Consequences of Love and War: Chapter 11
A/N: To summarize the search for Dr. Alyse Aachen thus far: Abby is analyzing the video of the abduction. Gibbs spoke to a physician Dr. Aachen worked with in Afghanistan - and didn't learn anything. Tony and Ziva are waiting for approval from the State Department and Department of the Navy to work with Mossad Officer Raanan Thal in attempts to get more information, while trying to figure out what Director Vance's mindgames mean for them and their careers and their relationship. Peter Kirkan is going through past conversations with his wife, trying to find clues, and Gibbs is, in turn, looking into the man he knew twenty years before.
Tony DiNozzo groaned at the sound of his alarm going off, much earlier than any alarm clock in the country should be going off. "Not today," he murmured into his pillow, rolling away from the sound and taking his blankets with him. Instead of returning the gesture with an equal tug of her own, Ziva just leaned over him and turned off the alarm.
"You do not have to join me," she commented as she climbed out of bed. He groaned and dramatically threw away the covers.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," he muttered. "Why the hell do you have to insist on running at 0500, anyway?" he grumbled as he made his way to the bathroom. Ziva just rolled her eyes and began dressing for their run.
In early March, the air was still cold as they wound their way through the familiar streets. They ran without speaking for the first couple of miles, their breaths fogging in front of them, the sounds of their feet on the sidewalk and the occasional car driving by to break the silence. "Is Thal really going to help us?" Tony finally asked as they rounded a corner. They ran another block without speaking as Ziva considered both the question and her answer. They didn't often talk about work while running—or any other time that they weren't at work—which occasionally created long periods of time when they didn't talk about much at all. There wasn't much to their lives other than work and Tony's movies, and Ziva could only stand conversations about Hollywood's greatest moments in small doses.
"Yes," she finally answered, her eyes fixed on the road ahead, not turning to glance over at him. "It is a mutually beneficial arrangement. She would not gain anything by backing up on the agreement."
"Out," he corrected with an absent grin, his eyes similarly looking forward. "Backing out."
"Yes, that," she replied quickly. They were running a little slower than their usual pace, which she was able to recognize as, but smart enough not to comment on, being a result of the cold air on Tony's plague-scarred lungs. "We still have yet to hear if the SecNav or the Secretary of State is willing to cooperate and release Hardoon's location."
"True," he conceded. They ran another two blocks without speaking before he said, "This doesn't feel right."
"Your lungs?" she asked without thinking. He frowned and glanced over at her before his eyes returned to the sidewalk. As if responding to an unspoken challenge, he picked up the pace. Ziva had no problems keeping up.
"My lungs are fine," he said tersely. "I meant with the case."
"Oh."
"You really think there's something wrong with my breathing?"
"Tony…"
"I may be going a little slower this morning, but as I recall, last night, you—"
"Tony."
"What?"
"The case?" She mentally rolled her eyes at how he appeared to get side-tracked so easily. She knew it was just one of his things, a way of keeping one step ahead of his adversaries by catching them off-guard with sudden competence after making them think he was a bumbling idiot. Based on the argumentative nature of their relationship, she was more often than not that adversary. Unfortunately for Tony, she wasn't so easily fooled, and she learned long ago that despite his joking nature, he was far from being idiotic.
He gave her a quick grin, and this time she did roll her eyes, but then he became serious. "Nothing about this is adding up. We know she was targeted specifically. The guy waited for her in her office. He waited for her to get on the webcam, so we assume he wanted this known, but we haven't heard any follow-up demands. And then there's the logistics of the whole situation."
"How they knew that she would be in her office, how they knew who to capture," Ziva filled in. She couldn't help but feel a surge of pride at hearing Tony's line of thinking out loud. He was a dogged investigator, she knew that—always asking questions, not giving up until he was satisfied. What she was proud of was that he had learned to apply that not only to murderers and embezzlers, but to the terrorism arena as well. It wasn't an easy aspect of crime to understand, but he was certainly on his way there. She just wished Vance was able to see that as well.
"Right," he agreed with a nod. "We don't know yet if any detainees were taken as well, because we can't get in touch with anyone who will tell us a damned thing. And if they were," he paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts and catching his breath while trying to appear that he wasn't catching his breath, "why get them from a closely guarded base, instead of attacking a convoy while they were in transit?"
"This may be related to the attack on the convoy a few hours previous," Ziva reminded him.
"But that still doesn't answer why they would take her from her office or how they knew how to find her office," he pointed out. "Or how they got on base. Or why. She went outside the wire to help bring in casualties. If they wanted her specifically, or a doctor in general, they should have taken her then, when things were too chaotic for anyone to notice until a few hours later."
"Good point," she agreed. "There is also the question of why her specifically."
"You don't think it has to do with her work with the detainees?" This time, he looked over at her and frowned, trying to follow her line of thinking.
She shook her head quickly. "That is what I am trying to say," she explained. "It is what needs to be determined. It is unlikely that she was taken to provide medical care."
"Because she's a she."
"Yes. If these are radical Muslims seeking medical care, they would not take a female physician."
"So if they weren't just looking for a new primary care physician…?"
"Then it is probably because she said or heard something that she should not have." He felt an involuntary chill down his spine as he suddenly realized that they were in even more of a time-crunch than they previously thought. "It is also possible that her mere presence in the detainee center was offensive to them," Ziva continued. "In addition, we can not exclude the possibility that this is an action of revenge. If a detainee had died under her care, it is possible that members of his cell would hold her personally responsible and would like their vengeance."
He was silent as he considered this, not wanting to but having no choice. Things were not looking good for Dr. Aachen. "If that's what this is," he began, "how long would they keep her alive?"
Ziva considered this as they ran another block. "If they are after vengeance and are patient and angry, they will draw out their torture," she finally said. "If they think that she knows something, they would be pressing for information. In those cases, the questions we need to ask are, how diligent would they be, and how long would Dr. Aachen be able to hold out to torture?"