Hello, and here I am with another chapter. I presume most of you hate me and want to kill me, but I have some good news for you. I have the next chapter done. However I have a favour to ask before I post it...REVIEW please :))I know some of you got bored by my long absence but I would still be very very happy if you could tell me, if you like it or it's crap. Anyway enjoy :))

xoxo LT

The Dragon and the Assassin

Abby woke when something soft brushed her cheek. Slowly she fluttered her eye lids open, only to spot two bright chocolate eyes staring back at her in amazement. The usually hyper Goth, could only glare back at the small creature with the intriguing shy smile. Slowly Abby raised her right hand and let her fingers come in contact with the rosy cheek of the small girl.

Dani let out a shy giggle and Abby's smile brightened. She had to admit that the little girl fascinated her; she had the impression she was looking at a tame, shy mini Ziva. Although the girl did not bare any resemblance to the Mossad liaison officers, Abby still preferred to believe that this small girl is a mirror into Ziva's past.

"You have nice hair." Dani spoke softly and Abby chuckled.

"Would you like me to braid yours, Dani?" The Goth asked, already certain of the answer.

Dani squealed and jumped to her feet, while Abby rose from her lying position and turned her back to the huge love seat she had in her office. With her back slumped against it, the Goth crossed her legs Indian style, and patted her lap. Without further explanation Dani made herself comfortable in Abby's lap and picked up Bert on the way.

"Do you know a story Abby?" Dani asked, still focused on the farting hippo.

"Ahm…yeah…sort of; but what would you like to hear?" the forensic scientist asked, unsure.

"With princesses and dragons and lots of fairies."

"Oh boy! She wants to hear that kind of story. Crap! Why wasn't I paying attention when they though the basics of telling stories. Crap!" the Goth though anxiously while combing Dani's hair.

"Well, ahm… let's see. Once upon a time there was this beautiful princess, who lived in a land far far away. She was beautiful and smart and her name was…ahm…her name was..."Abby trailed away, trying to come up with a suitable name.

"Dani!" the girl squeaked.

"Yeah, that's right. Her name was Dani. So princess Dani was sitting on a bench one day, in the park of her castle, minding her own business, when suddenly this huge, mean, dark, flaming throwing dragon appeared and he... Oh…hey Gibbs." Abby greeted looking at the gray haired agent.

"Ziva, are you feeling ok?" Tony asked concern written all over his beautiful features.

"Fine, Tony just a little bit tiered." She smiled back.

"I'm going with Alison to get some coffee from the wending machine, would you like some." He asked crouching down next to her chair.

She nodded in response, and he brushed a strain of hair and tucked it behind her ear.

"Ok, I'll be right back. I think I need to get one for Probie as well. If Gibbs sees him sleeping on the job, he will have his head." Tony chuckled, looking at the younger agent twitch in his sleep.

Ziva giggled at the thought of Gibbs killing McGee causing Tony to smile softly.

"I will be right back sweetcheeks." He said kissing, Ziva on her soft hair.

Once out of sight, Ziva placed her head on her arms. She thought of dozing off for a few seconds, until Tony brought her coffee. Her eyes shut and she thought about how she would take a bath and get some proper sleep after this case was going to be wrapped up. Her pleasant dreams were cut off by the irritating vibration of her phone. Her head shot up and she picked up her phone. Ziva frowned annoyed when she saw that the called id was hidden; in spite of her better judgment she answered.

"David."

"Hello officer David" a low voiced spoke.

"Who is this?" she trailed away.

Always so inpatient. What happened to old fashioned courtesy of saying hello officer David?" the voice spoke.

"I would greet you properly if I would get a name first." She continued, but a harsh laugh stopped her from adding anything else.

"My name is not important Ziva, but what I hold in my possession might be of some interest to you. I think your friend Alison would like to get her precious Alberto back."

"So you have not sliced him open yet. How thoughtful of you." She bit back.

"Tsa-tsa! Now why on earth would I want to do that. This man has family, and I presume his wife and child would like to have him back in one piece."

"What do you want?" Ziva spoke harshly.

"A trade."

"Be more specific. What kind of trade?"

"In exchange for lt. Meruni's life I want… you Ziva David."

She bit back a threat and tried to get her breathing under control. Why wasn't she surprised? Her gut had told her all along that this had something to do with her.

"Why me?" she finally managed to say, quickly looking over at McGee's desk to make sure that he was still asleep.

"Because it is only fair. You took what's mine and I will take what is yours." The voice spoke, and Ziva could finally notice that it was a male voice.

"What have I taken from you? Who are you?"

"Patience my dear. You will find out in due time. Now listen carefully." The voice instructed.

"Anthony, I need to ask you something?" Alison spoke

"Shoot."

"You, love her, don't you?" She said, leaning on the vending machine, sipping from her styrofoam cup.

Tony, nervously brushed his right eye brow, letting out a nervous laugh.

"Is it that obvious?" he finally asked.

"No. But don't forget I am Mossad." She spoke, taking another sip from the cheap liquid.

"Heh. I always forget that. Yeah, Alison, I love her. She means the world to me." He spoke, and it felt right to say it out loud.

The truth had scared him for a while, but now he knew that this was something he wanted to share with the rest of the world. He Anthony DiNozzo, notorious womanizer, was in love with Ziva David, the dangerous Mossad assassin.

"Well, I'm glad for the both of you. I think you can make each other very happy." Alison said softly.

"Thanks Alison. You were wrong about her. She's not the same person anymore. Ziva changed so much over the past couple of years." Tony's piercing eyes, making his point known.

"I know Tony. Believe me, I know." She replied ashamed of the words she had thrown in Ziva's face earlier.

"I think we should get back. Gibbs could be back any minute, and I really need to wake McGeek up, or Gibbs will kill him brutally." Tony laughed, grabbing another cup of coffee for the younger agent.

"I hope you all have something for me, or else…" Gibbs spoke, letting his words sink in, but awaiting a response from his tiered agents.

Ziva looked around the office, hoping that she wouldn't be required to lie to the team. She hated this plan, but she knew it was the only way, to make sure that Alberto will not be killed and that the man, who called himself The Dragon, will not blow up the whole damn NCIS building or the surrounding area.

She slowly rose from her chair and walked over to the plasma, at the same time noticing the four sets of eyes were watching her every move.

"They have made contact, around thirty minutes ago. A man, which calls himself The Dragon has called me and demanded money, more precisely ten billion Euros for the release of Alberto Meruni. They will meet me at Alison's house at 10:00 o'clock this morning. Alison and Dani will come along, but no other agent is allowed to follow us. If any NCIS, FBI agent or the local Leo's tail us and move in, the Dragon will blow up the whole neighborhood. He's not playing, and my stupid mistrust forced him to prove it." She spoke, while turning the plasma on, and increasing the volume. ZNN, was covering a recent incident; two burning building, both in the DC suburbs.

The team watched the unfolding scene in horror.

"Like I said, he is not joking. He told me that he made sure that the homes were empty…this time. If we don't give him what he wants, this will go on. If I don't show up with Alison and Dani, The Dragon will kill Alberto and with each passing hour he will blow up a house, until he receives his money." She trailed away, her confidence shacking on the inside, but she let no sign of distress puncture her perfect mask.

"McGee, did you trace the call?" Gibbs spat out angry, his eyes never leaving Ziva's face.

"I..I.." McGee began

"He was using the restroom during that time Gibbs." Ziva lied, but she winced internally when she saw Gibb's hard expression. She knew that he didn't buy the story, but was relieved to see that he decided to drop it. From the corner of her eye, she noticed McGee breath in relief, and a tiny smile adorned her features.

Ziva managed to tear her eyes, from Gibb's piercing gaze and looked around the bull pen. Alison looked relieved, Abby was holding Dani, but her features were tense and there was Tony. She noticed the struggle going on inside his head; she wanted to reassure him that everything was going to be fine, but she didn't believe it herself.

Slowly she walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, she decided to do what was best for them…lie.

"Tony, I will be fine. I am Mossad; what on earth could happen to me?"

"I'm sorry Tony. I hate lying to you, but it's better like this. No innocent people need to die, because I saved my life." She though, while she spoke the other words.

"Ziva, I'm not letting you get in there by yourself. I don't want anybody harming you, and I am your partner after all." He explained, pulling her towards him.

"Nothing will happen to me Tony. Please, let me do what he instructed me to do. No one will get hurt, Alberto will be reunited with his family and we can finally go home and get some proper sleep." She spoke, determined.

Before Tony could protest, Gibb's booming voice caught their attention.

"Ziver, gear up. You're going in." He sighted. One could see that he was not particularly happy about this.

She only nodded and slipped away from Tony's embrace before he could restrain her. The Israeli moved towards her desk and opened up the last drawer from her desk. A small suite case came into view. The boys looked at it intrigued, but Alison did not bother to glare at Ziva's actions of her black suite case. She already knew what the small suite case contained.

Ziva unzipped the small container and took out four small knifes, two small guns and the amo for it, plus two other large guns with silencers. Once her gear was removed from their container, she took her sweater off, remaining in a thin cotton top. She turned around, pulling her top up and securing two thin satin belts across her chest and abdomen, then attached one of the larger guns, the silencer and a knife to her chest. She pulled her top back down, and got a black turtle neck sweater from one of her drawers. Swiftly she spun around only to unzip her boots. With precise movements, she pulled a thin layer of fabric from the inner part of her right and left boot. Ziva attached two other knifes in there and then pealed the fabric over them; nothing could be noticed, the knifes were close to the upper part of the boots, next to the zippers, making it easy for Ziva to reach them. Quickly she zipped up her boots and then marched towards the lady's room.

"I really don't want to know where she'll be putting three other guns, a silencer, the amo for that and another knife." Tony said swallowing hard.

"Oh, Ziva is only taking the minimum of weapons on this mission." Alison spoke, without looking up from her daughter.

The three men looked at each other, shacking their heads, while gathering their gear.

When Ziva emerged from the ladies room her features were relaxed. No one in the room could imagine the battle going on inside Ziva's heart. She wanted to tell them, beg them to help her, but she couldn't risk their lives, she couldn't ask them to endanger themselves for her; instead she smiled, sneaking her hand into Tony's. A weak smile plastered his lips, so she squeezed his hand.

Ziva stood upright and still, looking at the empty road. Three more minutes until The Dragon would make an appearance. She checked her watch again, and looked behind her again. Alison held the same position as Ziva did, one arm around Dani and the other one, making sure that her gun was loaded. Ziva smiled and nodded encouraging her Mossad mate.

The assassin's gaze swept the neighborhood, waiting to spot her executioner; she managed to see the reflexion of Gibb's sedan in the window of a small house. The car was strategically position, but very well hidden from plain sight. She knew that in case of a shooting they could reach them in a few seconds.

Ziva checked her watch again, only to see that it was 10 o'clock sharp.

"Show time." She spoke softly so that only Alison could hear her.

The roar of a car made Ziva's head snap up. From the mist of the morning a black SUV emerged.