United Under Fire

Hunting

The club was well populated, everyone was going to be precise and careful with their firearms. Julian and Ziva were at the bar, keeping a low profile. Jace felt entirely out of place, he was never one to go to a nightclub. Every time his teammates dragged him to a club or a bar he was always the one to drive everyone home, being the only one to mind his alcohol consumption.

They got a visual on Krauss, before losing him in the crowd. They decided to search for him on the dance floor covertly.

"We look too serious," said Jace, pretending to sip his drink. "We look like cops."

The song changed from an upbeat, celebratory one to a slow, romantic ballad. The two snickered at this coincidence, noting the contrary to his father's rules. They went along to the tune, letting their feet think. After a minute Ziva caught Krauss in her line of sight, giving Jace the go to signal the team. He took note of her reverie when they danced.

"Thinking about your father?" questioned the SEAL.

"Yes," answered the former spy. "Who were you thinking about?"

She had noticed Jace's own thoughtful and nostalgic haze.

"I was thinking about when I was eight and my mother taught Kelly and me how to dance," confessed Julian. "I had my first crush and she loved the idea of us partnering up with the right people."

"When you danced with Kathleen at your wedding I noticed that same look when you two danced."

Whenever his departed wife came up Ziva never got jealous, she knew how much Kathleen meant to him and valued her as a dear friend. They saw Rhodes and Dodd wrestle down a man in a jacket while two other SEALs detained Krauss.

It wasn't Bodnar.

"Yaniv?" Ziva stared at the man in disbelief.

"He works for Bodnar?" asked Jace.

"He's Ilan's brother."

. . .

During the plane ride back Amato revealed that Bodnar was Stateside, he and Yaniv had swapped clothes and Ilan stayed in America while the younger brother fled the country for Rome. Jace and Ziva were on their way from Anacostia to the Navy Yard to brief the others and JSOC, Ziva had the diamonds in an evidence bag.

"So Orli withheld Mossad's suspicion that Bodnar was in the U.S. so they could kill him themselves?"

"She doesn't trust easily," responded Ziva. "And I think that Orli felt that she owed it to my father, when I said that she was the one who split up my parents I thought it was because she was attracted to his authority."

"But now?"

"I think that she loved him in her way, if it weren't for her I would have turned out differently."

"If that's the case I'm grateful for her," said Julian. "I love who you are."

They were interrupted by a van ramming into their Taurus. When Jace came to he saw an arm reaching for the diamonds.

Bodnar.

Jace drove a knife through Bodnar's hand without firearms or personal weapons. However, the fugitive maintained his grip on the diamonds.

Ziva woke up and fired her Sig at the getaway vehicle as it gunned off.

Jace and Ziva tried to get out of the car but were too disoriented. Julian reached for Ziva, but the world went dark.

. . .

When Jace woke up he was in a hospital bed, his ribcage was wrapped, and he could practically feel the fractures on both sides, his left forearm was also heavily bandaged. Seeing as he wasn't on anything to keep him awake or lucid, he didn't have a concussion, though his skull was throbbing. He got a hold of his charts and confirmed his self-diagnosis.