“Hey Ziva,” Tony called out, as he took cover behind a crate.
“Yes Tony?” Ziva asked as she did the same.
“Make every shot count.”
Ziva smiled. “I always do Tony.”
They sat waiting for a minute. They could hear the footfalls outside stop at the door. The handle clicked. The moment the door opened Ziva and Tony started firing. The first few were easy because they did not have a chance to react. The others had enough forewarning to pull out their weapons. Soon shoots came raining back to them.
“How many so far?” Tony shouted.
“I have counted seven!” Ziva yelled back.
“Shouldn’t be that many more then.” Tony muttered to himself as he replaced his clip for a new one.
Ziva fired off three more shots and then the people stopped coming, as did the bullets. “I think it is over.”
“Talk about your bloodbaths.” Tony commented.
“Let’s just get out of here.” Jimmy said.
“Sure thing, Michal.” Tony replied.
Jimmy groaned.
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Ziva led the way down the hallway, Tony at the rear. They were nearly to the car when they met up with Lorel. Ziva had just round a corner and then quickly backtracked.
“Again?” Tony asked.
“Yes, just one. Lorel.”
“How many rounds do you have left?”
“Three, you?”
“Eight. And personally I think shooting our way out is going to be easier than anything else, so just get it over with. We know he wont cooperate.”
Ziva rounded the corner and shoot Lorel in the right shoulder. Tony noticed. “Ziva, I thought I-“
“Someone needs to be held responsible for all of this. Let’s just drag him along and go please.”
“I say we just leave him here, but whatever. Got any pull ties Ziva?”
“Of course.” She produced a long black pull ties from her pocket.
“That’s just weird Ziva.” Ziva shrugged and walked over and secured Lorel’s arms. She hauled him up and pushed him out the door and towards the cars.
“Take them to the hospital Tony, I will wait here for Agent Hortiz.” Ziva ordered as she got out her cell phone.
“Whatever you say Ziva.” He ushered McGee and Palmer into the car and drove off.
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Ziva arrived at the hospital a few hours later. She met up with Tony and McGee in the cafeteria. “Hey Tony, McGee.”
“Ziva,” Tony acknowledged.
“How is Palmer?”
“The doctors took him in to surgery to repair the break in his arm from the bullet. Other than that he is fine, nothing major.” McGee answered.
“That is good, it could have been much worse.” Ziva commented.
“What are they going to do with Lorel?” Tony asked.
“Fornell has people investigating him, he hasn’t confessed yet, but he will.”
“I thought you shot him, shouldn’t he be here?”
“Nope, he planted a bomb in a federal agency, kidnapped two of its employees and injured a couple others. They take that very seriously. He confesses; he gets medical treatment. Until then he gets to sit in an interrogation room with someone from the FBI.”
“Harsh, but I like it.” Tony said.
“Speaking of the injured,” McGee interjected. “You two seem fine, how are Gibbs and the Director?”
“The Director is doing fine.” Tony answered.
There was silence for a minute. “What about Gibbs?” McGee asked.
“Not to good.” Tony said softly.
“He’s not-“
“He’s alive, barely. He came off the worst after the blast.”
“Can we go see him?”
“No.”
“Well why not Tony?”
“They wont let us.”
“The doctors wont let you?” McGee asked incredulously.
“No,” Ziva answered. “What ever he was drugged with has weakened his immune system. The wont let anyone in to see him, so he wont catch an infection.”
“Can’t we still speak to him then?” McGee asked.
“No, we can’t.” Tony replied solemnly.
“Why not?”
“Because he has not yet regained consciousness.”
“I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
“Well it is.” Tony stated in a tone that ended the conversation.
They ate in silence for a while until the Director came and joined them. “I thought I might find you guys here. How are you doing McGee?”
“Fine, considering.” McGee answered still staring at his food.
“Ziva, I have been meaning to tell you something.”
“I already know.” Ziva stated. “When I did not arrive in Israel last week he grew concerned and called me. Told me what he had informed you of. Except in more detail. A friend of mine at Mossad had recently passed away. My father expected me to take his place. That’s why he told you I was leaving. I told my father that he doesn’t make those kinds of decisions for me and that I was staying here. I told him I would come for the funeral but leave shortly after. He was disappointed, but he understood. He agreed that if this is where I want to be, than here I shay stay.”
“Oh, well then. That makes sense, I guess. As long as I don’t have to worry about losing you.”
“No, I will be staying here.”
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Things slowly returned to normal at NCIS. The building itself was structurally sound. It was just that anything above the third floor was unusable. So life and worked continued, on the bottom floors.
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Palmer resumed his work with Ducky in autopsy after telling his story to him as well. When he returned he acted more like himself than Palmer. People still called him Jimmy Palmer but he didn’t mind.
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Tony was appointed temporary leader of the team pending Gibbs’ return. All they did was deskwork, but it was better than nothing. Eventually they became used to working as a three-man team. It seemed like Gibbs may never return. They got over it, and preformed their duty.
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Abby had tried to visit Gibbs everyday. But after awhile she went less and less often. Now she only showed up once a week, if that much. She focused more on her work. She didn’t drink anymore Caf-Pow even when someone brought it to her. The music in her lab was never as loud as it used to be. Abby found it hardest, transitioning to working without Gibbs.
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