To Die Standing
Chapter 9
The next day no one made any mention of the stranger they had seen Ziva with the previous evening. Ziva saw no reason to bring the subject up, and the entire day passed with great tension and little relief. Ziva spilled more papers, broke her mug, had trouble focusing, but Gibbs made no comment.
Abby found the acacia residues on the second victim, which confirmed the garden as the site of the crime. McGee was charged with finding any records of leeches being shipped in. Tony was to look into protactinium, and Ziva was given nothing that the other team members knew of. She was quite busy at her computer, however, leading them to wonder if Gibbs had given her an assignment of her own—but Ziva's attitude prevented anyone from questioning her out loud.
As efficient as the team was, there were in fact days when no visible progress was made. Cross with everyone, even Ziva, Gibbs sent everyone home with the warning to come back after the weekend in better shape. Tony, unable to let things stand between the two of them as they were, followed Ziva out.
" We need to talk."
Ziva would normally find his behavior endearing. " What about?" She asked, still smarting from past irritation.
" Look." Tony sighed. " I'm sorry, alright? I'll admit I was in the wrong here."
" Completely."
" Look, you weren't the epitome of—oh come on." He paused. Being the mature one was still difficult, as many times as he had been playing the part lately. " We've worked together for years, Ziva."
Silence descended between the two, as Ziva considered that comment.
" You're right." She said finally. She turned around.
" What," Tony protested, " No hug?"
" Hug?" Ziva scowled in disbelief.
" Come on," Tony found himself begging. " Just because I was wrong, doesn't mean you haven't told us what's wrong."
" I believe I said it was my business." She sneered.
" We're your friends." Tony said in a sudden moment of clarity. " Your problems are our problems. We're in this together."
Ziva opened her mouth to retort, but found she had no comeback for that one.
" I can't help getting the feeling that…" Tony sighed. He was sounding like such a sissy! But maybe now was the time to be a little weak, just so Ziva was confident enough to confide in him. She would feel much better about revealing something wrong with her, he figured, if she felt she had some leverage. " Look, that sperm donation thing—in the end I told you about it."
" This is nothing like you yacking off for a 'good cause'." Ziva replied coldly.
" Hey!" Tony exclaimed, not bothering to correct her. " Look, seriously, I know. Okay?" She was starting to walk away, so Tony caught up with her, " It's nothing like yours. My situation didn't put my life in danger."
Ziva froze. It seemed he hit some string. Tony resisted a sigh again. He was doing that a lot lately. " I don't want to lose you," He tried again, then lowered his eyes. How did it come out that way?
Ziva turned to him, her eyes very sharp, burrowing deep into him, piercing his very heart. Tony was suddenly struck with how beautiful she was—a concentrated intelligence, strength, and courage moulded into the form of a woman. He was instantly washed with the feeling that this woman was, in fact, alive, breathing, real, something precious, something valuable, to be treasured, to be revered, worshipped—
" Who is it?"
Tony blinked. " Huh?"
Ziva had a mischievous smile on. " I know when you're rehearsing, you know." Her eyes glittered. " Who's the chick?"
What?
" I don't know what you're talking about."
" Oh come on, Tony." She held her nose high. " Really, I'm impressed. You really know what to say to a woman now. You hardly need to practice on me."
She thinks I'm rehearsing my lines with her?
" There's no woman, and I'm not rehearsing." Tony replied dryly, feeling annoyed. " And even if there is another hot chick, I certainly have enough style not to need to practice with you."
" Keep telling yourself that." Ziva smirked, and walked away to her car, leaving Tony fuming a little.
That woman is so annoying! Tony thought resentfully. And I was only trying to be nice to her. If she's going to act like this, I'll stop worrying about her—
And then Tony realized he had just been expertly and completely diverted from his original goal.
" Damn it!"
oO
" There are a lot of Mossad agents in the US." Yilen observed. " I did not realize the alliance is so strong."
Ziva swung her bag onto the table and shrugged off her coat. " We need each other."
" I can understand that." Yilen lifted the paper and held it to the candle. Ziva grimaced a little at the smell in the room, but did not complain.
" I see a busy day ahead of me tomorrow." Yilen smiled at Ziva.
" I can help." Ziva offered.
Yilen considered her. " I certainly will not oppose that, if you feel up to it."
" You're the one with jetlag." Ziva laughed. " Really, I would much rather you feel truly comfortable before…"
Yilen took her hand. " Ziva, we are old friends. Let's not be too courteous, hm?"
Ziva smiled.
" But I will come." She insisted. " This is my problem, after all. One I merely cannot do alone."
" Alright then." Yilen smiled. She looked at another piece of paper. She did not read it out loud, but Ziva knew she was memorizing everything intently. She then lifted it to the candle.
At the bar, Tony was being quieter than usual, which caught the attention of Abby.
" He's just sad because he doesn't have a girlfriend." McGee took a drink.
" Look who's talkin'." Tony shot back, more irritated than he knew he should.
" Oh come on, lay off him McGee." Abby slapped McGee lightly on the arm. " Ziva still mad at you? She'll get over it. You know, pregnant women were always in a weird mood. Thought you would figure out such a thing."
" She's not pregnant." Tony shook his head. He was in too foul a mood to continue playing such a thing.
" How do you know?" McGee asked.
" Not her." Tony shook his head. " She'd be better about it than this. This is different."
" Well maybe she's worried she won't be able to support the kid."
" That doesn't make sense though." Abby protested. " She could just withdraw from Mossad for maternity leave, can't she? Nothing wrong with that."
" Who'd she be sleeping with?" Tony cocked an eyebrow. " She hasn't mentioned any guy. We'd know if there is a guy."
" You don't know that. It's Ziva."
" Well we're her mates." Tony slammed his beer down.
" Mates?" McGee blinked. " Going New England on us?"
" Shut up McGeek." Tony snapped. " There's something wrong, and she's not trusting us with it."
" Maybe it's better if we leave this alone for her to sort out." Abby said hesitantly.
Tony shook his head. " No. I get the feeling it's bad. It's really really bad."
He raised his mug and tipped the rest of the beer into his mouth.
oO
Yilen looked around. She had been in the position where she knew she could trust the backup she had under normal circumstances, yet this time was afraid of things going wrong. Normally, if Ziva and she were working together, they were unstoppable. But Ziva is stricken with illness, and while it seemed to be no worse than some occasional lapses in articulation when Ziva is not focused, Yilen could not help but wonder when it would suddenly progress.
Because it will progress.
" There's a bunch of men to your right," She heard Ziva say. " I can't see them very clearly, but they're there."
" How many?"
" Seven."
That was nothing. Yilen could just as easily evade them as attack. Since this was Ziva's 'mission' and not hers, she chose to evade. Her skills at keeping hidden were not as fine-tuned as Ziva's, but they were still formidable.
She could see the door, as she moved through the large boxes. Really, this was too easy. The terrorists around here not only put themselves in a maze, they do not post any guards to check behind the mazes. In China, Japanese soldiers have fallen many times from this mistake.
" Stop." Ziva suddenly spoke. " Three are passing by. You should be able to hide behind the lumber."
Yilen went low and did so. She heard the men speaking in Arabic as they passed by. She peered over the wood. There it was. The door.
Once they passed out of hearing range, Yilen spoke. " I think I'll wait here for a moment."
" Alright."
Normally, if this were a mission, Yilen would have burst into that door. The surprise alone would have placed her at an advantage. She would use her quick reflexes to target the boss, and if there were others with him, hold him hostage, then kill the others. She has done that before, it was almost childsplay. But this was not a mission, not a real one, at any rate, and it was not necessary to work so hastily. She could afford to wait until that door opens, to gauge whether or not a fight will ensue, not to mention an idea of the layout of the room. Just for better peace of mind.
At last the door opened. It did not give her full view of the room, but enough to know there was her target and at most one other person. She readied her gun as the door closed, but did not cock it until the door opened again. She flicked the gun as the door shut.
" Be careful."
" Be careful" is such a pointless warning when it came to spying most of the time, because most of the time being careful is not enough. A better promise would be " Be sharp", or something of that sort. Reacting quickly, regardless of what action, often saves lives more than simply being cautious. Spies must have a fast reflex of both mind and body.
But be careful has come to be more of a prayer for safe return than anything. Yilen smiled. She did not answer, instead she peered past the lumber to see the other men still distracted.
Then she gathered herself and moved quietly to the door and opened it. She slipped through and closed it silently before the individuals in there could even react. She did not even need to fire the muted gun—there was only one other woman besides her target. She hit the woman in the back of the head with her gun and pointed it to the man as the woman fell, unconscious.
" Ah—" She smiled, as the man started to speak. " I wouldn't do that if I were you."
She then knocked the man out. " I'm in."
" Sounded like there were two." Ziva observed.
" There were." Yilen replied. " His girlfriend, I assume."
" What does she look like?"
Hm, strange that she would ask that. " Hm, average height, thin, bit thinner than a mistress would, I think. Red hair. She's wearing khaki's and boots. Looks like she's a member, actually."
" She is. She's even more dangerous than Amid. Her name is Husn, though that's not her work name."
" I'd imagine not. What do you want me to do?" Yilen asked, while taking the syringe full of concentrated potassium.
Ziva's answer came without pause. " Take them both out."