Ch. 21 What Happened to You part 2
The sun was just beginning to set when they reached the city. The city itself was small and jumbled together. The buildings were a combination of newer steel and glass and older stone and brick. The older builds looked as though they'd been forced together by the construction of the new buildings.
Tony and Ziva abandoned the car in front of what seemed to be a local tavern. Ziva waited in the car as Tony asked directions to their contacts home. The directions led them to a shadier part of town, to an old run down building that looked as though it was being held up by the two buildings on either side of it. Tony and Ziva imperceptibly moved closer to each other.
The was cracked open after the fifth knock. A pair of eyes stared out, looking Tony and Ziva up and down.
"How can I help you?" Came a heavily accented English.
"Are you the only one who lives here?" asked Tony, not wanting to give away their purpose to a stranger.
"Yes," responded the man suspiciously.
"Then we're expected. Agent Gibbs should have phoned ahead." replied Tony, keeping his voice low.
"Agent Gibbs...ah, yes Agent Gibbs. Come in." The man's face had gone from complete confusion to a face of false understanding. It made Ziva uneasy. It was not the typical reaction people got from Gibbs' name. He led them into the building taking them into a kitchen. Slowly, he bustled around the room, pulling out two cups and a bottle of water, which he opened and poured for them.
"Please, sit. What are your names?" Again, this struck Ziva as odd as she and Tony sat. Why would Gibbs not tell him our names, she wondered wordlessly.
"I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo and this is Off-"
"Ziva David," cut in Ziva, throwing a faint glare at Tony. He simply shrugged, resigning himself to the fact that she'd explain herself later.
"David? A Hebrew name no doubt? Making you Jewish?" He said the word "Hebrew" and "Jewish" as if they left an ill taste in his mouth. Ziva saw such a flash of hatred in his eyes that she shuddered, backing up in her chair slightly. Tony looked between the two and decided it was safer for him to speak.
"Look sir, we're very tired. I need to call Agent Gibbs. Do you happen to have a satellite phone I could use?"
"Please, drink. And call me Tariq" Seeing that he wouldn't say anything else until they drank, Tony and Ziva reached forward and took a cup. Both took only a small mouthful to satisfy the man. He nodded when they set their cups back to the table, a small smile gracing his features.
"I will show you up to your room. My study is in room just before. I will get the phone from there while you two settle in." The three ascended the steps, Tony helping Ziva. They passed the man's study and Tony got a good look inside. It was modern, with a laptop on a desk and bookshelves filled with books in all sorts of languages. A window showed the roof of the building behind theirs. Tony entered his room with Ziva and deposited his bag on the floor. Ziva took a seat on the bed, looking to be in deep thought. He had time to take a deep breath before Tariq came in, with a phone in his hand.
Tony mumbled a small thanks as he began to dial the number. Tariq left the room leaving the door open.
"Gibbs," came a voice over the phone, Tony couldn't help but smile.
"Hey, Boss." replied Tony. Tony could hear the sigh of relief on the other side of the phone.
"DiNozzo. It's good to finally hear from you. Fill me in."
"We're in Heis, Boss, at your contact's place. Ziva's here. She's in a rough shape, but alert. Getting out of that camp was little tough, but we managed it."
"Good. We should be able to pick you up in twenty four hours. However, I want you to meet me at the local airstrip. It's got a small hanger and it's on the west side of town. It's the only one around."
"Got it, Boss." Tony's eyes fluttered suddenly and he gave a huge yawn. Suddenly, he felt dead on his feet.
"You need rest DiNozzo. You did good."
"Yeah..Boss, just one...more thing. Your con...tact? Tariq? Didn't you tell...him we were coming?" Tony was teetering on his feet.
"What? Tar... the infor..named Nazeem. Tony yo..at the...place. That's n..he..tact!"
"Sorry, Boss, can't hear you. Signal's going." Tony suddenly felt as though he was being watched. Clumsily, he spun around. His mind barely registered that Ziva was slumped unconscious on the bed. In the doorway, Tariq stood with a cigar smoking clamped between his teeth. In his hands he held a short wave signal scrambler. An evil smile plastered his face as he strode forward and plucked the phone from Tony's hand, ending the call with a press of a button. Tony simply sunk to the floor staring up at Tariq with his drooping eyes.
"Yes, DiNozzo. A sleeping agent in the water you drank. This should give our mutual friends a chance to catch up with you. They didn't like the slip in the desert. They'll be here soon. Sweet Dreams."
"How...you find us." asked Tony, fighting to remain conscious.
"What, you think we carved up your friend just to make her look like on of your turkeys? Check the base her neck one of these days." Tony lost his fight, sprawling on the floor completely.
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Ziva's head pounded as her eyes fluttered open. She sat up slowly from her position on the bed and then was overwhelmed with a wave of nausea. She lurched forward and emptied the contents of her stomach into a trash bucket by the door of their room. She silently cursed herself.
It was the blasted water. I knew something was wrong. Damn Tony and his trusting nature. Despite her thoughts, Ziva was overcome with a sense of concern for Tony. Finding it less pain to crawl along the floor, Ziva made her way to the other side of the bed where Tony's tall frame was sprawled on the floor. She drew herself level with his face. Letting her cheek hover over his face, she felt relief bloom in her chest, thawing the fear that had settled there at the thought that Tony might be dead.
She grabbed his wrist with the watch attached and saw that she at least had been out for seven hours, making it the middle of the night.
If that is the case, Tony should be coming to soon.
As if on cue, Tony let out a loud groan which Ziva instinctively muffled with her hand. His eyes opened and focused on her blearily. Slowly she drew her hand away.
"Sleeping drug, in the water." he muttered. Ziva simply nodded. Using the bed she pulled herself up and back up from Tony, anticipating his nausea, which presented itself just then. Tony shuddered and climbed to his feet.
"We have to leave." whispered Ziva. Tony nodded and grabbed his bag. Ziva went to the door and listened intently. Hearing no movement, Ziva tugged the door open.
Later, she would curse herself on not noticing the wire at the bottom of the door. But just then the blast that threw Ziva and Tony back against the opposite wall of the room completely occupied her thought.
Tony fought dizziness as he looked around. He heard nothing but saw that the blast not only blew apart the doorway but started a fire that was beginning to engulf the entire hallway and top floor. The first sound he did hear was cries of pain coming from somewhere to his left.
Shoving burning debris out of the way, Tony moved to where he heard the sounds. What he saw made him swear. Ziva's leg was caught under the door that betrayed her and in the same fell swoop, protected her from the full force of the blast. Like Tony, her cloths were burned and her skin had burns. Tony cast an eye around the room and house that was quickly being consumed by ferocious. It seemed that some sort of fuel had been triggered by the bomb blast. He quickly turned back to Ziva and scalding his hands slightly, he pushed the burning door off of Ziva's leg. She gave out another cry of pain. Tony, thankfully, saw that her leg wasn't broken; but, the skin was burned in places and in others torn up by the door that had splintered.
Pulling himself up to Ziva he grasped her head with both of his hands.
"Ziva, listen to me!" he shouted over the roaring fire and ringing in his ears from the bomb blast. She blinked away the tears filling her eyes.
"Ziva, this place is coming down. If we don't move, we die. I need to keeping moving no matter how bad it hurts. We've got to move or we die. And I will not exit this building without you." Ziva looked him in the eyes and nodded. Tony jumped slightly as a beam came crashing down from the ceiling. He hauled Ziva to her feet. Ziva bit back the cry of pain, but could not stop the tears falling from her eyes.
Tony pulled Ziva's arm around her shoulder and half dragged her from the room, her leg now useless. The house was completely consumed by fire and smoke, choking Tony as he looked around trying to find an out. The heat got so intense that he had no choice put to pull himself and Ziva into the next room. Tariq's study.
Coughing through the smoke, Tony looked and saw a sign of hope. The window behind the desk opened to the roof of the next building. Coughing and pulling Ziva, he made it to the window. Ziva then spoke.
"Tony. Phone. Desk." she coughed the words out and Tony looked at the desk. There, as if a gift, sat the satellite phone. Quickly, Tony grabbed the phone and stuffed it into his pocket. He leaned Ziva against the desk and tried to open the window, but it was too hot for Tony to grab. He took a step back and kicked at the window. It only cracked. Chunks of ceiling fell, spraying them with hot ashes. The room was coming apart, the door burning and the metal of the hinges melting. Knowing that he had seconds, Tony let out a guttural yell and with all the strength he had kicked the window out, creating an opening. His heart dropped, seeing that the roof of the next building was two stories down and required a seven foot jump.
Tony turned back into the room and felt Ziva lean up against him. He saw the desk she was previously leaning on had finally caught flame.
"We gotta jump Ziva, it's our only shot. Just hold onto to me for the jump, but if you can let go when we hit the roof." Another blast echoed through the house.
"Move," stated Ziva. Ziva pulled her left arm out of it's tattered sling and put it around Tony's neck. The other hand she reached under his arm to grasp her hand around his back. She looked into her eyes and nodded once. Tony jumped out into the air.
The room they were in exploded behind them the blast propelling them forward onto the roof. Ziva let go and both of them hit the roof in a painful jumble. Tony looked back at the building as it burned in a sort of demented rage, as though it were furious that two of it's occupants had escaped. Tony rolled to his feet and went to where Ziva was laying. He pulled her to her feet, where she rested most of her weight on him.
"You okay?" Tony asked, then mentally kicking himself for asking such a stupid question.
To his surprise, Ziva let out a small laugh.
"Considering the circumstances, Tony, I'm doing quite well." Tony smiled a little and then hobbled them both off to the edge of the rooftop.
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"Tony, will stop being a baby and let me look at it?" Ziva sat on the dingy bed with her leg propped up as Tony paced, trying to clean a wound he'd received on his arm sometime in the fire.
"Zee, I got. Stop... nagging. You should be more concerned with your current state of health rather than mine." Tony continued to pace, frustrated and not being able to clean the whole wound when he heard the sound of slow, shuffling feet. When he turned, Ziva was right in front of him.
"The fact is, Tony, that I am concerned about your state of health. I am forever indebted to you. The least I can do his help you with your arm." At this point, Ziva was standing mostly one one leg, favoring the left one that was injured in the bomb blast. Tony sighed and rubbed his head with his other hand.
"Will you sit down if I say yes?" Ziva gave a half smile and hobbled back to the bed, propping her leg up again. After getting off the roof, Tony and Ziva had gone back to their discarded car where they'd left most of their gear and headed west towards the airport hanger. Along the way, they'd found a small road side inn where they'd decided to stop in for the remainder of the night. The Innkeeper ask no questions about Tony or his attire, but gave them a tiny room with a chair, a bed, a sink, toilet and shower. The first thing Tony did was call Gibbs and filled him in. Gibbs promised to be there in three hours.
Tony sat next to Ziva on the bed handing her the antiseptic wipes that he'd been unsuccessfully trying to use. Without asking permission or really giving Tony a chance to argue, she undid what was left of his shirt and slowly slid it off his body. Tony shuddered slightly when he felt her surprisingly cool hands on his arms. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"What, Tony?" asked Ziva, effectively controlling the tremor in her voice. Pulling Tony's shirt off for him gave her a more than friendly feeling towards him; one that she wasn't quite ready to explore just then.
"I dunno David, you seemed to enjoy that." Tony's voice was light hearted despite their circumstance. Ziva gave him a smile.
"Well, Tony, you are much more pleasant on the eyes than you used to be."
"Hey, I've always been a fine example of superior male fitness."
"Hush and stop moving. Let me look at this." Tony's wound was on his left bicep and seemed to be bad abrasion, probably caused by flying debris. As gently as she could, Ziva cleaned the wound and wrapped it firmly in a fresh bandage.
"There you go, Tony, good as new."
Tony pulled on a tee shirt as he spoke. "Thanks. You know, speaking of good as new, the swelling in your face is almost gone. Looks like you'll have a pretty wicked scar across your eyebrow." Ziva's face clouded slightly, but she tried to hide the fact from Tony.
"I am glad to hear that Tony. Finally getting back to normal." Tony wasn't fooled.
"I said something wrong, I can tell." He looked at her, concern written on his face. Ziva shook her head slightly and looked down.
"It is nothing you said Tony. It is just that I will never be able to forget about this. Ever." Suddenly Ziva looked up, anger and confusion written on her face.
"Every time I look at myself in a mirror Tony, I will see their faces. And I will think of the betrayal and my blindness, my inability to see the corruption around me." Tony shift over so that he lay on his back on the bed and gently pulled Ziva down next to him. For once, she didn't fight, but buried her head in his shoulder. She didn't cry, but Tony felt the anger edging off.
"Zee...what happened to you back there?" Ziva turned her face out of his shoulder and drew a deep breath before speaking.
"They tried to break me Tony. It was like having a veil viscously torn from your face, where the hand grabbing it scratches you in the process. What hurt the most was realizing that I had betrayed the only people who had truly cared about me and that I might never get the chance to say I was sorry. I thought I was going to die and I had accepted it. I got to the point that I considered death the proper form of atonement for the things I had done and allowed to happen." Ziva stopped speaking and turned her head back into Tony's shoulder. Tony just held her tighter, not finding words to say that might comfort her. They lay that way for a while.
Suddenly, as though being shocked, Tony remembered his conversation with Tariq.
"Ziva , let me see the back of your neck. Quick." Confused, Ziva turned so Tony could see. He swore aloud at what he saw. Barely under the skin was a small black strip. It looked as though it had been put there early on because in three weeks, the skin had grown over it.
"Okay, Ziva, I have to do something that's gonna hurt a lot for you." And me, thought Tony to himself.
"What is it Tony?" asked Ziva, slightly worried.
"The bastards inserted a GPS tracker at the base of your skull under the skin. I need to cut out."
"Are you joking, Tony?"
"Do I usually ask to cut into your neck?" Tony asked pulling out his knife. Before Ziva could say anything else, he cut across the skin that covered the device and pulled it out. He moved so quickly that Ziva had time only to utter a quick yelp of pain before he held up a bandage to the wound. Reaching around her he held up this device for her to see.
"Harah." she muttered. Using his hands Tony broke the delicate piece of equipment. Easing himself from the bed he went to the door. He went into the hallway and listened down. To his acute frustration and horror, he heard the rough voice of Tariq hassling the innkeeper, who was mercifully keeping the confidentiality of his guest. Tony reentered the room and got Ziva to her feet as he explained.
"Tariq is here. Gibbs will be here in a half an hour. We need to get to that hanger now."