Chapter 36

"Ellie, Director Liu wants to see you," Cory said.

Ellie looked up from her computer.

"What about?"

"Don't know. Should I?"

"Not as far as I know," Ellie said. "I haven't been in trouble for ages."

Cory smiled slightly.

"Go on. You know he hates people being late."

"Yeah."

Ellie got up from her desk and headed for the director's office. Since Director Gellman's retirement, she hadn't been called in much. Director Liu had spoken with her once regarding her work with Tim when he had first come to the NSA, but since a lot of the work was established routine at this point, it was easy to answer his questions. He'd been thorough and she had simply continued on with her usual work.

So what was it now? Since Tim was on his family vacation, she hadn't done any work in that regard for the last few days. There was less of it anyway as the various holes were being filled. They'd run out of them eventually.

She reached the outer office and Director Liu's assistant called in.

"You can go right in, Agent Bishop."

"Thanks."

Ellie went into the office. Director Liu was sitting there, waiting for her.

"Agent Bishop, have a seat."

"Yes, sir."

She sat down and felt a little nervous. Director Liu had a penetrating stare. Director Gellman had as well, but his stare hadn't felt as... intimidating. Maybe she'd just become too used to the nature of Gellman's stare and Director Liu was still an unknown quantity.

"When was the last time you were in contact with Agent McGee?"

"Before his vacation. We made plans for what would be the next area we'd check when he got back. Agent McGee isn't supposed to be back for a few more days."

"It might be longer than that."

"Why?"

"He and his family were attacked in Cairo."

Ellie only barely managed to keep herself from gasping in surprise.

"Are they all right?"

"To my knowledge. However, it has also come to my attention that his brother-in-law has been abducted and is likely being held as a bargaining chip to force Agent McGee's cooperation."

"Oh." Ellie paused. "Sir, is there something you want me to do?"

"Would Agent McGee betray his country to save his brother-in-law?"

"Uh... I don't... know, sir. We really don't discuss things like that."

"What do you think?"

"I think... he would try to save both rather than give up on one or the other."

"What if he couldn't?"

"I think he'd die first before he let himself betray anyone."

"Are you sure?"

"No. That's just what I think."

"I see."

"Sir... do you want me to do anything here?"

"Yes. I have people already searching for any evidence of Ahmed Mokrani's whereabouts. I want you to look for the trail that will identify everyone involved. Everyone."

"By myself?"

"To begin, but you'll have copies of everything we know by the end of the day. Even if and when we get them to safety, that won't fix things. This needs to be stopped. Permanently."

Ellie swallowed. She had always hated this aspect of working for the NSA. There was a ruthless streak that made her most uncomfortable. Gellman had either hidden it, knowing her ambivalence, or simply hadn't been as ruthless. However, she could hardly deny that keeping Tim safe was extremely important.

"Understood."

"Any questions?"

"No, sir."

"Dismissed."

"Thank you."

Ellie got up and walked out of the office. She didn't like what she was being asked to do... but she also didn't like that Tim and his family was under threat. She remembered meeting Tim's daughter. The idea of that little girl being in danger was just plain wrong.

So she would just have to do her best.

And hope that she wasn't on hand when they stopped them.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Everyone was tired when they reached the car after walking through the desert. It would be a little cramped, but they would all fit well enough.

"It's a long drive back to Jeddah, but we should just get started," Hammami said. "Are you all fine with that?"

Tim and Zahara nodded silently. Salma and Jonathan were both asleep. Suhayl was carrying Salma and Tony was carrying Jonathan. Tim had been reluctant to allow others to carry his children, but a glance from Suhayl had been enough to stop his protests for some reason.

"We made it," Tony said quietly, not wanting to wake the boy in his arms. "Who's driving first?"

"I will," Drake said. "Let's get that back seat flipped up and we can pile in."

No one complained about that. Drake and Hammami took the front seat. Tony, Suhayl and Tim took the middle seat with Jonathan sleeping on Tony and Salma sleeping on Tim while Ziva and Zahara took the back seat because their legs were shorter. Omar sat in the luggage section at the back rather than trying to squeeze into a seat. It was not comfortable for anyone, but they'd manage for as long as necessary.

And even though it was crowded and uncomfortable, everyone fell asleep quickly after the long walk through the night.

Or almost everyone. Tony sat on the seat crammed against the door with an almost three-year-old boy on his lap and he looked at Tim who was in the middle, leaning his head back against the seat with Salma on his lap. Even in sleep, he looked like he was trying to protect his daughter. Tony knew that there was nothing Tim wouldn't do for his family. That was why he was so determined to be there. He didn't want Tim to do something he didn't really need to do. It didn't matter that there would be other people there making sure that Tim was safe. They probably didn't really understand Tim's motivations.

Jonathan shifted around in his sleep and cuddled closer. Tony smiled at the little boy and then tried not to sigh. He hoped that Jonathan and Salma wouldn't be dramatically affected by this. He knew they probably would be to some degree. How could they not be after having to run for their lives? Salma more than Jonathan just because she was older would be affected, but hopefully not too much.

For a while, Tony sat there and just watched Tim sleep, knowing that Tim was really struggling, but at the same time had somehow regained some determination. Tony didn't know what had moved Tim to show that steel he'd had in the past, but he was both glad of it and worried by it.

And would Ahmed still be alive? Even if he was, what state would he be in and could Tim handle it?

But then, his mind went back to what Suhayl had said, that he was holding Tim back by treating him like he couldn't manage. Was he right? But even if Tim could manage it all, it would be hard and Tony wasn't going to leave Tim to deal with it on his own, not even on his own with Suhayl and the CIA. For one thing, he didn't really know Suhayl all that well and for another, he still had that instinctive distrust of the CIA, no matter how much they had done for Tim. He just couldn't quite set aside what they had done to Tim in the beginning.

"You really should sleep while you can."

Tony was startled out of his silent contemplation and looked at Drake who was glancing at him in the rearview mirror.

"If you're going to be staying here, you'll want all the sleep you can get."

"You're probably right," Tony said, quietly.

Drake said nothing else and finally, Tony tried to get moderately comfortable and then he went to sleep.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Ducky sat in his kitchen, staring at his teacup. He had never realized just how extraneous he could feel in a situation like this. Knowing that Tim was in danger, knowing that his family was in danger, knowing that he could do nothing more that try to make sure that things here didn't deteriorate was hard to manage. He really could understand Gibbs' inability to accept not being able to do anything. It was just that he didn't think that Gibbs was going about it in the right way. Even if it was contributing to a slight softening of his attitude toward Levi, it wasn't really a good idea to impose on the Carews.

Of course, Gibbs probably knew that. He just didn't care.

Then, Ducky smiled a little wryly.

Is there any way that I can do the same thing?

Not to move into the Carew home, obviously, but perhaps, there was something he could do, even if it wasn't going to be an active part of what was happening. He could operate behind the scenes and try to set things up so that they could proceed in the best way possible.

With that decision made, he finished his tea and pulled out his phone. Then, he dialed a number that he had actually never dialed before. He had simply saved it out of a desire to be able to have that contact should he ever need it.

"Hello, this is the office of Dr. Woodrow Hicks. This is Sherry. How may I help you?"

"Good morning," Ducky said. "I was hoping to speak to Dr. Hicks. I don't have an appointment."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Baba, it's hot in here!" Salma whined.

"Baba, we there yet?" Jonathan asked.

"No, we're not," Tim said. "We're getting close, though. I know it's not comfortable, Salma, but we only have the one car."

"Salma, why don't you come back here with Ziva and me?" Zahara suggested.

Salma gave that due consideration and then nodded and there was some shifting around in order to get her over the seat and into the back. There was both more and less room back there. With only two people, there was more room on the seat but less room for the adults who had longer legs. Still, Salma quieted down. Tim sighed. It was not comfortable in the car. They'd been driving for hours and everyone was cramped. Tony was currently driving and trying to make as good time as possible. It was just that there were limits.

They stopped for gas after another hour and switched drivers. Suhayl offered to take the last leg of the drive and he knew the area very well, so there was no protest.

The uncomfortable ride lasted for another two hours and then they were driving around Mecca, getting closer to Jeddah. Hammami called the plane and made arrangements to get them out of Saudi Arabia and to Cairo for a brief stopover before heading to DC.

Tim was pulled in two directions at this point. He wanted nothing more than to go home and be safe with his family, but he couldn't bear the thought of leaving without knowing that Ahmed was safe as well.

Because right now, he wasn't. There was no way that Ahmed was in anything other than dire straits and because of that, Tim couldn't allow himself to leave. So even though it tore him up to know how hard it would be for Zahara to leave him and take the kids home, he had to stay. In a way, it would have been easier for him if Suhayl and Tony weren't going to be there, too. While he hated that he could think like this, he had to be honest with himself and admit that their lives meant more to him than the lives of the CIA agents he didn't really know. It wasn't that those men meant nothing to him. He hated that anyone could die just to protect him, but when it came right down to it, he cared more about whether or not Tony survived than Omar.

However, at the same time, having the extra support Tony and Suhayl could give in their own unique ways was something that he knew he needed. What if Ahmed was dead? How could he tell Zahara? How could he deal with the loss of family, even if it was only by marriage? If the worst happened, Tim knew he'd need someone there to keep him grounded.

But he couldn't admit to any of that. He would not acknowledge the possibility that Ahmed might be killed.

"We'll be at airport in just a few minutes," Hammami said. "I'll take the rental back while you all head for the private hangar. I'll meet you there."

Everyone nodded and waited somewhat tensely for their arrival. They were so close to being safely in the air that it seemed impossible that something wouldn't go wrong at the last minute.

Finally, Suhayl pulled up to an unloading area and they all got out of the car, groaning and stretching as they did so. There was no pretending that it had been an easy trip. In terms of confrontations, yes, it had been easy, but it had not been comfortable and the ride had been very long. Ziva climbed out and then Tim helped Zahara out of the car. She hugged him tightly and they all walked into the airport while Hammami drove the car back to the rental place.

There was no delay as they navigated through the airport to the private hangar where the plane was waiting. They all made it and then they boarded the plane and the door was secured, making sure that no one could get on the plane unless they were specifically allowed to be there.

And they waited tensely for Hammami to join them. What if whoever was after Tim had traced them this far and had grabbed Hammami? What if they couldn't take off? What if–?

There was a knock on the door and, simultaneously, Drake's phone rang. He answered and then nodded to the pilot who opened the door.

Hammami got on the plane.

"Any problems?" Drake asked.

"None. Let's get out of here."

The pilot nodded and returned to the cockpit. Within minutes, the plane was pulling out of the hangar and taxiing. They were number three for takeoff and they all waited with some degree of tension, whether admitted or not.

They taxied and then stopped.

Tim swallowed nervously. Everything had been going according to plan so far. Would they get out?

Then, the plane began to roll forward, picking up speed and, before he knew it, the wheels had left the ground and they were in the air.

Heading for Egypt, Saudi Arabia left behind.

One step down.

How many to go?