An Eye for an Eye Leaves Everybody Blind

by SASundance

Can there ever be a justification for choosing revenge over justice, especially when you work for a federal law enforcement agency? This is an AU Aliyah story and NB that this is not a TIVA story. Warning, contains a major character death - for more info on the identity please see author's note in chapter 1 Now Complete

15. Chapter 15: Tightening the Noose

A/N: Just wanted to thank you all for the reviews, follows and favs. Glad that no one seemed to realise who Tony/Gus was. It was really complicated writing the cemetery scene with him AND his alter-ego in the same place at once, although it was fun. Have a few more twists to the story before I finish up. And no I'm not going to hazard a guess about the amount of chapters it will take to wrap up the story because I always underestimate and end up with egg on my face. No going there again lol. FYI a friend who works in an ER assures me that little Ronnies (or Veronicas) and their adult twins do indeed make regular visits to the ER. Who'd want to be a ER doc or nurse? Hope you enjoy :)

An Eye for an Eye Leaves Everyone Blind

Chapter 15

Jimmy Palmer: Friday 14th August 2012

Another Friday night spent in the ER but then that is the lot of the ER doc, I suppose. Except that I wasn't scheduled to be on duty tonight but got called in anyway when another doctor called in sick. I understand that stuff happens and people get sick and it can't be helped but it was unfortunate since I had plans tonight. I was going to go bowling with Abby and her nun friends but of course that isn't going to happen now and I hate letting people down. Not that I usually hang out with Abby – apart from us all meeting for dinner or lunch to check on new leads for Tony, but ever since we all came from Indianapolis we've been hanging out together.

I guess it's our way of not really acknowledging that after three long years, driven to find our friend we'd failed and now it was over. Hanging out together was our pathetic way of dealing with the fact that a part of our shared history was just that – history. Moving on isn't always easy and when a good friend or family member (and to me, Tony is like a brother) has disappeared like Tony did because he was protecting us, and we can't contact him, well it is really difficult to accept. I wish it could be otherwise but the world isn't a fair place. I guess I knew that, even before all this stuff with Tony happened - this just reminded me.

Meanwhile, no one was able to talk Dr Mallard out of it and he'd put in his retirement papers this week. He was determined and nothing any of us said to him would change his mind. He worries me because even if he isn't exactly a young man anymore, that brain of his is way too spry to sit at home and vegetate. I wish he'd at least consider teaching or part time shifts as a ME. But he is obdurate, insistent that it was time to move on and I just hope that he doesn't decide to go home to Scotland because I would really miss him if he left DC. He is more than just my old mentor – he is like a father figure, especially since I lost my uncle when I was a teenager. Good friends are hard to find and working at the hospital doesn't exactly leave a lot of time for making new ones. So I tended to hold on tight to those friends that I already have.

Still, I didn't have a lot of time for contemplation tonight before the usual grab bag full of patients began to flood the ER as the Friday night special got underway. Of course there was the usual stuff, little Ronnie who shoved a marble up his nose and it got stuck there and his adult equivalent who decided to shove a parsnip/turnip/carrot or other vegetable up an orifice where it got stuck. These people were the bane of an ER doc's life but at least neither were life threatening situations and at least the kids would grow up and hopefully learn not to do it again, doubtful about their adult counterparts. Then there were the bar room brawlers and their injuries, mostly ranging from cuts, abrasions and bruising to concussion checks. Tonight there was also some broken bones and someone pulled a knife and stabbed a fellow drunk. Although we had to prep him for surgery, his assailant was blind drunk and luckily missed any vital organs. We expected he'd make a full recovery.

Then there was a bus load of footballers who'd ended up the usual assortment of injuries after a game but because they were the victors had gone out to celebrate before coming to get their boo boos tended to. Oh the wonders of adrenaline, testosterone, booze and idiocy. Finally when things were calming down a bit and there was just the odd infarct, drug overdose or alcohol poisoning from underage drinking, we got a hot one. The EMTs informed us that they were bringing in multiple injuries from a hostage situation including the perp from a liquor store robbery gone bad. That meant there'd soon be utter chaos in the ER with victims, cops, family and friends all demanding updates and wanting answers.

A drug addict had held up a liquor store hoping to get enough cash to score and the young cashier has panicked and grabbed for the gun and got shot. There were a few college kids in the shop, a middle aged couple and an off duty nurse in the shop at the time of the robbery and they all ended up being held hostage. There'd been a shootout, with the cops finally storming the premises with several of the customers getting hit by ricochets since the perp had been using them as human shields. At the moment, the cashier and the shooter were both in surgery, fighting for their lives while we were dealing with several bullet grazes and minor cases of shock. And the expected mayhem.

Collapsing into a chair in the doctor's lounge with a coffee, I took time to grab a few minutes break. Apart from one of our chronic hypochondriacs, who turns up regularly, convinced he has some new exotic disease, a teenage girl who sprained her ankle at a party and a febrile toddler, the place was pretty quiet right now. The other docs had them covered and I decided to text Abby and find out about how the bowling tournament had gone. The nuns apparently took their matches very seriously, going to great lengths to psyche out their opponents so I hope they were able to replace me at the last minute.

Strangely, Abby didn't answer my text. I guess that she probably decided to go to her one of her clubs to dance or listen to her 'music' so she wouldn't hear the cell phone. I'll have to check in with her tomorrow, maybe if she isn't working a case we can go and have lunch – and invite Ducky too. I finished my coffee and dutifully washed up the coffee mug and hug it up on one of the hooks and headed back to the ER.

It was still quiet, so I wondered out to the triage area to check things out and glanced out at the waiting room which unusually, was pretty empty. Noticing the cops and EMTs out of the corner of my eye on the overhead television screen, I stopped to check it out. Recognising the location I also noticed people processing the scene wearing NCIS jackets and identified Special Agent Balboa. Then Tobias Fornell wondered over to say something to him and he nodded before another familiar figure came into view. What the Hell was he doing there? Grabbing my phone I made an urgent call that went unanswered.

Oh I really didn't like this. I was starting to get a very bad feeling all of a sudden.

Alexandria:Friday 14th August 2012

Gibbs was in his basement, brooding. He couldn't believe after everything they'd been through in the last few years, everything he'd endured, that they were back at square one. How the Hell could he and everyone else be so damned stupid to not realise that just because they had taken out that lunatic Rivkin, that it meant that DiNozzo was in the clear. They were all supposed to be top notch investigators and scientists, yet they had all seemed to have joined Abby in La-la Land where unicorns and dragons roamed and ate candy canes and marshmallow clouds. Okay, he snorted, he was losing what was left of his mind but he had definitely been away with the pixies.

He hated to admit that if he had bothered to look at the bigger picture instead of focusing on the narrow goals of a) locating DiNozzo, which had been a miserable failure and b) killing Rivkin, which they had achieved, he would have been forced to face reality a lot sooner. And the reality was that he'd helped create a situation which lead to an innocent person having his life pretty much decimated. That would have been an intolerable realisation especially since it was DiNozzo and so it was easier to live with the illusion that the whole situation was fixable.

Knowing that the only way to free Tony was for Eli to give up his quest for revenge, Gibbs was overwhelmed with despair. The chances of that happening were zilch while-ever he drew breath but unfortunately killing him was also extremely unlikely. The best chance for DiNozzo to claim back his life was if one of Eli David scores of sworn enemies managed to do what they had been attempting to do for several decades and assassinate him.

And that left him with two extremely painful truths. He had been determined to find DiNozzo and make things right between them and had failed to locate him. Yet Tony had made his feelings very clear via Fornell that he wanted them all to stop looking for him because it wasn't safe for him or those people who searched for him. So he couldn't repair the damage he'd done and that meant he would be forced to live with the knowledge that Tony would always think that he blamed him for Ziva's death. He didn't know if he could accept that – he wasn't good at doing nothing – he was a fixer even when people didn't want or like his fixes.

Then there was the ginormous-hulking- great elephant in the room. He was expecting a visit from a pouting Celestial Dave any time now demanding to know when he was going to grieve for his girls and set them free. For three years he'd deflected and procrastinated, declaring that he had to fix things with his senior field agent. Argued that he was still living and in imminent danger and his problem had to take priority, that he couldn't focus on both issues at once but the truth was that he didn't know if he could do it. For so long he had held them close to him – too close if Celestial Dave could be believed. He wasn't sure how to let them go. He knew that he should – he was holding them back but they had been so much a part of his life for over 20 years even though they were dead, that selfish as it was, Gibbs didn't know how to set them free.

So deep in his thoughts was he, he failed to hear a car pull up outside and someone enter the front door and cross the living area to proceed down the basement stairs. Hearing someone on the stairs, Gibbs assumed it was Celestial Dave come to kick his ass.

"Wondered how long it would be until you turned up to nag at me. What kept ya?" He quizzed, not bothering to turn around and see his forme XO and see his disappointment and or disapproval.

"Excuse me, Gibbs. I didn't mean to disturb you," A well- modulated female voice responded, a little tentatively.

Swinging round in surprise, Gibbs found himself staring at Jackie Vance.

"Mrs Vance…Jackie, what are you doing here?"

"Honestly Jethro, I didn't know where else to go. I've been driving around for ages. We stopped off at McDonalds and the kids ate but after that I didn't know what else to do. I know that the name Vance isn't one that engenders warm and fuzzy feelings with you, and frankly I can't say as I blame you. Leon was an ass but I need your help," She confessed, her voice faltering.

Gibbs regarded her warily. She was right – he wasn't all that enamoured with anything to do with his former boss but he was a sucker for kids and women in distress. Always was…always would be and he could tell that Jackie was distressed. Wanting to know more before he got in too deep, he also couldn't turn them away either.

"You said you had the kids with you?"

She nodded glumly.

"Where are they, Jackie?" He asked.

"I told them to wait in the car, Jethro. I thought you might throw us out when you saw us. I know that Leon isn't your favourite person."

Gibbs sighed, acknowledging the truth of her statement but Jackie was a kind lady and she had done a great job bringing up Leon's kids, even if their father was a power hungry, ambitious pri… er bastard. It was late and for some reason Leon's wife was reluctant to go home and he couldn't turn them away. It wasn't the kids' fault that Leon was such a horse's ass or Jackie's either for that matter.

"Let's get them inside, Jackie. We can park them in front of the TV and we can talk down in the basement." He offered.

Jackie smiled gratefully. She hoped that she could convince Gibbs to help her because Eli David terrified her with his weird obsession with his children. Obsession but at the same time his calculated ability to disassociate from them, to use them like pawns on a chess board, to send them out as killing machines. Even sacrifice them for a bigger picture. Eli was utterly ruthless and he was not someone she would trust. Jackie knew that to associate with him was to invite him to destroy their lives, even more than he already had.

When they had settled Jarrod and Kayla in his living room and with them occupied with their laptops and iPads, their mother followed Gibbs back down to his basement, armed with large mugs of Gibbs special brew to talk. Rejecting the offer of bourbon to add to her coffee, Jackie proceeded to explain how she had come to be driving around aimlessly. When Gibbs heard that Eli David was visiting D.C. Jackie was a bit alarmed by the odd predatory expression on his face along with the sudden stilling of his body. Typical of Gibbs, he revealed very little of what he was thinking other than the familiar emotions of anger and frustration.

When Jackie got to the part where she had given Leon an ultimatum because she wasn't going to let her children anywhere near the Mossad director, Gibbs congratulated her on her strength of character and determination to protect her children. He offered to let them spend the night until she could figure out what to do tomorrow and Jackie gratefully accepted since she didn't want to have to check in to a hotel tonight. As she explained to Gibbs, she didn't have any close family that she could call on in an emergency and she didn't want to be alone tonight.

Once they had gotten the kids bedded down on his pull out sofa and Gibbs had brewed a fresh pot of coffee, Jackie had launched her appeal, knowing that it was probably going to be rejected but she had to try for her children.

"I know that I have no right to ask this of you Jethro, but I'm still going to do it anyway. Leon is in over his head. He all but admitted to me that Eli is blackmailing him into helping him and I know," She hastened to add, already picking up cues that Jethro wasn't feeling any sympathy for her husband, "That Leon has brought it on himself. I totally get that…I do but it's the kids that suffer."

Gibbs grunted. It was hard to argue with that assertion. The Vance kids must have had a pretty torrid time after Leon's very public fall from grace. The press had had a field day and he hadn't ever stopped to think how it all impacted on Jackie and the kids. Still he wasn't sure what it had to do with him.

"Yeah I guess it must have been pretty terrible for you but wha's it got to do with me, Jackie?"

We need help, Jethro. I know you and Leon aren't friends and I know that Leon treated Tony like yesterday's trash and I left him in no doubt how totally inappropriate his behaviour was. We almost broke up over it but in the end I decided for Jarrod and Kayla's sake to give him another chance but I will divorce him if it is the only way to keep them away from that megalomaniac, Eli. Still I was hoping that since you are retired, you might be able to do something without going through official channels. The gossip is that you have plenty of people who owe you favours?"

Gibbs cringed mentally. He so didn't see that one coming. Truthfully, if Leon was on fire he wouldn't piss on him but he couldn't say that to Jackie. She hadn't done anything to deserve his considerable anger and scorn, she'd simply fallen in love with an ambitious, unethical douchebag. He could hardly criticise her, considering his crappy judgement when it came to three exes and a score of crazy lovers. Luckily, he'd never had to factor in children when he'd decided to cut and run and he knew that he would have, like Jackie, tried to work things out if kids had been in the mix.

To be honest, Jackie's news was mind blowing, since literally hours ago he was bemoaning the fact that what they needed was to get rid of Eli but that there was no way to get to him, surrounded by his phalanx of fanatical supporters. Perhaps an opportunity just got dropped in his lap although he needed to proceed with caution. It was true that he still had contacts from his Black Op days that owed him a favour or five and could help with the inevitable protection detail that Eli would be travelling with. But if he was going to do this, he had to cover his tracks. He had no intention of rotting in a prison for the next twenty years for one Leon effing Vance.

"Well Jackie, like you say, I'm retired now and contrary to all the scuttlebutt I'm not the Big Bad Wolf. You should talk to the FBI if Leon is being blackmailed. I can have a word with Tobias Fornell if you want me to," He offered, trying to ignore the despair on Jackie Vance's beautiful face. She made him feel like a miserable heel and he really was a sucker for a damsel in distress. Feeling like a pile, of shit he tried to comfort her.

"Look Jackie, I …" When his cell phone rang and he answered it immediately, relieved to be interrupted even if he didn't recognise the caller.

"Gibbs." He grunted, having mellowed in his phone etiquette from a few years ago.

"Gibbs we need your help," A female voice replied in a manner that was a request but tempered by an unmistakable air of authority. While mentally taking note that this was someone used to issuing orders, Gibbs was trying to place the caller's identity since she sounded familiar. He just couldn't identify her.

"And you would be?"

"Oh I'm sorry but I'm rather shaken. It's Sister Rosita and Abby told us to call you if something ever happened to her."

"What's happened?" Gibbs demanded, picturing some degenerate at one of the clubs the forensic scientist frequented, attacking his favourite Goth.

"Our battery died in the convent minivan and Abby was going to give us a ride home when we were attacked by a bunch of dirt bags." Gibbs grinned at the nun's descriptor. "They dragged her off in a black SUV with blacked out windows and mud smeared over the license plates." The nun reported.

Gibbs felt a vicelike grip around his heart as he wondered what cases Abbs was working right now. They needed to get someone to check out what she was working on and also someone to work the scene.

"Are the police there yet, Sister?"

"Not yet but…"

"Okay, well I'm going to alert NCIS and the FBI as well," He interrupted her, not bothering with the social niceties. "I'll be there soon…um where are you?"

"Outside the bowling alley, we had just defeated the Medicos from Saint Pat's…"

"We'll talk to you when I get there," Gibbs interrupted for a second time as he tried to hang up.

"Wait, Mr Gibbs. You haven't told us if the police should take the perp or NCIS will want first crack at him?" Sister Rosito remonstrated with him a little irritably.

"What perp, Sister?" Gibbs asked confused.

The perp I told you that we detained at the scene, Jethro," She replied impatiently.

"Ah no Sister, you didn't mention any perp. Is he restrained? Are you Sisters safe?" He asked, trying to figure out how a pack of nuns 'of a certain age' had 'detained' a dirt bag.

"Oh, my apologies, Jethro. The shock I guess. Ah… yes he isn't going anywhere and we're perfectly safe from him."

"Okay, well then tell the cops that NCIS and the FBI will be taking him into custody and that they'll be there ASAP. I'll see you soon." He hung up and looked at Jackie Vance.

"Abby Scuito has been abducted. I have to go. We'll finish this later." He grabbed up his gun, car keys and phone and went to the front door. "Lock the door when I leave and don't open it unless it's me." He instructed her as he left. Bypassing the NCIS dispatch, he rang Balboa – who had taken over the MCRT when it was clear that Gibbs wasn't going to give up his search to his SFA. After reading him in on the situation, he tried to contact Fornell but his cell was busy. Finally he managed to get a ring tone but it went to voicemail so he left a curt "Call me ASAP, Abby's been abducted."

Finally, he directed his full attention to the road, focusing on getting there as quickly as possible. His mind replaying several instances when Abby had been targeted in the past, Gibbs tried to tell himself that although not an agent, Abby had handled the danger admirably. She'd kept her head and when an opportunity presented itself, she'd seized it with both hands. He had to believe that this time would be no different.

He wondered if she'd been injured by the dirt bags. He hadn't thought to ask Sister Rosita if Abby was okay and he put his foot down on the accelerator, frustrated that he didn't know what was going on. He briefly contemplated calling Duck, but figured that he'd at least wait til he arrived at the crime scene and had a few more details. Finally, pulling up at the scene he could see the strobing blue lights from the Metro PDs squad cars, crime scene tape and what looked like a body lying in the middle of the car park. On either side of it was a group of nuns and LEOs in what was obviously a standoff that looked like the Hatfields and the McCoys where getting ready to do battle.

Getting out of his truck and ducking under the tape and striding to the confrontation with his Marine 'don't eff with me' swagger along with the federal agent Gibbs 'don't eff with me' glare, no one dared to call his bluff about his right to be there. When Sister noticed his approach she looked suitably relieved at his arrival.

"Gibbs, can you please tell these nice police officers that they can't have this slime-ball. That NCIS has first dibs on him?" And Gibbs marvelled that even though the nun was clearly deeply distressed she still managed to make the request sound more like an order sent from the good Lord himself.

Although Officers Lopez and Markham both initially flinched when they realised who they were dealing with, and Gibbs felt a sense of satisfaction that even as a civilian he could terrorise the local cops, they rolled their eyes and shot him a look that was also one of appeal.

"Mr Gibbs, can you please explain to these ladies here that we need to 'borrow' this slime-bag and make sure that he gets checked over by the EMTs over there?" Officer Karen Markham replied, rather acerbically while her partner stared at the Sisters in frank terror.

Something told Gibbs that Officer Marcus Lopez had been educated at Parochial School and that the nuns had him completely cowed, which considering the impressive bulk on the young LEO was highly amusing. He turned his attention to the writhing figure on the ground who appeared to be crying – the wimp. Granted the Sisters were a force to be reckoned with but this loser needed a backbone.

"What the Heck's wrong with him?" Gibbs demanded harshly, pissed off to have to curb his language in front of the nuns. They needed to be able to interrogate him so they could find Abby ASAP.

Officer Markham snorted and tried to school her features into a professional mien but the corners of her mouth curled upwards. "It seems that the good Sisters here, before trussing him up like the proverbial Thanksgiving turkey, hit him with pepper spray and Tasers," She reported succinctly.

Gibbs stared at the 'slime-ball' who was almost hogtied with what looked like satin coloured cords, which he realised, even if they looked like dressing-gown cords they were actually the weirdly named girdles from around the waists of the nun's habits. Which had Gibbs doing a double take, wondering what the good Sisters were doing wearing what Tony had dubbed their penguin suits. Sister Rosita's order where a fairly progressive one, and while some of the nuns dressed in civvies, the rest all opted to wear a much simpler and more modern habit in browns and beiges that looked somewhat reminiscent of a 1940's nurses uniform.

"Why are you Sisters dressed in you penguin… er traditional habits, Sister Rosita?" He quizzed. Damn it, now thanks to DiNozzo he'd slipped. Looking at her, expecting to see stern condemnation for his irreverence he saw instead a hint of amusement.

"They are our bowling uniforms, Jethro. For some silly reason they seem to intimidate our opponents, so even though they are a little cumbersome to bowl in, it's still worth the aggravation for the psych-out advantage," She explained briefly.

Gibbs' gave a snort that was akin to other people's belly laugh and turned his attention to the thug, his streaming eyes and uncoordinated rolling on the ground now making more sense. Fixing the Sister's with an approving stare, he explained, "Yeah, Officer Markham is right. We need the EMT's to make sure he's okay so we can 'chat' to him and find out where they've taken Abs."

The Nuns nodded their understanding but Sister Maria Concepcion threatened the "slime-ball" with her Taser if he even thought about causing trouble. No wonder Officer Lopez was looking so petrified of the feisty Sisters.

As the LEOs de-trussed the turkey with Sister Rosita and her gaggle of nuns (or as Duck had corrected him once before – a superfluity of nuns) Gibbs observed Balboa and the MCRT team pulling up. Finally! He strode over although his cell phone ringing halted him midstride as he saw on caller ID that it was Fornell.

Answering with his customary gruffness, he didn't bother with any social niceties, cutting straight to the chase. "Need your ass down here at the bowling alley yesterday, Fornell! Abby's been taken but we have one of the dirtbags. I need to interrogate him so I need you to come and take charge of the case." He ordered imperiously.

"Shit Jethro, you should have called me…"

"I did, Tobias… Left you a message."

"Damn it. I must have missed it. Look I was ringing to tell ya that Dr Mallard's been abducted when he was leaving his bridge game. Sent me a text and we were tracking his phone until it went dead. Guess they found it and got rid of it."

"Too much of a coincidence…have to be connected, Fornell. Balboa's got people checking cases for Abby. I'll tell him 'bout Duck, too."

Fornell grunted and years of friendship meant that Gibbs knew that it was approval. "You said that there was a witness?"

"No I said that it was a dirtbag. One of the thugs who kidnapped Abs. He made the mistake of trying to grab her when she was with Sister Rosita and the rest of the nuns. They managed to persuade him to hang around so we could have a little chat with him," Gibbs explained brusquely.

"I'll be right there!"

An Eye for an Eye

LAX Airport Tuesday 10th August 2012

Tony hung around the terminal waiting for his flight to be called. He'd wanted to do this for a couple of months now but life has a way of getting in the way of plans that you make – often not in a good way. Following the shooting at the cemetery, Tony and Jack had laid low at the safe house and waited. Thanks to Ducky writing him a script for antibiotics and debriding his wound, he was recovering well, physically. Emotionally…that was a whole other story and having to keep their heads down at the safe house while they waited for the rest of the team, well it left him with way too much time to think. Thinking was always a perilous occupation since left to his own devices too long, his thoughts always turned dark and decidedly dangerous. And thus it was with his sojourn in Indiana, that he was left to brood over the news that Ducky had shared with him.

Many people might have been surprised to learn that the brash, loud, extroverted special agent was essentially a front. A shield to protect the introverted, deeply sensitive guy who had learnt never to show his weaknesses but who was acutely aware of his flaws. With little to do but contemplate all the ways that he'd managed to screw up the lives of everyone that he cared about, he was starting to question his life and didn't come up with good arguments for what he had been doing. He could fool himself that he was doing something worthwhile chasing down predators that hunted down homeless people but at what cost?

He'd ruined too many lives of people who he cared about. Good people, people that could make amazing contributions to society. Gibbs not using his investigation abilities was such a waste - the MCRT had been a force to be reckoned with before he destroyed everyone's lives. He wasn't anyone special, what sort of hubris was it to think that he was making a difference or even if he was, that his contribution could compete with the rest of the his old team and their talents. Especially when they were wasting time and energy trying to track him down.

He'd thought he'd made it clear when he left letters for them all. He'd explained why it wasn't safe for him to be around them. And really, Ron Sacks painful death should have been more than enough proof if any of them was in any doubt. Why couldn't they let him go? He wasn't worth it.

As his thoughts spiral downward, he started questioning the ethics of him endangering his new team. It seemed incredibly selfish and egotistic to expect these people who hadn't done anything wrong, to have to place themselves and their families in danger just to help him out. Everyone that helped him out ended up paying too high a price for rendering assistance. Croc was currently taking the rap for something he'd done and that was wrong and although it looked as if there were no charges going to be laid he was still living a lie. He also had a wife and child and parents who would be devastated if anything were to happen to him. Parents who had treated Tony as an adopted son while they'd all been at RIMA.

Now a little over two months later as he boarded the plane, he vowed that it was time to do what he should have done a long time ago. At least he would be going out on his terms and if he was lucky, taking a monster with him.

An Eye for and Eye

DC Warehouse Friday evening 14th August 2012

Ducky groaned, as he regained consciousness. His head hurt but seeing as the thugs had walloped him over the head and he'd lost consciousness that seemed to be not an unreasonable outcome. As he became increasingly, uncomfortably aware of his surroundings, he realised that he was tied to a chair - which was obviously not the best of scenarios. As he became even more aware, he realised that his wasn't the only chair in the room nor was he the only captive. His young NCIS colleague, Abigail Scuito PhD. was seated in the second chair beside him and still quite out of sorts, poor thing!

He hoped that Tobias Fornell had actually received the text he sent him before they found and destroyed his cell phone so that they would be rescued. Unfortunate that these hooligans had discovered it but he supposed it could be worse- they might have found it initially. Mind, these people clearly thought that he was too mature in years to be using new-fangled technologies like cell phones. What a shame for them that Ducky was so adept at shooting photos, since he'd managed to get several of the scoundrels even if their faces weren't discernible and send them off to Fornell. Pity he'd gotten caught though, since he ended up with quite a bothersome headache and nausea.

Watching Abigail closely, he was able to satisfy himself that whilst she was unconscious, her respiration was strong and regular so he allowed his mind to drift while he waited for her to regain consciousness. The elderly ME was rather incredulous that he should be kidnapped at this point in his career with NCIS. He had already formally expressed his intention to resign to the Director so he was rather disgruntled that these gorillas should decide to abduct him in the twilight of his illustrious career and if they killed him he would not be amused.

He would definitely make it his business to haunt these bloody thugs for the rest of their miserable days should the worst occur, although glancing at the young Goth beside him, he castigated himself for thinking so morbidly. Of course, they would find them – they had some most capable and seasoned agents such as Balboa and his MCRT would get them out this sticky wicket, he assured himself firmly.

So while he waited for Abby to re-join him to compare notes, Ducky decided to occupy himself think about other matters in the meantime. One thing about Abigail, she was always ready to join him in robust discourse on just about any topic and never cut him off in the middle of one of his anecdotes. She was also extremely observant and he was certain she would have plenty of data that would help determine why they had been singled out and abducted.

As he waited, Ducky's thoughts drifted to their trip to Indianapolis two months ago. It had been the final catalyst for him deciding to retire after his encounter with Anthony DiNozzo. Part of the reason he had stayed on at NCIS after most of the people he was closest to had left the agency three years before, was that he wanted to be easy for Tony to find when he return to DC. He was so certain that he would eventually find his way back to them – yes he was an eternal optimist in spite of all the cruelty he had seen in his lifetime - but now he knew different. Seeing Anthony had been bittersweet.

He was glad to be able to render assistance to his young friend, who once again demonstrated that his aptitude for getting injured hadn't diminished in the three years they'd been apart. It had been good to catch up with each other and he was so glad he'd had the opportunity to set his friend straight on how much he was missed. He seemed genuinely shocked to hear of Gibbs unrelenting quest to track him down and quite confused as to his former mentor's motivation to do so. He'd also be greatly relieved to hear direct from the horse's mouth so to speak, about young Dr Palmer's condition being superficial, if more than a little peeved that he had volunteered himself as bait. He'd forgotten that an angry Anthony DiNozzo was a dangerous individual indeed and it had taken the combined efforts of himself and the young medic, Leyland to restrain him so he didn't harm himself further as he ranted.

Ducky admitted that initially he was surprised to hear that Anthony had attended their little sting to trap Samuel Rivkin but the more he thought about it the more in character it was. Indeed they really should have anticipated it and Jimmy was extremely fortunate that he'd turn up since it had been Anthony's eagle eye that had pick out the assassin. Still, the encounter with Anthony had not been without its painful aspects, to be sure. Seeing the pain that he tried valiantly to hide from Ducky but failed, since he'd long seen all the masks that Tony used to hide behind, had been traumatic. Anthony was good but the despondency and pain was there and that made him melancholy and depressed.

Accepting that despite Rivkin being taken care of at long last, that they really hadn't changed the overall situation and that Anthony was still between a rock and a hard place had been a bitter pill for Ducky to swallow. How so many highly intelligent people had managed to delude themselves that catching the crazy assassin would magically fix all their ills was rather embarrassing. Having Anthony pointing out the folly of their plans even more so.

They should have realised it and Ducky suspected that some of them probably had, at least subconsciously, but not wanted to face the truth that their former SFA was at much at risk as he had been before Samuel had been recruited. Ducky, as a forensic profiler had worked Eli's profile and the man was highly unlikely to forget about his quest for revenge. Unfortunately, he had the contacts and resources to carry out his warped obsession.

So, knowing that this was likely the last time he got to spend time with Anthony, had been a difficult… heartbreaking but there was a third factor that had left Ducky also feeling rather distressed by their encounter. It had also left him tossing and turning in the wee small hours when he returned home, engaged in much painful soul searching and with the realisation there were no easy answers. Indeed it was this factor more than anything else that had encouraged him to hang up his rib separators and his brain saw. He didn't have the spirit to continue his work anymore.

Indeed it had occurred to him to wonder how much longer before Anthony was brought home and he found his body on one of his tables. Or else the second scenario that perhaps haunted him even more that he should end up dead somewhere where no one would know or care about him. That his mortal remains would not be treated with love and deference as he deserved. And Ducky wasn't sure which scenario was more distressing for him to contemplate.

What had finally pushed him over the edge was when Anthony had been apologising for leaving them three years before without saying goodbye. He'd been attempting to explain why he'd felt that he had no choice but to remove himself from their lives. He explained that his impulse had been one of protecting the team which hadn't come as a shock - he'd said as much in his letters. Still, what did catch Ducky completely by surprise was that the second reason he'd fled so swiftly was he was trying to spare Jethro. He seemed certain that his continued presence was a painful reminder that Gibbs had a choice to save Ziva and didn't.

Apparently, Jethro felt that he had no choice but to pick Tony, for no other reason than because Ziva had forced his hand by giving him an ultimatum or her or him. And anyone that knew Jethro knew damned well that you couldn't threaten him. At least one of his ex-wives and several of his flings had discovered that at their peril when he kicked them to the curb. So he was consumed with regret and grief when she died and expressed his regrets at his hospital bed the day Tony had killed his partner. In Tony's mind, just as Ziva had wished that it had been him that had died instead of Michael, Gibbs wished that Ziva had survived and his presence would only serve to rub salt into his wounds.

That was information the ME had not been privy to and he was shaken by the news but perhaps more shocking, was the lack of affect Anthony displayed - apart from great guilt and empathy for Gibbs. It was if it was only to be expected and Anthony also assumed Ducky knew about the ultimatum and Gibbs' choice so he chose not to disabuse him of that notion. Ducky found it intolerable that he seemed not only resigned but accepting that his mentor had expressed his anguish at not choosing Ziva when he had had the opportunity to keep her on the team. That was despite her behaviour during the whole situation with the dead ICE agent and Michael Rivkin, then everything that followed. He told himself, indeed he had told young Anthony too, very emphatically that it had been shock and grief that had caused his mentor to respond the way that he had at the hospital. At the same time he cursed the fool for assuming he hadn't regained consciousness.

He had launched into a stirring account of how Jethro had been on a single minded quest to find his senior field agent and bring him home again so he could protect him (and make amends) he realised, belatedly. No wonder Gibbs had been even more obsessive than even the Ari Haswari debacle, Ducky concluded. He was seeking absolution. Yet as much as he attempted to convince Anthony of how much Gibbs cared about him and didn't blame him for Ziva dying, a part of him wondered if he was really being truthful? And despite his spirited defence that Anthony had nothing to feel guilty about and Gibbs didn't blame him for a millisecond, there was now that blasted seed of doubt that made him wonder if it was really so.

He knew that Anthony was convinced that Jethro had blamed him for the unfortunate death of Jenny Shepard and he suspected that there might be a kernel of truth to the idea. Their professional and personal relationship was severely fractured at that time, for a score of reasons and Jethro had taken her death particular hard. Whatever the truth of the matter, Ducky wasn't sure that he did an adequate job of convincing their stubborn self-sacrificing young agent that his mentor didn't hate him for shooting Ziva. Truth be told, he wasn't sure about anything any more and Ducky wasn't entirely sure that Jethro did, either. Things had been somewhat fraught between them both since they'd come home from Indiana, as a result of those doubts and anger about Gibbs true motivations.

He couldn't exactly confront his oldest friend about what Anthony had revealed, not without exposing the lad. Ducky knew Jethro well enough that if he found out he'd seen Tony, he wouldn't rest until he found him. And Ducky now knew even if Anthony had been extremely careful about divulging anything personal, that in trying to protect them in Indianapolis, he had made himself terribly vulnerable. He was sure that it would be a walk in the park to find him if anyone realised how close he had been and Ducky couldn't betray his trust like that.

So his and Gibbs longstanding friendship became tense in the last couple of months and Gibbs probably thought it was because his plan had gotten Palmer shot and still hadn't led to Tony being able to come home. When the truth was, he didn't blame Jethro for James, since Gibbs had objected most vehemently to him taking part and been over-ruled. No, it was the secrecy over the past three years from his good friend, a friend who he would have said was far too honourable to let a good man destroy himself because he'd been forced to defend his life and kill someone he thought of as a friend. Some tactful probing of Tobias, after getting the man drunk on fine Scotch one night had confirmed that he'd said things that would have done as much damage to Anthony's psyche as his good for nothing alcoholic father had done years before.

So many things fell into place now that he knew about what had taken place at the hospital, including Jethro's disbelief that Ziva had attacked her partner in Israel. Even when he pleaded with Jethro to give up his tilting at windmills and cease searching for Anthony, he'd never confided in Ducky why he was so desperate to find him and make amends and it wasn't as if it was the first time he'd held back. Jethro had kept his family a secret from him for years too and he'd only found out about the most important people in his life after Gibbs had been blown up and ended up with amnesia following his coma. It was partly why he'd not told Jethro about his mother Victoria's passing – not as a tit for tat but because he'd realised that they weren't as close as he'd thought, all these years.

Of course there had been a lot of factors that encouraged him to retire – there really wasn't anything to keep him at NCIS anymore. Perhaps it was time to travel before he was too old to enjoy himself. Now that Victoria was gone, there was nothing holding his back. He'd hung around because of Anthony, since in many ways he felt a bond with the former cop. Having an English mother, like Anthony did too – he'd always felt a connection with the fellow, always felt grandfatherly concern for the younger man who effectively had no real family.

Now that he knew that Tony couldn't come home, there wasn't really a good reason to stay anymore. And he'd obviously overestimated the significance of his friendship with Jethro. The man was frustratingly self-contained, happy to build his boat in his basement and imbibe his two vices - coffee and bourbon. Ducky on the other hand, knew he was a social butterfly, not unlike Anthony who thrived on interacting and sharing with people.

When all was said and done, his and Gibbs friendship, if that was what it had really been these many years past, had certainly been an odd match. Like the odd couple – that Neil Simon play with the anally retentive Felix Unger and Oscar Madison – the easy going slob, who most of the time drove each to distraction. Ducky suspected that his friendship with Jethro was more a function of pragmatism, at least on his friend's part. Gibbs was certainly asocial at the very least, if not antisocial. If he could be a hermit and still have done his job, he suspected that Gibbs would have been more than happy to keep himself company. Well perhaps not happy… the ME didn't think that Gibbs was happy being happy, he seemed to be happier when he was miserable.

Ducky was startled out of his reverie when Abby groaned repeatedly and he glanced at her, worried, thinking that she was looking decidedly peaky before snorting in amusement. The girl was a Goth, Donald! Of course she was going to look pale, even when she was in rude health. Abigail probably owned shares in a face powder manufacturer, he told himself mentally. Ah well, whatever made her happy! He called out to her softly, mindful that she probably had a nasty headache and wouldn't appreciate him yelling at her. Even though she roused momentarily, she apparently wasn't ready to re-join the world yet, although if he wasn't mistaken, she would be coming to in the next half hour or his name wasn't Donald Hamish Ronan Alistair Teàrlaidh Mallard.

Luckily he proved to be correct and as Abby made her way back to consciousness, he was relieved to see that she was semi alert and responsive to his verbal interjection. It was always a bit of a lucky dip when someone had been bludgeoned into unconsciousness because until they regained consciousness you didn't know if they were going to suffer any serious ill- effects or not. So he was pleased to see that Abigail was becoming more alert by the minute. As she glance around and registered that she wasn't alone, she gave him a watery smile.

"Hey Duckman, what's happening?"

It became obvious that they had been observed by their captors since before Ducky had an opportunity to respond to Abby, the thugs bustled into the room. Clearly they had been waiting for her to surface because they came in with their smart phones, jostling them and shining bright lights in their faces but that prevented them from seeing their abductors. Jumping in quickly they replied to her question, filming the response and their reaction to it, which was rather disconcerting. Ducky really couldn't think of any good reason for the bunch of thugs to want to film them. He may not possess Gibbs famous gut but his own intuition was nothing to be sneezed at and it was complaining very loudly.

"You, Dr Abigail Scuito and your companion and peer, Dr Donald Mallard are being held hostage for a ransom that will be demanded in due time," A voice that had been digitally altered to sound hinky informed them. "We don't usually commit acts of violence against civilians working for a federal law enforcement agency but we were unable to gain access to the agent who was responsible for the death of Chief Petty Officer Jonathon Green. It would seem that he has disappeared off the face of the earth. We will be making further contact in 24 hours to announce our demands to him."

Closing the camera, the hinky voice of their abductor ordered his underling to get some water for the captives and send off the cell phone video to ZNN and the other major commercial network news desks. "We want to make absolutely sure that he sees we have his friends," he instructed and Ducky felt a stab of fear. He had a pretty good idea why they had been taken and it hadn't been because of any current cases they were involved in at NCIS now. In fact although that name rang bells he was quite certain it wasn't a current one.

No, he was sure it was an old case and asked Abby whose ability to recall details rivalled his own. Quite possibly even surpassed him, as she was much younger so her synapses were probably much more limber than his own. Although he did sometimes wonder at the treatment her brain cells received with the twin assaults of Caff-Pow and heavy metal noise.

"I think it was a real old case, if I'm remembering the right one. He took his partner and new baby hostage after discovering she was cheating on him."

Ducky vaguely remembered – Jimmy had been deeply affected by it. "Was that the case when Tony was forced to shoot him?"

"Yeah, while my Silver Fox was sunning himself in Mexico. But why would that case spark a kidnapping… and why now?"

"As you say, Abigail, it does seem rather hinky. That Tony would have two separate scoundrels wanting his head on a platter appears to be a little too convenient, methinks."

"There's no such thing as co-incidences, Duckman." She agreed.

Therefore they both had no hesitation in reaching the conclusion that it was a con job. The real reason they'd been abducted was to become the Judas goat staked out in the open in the belief they'd attract Anthony's attention and bring him running to their rescue and his death. And the upsetting thing was the ME had no doubt that this trap would prove to be effective if Anthony learnt of their predicament. He would be incapable of staying away and Ducky was under no illusion that Eli David was the monster behind this latest obscene attempt to extract revenge for Ziva's death.

Seeing the look of horror on his young companion's face, Ducky was certain that Abigail had also added two and two together and come up with a horrific four. Ducky promised himself that as unlikely as it seemed, if he and Abby did manage to get out of this mess alive, he was going to call in every single marker and favour he could to find some way to take Eli David down. Between his contacts in MI5, CIA, Shin Bet (Israel's internal security), and several Mossad officers who were dismayed by Eli's corruption and power, he was determined to prevail. This abomination must be stopped!

Abby sighed, "Tony will come for us, Duckman."

"Yes my dear Abigail, I very much fear that he will drop everything when he hears about our plight and come riding to the rescue to save us." Ducky replied.

"He'll be okay won't he, Ducky?"

He wasn't about to lie to make Abby feel better, he respected her intellect too much to do so and he suspected if he did she would see straight through him, anyway. So he shook his head. "I really don't know Abigail…I hope so."

As they sat together side by side, silently lost in their own thoughts, the bitter irony of the situation did not escape Ducky. They were together, possibly the two most vociferous and voluble individuals in DC and they couldn't find anything to talk about. He suspected that it was partially that although neither of them was shy, they didn't feel like carrying on a conversation under the scrutiny of these bloody thugs. Abigail was probably afraid she might slip and reveal something about Anthony and he was mindful that he had data that could be dangerous to his welfare too. That tended to put a crimp in any potential conversational gambits between them.

The truth was that both scientists had no doubt registered that even if their captors had slipped up with Ducky's cell phone, since then they had been scarily efficient, showing no signs of making mistakes. They had been careful to avoid revealing themselves in any way that would allow themselves to be identified. They were even wearing gloves when he was grabbed, Ducky noted, so he concluded that they were organised, cautious and seemed to have planned this meticulously. That did not bode well for their long term survival. Thoughtfully, their abductors had switched on the television and Abby and Ducky were able to monitor the news, while they waited. As of yet, the video of their capture hadn't been broadcast on the television stations.

Sooner or later though it would be and Tony would see their video and storm the barricades, even knowing full well it was a trap. And Ducky knew that friends like Leyland, who for some unfathomable reason seemed to prefer to be called Jack, or his other chums wouldn't stand a chance of dissuading him against coming to DC. When he'd returned from Indianapolis, he'd deliberately refrained from investigating his support crew, deciding it was simply too dangerous. The ME had however, listened in most avidly to the FBI accounts of the bounty hunters at the cemetery and then pumped Tobias' about the statement of the one who'd claim to shoot Samuel Rivkin.

It sounded as if Anthony had found some colourful characters to watch his back, which had eased Ducky's mind greatly. He'd liked to know more about them but it wasn't possible. Just as he knew now, they also wouldn't stop him sacrificing himself when he knew.

Glancing over at Abby as she wiggled about trying to relieve a muscle cramp muscle from being tied to the chair, he observed the synthetic rope they'd used to tie them to the chairs. Seeing the rope cutting in harshly to the white flesh of her arms and legs that the Goth made sure remain unkissed by the sun, Ducky felt indescribable fury at the men holding them captive. Call him old fashion but taking a female science officer who didn't sign on for that sort of violence unlike the special agents… well it was insufferable and he felt a strong instinct to protect his young friend.

He just wanted to keep her safe, even if the late Special Agent Caitlyn Todd would accuse him of being a chauvinist. The fact was that Ducky was a chauvinist, in as much as he couldn't see women being abused and not feel that it was abhorrent. It was partly how he was raised - in a different time by a very different generation of women, with ideas on how a female should be treated.

He smiled, recalling how he and Jethro had had a similar conversation about their chauvinism when that sick bugger Ari had shot Caitlyn. They'd both decried the fact that women were being placed in dangerous jobs and how much more painful it was to reconcile them dying on the job than their male colleagues. And Ducky had a sudden painful epiphany about his strong sense of chivalry.

Both he and Jethro must bear some responsibility for this whole catastrophe with their well-intentioned but outdated and old-fashion chauvinistic attitudes to women in law enforcement. In the Age of Aquarius or was it the age of equal opportunity, their desire to protect the young women they worked with had come back to bite them on their proverbial buttocks. Thinking back, he had strived to treat Ziva as someone that needed cossetting and protecting - like a precious hothouse orchid. He knew that Jethro had felt the same way, even though both of them were aware that she was eminently capable of dispatching adversaries with her bare hands.

In fact, his desire to treat her as a princess, not an assassin had been at the root of his inclination to make excuses for her. Like he had when she had killed Brian Dempsey when accompanying the suspect, for not remaining quiet while on the way to the interview room. He succumbed to an aneurism after she struck him in the throat and while it was the aneurism that was the COD, the blow to his throat is what caused it just because Dempsey wouldn't remain silent as she had ordered. Or the way he had defended her to Jethro after they'd discovered her duplicity and deceit, making excuses for her behaviour with Michael Rivkin. Indeed, perhaps he'd been responsible for Gibbs going easy on her when he would have ripped a male agent under his command a new one for the same behaviour. Had he contributed to her death and Anthony's torment? He feared so.

Of course Jethro must also bear some responsibility because from day one, he'd treated her as a daughter instead of an agent with a job to do. If you examined the facts in a dispassionate fashion, it was clear in hindsight that Ziva's most serious flaw was her inability to observe the chain-of-command. Considering that not only the military but all the law enforcement and intelligence agencies operated under this basic premise – that was a very serious deficiency. It was bound to be a serious impediment to her continued success.

So their gallant desire to look out for and protect her, allowed her to avoid dealing with her weaknesses instead of forcing her to address them, which had done her a grave disservice. In retrospect, that disservice had impacted badly on them all too. No doubt it contributed to creating the situation where she felt that it was an acceptable option to kill a team member who thwarted her aims.

Despite the fact that Ziva, like every other individual female Israeli citizen her age, had served in the Israeli Army for a mandatory period of two years, it clearly wasn't sufficient training for her to learn to respect and observe the chain of command. He had heard people over the years argue that after serving in the IDF, Mossad and being an elite Kidon assassin, Ziva was used to following COC but Ducky now he thought about it begged to differ. Eli David had brought up his daughter to be his successor and to be a law unto herself – that much was plain. He knew that she had assaulted Emit Hadar on that fateful last trip to Tel Aviv too - someone who was undoubtedly her superior in Mossad.

His sources said it was because she was furious that he'd failed to pull out Michael Rivkin quickly enough when she had demanded it and NCIS (Anthony) had killed him. Although it was clear that she had plenty of warning that her lover had lost control, so she could have had him recalled long before her panicked last minute plea. Her attack on Amit was probably also due to the fact he'd cleaned up the mess in typical Mossad fashion by bombing the apartment to destroy any trace evidence. Her inability to remain in control of herself was evident and should have clued her superiors that she was a danger to those around her.

He recalled her chilling remark to Gibbs, following the death of Brian Dempsey when she'd denied any wrongdoing that she had improved a great deal in the year she had been on the team. She proudly informed him that before, she would have snapped the man's neck for not remaining quiet., instead she'd merely jabbed him in the throat. Still, it seemed she had still had great difficulty in controlling herself, three years on and surely they should have seen those signs. When her father discovered her assaulting of her superior in Tel Aviv, he'd taken no action against her, indeed Ducky's sources revealed that he had been quite proud, amused even by her fiery spirit.

Little wonder she had seen nothing wrong in attacking Anthony not long afterwards, even though he was already injured and her teammate to boot. Never-mind Jethro's Rule One. Indeed his contacts had revealed it wasn't even the first time she had attacked one of her Mossad colleagues and not faced any consequences for her actions. When she had been hiding from the FBI who wanted to arrest her when she'd been framed for a bombing by the Iranian Intelligence and a rogue Israeli operative Namir Eschel, her father had ordered her to remain at the Israeli Embassy while it was sorted out. Refusing to follow his orders, she'd rendered unconscious, the poor sod tasked with ensuring she didn't leave the embassy, in order to disobey her father. Ducky was pretty certain if it had been anyone else but Eli's daughter who'd pulled that stunt, her career would be dead and buried. Yet no surprise that once again, there was again no consequence for her totally outrageous and completely insubordinate behaviour.

Clearly Ziva felt that she did not have to follow rules like other Mossad officers – that because of who her father was, the rules didn't apply to her. Gibbs had recounted in his statement how she had told him and Leon Vance in Tel Aviv that only two people in Israel had the power to order Anthony's execution (for doing his job) her father and herself. And therein lay ample evidence of her grandiose narcissistic tendencies – actually both Davids. But it was also a damn good indication that she did not acknowledge that the Mossad COC applied to her either. The only authority that she listened to was her father and as the affair with the Iraqis and Eschel showed, not always him either when it suited her purposes.

So it was little wonder when she came to the USA she would ignore COC structures as annoyances that didn't apply to herself. She ignored Anthony, refusing to follow his orders or other NCIS agents apart from Jethro, Jen and Vance – and even then, not always. When it suited her, she ignored Jethro and the directors too. And in trying to protect her from the wrath of Gibbs or making excuses for her behaviour when Anthony had been in charge of the team, they had not done her or themselves any favours. What she had really needed was to learn that her actions had consequences regardless of who her father was. It had been left to Anthony to teach her the ultimate lesson in consequences and he was still paying for their myopic stupidity.