Author's Note: Hey guys, I wanted to stop by and thank everyone for the reviews. I love reading them and I'm glad that everyone is enjoying the fic so far. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Catch ya on the flip side and I'll do my best to update as soon as I can.
Chapter 23: Crossfire
A bullet pierces the man that assaulted Tony. It rips through his chest and stops at a halt, embedded in his heart. He falls to the ground, missing Tony by few inches.
The other men turn to fire, but Lior manages to shoot two others while Ziva swiftly kicks the nearest man to her. He falls and loses grip on his weapon. She grabs it, shoots him in the arm, then the leg. He scrambles on the floor, trying to find a means of help, but he at a loss.
She rounds him and reaches for Tony. She helps him up quickly. Thankfully his stab wounds are not enough to keep him down. Reaching for his unmarked weapon attached to his leg, he flings it forward and shoots the man running beside Michael.
The man's body barrels forward and it falls in the path of Michael.
Michael crashes to the floor. He scrambles for his weapon, rips around and fires it at Tony.
The bullet rips through Tony's shoulder; the same shoulder that was slashed moments before. He makes a gruff sound as the bullet knocks him back a few steps.
Lior fires in the direction of Michael, the last man of his team that is unarmed-but Michael is quicker. Three bullets enter Lior's chest at a rapid speed. It knocks him to the ground; no chance of survival.
Ziva stops her scream and aims the gun at Michael.
"Put it down, Michael."
"Never."
"Put it down." Tony agrees as he trains his gun on Michael.
"You need me." Michael holds his hand and his weapon steady. "You need me to tell you where they are."
"They could be dead!" Ziva yells, her rage finally taking control of any of her other senses.
Tony holds his breath. He is in a position where he can not trust Michael, but he wants so bad for his teammates to be okay.
"Ziva…" He begins slowly.
"You said so yourself, Tony. He can not be trusted." She shakes her head roughly, trying to control her rage. "Mossad can not be trusted."
"If you kill him, there's no chance-"
"Then that's the way things were meant to be." Her hand begins to tremble with fiery. "PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPON!"
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Lior's lifeless body. It is official, there will never be room correction between the two.
He is gone.
"He'll put it down, just…don't kill him." Tony's voice cracks a little.
"I will not." Michael slowly rises to his feet.
Tony looks to Ziva, hoping that she will steady her trembling hand, but she will not. He inhales sharply as the bullet within his shoulder feels as if it is shifting inside his flesh.
A creak from an old, withered door forces Tony to look behind Ziva. He quickly throws his aim at the man striding through with his own weapon ready to open fire.
Ziva does not lose her sight on Michael. Her trembling hand firms a little, but she never slips for even a second.
"Ziva…" Tony swallows. "…we've got company."
As her mind forms a question, a familiar voice reaches her ears and drives directly into her heart.
"Ziva…" Tony says again, a few moments later. "…turn around…turn around and face your father."
She shakes her head roughly. Tears spill from her eyes. It blurs it vision, but she does not take her strong gaze off of Michael.
Michael smirks. "It is a moment of truth, Ziva." He looks past her shoulder at her father. "Either way, you die."
Tony feels his own blood rushing over his body. His back and shoulder sting uncontrollably.
"Ah…" He voices his pain finally.
Ziva hears him, but she does not break eye contact with her husband.
"MICHAEL, TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!" Her throat burns like fire.
As the fire between the two begins to intensify, Tony's hand begins to tremble as her father walks freely towards them.
"…Ziva…" He says lowly.
"Kill him, Tony." She whispers harshly.
Tony shakes his head though he knows she is not looking at him. His heart begins to pound loudly. He can feel it in his ears.
"Ziva, I…can't." He says weakly." I can't kill your father."
"Off the record, Tony."
He understands. She will cover for him, but either way-he will burn from the pain for years to come.
"Fuck." He shakes his head to clear his senses, but the pounding in his ears makes it hard.
Michael takes a step closer; following the pattern of Director David. Ziva sticks her gun out farther, indicating her plans if he takes another step.
"I will shoot you, Michael."
"If you had the slightest urge of doing so you would have done it already." He laughs cruelly. "I told you that you needed me, Ziva. You need me because somewhere in that pretty little head of yours, you are just dying to know what has become of your American friends."
"It would come to this, Ziva." Her father chimes in. "You knew what dealing with the Americans would lead to…you knew what investing your time within Agent Gibbs' team would do to you…to your mind."
"Don't listen to them, Ziva." Tony finds a way into the conversation; his voice desperate.
"I met with Agent Gibbs recently. He wished to die; now you want to save him." Michael is able to gain a step without her knowing. Her mind damaged from her fathers fresh words. "He told me the lives of his team was more important to him than anything-even his own life."
She cringes; tears continue to fall, but she never loses grip on her weapon.
"Ziva…" Tony tries for a steady voice. "Don't…listen…to them."
"Agent Gibbs is a coward!" Her father's voice rips through her even from behind. "He had no respect for Mossad from the very beginning." He forces himself forward; gaining on the two of them. "He took the life of your brother-and you let him!"
Michael wants to correct him, but he does not. In his opinion, Ziva has the right to suffer no matter if it be the truth or a lie.
The blood continues to pour from Tony's wounds. He feels himself grow weak in the knees; his hand begins to tremble.
Ziva is stuck in a world in torment. The clouds above her continue to pelt her with hail. Thunder rumbles the ground beneath her feet. The lightening zaps her straight to her heart.
She is growing tired. Her agitation is getting the best of her. The two men that she has known for all her life have crossed her completely. They have pained her-they have tore her to pieces…
…and they both want her dead.
So many lies. So many mistakes. She feels her heart weaken; an image of her previous teammates presents itself inside her pounding head.
Tony is finding it hard to breathe. The air is becoming stuffy; her father swiftly and quietly making his way closer to them. Tony inhales for a much needed breath.
"…think fast, Ziva." He mutters under his breath. "We haven't much time."
Michael's smile travels past her and becomes visible to her father. A clarification of their bond-even if they both have crossed each other, right now-Ziva is at fault.
"Even as you stare death in the face you are alongside an American." Her father pushes. "You would not be stupid enough to listen to his words."
Tony grits his teeth. His anger and his pain stabbing him all over his body.
"Ziva…" His voice warning. "Decision-NOW!"
"REMEMBER ZIVA-YOU NEED ME!" Michael begins his assault where her father left off.
"They're playing with you, Ziva." Tony warns her, his grip becoming firm again. "They're trying to make you give in-they're trying to kill you!"
"YOU NEED ME!"-Michael hollers.
"Americans…they're better off dead." Her father says in a strong voice.
"Don't listen to them, Ziva." Tony desperately tries to reason with her.
Her mind is spinning. Her heart is racing. The three men are invading her thoughts, twisting them in every direction.
Michael has the knowledge of Gibbs' whereabouts, but he has not spoken of McGee.
Her father knows all-the secrets to life as Mossad and all the wrong he has done and brought to people all across the seven seas.
They both hold the knowledge to help them in their rescue of Gibbs and McGee even if they did not make it through the tough trials and tortures of Mossad.
"I killed Ari." She speaks through the smog of heated stares and entrapments. "I murdered him in Gibbs' basement."
Her father inhales sharply for the first time. "…face me when you tell me something like this."
"You don't deserve it." She chokes out.
"Don't make me shoot you in the back."
At this comment, Tony grips his weapon even tighter; ready to fire at any sudden move from her father.
"I've already been stabbed from there." She hisses. "Repeatedly."
Her father's face twists with anger. "Do not blame your own flesh and blood for what the American did to you."
"The only thing the American did for me-"
Tony tries to calm her. "Don't give in-"
"…he helped me…" She tries to swallow her answer and digest it. "…he did all that he could do."
"He pushed you back into Mossad!"
"I PUSHED MYSELF BACK INTO MOSSAD!"
Tony takes a step backwards, but Director David does not see this. He is too fixed on Ziva's steady form and her difficult words.
From this angle Tony is able to see one side of her face. He flashes her a look, taking this moment as an advantage for the both of them.
Michael walks a step forward. "Director David, I am to believe Agent Gibbs and your daughter had more than professional relations."
Ziva's eyes twitch, but she stays silent.
"Is this true?" Her father asks, then waits for a few moment. "ANSWER ME!"
Tony holds his breath.
Ziva presses her lips together.
"I am to believe all the times you told me you loved me…you were being dishonest." Michael is using the moment for his own personal gain. "…or should I say all the times you did not tell me you loved me?"
She turns her neck to one side quickly.
She can feel the rage from her father radiating from behind her. His gaze burning holes into her head. She imagines his face red with frustration, rage, and dishonor.
Tony knows her next move. When she turns neck back; her features will line themselves directly to the direction of Michael-and he will die.
"Whatever he did to you, he did for personal gain." Michael adds.
Two shots fill the air.
Two smoking guns fall to the floor.