Turn of Events

Ziva jumped into Tony's arms when they arrived on board the Kelly. They kissed passionately as Gibbs and McGee placed all of their gear down below. Now that they no longer worked together, Gibbs' no dating co-workers rule no longer applied to them. "I've missed you." Tony told her lovingly.

Ziva's smile broadened. "I've missed you too, Tony." She pulled away from Tony and hugged Gibbs and McGee, both also pleased to be reunited with their former team mate. "As I have missed you too, Gibbs and McGee."

"It's good to see you too, Ziva." McGee's smile widened, it had been too long since he'd seen his good friend.

Gibbs returned her infectious smile. "Like old times. Glad to have you back, Ziva. Now let's set sail." They all nodded as they were used to Gibbs' straight forward focus on the job at hand.

They all tended to the ropes and waited until Gibbs took them out of the marina, before hoisting the sails up and letting the wind take the Kelly out into the Gulf of Mexico. Word had come through an hour earlier of the name of the yacht, with a photo of what it looked like. It was a top of the range luxury yacht, that made the Kelly look tiny and worn out. But this boat had been made with love, at the hands of one, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. The team were honoured to be allowed to sail with their boss and help rescue Agent Callen from the hands of a Serbian witch, as Gibbs had referred to her in front of them.

The sun rose from behind them as they sailed west, drinking in the warm October sun, smothered in sunscreen and hidden under their caps or brimmed hats. It took seven hours out at sea before they spotted the yacht that towered above them. Gibbs ordered them to pull the sails down and issued a mayday call. The yacht slowed down and allowed the team to board the ship. As Tony thanked the captain for his assistance with the help of Ziva, who distracted the crew in her skimpy white bikini and long dark flowing hair, Gibbs and McGee searched for Callen on board the ship.

In a room two levels below, Gibbs heard Callen's muffled cry out for help, when he breached the room. Tied up on a bed, Gibbs fired his weapon at the woman, shooting her in the head. She fell off Callen dead, and a pool of dark red blood bled out of the wound, soaking into the white satin sheets. Callen pulled himself away from her, into a ball, hiding himself from Gibbs. "I don't want you to see me like this." His voice sounded foreign to Gibbs and he wondered just how much the younger man had been through at the hands of this witch.

His pleading broke Gibbs' heart in two as he ignored the state he'd found Callen in and focused on un-cuffing him from the bed head. He found some clothes and left the room while Callen dressed himself. Scanning the hallway for movement, he was pleased he'd used a silencer, as no one knew what had happened down there. When Gibbs saw McGee come his way, he signalled for him to head back up to the deck. Soon after Callen exited the room after he'd double checked that Namena was indeed dead. He never wanted to see her alive ever again, after all she had done to him. He was a broken man, old haunts from his days in the system came flooding back, his walls around his heart fell when she broke him again and again. His body was already scarred from the abuse in his teenage years and later from his days as a Federal Agent. But now, his body bore the scars of Namena's bite marks. She'd been vicious and he regretted ever meeting her six weeks prior. He wished he'd thrown her into the harbour to drown and fed the sharks. But he knew he couldn't turn back time. With his head down, he followed Gibbs' every movement to the deck and climbed down onto the Kelly. Once on board, Tony and Ziva joined them, after tying the captain and his crew up and called the coast guard.

They set sail for Baytown, just outside of Houston and made the call through to Ellie to tell them that they had killed Namena and rescued Callen. Relief for the Director and the Los Angeles team flooded through them all, knowing that Callen was safe and heading home. It took them a few hours before they reached land.