Ch..8 Showdown Part 2
"So Leroy: Do you think they will come for you his time?" Gibbs knew his team was coming. Abdul couldn't dream of convincing him otherwise. However, after seeing what Abdul had in mind for Ziva, he wasn't sure he wanted them to come anymore. More than anything, he wanted his family safe. They meant the world to him. He'd die for any of them, so long as he knew Abdul could never get to them again. Because he wasn't assured of Abdul's demise, he kept fighting.
"Will Ziva save you Leroy? She let her own brother die. Why not you? What makes you...different, special?" Abdul was biding his time. He was convinced of his victory over the NCIS agents. All that was left at this point was for Ziva to show up. I will get retribution, thought Abdul to himself. He had been furious at the cemetery. The agents had come so close to spoiling the grand finale.
"Oh, she'll come Ab. I promise you that. Now, I have a question: Why do you call me Leroy?"
Abdul regarded Gibbs with contemplative eyes. He had been expecting the question sooner. He had hoped to annoy Gibbs, but that small plan did not work.
"I call you Leroy because I hate you. But, you deserve respect. So: I do not call you Jethro because we are not equal level colleagues, like Mr. Mallard. I do not call you Gibbs because you are not my friend, like Abby or the Director. You are no longer a gunnery sergeant, so 'Gunny' is out of the question. Finally, you are not my boss and I refuse to refer to you as such. You are just a man, who, when stripped of his titles and his friends, is weak and worthless."
"How long have you been watching us?"
"Long enough Leroy. Enough to despise the happiness that you and your agents have in your lives while you ignore the lives of those you shatter through your work."
Gibbs decided not to respond. Abdul would not hear him no matter what he had to say. Instead he decided to examine the warehouse he was in. Frankly it astounded him. It's sophistication alone remarked on how long Abdul had worked for his and Ziva's demise. It showed years of work. It had been converted from a warehouse into the most gruesome looking obstacle course Gibbs had ever laid eyes on. It was complete with a spike pit under a single taut rope, wall climbing, and went so far as to include swinging pendulums with razor sharp blades and false and uneven floors. Not only was it an obstacle course: it was a maze. It ended with a twenty foot rope climb which ended at the lip of a huge, clear vat of water. The vat was where Gibbs and Abdul were. More Gibbs than Abdul of course. Gibbs was bound at the hands and ankles. In addition, Abdul attached a manacle to Gibbs' ankles that was attached to a seven foot long chain that had a sixty pound weight attached to the end. Gibbs was situated on a plank bridge extending the fifteen foot diameter of the tub, the weight next to him. Well, thought Gibbs to himself, we've dwelt with loony before, but this is ridiculous. It's like a scene out one of DiNozzo's damn movies!
"Since when did you get so crafty Abdul? This is a little broader than bomb chemistry."
"Leroy, do you think I waste my time with my associates? Everyman killed at the cemetery had a part in making this what it is. They were crafty. I, however, am cunning."
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Tony couldn't help but be proud of NCIS when he and Ziva arrived at the warehouse district. Any agent knew that Leroy Jethro Gibbs was a hero to many people and they owed it to him and his team to try to help him in one of the few time they've ever requested help. McGee was waiting with a laptop and Agent Jardine.
"Tony, all the agents cleared the district. Word came through that the Director supports you as head of this op, so it's an official go. I have some bad news though. First bit: windows on the first floor of the warehouse are totally covered. Only way we can see in through the windows along the balcony. There's an outside access point into the building from the balcony, however, our ability to reach Ziva should something go amiss , will be hindered by the fact we have to climb down to get to her. Second bit: Ziva, Abdul turned this warehouse into a maze and obstacle course. I can give you the physical layout, but as to any booby traps, I have no idea where or what they might be, but they're there I sure."
McGee held his computer so that Ziva could see and memorize the course Abdul had laid out for her. On the outside, her face was impassive, merely carrying the expression of intense focus. On the inside, however, she was scared. She knew she had the training to get through the course, but that didn't erase the apprehension blossoming in her chest.
Nodding her head with satisfaction at having memorized all that she could she looked up at her colleagues.
"I am going in. Do not enter this warehouse if there is no need. Keep watch, but please, no matter what, do not compromise the situation. Gibbs' life depends on it." She was about to pull the door open when Tony's voice called out, "Be safe,Ziva." She glanced back and caught his eyes briefly, knowing that there was much more in his words than merely a plea for caution. Then, squaring her shoulders, Ziva turned and pushed the door open.
The maze was comprised of large steel panels to high to climb over. Ziva tapped the bowie knife at her waist for reassurance, having removed all other combat equipment. Just wonderful, thought Ziva to herself. Another Harry Potter book.
Ziva proceeded cautiously down a short corridor that started at the door of the warehouse. She had then option to go right or left. She chose right in accordance with McGee's computer. She moved soundlessly for about a minute before she decided it was too quiet. Abdul enjoys bells and whistles. Ziva slowed her pace and proceed slowly. Unfortunately, the shadows cast by the iron walls prevented her from seeing the trip wire that let loose the first false floor, revealing a mess of metal barbs underneath. In mid-fall, Ziva turned tried desperately to grab something to prevent her fall. She succeeded in grabbing the trip wire and held on despite the small wire cutting into her hand. Ignore the pain, Ziva pulled herself up enough to put a leg to the ledge and hoist herself up the rest of the way. Finally out of harms way, she cursed herself for her carelessness. Taking one of the handkerchiefs she had wisely chosen to put in her pockets out, she wrapped her hand, which in addition to being cut by the wire was bleeding from reopened stitches.
Seeing the false floor only extended five feet, she jumped over it. She continued until she hit another fork: left or straight. Judging the end of the maze to be the back of the warehouse, Ziva chose left and after ten feet hit what appeared to be a dead end. Except, the wall looked different from those in the corridors. It was textured. After running her hands over the wall she discovered lumps in it that could just barely pass as foot and hand holds. Go back and find something safer, or try the wall. No, thought Ziva, I cannot go back. It is too indirect. Steeling herself, she began her ascent. Fortunately, she made it to the top without mishap, but was dismayed at what lay on the other side. It was the one and only spike pit in the maze. Unfortunately, there was no ledge under the wall Ziva had just climbed, only a taut rope extending across the ten foot long spike pit.
Aiming carefully, Ziva let herself fall towards the pit. She caught herself with her arms, wrapping then around the thick rope. The impact strained her muscles, but she managed to keep herself from falling into the pit. With hands and legs, she shimmied over the pit. Safely on the other side of the pit, Ziva rested. However the momentary peace was destroyed when a voice rang out through the warehouse.
"Tired Ziva? You must continue on. I will not linger with Leroy for much longer."
Despite fatigue and exhaustion, Ziva launched herself to her feet with new energy. I have to get to Gibbs she thought determinedly. Ziva pushed onward, taking a left and afterwards a right. After twenty more minutes, Ziva had managed to cross perilously uneven floors, avoid three more trip wires and scaled two more walls and aside from a few scrapes and bruises, came out in one piece. And now, she had finally hit the home stretch. The pendulums. Fifteen feet of alternately moving razor sharp blades. There was no avoiding them either, for directly on the other side was the rope to climb up the water tub. Ziva stared at the swinging blades and calculated. She had to have perfect timing.
She stood silently for five full minutes. Then...
"One...Two...Three!" She muttered under her breath as she lunged forward. She moved with a serpent's dexterity and yet with the grace of a dancer as she jumped, shuffled and rolled away from the swinging blades. Finally, she reached the other side. She looked at the rope as a final test. She'd made it through a twisted hell borne of the mind of a twisted man. If she could survive that she could survive a rope climb.
Ziva kept these thoughts in her mind as she climbed the rope. It took all of her will power to continue up the twenty feet. It was really her friends that kept her going. She knew for one that they were watching and had been watching the whole time. She also knew that Gibbs was waiting and he had not granted her permission to stop fighting. When she reached the top of the tank, she breathed a sigh of relief that was quickly replaced with a gasp of anger when she saw Gibbs and the weight and Abdul standing behind him. It was time.