"Father, why are we here?" asked Ziva.

"This is the camp of Marcus Johansson. If we don't catch him, more Mossad officers will die Ziva. We know that he falls for the female officers before killing people. I want you to distract him so that I can kill him," replied Mr David.

"What if he kills me first?"

"Don't be negative Ziva! How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Ziva opened her mouth to say something but changed her mind. She heard a noise ahead of her and slowly walked forward. After a few minutes, Ziva realised that there weren't any footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw that her father was no longer there.

Ziva retraced her steps and found that her father had left her at the terrorist camp. Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed Ziva's arm and twisted her around. Ziva found herself staring into the eyes of Marcus Johansson.

**THREE WEEKS LATER**

"What does this Mossad officer look like? And why are WE rescuing her instead of Mossad?" asked Tony.

"Because Mossad is lead by her father and he wants her dead. Mossad was working with us to find a terrorist and this officer has been kidnapped by the terrorist," said Gibbs.

"This is her latest picture. She's been missing for three weeks and if we go by the other victims, she'll be dead soon," said McGee.

Tony nodded. He took the picture that McGee was holding and immediately closed his eyes. The woman was, in Tony's opinion, gorgeous. She had dark brown hair and brown eyes. Her skin was olive in colour. Tony could see that this woman was hiding behind the mask of a tough person but her eyes were a dead giveaway. She was a softie on the inside.

"What's her name?" asked Tony in a small voice.

"Ziva David. Do you like her DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs with a smirk.

"She's so pretty. Poor thing. I hope she's okay. Hey boss, I'll look after her if we take her to DC with us."

"Okay DiNozzo. If that's what you truly want."

Tony smiled and then followed his boss and partner into Marcus Johansson's camp. The sight that met the three agent's eyes was horrifying.

The three agents rushed to the side of Mossad officer Ziva David. Marcus Johansson was lying on the ground next to Ziva's chair in a pool of his own blood. Ziva seemed to be unconscious though they had been told that she was an expert at hiding her true state.

"Ziva David? Can you hear me? My name is Agent Gibbs. If you can hear me Miss David, please squeeze my hand," said Gibbs. There was a note of desperation in his voice.

A sudden, although small, tug on his hand caught Gibbs' attention. He looked up to see the young woman in front of him trying to sit up. She wasn't succeeding. Gibbs gently lifted Ziva into a sitting position.

"Miss David, can you hear me?"

"Help me," whispered Ziva.

Gibbs' heart broke as he heard Ziva's feeble attempt at speaking. He called Tony over and then moved away.

"Hi Ziva, I'm Tony. I'm going to help you get up and then we can leave. Did you kill him?" asked Tony. He sounded curious.

"I did not mean too. I just did not want to be hurt anymore," whispered Ziva.

"You're not in trouble Ziva. He was a bad guy. What did he do to you?"

Ziva looked at Tony and closed her eyes. This man was a stranger and Ziva didn't show her emotions in front of everyone. But Ziva felt like she was safe with him. He seemed to genuinely care about her well-being. Ziva opened her eyes and reached for Tony's hand. She took it as a good sign when he didn't pull away.

Tony looked down at the tiny hand that was grasping his and he realised that what he was feeling was not only pity but sadness. The young woman in front of him was trying to hold back her emotions but he could tell that she wasn't succeeding.

"Ziva, you don't have to hide your feelings from me. It's okay to be scared. We all get scared at some point."

Ziva gave Tony a weak smile before she tried to stand up. After a minute, Ziva's legs gave way and she toppled to the floor, tears pouring from her eyes. Tony bent down and whispered into Ziva's ear. She looked up and gave Tony a watery smile. She allowed Tony to help her up and lead her towards the door.

"DiNozzo, be careful out there. We don't know if there are anymore of them out there. I don't want her hurt anymore. Ducky's waiting in the embassy for us. Go straight there, don't make any stops, and hide if anybody comes by," said Gibbs.

Tony nodded and helped Ziva put her arm around his shoulders. Together, they walked out of the cell door and into a long hallway full of the terrorists that Gibbs had shot on the way in.

"Do you want to stop Ziva?" asked Tony. Ziva was breathing heavily and had started to drag her feet.

"Keep going Tony, I'm okay," said Ziva. She smiled but could tell that Tony didn't believe her.

Tony lifted Ziva slightly and continued walking toward the hole that they had made in the wall earlier. Tony was worried about Ziva. She had stopped talking and was breathing far too heavily for his liking.

Ducky's only a few minutes away, thought Tony. This thought raised Tony's hopes slightly and he found that they were unobstructed for the rest of the walk to the embassy.

*************

"McGee, let's go. We need to get out of here and make sure that DiNozzo and Miss David are alright," said Gibbs.

"Okay," replied McGee.

The two guys headed out to the embassy and found their path clear. Gibbs thought that this was lucky but also a bad sign. They were unsure of whether Tony and Ziva had made it to the embassy and they didn't know why they hadn't yet been attacked. It didn't make sense.

*************

"Ducky, please help!" shouted Tony. They had just entered the embassy and Tony had ended up carrying Ziva into the building. She was barely conscious but had a firm grip on Tony's shirt.

"What happened Tony?" asked Ducky.

"She's barely breathing. I think that the walk tired her out. I mean, she could barely keep her eyes open when we got to her and she looks like she's been through a lot."

"Okay, put her on the couch and let me take a look at her."

Tony gently placed Ziva on the couch and moved back so that Ducky could get through. Ducky bent down next to Ziva and picked up her hand, looking for a pulse. He found one but it was weak. Ziva's skin was dry and Ducky immediately knew how to wake her up. He picked up a bottle of water and placed a straw into it. Placing the straw against Ziva's lips, Ducky proceeded to wake Ziva. Her eyes flew open at Ducky's touch and she gratefully drank the water that Ducky had offered her.

"Thank you," whispered Ziva.

"Not a problem my dear," replied Ducky, giving Ziva a kind smile. "Are you interested in eating something?"

"Yes please."

Ducky stood up and walked off to a small room next to them, returning with a plate of food for Ziva.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you like. If there's something else that you want, I'll get it for you," said Ducky.

"That's very nice of you but this will be fine."

Suddenly, a loud voice made the three of them jump. The plate of food toppled onto the floor as Ziva scrambled to sit up properly.

"Jethro, you scared us! What's wrong?" asked Ducky.

"We need to leave now! They're coming, we don't have much time. Let's go," replied Gibbs.

Tony bent down and lifted Ziva into his arms. The whole time Gibbs had been talking, Ziva had been tugging on Tony's sleeve.

"Tony, I don't want them to hurt me anymore," whispered Ziva.

"I won't let them hurt you anymore Ziva. You're safe with me, I promise," replied Tony. Ziva smiled and closed her eyes as Tony ran towards the waiting jet that had been loaned to them by SecNav.

Tony, Ziva, McGee, Gibbs and Ducky had finally made it to the waiting jet. Gibbs and McGee had ended up having to shoot a few people along the way but other than that, they were safe. Tony put Ziva on the ground and climbed into the jet. He then reached down to Ziva and helped her into the jet before closing the door so they could take off.

"Thank you Tony," said Ziva.

"That's okay. Hey, come sit up the back with me," said Tony. He had an idea to make the trip seem shorter.

Ziva smiled and followed Tony to the last row of seats. Tony had reached them first and when Ziva sat down, she found a small box next to her. A note on top said that it was for her.

"What's this Tony?" asked Ziva.

"Open it and find out," replied Tony with a mischievous grin on his face.

Ziva opened the box and gasped. There was a lovely silver necklace inside. A heart dangled from the chain.

"It's beautiful Tony," whispered Ziva. "This is for me?"

"Yeah. I bought it a few months ago for my girlfriend but before I could give it to her, she cheated on me and we broke up. I was going to sell it but since I have now met you, it's yours."

"Oh, Tony. I love it. Thank you so much."