Hello! I'm back :)
Hopefully I furiously finished this chapter 10 minutes ago because I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer!
As usual, please let me know what you think :)
xx
Orli instantly held out her hand.
"Give me your phone. If she already has your number, we must assume that she has tried to track down your location and discovered where you are."
Too shaken to say anything, Tony simply pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it over. Orli walked into the main bedroom and headed towards the door.
"Pack your things, we will leave in 5 minutes. I will alert my team on what has happened and destroy this thing." She lifted her hand up to signal the phone.
"Orli, just stop for a second. Talk to me. Who was that? What's going on? What kind of danger are we in?" He grabbed Orli's arm before she would disappear. Orli gently placed her hand over Tony's that still clung onto her sleeve.
"There is much that we have yet to discuss Tony. Things that Eli has done, that Ziva has done, they may have come back to haunt us. I was hoping that we would never have to face this problem; that is why I took so many precautions to keep you two safe. But I am afraid I was not successful. I do not know who that woman was, but I have a feeling I know who sent her. Let us just get out of here and somewhere safe. I will explain everything then." She patted Tony's hand once, as if to signal the end of the conversation but Tony tugged her back once more.
"Orli, she knew things. Things about me, about Tali." He needed to emphasize this; how familiar she was, how much she knew.
"I know Tony, we will figure this out. Just get your things together." Orli replied once more and walked away without giving a chance for Tony to push her further.
Almost instantly, Tony reached behind and felt for his gun at the back of his jeans.
"Abba," Tali's voice sounded behind him and Tony kicked into gear.
"We're going on another trip somewhere little lady," He said as he grabbed their bags and began to hastily shove their clothes in.
He cleared out everything in the bathroom and bedroom within minutes as Tali watched on, Kalev in her arms. Tony felt his stomach churn as he glanced at her plush toy. How could that woman know so much about Tali. But more importantly, he was a very trained investigator. It was his job to pick up on anything suspicious for the most part of 13 years, yet how did none of his spidey instincts tingle when he met 'Amada'? She was beautiful enough to pass as a relative of Ziva. She also looked the age too. There was nothing dangerous about Amada that threw Tony off. Yet she was the definition of dangerous in Tony's mind. Hell, he didn't even know if she was actually Israeli. Tony shook his head in frustration. Was he losing his touch? Or was she damn good at her job?
"Frickin Israelis," He glanced up at Tali. "You know, one of these days, I would love to meet one that didn't come with emotional baggage, knew how to use a contraction and wasn't out to kill me. Am I asking for too much?"
Tony didn't get the chance to answer that question himself as Orli entered and grabbed a bag from the bed.
"We must leave now." Tony didn't say a word as he picked up his daughter and swung his bag over his shoulder. He quickly walked into the kitchen and placed Tali on the counter. He opened a drawer, picked up a medium sized knife and rolled up his left jean pants to tuck the knife in.
"Rule No.9 Tali- Never go anywhere without a knife. Let's hope you never have to use that one." He picked up his daughter again and Orli through the living room but stopped as he spied the photo of Ziva and Tali on the mantelpiece. It was sitting a picture frame, in the exact position as Tony had originally placed it. Without thinking twice, Tony walked over and picked up the photo with his remaining free hand and walked out the door.
...
"Where are we going?" Tony asked as he clutched onto his daughter. The Mossad agent at the helm was driving faster than Gibbs on a good day.
"Somewhere safe," Orli replied vaguely. Her eyes were glued to a laptop screen in front of her.
"Orli, when I told her that I was staying at Shmiel's house, she acted as if she already knew the guy. You need to send an agent or two over to see if he's okay."
"I already have Tony, do not worry." Orli quickly replied and glanced back at the screen.
Tony opened his mouth again to question her on what the hell was going on but she picked up her phone and dialled a number. Launching into a furiously long and fast conversation in Hebrew, Tony could only pick on a words like 'safe, run, they know'. It wasn't much but it was enough for Tony to understand that she was talking about him and Tali.
Before long, the car came to an abrupt holt and Orli watched as the agents got out and secured the area, her ear still glued to the phone. As soon as they signalled 'all clear', Orli launched out of her seat and grabbed Tali, leaving Tony to pick up the bags and follow her inside. Tony did not think twice about the bags as he threw them down near the kitchen table and followed Orli into the bedroom.
"Where are we." He demanded rather than posing a question. He was sick of beating around the bush with Orli. He spent the better part of his lifetime protecting other people, he wasn't used to being kept out of the dark.
"Another safe house. It is temporary until we get you out of the country."
"Away from whom?! Who am I running from Orli?" Tony raised his voice, forgetting that his daughter was in the room with them.
"Tony, I cannot just brief you whenever you see fit. There are protocols involved," Orli snapped.
"Oh yes you can," Tony fought back, "Especially when it involves someone we both care about here." She huffed at Tony's vehemently spoken words, knowing perfectly well that he was speaking the truth. This was more than just a threat to national security. This was a threat to someone she loves dearly; her family. It was all personal.
She raised her finger to Tony and then silently walked out of the room. Tony could hear her speaking to some agents and he sat next to her daughter on the bed, handing her a small water bottle to drink from. Not long after, Orli returned and closed the door. She turned to face Tony and paused
"I asked for some privacy." She said, as if to fill the dead air between them. She then walked over to a laptop that sat on a table and opened it up. She tapped away on the keys for a few seconds and then swivelled the screen to face Tony.
"Was this the woman you met?" Tony did not need to glance at the woman's face for more than a second to know.
"No, it was not her. But," He pointed to the tattoo that was on the out part of her right hand. It was a small image, almost resembling a family crest of some sort. "Amada…or whoever she was had the same tattoo."
Orli sighed at that revelation. "As I thought." She closed the laptop and looked at Tony.
"What I am about to tell you is classified Tony. Less than 10 people knew about this black operation that took place 9 years ago. And over half of them are dead now. I am telling you this because I need to emphasize the gravity of the situation that we are in."
"Okay," Tony replied, almost dismissing Orli's grave warning. "Tell me."
….
"About a decade ago, Mossad was tasked with infiltrating the Palestinian Liberation Organisation,"
"PLO," Tony affirmed and Orli nodded.
"It was one of many missions that were conducted, which involved infiltrating a Palestinian organisation. But this one in particular was of high importance. It was named Operation Sunshine."
"Sunshine involved 4 agents, posed as members of the PLO. They were placed in the organisation as a sleeper cell, intended on waiting out for about 4 years before their mission commenced. However, complications arose and they were forced into action, 5 months into the mission." Orli rubbed her brow and leant back in her chair.
"What was their task?" Tony questioned, glancing down as he felt Tali walk over and wrap her arms around his leg. He bent down and picked her up, placing her in his lap. Orli watched them two with a fond look on her face before she continued, her voice lowered and secretive.
"To steal a file. The tension between Hamas and the PLO was intensifying. Each organisation was getting sloppy with their attacks on the Israeli people because they were more focused on gaining the upper hand. It was a power struggle in Palestine to say the least." Orli continued.
Tony listened to these words, despite already fully aware of the history between the different Palestinian organisations. Yet, he remained silent and let Orli continue.
"For the agents, it was their mission to infiltrate whilst the PLO defences were weak and steal this file. According to their briefing, the file contained lists of handlers, importers and exporters of the PLO's small and big arms, including a comprehensive list of their nuclear arms. Their entire arms trafficking strategies were detailed within this file. And Mossad….and Eli, wanted it." Orli stood up and walked over to the bed, recomposing herself.
"Ziva was one of these agents, wasn't she?" Tony stated, knowing the answer.
"Yes." Orli simply replied. "She was a very skilled agent, and eager to jump at any chance to prove that she wasn't just the daughter of the director." Tony nodded at this comment. He was too familiar with that streak in Ziva to always prove herself.
"They successfully retrieved the file, and lost two of their agents as a result."
"So, what happened?" Tony pressed.
"You can say many things about Eli, but you cannot deny that he was a politically astute man. He was always thinking ahead, always anticipating his enemy's move. This mission was just an example of his strategic character. Eli always wanted to resolve these Israeli-Palestinian tensions diplomatically, between the parties directly involved. In fact, He laughed at the Americans who believed their involvement was key to a resolution.
He wanted to bring both PLO and the Israeli Government to the table and reach a resolution and he believed that revealing some of the information in the file was the perfect bargaining chip to give us the upper hand."
"You mean blackmail," Tony corrected him and Orli laughed.
"Like I said, astute". She continued on, "Countless attempts were made to bring this into action and each time, they failed. So, instead of threatening to go public with this file; to destroy the image of Palestine within the international community once and for all, he did otherwise. Eli used the information instead to slowly shut down exploiters and traffickers that were directly involved in providing weaponry and ammunition to the Palestinians. These were his most recent actions before he was killed."
There was a silence that settled between them.
"There was only one file Tony. Prime Minister Sharon and Eli agreed that if 'Sunshine' failed, or if the file was released to the public, the Israeli government would play dumb to the whole situation. In every sense to the word, this mission was clandestine. Eli agreed to keep the file secret, only he knew of its whereabouts and there was no documentation to prove its existence either."
"So where is it now?" Tony asked, leaning into the conversation.
"Therein lies the problem." Orli sighed. "When Eli was killed, I was certain that it was the work of the Palestinians until I followed the trail to Berlin. Once it was known that Bodnar was behind his death, I was certain that the file was left untouched, where Eli had hidden it. It was only recently that I discovered that the file was hidden in the farmhouse, with Ziva. Eli must have spoken to her about how to proceed in the event of his death."
"Ziva.." Tony trailed off.
"Yes."
Tony stood up and began to pace the room. He was still processing all this information: the mystery woman, the mystery file, the mystery mission.
"But the fire, the farmhouse- that was Kort"
Orli paused and Tony felt his heart skip a beat.
"That was Kort right?" Tony asked once again, with desperation in his voice.
"We are not sure. I mean, yes- he was the one who executed the blast but.. according to our intel, he was working for the Palestinians. However, we are not sure whether it was the PLO to be exact"
"Huh, well that's splendid." Tony huffed.
"I know what you're thinking-" Orli started,
"Oh lady, believe me you couldn't possibly know what I'm thinking right now. You're MOSSAD, you're supposed to have eyes and ears up everybody's asses. And yet, you failed to do the ONE job you're good at for one of the most important missions that you have ever conducted?" Tony said, exasperated.
Orli went to open her mouth, to defend the actions- or lack thereof, of her organisation but was immediately cut off.
"So that woman, that –Amada woman- she's PLO?"
"Yes,"
"And she knows about Tali?"
"Yes,"
"And the file, was that destroyed in the fire too?"
"No,"
"How do you know?"
"Because Ziva assured me." Tony's head spun around so fast he could have broken it.
"What?" He asked her, his voice ringing so low that Orli barely heard what he said. Had he just heard what he think he did? Orli opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to figure out what to say.
"She…Ziva kept a small box filled with important documents in a chest drawer in Tali's room. It was hidden in plain site; no one would ever think to check the nursery room of a 2 year old."
It was in that moment, Orli had confirmed a suspicion that Tony had held close to his heart for a long time. There was something she was keeping from him. Ever since he came to Israel, he could tell that there was something she was hiding from him. With every hesitant remark, every vague answer; Tony's gut feelings were off the charts. But he couldn't bring himself to question her; he had a feeling, he didn't want to entertain any thought that could crush him if not proven true.
They shared a long, silent look that spoke a thousand words. Orli felt her insides on fire; she slipped up, big time. There was a plan and she was tasked to stick to it, by every means. But in that look Tony gave her, she knew. She knew that he knew; he was just too afraid to ask in case his suspicions were proven wrong. Orli wanted to help him, give him that answers that he so desperately sought. She could tell how much he was struggling, but her hands were tied. So she decided on the next best thing. If she couldn't reveal anything she was forbidden to, she would at least point him in the right direction, literally.
"You need to go to Paris,"
"Why?"
"Because we need to get you out of the country. I know that you are a very capable agent and you can take care of yourself Tony. But I cannot allow you to stay when there is even the slightest possibility that something could happen to you or Tali, now that your presence has been known."
"But Paris-"
"-Is that last place that they would think to look," Orli cut him off. "Please, get some rest. I will have an agent bring you and Tali some food. Get a few hours sleep and I will sort everything out and return with more information."
Tony laughed, his throat feeling extremely dry.
"I don't even get a say in this, do I?"
"Absolutely not," Orli smiled back. Tony nodded his head gently, exhaustion slowly taking over. He paused again before answering.
"Okay, fine."
There you have it! I have already started writing the next chapter, but please give me a few more days to complete it.
XX Yours truly