They were all curled up in the theatre room watching the classic, Casablanca when suddenly the sound went out and Kevin's voice appeared again.
"Sorry for the interruption of a great piece of cinematic history." He announced, "Glad to see you're up and moving, Tony."
"Thanks." Tony looked around bewildered as this was his first Kevin voice experience outside the elevator.
"Ziva, I don't have a lot of time to talk but I wanted to let you know you need to get back to Washington immediately." He sounded as though he was smiling, "I was just contacted that you have a meeting scheduled with the Head Guardian for The Phoenix in less than 48 hours with more details forthcoming after you've landed. You are to bring both Asa and Malachi with you if they intend to go with you to get Liat back. Not to the meeting, but to Washington. Only you, Tony and Gibbs will actually be allowed in the meeting the Head Guardian. Everyone else must wait on Standby."
"Standby for what?" Gibbs asked shifting in his seat looking at Tony and Ziva.
"I do not know, Agent Gibbs, but I believe that if this person decides to clear you, things are going to start happening rather quickly." Kevin answered quietly, "But you need to get moving if you're going to make this meeting. The Head Guardian will only be in Washington for the next 72 hours and then you will miss your chance."
"We better get moving then." Ziva bounced up off the couch, extending her hand to Tony, to help him up. "How will we receive further instruction?" She asked the air as she couldn't see him.
"I will be in touch again." He answered with a smile in his voice once more, "Safe trip for you all and best of luck."
"Thank you, Kevin." She smiled softly honestly grateful for his help and finding herself wishing she could have gotten to know him better. Her emotions were all over the place right now in pregnancy and missing any connection to family, worried about Liat and now having her half-brother who was mostly unknown helping her.
"Welcome Ziva. Good night." He answered and was gone.
"So it's back home again." Tony smiled softly cupping Ziva's face and kissing her lips quickly.
"I need to call Malachi and Asa." Ziva smiled in turn as they all began to move quickly, feeling a renewed sense of hope in this day at a possible turn of events for both the baby and their situation.
"See, good things can happen in Israel too." Tony smiled as they packed up the last of their bag, pulling Ziva into his arms and kissing her. Remembering how very differently he felt when they'd first arrived. "I feel like this is the turning point, Ziva. Things are going to start going our way now. I just feel it." He smiled and kissed her again.
"I hope so." She nodded nervously and kissed him again, "Let's go."
"Where are they, Timmy?" Abby paced anxiously through the Bullpen as they all eagerly awaited their arrival. "They should have been here by now?" Her nerves were at an all time high to see them again. This was the longest she'd gone without seeing both Tony and Ziva since the last time they'd left Ziva in Israel.
When McGee and E.J. with Vance had all returned home without Gibbs, or Ducky, Tony and Ziva, the majority of their family was missing and it felt wrong for the past month. She was practically coming out of her skin to see them all alive, and in one piece after knowing how badly Tony had been injured this time.
The tell tale ding of the elevators alerted the small group gathered that the beloved rest of their team had finally arrived. All other motion in the office ceased knowing that Team Gibbs was expected to arrive from Israel.
"They're here!" Abby shrieked in joy huggin the closest person next to her which was E.J. and bounced with glee.
Gibbs was the first off the elevator followed by Ducky and finally, Ziva emerged holding hands with Tony. A slow round of applause and even a whistle from Dorneget that made Ziva chuckle to have Tony's latest Probie victim cheering for his return.
"Ziva!" Abby ran at her full speed and launched at her before the rest of them could stop her, knocking Ziva back a few steps.
"Whoa!" Gibbs held them both up and leaned in whispering into Abby's ear, "Take it easy on her, Abs. Remember she's pregnant." He spoke quietly with a smile.
"Oh…my God, I'm sorry!" Abby immediately apologized, "I just wasn't thinking. I was so worried about never seeing her again and then hearing she was shot again and then Tony and I'm sorry, again. I keep saying that a lot I realize but I…you scared the hell out of me you guys!" She pulled Tony in for a double hug and wouldn't let either he or Ziva go. "Don't ever do that to me again! Do you realize how wrong it's been around her without you, your Ducky or Gibbs? Just too too quiet!"
Tony and Ziva wrapped their collective arms around Abby holding her tightly between them and smiling softly at each other that she missed them so much.
"Good to see you back in fine form, Tony." McGee stuck out his hand to Tony with a smile, having last seen him kept alive by machines.
"Get in here, Probie." Tony pulled his hand and brought McGee in for a hug instead, holding him tightly in a man-hug as he called it. "You saved my life." He pulled back looking at him honestly, cupping the back of McGee's neck as flashes of McGee helping to pull him to safety flew before his eyes. "Thank you, Tim." He nodded softly and then hugged him again genuinely, "You are a good brother." He added quietly.
McGee swallowed hard trying not to get chocked up as Ziva smiled at him with Abby watching the exchange.
When Tony was finished, Ziva pulled McGee in instantly for a hug and kissed both of his cheeks before hugging him again, "Thank you. Again. For saving my life." She added quietly thinking of how twice now, McGee had come to her rescue. "Tony is right. You are a very good brother." She smiled cupping his face softly and then kissing his cheek again. "My brother." She winked at him, sharing a private conversation of rememberance of the morning alone with him in Ari's room, of how much he'd meant to her.
McGee pulled her in softly and held her tightly, kissing her cheek and whispering, "I'm proud to be your brother, Ziva." Into her ear with a smile before letting go.
Everyone else exchanged greetings before their group met alone upstairs in the conference room going over what had happened with the mystery man in Ziva's house to Kevin's message that a meeting the the Head Guardian to The Phoenix had been granted and why they were all there now. When the meeting finished Tony and Ziva shared a look, unable to keep their secret to themselves any longer.
"Ziva and I have an announcement." Tony began softly realizing for as happy as they were, serious things still loomed dangerously over their heads. Liat was still out there somewhere, the danger of Illan Bodnar and so much more, including the fact they could very well lose this baby. But they were choosing hope, and to believe, that things had finally turned in their favor.
"Go ahead." Ziva encouraged him, seeing how excited he was and wanting him to be the one to share it as the proud papa.
"We are having a baby girl." Tony beamed with pride quietly pulling Ziva into his side and kissing her forehead, not caring they were at work as it was just their 'family' in the room with them at this moment.
A collective 'aww' went around the room at the idea of a baby girl and everyone began offering their congratulations.
The moment was incredibly bittersweet for Malachi who struggled to hold back tears in an uncharacteristic show of emotion and after quickly congratulating them, had to step out of the room. His thoughts and feelings consumed with Liat and their own baby, never having shared any moment of joy with Liat over the fact she was pregnant, only sorrow on both ends.
Tony had watched him exit and knew what kind of emotion he must be feeling, imagining himself in his place. To have Ziva missing at the hands of a madman and knowing she was pregnant would be unbearable. He kissed Ziva again quickly and watched her nod towards the door. She had seen Malachi's hasty retreat as well.
"Hey," Tony said quietly sliding up beside Malachi where he stood over looking the Bullpen below, "Are you okay?" He asked knowing that was a dumb question to ask but not knowing what else to say. "I'm sorry if we upset you with the news."
"No, please. Don't be." Malachi shook his head with a sad smile, "I am honestly happy for you both. You deserve this and I pray that everything with the baby will turn out fine. If she is anything like her mother," His smile grew thinking of Ziva, "She will be extraordinary and strong."
"Thank you." Tony smiled softly, leaning his forearms onto the railing as well, looking down towards the empty desk that held Malachi's gaze. It had been empty since Liat disappeared, though a photo of her with Ziva from McGee's birthday party was framed and waiting for her. As was another of the entire Gibbs Team from Tony and Ziva's engagement party. "We will find her and bring her home, Mal. We will." He tried to reassure the man beside him. "I have been where you are now. It's unbearable, I know. There is nothing anyone can say or do to make this better. But we will find her."
Malachi was quiet as he listened to Tony and remained staring at Liat's empty desk. "My baby is 6.5 inches long and weighs almost 10.5 oz today, Tony. 19 weeks and 3 days." He announced quietly. "They can hear when spoken to through the belly and grasp things with their hands."
Tony's eyes widened considerably to hear Malachi knew such things.
Malachi could see Tony's stunned expression from the corner of his eye, "I've been reading a book. I heard it was popular for expecting parents. You should start reading it too. So many things I never knew about having a baby." He shook his head slowly in bewilderment, "What to Expect When You're Expecting' it is called."
"You're reading a pregnancy book?" Tony asked still astonished.
Malachi shrugged softly taking a deep breath and grabbing his chin in thought, "I have no idea what Liat is going through right now. What our child is going through. I feel like…somehow we are together when I read this book. That it connects me to them. Gives me something to look forward to each day. Finding out what changes Liat is going through as her body adjusts to being pregnant. And learning what is new about my child…" His voice faded, "I can get through each day if I concentrate on what is good about them."
Now it was Tony's turn to sigh deeply. He placed his hand gently on Malachi's back and patted it softly before giving a gentle squeeze of support. The man was trying to get through each agonizing day away from the woman he loved, pregnant with his child, by concentrating on something positive instead of the hell they were actually in.
"If I think about what is happening to her. To them both." Malachi shook his head as images from Liat's torture appeared immediately in his head, "To see her staked down like Ziva and in those chains…the anguish in her eyes, Tony." He shook his head, "You did not see those images but I will never forget them as long as I live." He gulped with tears forming in his eyes.
Tony had heard of the images of Liat but had never seen them as he was unconscious as the time in a coma. "I understand." He spoke softly and he did. When he thought about Ziva being tortured for even a second, those images blasted to the forefront of his mind. "We will find her, Mal. We will."
"I do not even know if we are having a boy or a girl." Malachi shook his head realizing that by now, the should have known if things were normal, "Not that I care either way. I just want them both to be safe."
"I understand that too." Tony nodded, "I just want our baby to be born healthy and safe as well." He sighed thinking of the danger Ziva was still in. "You know…are kids are actually cousins now." He smiled softly with the realization, "Who knew that one day we'd be family." He nudged him with his shoulder trying to get him to smile and did earn a small one. "Someday perhaps I'll forget that you slept with my wife." He added and this time, Malachi laughed out loud, shaking his head with a real smile.
"Oh, Tony." He shook his head still smiling.
Tony was happy that his quip had the intended effect and he squeezed Malachi's shoulders extra tight, "Someday…but not yet." He reminded him that it was too soon to forget that Malachi had indeed slept with Ziva, earning another small laugh.
"I wasn't aware she was your wife already?" Malachi teased him back with a slanted eyebrow as they moved back to join the rest of the group again.
"She may as well be." Tony smiled seeing Ziva smiling and so radiantly glowing on the other side of the room talking with Abby and E.J.
The next twenty-four hours passed with them on pins and needles anxiously awaiting any news. Tony and Ziva both were still on Quarters given their healing states, though both refused to wait for news anywhere but at NCIS with the others. They were finally calling it quits for the night with Gibbs, having waited as long as they could and when the 48-hour mark had passed with no word from Kevin. Solemnly the three filed into the elevator with defeated shoulders, trying not to assume the worst.
"Hey guys," Kevin's voice broke through the elevator speaker and brought an instant smile to Ziva's face as she hoped this meant good news. "Everyone head to Tony's place. The Head Guardian is already there and waiting."
"What?" Tony gasped with astonishment and slightly unnerved. "They're in my place? Already?"
"Yes, waiting inside for you to return. So no weapons. Leave them all with the guard at the door or you will mess this up for sure. Nothing hidden, Ziva." He reminded her knowing how she liked to hide weapons, "Or you either, Agent Gibbs. No backup knives or weapons of any kind. You only get one shot at this. Speak when spoken to and no funny business, Tony. Trust me, I know its hard as a natural jokester." Kevin chuckled softly and then quickly turned serious, "But seriously, no jokes. You get a limited amount of time to make your case and if she's not impressed that's it. This is over. You don't get a second chance."
"She?" Gibbs asked taking note of the gender referene. "The Head Guardian of The Phoenix is also a woman?"
"These are fiercely strong women, Agent Gibbs. For as much as you used to intimidate me, this woman practically scares me back into the womb." Kevin answered and Tony couldn't help but laugh and then choked seeing Gibbs look.
"Sorry Boss, tickle in my throat." Tony tried to make up excuses with wide eyes, still coughing knowing that Gibbs wasn't buying it.
"Just don't be late. She hates that. Don't speak unless spoken to. She hates that as well. And make your case as efficiently as possible." Kevin tried to remind them, "You have no idea how difficult it was to get this meeting arranged so quickly so please, make use of it."
"Thank you, Kevin." Ziva thanked him softly, "If this works out, I won't forget how you have helped me. Thank you."
"You're welcome, Ziva. Good luck." Kevin answered and was gone.
They nervously walked out into the parking garage.
"I'm driving." Gibbs announced, "Get in." He nodded and they all piled into the car once more.
"Oh boy," Tony swallowed hard as they pulled up in front of his building. A long black armored limo was already waiting outside and when he glanced up to his apartment windows saw the lights already one. "Someone's home but it isn't us."
He stepped outside of the SUV with Ziva behind him and then Gibbs, "This must be what it was like for the three bears when they came home to Goldie Locks in their house."
"How do you know she is blonde, Tony?" Ziva asked taking hold of his hand and resulting to their usual banter to calm their nerves as Gibbs led the way inside.
"Well, I don't…she could be Ginger Locks, or Brunette Locks or, Silver Haired Fox Locks?" He smiled looking at Gibbs and nodded his head towards him exaggeratedly making Ziva chuckle and Gibbs stop abruptly in front of them, turning around to simply stare at them both.
Gibbs knew they were joking out of nervousness as he was feeling it too. The whole situation was uneasying. "Are you two about finished with the jokes?" He asked getting them back on track and their minds set for whatever was waiting behind the door. The two very large burly guards standing outside Tony's apartment door at the end of the hallway reminded them quickly why they were there and what Kevin had said about no joking matter.
"Right Boss, locking it up." Tony answered quickly pretending to lock his mouth shut.
Gibbs turned around and shook his head softly trying not to smile. He had missed Tony's witty comments over the past month he'd been in a coma and was amused to hear him bantering with Ziva again, even if at his expense.
"No blades. No guns. Leave your weapons here." The guard at the door immediately spoke to them in a deep voice.
"Say, were you in Robin Hood with Kevin Costner, because I swear that guy said the same thing?" Tony asked with a smile as they handed over their weapons to the most unamused very young looking man. "Although, I think he said something like, 'no blades, no bows, because it was Medieval times and they used bows not guns." He rambled with increasing nerves and pretended to pull back an arrow. "Though I guess that you're probably too young to even know what I'm talking about do you? That movie before your time? Perhaps, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games is more your style?" He pretended to shoot another arrow while the guards continued to look at him as though he were crazy.
"DiNozzo." Gibbs chided him again, calming him down.
"Right Boss." Tony took a deep breath squeezing Ziva's hand for support.
"Do no approach her in anyway. Maintain a distance of at least ten feet. If she wishes to approach you, she will. Otherwise maintain the distance." The man instructed them again and all three exchanged a look of curiosity and then nodded in consent. The guard opened the door and stepped aside for them to enter.
They were not prepared to see whom they saw. There, sitting on Tony's couch looking rather comfortable and drinking a glass of his wine, was the former Secretary of State Katherine Thorne, looking through their Engagement Photo album of all the photos that had been taken that night, plus the smaller copies of all the photos of their years working together leading up to that point. She took one last sip of her wine and set it down on the coffee table before her. Slowly closing the album and placing it there as well.
"Hello and good evening." She greeted them softly with a gentle head nod, "Please, take a seat." She nodded them forward towards the open seats.
"Goldie Locks." Tony gasped in a soft whisper to Ziva that the woman they found waiting for them in his house was indeed a blonde.
"Pardon?" Katherine's eyes snapped to Tony's in an instant and he gulped.
"Nothing Madam Secretary… Ma'am, Former First Lady, Senator…what do I call you now? Or do we call you the Gatekeeper of The Phoenix, you know? Like in Ghostbusters with Sigourney Weaver who plays the Gatekeeper…which is oddly strange that you could now be playing her' part when didn't she play you in a movie last summer? That's got to be weird irony." He asked suddenly flustered and bewildered in her presence. The decider of his future was none other than the 'Most Powerful Woman in American History' according to Newsweek magazine and she sat before him now, drinking his wine and looking at him as though he were a crazed lunatic. "Oh shit, I've just blown it? Haven't I?" He looked at her deflated and horrified.
"Tony, perhaps you should just be quiet." Ziva turned her head to look at him with wide-eyes in disbelief at how nervous he was with his ramblings. She too, had not been expecting this woman to be the one they'd be facing. "Please excuse him, he's only recently woken from a coma, still medicated and still slightly delirious when speaking to anyone that's human." She shot a glare at Tony to lock it up and be quiet or he would ruin their chance by already insulting the woman in several ways.
Katherine simply continued staring at Tony and then Ziva and finally Gibbs. Taking in all three of them quietly before speaking.
"I have been told you wish to speak with The Phoenix about gaining help for troubles with The Council. Is this true?" She asked so stoically and formidably they all sat a little straighter feeling like every second that went by they were keeping her from being somewhere else important by how quickly she took command of the room and situation. It was obvious she'd had years of negotiating political situations.
"Yes, Ma'am." Ziva nodded quietly answering as the one in need of direct help. Gibbs was there for support and Tony couldn't be trusted to speak at all by this point. She remembered what Kevin had said about speaking only when spoken to and decided to let this woman before her ask the questions she needed answers to.
"And how exactly do you expect her to help you?" Katherine asked staring intently at Ziva.
"I have no idea honestly. I just heard that her situation was similar to my own presently and that she may be able to guide me through it. I have only recently discovered the truth about my life. My bloodline, my seat on something I had never heard of before called The Council and now that they have signed my death warrant to a madman who wants this same seat, revenge and to take my unborn child, all the while holding my sister as leverage. Any attempts I have made to change my fate, have ended badly." Ziva gulped having rattled out as much of the truth as she could in the most precise form remembering what Kevin told her about making her case and quickly. "I need help and I have no one else left who has the power to help me. Right now I feel as though I am up against the world being so out numbered by those who have more control then I do. I was told The Phoenix faced similar odds at one time, and she survived. Her children survived. I don't know what she can do to help me, honestly, I just need someone who knows, to tell me what to do."
"And what exactly do you want as the end result?" Katherine asked still staring intently only at Ziva making her shift uncomfortably for the first time under someone's stare.
"I want my sister back. Unharmed and still pregnant where they have not stolen either of them for their projects. I want to keep my own child. I want to live and be free and marry the man I love." Ziva's eyes finally filled with tears she could not stop as she quickly glanced at Tony and held his eyes while continuing to speak, "And I want to stop being shot at every time I make a move in a direction they do not like. I want them to stop using those I love against me by hurting them instead. I came to this country to start my life over again after my father left me to die in hell on earth, trying to turn me into one of his Elite Assassins…I want to be free to live a normal life without constantly having to be afraid my life or those that I love are in constant danger, or at the very least, know that there are still good people out there willing to help because right now…with everything I have learned about how contrived my life has been up to this point… I am losing my faith in humanity. And wondering what it was I have been fighting for all these years when I believed I was fighting to make a difference."
"I knew your father." Katherine spoke after a moment of studying Ziva in silence when she'd finished speaking. "I understand his position better then most." She added quietly, "Though that does not excuse at all what he did. Especially to you. To your sister and brother. To your mother." She paused, "I know all about your life Ziva and one born into this life, is never free. Not you, not The Phoenix…not me." She added quietly causing their eyes to widen slightly to learn such a detail. "You make the best of the situation you are given."
"I have tried to do that." Ziva shook her head softly, wiping at the falling tears and thinking of how she had tried to start her life over again, three times already and failed. The first by becoming the Mossad Liaison to begin with after learning her father had betrayed her with the truth of Ari, the second after she left Israel and joined NCIS and the third, after denouncing the Directorship of Mossad only to be shot.
"I know." Katherine acknowledged her quietly with a head nod. "You stepped away from the power of Director of Mossad when most would fight to grab it. Why?"
"It was not worth what I would have to give up. My family here." Ziva looked over to Gibbs and took his hand, squeezing it for support and maintaining holding onto it, and then looking over at Tony, "My future with the one I love. Life, I have learned, means nothing without the people you love."
Katherine studied them all quietly once more and then moved to stand, smoothing her hands down her pantsuit. "I am sorry this has been so short but I must be going now."
"That's it?" Tony immediately stood and spoke, afraid he had blown it with his crazy ramblings, "Please! Don't not help her because I am a nervous rambling idiot who loves her and is terrified to lose her! I… I will do anything! Anything you want! Just please, we need help! If The Phoenix can help, please don't brush her off because I can't shut my mouth off when I need to when I'm nervous." He pleaded and closed the distance between himself and Katherine, invading the personal space the guard specifically told him not to. "Please! Help her! I am begging you as the man who loves her and the father of her child! I am failing to protect her anymore! I am trying and failing!" His eyes filled with tears, "We need help!"
Katherine took a deep breath and sighed, her eyes staring into Tony's with desperate unshed tears and then darted down briefly to the new scar on his throat from intubation. "I was going to say if you had let me finish…" She looked at him rather annoyed with a slanted eyebrow and stern tone, causing Tony to gulp, "To gather your things and be at Dulles in two hours where the jet will be waiting." She answered quietly and heard both Tony and Ziva's collective gasps of relief and hope, "Whomever is going on this mission to retrieve your sister also needs to be present. No more, no less. I believe that will be Special Agents McGee and Barrett, as well as Director Ben-Gidon, Officer Asa Abrams and the three of you, correct?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Ziva answered quietly while Tony slowly stepped back and out of her space.
"Where are we going?" Tony asked quietly seeing her walking towards the door.
"You have a difficult time not talking, don't you, Agent DiNozzo?" She asked looking at him with the slanted eyebrow again.
"Yes, Ma'am." Tony answered and swallowed hard, "Very sorry, Ma'am. Just incredibly nervous, Ma'am. As this is our lives, Ma'am." He rambled again realizing how many times he'd called her that, "Sorry, Ma'am." He cringed doing it again.
"Two hours. Do not be late. The plane will leave without you." She instructed choosing to ignore Tony's ramblings. And was gone and out the door in flash.
"Did that really just happen?" Tony asked bewildered with sweating palms and crashing back onto the chair. "My God, I must have insulted her at least a dozen times." He scrubbed his hand over his face.
"I'd say closer to two dozen, DiNozzo." Gibbs added quietly, laying his hand on Tony's shoulder and giving it a squeeze that it was okay, he understood the emotional reaction. "We don't have time to ponder what happened. We need to get moving. Get the others rounded up and ready to leave."
"I can't believe this is actually happening." McGee's eyes went wide as they all stepped out of the SUVs that had brought them to the private part of Dulles International. A large jet now stood before them with walkway ready to go.
Katherine stood waiting with her guards to greet them.
"No weapons of any kind, at any time. You may leave them with my guards." She instructed, "They will not be necessary. There is only one rule you must follow at all times. That is, to listen to everything I say, exactly as I say it without question. Understood?"
"Yes, Ma'am." They all nodded and answered in a near perfect unison.
"Good." She nodded, "Then take your seats on the plane and get comfortable. We're leaving now." She pivoted on her foot and was the first up the stairs into the plane.
As soon as they stepped inside the immaculate jet they froze seeing the emblom emblazoned on the sidewall in a brilliant gold and imprinted into the leather of each seat's headrest The Phoenix. It was the same that had been on the handkerchief the man had left for her.
Ziva's eyes widened considerably and mouth dropped open when she saw the man come out of the cockpit and take the seat next to Katherine. He gave her a small smile and head nod of acknowledgement before turning around and speaking with Katherine.
Both Tony and Gibbs immediately took note of Ziva's change in demeanor and staring at the man.
"He's the one who came to speak to me. The one at the house." She answered quietly without them having to ask the question.
"Who is he?" Tony asked trying to size up the man who was exactly as Ziva had described, right down to what she deemed 'devastatingly handsome.'
"I'd say he's like the Number Two, Tony. If he saw Ziva and then you met Secretary Thorne." McGee smiled still bewildered to be where they were and with whom as the plane began to move.
"Calm down, McTingles. I can feel your excitement over this adventure all the way across the aisle." Tony teased him taking a breath and leaning back against the seat as the plane started down the runway.
"Even I'm tingling, Tony." Malachi announced behind him with a nervous smile, running his finger over the emblom of the firebird before him, "To actually be meeting a legend is not an everyday thing. The stories about her are unbelievable. What she can do is beyond comprehension."
"That's likely because she is a legend and those stories are greatly exaggerated." Tony argued swallowing hard as they felt the jolt of lifting into the air, "You're starting to sound like, McGiggles of Glee over there, Mal. From the way you guys have described her I'm fully expecting to meet a version of Lara Croft on steroids."
"You did not see the way she took down that many heavily armed men in the video clip, Tony." Ziva spoke quietly shaking her head, "Even I…was impressed." She marvled, "It was as though she knew every move they were going to make before they did, almost like a choreographed dance."
"Maybe what you saw was just that. A choreographed stunt to spread her legend, and create the folklore!" Tony smiled arguing with their obvious fascination having missed all the original mystery and reveals about The Phoenix.
"Right, Tony." McGee shook his head in bewilderment that something's never changed, "I'm sure that's it. Exactly. And former First Lady of the United States and Secretary of State Katherine Thorne is in on this whole false campaign to spread the legend. Going so far as to meet at your apartment, collect us and put us this plane heading to desitation unknown." He mocked the evidence to the contrary.
Gibbs couldn't help but smile from his seat quietly overhearing the argument and McGee's rebuttal. Things with his Three Musketeers were getting back to normal.
"Well, who knows? Maybe she's bored with all the free time she has now after stepping down and needed something fun to work on. Hanging out with William at the house all day must be interesting given their history. I mean, what could they possibly do all day together? He, the former President of the United States. She, a recently retired Secretary of State. They have to be bored out of their minds completely after looking at each other after five minutes given their tightly scheduled lives over the past how many decades! What do you think they do now, sit around in their underwear playing Scrabble?" Tony argued getting comfy in his seat. It felt more normal and easier to deal with his nerves this way and the things rattling around in his brain.
"I'm blaming the coma Psychosis." Ziva shook her head with wide-eyes, bewildered still by the things coming out of Tony's mouth and where.
"It's entirely possible." McGee looked at her, ignoring Tony as if he were no longer there, "Ducky said it could last a while."
The flight lasted nearly six hours and each had fallen asleep at somepoint. They were still incredibly nervous but at least didn't fear for their lives feeling somewhat better to know that the Head Guardian of The Phoenix was in fact someone they knew, or at least knew of, being a well respected member of the American Government and political leader in the world. Given those facts, it was highly unlikely she was whisking them off to their deaths…they hoped.
When the plane landed it was just before dawn and the light was starting to creep up over the horizon. They still had no idea where they were but there was a chill in the air and it smelled impossibly fresh, which meant they were far from any big cities. They boarded two helicopters, each emblazoned with a phoenix and rose into the sky. Katherine, Gibbs, Tony and Ziva were all in one helicopter while the mystery man, Asa, Malachi, McGee and E.J. rode in the other.
"Dorothy, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Tony gawked out the window as the helicopter flew fast over the ground, and the sunlight streaming in over the mountain tops began to illuminate their surroundings. They were deep in the tall mountainous west of somewhere with towering peaks and deep valleys. They flew for a long time in silence, well over an hour and by the time they were preparing to land the sun was up and bright. Their surroundings were spectacularly beautiful with herds of hundreds of horses running wildly beneath them and over the lush green foothills of the mountains.
"It's so beautiful." Ziva marveled with a smile having never before seen anything like it in her life, growing up in the desert. She had been to the mountains before but never seen anything like this.
They landed on two separate helicopter pads in the middle of nowhere. With trees and fields of green with wildflowers spreading in every direction. The rush of water from a nearby river could be heard but not seen.
"Where are we?" McGee asked quietly coming to stand by Tony and Ziva.
"I don't know. But don't ask!" Tony whispered shouted back to him, "She has something against us Chatty Cathy types." He winked exaggeratedly nodding towards Katherine who was speaking with the mystery man again.
Two black Wrangler style jeeps appeared over the hill and made their way towards them. The drivers looked like extremely serious fellows and nearly as soon as they came to a stop, were quickly loading the bags into the back.
"Let's go." Katherine nodded at them to remain in their same groups and hop into the vehicles. She took her spot sitting up front in the passenger seat while Tony, Ziva and Gibbs crammed into the back. They set off nearly as quickly as they sat down.
They sat in silence taking in the scenery as the jeeps rolled quickly along a rock and dirt path, weaving in and out of the forest shrubbery and over massive hills before dipping into the valley once more. As they came over the last hill a giant archway made of large boulders, nearly as big as Ziva's tiny car and thick wooden logs appeared, several stories tall with massive gates and a high voltage fence with a blinking red light that sounded as the gates began to open. A massive golden Phoenix was rising from the ashes at the top of the archway that had all the newcombers staring up in awe as they passed beneath it.
"There aren't any giant maneating dinosaurs in here, right?" Tony asked Katherine looking back at the high voltage perimeter fence that was dauntingly high and thick, "Cuz this feels like we've just entered Jurassic Park." He added rather loudly over the hum of the vehicles engine. "And I'm not fond of getting eaten!"
Katherine ignored him though a small smile appeared at the corner of her mouth that Ziva could see before she quickly turned her face in the opposite direction.
"We are so far off the reservation at this point." Tony shook his head slowly watching as they continued weaving down the path and noticing grizzly bears and their cubs in the meadow. "So you don't have dinosaurs here… you just have giant maneating bears? Is that it? New security procedures for the wild?" He continued to ask Katherine questions and she continued to ignore him in their new game. "I'm not fond of getting eaten by a bear either while I'm here! She's not a bear is she? The Phoenix? Like the magical one in the new Disney movie who was really the mother to the princess only had some bad curse turn her into a bear? Because at this point with all the oohing and ahhing, over this person, I'm expecting The Phoenix to be like a 20-foot giant dragon-slayer with fire for eyes and eats kittens for breakfast."
At this, Katherine finally turned around in her seat and simply glare at Tony.
"Please, please, excuse him, Madame Secretary. I am certain he has lost his mind to the coma psychosis at this point. He normally says odd and strange things at times but this is really… not normal, even for Tony." Ziva tried to explain slightly mortified to hear him now insulting the woman who was going to help them by mocking her status.
Katherine was quiet a long time while she and Tony have a silent stare off before she spoke, "Perhaps then, the fresh air will be good for your healing, Agent DiNozzo. Though I wouldn't suggest leaving your cabin as if you wander, you will most certainly be eaten by a bear. Or perhaps, the 20-foot dragon-slaying giant with fire for eyes and who eats kittens for breakfast. She may just eat you instead." Katherine had a devilish look in her eyes before turning around and leaving them stunned with her response.
Somehow they managed to make it the rest of the ride in silence and arrived at a large two-story log cabin that looked more like a resort then a cabin in the woods, which is exactly what it was.
"This is where you will be staying." Katherine announced escorting them towards the front door. "Everything is stocked and ready for your arrival. Should you need anything, use this phone and call this number. The phone does not work for outside calls. Only to this number. You will be put through an Operator who will then reach me." She handed the phone over to Ziva. "Do not wander in the woods. You will get lost and I was serious about getting eaten by bears." She looked directly at Tony, "The 20-foot giant may also be possible." She smiled for the first time and moved back towards the jeep, leaving them speechless. "I will check in with you later."
"When will we be speaking with her?" Tony asked as the brazon one of the group, feeling a little more bold that she had let him get away with so much already.
"When she is ready to speak with you. You will know it." Katherine answered climbing into the jeep.
"And where will you be staying exactly?" Tony asked, "I mean how big is this place?" He looked around to the vast mountains and forest for as far as the eye could see.
"I will be miles from here at another site on the ranch, which is well over 100,000 acres. Remember my single rule. You listen and do as I say without question. Right now, you stay right here and do not leave or try to make any outside calls. Understood?" She asked looking pointedly at Tony as he was the one misbehaving.
"Yes, Ma'am." He saluted her and everyone looked at him astonished when he then winked at Katherine.
She looked at him again as though he were completely crazy and then chuckles softly shaking her head and motioned for the driver to move on.
"Are you trying to antagonize the one person trying to help us here, Tony?" Ziva asked with a deep sigh, really concerned at this point about his reoccurring bouts of psychosis. Ducky had told them this may happen but it couldn't have picked a worse time to return. Likely too many flight hours in such a short amount of time when he was still recovering.
They made their way inside the massive house and each found a room to settle into with Tony and Ziva sharing.
Tony stood in the doorway of their balcony overlooking the gorgeous mountains, and valley with a white rapid river and shook his head in wonder. "I feel like we've just stepped into the movie Legends of the Fall." He smiled feeling Ziva's arms wrap around him from behind, kissing his shoulder and taking in the beautiful scenery before them. "I'm totally Brad Pitt in this film." He chuckled turning her in his arms and kissing her soundly.
"He does have a nice butt in that movie." Ziva answered with a smile and they both froze when they heard tiny giggles of what sounded like children and then immediate 'shhh' noises.
They realized very quickly they were not alone. Ziva pointed towards the large bed that was high of the ground with its heavy timber frame and she and Tony walked quietly to each side of the bed. Giving each other a silent count of three and then bending over quickly to look beneath it, flipping back the covering.
"Argh!" Two tiny children screamed in their faces and started trying to wiggle away as Tony grabbed the leg of one on his side and Ziva the leg of the other on hers, pulling them out from beneath the bed.
"Shhh!" Ziva tried to calm the tiny girl in her arms while Tony did the same with the boy. "We won't hurt you."
"Stop screaming or she'll hear us!" Another older boy burst out of the closet and surprised them even further while Gibbs and the others came running towards the door to see what the screaming was about.
The older boy's words had instantly calmed the little ones and he ushered them quickly to his side. Wrapping a protective arm around each of their shoulders.
"Hello." Ziva greeted them with surprised eyes and a smile, "And who do we have here?" She asked looking them over.
"I'm Rurik." The youngest boy answered with big bright blue eyes and blonde curly hairy.
"And I'm Lara. We are twins." The little girl with the big dark eyes and smile waved proudly between them even though she was much smaller in size then the boy who was quite tall and muscular. "We are four and a half years old and this is our big brother Kristoff. He just turned nine."
"Lara! Shh!" The older boy, with dark blonde hair, and enormous cornflower blue eyes pulled her back against him immediately trying to quiet the tiny chatterbox. "They are strangers! You are not supposed to tell strangers who you are!"
"They aren't strangers if Mama invited them here, Kristoff!" The little girls' eyebrows narrowed and she stamped her foot, pulling away from him and towards Ziva again. "She wouldn't ask them here if they were going to hurt us!"
The conversational level of these small children was astounding given the girl said she was only four years old and the rest watched the interaction with fascination wandering who these children were.
"Your Mama is The Phoenix?" Ziva asked kneeling down slowly to be eye level with the two smallest children and the girl standing before her with wonder. She remembered what Vance had said about the three children of The Phoenix who held seats on The Council as each having different fathers and wondered if these children could be it. While they each has similar features, they were all strikingly different.
"Lara!" The boy, Kristoff, cut her off before she could answer.
"Toffee, that is rude! Let me answer her question! You are the one that wanted to come see who the visitors were and it would be rude now to ignore the pretty woman's questions!" The tiny girl argued back with a huff in her voice. She turned her smile back to Ziva and stepped forward, reaching out to touch Ziva's long dark hair that was slightly wavy, "You have very pretty hair. Mama says mine will look like yours when I grow up as we are both Middle Eastern." Lara smiled happily with her big dark eyes, "Mama has really blonde hair. Like golden sunshine. I really wanted my hair to look like hers but she said mine is beautiful just the way it is. Your hair is very pretty. I like it a lot. If my hair looks like yours when I get big, then I will be a very beautiful princess." She giggled fingering Ziva's hair again.
"You are not a princess. Stop saying that." Kristoff shook his head.
"Yes, I am! I am Daddy's princess and he tells me all the time!" Lara argued back and it was clear there was tension between these two while the other little boy simply smiled at Ziva with his big blue eyes and flirty smile.
"Mama is Mama." The little boy, Rurik, answered Ziva's question finally, as if that were the most logical explanation in the world. "Some people call her The Phoenix and Grandma calls her Julia. And sometimes Daddy calls her Jules but she is always Mama. We are the only ones in the whole world that get to call her that!" He smiled proudly.
"And the babies," Lara added with a smile and big head nod.
"The babies?" Ziva asked with eyebrows rising with amusement at these delightfully charming and beautiful children before her who were full of information.
"Yes! We have a baby sister Lena who is a toddler; that is what Mama calls her. And we have two new babies at our house! Mama had twins! Rafe and Jillian." Lara added excitedly, "Oh, I just love the babies! Mama lets me help."
"And me too! I'm a good big brother." Rurik smiled proudly.
"Your Mama, just had twins?" Ziva asked in astonishment, "When?"
"Not long ago." Rurik answered but wasn't sure how long. "They are still really new and tiny. Their birthday was May 28th."
"Oh, wow." Ziva swallowed hard, "That was not long ago at all." Her eyes flashed to Tony and the rest of the adults to realize these new details about the one they'd come to seek help from. Her babies weren't even a month old yet.
"Uh-oh," Rurik suddenly looked afraid as did Lara and Kristoff with fallen looks in their features and posture. "We have to go. Bye."
"What?" Ziva asked as the one who'd established the connection with the children.
"We weren't supposed to be here. Anywhere near here! Mama is yelling at us right now." Rurik answered with wide-eyes.
"I told you two to stay at home and not follow me!" Kristoff was angry with them, "Now we're all in trouble! If you just would have listened and stayed home!"
"It's not fair you can go exploring without us!" Rurik stamped his foot.
"I'm older then you! I can do things you can't!" Kristoff argued back. "Now I'm going to get in trouble because you're here with me!"
"You weren't supposed to come here either!" Lara argued back, "Mama said this was off limits!"
"But I wouldn't have gotten caught if you didn't follow me! She trusts me to wander, its you two who always end up getting into trouble!" Kristoff shook his head.
"That's not true! You are the one with all the crazy ideas that get us into trouble! Or get us hurt! That's why she doesn't let us go exploring with you! Because we get into too much trouble together!" Lara argued her point with tears in her eyes as they quickly made their way downstairs and towards the door with everyon else following behind.
"We have to go, now!" Kristoff moved to grab Lara and Rurik both and they all stopped short again, pausing for a moment and then Kristoff tried to drag them out again.
"No, Toffee! Mama said we had to stay here until Grandma came back for us!" Rurik stayed still with feet firmly planted.
"I'm not waiting here for Grandma to get us, are you crazy? She's going to be even more angry then Mama!" Kristoff's eyes were wide. "I'm not staying for that!"
"Mama said stay put and I'm listening to her." Lara agreed with Rurik as tears fell down her face.
"We have to go. Now. Goodbye." Kristoff looked at the adults quickly and grabbed Lara and Rurik's hands pulling them out onto the porch and down the steps into the woods.
The others watched in complete confusion, as the children seemed to have heard something from their mother that the others had not that sent them scurrying out the door.
"What just happened here?" McGee asked with confusion all over his face.