Thanks for all the reviews I love hearing what you think, keep em coming please, with a cherry on top :D

Just want to give a shout out to all those who have regularly reviewed this story and I dedicate this chapter to them:

HSMSupernatural

iloveNCIStiva

hxchick

ForeignMusicLyrics

Tiva4eva95

Esmerelda Diana Parker

And all the others who I may have missed – sorry I can't get you all in otherwise it would be a whole chapter, maybe at the end I will do acknowledgements.

Anyway hope you like it. I spent so long writing thins, getting it just right it is unbelievable.

Chapter 18 – mah'se (Protector)

The night went to quickly for their liking, they wanted it to last forever so they could stay together forever, Tony gripped his girls, the two people who meant more to him than life, he would give anything to save them. Anything. But he couldn't, he would now die for them, but he couldn't. He looked down at his 12 year old daughter, she was way to young to be a part of this and it just wasn't fair, she had escaped from Dayan all by herself only to be caught and tortured by him once again, why he thought desperately, why could she not have been excluded from this, she was just a child, she should be innocent to the horrors of this world. He loved her so much, her laugh, her optimism, her cheek, her personality, most of all he loved how much she was like her mother

He then looked at his wife, he had loved the past 20 or so years with her but whished he had confessed his love for her sooner, so maybe they could have been together for longer, he loved every part of her; her beauty, her strength, her laugh, her cute little mistakes that she still made after 20 years. She and Tali were so alike, they were his world.

Ziva looked at him sadly he knew what she was thinking, the day had come, for life as they knew it to end "Tali" she breathed hugging her child who hugged her back, she was in so much pain it might be kinder for her to die Tony thought, every movement she made caused her pain especially if it involved moving her ankle.

They waited for noon to arrive and when it did it felt like it came too soon, Dayan came in and smiled at the family who were pressed against the far wall huddled together, Tali turned her head and buried it into her fathers shoulder whilst hugging her mother tightly. There were a lot of guards today, obviously to prevent Tony and Ziva from doing anything, they were all grabbed and torn away from each other before they were hauled to the massive room, Tali and Ziva had been hurt in here and Tony could see the fresh blood on the walls, he and Ziva were dragged over to a wall where they were held tightly. Tali was taken to the middle of the room where she was thrown to the ground, she didn't move she just stayed where she was, shoulders heaving as she breathed hard.

Dayan walked towards her and as he had done the first time they had met he yanked her head back and allowed his evil fathomless black eyes to trace over her features, he smiled again and then kicked her so that she fell backwards, she didn't make a sound she seemed determined not to make a sound and show her pain in front of Dayan. He raised his eyebrows when no sound escaped her "don't try and hide your pain tateleh as your mother did, I can make things a lot worse for you" Tali didn't make a sound but she continued to breathe heavily. It would soon be time.

Another man stepped out of the shadows "ahh" Dayan said greeting his friend "you are just in time fore the main show my friend" he smiled "I wouldn't miss it for the world you know that Elead" Dayan chuckled and then turned "DiNozzos" he said "I would like to introduce you to my dear friend Levi Kedar, though I believe Talia here has already seen him before" he looked at Tali who nodded and Tony and Ziva recognised him from the surveillance video they had taken from the warehouse. He was the other man the one who had helped plant the bomb.

He smiled "I am glad that this obsession with killing Ziva David will finally come to an end" "soon my friend soon" Dayan murmured and he smiled at Tali as he walked towards her, and pulled out his gun he pressed it to her forehead and his smile grew, as he stared at her, she didn't move away instead she moved her head forward so the gun was pressed tightly against her forehead, as though she was daring him to end it now, to pull the trigger, her eyes fell on her parents and she gazed at them, as she waited to die.

XOXOXOXOXO

Gibbs paced back and forth in the bullpen, he looked at the timer on the plasma, he had a little under 3 hours left, he resumed his pacing thinking desperately "where have you taken them Dayan" he growled, he cursed and then stormed off to the elevator and went down to Abby's lab after grabbing some coffee for him and McGee and a Caff-Pow for Abby, he slipped in, the music was down low and Abby and McGee were sitting typing furiously, "have you got anything" he asked and they both jumped "Gibbs" Abby cried "we were just about to call you, we might have something" "what" he asked desperately "and give me the short version, we are nearly out of time" he handed them both their drinks which they drank gratefully

"ok" Abby began "so I finally managed to get the info on the latest Jaguar model with Timmy's help" Gibbs nodded knowing that McGee had been forced to hack in to get the info in time "did that help" he asked "well the good thing is that because of how new and expensive each car is, it is fitted with a tracking device, but we cant use it because you have to know a code to use it, and only the owner of the car knows the code" she paused for breath before continuing talking at light speed "but I got a list of everyone who has bought one of them" "has Dayan got one" Gibbs asked hopefully but was crushed when Abby shook her head "but" she said "I think I have tracked down who owns the car at the crime scene" Gibbs looked at her and then at McGee who was gazing at Abby proudly, he nodded grinning. Abby turned and hit a couple of keys on her keyboard and a picture came up.

"His name is Levi Kedar and he is from Israel, he grew up in the same town as Dayan, and" she pressed a button and a picture came up of Kedar and Dayan in an airport "this was taken 4 days ago" Abby said "right before Tony, Ziva and Tali were taken" Gibbs glared at the men on the screen, Abby began to type and then the best image they had from the security cameras from the warehouse of Dayan's accomplice came up "look familiar" she asked Gibbs nodded angrily "we have to track him using the car it is our best hope" Abby nodded, "McGee is trying every programme possible to hack in so we can use the GPS to find it"

Gibbs swung round to face McGee who began to talk hurriedly "no luck so far, I am running them as fast as possible and I have put a BOLO on it which did help" he nodded to Abby who showed him a speed camera photograph of the car "this was taken right after Tony and Ziva went missing just outside of Alexandria, it was last seen heading down Alexandria West"

Gibbs gave Abby his usual kiss on the cheek before saying "McGee bring all that in the car, we are heading to Alexandria now, Abby you did good, keep going and tell us if you find anything at all" Abby gave a small salute "yes sir" she said and then hurled herself at him hugging him tightly "bring them back Gibbs" she sobbed "I want them back" he hugged her tightly "we will go our best Abs" he promised not wanting to tell her how slim the chances of getting the whole family back now were.

He sent McGee down to get his car before heading to Vance's office and he told him what he had found, Vance instantly sat up hope in his eyes "I will alert the cops there and explain what has happened and when you know where they are tell me and I send the whole of NCIS if I have to and get some paramedics on standby, little Tali is definitely going to need medical attention" Gibbs nodded and then left sprinting out to his car, McGee was already settled and plugged in and had resumed his fast typing, his fingers moving so fast they were a blur.

He drove at his new fast speed, weaving in and out of cars ignoring the blaring of horns, they were in Alexandria and heading down Alexandria West before he slowed, he checked his watch, 1 hour of Tali's life remained. "come on McGee" he said looking at his agent who looked desperate knowing that his team mates lives were in his hands.

"yes" he suddenly shouted "I am in," he typed and then said "he is outside a warehouse district, not parked inside though" "clever" Gibbs muttered as a conference from Abby came though "Abs" he shouted "we know roughly where they are, they are in a warehouse district but we don't know which one, look at the conferences and see if there is any clue there" "on it" she cried and Gibbs called Vance and told him roughly where they were, the warehouse district was huge, it would take days to hunt through them all. Vance told him he was sending back up and a couple of ambulances "you have done good Gibbs" he said and then he hung up.

"got something I think" Abby shouted and an image of Tali's torture flashed up, Abby highlighted an area of the wall behind the child in pain and it showed some faded paint, she filled in a few areas, deepened the colours to show a logo "Global Foods" she shouted and McGee looked at a list of companies in the warehouse district "they left some time ago" he said "the warehouse is still empty, it is perfect" "good job Abs" Gibbs shouted "tell Vance the address" then the conference was ended.

He drove into the district at top speed flashing his badge at the guards at the front gate when they tried to stop him. He stopped out of sight of the ware house and he and McGee both climbed out, he went to his boot and pulled out two bullet proof vests handing one to McGee, he picked up some spare magazines filled with ammo and pocketed them, as McGee did the same he picked up what looked like a security camera and pointed it at the building. An infra red image appeared showing that there was indeed life in the supposedly abandoned building. It wasn't clear enough to see what was happening yet. But he could see that one of the figures was kneeling on the floor as people moved around her. He looked at his watch, 10 minutes till noon.

"come on" he said "what about back up" McGee stammered "they wont get here in time, Tali has 10 minutes left, even if they do get here in 10 minutes it will take them to long to get ready and kit up, we have to do it, come on Elf-Lord it will be just like your games on your game box thingy" "X-Box" McGee corrected, Gibbs scrawled a note saying that they had already gone in and stuck it to the bonnet of his car. Then he and McGee crept forward, standing on either side of the door, like when they were hunting for the bomb they were painfully aware of the lack of time, but this time, there was no Tony and Ziva with them, to have their sixes, and there was no Tali to save them if need be, now they would be saving her and they could have Tony and Ziva's sixes.

Gibbs looked down and watched in horror as the big hand on his watch struck the 12, marking the hour.

Suddenly a shot rang out echoing through the silent grounds, it was followed by a scream.

XOXOXOXO

Dayan stood there looking at the girl who knelt before him, her head pressed against the barrel of his gun; it excited him to think that he controlled her life now. He looked at his watch "5 minute" he chortled, he looked over his shoulder. Ziva and Tony were fighting struggling against their captors; Ziva had tears rolling down her cheeks. He smiled at her pain before turning back to her daughter; she was staring at her mother, tears in her eyes now too. He looked at Kedar who smiled from where he was sitting, and they both prepared themselves to watch the girls life come to an end.

Ziva fought tears streaming down her cheeks, no she couldn't watch Tali die, she couldn't. Tali looked at her, her own cheeks wet, then she looked at Dayan and then at his gun and then back at her mom, before her eyes went back to the gun and Ziva saw her hands on her lap clench.

Dayan looked at his watch again "five, four three two one" he counted down the seconds and then smiled taking the safety off of his gun, "goodbye tateleh" he said. Tali closed her eyes, Dayan's finger tensed in the trigger.

At once Tali moved she leaned to one side and her leg shot out from underneath her slamming into Dayan's knocking him to the floor, the gun went off and Ziva screamed in terror, as Tali fell to the floor, she lay unmoving. Dayan rolled over laughing at her scream "yes Ziva show me your pain now you child is dead" Ziva stared at the motionless figure of her daughter and then back at Dayan, it felt as though a whole had been punched through her chest, Dayan laughed again and then made to stand up, Tali lunged at him taking everyone by surprise, they fell to the floor and Dayan struggled to point the gun at her as she grabbed the barrel fighting it desperately, the guards didn't know what to do, and Ziva used their confusion to throw her head back into one of the ones holding her and as he loosened his hold on her, she yanked her arm out of his grip and hit him as hard as she could, she tackled the other one, but he grabbed hold of her other arm, fighting to keep her under control, she swung her legs up instead to kick one of the men holding Tony hard in the face, instantly Tony tackled his other guard throwing him towards Ziva so she could knock him out, then he ran at her punching the man who held her "let go of her" he snarled pulling Ziva free.

They both turned back to Tali who was fighting still, her face determined but desperate as she struggled with the gun, Dayan's finger tightened again on the trigger but Tali forced the barrel away from her. She managed to yank the gun out of his grip but before she could do anything he struck her arm and the gun flew off into the corner of the room, his hands went around her throat and Tali gasped as he began to tighten his grip, she struggled gasping, before noticing something sticking out of his belt, she grabbed it.

Ziva was fighting to get to Tali but the guards were making it very difficult, she could see Tali struggling as Dayan wrapped his hands around her throat, as he tightened his grip she grabbed something from his belt and then stabbed it into his back.

Dayan screamed in pain as Tali stabbed the knife into his back, he released her, to pull it out and she instantly began to scramble to her feet, Dayan pulled another gun out of his pocket once he had pulled the knife out and pointed it at the girl "Tali" Ziva screamed and Tali flung herself sideways rolling trying to avoid moving her broken ankle any more than necessary, just as the gun went off, it missed. She flung herself at a metal table knocking it over and she dived behind it, it protected her from Dayan's next shots. Tali crouched low behind the table hearing the gun go off and the bullets being deflected off of her makeshift shelter, "don't hide from me girlie" Dayan screamed "don't be a coward" "you are calling me a coward" Tali shouted "when you used me to get to my mom because you were scared that without leverage she would kill you" "don't you dare speak to me like that" he screamed "come out and face me or mommy and daddy get it".

There was silence, Tony and Ziva stood there, surrounded by guns hands half raised, they saw Tali poke her head up briefly to check he was telling the truth, "don't do it Tali" Ziva shouted and fell with a small gasp as one of the guards whacked her with his gun, Tony caught her snarling pulling her towards him and she heard Tali cry "no don't hurt them, I am coming" she scrambled out limping from behind the table, her hands likewise semi raised, Dayan was breathing hard as he pointed the gun at her, "oh I am so going to enjoy watching the life drain out of you" he snarled Tali didn't move though her eyes flicked around the room, when they flicked to a corner of the room they rested there for a fraction of a second longer before flicking back to her family, "say goodbye" Dayan snarled.

Tali launched towards him swinging her leg up to wind him before she dived towards the corner, on the ground Dayan grabbed her ankle twisting, she cried out, her fingers scrabbling to grab something, she kicked at him throwing herself a few more inches forward, Dayan grabbed his gun at the same time Tali rolled over the gun she had wrestled from him earlier in her hands, she loaded it and placed her finger on the trigger.

Nobody moved as she lay on her back, white with pain and trembling, the gun was shaking slightly in her hands, but she did look determined, Dayan froze briefly and then laughed, "now what are you going to do with that" he taunted "you don't know how to aim let alone fire" he was proved wrong when Tali shot at him, clipping his shoulder, he hissed in pain "well well miss Ziva, you have trained her well" "my uncle Gibbs taught me how to aim" Tali said, having reloaded the gun "let my family go" she said, her voice shook but she sounded fierce, Dayan laughed "or I could say put the gun down or both of them die" his men all took the safety off of their weapons and Tony tried to shield Ziva from as many guns as possible, searching for an escape.

"don't" Tali said and she sounded scared, he laughed and pointed the gun at her, "come now tateleh put the gun down, you are just a child a Yalda (female child) and what more you are a h'allash yalda (a weak female child)" "I am not weak" Tali gasped, Dayan smiled and clicked the safety off "I am tired of this, your death is long overdue and you aba will follow and then your ima" he laughed and repeated what he had said earlier "now say goodbye", the door burst open and Gibbs and McGee appeared weapons raised.

Gibbs looked around the room in horror, Tony trying to shield Ziva from the men surrounding them guns raised, waiting for the command, and Dayan standing there with a gin in his hand, finger on the trigger, pointing it at Tali.

It was Tali that shocked him the most she lay there white with pain, her ankle twisted in an awkward manner, she lay on her back a gun in her hand pointing it at Dayan.

Dayan swung round, caught sight of Gibbs and let out a scream of fury, before turning and swinging the gun to point at Tali's head, Tony and Ziva both screamed out "NO" and Ziva closed her eyes as a shot went off, there was silence and then "lower your weapons now" and pounding feet, she slowly opened her eyes to see NCIS agents running in to point their weapons at their captors who slowly backed away, Gibbs was kneeling on the floor his weapon on the floor beside him cradling Tali her head and shoulders in his arms, she was covered in blood, both she and Tony ran forward and then stopped, Dayan was lying on the floor, dead, a hole in the side of his head, Gibbs had shot him, Tali was clutching her uncles arm shivering as she stared at Dayan.

Suddenly there was a cry of "no, you killed him" and they all looked up, they had all forgotten about Kedar who had remained silent throughout the whole battle, now he stood staring at Dayan and then he stared at Gibbs before yanking out a gun. He had barely raised it, and his finger had barely tensed on the trigger when three shots were fired, two patches of red appeared on his crisp white expensive shirt and he staggered, struggling to aim the gun, he open fired and Tony threw Ziva sideways, he felt pain in his side as he protected her, then one loud bang and it went silent once more.

He looked up, Ziva was gripping her leg, and "I am fine" she gasped "through and through… Tony" she gasped looking at his side, and he looked down, to see his own blood staining his shirt, "I will live" he grunted "missed everything important" he looked up wondering who had shot Kedar who was now lying in a pool of his own blood, he had seen McGee fire the first two shots but had not seen the last one. He heard a gasp and he looked behind him, Gibbs was still crouching next to Tali assisting her to sit up, she was staring at Kedar her eyes wide with horror, the gun in her hand still pointing at him. He heard Ziva gasp and he stared at his daughter and then he and Ziva wiggled over to her, his daughter had killed a man, she was 12 and had already killed someone.

He breathing was getting faster in panic, slowly Gibbs put his hand on the gun lowering it, she looked down and then with another gasp she dropped it as if it had electrocuted her. Then she looked at her parents and then at her uncles as McGee came forward "I didn't want to" she almost begged "I didn't want him to hurt you, the gun was in my hand and I just… pulled the trigger, I didn't even aim" "hush" Gibbs whispered "don't worry sweetheart it was self defence ok darling don't worry" "I didn't want him to hurt anyone" she repeated, she looked over then and saw her parents, "aba and ima" she sobbed and then they pulled her into their arms, and they held each other.

They had survived the storm.

XOXOXOXOXO

Tony didn't know how long he stayed there gripping his girls, but then he felt a pain on the back of his head as his bosses hand collided with it "ow boss what was that for" he complained "for worrying me out of my dammed mind, and the rest of the agency, no one has slept in days" Tony winced rubbing his head "sorry to have caused so much hassle" he said "I will think about that the next time I am unwillingly kidnapped" everyone laughed "why don't they get smacks" he asked looking at Tali and Ziva "not that I want you to hit them" he added, Tali was still huddled in her mothers arms, who had turned her so she could not see the man she had killed. She looked shocked and dazed still. "because they are girls" Gibbs said "never stopped you before" Tony muttered earning himself another head slap. "so you were worried about me hay boss" he said grinning.

Gibbs looked at his cheeky agent, yes he had been worried about him, his adopted son, "nah" he said a small glint in his eyes "I was talking to my girls" Tony rolled his eyes "of course" he muttered and then mumbled something about them being his girls. Gibbs looked over his shoulder, the rescue team had arrested all the guards and McGee was supervising, "come on" he said standing "lets get out of here" Tony got to his feet an helped Ziva and Tali to theirs, they began to move out of the room Ziva leaning on Tony, Gibbs supporting Tali when suddenly she stopped, they all looked at her "what is wrong" Ziva asked concerned, thinking her daughter was scared about leaving because of what she had done.

But then she and her team looked down to see her hands placed on her chest where blood was streaming from. She staggered and Gibbs caught her, she had been hit during the open fire before she had protected them again, "Tali no" Ziva gasped, the 12 year old girl looked at them all confused, then she coughed and blood spurted out. "Tony" Gibbs shouted but Tony had already yanked off his shirt, glad that he wore a t shirt underneath and was pressing it against his daughters chest "please Tali" he begged "hang on, just hang on for a little bit longer" Gibbs scooped her up and Tony caught hold of Ziva supporting her with one hand pressing his already soaked shirt against Tali's wound, McGee went round to the other side of Ziva to support her and then in that rugged formation they began to run.

They burst out of the building where Gibbs laid the little girl on the floor, then he and McGee rushed off searching, screaming for an ambulance, Tony pushed harder against the wound "come on ninja, you can get through this, you are a ninja, come on look at how much you have been through and survived, doesn't it seem right to me, for you to be taken down like this" he looked at his wife who was stroking their daughters head whispering to her in Hebrew. "come on ninja, I love you don't go" she blinked, her eyelids began to droop, "No Tali," he shouted "look at me, don't you dare close your eyes" Tali's eyelids fluttered open and then she coughed blood again "Tali" Ziva sobbed "please Tali, I cant loose you, come on baby girl, you are a fighter, fight" Tali looked at her and then at Tony her lips mouthed the words "I love you" "look at me Tali" Tony begged again but slowly he felt her body begin to go limp "Tali" Ziva screamed sobbing "please don't you dare give up" she clutched her daughter, she could hear sirens approaching, "come on help is coming hang on"

Gibbs looked at them, horror and dread consuming him, Tony pressing the now red shirt into the dying child's chest ignoring the blood coming out of his own side, calling to her to stay with them, Ziva cradling Tali's head sobbing and screaming for her to stay with them, and Tali lying there in the dirt, the life they had saved now being drained trying to save them, he watched as the ambulance pulled up, Ziva begging her to not leave her, the brave little child, exhausted, allowed her eyes to slowly close.

Hope you liked it, took me forever, I wanted to get it right, sorry bout the mistakes. Haha sorry bout the cliff hanger, you know what to do to find out what happens.

REVIEW and I will update ASAP, pinky promise

Thanks

Mysticgirl101