Breaking Down- Part 3

Kinda took awhile to update, sorry. Got distracted reading other people's work, if I have stolen any ideas let me know. In the cases I have seen an idea I liked and have copied I have tried to put a different spin on it. As I said, any problems let me know.

Also any suggestions, please let me know. I would like to get to five or ten reviews by chapter five. please. If you review I will tell Gibbs not to slap you :P

This chapter basically starts to get into her being in Somalia.

Italics means they are speaking in Hebrew, a variation in font means they are speaking in Arabic.

Disclaimer: Including all previous and forthcoming Chapters, characters are not mine. Some plot ideas not mine…unfortunately

Anyway Enjoy.

Bull Pit-10am that morning

Gibbs couldn't help staring at the empty desk of his youngest agent, she was never late, especially not without notice of some description. He was no fool, he knew it had something to do with the case and Somalia, but she hadn't told him anything and had appeared to be on the mend so he couldn't help her. But his gut and certain aspects of her behaviour wouldn't shut up telling him she was in danger. Muttering a string of very colourful words he wrote down her number and stood, handing it to McGee,

"McGee. Trace this number. Tony. I want everything on Cryer/Shalev and the Damoclese." Gibbs grabs his gun and starts walking

"Uh, Boss. This is…"McGee starts

"I know. Stay here." Gibbs says sliding into the elevator.

Gibbs Basement

"I was wild while I was trying to find you. I'm also pretty sure I managed to offend every Israeli at the embassy. I knew you had become a liability, I was scared, Ziver, I was scared another of my daughters would be killed." He can feel the tears streaming down his cheeks but does nothing to wipe them away. He watches her standing rigidly away from him, scared and confused.

"I wished the bullet had gone through my heart." She said bluntly, and she watches as Gibbs realizes a bullet had actually connected with her. She shrinks further back as he looms up, fury mottling the colour of his eyes.

"You were shot and you went the whole day without telling anyone or doing anything, and who is this bastard who shot you. I want him dead, Ziva, you can't protect him. Where was your judgement? And why the hell didn't you think you could come to us for help?" She stands and listens to his tirade, but as soon as he is finished, she bolts up the stairs.

He knows straight away he made a mistake, she was vulnerable and he had lost it. Now he had no idea where she was. But what struck him hardest, was that she had run away. His Ziva never ran away, she had always been too strong.

Ziva's apartment

Gibbs stands at the door to Ziva's apartment listening for any sound. It was the second time in twelve hours, and now he knew the hard way just because there was no noise, didn't mean she wasn't in there.

Earlier that day he'd arrived at her apartment to find her semi-conscious on the floor, partially covered in blood. When she'd recovered she'd told him it wasn't her own but the blood of a burglar who'd picked the wrong apartment, but when he heard her washing her clothes against direct orders, he knew something was very, very,wrong.

Now, as he knocked on her door, he knew his fears had been well grounded. The door opened and she was already walking back across the room. In the dull light he realized how, two months on she was still just skin and bones, but she wore long baggy clothing so it was less obvious.

He shut the door behind him and leant against the door frame watching her move around to make coffee. She was favouring her left side, but was generally moving slower, taking care not to hurt anything. He shuddered as he thought of her racing Tony up the stairs a fortnight. He also couldn't ignore her arm resting across her stomach protectively.

"I scared you." He states as he sits on the couch and she nods, still standing on the opposite side of the room,

"Yes, but not because you were yelling. I was scared because I knew that talking to you meant you would become a liability as well. I didn't want you hurt. I was making a mistake."

"Ziva…"

"He's still alive. He also has a petty vendetta against me and any men I am close to."

9 months ago-The Damoclese

"Shalev had better pull through." Ziva growled to her partner Malachi, who didn't know about her 'association' with Shalev "It's risky enough hijacking an American ship, let alone the Arab captain."

"If you are worried about the Arab captain, we should stop speaking in Hebrew." He snaps in response, and she rolls her eyes turning at the sound of approaching footsteps

"Captain wants to meet you." Shalev states as he approaches. Ziva grins and accepts the twenty from Malachi. Malachi had been stupid enough to bet the captain wouldn't want to know why they wanted to catch a ride. Ziva however had been right in guessing the captain would want to examine her, she was probably the first woman he had seen in some time.

"Rebecca?" The captain says as they approach. Ziva curses herself and Shalev under her breath. Shalev had used the same captain as when they had been on a mission together. She didn't answer and the captain left them to get on the ship and get comfortable.

She wanders around the ship finding key weak spots and the like. Eventually she finds herself in the mess hall. In her singlet, cargo pants and femininity she has every eye in the room on her. Grabbing a plate she sits near the back of the room with two crew members and glowers. The crew is lightly conversing, placing bets on who has the highest chance of getting her into bed. She rolls her eyes and watches Shalev slink out of the room. What the hell is he doing? He had orders to be friendly, not get himself killed by snooping. Excusing herself from the conversation she stands and follows him, with a hand resting on her gun.

She rounds another corner to find Shalev held off the ground by a very large Palestinian crew member.

"Put him down." She says resisting the urge to put a bullet through both of them. As the Palestinian turns to look at her she realizes two things that turn her blood to ice. The Palestinian had found Shalev's marine dog tags and her Star of David was clearly visible. She curses and without a second thought puts a bullet through the crew member's temple. They had about thirty seconds before everyone else came running. She turned and grabbed her pack and gun from Malachi who had followed her down, taking a detour past their room.

Ziva's apartment

"It was one hell of a fire-fight. Shalev and I were fine but Malachi got himself shot twice in cross-fire. It rendered him useless." She pauses for a moment "Your Marine was a crack shot. He downed six men, to Malachi's four. I took the rest." Gibb's considers for a moment

"There would have been at least fifteen or twenty men on that ship?" He asked

"Twenty-four. They were so stupid though, they probably only amounted to about six. Anyway, I ran to the bridge and gained control of the ship and set her on a course to suit us better. At the time I didn't know but while Shalev and Malachi were dealing with the bodies they were talking about how each of them knew me. Malachi found out about our time together."

"Was that seriously what his vendetta was about? You and Shalev having a history?" He asks

"To keep him loyal we had something of a relationship. But he always was too emotional. That was something I learnt while training him. That was why things went so wrong." Ziva shakes her head and looks down. Gibbs decide to ignore the emotional comment but he can't ignore the haunted look in her eyes.

Hope you liked that chapter. Just a warning I may not have time to upload another chapter until next month as I am currently going through rigorous exam preparation and probably shouldn't have even been working on this chapter. Will update as soon as possible though