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Chapter 19
They were all seated on the floor in a rather wide circle, with a huge map spread out in the centre. Gibbs was still missing, something that was obviously worrying the NCIS agents, though they did their best to hide it. K-Unit were also still "patrolling", though Dessi had them on call so that they could hear the discussion.
Several places on the map were circled, highlighted, or crossed out, with notes written beside each. A sense of tension, and anticipation, hung in the air.
"Bloody heck," Dessi sighed, sitting back up, "Ow..."
Before Alex or Matthew could say anything, Tony beat them to it. "You okay?"
Everyone, even Dessi looked a bit surprised, but she quickly got over it and gave him a nod. "I will be, once my back decides to corporate with me again."
A look of understanding seemed to pass between the two, causing quite a lot of raised eyebrows and questioning looks, all of which were ignored.
"Right," Ben said, breaking the sudden silence, "I think we're agreed that the 'park with wildflower blooms' is this one right here, with all the paintings and photos of wildflowers," he pointed at one of the circled areas on the map. "The 'shed behind the blue-grass building'–"
"Is this here," McGee said, pointing at a circle on his side of the map. "I figured that the 'blue-grass' probably did not refer to grass being blue. The only other explanation, however, was a computer program so advanced I didn't think it was ready for commercial use."
"Wait...a computer program called 'blue-grass'?" Rose asked.
McGee nodded. "Essentially what it does is convert a normal looking website, usually a bank's website or something similar, into another, so that while you're using that website, all your information is transferred to another computer, because the website you've used has been corrupted with the blue-grass so that it looks normal, but has been modified."
Ziva blinked. "I did not get any of that."
"It's basically a hacking program," McGee sighed. "So I ran diagnostic searches through the buildings in this area. This particular building was the only one to come up with the blue-grass trace."
"Is there a shed behind that building?" Matthew asked.
"Well, it's not so much a shed as it is a bomb-shelter from the second world war. I'm not entirely sure why they've kept it up though..."
"Well, that's good enough," Dessi said. "Now, the third location–"
"The 'alley of eternal light'," Rose laughed, though without humour, "This one was rather hard."
"We've managed to narrow down the location to two places," Dessi continued, "Here...and here."
"We figured in this location, because of the lights that are always turned on, even during the day," Alex said, "In no other alleyway have we managed to find that trait."
"And this one," Matthew added, "Was due to the millions of mirror and glass covering the walls of the alley, reflecting any and all light so that the alley is lit up twenty-four/seven."
"I really hope you guys are going to send us the directions," Snake's voice suddenly came on through Dessi's phone, which had been put onto loudspeaker, "Or at least a copy of the map."
"You would be able to see it for yourself if you weren't so selfish as to avoid the planning stages," Ben pointed out.
"Fox, just 'cause you've differed to the other side doesn't mean we all will," Eagle said in a tone that suggested he was also sticking his tongue out at the phone.
"Anyway, what I suggest we do," Desiree interrupted, causing the light bickering to cease, "Is stakeout these areas, gather some intelligence, and maybe if we're lucky we'd be able to get a glimpse of some agents who're working for Menten."
Before anyone could comment, the door opened to reveal Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who was laden down with quite a lot of things, including several cups of coffee. He greeted the room with a twitch of his eyebrow, before proceeding to join their circle – McGee and Tony had to shuffle to give him room.
"Glad you're back," Dessi said.
"Glad to be back."
"Where were you, anyway?"
"Getting coffee," Gibbs said, passing the cups out while sipping his own. "Among other things."
"What's in the bags?" Alex asked curiously.
Gibbs merely gave him a rather mysterious smile. He opened one of the bags, and pulled out a box. "I used NCIS funds to get untraceable phones. Abby helped pick them out," he added when he saw the dumbstruck looks on his agents. Those looks cleared up almost immediately.
"Erm...Abby?" Shark's voice came out of the phone, causing Gibbs to shoot it a rather curious look.
"NCIS's forensics expert," Ziva said.
"These are actually a good idea," Dessi said, though very grudgingly, as she accepted her new phone. "Here," she added, tossing her old one to Gibbs, "You can have it for safe-keeping."
It took them all of five minutes to fill Gibbs in on the things he'd missed. It took all of three minutes for Ziva to almost completely destroy her new phone, before McGee rescued it from her impatient clutches.
"And the plan?" Gibbs finally asked.
"Go stakeout these four areas," Dessi said, "And see if we can get lucky."
Gibbs shrugged. "Better than nothing. I'd suggest at least pairs, more if possible. Unless you have a better idea?"
"No, I was going to suggest that too," Dessi said.
"I think they're getting along," Rose whispered to Alex.
"I think you just jinxed it," he whispered back.
"Okay. Rose, Ben and Shark, I'd like you guys to take the 'part with wildflower blooms'. Wolf, Eagle, Snake – I want you to cover the 'shed behind the blue-grass building'. Ziva, DiNozzo, McGee, you guys take the alley with the lights, and Matthew and I will take the mirrored alley," Dessi said, the perfect picture of a general ordering her troops.
"What about me?" Alex asked.
"Alex, stay here with Gibbs. You're going to be headquarters," Dessi said.
Alex shot her a rather glum look, and slumped back, slightly disappointed at having to remain behind. Dessi motioned for everyone to get ready, and the group dispersed.
"Alex, can I talk to you?"
The boy sighed, but let Dessi pull him to a relatively deserted corner.
"Look, I know you're not happy about staying behind, but I need someone here who I can trust," she said rather bluntly.
"Why not Rose? Or Ben? Or even Matthew?"
"Rose and Ben have worked together far longer than either have worked with you. And Matthew is my field partner. He has to go with me. Sorry," she sighed, "But those are the rules. If they weren't, I'd partner you in a flash."
Alex blinked at her. "Um..."
There was a small smile playing around Dessi's lips. "Yeah."
"Well..." Alex breathed.
"I'll see you later."
She was gone before Alex could blink. But when he finally recovered his senses, he registered the faint, pleasant tingling on his cheek.
Did she just...?
.
"I don't see anything," Rose sighed.
"Neither."
"Well, I see a lot of kids," Shark said, rather unhelpfully.
The 'park with wildflower blooms' was, though very beautiful, a complete dead-zone. Children, parents, tourists, flocked the place, making it almost impossible to see what they wanted.
"Shark, you report back to headquarters. Rose, we'll split up and meet at that painting in fifteen. If you see anything –"
"Let everyone know." Rose smiled.
.
"We don't have anything so far," Came Shark's voice through the receiver.
"Copy that," Alex replied.
"Keep looking, they'll be there somewhere," Gibbs added.
"Roger. Shark out."
Alex sat back with a sigh. "This isn't turning out so well, is it?"
Gibbs smiled. "That's usually how stakeouts go. When you get something, it's over in a blink. But most of the time –"
"You sit around, bored," Alex finished.
"This is Snake. The shed's completely empty – well, except for a whole lot of weapons which I'm sure are illegal. We're going to take a look, see if we can find who these guns belong to."
"Take care," Alex said.
"Copy that. Out."
The two sat in silence for a while, staring at the various pieces of equipment that were all connected up in front of them. Alex broke it with a hesitant noise.
"Um...Gibbs? Can I ask you a question?"
Gibbs made a sound that Alex took as a 'yes'.
"Well, it's just...you don't seem to like the AIS very much," Alex bit his lip, unsure of how to phrase it, "I just...is there any chance you could tell me why?"
Gibbs laughed. "You spies are all the same. Always so curious," he shook his head. "I had a run in with an AIS agent when I was a lot younger."
"Didn't end too well?"
"You could say that. I was regarded as a delinquent," he said, out of nowhere.
"Oh?" Alex frowned, "Delinquent as in...rule-breaker?"
Gibbs nodded. "Ironic, that I should end up working for the law."
"This is Swan. We've got nothing here, though with the lights being reflected by the mirrors, it's kind of hard to see. Not to mention it's getting really hot. You could probably cook a body during summer."
"Nice to know, Dessi."
"We're going to look further down the alley, in the not-as-well lit places. Swan out."
Alex sat back, before looking over at Gibbs with a frown as something clicked in his mind.
"I take it the AIS has something to do with your change in heart, then?"
"Got it in one," Gibbs sighed.
"So...what happened?"
.
"Is this not a waste of electricity?"
"Well, I guess if it looks good enough, people will be prepared to pay."
Ziva and McGee were staring up at all the lights that were on, in the middle of the day. It really was pointless, since the lights couldn't outshine the sun.
"Alright you two, back to work," Tony said. "Ziva, are your spidey-senses tingling yet?"
Ziva rolled her eyes. "No. I will let you know if that happens."
"I think we should split up."
"Why?" McGee asked.
"Because then, we can cover more ground," Tony said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world (which, it kinda was). "And if we cover more ground, we'll be able to get out of here faster."
Ziva shrugged. "I am good with that. I shall take this end of the alley."
"I've got that side," Tony said.
"Fine, I'll just stay here, shall I?" McGee sighed.
"Call us if you need help!"
.
"I was younger," Gibbs said with a humourless smile, "A lot younger. More naive. Thought I was the best. The toughest. The bravest."
"So...haven't changed much, then?" Alex said, trying to lighten the suddenly dark mood. Judging by the eye-roll tossed his way, it didn't work.
"Point is, I thought I was the best thing that ever happened to my town, and I never let them forget it for a second. I'd gotten in trouble with the law so many times that the Sheriff and I might've been the best of friends.
"There was a day when a new family moved in. They had a daughter, really beautiful. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Different accent. You could tell they weren't from around," he said. When Alex nodded in understanding, he went on. "I really was drawn to the girl. New meat and all that. She kept rebuffing my efforts, but in the end I got her."
"I don't want to know the details," Alex cut in hastily.
"Nor would I share them," Gibbs smiled. "Thing is though, I found myself falling in love."
Alex winced. "I think I know where this is going."
"Yeah. I'd never been in love before; I'll be the first to admit that all the previous girls had been more of a...territorial claim if you like. So here I was, young, naive, and in love. Not the best combination."
"What happened?"
Gibbs sighed. "My father was in the US Army Air Force during the second world war. And a little after it, too. He was rather high ranking. Very important. Turns out, he was a little too important."
"Easiest way to attract unwanted attention," Alex said.
Gibbs acknowledged him with a slight tilt of his head. "Exactly. He knew something, some vital piece of badly wanted information. Information which he wasn't about to give up without a fight. So they decided to take it the next best way – through a father's son.
"By the time I'd realised what I'd done, that the girl I'd fallen in love with wasn't who she said she was, her and her fake family had upped and gone."
"And broken your heart in the process," Alex muttered.
"Well," Gibbs smiled, "Yeah, you could put it like that."
.
It was as she almost reached the end of the alleyway that Ziva felt the faint tremor run through her body, the tremor that Tony had so thoughtfully dubbed her 'spidey-senses'. As subtly as she could, she reached into her holster and carefully extracted her gun.
"You won't need that."
The cold voice made Ziva's blood freeze; that, and the sound of five guns being taken off safety, the clicks ringing ominously around the deserted alley.
"Drop the gun, or we'll put a hole through that hand."
Her Mossad training kicked in, along with her sense of self-preservation, which was currently screaming at her that if she dropped her gun, she'd be completely defenceless against the five or so that were pointed at her.
"Not if I put a hole through you first," she muttered, before abruptly spinning around.
Her fingers curled around the trigger as she rapidly fired her gun, all the while lunging sideways to hide behind the rather conveniently placed dumpster.
One.
Two.
Three.
Three down. That meant two left. Two, plus the speaker, who was no doubt also armed.
This was so not good.
"Come out, Officer Ziva David. It's three against one."
"I just took down three, did I not?" Ziva said. How the heck does he know my name?
"Maybe, however I also know for a fact that the service weapon you are currently using was only loaded with four bullets this morning. Three used. One to go."
Ziva shivered. Was this guy psychic? Carefully, she lifted her head to look out over the top of the dumpster. Her eyes widened at the sight, and she flung herself to the ground again, as several shots flew just shy of her head. Then it grew quiet.
Too quiet.
A tremor wrecked through her body, warning her of the approaching threat. Without a second thought, she threw herself away from the safety of the dumpster. And not a moment too soon; one of the men had thrown themselves over the top of the dumpster, landing in the position where she'd crouched just seconds before.
But now, she was out in the open. And as Ziva straightened, gun clutched in hand, the remaining three men closed in.
.
"When did you realise she was from the AIS?" Alex asked.
"My father. He realised what had happened – must've been obvious, seeing his once rather destructive son do nothing but mope around the house," Gibbs laughed. "He called in some favours, and found out about the girl. After that I swore I'd never fall for something like that again."
"Tony said you seem to go for red-heads," Alex said.
"Tony's told you a little too much," Gibbs replied, though the smile playing around his lips was one of amusement. "But yes. I rather suspect that the AIS girl had something to do with that change of heart."
Alex laughed, but before he could say anything else, a rather shrill ringtone went off, causing him to pat his pockets to locate his mobile. "That's not mine," he said, pulling out his phone.
"Not mine either," Gibbs frowned, staring at the dark screen of his phone.
"So where..."
"This one," Gibbs pulled a small mobile out from under a massive stack of paper.
"Hey! That's Dessi's phone!" Alex exclaimed recognising the rather dented mobile.
"She left it here for safe-keeping," Gibbs muttered, fiddling around on the still-shrieking phone. "How do you turn this thing off?"
"Here," Alex said, grabbing the mobile off Gibbs. It seemed to be a standard AIS issue phone, like the ones he'd played with in Australia (behind the team's back, of course. And if anyone asks – no, it wasn't him who changed Jake's ringtone to "Barbie Girl"...).
Three quick taps on the hidden button, and he'd unlocked the phone.
"Got it," Alex grinned triumphantly, as the ringing stopped. "It's a text, with a picture attached! Didn't realise Dessi's phone was –"
The smile abruptly slid off his face as the picture popped up onto the screen. Dessi's phone fell from his suddenly numb hands, only to be caught by Gibbs.
"Hey Rider, you okay?"
"Look...picture..." Alex whispered.
Gibbs tossed the spy a rather concerned look before dropping his gaze to the (a little too high resolution) screen. A second later, he was on his feet, calling in all the teams through the headphones and announcing an immediate retreat. The mobile lay on the table where it had been tossed carelessly aside, looking so small and innocent.
There, on the screen, was the very clear picture that had been sent to Dessi's phone. On the ground of a bright alley, showing no signs of life, and lying in a pool of her own blood, was Ziva.
.
CLIFFIE!
Okay, please don't kill me...please...
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I did say that I was going to be bringing on the action...
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