"Agent Gibbs is on the line for you, sir," the tech reported to Director Vance.
Leon watched as Gibbs put on a headset as the screen flicked to his agent in MTAC. He had a stern look on his face, as if bracing for the worst. Gibbs and his teams had been in a communications blackout for the duration of the mission, with nothing being let out, even to the very top. So as of now, the Director of NCIS had no idea what had gone down with the mission, who had made it, if it had succeeded.
"Agent Gibbs, report." Vance's emotions leaked into his voice and it was only slightly hesitant.
"Saleem Ulman has been neutralized," Gibbs said. "My team is a little worse for the wear, but made it out okay." Vance nodded, his body relaxing, but Gibbs must have decided then to knock him off balance. "My whole team."
Vance read the look in Gibbs' eye from across thousands of miles. The tone he spoke with had an air of disbelief to it. "Your whole...as in…?"
"She's alive, Director," Gibbs confirmed. "Saleem showed his hand, and he was holding better than we expected. I think the next call you should make is to Tel Aviv."
Leon tamped down the joy, exhilaration, and shock as much as he could. Both men had had a gut feeling she had survived somehow, but there was nothing else to go on but hope. "I will see that it is done. But Eli's going to wait." He placed the toothpick in his mouth as he explained, " I was checking in with her on something when you made contact. Ms. Sciuto followed me here and may not let me out of the building alive until I tell her." He nodded his head in the direction of the door leading out. "She's been pacing the floor ever since."
Gibbs smiled at that. Vance was aware that things hadn't always been pleasant between Abby and Ziva, but he knew that the scientist, the most sensitive member of the team, was greatly affected by the reported death of Officer David. "Get Abby off your back then," he said.
"ETA to DC?" Vance asked.
"Depends on what the medical staff have to say. McGee's just got a few bruises, but DiNozzo has got severe dehydration, was shot up with truth serum and had the crap beaten out of him. Ziva, well..." Gibbs informed him.
Vance could only imagine. "When you know, contact me. I'll see that there's transportation from Andrews."
"Will do. Gibbs out."
Leon turned on his heels and was about to head to the door, when he stopped and went to the control panel. He brought up the camera just outside of MTAC and sure enough, Abby was there, more of a ball of nervous energy than usual. Luckily, Doctor Mallard was with her, but he didn't seem to have any calming influence over her at that time. He stood straighter and went to the exit.
The minute it opened, Abby stood in his way. "Director, that was Gibbs, right? Is he alright? How are-"
Her last question was cut off by him turning towards his office. "Doctor Mallard, Ms. Sciuto, with me."
Once they passed through the outer office into his, he stood by the door and waited for the two to file in. With them there, he closed the door and walked to his desk. "Saleem Ulman has been dealt with," he said, "and Gibbs reports that the team made it through."
Ducky blew out a breath. "Thank God," he said, practically whispered. He sank into a chair at the conference table. "In what condition are they?"
"Tony's suffering from dehydration and the effects of some physical abuse, Tim's got some cuts and bruises, but Ziva's been through the ringer," he answered calmly, dropping the last name nonchalantly, eyeing the two in his office.
Abby Sciuto's eyes grew wide as Dr. Mallard raised his head to look the director straight in the eye. "Director Vance, are you saying…?" the medical examiner asked.
"But...but the Damocles…" Abby stuttered.
"I don't have all the details, but Gibbs informed me that, yes, they found and rescued Ziva," Vance told them.
Abby's hand shot up to her mouth, covering what he figured was a scream of joy. No sound came out, but tears rolled down her cheek. "She's...she's alive?" Vance nodded, watching as the forensic scientist grasp what he had just said. "But we were told…?" she continued to reason until her expression changed and solidified into something he couldn't exactly pinpoint an appropriate description for. "No, I'm not questioning it. Ziva's alive and she's coming home." Then Abby looked up at him again. "She is coming home, right Director?"
"They're recuperating on the Seahawk, but Gibbs said he'd inform me when they are ready to depart. I assume it will be all of them."
At last, the shout of joy roared. "She's coming home, Ducky...she's coming home!" Abby cried, throwing aside any formality that might have had a place in that office.
For his part, Dr. Mallard initially remained calm, but when Abby threw herself on him, he, too, was brought to tears. "I...I don't know what to say!" the usually effusive doctor said.
Abby calmed down at last, enough for Leon to tell them he had some more calls to make, in private. Both understood, but before he stepped outside, Ducky turned to him. "When you are finished Director, I do think this calls for drinks. Don't you agree?"
Leon couldn't help the smile from forming on his lips. "You're right, Doctor. I'll come looking for you then." Once he was gone, Vance turned back to his desk. He buzzed his secretary. "Put me through to Director David, please. Tell him it's urgent." It took a few minutes, but he was talking to Eli in no time. "Shalom, my friend," he began as he usually did. "I have some news you'll want to hear."
"Is this is regards to the camp in North Africa?" the Israeli spy chief asked.
It took a lot to get anything past that man. "As a matter of fact, it is. I was updated a short time ago that Saleem Ulman has been taken care," Vance explained.
"Yes, my sources told me this morning that foreign agents were seen poking around the area the camp was suspected of being," Eli responded. "I thought it might have been the CIA." The last sentence was said with a measure of disgust.
"No, I can assure you, it was not them. We had intel that needed to be confirmed and acted upon. We sent in a small team and got that around 1700 local time yesterday and, at the agreed upon time twelve hours later, we initiated our plan. I don't have full details, but from what I have been told, there were minimal casualties on our side. And we found a prisoner in the camp."
"Interesting, usually they do not leave anyone alive," Eli thought aloud.
"Well, there was one and she was rescued and taken to the Seahawk by the team." Leon made sure his words were precise, hoping his friend would catch on.
He did not disappoint. "'She'? More interesting. It is very unusual they would leave a woman alive."
"Not if she's the daughter of an intelligence chief, and has connections to the US as well?"
There was dead silence on the other end of the line. Leon wasn't even sure he could hear breathing in the office in Tel Aviv. At last, the voice spoke up. "Ziva?"
"Alive, my friend. They're still determining how well." More silence, and it was starting to concern Leon. "Eli?"
At last, the man seemed to find his voice. "Tell Agent Gibbs, he has my eternal gratitude for rescuing my daughter."
"Actually, you should tell that to Agent DiNozzo," Leon informed him.
"DiNozzo?" The name was not said with any measure of disgust but with genuine surprise. Then, after another pause, Eli added, "I am not surprised."
That was an interesting comment for the director to make. "May I ask why?"
"Because, I saw that he would go to the ends of the earth for Ziva," Eli explained. "I realized that when I spoke to him." After a moment, he changed his mind. "When I interrogated him. He would do whatever it took to protect her...or avenge her. I admit, I misjudged that. Please, when he returned to the states, inform me and I will contact him myself, tell him personally."
"I will see that it's done. Shalom, my friend," Leon said, ending his side of the conversation.
"Shalom, and thank you. This is more than I hoped for, Leon," Eli said, as his emotions began to overtake him.
At his desk in DC, Vance paused before hanging up the phone. He could only imagine the emotions that were running through Eli David at that moment. Those thoughts brought him back to the night where this crazy plan was hatched.
"Did he figure it out?" Vance asked Gibbs when he re-entered the office.
"Yeah, eventually," Gibbs replied, half a smile on his face. Then he looked at Leon. "Lay off him, he's been going through a lot."
"We gonna tell him our suspicions?" It had been a wild thought that his Supervisory Agent had come up with, but in the past year, he'd seen nothing to doubt Gibbs' gut.
At that, the other man shook his head. "No, we do that, he's liable to go off half-cocked before we have a plan in place. Hell, he still might, even with one thing in mind."
Before Vance could respond, the phone on his desk buzzed. "Yeah? Okay, we'll take it in MTAC." He hung up and rose from his desk.
"Davenport?"
Vance nodded. "I'm going to brief him on the plan, but I expect a more detailed strategy soon."
Gibbs also stood. "I'll see that you get it, Director."
They both exited the office, Gibbs heading to the bullpen, and Vance to MTAC. Once inside, he was met with the image of the Secretary of the Navy. "Leon, I thought we've been over this already?"
"Yes, sir, we have, but my team has offered an alternative," the NCIS director stated. "If we sent a couple of agents in-country for eyes on the ground, could you sell them as the way to get confirmation on the location of Saleem's camp?"
"You're talking about dropping men into the middle of Somalia?" Davenport sounded skeptical as he awaited Vance's answer.
"Yes, sir, he is," Gibbs called out as he, DiNozzo and McGee hot on his heels to join the discussion.
Leon knew that the Secretary of the Navy had experience with Gibbs' plans from the time they were hunting down the mole, who turned out to be Agent Lee. Vance thought that was a crazy idea, and since he hadn't been let in on what exactly Gibbs was thinking up, he knew it would be good.
"Alright Agent Gibbs, let's hear it out," Davenport said, leaning back in his chair.
"The plan is simple," DiNozzo answered. "Agent McGee and myself with get ourselves captured." He stated that with an air of nonchalance that bespoke an arrogance that lay underneath DiNozzo's facade. "That gets us to the camp and gives the SEALS a clear path there."
"I'll be following them, keeping an eye on the situation, and acting as the signal flare for where to put down," Gibbs added.
"I'd hoping that we'll get to see the man himself. I'm sure that if I do, I can find a way to distract him long enough for the location to be found," Tony added.
"And how do you plan on 'distracting' him, Agent DiNozzo?"
"My usual charm." DiNozzo smirked, a reaction that made Vance shake his head in annoyance. "I'm sure there's plenty of topics for us to discuss. He went to Yale, right? Maybe football'll come up. You know, Ohio State went ten and two in the regular season last year. Lost in the Fiesta Bowl, though, which sucked."
Vance could tell the SecNav's patience was running thin. "What's the probability of success, Agent Gibbs?"
Leon held his breath awaiting that answer. "In all honesty, sir, a crap shoot. But, it's the best plan we have."
"There are more details, we have to work out, but when we have it planned down to the last second, we'll contact you," Leon told him, trying to assuage his concerns.
"Make sure you do that. In the meantime, I'll try to sell this hair-brained scheme to the Joint Chiefs. I'm sure they'll have their own questions," Davenport replied with a shake of his head. "Be sure you're ready for them." With that, the line went dark.
Vance turned back to his team. "Will there ever be a time when you stow the smartass act?" he asked DiNozzo. But before he could get an answer, he said, "Never mind. I suspect it'll be the thing that save your life one day."