Disclaimer: Some people have the need for stating the obvious, so here it goes. I don't own NCIS, or anything that you recognize. If I did, I wouldn't be writing about on a website, I would be out producing the show. And I would have made a few changes…like saving Jenny's life…

Her Mission, His Mistake

Ziva David sank into her office chair, the rest of the room eerily silent, and the sun just streaking past the window. No matter how many times Gibbs told her she wasn't required to come in until eight, Ziva could never sleep any later. In Mossad, officers reported at 0500 sharp. It would take more than Gibb's word to erase such an ingrained part of her training.

And besides, the quiet was addicting. She prepared herself for her morning ritual, a nice long email to her Aunt Nettie and her cousins at home, but a sudden ruckus jarred her concentration.

"Come on, Probie, this is just sad. It's so sad, in fact, I'd almost feel bad making fun of you."

"Go with it."

"Ah, where's the fun in that, Elf Lord?" Tony's grinning face came into view as he and McGee neared their desks. Tony had his arm on McGee's shoulder; his gleeful expression the mirror opposite of McGee's horrified one.

"What are you talking about, Tony?" Ziva questioned, looking up from her computer to watch her partner follow McGee to his desk.

"McGee has decided to expand his wardrobe into the children's section." Tony grinned, and Ziva walked over to see what all the fuss was about. She couldn't help but chuckle a bit herself; under his jacket, McGee was wearing a cotton nightshirt with neon green pictures of super heroes.

"I was asleep, Tony. The Director said to be here in five minutes, and I forgot to change my shirt."

"The Director called you?" Ziva asked, her brow furrowed. If Director Shepard was calling Tony and McGee at home with such urgency, something had to be seriously wrong. Gibbs was normally in charge of making things interesting simply for the sake of watching his team's reaction. Jenny was more professional when it came to sounding the alarm.

"No, Ziva, I just decided to get up at 0500 and come to work three hours early." Tony replied dryly, lifting his head up from its resting position on his desk. His hair was sticking in a million different directions, and Ziva felt her mouth quirk in a smile.

"You could be getting a face start on the day, DiNozzo."

"Head. Head start, Ziva. And if I wanted to get a head start on my day, I would be at the gym watching the 6 o'clock pilates class instead of sitting here."

"Good to know, DiNozzo." Gibbs interjected as he walked into the room. A panicked expression flew across Tony's face, and he opened his mouth to defend himself, but Gibbs spoke first.

"The Director needs us up in MTAC. Now."

McGee scrambled up from his desk, overturning the file of papers that had been teetering on the edge, but he hurried after Gibbs without giving it a second glance. Tony and Ziva fell into place beside each other, walking up the stairs at a matched pace.

"Do you have any idea what is going on?" Tony asked her softly. Ziva shook her head, suddenly aware of Tony's hot breath on her ear and his arm brushing against hers. She silently cursed herself for acting like such a little girl and hurried her pace, taking the stairs two at a time.

Tony watched her retreating form for a minute, admiring the smooth movement of the muscles in her legs, before quickening his own pace. Gibbs didn't like to be kept waiting.

"Nice of you to join us, DiNozzo." Director Shepard looked away from the MTAC screen to pierce him with a reprimanding gaze.

"Glad to be invited, Director." Tony stated with a smile, taking his seat beside his team. Ziva flashed him a small smile before turning her eyes to face the screen.

"This is Kaman Hacksmani." Jenny pointed to the man up on the big screen, a man with typical Arab coloring and a tightly fashioned burnoose. "Chatter has been saying that he is a messenger between Al Qaeda and a terrorist cell in South Africa. The FBI took down his cell, but he managed to elude them. He booked a flight at two o'clock this morning, a one way trip to South Africa. I think he is going to activate the South African cell, and we need to stop him before he has a chance."

"Director, what does this have to do with NCIS?" Gibbs asked the question the rest of the team was thinking. "If the FBI was after Hacksmani's cell in the first place, why would they let us chase him down to South Africa? Fornell doesn't tend to hand over jurisdiction just for the hell of it."

"Maybe they are out of frequent flyer miles." Tony whispered, earning himself a glare from Ziva.

"Because of this man." Jenny pushed a button on the remote and another face filled the screen. He was tanned, but hardly Arab, and his blue eyes were narrowed in anger. Tony could hear Ziva gasp, and when he turned to face her, Ziva's face was ashen. He had never seen her react so strongly to a suspect, not even when she herself was suspected of killing that boy in the elevator.

"His name is Jamal Koram. He is a South African native and the suspected head of the terrorist cell. He is known for a terrorist attack in Spain, taking down fifteen with a car bomb, and a string of bombings in Cairo." Jenny met Ziva's eyes, and Tony watched in confusion as they transmitted a silent message between them. If at all possible, Ziva looked more upset afterwards.

"Chatter is saying that he is supposed to receive a shipment from Kaman that will prepare him to attack America so strong Bin Laden will look like a fairy tale."

"How does this involve my team?" Gibbs sounded irritated now. He wasn't underestimating the threat possibility, but there was something Jenny wasn't telling him. She had never before called his team from their beds, never before been too alarmed to wait three hours. And Gibbs, too, hadn't missed Ziva's audible gasp or the silent conversation she had with Jenny.

"Only one person has ever maintained a successful cover in Jamal's cell. Every other undercover agent has reappeared days later with missing limbs and a message to his superiors. And then we'd spend another six months trying to find where Jamal went. We don't have time to infiltrate his cell and wait for information." Jenny was talking directly to Ziva now, and all eyes turned on her.

Ziva set her mouth in a thin line and nodded her head. This had been her mission to begin with, her fault Jamal had escaped, and she was responsible for tying up the loose ends. She had been a new agent at the time, fresh from the horror of Tali's death, and too bloodthirsty for her own good. Ziva had eagerly accepted her first true mission, working alongside Jenny and her team in Cairo to keep Jamal and his men from blowing up their version of Embassy row. She's dived into her cover so deeply it had been hard to come up for air.

Part of Ziva, the part of her heart that had been thawed by her time in America, was terrified to immerse herself in that world again. She had escaped virtually unscathed, her cover intact, but too many Mossad agents had died on the mission. Ziva couldn't just walk away now, knowing she was the only person able to get justice for her dead friends. Her pride wouldn't allow her too, not even as her brain reminded her that she herself had barely escaped last time, not even as her heart reminded her how dangerous such an undercover mission could be for all involved.

"I understand , Director." Ziva stood up and nodded her head stiffly. Tony could detect a slight shiver in her shoulders, but he knew the Mossad agent would never admit fear. He admired that about her in most situations, but right now he wanted her to break. If she did, he could convince Ziva not to take the mission. It sounded dangerous as hell, and he didn't care who she had been before NCIS. She was Ziva, his friend, and perhaps something more if he was going to be completely honest, and the idea of her inside that cell made his stomach clench.

"You can't send one of my agents undercover without consulting me, Director." Gibbs stood too, angry and territorial.

"As your Director, Jethro, I can. She is not an NCIS agent, she is a liaison officer from Mossad. NCIS has no jurisdiction over this case but Mossad does, and Ziva is the only one with an established cover."

"She can't go in there alone." Tony spoke up. Ziva may be a ninja woman but she wasn't invincible. Sending her in to single handedly take down a terrorist cell was suicide.

"She won't, DiNozzo. If Gibbs doesn't object, I'm sending you in as part of her cover. You two have worked undercover together before, and Ziva will need someone she trusts."

"Why can't I go without her, then?" Tony asked. "Sending an Israeli, a Jewish Israeli, to infiltrate a cell with links to Al Qaeda seems unnecessarily dangerous."

"You couldn't possibly maintain my cover, Tony." Ziva looked at him, taking in the hint of panic in his eyes.

He hadn't meant to insult her, she knew that. He was an NCIS agent, but she was Mossad and moments like these made her realize the difference between the two agencies. His focused on the case, of course, but agents were to remain as safe as possible. In Mossad, an agent's life was worth less than the information acquired. Tony would never understand that.

"And besides, this is my job. I am Mossad and this is what I do."

"Why not?" Tony looked straight at her, his knowing eye picking up on the fear in her gaze. She was determined, that was obvious, but he knew her well enough to see her fear. She didn't want to do this, he'd bet his career on that, but Ziva wasn't one to back down from a fight. Just once, however, he wished she would. She'd live longer that way.

"Because in Cairo Ziva went undercover as a prostitute, Tony, and I don't think Jamal would receive you the same way."

A wry smile tickled the edges of Jenny's mouth as her observant eyes swept from a resolute Ziva to a horrified Tony to a furious Gibbs. Jenny herself wasn't thrilled with the idea; of the rest of the team, she was the only one who had seen Ziva after the Jamal mission in Cairo. She'd been a wreck, torturing herself for not catching the leader, blaming herself for all the agents who'd died in the process. Jenny her friend knew sending Ziva back to Jamal, putting her in that position again, would change Ziva once again. but Jenny Shepard the Director of NCIS knew that bringing Jamal down was even more valuable than Ziva's comfort and security.

This mission would certainly be interesting.