Bound by Blood, Forged in Fire

Forward

"How far along is he?" Ziva had just arrived at the hospital.

"The most recent thing he can recall is 1996," Julian was not happy with this news as well. The way the Mossad operative carried herself spoke volumes about her relationship with her father. She had made sacrifices for him the moment they met, that much he could tell.

"He's asleep, normally I wouldn't want to wake him, but this is urgent."

"Thank you, Julian. I know that none of this could have been easy for you."

The operator nodded. He felt for her, Jace had contributed a lot for the sake of his father's well-being and he could tell that Ziva had done the same.

"Ducky and Director Sheperd overheard you talking to Gibbs about what the two of you went through." Stated the Israeli.

"I suspected as much when Mike Franks arrived. He was opinionated to hear that a woman was running NCIS."

Ziva only smirked at this.

"If only he knew what women in the field were truly capable of."

Julian smiled at the comment. No wonder his father had bonded so easily with Ziva, he imagined that his mother and sister would have liked her.

They stepped into the hospital room where his father lay, lightly knocking Jace walked further with Ziva following closely behind. "Dad, you have a visitor."

Despite the softness of his voice his father awoke from his sleep and turned his head in their direction.

"Hello, Gibbs. I am the Mossad liaison Officer Ziva David. We need to speak about what you remember," said Ziva, walking towards Gibbs' bedside. "If we don't hurry the attack will be as bad as—"

"Nine-eleven."

Ziva was stunned and optimistic at this response. "You remember 9/11?"

"No, my boss told me."

"Director Sheperd?"

"Mike Franks." Answered Julian, losing his patience with his father for the first time in his life. It was written in his eyes.

"Gibbs, we're out of time Pin Pin Pula is somewhere hidden on the Cape Fear and you're the only one with answers." Ziva took out some photos and presented them to the older man.

"What can I do?" asked Gibbs, frustrated with the weight of the situation.

"Remember," responded Ziva, taking him by the face.

Gibbs turned away from her. "I've been trying to since I woke up in this room!"

"Well try harder!" Ziva shouted back. The older man glared at her, this gave her hope.

Julian stepped closer to the two. He recognized something in her eyes, sacrifice. Her commitment to his father cost her something irreplaceable. This was something he'd never had to do when he was looking after him.

"Good. That's a start."

"What is?" shouted the veteran agent.

"The old Gibbs stare! You gave it to all of us! McGee, Tony, me!"

This only caused him further frustration. "What are you talking about?"

Ziva took Gibbs' right hand and used it to smack herself on the back of her head.

"Ari... Ari killed Kate." Ziva began to sob, reaching a breaking point that she had been trying to evade since the start of the dilemma. "And I... I killed Ari."

"Your brother?" responded Gibbs, remembering such a defining moment.

"Yes."

"You killed your brother... to save me."

Ziva continued to break down, and Gibbs hugged her in response.

"Dad, you can't just refuse to come back," Julian said, his eyes glossing over. "Not after that."

. . .

Jace, Ziva, and Gibbs made their way through NCIS headquarters with purpose and urgency. They were greeted by the Team, and while glad the see Gibbs again they were shellshocked at the sight of Julian. McGee looked as if he were going to faint, Abby looked like she was going to explode with excitement, and Tony was still intimidated by him. However, their feelings of relief and triumph were cut short. Jace entered MTAC with his father, his platoon was part of the SEAL Teams on standby, so the Director had granted him temporary access. Shepherd was arguing with NSO Deputy Director Welsh, he was adamantly refusing to heed the warning of Pin Pin Pula's presence on the ship. Welsh was willing to let nineteen people die for a cover-up?

"Sir, Special Warfare Operator Julian Gibbs here." Julian stepped forward. "If that bomb goes off what makes you think that the munitions on board won't cause a chain reaction and take out the other ships?"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Is everyone up there as stupid as you!" Gibbs was outraged, he hadn't felt this way since the Khobar Towers collapsed.

Julian watched as the screen presented a satellite feed of the Cape Fear was approached by VBSS teams for an inspection after a few moments the ship blew into a colossal inferno.

"You bastard!" Gibbs and the rest of the team left the room. Julian stepped forward looking at Welsh.

"Petty Officer—"

"People like you are the reason good men and women are dying in the deserts," the room fell silent, Jace's voice was soft but stern. "and here."

With that being said Julian did an about-face and left. Outside Julian saw his father walk into the Director's office with Jenny right beside him. Jace leaned against the wall, contemplating what had just happened; good men had died as a result of bureaucracy and unwillingness to take action. Welsh let the boarding team step into their own doom, he didn't even bother to call them off to minimalize casualties. It was a platoon from SEAL Team 3, he knew three of the men from his time on the West Coast.

"Did you know any of them?"

Julian turned around and saw Ziva, her composure was dreary, she and her team didn't push themselves at such a difficult time just for their efforts to be shot down by a government bureaucrat.

"Three of them, one was supposed to make Chief with me. Kath and I were going to fly to San Diego to celebrate with his family."

The Mossad operative put a hand on his shoulder, and Julian put his hand over hers.

"I'm sorry, maybe if we had done things differently or came up with a solution sooner—"

"You didn't do anything wrong, hardly anything goes right," Julian looked Ziva in the eyes. "If things went the way they should neither of us would have jobs."

"Sometimes I don't think I would mind that very much."

Julian felt tense, Ziva had been insulted and accused of being nothing but cold. He could relate to that, aside from Kathleen, his platoon mates, and his father he didn't have much of a social circle. This led him to be ostracized by others.

"Same here," Julian stepped away, noticing that his father had excited the Director's office. "But regardless of what others think, we are the line, the shield. Don't ever forget that."

Ziva smiled at him, kissing him on the forehead.

. . .

Jace had just arrived home after dropping off his father at the airport, he and Mike Franks had the same taste in retirement locations, apparently. He wasn't one to ponder on such things, but if he had to he'd be living on a boat with the people who mattered the most to him. But this was only a fantasy, he had to focus on the reality in front of him. However, with time, hard work, and dedication that fantasy becomes all the closer. As he entered his house he noticed Kathleen speaking with a figure he came to know well.

"Ziva."

"She wanted to see how you were with all that's happened." Said Kathleen with a smile.

Despite his father's absence, the family never seemed to be too far apart.