Surprise! Guess who's back! I know, I know - it's been a very long time, and I can really only apologise for that. I kind of lost my love for NCIS for a while, but recently I decided that I wanted to get some of my old projects up and running again, so I decided to start with this one, and hopefully rediscover my love for this once great show in the process : ) So far it seems to be working, and after watching a few of the old episodes, I'm remembering just how fun and engaging the original characters were. Anyway, I'm back now, and although I'm not promising a regular update schedule just yet, I do have a couple of new chapters already written. They just need a bit of polishing up and tweaking : )

Beyond all of that, I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited and followed this story. Particularly after such a long absence from this story, the continued support and patience you guys have shown is incredible, so thank you very much : )

Finally, please remember that NCIS is not owned by me : )

I hope you enjoy this long overdue chapter : )

Kill Ari - Part 8

Cascades of rain were still falling thick and fast over the city as Kate and Tony dutifully stood outside of the Embasero Hotel. The storm had picked up in intensity again, and it showed no signs that it would be letting up anytime soon. A forlorn sigh slipped past the young female federal agent's lips. At this rate the entire city would be flooded before the storm finally cleared up, but that was the least of her worries right now. She had to keep her mind on the job. She had to help Gibbs take down Ari via any means necessary. She just had to. And that meant that for the time being, she had to stay right where she was, shivering out in the pouring rain, whilst she waited for Ziva to make an appearance. Then she and Tony would follow the beautiful Israeli woman, in the hopes that she would lead them straight to Ari. To be perfectly honest though, Kate wasn't holding out too much hope of that plan paying off. From what little she had seen of Ziva David, she didn't exactly strike Kate as a type of operative that would allow herself to fall for something as cliché as being trailed by two federal agents to a rendezvous with their target. A target that Ziva seemed determined to protect, though for what possible reason, Kate could only speculate. No. Even though she knew that her boss was just covering his bases, and that of course she'd never voice this particular opinion in Gibbs' presence, Kate simply couldn't help but think that this plan of his was a total waste of time.

It was a thought that was quickly proven to have become a solid fact.

"Espresso?"

Kate nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice suddenly shattered the rare silence that had fallen over her and her partner. But it wasn't so much the voice alone that had her so spooked. It was more the very distinctive accent in it that caused the female federal agent to close her eyes in despair. With a growing feeling of dread, Kate turned and had her fears confirmed. It was Ziva, standing there for all the world to see, a smug smile on her face and a carton of coffee cups in her hand. Across from Kate, Tony had mirrored the action, and his face fell in disbelief.

They were busted.

Rather than seem annoyed or even angry about their tailing of her however, the Mossad operative simply seemed amused more than anything else. Her smile quickly became less smug and turned slightly more warm and genuine as she held up the carton of coffee cups and wiggled it at the pair of flummoxed federal agents playfully.

"Take them. They are not bribes" the Israeli woman assured them kindly.

Kate couldn't help but look at her slightly suspiciously. Whilst she had no doubt that Ziva was being sincere in the fact that she was not trying to buy their assistance in letting her get away through a cheap gesture such as buying them a cup of coffee each, she also had no doubt that the woman would be running straight to Jenny Shepard, the new director of NCIS, and reporting them both for having followed her. And when Director Shepard took it up with Gibbs... well... that's when the real fireworks would begin. Still, what was done was done, and she was cold and wet. Kate saw no point in turning down a free espresso given the circumstances. So taking the Israeli woman at face value, the female federal agent took one of the offered cups and raised it to her lips. The warmth that immediately spread through her body from the liquid was most certainly a welcome feeling.

"Thank you" Kate said evenly, hoping that her voice wouldn't give away any of her thoughts. She couldn't afford to let her guard down after all.

Ziva smiled and nodded to her in response, before turning her attention to Tony. She was holding out the other cup for him to take.

"Take it" the Israeli woman persisted in a light tone of voice, "It's chilly out here".

That was certainly true, but Tony was still slightly more hesitant than Kate, and clearly much more paranoid, because instead of accepting the small gift that she had in her hand, he instead took the beverage that Ziva had intended to keep for herself. Her smile became even more amused if that was at all possible. The three of them just stood there in silence for a second, each taking a sip of their drink, all the whilst looking out at the rain, lost in his or her thoughts for one calm, peaceful moment. Then Tony turned to look at Ziva head on, a shrewd calculating look quickly appearing on his face. Kate decided to remain silent, at least to begin with. She had a feeling that she knew what he was about to ask, and decided to let the senior field agent take the lead on this occasion.

"How long have you known I was..." Tony started awkwardly, clearly a little embarrassed that he had been caught out.

Ziva gave him a patient smile.

"Following me?" she supplied when Tony seemed reluctant to finish his question, "Since I left the Navy Yard".

Kate discreetly watched the other woman's facial expressions and body language as she made that claim. To her surprise, she wasn't lying. Ziva really had known about Tony tailing her ever since she had left NCIS. Damn... either Tony was getting sloppy, or Ziva was really that good. Yeah - Kate had been right all along. This plan had never stood a chance.

"I don't think so" Tony scoffed and shook his head, unwilling to believe that. Ziva just smirked at him.

"Blue sedan. You laid behind a white station wagon for a while, then a telephone van" the Israeli woman immediately began listing off on her fingers, "You lost me at the traffic circle on..."

"Okay" a blushing Tony quickly interrupted her, admitting defeat, "You knew".

"You were on your own though. Special Agent Todd has only just joined you" Ziva remarked casually, and again the two federal agents were surprised by just how much she knew, "That is why I left you waiting out here in the rain for so long. I had to go back and get a third espresso. As far as tails go however, you were one of the more... easier ones I've ever had to spot".

Tony scowled indignantly at that last comment. Kate couldn't help it when a small chuckle of amusement slipped past her lips. Ziva turned to her curiously, whilst Tony just looked at her in annoyance. He knew what was about to come next, and so he mentally braced himself for the teasing he was about to endure.

"Tut, tut, Special Agent DiNozzo" Kate playfully shook her head at him in a faux-scolding manner, "You're getting lax in your efforts. If I were you, I'd polish up your surveillance skills before Gibbs finds out and starts riding your ass about it".

Tony just glared at his partner. A sure-fire way to wind Tony up was to make a comment about his abilities as a federal agent. It was a weakness of his that Kate had picked up on, one which she had exploited many times for her own amusement whenever he tested her patience.

The male federal agent indignantly opened his mouth, no doubt to fire off a snappy retort, but sadly for Tony he would never get the opportunity to. Ziva, amused by the playful bickering between the two other people present, decided to chime in.

"You really shouldn't be too hard on him Special Agent Todd. And you shouldn't feel bad, Special Agent DiNozzo" the Mossad operative smiled at them both, "I was trained by the best".

Irked that he was seemingly being ganged up on by the two women, Tony instead turned his attention back to the Israeli woman as opposed to his partner. His partner who was currently trying very hard not to laugh at his dismayed expression.

"You know..." Tony said to Ziva in a slow, deliberate tone, "That's what I like about Mossad".

"Our training?" Ziva arched an elegant eyebrow at him.

"Modesty" he snarked.

Mostly in an attempt to divert the conversation away from his own surveillance skills, or perhaps that should be lack thereof, Tony made to go put the empty pizza box in the trash, having wolfed down the delicious takeaway food that Kate had sneakily procured for him. He had barely taken three steps however, before Ziva interrupted the action and called out to him.

"Um... there's a slice in there" the Israeli woman playfully demanded, though there was no denying the look of hope in her eyes.

Sighing in defeat and feeling thoroughly miserable about both the weather and the company at this point, Tony turned back around and slouched over to Ziva. He held out the pizza box towards her and opened it. Smiling gratefully up at him, Ziva took the remaining slice of pizza.

"Toda" she thanked him.

"Prego" Tony nodded back at her in response.

Manners about not disturbing someone whilst they were eating kicking in automatically, Kate patiently waited for a few moments for Ziva to finish munching on her snack. When the Israeli woman was done however, the female federal agent felt that it was the appropriate time to ask a question which had been plaguing her for a while now.

"So who is he to you?" Kate asked, wondering if she would receive any kind of answer at all, let alone an honest one.

Ziva turned and gave her a blank look.

"Who is who to me?" the Israeli woman asked, though it was quite obvious that she was just playing dumb.

Kate rolled her eyes, but was not about to allow herself to be put off. She wanted an answer to this question, and she wanted it now. After everything that bastard had put her through, the female federal agent felt that the least she was owed was an explanation as to why that... monster should be defended so fiercely. And she wasn't buying that crap that they'd all been told back at NCIS about Ziva being Ari's handler either. This was way more personal than it simply being about the job. No. Something more was going on here...

And Kate was going to find out what.

"You know exactly who I'm talking about, Ziva" the female federal agent said to the Mossad operative, careful to keep her voice at a calm level. She knew that the quickest way to making a mistake whilst trying to get information out of reluctant people was to lose one's temper after all.

Ziva took a deep breath. She hid it rather well, but it was more than a little obvious to a trained profiler that from the Israeli woman's micro-expressions, she did not want to be having this conversation. She also seemed to sense that she would not be getting away without saying something to appease the other woman though.

"Ari Haswari?" she asked, simply to confirm. Kate stiffly nodded her head, her disgruntled expression clearly showing that she was expecting an answer.

The Mossad operative paused for a couple of moments. She was thinking about how was the best way to put her response. Kate and Tony both just watched her curiously, until at long last Ziva replied.

"I lost my little sister..." she eventually said, completely changing the subject without any kind of warning and earning herself two looks of pure confusion, but there was also plenty of sympathy mixed in, "Her name was Tali. She was killed in a Hamas suicide bombing. She was sixteen and the best of us. Tali had compassion".

Kate couldn't help but raise an eyebrow upon hearing that statement.

It implied that Ziva did not have compassion, but the female federal agent wasn't so sure about that. In fact, she was sure of it. Oh, any discernible hint of compassion was definitely buried deep behind a convincing mask of cold professionalism and a strong sense of duty, but it was still there. And that was why for the life of her Kate couldn't understand why Ziva was defending Ari Haswari. Surely the man's despicable actions spoke for themselves after all. It just didn't make any sense to Kate, and it was starting to grate on her very last nerve.

"I'm sorry" Tony kindly offered her his condolences.

"Me too" Kate found herself saying, despite still being very lost in her troublesome thoughts, "No one deserves to lose a loved one that young, nor in such horrible circumstances".

Ziva mutely nodded at them both in turn, appreciating their kind words and the genuine sincerity with which they spoke them.

"After Tali's death I was like Gibbs" the Israeli woman explained as she resumed her story, "All I wanted was revenge".

Try as she might, Kate honestly couldn't see where she was going with this.

Why would Ziva bring up her sister's tragic fate when Kate had asked her about Ari Haswari? What was the connection between the two? What was she missing? Kate highly doubted that Ziva would bring up such a sensitive topic just to invoke some sympathy after all. So just... why?

"Is that why you joined Mossad?" Tony asked Ziva in a surprisingly gentle voice, pulling Kate out of her reverie and back to the conversation at hand.

"I was Mossad long before Tali's death" Ziva denied with a small shake of her head, "Old..."

She trailed off, evidently searching for the right words. Tony was quick to supply them.

"Family tradition?" the handsome federal agent suggested.

"Israeli sense of duty" Ziva eventually corrected.

Kate frowned at how Ziva had seemingly dodged the question about what her connection to Ari was. The female federal agent didn't like it when she didn't get the answers that she wanted. She was about to try again, to insist upon some sort of proper answer, but unfortunately she didn't get the chance to. Because before Kate could say so much as one word, Tony was talking again, and he was taking the conversation further and further away from the direction that Kate had wanted it to go in. She couldn't help but scowl in annoyance at that.

"So come on" Tony lightly probed Ziva, genuinely curious to know more about the Israeli woman, "Who recruited you? Your father? Uncle? Brother? Boyfriend?"

"Aunt. Sister" Ziva playfully shrugged in response, her expression giving nothing away, "Lesbian lover..."

Kate didn't even try to refrain from rolling her eyes at that last one. Between the turn this conversation had just taken, and the interaction back at the office, it seemed like everything came back to sex with this woman. At her side, Tony scoffed out a laugh.

"You're good" he complimented the Israeli woman, "You almost got me off the question. Almost".

Ziva smirked again, and leaned in towards the two federal agents. She cast a conspiratorial look around, as if someone may be listening in as she revealed a great secret. Then... she smiled. Kate shook her head in amusement. The other woman was just teasing them.

"I volunteered" she informed him quite honestly. And that was apparently everything she had to say, because not a moment later Ziva was nodding at both Tony and Kate in turn, before she turned to walk away, "Laila Tov".

Again, Tony returned the gesture.

"Buona notte" he replied.

Together, he and his partner both watched as Ziva strode off into the night. In a matter of moments, she had slipped away into the rain and had vanished from sight entirely. Kate immediately turned to look at Tony, a troubled expression on her face.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked the senior field agent, "She not going to lead us anywhere now".

"No, she isn't" Tony grimly agreed.

"So what? Kate wanted to know, wringing her hands anxiously. She didn't like feeling so wrong-footed after all.

"Now... I'm gonna have to call Gibbs and tell him that the surveillance is as good as dead" Tony grimaced. This was not going to be an enjoyable conversation, mainly because he knew that the silver haired federal agent was not going to like what he had to say. Not. One. Bit.

As he moved away to make the particularly unenviable phone call, Kate sighed deeply for what felt like the millionth time since this whole mess had started. But as she looked out at the rain still falling, her mind quickly went back to the subject of Ziva's mysterious connection to Ari, and how evasive she had been when questioned about it.

Just what was that woman hiding from them?

Abby was feeling rather pleased with herself as she practically skipped into the bullpen, where McGee was currently working alone. After Gibbs had given her the all-clear to go back down to her lab, the gothic forensic scientist had quickly gotten straight back to work, wanting to help protect her family to the best of her abilities. And it was those self-same abilities that had helped her to come up trump's now.

"McGee!" she greeted him excitedly, distracting the man from his computer screen. She didn't give the junior agent a chance to acknowledge the greeting however, and quickly continued talking, "Didn't Tony match the tire tracks to a Chevy Suburban?"

The junior agent nodded his head distractedly.

"Uh, yeah. Bridgestone Duelers. Factory issue" McGee informed her, though he had barely gotten the words out before Abby had joined him behind his desk and was all-but shoving him out of the way. The gothic forensic scientist immediately began typing on McGee's keyboard, much to his confusion, "Uh, what are you doing?"

Abby grinned at him broadly in response to his query.

"We caught a break!" the gothic woman exclaimed jubilantly, "N-O-R orbited a new Keyhole. They're doing calibration tests using the seventh hole of the Norfolk Naval golf course".

McGee looked utterly bewildered. How on earth was that of any use to their current investigation? Completely confused, the young man just blurted out the first question that sprung to mind.

"Why the seventh hole?" he asked. Then he rolled his eyes at himself. Was that really the right question to be asking at a time like this? Abby on the other hand just beamed at him.

"See? That's why I dig you, McGee" she cried, still sounding very chipper about whatever it was that she'd discovered, "You think specific. Whatever the reason, we are grateful because that orbit took the Keyhole over Newport News! I inputted the warehouse coordinates..."

On the plasma screen next to Gibbs' desk, a satellite image appeared. It showed them the area around the warehouse where their big gun battle had taken place. The place where Kate had come so close to being robbed of her life...

"That's the rooftop!" McGee gasped, standing up for a better look. Abby kept zooming the image in, and several distinctive figures began to become more clear, "That's me... Tony... Gibbs... Kate..."

Abby used the computer mouse and highlighted a specific building on the image for McGee to view.

"Is that the building where Ari's sniper nest was?" the gothic forensic scientist asked excitedly.

"It is" McGee breathed, a little awestruck that Abby had managed to find such footage. It must have been a one in a million chance. Sadly, his hopes were quickly dashed as the image zoomed further and further in, "Ari's not there".

Abby looked up from the junior agent's computer and gaped at him incredulously.

"What did you expect?" she exclaimed, shaking her head at how presumptuous he was being, "A video of him shooting at Gibbs, Tony and Kate?"

"Well, considering just how close he came to killing her today, I was hoping" McGee retorted, upset that she had gotten his hopes up like that for nothing.

"Only in flicks, McGee" Abby soothed him, but it did little to comfort the young man. Instead, he just scowled at her.

"Okay, then why are you so excited?" he asked the gothic forensic scientist shortly.

Abby got a mischievous glint in her eye as she smirked up at him.

"I don't know. Maybe it's being alone with you on a rainy night..." she couldn't resist teasing him a little bit. It was just so much fun winding him up and trying to get him flustered. McGee was very cute when he was flustered after all.

"Abby!" McGee growled. He wasn't in the mood for this. Not after the horrible, horrible day they'd all had.

Sensing that her friend was quickly losing his patience with her, Abby decided to cut him some slack. She immediately got down to business.

"Oh, look! Could it be?" she gestured towards the screen, shifting the image so that it focused in on a specific car in the alley next to the building that Ari had fired from, "A black Chevy Suburban driving down the alleyway".

That was enough to get McGee's hopes up again.

"Uh..." the young man managed to stammer out, his voice quivering with excitement. He was hoping, praying, that this might lead them to Ari, and that the hunt could finally be ended once and for all, "Can you read the license plate?"

"That depends more on angle than resolution" the gothic forensic scientist muttered thoughtfully to herself, before getting back to work on the keyboard, trying a couple of her standard tricks.

As she worked, the image on the plasma screen kept shifting and warping. McGee hunched his whole body over, so that he was practically slumped on the floor and looking up at the image. Noticing his actions, Abby couldn't help but allow a small snort of amusement to escape from her dark lips.

"It's not a dress, McGee" she told him in fond exasperation, "You can't look up it to see what you want".

McGee sighed, realising that she was of course right. He straightened his body up again, and was about to reply to Abby, when a triumphant cry from the woman in question cut him off.

"Ha!" she beamed, proud of herself and just how good she was with a computer. One of her little tricks had worked perfectly, and an image of the car's licence plate was now as clear as crystal on the plasma screen, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

McGee just barely resisted the urge to jump up and down and cheer himself.

Knowing that he needed to focus on the job in hand right now however, the junior agent instead busied himself by rushing back over to his desk and all-but brushing Abby aside in his haste to get to his keyboard. His fingers became but a blur over the keys, his gaze fixed firmly upon the monitor, while at his side, Abby threw him a reproachful look.

"Oh, McGee!" she protested as he all-but manhandled her.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry" the young man exclaimed to his friend, but he didn't pause in his work for even a moment, "I've got to put a BOLO out on the plate".

Abby understood the importance of what he was saying, but nevertheless couldn't refrain from grinning up at him.

"We did good, huh?" the gothic forensic scientist said happily.

"You did great!" McGee lightly corrected her, his tone full of nothing but sincere praise for his friend, who had really come through for the team this time. He dutifully continued his work, typing manically at his keyboard, and it wasn't long before the BOLO had been fully updated and issued.

Then he turned to Abby and hugged her.

It took almost an hour of Gibbs driving around the city, aimlessly going in circles, before he was finally able to calm down, or at least calm down just enough to think logically at least. It made sense that this would be Ari's plan after all, to make him as angry as possible so that he'd be off his game. That would inevitably lead him to making a mistake, and that just wouldn't do. Mistakes could be catastrophic in his line of work. They could have fatal consequences, and not just for him, but for the people he cared about. Kate had almost paid the steepest of prices because of one such mistake earlier that day. Gibbs wasn't about to risk that happening again.

So repeating that mantra to himself again and again until it stuck, the silver haired federal agent finally managed to regain enough presence of mind to pull over into a lay-by and reflect on everything that had happened so far during this investigation. He had a feeling that he might have missed something important, some hidden connection that was the key to ending this nightmare.

He was still mulling those rather depressing thoughts over when he received the phone call from Tony, alerting him to the fact that Ziva was on to him and Kate. A string of colourful curses had slipped Gibbs' lips at that information. He had known from the beginning that tricking Ziva into leading them straight to Ari was a long shot, but he had hoped that they might get lucky for a change. Evidently that was not going to be the case however. Still, he kept his two best agents on the surveillance operation, just in case. His mood brightened however when McGee had called him shortly afterwards, informing him that Abby had managed to track down a licence plate for the car they thought Ari was using. The junior agent had also confirmed that the BOLO had been updated accordingly. Things were made even better when McGee went on to tell him that between them, he and Abby had been able to link the car to a specific address, one which he quickly past the details of over the phone to the fearless team leader.

Now, the silver haired federal agent had parked up on a residential street, one just like any other in the city. Only this street was the home to a particular NCIS agent, or should that be former agent, who Gibbs knew and trusted very well indeed. Hoping that she would be in an agreeable mood despite how late the hour was, Gibbs reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He then dialled a number that he hadn't used in years.

"Shepard" the voice of the new NCIS director eventually picked up after several rings.

"I need a partner for the night" was Gibbs' opening line, not bothering to waste any time on any preamble. Tonight just wasn't the night for such pleasantries, "You up for it?"

There was a very long pause.

"Jen?" Gibbs asked when the silence dragged on for a little bit too long, and he started to worry that she might have just hung up the phone on him.

"Jethro, don't you know any other women?" Jenny's voice finally responded. To the male federal agent's genuine confusion, it sounded rather... flustered. He couldn't help but wonder what that was about.

"None that I can call for backup" Gibbs retorted, before a strange observation occurred to him. Jenny had said women. Not agents, but women. Then it hit him, and he suddenly understood why she had sounded so flustered, "You didn't think I meant..."

He heard the tell-tale sounds of Jenny awkwardly clearing her throat.

"That's what you have a whole team of agents for" the new director of NCIS reminded him sharply. There was no mistaking the very strong trace of embarrassment in her voice however.

"Well..." her former mentor replied slowly, sidestepping the awkward moment entirely, much to Jenny's obvious relief, "McGee's on protection duty with Abby. DiNozzo and Kate are both tied up with tailing Ziva, and..."

But that was as far as Gibbs got in his explanation before he was abruptly cut over.

"DiNozzo and Kate are doing what?!" Jenny exclaimed in shock, sure that she'd misheard that last statement. But that shock quickly gave way to irritation, because of course Gibbs would just disregard her vouching for Ziva entirely, and go behind her back like that. She guessed that the old saying was true. The more things changed, the more they stay the same.

"They're tailing Ziva!" Gibbs repeated, confirming the red haired woman's suspicions.

He heard Jenny taking a deep breath down the phone-line, no doubt to calm her infamous temper down. Evidently deciding that she just didn't have the mental energy to get into the respect issues those actions brought about, when he next heard Jenny's voice, she was changing the subject.

"Well where are you?" his new boss demanded to know.

"Outside!" Gibbs exclaimed like it was obvious, which really, to someone who knew him as well as Jenny did, it should have been. The silver haired federal agent then heard the unmistakable sound of bedsprings followed by soft footsteps upon carpet echoing down the phone-line to him, and he guessed what Jenny was about to do. And sure enough, at the front bedroom window of the impressive Shepard family home, the curtain was suddenly drawn back, and Gibbs caught sight of Jenny in a purple silk night-robe. He grinned, and waved cheekily up at her from his car.

Even from such a great distance as it was from the house to the road, the silver haired federal agent could see that Jenny was rolling her eyes out of sheer exasperation. A moment later, the red haired woman disappeared back behind her bedroom curtains, and the phone-line went dead.

Gibbs smirked.

Some things would never change, and he could honestly say that he was glad that Jenny Shepard... was one of them.

And that's another chapter done : )

I know that the style of this chapter might be a little different to what you guys remember, but my writing style has evolved quite a bit since I lasted updated this story. Also, before I was only really including scenes with Kate in them, and a couple of others if I thought they were important enough. Moving forwards however, I think there'll be a couple more scenes without Kate in them. I know that she's the main character in this story, but I still want the others to get some time devoted to them as well : )

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the story in general. Please consider leaving a review before you go because I'd really love to hear your comments on what you liked, and what you think I could improve upon moving forwards. Also, I can assure you guys that the wait for the next chapter won't be anywhere near as long this time around ; )

Until the next time, keep on reading : )