Disclaimer: NCIS does not belong to me. All mistakes are mine.

"That was fast." Adam took a step back to let his visitor inside the room. "I was not expecting anyone here until tomorrow."

Tony scanned the hotel room. It was a huge place, not as large as a penthouse, but definitely larger than a regular. The color tones were more on the earthly side, with beiges and browns covering most of the place. Once he was certain that no one else was in, he growled. "Drop the pleasantries Eschel. Did you just call me to waste my time?"

"I did not call you; I called Gibbs. When he said that he would send the best guy for the job..." Adam trailed off, and then smirked knowingly. "I should have guessed."

When Tony's eyes finally focused on Adam, his jaw clenched unconsciously. "You and I both know for whom I am here for."

"With that look on your face, it goes without question." The smile on Adam's face wavered slightly, but before he could utter another word, a strong fist landed squarely against his face. The strength—and perhaps the fury—that came with it were so strong that he was thrown backwards by the sheer force of it. And to say he was surprised was an understatement.

Tony rubbed his knuckles; some weight seemed to have been lifted off his shoulders. He then stretched his neck, untying the knots that he had accumulated from his lengthy flight from D.C. "Feels good to finally let that out."

Adam wiped the blood from his split lip with his thumb, ignoring the familiar taste of copper that had reached his tongue. He rubbed his sore jaw. "That would be the last time I'm letting you do that."

Tony smirked. "That's too bad."

"Coffee?" Adam offered as he meticulously fumbled with the buttons of a coffee maker.

Tony made a face. "Nah." God knows how much of that stuff he'd gulped down in the last twelve hours alone. Not to mention those he'd already drank the past few days.

"Pity." Adam chuckled. "I brought this with me. This is Ziva's favourite blend."

Tony leant back, crossed his arms, and scowled at him. An angry retort played vicariously at the tip of his tongue, but he opted against it. He would not let Adam's blatant use of his partner's name get a rise from him. "What do you know?"

"About Ziva? Are you sure you want to go down that path?" He replied, a sly grin threatening to escape from his lips. "I may know too much."

Tony's features darkened. "Don't you dare speak about her that way." He took a deep breath, trying so hard to get hold of what little patience he has left in him. It wasn't much.

A raw nerve, Adam noticed. His eyebrows rose, words tumbling out of his mouth slowly. "Ziva's her own person, not a damsel in need of protection. She does not need white knights to save her."

That earned a nod from Tony. "Of course she wouldn't." Knowing Ziva, once she learned she's being treated like a damsel, she probably would've stolen her knight's sword and stab him with it. "But I would not stand idly by while she goes around taking the heat all by herself. I need to know. She's planning to do something completely stupid, is she?"

"Stupid?" Adam's forehead creased. "If you asked me that question a few months back, I would have agreed."

Tony pursed his lip. "What changed?"

"We'll get to that." Adam told him. "But first, let me make this clear. I never had any ill intentions against Ziva. She is important to me as she is to you."

"I highly doubt it." Tony replied sharply. "Do me a favour, Eschel. Cut to the chase. I don't have all the time in the world."

Adam clucked his tongue. "And yet you are spending most of yours, following her around like a hapless puppy."

"And you're not?" Tony asked, half furious, half exasperated.

Taking his time, Adam sat onto the seat across Tony. He gave him an impassive look. "Do you know what Ziva's nickname in her unit was?"

Tony did not even pause to think of an answer. He may have tried learning a few Hebrew words here and there, but Berlitz he is not. "I'm guessing it's something completely badass and scary."

Ignoring his comment completely, Adam continued, "the term is in Hebrew, but it roughly translates to 'the last light'. As I was told, in her former team, she's the one tasked to finish the job, the—"

"—the last person you see before you die." Tony finished for him.

"That's a way to put it, yes." Adam replied. "She was doing a remarkable job then. Her work was outstanding, her record was unparalleled. Commendations came in from all directions. When she's put into a job, it's considered done… until one day, it didn't."

"Who?"

"What I am about to tell you are classified information." Adam said, clearly uncomfortable. "This must not leave the four corners of this room, understood?"

"Or what, you'll waterboard me?" Tony joked.

Adam shot him an unenthusiastic look, but went on nonetheless. "It happened many years ago. It was maybe a year or two before she was sent to America to control the situation with her half brother." He paused, gauging Tony's expression. "It was Yosef Bodnar."

Tony's eyes widened momentarily. He'd heard that name before. "Bodnar, as in—"

"Ilan's father, yes."

Tony's eyebrows furrowed. "An apple does not fall far from the tree. What did he do to deserve the wrath of Mossad?"

"There was a hunt for someone within the ranks of Mossad who feeds Hamas information that reveals the identities of several undercover operatives. Given that the problem was from the inside, the lesser people who knew about it, the better. Ziva was temporarily pulled from her team to find and neutralize the leak."

Tony scrutinized the Israeli's every word, looking for any hint of deception. He did not find any. "And he was the leak?"

Adam nodded. "Yosef was then the head of Metsada, Mossad's Special Operations group."

He tried to reconcile this new information to everything he'd observed with Ziva during her hunt for her father's murderer. Perhaps this is why she was so furious at Ilan. She spared his father but in return, he killed hers. "Kidon—Ziva's former unit—it is under Metsada, right?" Tony asked, half wishing he did not say no to the coffee. "That means Yosef Bodnar is the boss of Ziva's boss."

"Who gave you the impression that Ziva was Kidon?" The Israeli operative smirked. "Kidon is a myth. It does not exist."

The senior agent tried to keep his annoyance from showing in his voice at Adam's poor attempt at secrecy. "Lemme guess, Metsada is the crooked politician, and Kidon is his red headed stepchild that no one talks about."

Adam gave him a confused look. "Think whatever you want to think, Agent DiNozzo. The point is, she was not able to complete her mission not because she cannot, but because someone stopped her."

Tony let out a derisive grunt. "Ilan."

"Back then, Ilan Bodnar was a different man. He was not as cold-blooded as he was—at least, not yet." Adam explained. "Ziva can be ruthless in the field, but she has a soft spot for family, which of course, Ilan exploited."

Tony watched Adam with wary eyes. "So she let him go?"

"Not exactly. She did shoot Yosef, but it was not enough to kill him. He was imprisoned up until recently."

That's more like the Ziva he knows. "Where is he now?"

"Disappeared. He escaped almost a week after Ilan was killed."

Tony's gut churned. "He has great timing, I'd give him that." No prisoner would escape jail a week after their child is killed and have good intentions. "Ziva told you all this?" Tony asked, refusing to show the Shin Bet operative how hurt he is that Ziva did not come to him first.

Adam considered lying to him, but he knew Tony would not believe him anyway. So he told him the truth. "The moment I got wind of the escape, I contacted Ziva. She did not want to tell me the whole story at first, but after—" he trailed off.

"After what?" Tony's frown deepened.

"She would definitely kill me once I show you this," Adam pulled out his phone and handed it to Tony. Shown in the phone was a photo of an old Middle Eastern woman taken at a distance. She was most likely preparing food in the kitchen when the photo was shot. "Ziva received this a few months ago."

"What's this?" Tony asked. He recognized the woman in the photo. Ziva showed it to him a couple of times before. "What does Ziva's aunt have to do with this?"

"Turn to the next picture." Adam instructed him.

Tony squinted at the Hebrew script. Despite his very little knowledge when it comes to Ziva's native tongue, he could still tell that the message was written very carefully. It was as if whoever wrote it really took his time writing whatever it was that he wrote.

"That was written at the back of the photo."

"And this totally makes sense to me because I can read Hebrew." The sarcasm was brimming in Tony's voice when he spoke.

"It has been decided where everyone will die." Adam translated, his tone devoid of emotions. "I am merely making sure you get there."

"Are you sure this is Yosef Bodnar's doings?" Tony asked.

"Ziva does not want to point fingers yet." Adam replied.

Tony narrowed his eyes at Adam. "Why are you telling me this?"

"The same reason why you are here, asking me questions." Adam sighed tiredly. "Believe me, if I had another choice, I would not be reaching out to you people."

"Huh." To say that he was not expecting any of this would be a lie. This would be it. The explanation he'd been waiting for. Only a threat like this would force Ziva to do something drastic. Probably this is the same reason why she quit NCIS.

"This is Calvin Anderson." Adam handed him a photo of an immaculately dressed man who is probably in his early fifties. His face was angular and deeply tanned, which complemented his thinning salt and pepper mane. His eyes were dark, intense, judging by the way he was staring back at whoever was holding the camera when the photo was taken. His nose seemed to have been broken once or twice, and Tony would bet his life savings that it wasn't caused by something completely lawful. The man's mouth was pressed into a thin line—perhaps the closest thing to a smile he could muster.

One look at the guy already got Tony's wheels turning. However, before a question could leave his lips, Adam had beaten him into it. "He was suspected of dealing weapons with Hamas almost a decade ago, but no one was able to prove it given his very close ties with a lot of influential people in Israel. He was thought to be the one responsible for arming Hamas with the odourless explosive that had almost obliterated an entire airstrip in Haifa.

Tony's face curled into a frown. "You gotta love arms dealers."

Adam sensed a deeper meaning behind Tony's words. He had read in his file a thing or two about an undercover operation gone awry involving Tony and an arms dealer called The Frog, but the facts were too insignificant for him at the time so he skimmed past it. Maybe now it deserves a second look. He continued, "Seven were killed, including Kalev Mazar. A significant player in Mossad's ranks, and more importantly, he was Yosef Bodnar's predecessor."

"I'll bet this did not reach the evening news."

"This did not reach the public's ear because all of those who died belonged to a contingent of Mossad operatives sent on a classified mission."

"Mission?"

"I am not at liberty to say what it was, but what I can tell you is that the incident in Haifa opened a lot of doors for Yosef."

"What happened after Yosef Bodnar assumed Mazar's post?"

"He did good at first." Adam replied. "But Eli David always had his doubts."

Tony smirked. "Of course he does."

"Eli was the deputy director then. It took him two years to get an actual lead against Bodnar, but the evidence was too thin to start an official investigation. This was when Ziva was read in."

Tony stood up, and walked by the window. He watched the city beneath him go on, business as usual. He wondered about the last time he'd been like that. It seemed like a lifetime ago. "What exactly do you expect me to do?"

"Kill Ziva David."

A/N: It has been months since I last updated (Sorry). I never thought I'd be that busy. I just finished medical school though (yasssssss).