Bound by Blood, Forged in Fire

Commitment

Julian was in his dining room looking over the plans for his wedding, the band was scheduled, the chaplain was set for the selected date, his father would be his best man, Reese & Wesson would be his groomsmen all Navy traditions were prepared. Chief Brooke and a handful of other people he served with would be in attendance. His father's team would also be there (he made sure that it was clear to Tony that if he so much as laid eyes on any of the women there in the wrong way Jace would keelhaul him). Jace hadn't felt this excited since he had first gotten his Trident, a dream that had turned into a goal that became a reality, he was in total awe. When he first got the ring he was worried that it would lead to an ultimatum: the woman of his dreams or the career that he had dreamed of for so long. This worry faded to nonexistence, she wanted a life with him, even the part of him that wore a uniform.

Julian's phone began to buzz, he had left it on the kitchen counter, there were a missed call and two texts. They were all from the same person, Lieutenant Junior Grade Jocelyn Ballard the team Intelligence Officer. He gave her his number for official purposes, such as going over intel collected from deployments, other than that they never had a reason to communicate. The call went to voicemail, it only lasted for a couple of seconds he could barely make out any comprehensive noises. The first text read the word 'he' and the second read '911'. Julian dialed the first number that came to mind.

"Dad, I need you to meet me now. I think a friend's in trouble."

. . .

Julian and his father reached Ballard's flat near NAB Little Creek, she lived alone, her car was in the driveway, the door was closed but the lights were dimmed. The older Gibbs drew his firearm, he could tell something was wrong. Just then Ziva pulled up, Jace called her after his father, seeing that her boss had his weapon out and had the same sense he did about the situation, followed his lead, drawing her sidearm. Jace, not being one to sit out of anything, drew his sidearm. It was a Sig P229, the compact equivalent of his duty weapon, he liked to keep one round locked in the chamber and the magazine fully loaded.

The door was ajar and the three entered, clearing the living room the continued forward.

"Ballard?" called out Jace. "You there?"

There was a woman's scream, but it was cut short by a swift thud. The senior Gibbs took lead and kicked the door down with Ziva following his lead. Julian was told to stand back and let them handle it, not wanting to breach Posse Comitatus. The two agents saw Ballard bruised, unconscious, and half-dressed on the bed. Standing over her was a man, also half-dressed, with his hands retracting from her throat.

"FREEZE!"

The man grabbed a nearby lamp throwing it at Gibbs and lunged towards the agents, Ziva fired three shots. The first shot shattered the lamp and the other two nailed the man in the shoulder and grazed the side of his neck. Despite this, the assailant kept surging forward and grabbed his opponents, he and Ziva struggled for the weapon. As a result, two more rounds went off, hitting the assailant in his right knee and foot. Gibbs grabbed him from behind and grappled him against the wall. The assailant struggled against the older agent slamming him into the wall and attempted to leave only for Jace to block his way and throw him back into the bedroom. Ziva delivered a quick blow to the side of his abdomen. They wrestled him to the ground, cuffing him. Jace entered the room, seeing his colleague unconscious he rushed to her side. He couldn't find a pulse and began performing CPR while Jethro called it in. Fifteen minutes later the ambulance arrived.

. . .

Julian and his father got to the former's house late in the morning, they had stayed at the hospital overnight while Ziva stayed with the Lieutenant. McGee and DiNozzo detained the suspect. Kathleen gave Jethro an icepack and an over-the-counter painkiller while Jace got started on a pot of coffee.

"How badly was she hurt?" asked Kathleen.

"Her airway was partially crushed and the doctors found vaginal tearing," answered Julian.

The older Gibbs got a phone call from McGee, the only reaction he gave was slightly creasing his brow.

"Thanks, McGee," said Gibbs hanging up. "Perp's been ID'd."

"Who is he?" pressed Jace.

"Chief Special Warfare Operator Craig Niels."

"The guy who attacked Ballard is an operator?! A SEAL?!"

. . .

Ziva was watching Niels from the other side of the window of his hospital room, she didn't get a very good look at him the night before. He was held in confinement in Portsmouth Naval Medical Center for his injuries, the bullet wounds were moderate flesh only, through-and-through. Niels was 5'9" with a strong build, he had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He gave no response to McGee and Tony's questions and displayed no emotions aside from annoyance. It was difficult to believe that this man was cut from the same cloth as Jace. But then again, Julian mentioned encountering bad apples before and Ziva was familiar with people who forsook their oaths, both in the military and in law enforcement.

"It always surprises me how guys whose careers are defined by an honor code reveal their lack of morals," said McGee, catching Ziva off-guard. "I can't tell if it ever meant anything to them at all or if it's plain hypocrisy."

"Jace told me that when he and Lieutenant Holloway were going over personnel files of potential operators for the task force," said Tony, joining in. "They felt sick to their stomachs, seeing so many SEALs with 'ethically ambiguous' and 'controversial' tendencies."

"When Jace found out about my book he asked if I noticed any other books written by military personnel," said McGee. "I think he was worried about operators tossing their code of silence to the wind."

"I can relate, seeing people who took the same oath as you completely disregard the values that come with them," said Tony, unable to come up with anything quippy. "I ran into guys like that before, back when I was in Metro."

Ziva got a call from Abby, the rape kit matched the on-record DNA samples from Niels. Jace had told her that Ballard liked to socialize at a bar within proximity between her flat and Little Creek. According to Niels' jacket, he served in Team 7 before transferring to Team 10, he primarily served as an assaulter, had previous reprimands for fighting with platoon members, and was investigated for drug use but the leads never got anything concrete so no arrests were made. Despite this, he made Chief at a relatively young age. Once again Ziva's mind went to Jace, he never spoke about his time in Coronado, when it came to other SEALs there he clammed up. Ziva thought something must've happened there, hence his transfer to Team 4, but she never pressed him for details out of respect for his privacy and work. She was concerned for him, if Julian cooperates with them or speaks in any way he'll become a pariah within the Special Warfare community and if he doesn't he'll risk damaging, if not then destroying, his career. She knew he would never stand on the sidelines, however, especially when another Sailor was harmed. It was hard to believe that Niels made Chief Petty Officer around the same time as Jace.

Ziva snapped out of her thoughts when the doctor operating on Ballard came from behind her. The Lieutenant suffered from a subtle brain bleed in addition to the damage to her diaphragm and her crushed airway. Chief Petty Officer Niels was now a murderer in addition to being a sexual predator.