Abby looked intently at the frames, mouthing out the words as Ziva verbalized them. When she realized what Ziva was saying, tears sprang to her eyes. "Gibbs…" She whispered, turning to him
Gibbs immediately picked up on her distress. "What is it Abby? What is she saying?"
Abby took a deep breath. "She expected you to see this, Gibbs. She is saying…You are my father. Her hands are over her heart as a sign of love."
Gibbs opened his mouth slightly in shock, and then closed it. He stared at the image of his "kids", telling him what they were doing, asking for forgiveness and telling him how important he was to them.
Vignette Eleven: Part Thirteen
Gibbs and McGee pulled into the Naval Facility, and parked their rental car. Gibbs pulled out his cell and called Stan to let him know that they had arrived.
Approximately ten minutes later, Stan showed up, smiling and shaking their hands. "Well, aren't you two a sight for sore eyes? Come on in, I have some news for you."
McGee looked around in interest. This was his first visit to the Naples Command and he was amazed at how big it was. He caught up with Stan and Gibbs when he realized he was gawking like a tourist.
"Have a seat. Coffee?" Stan looked expectantly at Gibbs who nodded affirmative. Stan poured him a cup, and looked at McGee.
"I'm good, Stan. Thanks." Tim replied.
"Ok, well, good thing we got the Intel report situation straightened out. As per our new routine, we are picking up the reports and replacing them with our own bogus reports before Cagnani; our courier picks them up and makes his own change. This morning, we got this."
Stan handed Gibbs and McGee a copy of the report that he wanted them to see. Gibbs scanned the sheet. "Berlin?" He looked up.
Stan nodded. "Frankly, I'm shocked. I was sure Rivkin was giving us false data, telling us Bodnar had been seen in Munich. Ziva didn't agree with me, thinking Germany would be plausible due to family ties."
"Bodnar's from Germany?" Tim asked.
"His parents. He may still have family there. Or not. But it would be a country he knew about and was possible very familiar with." Stan looked at the Junior Field Agent.
"When can we see Tony and Ziva?" Gibbs asked. Stan smiled.
"We are meeting them at a different hotel than the one they are presently staying at. They booked a room late last night, and should be there now. Come on, let's go."
"Why did they change hotels, don't they want us to see where they are staying?" McGee asked, thinking they may want the privacy.
Gibbs smiled sardonically at McGee's question. Stan smiled also and shook his head. "They are still under the radar. If we do have eyes on us when we leave, the last thing we want to do is lead anyone to where they are actually staying."
Tim nodded, agreeing with the rationale. "Still," Stan said. "We are going to be careful and make sure we aren't followed." He grinned.
Stan pulled into a parking garage and got out. "We're going to walk about four blocks to the Le Cheminee Business Hotel. Tony and Ziva are there." Stan said.
Gibbs nodded. They carried grocery bags, into which Gibbs put the diplomatic pouch. He didn't want to call any extra attention to them than necessary.
They entered the hotel by a side entrance and got into an elevator. Arriving on the third floor, Stan strode out and looked around. Seeing the hallways empty, he went to room 350 and performed the requisite knocks.
Gibbs raised his eyebrows as he heard the door unlock. Stan looked at Gibbs and McGee and nodded. He put his hand on his weapon and slowly opened the door.
Tim looked alarmed at Stan's demeanor and wondered if he should have his weapon. Stan led them in, and then turned around.
Gibbs and McGee followed Stan in and stopped when Tony and Ziva appeared out of the bedroom.
They all just stared at each other for a few moments, the air thick with tension. Finally, Ziva rushed to Gibbs and held him, hiding her head in his chest.
Gibbs smiled and returned her hug, rubbing her back with his hand.
Tony watched Gibbs' reaction and relaxed a bit. "McGee, good to see you." Tony shook Tim's hand. To his surprise, Tim engulfed him in a big hug.
McGee pulled back, embarrassed. "That was from Abby." He said.
Tony smiled. "Well, in that case, the hug I gave you was for her as well." Tony looked up. "Boss." He said simply.
"Tony." Gibbs said. He walked over to his Senior Agent, smiling. Just to make a point, he gave him a light head slap, and then pulled him into a hug as well.
Tony felt tears spring to his eyes. Ziva watched the two most important men in her life, feeling so full of emotion it was almost painful.
"Ok, family reunion is over. Let's get to work." Gibbs was gruff and all business. The others all grinned at each other, hearing Gibbs take charge.
"Over here, Boss." Tony directed him to the table where they had stuff spread out.
"First things first, Tony." Gibbs pulled out the diplomatic pouch and handed it to Ziva.
Ziva took the pouch carefully. She sat down at the table and after thinking about it for a few moments, she opened it up.
Inside was a sheaf of papers and documents. She pulled them all out and began going through the pile.
She handed a sheet to Gibbs. "This is a list of those in Mossad loyal to my father. He knew a coup was being planned. I wonder if he knew it would be Ilan."
Gibbs scanned the list. "He's not on here, Ziva, so he must have known that he was not loyal. Which reminds me: the Embassy attaché told us that Mossad had an Officer working inside Bodnar's team."
Ziva, Tony and Stan all whipped up their heads at that. "Who?" Tony asked.
"And why isn't Bodnar dead?" Stan added.
Gibbs held out his hand. "We couldn't get anything beyond someone had infiltrated the group. Believe me, we asked the same questions."
Ziva looked at Tony, telling him with her eyes to drop it for now. She read a few more documents, some outlining his plans with Kazmi. Several names that were adamantly opposed to the plan were listed.
"Here are some more names of potential supporters for Bodnar." Ziva handed the pages to Stan.
Ziva kept reading, frowning at some bank statements. "My father had some bank accounts that I was not aware of. I do not know the purpose." She picked up another document and read it carefully.
Suddenly she gasped and stood, dropping the paper on the table as if it was too hot to touch.
"Ziver!" Gibbs exclaimed. Tony stood and grabbed Ziva, alarmed by her pale face and unfocused eyes.
"Ziva, sweetie, what is it?" Tony asked Ziva, the concern etched on his face.
Hearing Tony call Ziva "sweetie" was a shock to both Gibbs and McGee, although they knew they were in a relationship. Gibbs was more concerned about Ziva than to call Tony on the public display of affection while he considered them at work.
Tony picked up the document she had dropped. It was in Hebrew and while he could pick out a few words, he couldn't really read it.
Stan had gotten Ziva a glass of water, which she took gratefully. They all waited patiently while she composed herself, letting her tell them when she was ready.
With shaking hands, she took the sheet from Tony. Taking a deep breath, she began to speak slowly.
"I am sorry. I did not expect…" Ziva stopped, overcome with emotion.
"Take your time, Ziva." Gibbs said softly. He didn't know what this was about, but it had rattled Ziva to the core. He watched Tony keeping his eye on Ziva.
"This," she began again. "This is a birth certificate."
"Yours?" McGee asked, thinking that was why she was so upset.
Ziva looked at McGee, startled. "No, McGee it is not mine. It is Ilan's." She looked at Tony. He looked into her eyes and got a sinking feeling.
"No…" He began.
Ziva's sad eyes told him the truth of his guess. "More accurately, it is an adoption record. Ilan was adopted by Levi and Esther Bodnar, given up by his natural parents…" Ziva choked back a sob.
Tony put his arm around her shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze.
Ziva took a deep breath. "Yes, his natural parents, Eli and Rivka David." She looked up at their shocked faces. "Ilan is my brother."
Berlin, Germany
Ilan Bodnar threw down the Intel report he had received from Marco. "That idiot!" He swore. "I told him to say I was in Monaco, not Munich!"
He rubbed his face in agitation. "Come!" He barked when there was a knock on his door.
"Ah, yes. Please sit. Our young Samuel has made a big error, much to my displeasure." He handed the report to the man who had entered.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "He told the NCIS Agent that you were seen in Munich?"
"Yes, instead of Monaco as he was instructed. If he makes it back here after killing Agent DiNozzo, I will kill him myself." Bodnar wadded up the report and threw it in the waste paper basket.
"He has left then?"
Bodnar nodded. "He will be leaving from Rome in the morning. He will fly to New York and then drive to D.C. He is to kill DiNozzo, then if he is able to make an attempt on Ziva." He formed a tent with his fingers.
"I will not rest until the last of the David's are gone. I would rather have the pleasure myself, but I must rely on others." He shrugged his shoulder, indicating this was a sad but necessary circumstance.
The man nodded, but thought otherwise. "You are a coward, impotent and cruel." He thought to himself. He had been on worse undercover assignments in his Mossad career, but this one was the most distasteful.
Bodnar kept a tight rein on his inner circle, and sending reports had been hazardous. He was lucky he had gotten out the word of Bodnar being in Berlin. He hoped now it had not been in vain because of Rivkin's error.
"Will we be leaving, then?"
Bodnar scrutinized his trusted colleague. "No, we will just be more vigilant. I am where I want to be right now."
Malachi Ben-Gidon stood and nodded. "Very well. Goodnight, Sir."
Naples, Italy
Tony came out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him. "She's ok for now, just shaken and wants to be alone for a bit."
Tony flopped down on the sofa and wrung his hands. "I can't believe this!"
Gibbs sat next to Tony. "She never suspected?"
Tony rubbed his jaw and looked at Gibbs. "I would say no. When she was at my apartment after her father's death, she was adamant in her anger at Bodnar for inserting himself into her family, as the heir apparent of Eli David. She made a point of exclaiming, loudly I might add, that he was not 'blood' as she was. No, she had no idea. This makes me wonder if Bodnar knows."
Stan looked at McGee, who looked startled. "Do you think he killed Director David because he gave him up for adoption? That's a pretty violent reaction, don't you think?" McGee asked.
Tony shook his head. "I don't know. And now that I've thought about it, I don't think so. I think he would have played the brother card with Ziva, telling her he knew about the adoption, if only to destabilize her. No, I don't think he knows he had his own father killed."
Gibbs looked at the closed door. This was another major blow for Ziva. He wondered how much more she could take. If there was any good news in this, it was his belief that Ziva would now not kill Bodnar but make sure he was captured.
He knew how killing her half-brother Ari had affected her. He couldn't imagine being forced to kill another brother and certainly not doing it by choice. As hard as this was for Ziva right now, perhaps it was for the best that it was out in the open.
"This can be in our favor." Gibbs said quietly.
Tony looked sideways at Gibbs. "How's that, Boss?"
Gibbs turned. "Tony, why did you come with Ziva?"
The question caught Tony by surprise. "Well, because…you know why I came with her. I talked to you before I went to see her."
McGee eyes opened wide at that. Gibbs hadn't shared that when they had first discovered Tony and Ziva were gone.
"To watch her back, to make sure she didn't do anything stupid."
"Like kill Bodnar. Yeah, all that and lots more. What's your point?" Tony was irritated.
"Well, first of all, I think Ziva will consider her options very carefully before she pulls a trigger or throws a knife in Bodnar's general direction. But if Bodnar doesn't know, this gives us some ammo to use against him should we get close to him."
"Catch him off guard, throw off his balance." Stan interjected.
"Exactly." Gibbs said, nodding at Stan.
Stan picked up the loose papers and put them in a pile. As he was straightening them out, a plain white envelope fell to the floor.
"Uh, Boss?" Stan looked down and picked it up. He held out the envelope for Gibbs to see.
In a sloping cursive, a single word was written in Hebrew on the outside.
Tony glanced at it. "It's for Ziva." He said quietly.
Gibbs looked surprised. "Well, that's a good guess, but how do you know?"
Tony smiled tightly. "Because that's her name, written in Hebrew. I have made an attempt to learn something, Boss."
Gibbs didn't know how to respond to that. Of'course Tony would make an effort to learn Hebrew, to learn as much about Ziva as he could. That's what you did when you loved someone…
McGee cleared his throat. "Should we get Ziva and let her know about the envelope?"
Gibbs looked at Tony. "Before you get her, I have something else to tell you." He said.
Tony sat back down. "More good news?"
"Actually, DiNozzo, it is. Remember your First Wave terrorist you ID'd in Paris?"
Tony sat up at that. "Yeah! What happened?"
Gibbs smiled. "We heard back from Interpol. Because of your efforts, they were able to shut down the entire Paris operation of the First Wave. I think they want to give you a medal." Gibbs eyes were crinkled in amusement.
Tony looked shocked but then he smiled wide. McGee just rolled his eyes at the idea of Tony getting a medal, but then he thought better of it. The French had their own ideas about rewarding those who helped them. So maybe Gibbs wasn't pulling Tony's leg after all.
Stan beamed and shook Tony's hand. "That's great work, DiNozzo. You and Ziva should be proud."
"Proud about what?" Ziva asked.
They all turned to see her standing in the doorway of the bedroom. Tony immediately got up and touched her cheek. McGee felt a blush creep up his neck at their intimacy.
"You ok, Ziva?" Gibbs asked concerned.
Ziva sighed and shrugged. "I will be, it is just another item to add to the pile. Now tell me why we should be proud."
"Interpol closed down the First Wave in Paris, Ziva." Tony said softly, smiling at her.
Ziva's eyes widen and she slowly smiled. She looked at the men surrounding her. "I am so happy to hear that. Tony took such a great risk in placing the tracking disk on the target." She placed her hand gently on his arm and looked into his eyes.
Tony gave her a quick kiss, suddenly remembering they had company and it was Gibbs and McGee. He looked sheepishly at them.
Gibbs just shook his head. "Tony, the envelope."
"Oh, yeah. Ziva, this was in your father's papers." He handed over the envelope. He could see her hand shake as she took it.
"It is from my father." She whispered.
Gibbs shifted uncomfortably. "We can leave while you read it."
Ziva stared at the envelope. She looked up startled when Gibbs voice registered. "No. Please stay. I think I may need my family here when I read this."
Tony looked at Gibbs, nodding. He led Ziva to the sofa and sat her down. Taking a deep breath, she opened the envelope and took out the two sheets of onion skin paper.
My Dearest Ziva,
If you are reading this, then my greatest fear has happened and I am no longer of this world. You will have been given these papers from my office. I am sure you have questions, and I hope that I may allay your concerns.
First, I must speak to you of Ilan. I know you are shocked to learn that he is indeed your brother. Your mother was a child, barely fifteen, when he was born. We were not married until the birth, but her parents would not allow her to keep the child. It broke her heart, but we did as we were told.
Ilan does not know of his true parentage. I hope you will take it upon yourself to welcome him to the family and tell him of his true lineage. I was prevented from doing so, a condition I was bound to for life of being allowed to marry your mother. Now that condition no longer exists.
My Ziva, I have many enemies, even at Mossad. It is best to contact Ilan at his family home outside of Berlin. It is a small home, and not known except to those who know him well. You will find him there.
Use Mossad to avenge my death. Ilan is the logical successor to the Directorship. If he chooses another path, you must contact Orli Elbaz. She will be of great assistance to you.
Finally, my daughter, I am writing this as I am about to embark on a trip to America, to see you and to ensure that peace will prevail as my legacy. I have failed. God has not given me the gift of foresight, so I can only pray that I was successful in proving my love for you.
I have only wanted the best for you, Ziva. Unfortunately, my idea of 'what is best' did not coincide with you dreams and wishes. I know you are very happy in your new life. I only hope that you will receive the gifts that you so richly deserve.
Think well of me, Ziva. When you tell your children about their grandfather, be kind. I am and will always be…
Your loving Papa.
Ziva looked at the sheets again, noting the address at the bottom of Ilan's family home. She looked up to see everyone staring intently at her.
"My father has provided the address of where Ilan is most likely staying in Berlin. It is a family home." She shook her head. "He wants me to embrace him and welcome him into the family. He had no idea of his betrayal." She felt tears begin to form and furiously wiped at them.
"Has a new Director of Mossad been named yet?" Ziva asked Gibbs.
He looked surprised at the question. "We heard about three weeks ago that some woman would be taking over. Surprised the hell out of us."
Ziva's eyes narrowed. "And why would that surprise you?"
Gibbs placed his hand on her head. "Not for lack of talent or skill, Ziva. Just tradition, that's all."
She nodded, accepting his answer. "Is it Orli Elbaz? My father states in the letter that I should contact her for help, in avenging his death."
Gibbs paled at that. Did Eli David expect Ziva to take out his killer? What was he thinking? Of'course he did, and so did Ziva. Gibbs pressed his lips together.
"Ziver, you and Tony already have your plans. Do not let this letter sway you. You are not to go after Ilan and kill him, do I make myself clear?"
Ziva looked in shock at Gibbs. He wasn't angry, he was afraid; afraid she would take matters into her own hands. Just as Tony had been afraid when he had confronted her in March. She looked at Tony, seeing his worry etched on his features.
She glanced at Stan and McGee, seeing the same thoughts going through their minds. She cast her eyes down, seeing her hands tightly clenching the letter.
Taking a deep breath, she finally spoke. "I will not kill Ilan. He is my brother. Enough of my family has died at the hands of others; enough of my family has suffered violence. I will not serve to aid their agendas." Ziva voice was strong, sure.
Tony took her hand in his, relaxing his posture. Gibbs had been holding his breath. He let it out with Ziva's declaration. He went and sat by her.
"Ziva, we will do what we can to assist you. Bodnar will be caught and brought to justice." He rubbed her back.
"I believe you, Gibbs. I am ready. Let us go find Ilan."
Thanks as always for the support and great reviews. Hope you enjoy!
Addendum: after reading, I realized I had the surname of the new Director wrong. It's been corrected!