Chapter 7

Ziva was beginning to believe that this was just going to be her recurring nightmare. She had seen the reflection of the scope and thrown herself on top of Abby as the first shot shattered the glass. She held Abby tightly against her as the girl began to scream and she felt the adrenalin shoot thru her body.

"Abby!" she yelled at her "crawl back fast but stay down go to the hallway" when she didn't respond "Abby!" she yelled again this time Abby nodded and began to move back. As another shot rang out in the apartment.

They had moved back to the hallway and leaned up against the wall.

Damn Ziva thought I left my phone on the table. "Abby where is your phone?"

"I…in…my bag" She sobbed. The bag lay in the middle of the room but it was closer than hers.

"Stay here do not move" Ziva yelled as she stretched herself across the floor as another bullet came right above her head and lodged against the kitchen wall. She tossed the bag back to Abby.

"Call Gibbs!" she ordered

Ziva pulled herself behind the large chair trying to figure out how to get her SIG that was still lying on the coffee table right in front of the window. She heard Abby behind her calling Gibbs and Abby screamed as another bullet came flying in and lodging in Tony's plasma TV. "oh" Ziva grimaced that's going to hurt she thought. Making a reach for her gun but it was too far and she couldn't run as another bullet rang out breaking the coffee table.

"Gibbs… Someone is shooting through the window." Abby yelled into the phone. Another bullet flew lodge in the chair next to Ziva. "Ziva come back here!"

'Tell them sniper Abby' Ziva hissed at her. She started to try and move back to Abby.

"Sniper Gibbs Sniper" Abby cried hysterically through the phone. Abby reach out to Ziva as another bullet came crashing thru into Abby's arm she screamed and recoiled.

"Abby!" Ziva screamed launching herself towards her friend landing with a thud next to her pain radiating up from her broken leg as it hit the ground. She pulled herself next to a wailing Abby.

"Abby let me see" She roughly pulled her arm towards her to access the damage. Thank God Ziva exhaled it was only a flesh wound. She reaches the phone and the speaker button as she applied pressure to the wound

"Are you guys there?!" She yelled as she began to rip the bottom of one of Tony's tee shirts.

"Ziva are you guys alright?" Tony voice filled the room with the screeching of tires competing with his voice.

Another shot rang thru the apartment as she was tending to Abby's wound causing Ziva to fall on her to give her protection.

"Get those MP in the lobby to roof on the building to the west he is getting a better angle on us." Ziva ordered completely ignoring Tony's question. "Gibbs, 50 caliber action 8 shot fired 4 more till he has to reload, yes?" she questioned.

"No, 2 or 12 unless he has a back up clip" Gibbs voice came thru.

Ziva took the strips of shirt and began tying them around Abby's arm.

"Abby you are fine, I know it hurts, but you will be just fine" she tried to comfort the sobbing girl. Shot 9 cracked threw and lodge in the far wall of the hallway just above her head causing Abby to start crying louder and making Ziva furious. "Shit"

"Where are you guys?" The irritation in her voice shot thru the phone "Tony please, tell me you have a shotgun somewhere in this apartment, I could take him out from here" she didn't realize that she had said the last part so loud until Gibbs voice boomed through the phone.

"Stay put David!"Gibbs growled. "We will be there McGee sent the MPs over to the building. How's Abby?"

Ziva swallowed her guilt as she looked down on her friend. "She has a flesh wound right arm" Ziva said quietly.

Gibbs squealed the car up to the entrance of Tony's building all exiting quickly. As McGee's phone rang, he took the call as they ran into the building.

"They secured the roof, sniper policed his brass, Boss" as they ran up four flights of stairs to the apartment.

Tony unlocked the apartment the 3 of the rushed in to see Ziva sitting with her back to wall her head facing up with her eyes closed and her arm around a sobbing Abby sitting in her lap.

Without opening her eyes Ziva said quietly "Tony I am buy you a shot gun for you birthday"

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Abby was sitting on the table in Autopsy while Ducky patched her with a few stitches.

"There you go my dear" Ducky patted her good arm. "It just a small flesh wound, I'm getting you some antibiotics and some pain killers."

Abby smiled she was feeling much better now. The doors swished open and Gibbs, McGee and DiNozzo entered.

"Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"She will be fine Jethro, small flesh wound 4 stitches; Ziva had stopped the bleeding before we arrived."

Gibbs walked over to Abby giving her a peck on the cheek. "How you holding up Abs?"

"I'm better now; but what did you guys do to piss Ziva off so much?"She asked looking pointedly at each one of them.

"Why?" Gibbs asked.

"She was talking to her father in the truck on the way over; then she started cursing the 3 of you, whatever you did you better apologize she save my life."

"Where is she?" Gibbs asked.

"Here" a voice from the side door announced herself.

McGee lost it first his face turning red and laughter spiting from his mouth. Tony's mouth open and then close he tried desperately not to laugh. Even the unflappable Leroy Jethro Gibbs smiled trying to repress his laughter.

Ziva stood there on her crutches looking completely pissed off and ridicules in the pink Ninja Chick PJ's that Abby had given her hours before.

"Look my clothing options are limited right now" she got more upset as she watched them

"You look so cute" Abby laughed.

"Stop it now! Do not think with broken leg I could not still kill you all with my bare hands" She barked at them. That sent McGee over the edge and Tony was right behind him. She waited till they calmed down.

Frustrated she move over until she stood in front of Tony and glared "Give me your jacket, now"

He pulled off his suit jacket and helped her get into while trying not to laugh. "You do look really cute" he whispered in her ear. "Maybe later you will let me take it off of you?"

She waited till she faced him and gently tapped her hand against his cheek. "Doubtful" she replied sarcastically.

"So when were you guys going to tell me about orchidée rouge?" She said icily to her teammates.

They remained silent. Sarcastically adding "Really! You let my father tell me?"

She stared at Gibbs "When did you stop trusting me?" I know when, she thought viciously to herself,

when I fell apart all over my living room. He held her stare as he walked over to her.

Gibbs knew what she was thinking "I never did" he smacked the back of her head to punctuate the point. "Upstairs now" looking at all three of them. They all began exiting when Ducky pulled Gibbs back for a moment. When Ducky was sure Ziva was out earshot. "Jethro, she needs to sit and put that leg up. She is in a fair amount of pain and she is refusing pain killers" Gibbs nodded and went to join his team in the elevator.

"You guys are growling at the wrong tree" Ziva tries to point out to them

"Barking" Tony and McGee said in unison.

"What?"

"Why?" Gibbs asked cutting the conversation off with his back to them.

The doors dinged as she answered "He would not take a contract on me" she simply passing them all out of the elevator stunned.

"Why do you believe that? David" Gibbs questioned.

"Well, how do you say he likes my pants, yes?" she smiled at them

Tony was smiling she looks so cute in those PJ's a head slap brought him back into the conversation.

Gibbs rolled his eye. "David sit" pointing to her chair "and put that leg up and as much as DiNozzo might disagree that is not much of reason for him not to take the contract"

Ziva groaned start to stand up again.

"You sit there with your leg up and participate or you are going back to autopsy" Gibbs growled. Ziva nodded.

"Do you either of you have my backpack?"

"I have it" Tony replies but does not move.

"Can I have it?" She prods him. He walks to his desk and pulls it from behind, hand it to her. "I need a Mossad number for this call" Ziva proceed to dump the contents out on her desk picking up a knife she makes a slit in the bottom lining of the pack pulling a phone SIM card. "I need a cell please" taking Tony's from his hand she pulled it apart and placed the new SIM card in the back and closed it up. "McGee I need you to trace this call and then forget the number can you do that?"

She rattled off the 2 numbers to him and waited for him. "I'm ready"

Gibbs and Tony watched as she dialed a foreign number from memory and place the phone on speaker.

On the third ring a foreign voice picked up the phone "Salut"

"Allò, Marcel" Ziva purred into the phone.

"How is my little pixie assassin?" He had instantly known who it was and set upon teasing her. "It has been too long I have missed you" he gushed

Ziva smiled and rolled her eyes "If you are trying to kill me Marcel you should have taken more money"

"You are the Mossad contract?" he laughed surprised.

"Like you did not know" she spoke sarcastically.

"Ok, so I knew" he laughed "I told the Henri to warn Mossad"

"So you did not take the contract?" she flirted but Ziva had long knew the answer. McGee came running over handing her piece of paper telling where the trace led. 'Rio' she smirked and hand the paper to Gibbs.

"Mon Cherie I told you I would never kill until I have ravished you first" with dramatic flourish.

Tony was getting increasingly more agitated as Ziva flirted with him.

"What would you tell the blond next to you in bed, Marcel?" he laughed but loving the comeback. "I have miss you Pixie" this time Marcel voice was lace with sincerity.

"Lean over and give Henri a kiss for me" she said looking up Tony who just got it. "Hey Marcel, they are using one of your accounts for the payout"

"Do you have the number?"

McGee passed her the number and she read it off to him "Henri is looking it up? So Pixie any babies yet?"

Ziva actually blushed. "Very funny, NO!"

"Hey Henri and I are waiting to be Godparents here and we are not getting any younger"

"Hey Pixie" another male voice entered the conversation.

"Henri, how's business?"

"Can't complain, ok that account was confiscated by CIA about 8 years ago"

"Do you know who?"

"Nope, but I could get into it if you would like?"

"No, but could you find out who took the contract"

"I will see what I can find out, Stay safe love."

"Thanks Henri"

"Pixie girl" Marcel's voice came back on the line "don't let them knock you down"

"I will not"

"Adieu mon amour" he whispered

"Adieu Marcel" she smiled hanging up the phone.

Gibbs, McGee and Tony were all just staring at her.

"What?" she looked at them confused

"You are friends with the 'Red Orchid' assassin?" Gibbs even looked surprised.

She nodded. She instantly felt insecurity rise up inside of her. She scolded herself this is why she could not let people close. She held her breath looking back at them.

Tony started to laugh "Only you David would be friends with an international assassin" he started to laugh harder shaking his head "I gotta hear this story"

"Not now DiNozzo, McGee CIA find that account!" Gibbs barked "Good Job, David" He took off towards the director's office.

Tony moved closer to her as soon as Gibbs had disappeared.

"You are disappointed, yes?" she asked him nervously.

Tony looked at her for moment "Do you remember when I told you that your past would not scare me away?" she nodded "I never thought you were a choir girl Zee Vah." He smiled leaning down and kissed her. "Oh and I love the pink" kissing her again.

"Oh crap" McGee sputtered "Tony"

"What do you got Prooobie?" Tony asked as he leered at Ziva.

"This is not good" McGee got nervous

"What did you find? And how did you find it so fast?" Tony questioned walking over to McGee.

"I've pulled these files before" McGee answered "La Grenouille"