Mossad's Labyrinth

'It's a four letter word, a place you go to heal your hurt
It's an altar, it's a shelter, one place you're always welcome,
A pink flamingo, double wide, one bedroom in a high rise
A mansion on hill, where the memories always will
Keep you company, whenever you're alone
After all of my running
I'm finally coming'
-Gwyneth Paltrow, Coming Home

She's spent well over a month hauled up in that metal hospital bed with numerous wires and tubes attached her all feeding her some sort of medicine. She'd spent well over a month being observed and watched to make sure none of her injuries turned septic, making sure she didn't casually pass out, and now she was still stuck in that same hospital room – when she shouldn't be. In fact, if plans had gone as they were meant to, she would have been home by now. Yet some military exercise in Israeli airspace meant that she still had to wait until it was safe and clear for them to take off.

That was why Jenny was currently laid on the same hospital bed, in some of Ziva's clothes reading a book that someone had mercifully found for her. The clothes hung off of her figure like she was a rag doll, each and every one of her joints seemed to be overly exposed. And the book, as merciful as its escape was, had proved to be severely monotonous. However the majority of her injuries were steadily healing. But she was still covered with angry red scratches and cuts, and now white lines where some had scarred. Areas she knew she'd have to put concealer over for years to come. Yet her ribs were still cracked and so she wore taping around her abdomen to try and help them recover. It seemed that all the beatings had made the ribs halt their process of recovery, and now it was just a waiting game. Like everything was. Waiting to go home. Waiting – or rather praying – for normality to return.

The red head slowly stood up. The tape mixed with the pain made it hard to stand up and move. Thankfully all of the monitors and cables had been detached from her meaning there was one less obstacle in the way of her movement. Apparently, when the time came that they were able to fly they would do so practically then and there. Within ten minutes they'd be in the air. So Jenny had to be ready to go at almost any minute all the time. Once again slowly, she began to walk over to the door the room which felt like her cage. She was bored, really, really bored. So Jenny set about wandering around the mysterious place she was in.

From what she had deciphered from conversations, the medical area was not a separate building from the rest of the headquarters. That turned out to be true, because soon the white corridors had become darker and painted in almost a sandy colour. Jenny wandered aimlessly through the corridors which were completely empty. She had a growing suspicion that the reason they could not fly had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that there was a military mission going on.

Without even thinking where she was going, aimlessly she wandered down corridors until she found herself in an area filled with sack punching bags and blue soft mats which she guessed was where arm to arm combat was taught. She was slightly annoyed that her ribs had not recovered, because she would have loved to get someone to teach her some of the skills Mossad had taught them. After all it was not often that she would even get to see this much of their headquarters. Learning their combat would be a once in a life time opportunity – that she had officially missed. If she could have learnt it then it might stop her getting in this position again someday – and maybe make Gibbs stop seeing her as a weakling, because she knew as soon as she got back he would. The former marine would not let her do anything, and she was pretty sure that she would end up killing him for it.

The sound of a voice brought her out of her thoughts, and Jenny found she was not alone. Ziva was on one of the mats doing the splits in a pair of shorts which were tiny. "You are meant to be resting." Said the slightly accented English voice.

"I was bored out of my mind." The red head replied, and Ziva just smirked, unable to dispute the fact because she knew that she herself would be bored if she was in the NCIS agent's position. Jenny made her way over to one of the benches after that and sat down, meanwhile Ziva carried on as though she was not there.

The Israeli moved over to one of the punch bags, and without gloves began to punch the thing into submissions. At first it swung menacingly and Jenny half wondered whether it would knock the officer out. But in her bare feat the woman was quick and silent as she avoided the backlash. Then she began to hug the bag and knee it. One knee then the other, and Jenny could visibly see the bag once more shaking with the impact of the jabs. Ziva carried on doing a series of regular kicks, and moves with extraordinary agility and strength.

Just watching made Jenny ache to be able to move properly again, but she knew it would take time. In that moment her aim was decided, she needed to recover and get better, and then go and get stronger, and faster than she had been. This experience had made her want and need to build up her strength and power, because if she didn't then she would always fear an attack like the one she had experienced again. For the rest of her life she would find herself looking over her shoulder.

So, for the next few days that was what Jenny did. She would get up and walk to the training room to watch Ziva practice. And so, silently and without moving the red headed NCIS agent began to learn just how the brunette moved, and so each and every detail was mentally stored away in the back of her mind. Jenny began to keep them there, so that when she got back in the gym at NCIS, she could start practicing, and maybe, after she had beat Gibbs;' ass in arm to arm combat he would treat her normally.

Each day, Ziva continued like she didn't know Jenny was there. But every day the Israeli did what she usually did, only slightly slower, slightly more precisely, so that Jenny could pick up on what she was doing. So that the red head could figure out how she could do the same. Ziva had been taken hostage before, not for as long as Jenny had been, but for long enough. She knew that when you were finally released there was a need to make yourself feel stronger, to try and make yourself invincible so that it would not happen again. So she tried to help Jenny, without her feeling like she was being smothered – because both women hated that.

A week after she first watched her, half way through the session Ziva's mobile phone let out a shrill noise. Smoothly the Mossad officer stopped the punch bag from swinging and went to answer her mobile. Jenny didn't fully know what was being said, her Hebrew was not as good as she had thought it was. But when Ziva hung up she swiftly went into the locker room and immerged not five minutes later, her hair wet from a shower and wearing her usual combat trousers and a black vest top. The long black hair plaited down her back.

"You are to fly out in ten minutes." Said the Israeli as she walked towards Jenny. "Do you have any need to go back to your hospital room first?" Jenny mentally thought about what was left there, the book that she had finally finished, and a few garments she knew Ziva would collect anyway. Her bag and personal effects had not been found. And the clothes that she had worn had been thrown in the bin because of the rips, blood and dirt. She officially had nothing left to take with her.

"No, no I have what I'm wearing, and even they are yours." Jenny said, slowly standing up. Her ribs were slowly becoming less painful but the tape still made it hard to move.

"You may keep them. They have put a bag on the plain which is filled with all the medical tape and painkillers you may need." Ziva informed her, and slowly they began to walk out of the room and down a new path which Jenny had never been down before. They passed numerous officers, and jenny noted the gun holstered on each one's hip, and the second at the base of their spine. She assumed if Ziva was anything to go by then there were knives all over them as well.

"I will not be flying with you." The Mossad officer said when they reached a door. Another Mossad officer, this time male stood there, ready – or so she assumed – to escort her to the plane which would fly her half way around the world to DC, home. "I have another assignment which I must carry out. Goodbye Jenny, stay safe."

"Goodbye Ziva, and thank you again." The two women said their goodbyes and then Jenny was lead through the door. It took her outside; somewhere she could not remember being in so long. The air was muggy, hot and sweaty, and she remembered that it was summertime now. The heat made it hard to breathe at first, and she had to stop. The Officer made no comment; one look at her would tell everyone she was still not well.

The sound of aeroplanes taking off met her ears, and she saw a white plane, small in size ready for her to take off. She began to walk again, slowly on the sandy tarmac in the sandshoes that Ziva had let her wear. The whole place was loud and hot and generally unpleasant. But at the same time, to Jenny it was freedom. It was the first sense of normality she had had in a long time – even if it was by no means normal.

The agent followed her up the stairs into the luxury plane. "This is the Directors personal plane, but it is less conspicuous that an Israeli Military jet flying into US airspace." He said, and she nodded, agreeing with him. After all the redhead was not going to complain about being flown home in luxury. "You will land in DC, and NCIS have arranged for someone called Noemi to collect you?"

"My housekeeper." Jenny said, smiling at the familiar name.

The Officer nodded before walking out again and Jenny sat down on one of the chairs. She saw there was a bottle of water on the table, along with multiple repacked snacks in case she got hungry. Next to it was a green bag with a white cross on it which the red head assumed contained all of the medical things she might need. Jenny looked out of the window beside her at the commotion that was out there. Planes taking off and landing, officers running in and out of headquarters. A place which was nothing more than a small building on the surface, which confirmed that, the rest of the building was underground.

Soon the door was closed by a man, who never even looked at her, and then the engines were rumbling and she was fastening her seatbelt. And faster than she had ever even imagined was possible, she was leaving Israel behind and heading home. One they were cruising in the air she leant her head again the fake leather material on the wall, and closed her eyes. She might as well sleep, because this was going to be one hell of a long flight.

As it turned out, the flight did not seem to last an eternity. Jenny guessed she had spent too much time flying and travelling with Gibbs over the years because she spent the whole flight sleeping, and only woke up five minutes before they were about to land. When she woke up, she looked down and out of the window to see her home. She saw the country she had lived in her entire life pass by beneath her, and she began to be able to spot the familiar landmarks that had played whiteness to her life.

As they landed, she watched the city get closer, and found herself smiling. She'd never particularly liked the landing part of flying, but this was the one time she was able to deal with it. This time it meant something amazing, because for the first time in over six months she was back on US soil.

Jenny Shepard was home.

Walking off the plane she found herself slightly nervous, because she didn't know what the next few weeks would bring. She had no idea what day they were or what month it was, she had no idea what time it was, all she knew was that she was home, and for now that was all she needed to know. Jenny would go home and sleep, then wake up, and go into headquarters because she knew that she would need to talk to Marrow. She would need to thank the entire agency.

What she would do after that though? That she did not know, and for now she once more did not care. The red head was escorted by airport security through passport control, because she had no passport. But being a federal agent had its perks. Marrow had spoken to the SecNav who had sorted out her arrival. Then, she walked through a small door and found herself in the exit of the airport. A light, air conditioned room which was filled with people waiting for their loved ones. And there, at the back of the all, by the window, was Noemi.

Jenny slowly made her way over, smiling at the sights around her. The business men returning home from trips and those arriving for trips, then Jenny dodged the tourists who were excitedly making their way to their holiday coaches and watched out for children running wild. Usually, she would have hated the noise and madness of the place, but today she didn't care.

Her eyes hit Noemi and she watched as the Hispanic woman noticed her and as her face I turn lit up with happiness, then dropped with fear. The first thing Jenny said was: "I'm Fine Noemi, I promise."

"Oh Senorita!" The woman said, cupping Jenny's face and looking at all of the scars. "Why do you do this to me?!" She questioned, before whispering a prayer in Spanish and then turning serious.

"I am sorry Noemi." Jenny added with a small smile.

"We take you home now, and we make you food, you are skinny!" And with that the two polar opposite women made their way over to a taxi. Jenny didn't show it, but it took a lot to get her in the car, because she had not been it one since the attack. The whole way home her heart beat a mile a minute. She had to force herself to breath in and out, then when they arrived at the brownstone, she practically leapt out of the car.

Noemi paid, the taxi drove away, and Jenny stared at her house. A feeling of safety washed over her. And as she closed her eyes she relished in the sound of traffic, people and laughter around her. She was back.

Author's Note

I sincerely apologise, anyone who follows me on twitter or tumblr will be aware that i am currently sitting my AS exams (4 down 7 to go), and consequently that is where all of my time and effort is going. So for that reason my updates are lagging behind. Please stick with me, the story is beginning to move on, and will hopefully have some cute Jibbs moments soon.

Thanks, and please review, they really do remind me why i do this.

Abs xx