Ch. 2 Explanation
Tony chose not to respond to Ziva at that moment. He would have time to question her in a moment.
"McGee! Start a search. Get everything you can on this guy. These is how this is going down: We do not tell anybody outside the three of us about this. No one, at least not yet. If anyone asks, Gibbs had an emergency and had to rush to see his dad at Stillwater. Officer David, Gibbs' office."
Ziva was getting annoyed with Tony's use of her last name. He still did not seem to grasp how dangerous their situation was. Ten seconds after the elevator started, Tony punched the emergency stop.
"Alright Ziva spill." Tony was mad and Ziva could tell.
"Abdul al Qalim is Hamas. He was part of a group in DC a couple of years ago. You may remember the Marine One incident, yes?"
Revelation dawned on Tony. "This is about Ari isn't it?" Tony asked in a quiet voice.
"It would seem so Tony." There was more to the story. Ziva wanted to tell Tony but she was afraid to. She didn't know if she could face a truth she'd learned to accept with Tony there. But dammit, it is my fault, thought Ziva. Tony noticed the reoccupied look on her face.
"What aren't you telling me Ziva?" Tony was in overdrive. Gibbs' life was in danger and he wanted to do something. He couldn't afford to miss anything Ziva had to say.
"Tony, Gibbs did not kill Ari. I did." Ziva turned away from Tony, waiting for him to process her words. In sudden flash of anger and realization, Tony grabbed Ziva's arm, turned her to face him and pushed her back into the elevator wall.
"Are you telling me that it's your fault Gibbs has been kidnapped by some terrorist?" Tony was practically yelling his accusation. He immediately regretted his words when he saw the hurt in Ziva's eyes. She grabbed his hand and pulled it from her arm forcefully. She visibly winced as she did so. Regardless of the pain, gripped his hand firmly, forcing him to pay attention to her.
"Tony, Ari was about to shoot Gibbs when I put a bullet in the back of his head. Gibbs did me a favor by saying he killed Ari. As you know, I was Ari's control officer. I should have known what he was up to. Beyond that, Ari was my brother! My own family Tony. I had to kill him to save Gibbs. How do you explain that to the Mossad Director who also happens to be your father? How?" Now Ziva was yelling at Tony. Before Tony could respond, Ziva started again. "and now, Gibbs, who is the only person who has ever acted like a true father to me is kidnapped because he helped me save my career! Yes, Tony, I am telling you it is my fault! Are you happy Tony? Now you have someone to blame." By this point Ziva had unnoticed tears streaming down her face. Tears for Ari, whom she had loved. Tears for Gibbs, whom she was terrified to lose. And finally, tears for herself, her frustration. She hated knowing that is Gibbs died, it was her fault. It should be her taken by the vengeful terrorists, not Gibbs.
Tony felt stunned. He had never received this much information from Ziva at once. And this was only a small taste of the awful truths she had to live with. Tony couldn't imagine what else she never shared and suddenly understood why she didn't talk about her past. It hurt to much. Tony looked at Ziva whose eyes were trained on the floor of the elevator but still held Tony's hand firmly.
"Ziva, I'm sorry," whispered Tony. Tony pulled Ziva towards him and she just let her head fall against his shoulder. Tony wrapped his arms around her and let her cry. When her tears stopped coming, Tony took all small step back, holding Ziva by the shoulders.
"We're going to get Gibbs back. Besides, he's the boss. Hey won't let some scumbag beat him." Ziva gave Tony a small smile. He responded in kind and then brought her injured hand up to his face. "You're bleeding Zee." Tony punched the elevator back into motion and let it continue down to autopsy.
Autopsy turned out to be empty. Ducky and Palmer must have been out for another team.
"Ziva, plant yourself on one of the tables while I get some gauze and stitching stuff." Ziva silently complied.
Tony returned with a tray of needle and thread, gauze and a syringe full of pain killer.
"Are you going to knit up my hand Tony?" asked Ziva, trying to lighten the mood.
"Stitch Ziva. I'm going to stitch up your hand. While I work on your hand, tell me about Abdul." Ziva gathered her thoughts as Tony gently unwrapped the bloody gauze around the fingers of her right hand.
"Abdul al Qalim is a Saudi Arabian born terrorist. His kills lie in chemistry. I have never heard of anyone that can put a bomb together better he can. He can make anything explode, or so the rumor goes. He is the man who makes the bomb that straps to the suicide bomber's chest. Seven years ago, the cell he worked in in Palestine was discovered and cleaned out by Mossad. We lost track of him then. Two years later, we got word that he was in America working with another cell. Turns out he became close to Ari and the rest, is how do you say, a story?
"History, the rest is history." Tony had managed to unwrap her knuckles, clean off the blood and remove the ripped stitches. Hey reached for the syringe of pain killer when Ziva stopped him. "Tony, I need to use this hand. Do not inject that."
"Ziva, It's gonna hurt like hell if I don't."
"Tony there are worst things." Tony shrugged his shoulders and began to stitch up Ziva's hand. Ziva managed to be silent for most of it but could not hold back a yelp of pain when he gently tightened the string. Tony cut the string and wrapped Ziva's hand so that she would have maximum mobility.
"The nose still okay?" asked Tony teasingly.
"Yes Tony the nose is fine," replied Ziva just as Tony's phone rang. It was McGee.
"Tony, I don't know where you are, but you better get up here. We got our first message."