A week had passed and pretty much no one could keep Ziva in her chair. Ducky had asked her to please take it easy and limit her exercises but Ziva just smiled and snuck out of the house to walk the property on her own.
Her legs were still too unsteady for her to run but they were getting stronger by the day. She fell at least three times a day but she just dusted herself off and got right back up. Ducky finally snapped this morning when Ziva snuck back into the house after a sunrise hike bruised and banged up from her third fall in one hour.
"I am going to borrow Timothy's handcuffs and chain you to this house!" Ducky exclaimed as he had Ziva sitting on the kitchen table and was disinfecting a scraped elbow.
"I can pick those, Ducky," Ziva smirked.
"Ziva," Ducky said in exasperation. "Anthony will be mightily upset with us if he returns to a wife in a body cast!"
"Anthony," Ziva tilted her head, "will be happy to return to a wife who is walking."
"He will be happy to see you stand," Ducky countered. "He does not need to see you run a marathon the instant he steps foot back in this house."
"I haven't told him I am walking yet, Ducky," Ziva had kept the secret along with the others, opting to make it a surprise for Tony, "so I might as well put my best foot or feet forward," she added with a broad smile.
"My dear, you are the strongest woman I know but your back-" Ducky looked to the side as McGee ran in the front door and went straight for the office.
Ziva glanced at Ducky then got off the table, "McGee?"
"Ziva let me finish," Ducky said then gave up as he followed Ziva to the office.
"What is going on?" Ziva asked Tim as she saw him busily typing on his computer.
After a few moments, Tim read something on the screen then sat back with a horrified expression on his face.
"Tim," Ziva stepped forward, "What is it?!"
"Tony, Gibbs and Agent Callen went missing last night," McGee said as he closed his eyes.
Ziva froze for a moment, her heart in her throat.
"If Hoffman sticks to his pattern," Ziva stated as she tried to keep it together, "He'll go after the rest of the Special Ops team and then there will not be much time left."
"They fit the pattern because they took down, Janvier," McGee pushed his keyboard aside in anger. "We should have seen that."
"I am going to LA," Ziva's tone brooked no argument.
"Ziva," Ducky stepped in front of her, "you can't. Let Vance send another team."
"I am going to LA," Ziva repeated.
"No," McGee interjected. "We are going to LA," he told her with a nod and grabbed his sidearm.
"Can you make the arrangements, McGee? I am going to change," Ziva said as she headed to the door.
"Bring your chair," McGee looked at her as she turned back to him.
Ziva gave him a quick nod.
McGee wheeled Ziva into the NCIS special ops HQ in LA. It'd been eight hours since Tony, Gibbs and the LA operative had been reported missing.
"Agent McGee. Mrs. DiNozzo?" asked a dark haired woman. "I'm Kensi Blye, this is my partner, Detective Marty Deeks and that guy over there is Agent Sam Hannah," she pointed at Sam pacing by some desks in the far corner.
"Director Vance contacted us," Kensi continued, "he wants us to take you to a safe house. Detective Deeks will be escorting you. Agent McGee, Derek is upstairs and would be happy to work with you."
"I am not going to a safe house," Ziva stated flatly.
"Yes you are!" barked Agent Hannah as he tossed his phone on a desk and glowered over her. "We don't have time to babysit a relative. If you want your husband returned safely then you will stay out of our way."
"Babysit a relative?" Ziva repeated incredulously.
"You heard me," Agent Hannah grabbed the back handle of her chair and started to turn it around to McGee's surprise as he stood to one side. "Deeks will-"
Ziva pulled her gun from under her seat and held it to Agent Hannah's head, "I suggest you let go of my chair."
McGee took a step closer to Hannah and took hold of Ziva's chair.
Agent Hannah let go of her chair and stepped back, "What the hell is this?"
McGee just smiled down at Ziva, "Ziva, you know it isn't nice to threaten the help."
Ziva took a deep breath, McGee sounded like Tony and she was sure he did that on purpose. "Tell them to behave."
"Ok," Deeks started. "I know I am the blond in the room...well except for him," he point his thumb at McGee, "But since when do wives in wheelchairs pack heat?"
"Wife in a wheelchair?" Ziva glanced up at Deeks. "I am Agent Ziva David-DiNozzo."
"Ziva David?" Kensi repeated. "Wait, Eli David's daughter? She is a former NCIS agent and former Mossad," she said to Agent Hannah before turning back to Ziva, "I am sorry. We were unaware Agent DiNozzo married you. Director Vance simply told us to put Mrs. DiNozzo in a safe house."
"And what good is a former NCIS agent in a wheelchair to us now?" Hannah challenged clearly on the edge.
Ziva took a deep breath.
"More valuable than you think," McGee offered.
Ziva patted McGee on the arm, "Yes, I am former NCIS but I am currently credentialed by the CIA." She narrowed her eyes at Agent Hannah. "I am one of Hoffman's targets. The only one to date that has escaped his capture. Now do you see my value?"
"Vance didn't tell us this," Agent Hannah stated.
"He would not," Ziva responded. "My involvement is classified and has been limited to certain agents at the FBI, CIA and NCIS."
"Ziva?" Hetty walked towards her from a backroom.
"Hello, Hetty," Ziva said as they kissed on both cheeks. "It is good to see you."
"And you," Hetty said. "Come, the conference room is this way." She led them to a back conference room and activated a skiff.
"Ok," Deeks started. "I mean no offense but how is Mrs. Wheelie here going to be of help?"
"Bait," Agent Hannah simply stated.
"He is correct," Ziva confirmed to McGee's chagrin.
"Would you mind giving us a rundown of what we don't know?" Kensi asked.
"I assume you all have read up on Hoffman's delusions and his history with special ops?" Ziva asked.
"Yes," Kensi answered. "He thinks of himself as some kind of angelic deliverer. He targets teams and individuals who have taken down some of the worst criminals and we were likely targeted because of our arrest of Janvier."
"Which criminal was Team Gibbs targeted for?" Agent Hannah asked.
"I don't think we were targeted for a specific one of our captures or kills," McGee said as he sat next to Ziva.
"They were likely targeted because we are a team...because I chose to take on a mission," Ziva managed through gritted teeth.
"What mission?" Kensi asked.
"Rafe Cortez," Ziva answered. "I killed him."
"Really?" Deeks asked clearly taken aback. "He was like...wait, I don't understand. Team Gibbs took down Cortez?"
"No," McGee replied. "Ziva took down Cortez on her own for the CIA. We simply found her when it was over and brought her home."
"Again," Ziva squeezed Tim's hand then she looked back at Hannah, "So, Hoffman has fixated on me because of that and on my team by extension. We can use this to flush him out - let him take me to the others and corner him."
"I may have sounded like a real jerk a little while ago and I am pretty damn worried about my partner, Callen, but I am not about to use a woman in a wheelchair as bait for a killer," Agent Hannah stated.
"Then we will get another team of agents to work with," Ziva said. "I can call FBI, CIA or have another NCIS team up here from San Diego. The choice is yours."
"Really," McGee interjected. "There is no arguing with her. Her bite is much worse than her bark."
"Can I ask," Deeks leaned on the table, "how do you come to be in a wheelchair?"
"Escaping after I killed Cortez," Ziva answered honestly, "I was climbing down from a balcony and the cement under the railing crumbled away. I fell onto a car and loss the use of my legs but it is temporary."
"How do you want to do this?" Hannah asked.