved to block her path.

"That's McGee's desk."

"McGee? The agent who was shot?"

"Yeah."

"But he is not expected to—"

"Doesn't matter."

"Fine." She headed for the desk across from him.

"That's Kate's desk."

"Well is there anywhere I can sit?"

Tony flipped his trash can over and set it in the middle of the bullpen. "There you go."

"I think I will stand."

"Suit yourself."

Tony pretended to return to his work while keeping an eye on the woman standing a few feet away and wondered what was going on in the secure room above him.

XXX

"Gibbs. Shouldn't you be in the hospital?" Morrow asked as Gibbs and Kate entered the dimly lit room.

"I'm fine."

"Agent McGee?"

"Alive, but he's in a coma. Ducky's keeping an eye on him."

"I see." Morrow's gaze slid past Gibbs and landed on Kate. "Former Agent Todd. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I need her re-instated. She knows Haswari better than anyone on my team," Gibbs declared.

Morrow shook his head. "What is your evidence that he was even involved in the shootings?"

"Because he told me," Kate answered. "He called and told me that he had shot Gibbs and that he had killed McGee."

"Thankfully he was mistaken. Are you sure it was him?"

"Yes."

"How?"

She glanced at Gibbs. "My gut. And I recognized his voice. It was him."

Morrow sighed. "Unfortunately we'll need more than that before we can detain a Mossad operative working undercover in Hamas."

"Don't worry. We'll get that evidence. Abby's working on the casings left at the scene now."

"It's also not my decision."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been offered a Deputy Director's position at Homeland Security. "

"You'd leave NCIS, sir?"

"The agency needs new blood." He turned to a figure seated in a shadowy corner. "Meet your new director."

The figure stood and moved into the light. Kate saw that it was a woman, not much older than herself, with dark red hair twisted into a bun.

"Nice to see you again, Jethro."

"Jen?"

"Director Shepard." She turned to Kate. "I understand you left the agency to enter the private sector, Ms. Todd. Why do you want to return now?"

"Because I want to stop Ari before he…kills someone."

"You truly believe he's behind this? And not someone else playing games or creating a distraction?"

"I do."

"And you're certain you can get the physical evidence to back that up."

"We will."

The new director turned to Gibbs. "Well, seeing as you're a man down…" Kate winced, which did not go unnoticed, "I can agree to a temporary re-assignment. It least until we get a TAD in to…cover for Agent McGee."

"Thank you."

Kate glanced at Gibbs, who was still looking a little shell-shocked as he stared at his new boss. She gave him a hard look and he finally turned his attention away from the red-haired woman.

"Good. Come on, Kate. Let's get started on finding this bastard." He nodded at Shepard. "Madam Director."

Kate registered the anger on the other woman's face before she followed Gibbs out of MTAC.

"Agent Gibbs!"

Both turned and waited as she joined them on the landing.

"On the job, it's Director Shepard, or ma'am."

"And off the job?"

"There won't any 'off the job', Jethro."

"Understood, ma'am."

Gibbs continued down to the bullpen and walked over to Tony's desk, giving the strange woman standing there a quick once over. She breezed past him and met the director at the bottom of the stairs, where they greeted each other like old friends.

"Hey Boss, Kate. How's McGee?"

"Surviving." He tilted his head towards the two women by the stairs and raised his eyebrows.

"Mossad. Trying to stop us from killing Ari. Yours?"

"Director. The same."

"Director of what?"

"NCIS," Kate replied, and Tony let out a short bark of laughter.

"You're kidding." She glared at him and he managed to appear contrite.

"Now what?"

"Connect Ari to the shootings. Hard evidence. Gotta make the new boss happy."

Before Tony could reply, the two women joined them.

"Agent Gibbs, Ziva David. Mossad."

She reached out to shake his hand. "Director Shepard has spoken often of you."

"Really?"

"Ziva and I worked anti-terrorist ops since 9/11." She turned to Tony, who was staring openly at her. "Yes, I really am the new NCIS director."

Gibbs ignored the exchange. "So, Officer David, what's your connection to Ari?"

"I am his control officer."

"He's not in control now," Kate snapped, earning her a cool smile from the younger woman.

"What evidence do you have that he is not?"

Kate recounted the phone call she had received the day before and a very brief flash of uncertainty crossed Ziva's face before she regained control.

"How can you be certain it was him? Someone could be simply…pulling your rope."

"She means 'yanking your chain'," the director added. "And she's right. Or maybe he is being set up."

"If that's the case, you still have a problem."

"I have received no indication that his cover has been compromised, but if you insist on pursuing this, that could very well happen."

"Yeah, well, if nothing else, he set us up. He led us to that warehouse."

"Yes, he did. You found him through a GPS fix off his encrypted cell phone. He wanted you to know the terrorists' location so you could stop the missile instead of him, which would have necessitated blowing his cover."

"Only an NSA satellite can GPS an encrypted phone. Ari didn't know I had that asset."

"You give him less credit than he gives you. Who hung up first, you or him? Ari knows a fix takes only 19 seconds. When Sharon visited Bush, Ari's Hamas cell kidnapped Agent Todd. Why didn't he kill her instead of freeing her to warn the Secret Service?"

"I don't know. Why don't you arrange a meet, and he can tell me?"

"Ari Haswari is a Mossad operative undercover in Hamas. He hasn't turned on us or you. He didn't shoot you or Agent McGee.

"Gibbs, even if you're right, we owe them proof."

"That's all we ask. Do not condemn the wrong man."

"We're not," Kate snapped.

"You better be damn sure of that, Agent Todd. Ziva, assure your deputy director that, even though Ari Haswari is a suspect, no action will be taken unless we have evidentiary proof. Proof before action."

Ziva nodded and smiled, excusing herself to make a call.

"Gibbs, I know you want justice for your agent, but be reasonable. Get the proof you need to find the one who really committed these crimes."

"Yes, Director Shepard."

She sent him a glare and headed back upstairs.

"Now what?"

"Dinozzo, tail Ziva. She's been in contact with Ari. How else would she know who hung up first?"

"On it, Boss."

"What about-?"

"With me, Kate. We're going to see Abby."

Kate followed Gibbs down to the lab, where she was immediately wrapped in a hug by the forensic scientist.

"Kate, I'm so glad to see you!" She stepped back to study Kate's expression. "How's Timmy?"

"He's alive. He's…fighting."

"What do you got, Abbs?"

She turned to the lead agent. "You should be in the hospital, Gibbs."

He gave her a one-armed hug. "After we catch him, Abbs."

"And we will. I checked the bullets and compared them to the FBI database, which gave me six weapons whose rifling patterns fit the bullets you recovered. I've been able to eliminate all but three-two SWAT weapons; the Tango 51 and the Bravo 51. And this..."

"My old friend. A Marine M-40 A-1 sniper rifle." A dark look passed over his face as he glanced at Kate. "I'd start with the Bravo 51." He picked up one of the jars of bullets. "Your test rounds?" She nodded. He picked up another. "From the sniper. Lapua, .308, boat-tail, full metal jacket. Same rounds I used as a Marine sniper. Your rounds show more gouging than Ari's. He was hand-loading and moly-coating."

Abby looked impressed. "You are so good!"

"Moly-coating?" Kate asked as she stared at the bullets and tried not to think where they had been."

"Molybdenum disulfide. It's a lubricant. It decreases barrel wear and increases accuracy."

"Kate, run a trace on Tango and Bravo 51 sales last six weeks, Tri-State area. Check the Bravo first. Don't leave the building, and stay away from the windows. You're still in danger. Ari was planning on targeting you first, and he might still be ready to take another shot."

"Why do you say that?"

"You know what a sniper calls a Bravo 51?"

"No."

"A 'Kate'."

"Oh, God…"

"Stay here, Kate. I'll be back."

"Gibbs, you shouldn't be going anywhere, either. He's targeting you, too."

Gibbs just gave her a half-smile and left.

"Why does he do that?"

"He's Gibbs." Abby grabbed Kate's hands. "Are you going to be OK?"

"Ask me when Ari's on one of Ducky's tables. Until then…let's get to work."

XXX

Kate sat and listened in disbelief as the evidence against Ari being the sniper was presented: from Ducky, Abby, Tony, and finally Jenny Shepard. She couldn't understand how everything had gone wrong with the case, but the hard evidence they thought they had had seemingly evaporated with the death of the man whom everyone else outside of Gibbs' team believed was responsible for Gibbs' and McGee's injuries. After the director had finished her speech and returned to her office, Kate turned to Gibbs.

"What did we do wrong?"

"Nothing. You and I both know this is a distraction. It's a set-up. This guy that they pinned it on, it makes no sense. How did he know Jen…the Director was in the car? Why did he only shoot at her side? I called her at the spur of the moment. I parked in the dark. He couldn't see through our windshield, even with a scope. That guy was sent to die, not to kill."

"Why?"

"Hamas suicide bombers blow themselves up all the time. You know this. It doesn't matter how a martyr dies, as long as it's for the jihad. Mohammed, last night he died for rivers of honey and 72 virgins."

"So what do we do?"

"Kill him before he kills us." Gibbs checked his watch. "I've got a meeting. Be here when I get back, all right?"

"All right."

Gibbs left, and Kate called to check on Tim. All they could tell her was that there was improvement in his cranial pressure, and that he was showing minor signs of increased awareness, although he was still critical and in a coma.

Next she called Jason. He was horrified when she told him what had been happening, and told her to take what time she needed. The job would wait.

Finally she leaned back in her chair and tried to relax a little, but she couldn't. Her intuition was gnawing at her, telling her something very bad was about to happen, and she had no idea how to stop it.

A few hours later Gibbs returned, still slightly damp from the recent heavy rains and smiling in triumph.

Kate felt a flood of relief, hiding her worry behind anger as she rose to confront him.

"Where have you been?"

"I was watching a movie."

XXX

Kate listened as Gibbs tried to convince Ziva of Ari's duplicity. She was surprised when Ziva finally agreed that they needed to investigate, and was even more surprised when Gibbs outlined his plan.

Four hours later the two women were both crouched at the top of Gibbs' basement steps, listening to Gibbs confront Ari.

"I want you to know, I wish I hadn't had to shoot Timothy."

"Why did you?"

"To cause you pain."

"What about Kate? She was your original target."

"She was. Again, because it would have caused you pain."

"Did I really piss you off that much?"

"Not you. My father. You had the misfortune of reminding me of the bastard…"

Kate winced as she listened to Ari describe just why he had hated his father so much, although she felt no real sympathy for him. The emotions she had experienced in Autopsy so long ago we gone.

Soon Ari started to describe the end he intended for Gibbs, and Kate raised her pistol, noting that Ziva had done the same.

"I've killed enough men in my life, Ari. It's going to be just as sweet watching you die."

"Sorry to spoil your..." Twin gunshots shattered the night, creating two dark red, nearly overlapping holes in the forehead of the man aiming a rifle at Gibbs. Her ears ringing from the loud retort of two pistols, Kate didn't hear the impact of Ari's body with the cold cement floor.

Kate lowered her pistol and watched as Ziva slowly made her way down the stairs, and listened in horror as she confessed her ties to the would-be assassin. Kate turned and slowly made her way to Gibbs' living room where she sank onto the sofa, the gun falling from her fingers onto the worn carpet with a soft thump.

Soon Gibbs appeared in the doorway and walked over to the sofa where he sat down next to her and put his good arm around her shoulder.

"It's over, Kate."

She felt a tear slip down her cheek as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Not for everyone…"

TBC…