"Help! Kaaaaate! Someone! Help! I need help! Help! Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!"

Kate Todd awoke, her hair matted to her pillow and her face covered in beads of sweat. She opened her window and let the polluted city air in. "God, I hate bad dreams!" Kate murmured. She popped some pills into her mouth, got dressed and headed out the door.
"Kate? Are you okay? Kate? Helloooooo? Anyone in there?" Kate heard someone talking. It was Ziva David. "Huh? Oh yeah, yeah, I'm awake." Kate responded. "Sure, okay. Whatever." Ziva said, looking at Kate with a funny look. Hoping for some words of reconcile, Kate asked, "Need anything? Is there something you want to ask or tell me? If you need to talk-" "No, I just need some papers off my desk. You know, the one you've been slobbering over for the past, oh, I don't know, hour or so. And you're looking a bit pale, so, if you need to, well, spew, just clean it up, okay? Thanks. You're a doll." Ziva rolled her eyes and walked away. "Today is just going to get worse." Kate thought.
Kate was definitely right. Things did get worse. All throughout the day, she kept falling asleep and picturing her sister, screaming for help, and then someone coming over to her and waking her up. "You need to go see a doctor. You don't look too well." said a concerned Ducky. Tony said, "Hey, if you're gonna work, then do it. If you're not, go home." Trust me, I've considered, Kate thought after he had walked away. After numerous people checking on her, Kate finally exploded. "Okay! I understand you're concern, but you just don't get it, do you? Today is just a regular work day, isn't it? Yeah, solve another case, open up another body, close another case, close another body. Is that all you people think about? Bodies and cases? Well, I'll have you know that today is the death of my twin sister, Sarah. So there. I'm fine, so feel free to leave me alone!"
"No Kate, you're not okay. You need help, and we're gonna get it for you. Everything will be okay. Why don't you start by telling us all what happened?" McGee pulled up a chair, and the rest sat atop their desks. Kate started. "It all started when me and Sarah were five years old. Dad made her go to bed first, and when I asked him why, he said it was because I was more mature and could stay up later. I always heard screaming when Sarah went to bed, but Dad said that was because her room was so messy, she ended up stepping on things everytime she went into the room. I believed him for awhile, until age 11. We thought we were big and bad, and so we started to wear 2-piece bathing suits to the swimming pool. I noticed that Sarah had these marks near her ribs, and always complained of not being able to breathe when she got into the pool. I told her she should take it easy."
"She did, and when she started going back to the pool, around age 12, she wore a one-piece bathing suit. Of course, I still believed my dad and told her she needed to clean her room so she wouldn't hurt herself and have to wear 1-piece bathing suits. She just left, and that night, my dad slapped me because I had told her to clean her room. I brushed it off, thinking I was being punished, and soon forgot about it. But then, one day, Sarah passed out while she was swimming. They saved her, but they told her to 'take it easy for a while.' A few weeks later, the week after our birthday, she passed out again. This time-" Kate was cut off. "They didn't save her." Abby said. Kate looked at her and nodded.
One thing she saw about Abby was, she was crying. She said, "My mother was abusive, so I grew up in a domestic violence shelter. I ran away from there and lived on the streets for a while after my father had died trying to talk things out with my mother. I lived with this group of goths, and now I'm here. Just thought I'd let ya know, I'm here if you need me." "Thanks." Kate smiled. "Anytime." Abby returned the smile. "Hey Kate, if you ever need anything, I'm here too." Tony said, touching her hand. "And uh, while you guys were having you're cry-fest, I bought you this Kate." Ziva handed her a CD. "It's only got one song on it, but I think you may like it. You may be able to relate. Listen to it when you get the chance." She said, trying to put on a smile.
Kate nodded in return. "Hey! I've got a boombox, if you want to listen to it now." Ducky exclaimed. "No! You see, I portray this image of a 'mean girl' and I don't want to ruin that image-" Ziva started. But it was too late. Ziva sighed and sat back, trying to hide the tiny bit of niceness that was trying to come through. The song started playing: "Can I ask you a question please, promise you won't laugh at me, honestly I'm standing here, afraid I'll be betrayed..." Everyone smiled at Ziva and then comforted Kate while the music played in the background softly, "Can you turn my black roses red...."



THE END