Summery: A protection detail turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse...
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, Disney, the Three Bears, Snow White, Goldie Locks or the Clampetts (or any other famous ficticious person mentioned with this chapter).
A/N: I LIVE! To all my readers, I am so, so, so sorry it has taken me so long to post this update. With mid-terms, and Thanksgiving, and now finals it's been crazy! I promise as soon as my university stops trying to eat my brain, I will be more diligent about posting! Thanks for your patience and understanding! I hope you enjoy this chapter! I spent quite a bit of time on it. I figure its the least I can do! Leave your comments and reviews. I love to hear them! Thanks again! - Talitha
"Ah, the great outdoors…. Where a boy becomes a man. Where he has the chance to get in tune with his more primal instincts. One with the elements…. Breath it in Zi…breath it in," Tony said opening the door and stepping out of the park rangers Land Rover and right into a patch of mud.
"Smell what, Tony, your stinky feet?" She laughed as she circled the vehicle.
"Ha ha very funny. You won't be laughing when Yogi the bear goes rabid and starts to gnaw on you." He grumbled and grimaced as he pulled his foot free.
"Who is Yogi the bear?" she questioned, pausing next to a well-worn wooden sign that marked the trail head.
"Never mind Zi….never mind" he said shaking his head, as the park ranger approached them. He was a tall man with an average build and impossibly dark skin. "The cabin is about seven miles down this trail. The trail will fork about three miles in, make sure you take the left fork. The cabin is just down that way…..Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" he asked his voice thick and heavily accented.
"We've got it, thanks Smokey" Tony said in a tone that was probably meant to be funny.
Unfortunately the man was not amused. He frowned at Tony and suddenly seemed to grow larger and more imposing.
"Manners Tony...Please pardon my husband, he was knocked on the head a lot as a child" Ziva exclaimed smacking him in the arm hard enough to make him wince.
That disarmed the man and he grinned, his teeth bright white and straight against his skin. "No trouble ma'am. I'll wait here with the jeep and radio if I hear or see any trouble." He replied chuckling at Tony's wounded expression.
Ziva smiled and slinging her backpack across her shoulders started down the trail, leaving Tony and the ranger alone. Sticking out his chin slightly, Tony gave the man a once over very clearly communicating that he thought he could take the man, and that Ziva was his.
The man just rolled his eyes and very deliberately pointed to the wedding band on his finger.
Slightly mollified Tony made a dismissive noise in the back of his throat and hurried after Ziva, the man's booming laughter following him.
"What did you do to him?" Ziva questioned, glancing over her shoulder as he approached.
"Nothing, I just showed him who was boss, is all. You know taught him a lesson." He quipped, a little winded from the jog up the trail.
She snorted derisively "Tony that man is from Ghana. He's probably seen more fighting in his lifetime than you've seen in a month as a special agent."
"it's foolish man who underestimates his opponents," he said quoting something she had told him once long ago.
"Exactly Tony. You should not underestimate him," she shot back, not about ready to have her own doctrine turned against her.
Not yet ready to admit defeat Tony prepared a rebuttal, but Ziva silenced him with a raised hand, her whole body tense, in a way he had come to associate with her Ninja mode.
He nodded moving in time with her as she crested a slight rise in the trail.
Looking back at him she held a solitary finger to her lips and lay down so that most of her was hidden behind the crest of the trail.
Frowning he holstered his side arm and maneuvered so that he was lying next to her. "Zi…." He started when he didn't see anything.
But again she silenced him pointing carefully at a nearby cluster of bushes.
His frown deepened as he scrutinized the scrub and it was moment before he was able to make out what she was able to pick out in an instant.
A stag, with a rack of horns that spoke of years of experience and wisdom, watched the trail, warily, from the brush. Slowly, his ears flicking, he ventured out into the clearing between the brush and the two agents, a doe and several young fawn following after him.
For a moment the two, battle hardened, agents watched the young family as they made their way across the clearing. For the briefest of moments all the scars and the terrible things they had seen, ceased to exist, in the wake of this pure innocence.
Then the deer wandered into another clump of bushes, disappearing from sight, and the momentary spell was broken.
"Cute," Tony remarked climbing to his feet. He had to resist the urge to make Bambi joke's powerfully.
Ziva followed, accepting his proffered hand, though she didn't really need it, and smiled "It seems the world is not only filled of dark places" she remarked, starting down the trail.
"It would seem so," he agreed, softly, watching her as she walked and thinking in the safety and privacy of his mind, that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and that he was lucky to have her.
"Hurry up slow dope" she quipped, noticing he hadn't followed her up the trail.
"Hurrying. And, it's slow, poke Zi. Slow poke" he laughed, jogging to catch up to her.
She just rolled her eyes at him and together they continued down the trail.
Seven miles later, hot, sweaty, and foot sore, the two agents rounded a bend in the trail and found themselves at the end of the journey.
"I told you to wear your boots," Ziva said archly, but Tony wasn't paying any attention. His gaze was fixed on the cabin.
It was small, rustic affair, set back a few feet from the trail itself. With its small four poster porch, steeply slanted roof, and quaint windows it could have been something out of a fairytale… or a Thomas Kincaid painting.
The smoke rising gently from the cobblestone chimney, lacy windows curtains that danced in the light breeze and the smell of home-made apple pie didn't help.
"Pinch me I think I've arrived at Grandma's house" Tony murmured taking in the picturesque scene, and wincing when Ziva did just that.
"I didn't mean literally," he muttered throwing her a dirty look as she ascended the stairs. She just smirked at him.
A soft, pleasant, soprano floated from just inside the open door, singing "Reflection," from Disney's Mulan.
"Quaint" Tony muttered "She cooks, she cleans, she lives in a cabin in the woods…all's were missing is the Three Little Bears, and we'd have Snow White."
Ziva frowned faintly looking confused. The Three Little Bears and Snow White had no relevance to each other. Brushing it off, she lifted her hand and rapped firmly on the screen door.
Abruptly the music stopped. All they could hear was the sound of running water. The silence dragged out for several long painful, seconds.
The two glanced at each other, and frowned. "NCIS…we're federal agents" Ziva called loudly, through the door.
Still nothing. No response of any kind.
Sharing another glance the two drew their weapons and, on the count of three, burst through the door.
In a routine they each knew by heart, the two agents split up. Ziva headed straight back towards the bedroom, while Tony went left towards the place where all the delicious smells were coming from.
The kitchen was a rustic as the outside of the cabin. Rough wood floors and rougher wood cabinets. A small, generator powered, ancient looking, icebox occupied the corner to the right of the door. The only real utility the place seemed to have, beside the rusty facet which ran steadily. Opposite that was a narrow door that could have been a pantry or an extra-large cupboard. In the far corner, close to the, small, scrubbed table was a recessed, cobblestone hearth. A cast iron pot bubbled gently over a merry fire. What looked and smelled suspiciously like apple cobbler cooled on the sill of the window over the sink.
Forget Goldie Locks and the Three Bears, he had stepped right into a scene out of Little House on the Prairie. The only thing missing was the Clampetts.
Frowning he walked to the sink, and with one finger, gingerly turned it off. "Nothing here!" he hollered, grimacing at the rust, and wiping his finger on his pants leg.
How anyone could live in such conditions was beyond him.
"What was that Tony?!" Ziva called from the next room.
Still eyeing the facet like he thought it might bite him, he turned to repeat what he had said only to be caught in the chest with a heavy duty, pan.
He staggered back with a grunt, his eyes widening, his gun clattering to the floor.
"Wait…!" he gasped holding up a hand against the next attack by the frying pan. But the short slight woman wielding it was beyond reason.
She hit him again, low and in the solar plexus and he doubled over, his eyes watering, clutching his stomach.
The woman hefted her frying pan and brought it up when a shot rang out hitting the frying pan and ricocheting off, with an earsplitting gong.
"Ziva…." Tony gasped, still trying to catch his breath.
His partner stood in the door her gun held up and ready. "Put down the frying pan," she said her voice low and dangerous.
The woman whirled, and for a moment there was an uneasy standoff as the woman and Ziva stared each other down.
Tony started to straighten and for the briefest moment Ziva's eyes flicked towards him.
It was all the distraction the woman needed.
She flung her frying pan with all her strength at the agent then darted right, going straight for Tony's gun.
Caught off guard Ziva recoiled instinctively, drawing her arms up to protect her face and upper body.
The woman fell to her knee's, fumbling with the gun for a moment then brought it around, aiming it first at one agent then the other.
"Don't move!" She yelled, her voice trembling.
Ziva brought her own pistol to bear, pointing it directly at the woman.
"Put it down!" Ziva yelled her voice commanding her whole frame conveyed lethal intent. She would kill the woman if she had too. At this range there was no way she could miss.
The woman shook her head, her eyes widening. She was trembling so badly that there was a risk she would discharge the weapon accidentally.
She pointed the gun at Ziva her hands shaking.
Tony watched warily, now fully straight, as the woman pointed the gun at his wife. Unwanted the memory of her lying in a hospital bed, near death, surfaced, and suddenly he was filled with unspeakable, unimaginable terror.
"Wait! Just wait!" He hollered raising his hands to shoulder height.
The woman whirled towards him, her eyes huge, the gun centered on his chest.
"D…don't … don't move…." The woman stammered.
He spread his hands to emphasize that he didn't have a weapon, lowering his shoulders slightly, trying to look as unimposing and as unthreatening as possible.
Ziva started to take a step forward but stopped when Tony shook his head slightly.
She paused, halfway through the doorway, lowering her SIG ever so slightly. She flicked her gaze worriedly from Tony to the woman and back again.
"Just take it easy all right. Nobody's going to hurt you," he reassured.
She frowned, craning her head back slightly the expression in her face one of pure disbelief.
"Who sent you?!" She demanded very aware of Ziva standing off to her right. Very aware of the agents gun focused on her.
"We're from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. We're federal agents" he said taking a slight step forward.
The gun lifted a little in warning. "How do I know you're not the people who are trying to kill my husband?" she demanded. The naked fear evident in both her attractive, olive skinned, features, and in her rich soprano voice.
This woman matched the picture from the database so completely that it had to be Chiara Jensen. Unless the dead sailor's wife had a twin, in which case they were in serious trouble. His head hurt just thinking about it, and he was quick to dismiss it. It would not do to be distracted at the moment.
" We're not , okay, I need you to trust me on this one….If we were Agent David over there would have killed you long ago, even though you could kill me….." he said deliberately using her maiden name. They always did when in situations like these. Though they didn't happen very often, it was better to be safe than sorry. Love is a powerful force. In order to prevent someone from taking advantage of that love it was important that they never knew it existed.
There were always ways you could tell, of course. The furtive looks and subtle touches. Or the simple, familiarity with which two people interacted.
But they tried to keep it as understated as possible. It was safer that way.
"Tell her to lower her gun." The woman demanded dangerously.
"Now see that won't work very well…. Agent David really likes her gun…." He started and flinched as the woman fired a round just to the right of his leg.
For a house wife she had pretty good aim.
Ziva's gun came back up and she moved closer so that she was in direct line of sight to the woman, just a few feet from Tony. She glanced at him briefly, her eyes wide and worried.
He managed a half grimace half smile, before returning his attention to the woman. By now Ziva was well within ninja range. She could easily take the weapon, and looked to be contemplating doing just that.
"Don't come any closer. Or next time I'll shoot him. I swear I will," the woman said eyeing Ziva warily and backing away, out of Ninja range.
"Listen Chiara, We are federal agents, it is as Agent DiNozzo said. See…." Ziva spoke soothingly not even a slight hint of the panic she felt, evident in her voice. Moving slowly she pushed back her coat with her free hand, revealing her badge.
The woman looked at it and hesitated. "How do I know it's not fake?" she whispered.
"It's not. I promise. We're the good guys." Tony reassured, kneeling in front of her.
The gun lowered slightly as the woman looked from him to Ziva, than slowly but surely she lowered the gun to the floor and slid it away.
"How'd you know my name?" She whispered as both agents visibly relaxed. Ziva retrieved Tony's weapon and returned it to him before holstering her own.
"Your husband Jacob told us about you," he replied holstering his pistol and clambering to his feet. "He didn't mention that you have a mean backswing, though" he said managing a bit of good natured humor, even as he helped her to her feet.
The woman chuckled slightly, a frail, broken, slightly hysterical sound. "Tennis…." She explained.
"We can tell" Ziva commented guiding her to a chair in the living room.
"WE can't tell anything. I was the one that got hot in the stomach by a frying pan," he quipped
"Did Jacob say anything else?" Chiara questioned, interrupting their playful banter.
Tony's manner instantly sobered as he looked down at the woman who had only just recently tried to kill him.
"He told us to protect you," he said quietly watching as the woman's fragile composure crumbled and she began to cry, one hand covering her mouth.
"He's dead isn't he?" she wept, her thin frame shaking.
A look between the two agents was all it took, to confirm the woman's worse fears and she dissolved into hysterics.
"We are sorry for your loss," Ziva murmured, perching on the arm of the chair and gently stroking the woman's back. It was a show of tenderness that was becoming more and more frequent since she had married.
"How did he die?" she sniffed, her voice muffled, behind her hands.
"He was murdered…shot."
The woman looked up suddenly, fire in her dark eyes. "They killed him" she proclaimed sobering somewhat as anger replaced grief.
"Who?" Ziva asked taking her hand away, though she didn't move from the arm of the chair. She was also careful to keep her gun well out of the woman's reach. Better to be safe than sorry.
"Those people Jacob was working with! They're responsible for this."
"Do you know their names?" Tony chimed in from where he knelt just by her knee.
"No….. He didn't talk much about them. He only said that they would help us resolve all our problems, At least at first. But towards the end he became angry, withdrawn, depressed. It was almost like he didn't want to be around me anymore. He spent more and more time at work. I didn't know what to do. Than one day he came home and I had never seen him so scared. He told me I had to go away for a while. He rented this cabin for six months so that I…we… could have someplace to stay," she gestured at the surrounding walls.
"I knew something was up. But I knew better than to say anything. He never spoke about these people he was working with. Never told me what they did. What they made him do. He probably didn't want me to know. All's he ever said was that they were trying to help. But in the end, when he came home scared, I knew they had asked him to do something terrible. Worse still I knew he had done it…or at least played a part. I could tell by the way he acted. Bu the guilt and shame in his eyes," she frowned faintly pulling a locket from beneath her shirt and fingered it idly for a moment before sliding her thumbnail beneath the clasp, and opening it.
In it was a picture of the dead sailor and her sitting together on a beach, fingers intertwined, as she leaned against his legs. A classic engagement picture.
"He was always so scared I would leave him…. Always worrying about how we never had enough money or that we didn't live in a nice home," she said, her voice the soft, distant, murmur of memories.
"I come from a well off family, and he thought I would leave him to return to that life…." She shook her head, and made a soft, derisive noise.
"He never understood how much I loved him," she said in a near whisper. Slowly, her fingers moving automatically, she closed the locket and slid it back down her shirt.
Silence reigned for a long moment as the agents sat deep within their own thoughts. Then slowly, her fingers moving automatically, she closed the locket. The movement was enough to bring them all out of the fog of their memories, distant dreams, and even more distant thoughts.
"It's incredibly important that you tell us all you can about this 'family,'" Tony said his voice soft and gentle.
"Whatever it takes to make this right. I just want this to end." she said her voice heavy with defeat.
The two agents nodded slowly and stood, intent on giving the woman her space.
Tony headed back into the kitchen to douse the fire and retrieve some of her things, while Ziva went to check outside.
"Wait, "the woman called softly, halting Ziva halfway to the door. The Mossad turned NCIS agent looked back at her eyebrows raised a soft smile on her mouth.
"Did he =did Jacob- say anything else?" She asked,
"He said he loved you," DiNozzo replied, leaning against the kitchen door-frame.
"More than the entire world," she said with a half-smile as she rose and moved stiffly to the bathroom. The air was heavy with the weight of the woman's loss. Painful memories, love lost to early, and dreams unrealized, weighing heavily in the air.