"Wake up!" shouted a voice in Ziva's ear.

Ziva's eyes fluttered open and she jumped in surprise when she saw the woman from Bethesda's psych ward that had been clinging to McGee each time they had visited one of the doctors.

"What do you want from me Melissa?" asked Ziva.

"The truth about your case. I know that I'm a suspect in it. I want to know why," replied Melissa.

"You won't get the truth from me. Now, let me go Melissa."

Melissa walked up to Ziva and for a moment, Ziva was sure that Melissa was going to free her. However, instead of freeing Ziva, Melissa punched Ziva in the face. Ziva felt her nose break as blood poured out. She started to go dizzy and, within seconds, her vision had gone black. She was unconscious.

*NCIS HQ*

"Where's Ziva?" asked Gibbs.

"No idea boss. She hasn't answered any of her phones," said Tony. He was worried.

"Boss, I got a GPS signal on Ziva's phone. It places her phone at 21 Falmouth Way, Virginia East," said McGee.

"Let's go," replied Gibbs.

McGee and Tony both stood up and followed their boss to the elevator. Tony was still worried and he had unconsciously started dreaming up nasty things that may have happened to Ziva.

*Warehouse*

Ziva opened her eyes to find that she was alone. Looking around, Ziva saw that she was being held in a warehouse that was full of crates. Looking at the nearest crate, Ziva read the warnings. They were all in Arabic and they all said the same thing: Death to America. Ziva looked away from the crate and found herself wishing that Tony was there to save her.

*21 Falmouth Way*

"Okay, we're here. Spread out, look around and don't be afraid to shoot if you have too. Remember though, if Ziva is here, we can't let her get hurt," said Gibbs in a calm voice. He was scared.

Tony and McGee ran around to the back of the house and peeked through the windows. They couldn't see anyone. After nodding to each other and pulling out their guns, the two guys burst through the back door, checking each room as they went. After determining that the house was clear, Gibbs, McGee and Tony returned to the car. They were all scared but didn't want to be the first to admit it.

*Warehouse*

Ziva jumped at the sound of a door slamming. She looked up and saw Melissa rushing forward.

"Looks like my plan is working. They found your phone and checked out the house but didn't find anything useful. It might be a while before your friends find you Agent David," said Melissa. She sounded gleeful.

As Melissa turned around to pick up a knife, her phone fell out of her pocket and onto Ziva's foot. As quietly as she could, Ziva bent down and moved her hand as best as she could while being tied up. With a bit of manoeuvring, she was able to grab the phone and hide it behind her back before Melissa turned around again.

Melissa turned around with the knife in her hand and walked back to Ziva. She raised the knife and gently slid it across the side of Ziva's face, leaving a small amount of blood behind. Ziva cringed as the blade touched her skin but didn't show any other signs of pain.

Melissa then shoved the knife into Ziva's leg and pulled it out again. Ziva was in so much pain that she lost sight of what was happening to her for a moment. When Melissa stabbed Ziva's arm, Ziva cried out in pain. She had no idea where she was at that moment and she was starting to get scared.

*NCIS HQ*

"Go to Abby and find Ziva," said Gibbs when they walked back into the squad room. "Tony, I want you to find out who the last person to see Ziva was. If you guys need me, I'll be with Vance."

Tony and McGee walked off to their destinations and Gibbs headed up to Vance's office.

"What's going on Gibbs?" asked Vance as Gibbs barged into his boss' office.

"Ziva's missing. We don't have any leads. I need to find my agent Leon," replied Gibbs.

"Okay, have you checked the warehousing district?"

"No, thanks though."

*Warehouse*

Melissa pulled the knife out of Ziva's arm and placed it in hot water. After cleaning the knife, Melissa walked out of the warehouse and Ziva grabbed the phone from behind her back. She quickly pressed the numbers of the agent that she had memorised and impatiently waited for them to answer.

*Ziva's Home*

"DiNozzo," said Tony when his phone rang.

"Tony, it's Ziva. I need your help," said the caller.

"Where are you?"

"In a warehouse. I don't know where. Listen, Melissa is the murderer, not the doctor. She's got me here. She doesn't know that I have her phone though so I need to be quick. Please, Tony, trace this call and find me."

"I can't trace it Ziva. I'm at your place. I guess I can head back now since I know that you're not here. Call McGee or Abby."

Tony hung up after this and headed back to work.

*Abby's Lab*

"McGee," said McGee when he answered his phone.

"It's Ziva, I need you to trace this call so you can find which warehouse I'm in. Please," said the caller.

"Okay Ziva, hang on. Abby, trace this call for me please."

"Sure McGee," said Abby. She started to type on her computer and within a couple of minutes there was a loud bell sound and Abby had Ziva's location. "McGee, she's in the fourth warehouse at the docks."

"Thanks Abby. We're coming Ziva." McGee hung up and rushed out of the lab. He almost ran right into Gibbs.

"Ziva's in warehouse four at the docks boss," said McGee in a rush.

"Okay, DiNozzo just got back. Let's go. Thanks Abby," called Gibbs.

"Agent DiNozzo, how nice of you to drop by. But it looks like you won't be leaving any time soon," said Melissa as she tied Tony to a chair in the warehouse. He was across from Ziva.

It had been half an hour since Abby had found Ziva and, after careful planning, the agents had decided that Tony was the only one who could save Ziva. He had decided to get kidnapped and Gibbs would shoot Melissa in the leg while McGee freed the two kidnapped agents. Meanwhile, McGee and Gibbs were going to prepare a safe way to get Ziva medical attention. It looked as if the plan would have to change though. Ziva was unconscious and bleeding from several wounds. It looked as though the major source of the blood was a wound in Ziva's stomach.

"What did you do to her?" asked Tony.

"She got what she deserved. She wouldn't tell me what I wanted to know so she was punished," replied Melissa.

Tony looked over at Ziva again and he felt tears spring to his eyes. His friend was hurt and there was no way to save her.

"Let her go. She needs medical attention Melissa. You can torture me or kill me, I don't care. Just let Agent David get the help she needs."

"No way. Firstly, that wouldn't be fun. Secondly, this is her punishment for not obeying orders."

"Melissa, if she dies, you'll go to prison for the rest of your life. The judge isn't going to go easy on you because of your mental disorder. You planned this."

"You really think that I care Agent DiNozzo? I don't."

"Yeah, you do. I'm sure that you don't want to go to jail Melissa."

*Warehouse-Outside*

"Okay, thanks," said Gibbs before he closed his phone. "An ambulance is coming."

Gibbs walked over to the window that he was going to shoot through. He could see Melissa walking between Tony and Ziva. It looked like Ziva was unconscious and that Tony was trying to stop Melissa from hurting anyone else.

"McGee, are you ready?" asked Gibbs.

McGee looked over from the warehouse door, where he was positioned, ready to go in.

"Yes boss," called McGee.

Gibbs looked through the window again and got himself ready. After a few minutes, Gibbs pressed the trigger on his gun and a bullet flew out. It pierced Melissa's leg. McGee burst through the door at the point and rushed forward to where Tony was tied up.

"You okay Tony?" asked McGee.

"I'm fine. Is the ambulance here?" asked Tony.

"Yeah. Is she awake?"

"No, I'll be surprised if she's still alive. She's lost so much blood."

McGee untied Tony and Ziva. Together, the two guys carried Ziva to the waiting ambulance.

Ziva woke up to find herself in a dark room. At first, she thought that Melissa had moved her to another warehouse but after looking around, Ziva determined that she was in the hospital. There were monitors all around her bed and they were all beeping constantly. She could feel electrodes stuck to her chest with wires attached to them. She had a white clip on her finger and a blood pressure cuff was wrapped around her arm. There was a needle in her hand that was connected to a tube. The tube was connected to a bag that was full of a clear liquid. A tube had been placed at her nose and was sending oxygen into her.

A heavy weight was on Ziva's arm, leg and stomach. Looking down, she realised that the weights were just bandages that had been placed over her wounds. Stitches had been placed onto the cut on Ziva's face. When Ziva turned her head, she noticed that Tony was sitting in a chair, fast asleep. He was holding Ziva's hand. Ziva moved her hand slightly and Tony woke up. He took one look at his friend and a smile appeared on his face.

"Welcome back angel," said Tony.

"Thanks Tony. How long have I been in here?" asked Ziva.

"About a week. You had surgery when you were brought in. That took two hours. Then you were put in here. This is the ICU by the way."

"Oh, thanks. Tony, I heard your voice in that warehouse. Were you there?"

"Yeah, at the end. Why?"

"I was just wondering. I love you Tony."

She hadn't meant to tell Tony that she loved him. It had just slipped out. However, she knew that she had done the right thing by telling him. The look on his face was understanding.

"I love you too sweetie."

"Are you ready to go Ziva?" asked Tony.

"Yes, let's go," replied Ziva. She was so happy to be going home.

For the last week, Ziva had been begging the doctor to let her go home. Unfortunately, she hadn't been successful. The doctor, with help from Tony, had forced Ziva to stay in the hospital to recover. However, the doctor had gotten tired of seeing her sad and had agreed to let her go home with conditions. She could return to work when she was ready but had to promise to have regular check ups at least twice a week. Ziva had jumped at this idea because she was so happy to be allowed to go home.

At the moment, Tony was packing Ziva's overnight bag while waiting for Ziva to come out of the bathroom. He was getting impatient.

"Ziva, come on. How long does it take to go to the bathroom?" asked Tony.

"I'm coming," called Ziva as she packed up her make-up.

Tony had promised Ziva the previous night that he would take her out for dinner when she went home. It was five o'clock in the afternoon. Gibbs had made Tony stay at work for a little extra time that day and Ziva wanted to drop off her bag and go straight to dinner.

"How do I look?" asked Ziva as she came out of the bathroom.

"Gorgeous!" exclaimed Tony. His eyes were huge and he couldn't stop staring at his new girlfriend. She was wearing simple clothes but they still managed to look extremely gorgeous on her.

********

"Thanks for dinner Tony," said Ziva an hour later.

"Not a problem sweetie. You are worth every cent that this costs," replied Tony.





THE END