Chapter 25

He woke up but kept his eyes closed, using his other senses to scan his surroundings. When he was sure that there was no one around he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Jack's body, the sword crossing it.

He stood, dusted his clothes, got his knife that was on the floor a few feet from him and left the warehouse. She was no longer there, he would have to wait untill the next message from her.

He made his way to his car, sticking to the shadows, but there was no one around. He got in his car and started driving away, all the way to his hotel he had her words playing on his mind.

You can come back, with me. We would take you back, with open arms. Please think about it, for me.

Come back. With me.

He was marked for death, he knew that from day one. He was not happy about it, but had accepted it.

He cursed the Order in his mind, for forcing this whole situation, for existing.

He sighed. ' But I'm the one to blame. I ran away from them. From her. ' He kept seeing the hurt in her eyes, the tears on her face. She never cried, not even once, during all the years he known her. ' It's my fault. And now she would be forced to kill me. ' He would not let that happen. He was going to get away again. This time he would go so deep no one would be able to find him.

At least this time she way going to get a goodbye.

You can come back, with me. We would take you back, with open arms. Please think about it, for me.

Come back. With me.

Come back. With me. With me.

When he drove past the entrance of the hotel, he noticed two figures inside a sedan that was parked on the other side of the street. One of them reminded him of Tony, but he couldn't be sure. So, he parked on an area without any cameras and not in sight of the car.

He got out of the car and walked towards the back side of the hotel, where he could enter his room through the same window that he used before. He got there without any trouble or anyone on the street. He silently climbed back into his room. He stood on the bathroom for a second, listening to sounds in the room, all lights were off, the bathroom door was open. Everything seemed to be in place. But if Tony was really parked on the other side of the street, with someone who he assumed could be Ziva based on the height, someone could be waiting for him in the room. As silently as he came into the room, and taking advantage of the darkness in the room, he walked from the bathroom to the bedroom. It took him about a minute, but when he was sure that no one was there he turned the lights on.

He looked at the bed, and saw that someone had entered his room. The objects were out-of-place, and the bag had been opened and closed. Wich means that whoever it was, found the gun he had there. He looked in side the bag, and not surprising, the gun was not there. And his cell had a lost call from Ziva's number. Good thing he had made sure to have the numbers of several agents.

The probability of Tony being outside the room was growing by the second. And if it is him outside, his car was recognized. He was sure no one saw him entering the room. So they would be waiting for him to enter through the main entrance.

He could just leave without them seeing him. unfortunately, he didn't know how much they knew. And of course, he needed access to the next crime scene, and it would be easier if he didn't have to avoid the team. And they are good agents, avoiding them would be a bigger distraction that he could afford, especially Ziva.

Now, how he would play this? First thing, he had to change clothes, into something Jimmy Palmer would use. He decided he would put the same clothes he used earlier at work. As he took off the clothes he had he saw the bruises and cuts on his body. Those would be hard to explain.

He took a moment to came up with a plan. The best solution he could find was, he was out and he was attacked. With meant he had to make cuts on his clothes that matched the ones on his body.

When he was ready, he climbed out of the window, carefull to turn off the lights and bring the clothes he had changed with him. Aswell as not leaving any blood in the room.

He dropped the clothes in his car, got in and drove in to the hotel parking lot. He got out of the car and started walking towards the front door. As he suspected, Tony and Ziva got out of the car on the other side of the street and walked towards him.

" Palmer! "

He jumped a little, and turned looking startled.

" Tony? Zi...Ziva? What are you doing here? Is everything okay? " He said, trying to hide the cuts in his clothes.

" We would like for you to come with us to the Navy Yard. Gibbs would like to have a word with you. " Said Tony

" Why? "

" You tell us Jimmy. Why would Gibbs want to speak with you? " Said Ziva.

From the way they were looking at him, they definitely knew something. They looked angry and hurt.

" I don...don't know. But if you guys need me I'll go. I just need to go to my room for a moment, because I forgot my cellphone there. It won't take long, just let him know I'll be right there. " He turned and entered the hotel, walking towards the elevators.

They followed him.

" Uhn guys? You don't need to wait for me. "

" We'll drive you Palmer. No problem at all. " Said Tony, a DiNozzo smile on his face.

" O...Okay. " He said entering the elevator with the agents, they would be noticing the cut and bruises by any minute now. He would play like he was trying to hide them until they saw it. A good thing is that he was using a dark blue shirt, the blood wasn't obvious. But he still was surprised that they had not seen it yet.

He left the elevator and walked towards his room. When he reached with the key to open the door, they finally saw that his shirt was cut.

" What happened to your shirt? " Said Ziva.

" What? Uhn, nothing. " He opened the door and got in, immediately going to grab his cellphone and glasses. And put the cellphone on his pocket and the glasses on his face.

" Nothing there is a hole in it, and a big one. " She said back.

" There's one in the front too. " Said Tony, observing him. " And another one on the leg. What happened? "

" I... I fell. It was stupid and clumsy. Nothing to be worried about. " He opened the bag and took out a brown jacket, putting it on. " So I have all I need. Can we go? "

The two agents shared a look, clearly suspicious of the cuts, but said nothing about it, and they all left the room, towards their car and to the Navy Yard.