Breaking Point
Disclaimer: Not mine.
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As the crow flies, according to various distance-measuring tools online, the distance from Mitspe Ramon to the border with Jordan is about 25 miles.
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Chapter 9: On the Ground
The violent landing of the military plane woke Tony and McGee abruptly from their awkward slumber. Gibbs was already awake and looking, to the great irritation of the other two, far too well-rested.
"We're here," announced Gibbs. It only took a few minutes for the plane to stop, and for everyone and everything to be unloaded. Andrew Thompson, the lieutenant who met them, had been briefed on the situation; a conversation was held to update each other and formulate a plan.
"Mossad don't know you hacked into them?" asked Thompson anxiously.
"Covered it," McGee reassured him. "Managed to work it so that if they do realise they've been hacked, they'll think it was Hamas, Iran, any one of their enemies."
"Good. Do you have any possible locations as to Agent David's whereabouts?"
McGee nodded. "I used the –"
"Cut the geek-speak, McGee," interrupted Gibbs impatiently. "I've not had any coffee for twelve hours."
"Sorry, Boss," apologised McGee hastily. "From what I've been able to figure out, they're somewhere east of Mitspe Ramon. Can't be too far east, though, or they'd be in Jordan."
"Good work, Tim." Gibbs turned to the lieutenant. "How long will it take to get there?"
"At least four hours, sir."
"We sit down and work out how we're going to do this," decided Gibbs, "but first I need coffee."
"I'll get someone one it right away, sir." Thompson beckoned a nearby man over and sent him to get coffee for the three NCIS agents; he then escorted them to a nearby conference room, out of the blazing midday Middle-Eastern sun.
"Thank God for air-conditioning!" exclaimed Tony, claiming a chair right by the piece of equipment. "Aaaahhhh, bliss!"
Gibbs smiled wryly and McGee rolled his eyes, but both were quick to join them. Thompson snickered a little. "It is good, isn't it?" he remarked. "What's the plan?"
Tony growled. "I kill those bas –"
"DiNozzo!" cut in Gibbs warningly.
"Sorry. Shutting up now, Boss."
Gibbs turned back to Thompson. "We need to know what you guys can provide us with. Men, vehicle, weapons, equipment. Then we get the details worked out."
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An hour later, everything had been arranged and the NCIS agents, along with ten Marines, had packed the two vehicles they were taking with everything they needed and were being waved off by Thompson.
"Does anyone…official know we're here?" asked Tony nervously as the vehicle set off.
"What does he mean?" asked one of the Marines, Onuoha, indicating Tony.
McGee caught his drift and ticked them off on his fingers. "The Israeli government, Mossad generally, Mossad's director specifically."
"Why the director specifically?" asked Bartlett in confusion.
"The kidnapped agent is his daughter; she's ex-Mossad," explained Gibbs quietly, worry on his face. "Now, does everyone know what they're doing, when they're doing it and how they're doing it?"
His question was answered with a chorus of "Yes, sir," from the Marines.
"Good." He fell silent and drank from his coffee cup while they were still on a smooth road.
McGee met Tony's fear-filled eyes and placed a hand on his arm. "We'll find her, Tony. We got her from Somalia; we'll get her this time as well."
Tony gave him a weak smile. "I hope so, McOptimist. I hope so. I – We can't lose her again."
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A bullet zipping through the window in Ziva's cell woke her from the doze she had been in. Her senses were instantly on full alert and her ears detected faint shouting and gunfire now that there was a hole in the window. "So much for the glass being bullet-proof," she muttered to herself. She shrugged wearily. Such sounds were all too common in Israel; she'd grown up surrounded by them. Maybe the battle outside would keep her captors occupied for a while and they wouldn't be able to visit her; it would certainly be a welcome relief.
A loud explosion nearby cracked the already-damaged window and she instinctively turned her face away to prevent any of the sharp fragments from hitting it. A moment later, words caught her attention and she tilted her ear towards the sound, frowning in concentration. Was that English she had just heard? No, it couldn't have been. Her team would not have been able to find this place so quickly.
Another explosion caused the solid, heavily-reinforced building to shudder. Shouts in Hebrew followed and she thought she made out the word, "Americans!"
Did she, could she dare hope? Had they really already got here? "No, Ziva, do not get your hopes up!" she ordered herself sternly. She couldn't afford for that to happen, only to have them dashed.
More gunfire, much closer. Then a voice that was unmistakeably that of one Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo screamed, "TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!"
"Tony…" she gasped, her heart soaring. He was here; he was actually here! Which meant that somewhere nearby Gibbs and McGee also were.
Shouts, shrieks, shots and another explosion filled the air, definitely nearer than before. Things were kicking off and she was trapped here. If the building got hit…
Suddenly the door to her cell was flung open and Mordechai raced in, Tzabar and two others behind him. "Get her out of here!" ordered Mordechai, clearly panicked. "Now, you morons! Or I'll slit your guts and throw you to Hamas, Iran or Al-Qua'eda, whoever comes along first!"
Ziva found herself being violently yanked from the rings and she let out a cry of pain as they did so, her hips and shoulders on fire, and her wrists and ankles burning from the rope that still held her to the rings.
"PUT HER DOWN!" screamed Tony, sticking his head and gun through the window. It certainly made the others stop and stare at him in surprise and confusion.
Then Mordechai smirked. "There are four of us and one of you. Do you really think you can take us?"
A click came from the doorway. "Three of us, not one," Gibbs calmly corrected him, his gun pointing straight at Mordechai's head. "And you've not included any of the ten Marines at my command in that, either."
A number of gunshots rang out through the room and all four Israeli men dropped to the ground with thuds. Mordechai and Tzabar were dead; the other two were writhing around, moaning and groaning in agony.
Ziva met Gibbs' eyes. "You came…" she whispered, her eyes and voice full of tears.
"Couldn't let my daughter get taken from me again," he said softly, dropping to the ground to be at the same level as her and using a previously-concealed knife to cut the ropes that bound her. Unable to hold herself up, she tumbled into his arms, the tears falling freely now. He held her gently yet firmly. "Let's get you out of here." When she nodded, he carefully swung her up into his arms and slowly, painfully, she put her arms around his neck and locked her fingers together, her body shaking with sobs of pain, exhaustion, humiliation and relief.
"What do we do with these two, Boss?" asked McGee, indicating the two men who were still alive.
"Leave 'em."
McGee nodded and followed Gibbs out of the room, slamming the cell door shut behind them. The Marines would cover them as they got Ziva to the waiting vehicle; Tony met them outside. He opened his mouth to speak but Gibbs shook his head. "Back at the base, DiNozzo," he said quietly.
They stepped out into the open and dashed for the getaway truck, ensuring they got Ziva in carefully to minimise aggravation to her injuries. It had not escaped the attention that she was almost entirely naked, the remnants of the clothes she had been wearing the night of her kidnapping hanging off her horribly damaged body, the scars from Somalia still painfully visible. Somehow she had fallen asleep in Gibbs' arms and nobody wanted to wake her. When they reached the truck, McGee and Tony helped Gibbs to wrap her in sheets and blankets to cover her.
The ride back was silent. Ziva seemed to be more unconscious than asleep, and Tony and McGee struggled with their own emotions, all too aware of the similarities between this and Somalia. It hurt them badly to see Ziva so damaged, so broken, again. The occasional glances passed between them and Gibbs were all the communication they used, but it was all they needed.
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TBC