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."
Vignette Eleven: Part Fourteen
Gibbs nodded. "Ok, Ziva. But I'm not sure McGee and I can go with you at this point." He looked at Tony. "We go back tomorrow."
Tony and Ziva's faces both fell at that. They had been relieved to see both of them and now that they were here, they didn't want them to leave.
"Got it, Boss." Tony finally managed to get out. He put his arm around Ziva's waist and pulled her to him. Ziva nodded quietly.
"Ziver, I don't know what your plan is, but I think you should heed your father's words." Gibbs spoke carefully.
Ziva looked surprised at that, as did the others. "Boss?" Tony said, not too happily.
Gibbs held up his hand. "Hear me out. He stated in his letter to you that you should contact the new Director OR this Orli Elba woman, who he clearly considered as an alternate candidate to Ilan Bodnar. I think you should call her."
Ziva sat down and considered his words. "My father did not know Ilan could not be trusted. How can I know that she can be trusted?"
"You can't." Tony said, his heart sinking. "It's time to let them know you are on the hunt."
Ziva's eyes widened at Tony's remark. Coming from him, it was all the more startling. Tony wanted to shield and protect Ziva. The last thing he wanted was her presence out in the open.
"Tony's right, Ziva." Gibbs said quietly. "Mossad has a person inside Bodnar's operation. He or she may be waiting to hear from you, that you are ready to end this, before making a move. That's the only explanation for Mossad not already apprehending and/or killing Bodnar." Gibbs rubbed his neck and looked at Stan and McGee.
McGee swallowed nervously. "Boss, you're saying that Mossad expects Ziva to make the kill? Or arrest or whatever the expectation is regarding the disposition of Bodnar?"
"I think, McGee." Gibbs replied, clearly not liking what he was saying. "That Mossad thinks Ziva should have first dibbs on Bodnar. Whether or not she accepts the offer will determine their next move."
"Well, then Ziva." Stan asked. "Are you going to accept the invitation?"
Ziva looked at each of their faces, one by one until her gaze was finally resting on Tony's. He looked scared, but he smiled at her.
Ziva sighed. "Tony, can you get me a phone?" Tony gave her a quick kiss and went into the bedroom. He came back out with a new burn phone and handed it to Ziva.
She stared at the numbers on the phone for a few moments, then punched in the code she knew from memory.
"Ken." A female voice could be heard on the speaker.
"Director Elbaz." Ziva responded in Hebrew.
Newly appointed Mossad Director Orli Elbaz sat up at her desk. Her long dark hair was pulled into a French twist, with small tendrils showing about her face. Even at fifty years of age, she looked younger than her years.
"How did you get this number?" She asked, even though she was sure she knew the answer.
Ziva took a deep breath. "I have been calling it for years."
Director Elbaz smiled softly to herself, her suspicion accurate. "I was wondering when I would hear from you." She spoke in English.
"Please do not say my name." Ziva said softly.
"I wouldn't think of it, although you should know that this is a secure line." Orli chuckled.
"Perhaps, perhaps not, considering what transpired. Are you alone?" Ziva countered.
"You have not changed one bit, which makes me very happy." The Director stunned everyone with this remark.
"Have we met?" Ziva asked, looking nervously at Tony.
"Yes, but you were quite young. I have kept my eye on you. And before you think otherwise, I was not involved nor did I approve of the events of four years ago."
Ziva sat still at the reminder of her ill-fated undercover operation with Malachi. Gibbs got up and put his hands on her shoulders.
"That is good to know." Ziva managed to get out.
"Why are you calling?" Orli cut to the chase.
"I am ready to assist." Ziva answered quietly.
Director Elbaz sat quietly. She answered slowly and carefully. "Are you sure?"
"I am sure, Director. And to be clear, I said 'assist'. I do not plan to be the judge, jury and executioner."
This time the Mossad Director did laugh. "You have clearly embraced your new roots. I do not know if I could be so charitable if our circumstances were exchanged. But I hear your condition and accept it."
Orli pulled up a file on her personal tablet. "Take down this number." She gave Ziva a phone number to call.
"You will receive instruction and intelligence. We have an Officer on the inside of Bodnar's operation. He will be of great assistance to you. He has been waiting for your call."
They all looked at each other. The Director had just confirmed that Mossad had been waiting for Ziva to take her stand.
"Who will I be contacting?" Ziva asked, not wanting to make this call blind.
Orli smiled. "You will know who it is when he answers. I must go. I have a meeting. Thank you for calling." She hung up the phone.
Tony cleared his throat. "I guess she means Ben-Gidon, then."
Ziva nodded quietly. "I had thought of him when you first mentioned that Mossad had someone inside." She directed this at Gibbs.
She looked troubled. "I am not surprised, since he was clearly devoted to my father. But I am not as convinced of his loyalty to me."
Gibbs and Tony looked at each other, knowing Ziva was referring to when Malachi showed up to accuse Ziva of murdering Marine Staff Sergeant Daniel Cryer, when in fact he had been the one who had killed him. When he and Liat Tuvia had come to D.C. later as a protection detail for her father, the past was momentarily forgotten. But Ziva never truly forgot.
It showed his willingness to follow Eli David, to a fault. Tony frowned at that reminder as well.
"So what should I do?" Ziva looked at Tony, then Gibbs.
Tony sighed and started to speak, but Gibbs' phone rang. "Yeah, Gibbs. Hey Abby. What? Slow down. Ok, tell me again." He looked at Tony as Abby was talking to him.
"Yeah, ok. Got it. What? Abby! Ok, here." He handed the phone to Ziva, who looked startled, then smiled as she could imagine Abby badgering Gibbs to let her speak to her and Tony.
"Hi Abby." She said softly, going into the bedroom, taking Tony with her.
"Oh my God, oh my God. Ziva! You scared me so much when you left. I mean I understand now, but at the time I was so mad at you and Tony for just leaving; well I wasn't really angry, just upset, because you just left without a word…"
Ziva had been interrupting with "Abby" as she continued her run-on commentary, but without success. Ziva looked at Tony for help. He grinned widely and took the phone from Ziva.
"Abby!" He said loudly and cheerfully.
"Tony!" Abby squealed. "How could you leave without saying goodbye? Well, now that we saw the security footage I guess you could say you really did say goodbye. Are you ok? Is Ziva ok? I miss you guys so much!" Abby finally had to take a breath.
Tony smiled at Ziva and nodded, indicating he had finally gotten her to settle down. "We're fine, especially now that Gibbs and McGee are here. We miss you too."
"Tony, you listen to me. Don't you let Ziva take matters into her own hands, do you hear me? You need to take care of her. Promise me, Tony!" Abby had tears in her eyes.
"Abbs, you're preaching to the choir here, but if it will make you feel better, I promise." Tony had turned serious.
"Good! Now give me back to Ziva." Abby demanded.
Tony shook his head and handed the phone back to Ziva. "Yes, Abby." Ziva said softly.
"Please promise me that you will take care of Tony, Ziva. He's going to want to protect you. That's good, but don't let him take any unnecessary risks. Promise me!" Abby was adamant.
Ziva looked at Tony and smiled. "I promise, Abby." She said.
"Are you done yet?" Gibbs asked, grabbing his phone back.
"Abby, we're leaving tomorrow. Yeah, I know. We'll talk to you when we get back." He hung up and shook his head.
"Why did Abby call, Boss? Surely not to berate Ziva and me?" Tony cocked an eyebrow.
Gibbs shook his head and led them back out into the living area.
"No. Once we heard about Rivkin, I had Abby keep up a search, trying to track his movements."
"Wouldn't the tracking disk do that, Boss?" Stan asked, confused.
"It would, but it would only tell us he was in D.C. when he was already there. Abby found him on a passenger manifest for a flight to New York leaving from Rome tomorrow."
"He's coming to get me." Tony paled, thinking how silly that sounded considering he wasn't at home.
Gibbs nodded. "It's now imperative that McGee and I return. We want to be waiting for him when he shows up at your apartment, Tony. Ziva…" Gibbs turned to her.
"If you can't get a hold of the Mossad mole before we leave, you let us know what you hear when you do. If there is an actual plan, we can sell that to Vance."
Tony and Ziva looked relieved that Gibbs had just said there was a possibility of NCIS involvement.
"No promises." Gibbs said solemnly when he saw the looks on their faces. "But I will do my best hard sell." He smiled, to soften his remark.
Stan cleared his throat. "Hey guys, this could be a late night. I suggest I go get some food, what do you say?"
Tony looked at Stan with relief and thanks. He was getting hungry, but he didn't want to incur the wrath of Gibbs by suggesting a dinner break.
"A working dinner." Stan qualified to Gibbs. "We will all be thinking clearer if we have full stomachs."
"Sounds like something DiNozzo would come up with." McGee quipped.
Tony gave McGee a look, but couldn't really argue the point. They decided that Stan would go out and rustle up some dinner. Ziva agreed to wait until he had returned before she called the number Director Elba had given her.
This left Ziva, Tony, Gibbs and McGee alone in the hotel room.
They stared at each other quietly for a while. Tony finally broke the silence. "You watched the security footage." He stated it as a fact.
Ziva looked at him in surprise, realizing Abby must have told him.
"We all did. Me, McGee, Abby." Gibbs admitted.
Tony sighed. He noticed Vance wasn't included in the group, but their message was for them, not the Director. "We did what we could to give you a head's up, Boss."
"I know that, now, DiNozzo. You know how I feel about apologies, Tony, Ziva; but I am sorry I didn't think to look at the footage after you first left. It would have changed some things." Gibbs acknowledged.
"Like what? You wouldn't have been so pissed?" Tony suggested.
Gibbs cocked his head. "You said it. I still would have been pissed, but maybe not as much as I was. Since you came to me with your concerns about Ziva, I had a gut feeling what had transpired, but I never would have guessed the extent of your preparations."
He looked pointedly at Tony and Ziva. "You two took a huge gamble, taking off on your own. The fact that you have had significant success is not lost on the Director, but…"
Tony, Ziva and McGee all looked at each other and gulped. Tim spoke up. "Boss, you don't think Director Vance will punish Tony and Ziva, do you?" He remembered the conversation Vance and Gibbs had with Tony and Ziva regarding the status of their relationship, but he didn't stay to hear their take on what was revealed and admitted to.
Tony watched Gibbs' face. "I guess it depends on what you call 'punishment', Probie." He looked at Ziva.
McGee looked confused. He couldn't imagine anything worse than the team being split up, than Tony, Ziva or both, being reassigned. Stan had been with Gibbs for years, and was then reassigned. They had all been reassigned by Vance before, although in that case there had been an ulterior motive behind it and they all ended up back with Gibbs.
Gibbs looked at McGee. "I told you two before that I am not going to punish you. And frankly, I don't think Vance will either unless his hand his forced. But I have to say that some will not see reassignment as punishment."
Tony and Ziva both paled at that. "Are you going to reassign us, Boss?" Tony asked, forcing the issue.
"I can't answer that right now, Tony. A lot depends on what happens when this is over, how things are when you two come back to NCIS."
Tony and Ziva realized he was referring to their working relationship after being together and alone for so long. Not just their reactions to each other, but how they work with the rest of the team.
"Can you both sit back and take orders and not go off on your own tangents now that you are used to working as a two-person team, accountable only to yourselves? No, don't answer that now. You can't, not until you are back in the saddle. I think that more than anything will determine both of your futures."
Ziva sat quietly, thinking about what Gibbs had just said. To her surprise, Gibbs turned to McGee and told him he wanted to speak to Tony and Ziva privately.
He took their arms and led them into the bedroom and closed the door. Tony and Ziva looked at each other in concern.
"You already gave me a head slap, Boss." Tony said lightly, trying to diffuse the tension wafting off of him and Ziva.
"Don't need privacy to do that, DiNozzo." Gibbs responded.
He turned to them, looking uncomfortable, but with a new resolve. "You asked me for your blessing, when we had our last call. I wasn't willing to give it, until I saw you two in person."
Ziva held her breath and took Tony's hand. "Boss?" Tony's voice cracked with emotion.
"I've taken things into my own hands in the past. I can't fault you for doing the same. I knew this was only a matter of time, deciding to go after Eli's killer. Tony, I'm proud of you that you stepped up and took a stand for Ziva. And Ziva, I am proud of you that you allowed Tony to come with you instead of shooting him down." Gibbs took a deep breath.
"I can see your commitment to each other, as much as you try to keep it under wraps." He smiled at Tony discomfiture at this revelation. "I knew it was also only a matter of time before one of you got tired of the games and finally made a decision, one way or the other." This time he did head slap Tony.
"What was that for, Boss?" Tony looked shocked as he touched his head where Gibbs had slapped him.
Ziva chuckled. Gibbs looked at Tony. "For taking so long, DiNozzo. Ya' think?" His voice dripped of sarcasm. "Ziva…" Gibbs opened his arms and she rushed into them.
"You are my kids. You make me mad, and you make me proud. Just like any father. If you need my blessing, you have it." Gibbs kissed the top of her head.
Ziva felt the tears flow, relief rushing through her at his words. She now felt a strong need to end this mission, and bring Bodnar to justice.
"Thank you." She whispered softly, her voice filled with emotion.
"Tony." Gibbs held out his hand.
Tony looked at Gibbs' outstretched hand. He ignored it and engulfed Gibbs in a big hug. "Ok, Tony. I get it."
"I don't think you do, Boss." Tony said, just as overcome as Ziva.
"Did my Dad really say he thought we actually on own honeymoon?" Tony smiled, thinking how thrilled his father would have been. His determination that Tony and Ziva belonged together was legendary and had put a bit of a crimp in Tony's plans. The last thing he had wanted was Ziva thinking Tony finally caved because his father had talked him into it.
"Well, you did ask for your mother's engagement ring." He retorted, taking Ziva's hand to look at the special piece of jewelry.
Ziva blushed, but shook her head at her reaction since they really weren't married, or engaged for that matter.
Gibbs smiled at her reaction and looked pointedly at Tony. To his relief, he saw Tony nod, acknowledging his unspoken words. "Ok, let's go back out before McGee dies of curiosity; or is worried that I am killing you myself."
Tony and Ziva clasped hands and left the bedroom with Gibbs. Tim stood when they came out, clearly relieved everyone looked unscathed. He didn't miss Tony and Ziva holding hands, so he guessed that Gibbs gave them the thumbs up on their new relationship.
Two hours later, they had finished their dinner of spaghetti Bolognese with meatballs, garlic bread and red wine. Gibbs insisted they cool it on the alcohol, stating it would negate the clear heads the food had given them.
McGee asked Stan about his upcoming nuptials. Stan grinned. "Melanie and I are looking at September, but it depends on when we can get the church. We are both Catholic, so the Mission books up quickly."
"Mission?" Ziva asked, surprised at the word.
"In California the old Spanish Catholic churches are called Missions. Melanie's family church is Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside." Stan told her.
"So what are your plans after that? Go to where ever she is assigned? How will that work for you?" Gibbs asked the question.
Stan took a bite of bread. "Already talked to Vance. Essentially, I will be a consultant Agent, or an Agent at Large, whichever you prefer. I will be working as needed on cases wherever we are. I'll be able to work from anywhere. No more Agent Afloat." Stan was pleased.
Tony and Ziva smiled at each other. Tony cleared his throat. "You'll also be able to stay home with the kids, if you have some." He said slyly.
Stan blushed, but didn't let Tony rile him. "Good idea, Tony. Our thoughts exactly: Daddy daycare."
They all chuckled at that. The quiet, friendly dinner had done wonders in relieving everyone's stress levels.
Ziva looked around at her family. "I think I should make that call now." She said quietly.
The light mood quickly dissipated at Ziva's announcement. Tony nodded resignedly and went and got another phone.
"How many of those do you have, Tony?" McGee asked in surprise.
"One call, one phone. Tons." Tony answered, handing the phone to Ziva.
Gibbs nodded in approval. He watched Ziva carefully as she looked at the paper and punched in the number. After three rings, the phone was answered.
"Shalom." The deep male voice answered. Everyone except Stan instantly recognized Malachi's voice. Tony looked at Stan and nodded, telling him their suspicions had been correct.
"Shalom." Ziva responded softly. They could all hear Malachi's sharp intake of breath at Ziva's voice.
"How did you get this number?" He asked quickly.
"Director Elba." Ziva answered, hoping that would be enough.
Apparently it was. The relief in Malachi's voice was evident when he spoke again. "Where are you? Are you ready?"
"You do not need to know where I am, Malachi. I am ready to assist, not to kill. This has been relayed to your Director and accepted."
Ziva reminded Malachi that she was no longer Mossad by saying "your Director" in case he forgot momentarily what her allegiance was.
He was quiet as he absorbed her words and meaning. "I need to send you information. Where do I send it?"
Stan pointed to himself. Ziva nodded. "You will send what you need to the NCIS Field Office in Naples, attention Special Agent Stan Burley. He will know how to get it to us."
"NCIS? Will that not raise a white flag?" Malachi protested.
Ziva rolled her eyes. "That is a red flag, Malachi. And you have no other choice if you want my involvement. Otherwise I suggest you get off of your ass and take Bodnar in yourself. It matters not to me." Ziva snapped.
Malachi sat stunned. Ziva had made it clear that she had no intention of killing Ilan Bodnar, which was his own preference for handling this mission. He had been frustrated that he had been prevented from making a move, out of deference to Ziva.
Now that she had made contact, he didn't like what her end game was. But she made it clear that Director Elba had heard her and agreed with her stipulations. He had no choice but to agree.
"Very well." He acknowledge finally. He took down the address.
"How can I reach you?" He asked.
"You cannot, Malachi. I will reach you when I receive the package. Is this number good?" She responded.
"Yes, you may use this number." Malachi sighed.
"Thank you." Ziva ended the call.
"Well, ol' Mal didn't sound too happy." Tony said drily.
"No." Ziva agreed. "I think he wants to kill Ilan."
"Good, maybe he can save us all the trouble by killing him himself. Sorry, Ziva." McGee gulped when he saw the look on her face.
"I know you just found out he's your brother, but he killed your father…and Mrs. Vance." McGee was conflicted by this new passive stance.
"I do not think I can kill him, McGee." Ziva said softly. "I am well aware of his sins. As I said to my father, his sins are too great. Can I be the one to pass judgment on him? I am not sure. Can you be sure? I think Ilan's future may be up to the decisions of others."
McGee looked down. Tony put his hand on his shoulder. "McGee, we all have hard decisions to make. I'm not sure that when I finally see him I won't blow him away. But I'm going to make every effort to control my emotions and instincts and handle this the way Ziva wants, for now." Tony qualified.
Ziva had looked at Tony in alarm when he said he might blow Bodnar away himself, but she understood the truth of his words. The truth is none of them really knew how they would proceed until they came face to face with their elusive prey.
Marina Sirtis was born in 1955, but since no one on this show is their real age I felt comfortable making her character eight years younger. Loved Stan on the ep Tuesday night and the blatant TIVA! Lots of fanfic coming out now about the last five, so hope you will stick with mine. Remember, you read it here first! Haha. Please review Thanks!