Hiya everyone, keep the reviews coming please, I hope this chapter is ok I started writing the moment I submitted the previous chapter, because I am addicted to both my current in progress stories, but I have to say, probably this one more, hope you like it.

Chapter 15 –

Ziva lay in Tony's arms with her eyes closed, she and Tony were both clutching at Tali who was sleeping unsoundly, jerking and whimpering in her sleep, each time she jerked they instinctively tightened their grip on her and tried to reassure her, Ziva placed her hand over Tali's heart feeling it thud unsteadily, she kept her hand there, reassuring herself that for now Tali was still alive.

She could feel Tony's breath on the back of her neck and it felt reassuring to know that he was there, but in a way she whished he wasn't, he had nothing to with this, she wanted him to be freed so he could move on and live a happy life. Well as happy as he could after his daughter had been brutally murdered in front of him, she knew that both she and Tony would be forced to watch Tali be killed, she knew it would hurt to see Tony's pain, Dayan knew that too. She pressed herself tighter against Tony and felt his arm around her tighten, then she heard him whisper "Ani ohevet otakh Ziva" (I love you Ziva) she turned her head to look at him before whispering the same back, Tony pressed his forehead against hers, "I wish I had told you that sooner" he confessed "and then maybe we could have had more time, started a family sooner, so maybe Tali would be older and not a part of this, I should have told you the moment I knew that I loved you Ziva and that was the first time I saw you"

Ziva felt tears in her eyes as she listened to this and she too confessed "I knew too" she whispered "I knew the first time I saw you and I thought you were having phone sex" she felt Tony laugh gently "I knew that I loved you when we first went under cover as married assassins and when we were locked in that shipping container, I knew" she looked into his eyes gazing into his soul "I was afraid that you didn't feel the same way , I saw how you were after Jeanne Benoit and I was worried that you would never love me the same way you had loved her, and you were so happy with her"

She felt Tony chuckle "I was under cover Zee, I never truly loved Jeanne, it has always been you, I just got to far under cover with Jeanne and it was a shock to pull out, but the whole time I was with her, I kept thinking and whishing it was you, it tore me apart when you were with Rivkin or any other man" Ziva sighed, "wow all theses years of marriage and we still don't know everything about each other" "oh we know nearly everything, everything that is important" Tony whispered "you will never know how happy you have made me Zee, becoming my wife and giving me the most beautiful daughter in the world" Ziva smiled "I think I know" she said "I feel exactly the same way about you"

There was silence for a bit before Ziva asked "do you think Gibbs is knows we are missing yet and will he look for us" "oh Ziva of course he will look for us, well actually he will probably be looking for Tali not us" Ziva giggled briefly, stroking Tali's hair "I hope he finds her in time" she said "she doesn't have long left Tony" she felt him stiffen "what do you mean" she looked back into his eyes "Dayan told me that she was to die first, a slow and painful death, to hurt me"

She saw the anger in Tony's eyes and heard him curse Dayan to hell under his breath "when" he managed fear in his voice, Ziva shook her head "I don't know" she almost sobbed "soon though I would guess, or he will wait, hurt us more by not knowing, make us weak so we can do nothing to protect her" Tony shivered and they both tightened their grips on Tali. They remained like that until Tali stirred and rolled over to face them, her eyes still scared and confused, "what's wrong" she asked and they hastily hid their anxious scared expressions and assured her that they were fine and for now, everything would be fine, she didn't look convinced but let it go.

"how long have we been in here" she asked, Tony shrugged "don't know ninja you were taken from the school late afternoon and we not long after, so maybe a day and a half" "wow" Tali whispered "it feels like so much longer" Ziva stroked her cheek and asked "how did they get you sweetheart" Tali looked at her scared "this man came in and told me he was NCIS and had been sent to pick me up, he had a badge so I thought it was true, he said that you had been shot and dad injured protecting you, I went with him but I wasn't sure, because I didn't recognise him at all and then I saw Dayan so I ran but he was to fast so I pulled the fire alarm hoping that the school might come out and they would have to leave me, but they got me, and put something in my neck" she turned her head so they could se the large red mark on the neck "I don't remember anything after that, I just remember waking up and seeing dad on the floor, I thought he was dead" Tony squeezed her hand gently "takes more than that to get rid of me ninja" he said softly.

They all sat up, the hard floor now hurting them, Tony stood up and began to move around the little room searching desperately for a way out, he even threw himself at the door a few times, Ziva watched him sadly, he was so desperate to get Tali out now that he knew how little time she had left, Tali seemed to sense the urgency because when he finally sat down she hugged him tightly "it's ok daddy" she whispered "I know its coming soon you don't have to pretend for me" Tony hugged her back squeezing her tightly, tears trickling down his cheeks in frustration that there was nothing he could do to help her. Ziva felt tears trickle down her own cheeks and moved forward to join in this family hug, where they stayed until, once again they were ripped apart.

XOXOXOXO

They didn't know how much time passed, it was impossible to tell without a window telling them if it was night of day, apart from the steady drip drip of water it was silent, Tony thought he probably would have gone mad if he was alone in this room, he was amazed that Tali had been locked in a room similar to this and had been left all alone for days and had managed to remain sane, she really was remarkably.

Suddenly they heard footsteps and the sound of a key in the lock, instantly Tony and Ziva pushed Tali behind them blocking her from view as three big burly men entered, they walked straight over and grabbed at Tali, "no" Tony snarled "leave her" he and Ziva both fought but they were forced back and didn't dare attack once they had Tali, the little girl struggled desperately but they pressed a knife once again to her throat and she stopped, they began to drag her towards the door, she looked at her parents and mouthed "I love you" tears in her eyes, one of the men smiled at the parents, "remember" he said meanly "all that happens to her is your fault Ziva" and then laughing cruelly, they pulled the girl out of sight and slammed the door shut.

Tony and Ziva both threw themselves desperately at the door over and over again screaming their daughters name, it soon became apparent that it was pointless, and Ziva collapsed into Tony's arms sobbing fresh tears for Tali, it wasn't long before a agonised drawn out scream echoed throughout the building, the scream of their daughter and she was once again tortured, but this time there was no need to keep her alive, they wouldn't care if they killed her doing this.

More screams filled the air, and this time they sounded even more pained than the last ones, Tali's screams seemed to go right through them, and they listened in horror to her pain.

XOXOXOXO

Gibbs sat at his desk glaring at his computer as if it was to blame for his two missing agents and their 12 year old child, McGee was typing furiously at his desk, working hard enough to take the place of Tony and Ziva, but it wasn't the same, not having Tony and Ziva bickering at each other, or Tony pulling pranks on McGee or, Ziva teasing Tony making him swoon over her, or having Tali sitting on the end of his desk or at either of her parents desk, her usual happy look on her face.

He looked at the picture of his team on his desk, Abby had given it to him, he had a copy at his house in his basement but he saw this one more, he looked at it, they were all grinning at the camera, Tali in Tony's arms who had one arm wrapped around Ziva, who was leaning against him a look of pure happiness on her eyes. He stared at Tali, her eyes amused, filled with light, cheek, joy and honesty. There was also trust, trust that her family would keep her safe.

"McGee" he snapped and the young field agent looked at him "I have nothing boss, I have gone over every inch of the computer hard drive that we removed but I cannot find anything about where they might be now, I don't know where else to look, I'm sorry" Gibbs sighed "it's not your fault McGee good work" "I wish" he muttered before renewing his frenzied typing, combing over every inch of the hard drive desperate to find anything that might help him find his team mates.

Gibbs put his head in his hands, he was exhausted, they hadn't left last night, none of them had, working all night to find the family, it was now late afternoon and phone call after phone call, meeting after meeting with Vance had left him desperate for answers and sleep.

He jumped as his phone rang and answered it instantly:

"Gibbs"

"Uncle Gibbs" a small voice whispered and he jumped up miming to McGee to trace it.

"Tali" he asked incredulously "are you ok sweetie, where are you, are your parents ok"

There was a sob "no, they hurt mom real bad, she's ok, they haven't hurt dad yet"

"What about you" Gibbs asked frantically

There was silence on the other end and then a voice replied "she is unharmed for now but that is going to change in the next few minutes"

Gibbs saw Vance come sprinting down the stairs, McGee had obviously called him, he put his phone on speaker as his boss came in "Dayan" he said coolly

"Well done agent Gibbs, Tali is right you are a good detective"

"cut the crap Dayan what do you want"

Dayan laughed "it was too easy picking up sweet Tali and her family so I thought I might at least give you a chance to save them, as I am nearly 100% certain that you won't, do you accept my challenge agent Gibbs"

Gibbs looked at his boss who nodded "I accept" he said curtly

"good, why don't we talk via a video conference, face to face, man to man"

"fine" Gibbs said, and Dayan hung up, Vance stepped sideways as he hurtled up the stairs towards MTAC, McGee and Vance trailing behind, he shooed all the conference controllers out and grabbed some headphones with a mic as McGee leapt into a seat pulling his own headphones along with Vance who stepped into the shadows out of sight.

A conference call came up and McGee accepted it and Dayan's face filled the screen, he waved at Gibbs who glared back at him coldly, "I want to see them all" he said firmly, Dayan groaned and nodded off the side of the camera and an image from another camera filled the screen, it showed a dark, damp room made of stone with an iron door, lying against one wall was Tony who was cradling Ziva in his arms as she sobbed, Tony looked fine, scared and worried, with a few bruises but otherwise unharmed, Gibbs wished the same could be said for Ziva, she looked like she had been beaten mercilessly, covered in cuts bruises and scratches, she lay in Tony's arms crying through swollen eyes, it broke his heart to see them so miserable.

Dayan's face returned to the screen "satisfied" he asked sarcastically "what about Tali" Gibbs growled, Dayan rolled his eyes and beckoned to the side of the camera, two men came in dragging a freshly beaten Tali, she fought bucking and struggling but they punched her in the gut, causing her to cry out and it wasn't hard for them to force her to her knees where she remained sobbing, she looked at the camera, pain in her beautiful golden eyes as she stared at him, holding him in place, her wrists were bound behind her and there were men pointing guns at her, preventing her further from doing anything.

"why is she there" Gibbs asked, as Dayan walked into view, he was carrying a long whip made of leather with a forked end, that end would cause a lot of pain Gibbs knew, Dayan whacked the handle against Tali's back causing her to wince and bit her lip. "well I enjoyed her mother yesterday so I thought today I would hurt her, as it causes Ziva pain too" he whacked Tali again harder and she couldn't hold back a small gasp, she still had burns on her back, and whipping burns would be almost unbearable.

"she is just a child, and you are going to use a whip on her" Gibbs said angrily "yep" Dayan said as though it was obvious "one thing I have learnt over the years Agent Gibbs is that you can never be soft, being soft like falling in love as this ones mother did" once again he whacked the child bent over at his feet and she let out a small sob "makes you weak, and being weak is what will get you caught, that was why it was so easy to catch Ziva, she was too soft, she fell in love and got knocked up and now wont hurt a fly if it is in the same post code as miss Talia here"

"now I am not going to help you agent Gibbs that makes it less exciting, but I will tell you that I am in America, more precisely near Washington" "helpful" Gibbs said dryly making Dayan laugh "happy hunting agent Gibbs, better hurry, the clock is ticking, I will check in again tomorrow about the same time, I should warn you though" he grabbed hold of Tali's hair yanking her head back "this one is going to die first and I would say she has very little time left" he smiled and then walked backwards putting space between him and Tali who stared at Gibbs her eyes pleading "its going to be ok" he murmured staring at her "we will find you Tali I promise" Tali looked at him and then nodded, there was a crack which caused her to jump as Dayan took a few practise swings before stepping forward.

In the corner of the screen the image of Tony and Ziva appeared again, they were still in the same position, but then Dayan swung the whip high in the air and brought it down as hard as he could with a sharp snap, across Tali's back.

Tali screamed, arcing her back against the pain, she then bent forward, sobbing, she had barely got her breath back when the whip came down again and again, leaving no time between the strikes, so her screams continued, louder and louder, she fell forward onto her side crying hard now, begging in Hebrew to Dayan who laughed before striking her again and again, a savage snarl on his face, Gibbs looked at the smaller image Tony and Ziva were both throwing themselves at the door, both crying in desperation to get to their little girl, but they were unable too. It tore him apart to see their pain.

Dayan stopped, breathing hard, he kicked Tali and she jerked away, he back came into view and Gibbs could see that it had been almost completely laid open blood pooling out of the slashes, her eyes were no clouded with pain and she continued to sob, Dayan poured something into the slashes, it looked like lemon juice or something similar, Tali screamed again fighting, her cries breaking Gibbs' heart. Tony and Ziva had collapsed again Tony trying to comfort Ziva whilst trying to keep himself together.

"the clock is ticking Gibbs, so I would get a move on" Dayan said with a smile, "speak to you tomorrow" and with that the line went dead. Gibbs yanked of his headphones swearing loudly, Vance looked repulsed and McGee looked rather green "I am going to make catching this psycho our top priority" Vance said "he has to be stopped before he kills any of them, you are in charge Gibbs as long as you promise to try and bring him in rather than just shooting him on the spot" "I might have to get in line" Gibbs said grimly.

They went downstairs and Vance announced that catching Dayan was now the top priority, for those who looked sceptical about a kidnapper being top priority over serial killers, Vance showed them the video of Tali's torture, and that had everyone agreeing with him "and besides he is going to kill them all so I think we can count him as a serial killer, rescuing Agent Tony DiNozzo, Agent Ziva David DiNozzo and their 12" he empathised Tali's age "year old daughter Talia DiNozzo, is going to come first unless cleared by me, Special Agent Gibbs is going to lead this investigation, I expect you all to give him your full cooperation" he looked at them all before turning and walking to his office to let the FBI know about this, and how important it was to find them.

Gibbs gave each bullpen a specific job and sent them on their way, he then looked at the image of Tali on the screen, pure pain written across her face, he switched it off and went to work. It wasn't long before Tony, Ziva and Tali's faces were all over the news, Gibbs looked at the picture they were using, one taken not that long ago when they had taken a few days off to spend with Tali and had taken her to New York for the weekend for her birthday. He looked at the caption underneath asking for anyone with information to call NCIS, he doubted they would get anything from that, Dayan wouldn't have them anywhere near civilisation he knew that. C'mon Tony, he thought, you are the one who has to stay strong here, you have to keep then strong and positive, that was ironic he thought the physically weakest person in that family was now the one having to be the strongest.

He sent out a silent desperate prayer for their safety, he just wanted things to return to normal, so Tali could grow up and live the life she deserved, she had survived longer than Kelly, she couldn't die now, please stay strong Tali he begged silently, if Tali didn't make it but her parents did then you might as well say goodbye to Tony and Ziva too, they had such a strong bond, break it and the whole structure would collapse and die.

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Mysticgirl101