"Crap." Yeah, crap just about summed up the whole situation. Kate went over what she could remember in her head. They had gone to pick up a suspect in a drug ring. There had been a shootout. She had been cornered in an elevator by a perp, when he had tried to split. She had done the only thing she could and shut the doors to try and get to another floor to cut him off. She almost managed it, but he nicked her side with a lucky shot, and she went down. Not only was she bleeding rather profusely, but the elevator had oh-so-conveniently chosen that moment to break down. Now she was stuck, covered in blood, and hallucinating.

Abby sat down on the elevator floor next to her.

"You know, not many people die in elevators in elevators," she said in her usual talkative manner.

"That's really reassuring, Abbs, thanks, but I'm really not in the mood," Kate said. She was busy trying to stem the flow of blood out of her side using her jacket.

"Just here to help," said Abby, absentmindedly twirling a pigtail.

"Yeah, about that, why exactly are you here?" Kate asked the hallucination.

"To keep you alive," Abby answered before seeing Kate's expression and elaborating, "I'm really just a figment of your sub-conscious. 'Cause if you fall asleep right now, judging by how much blood you've lost, you probably won't wake up again. I'm here to make sure that won't happen."

"Oh," Kate said. "So I'm really just going crazy and talking to myself."

"If you wanna think about it like that," shrugged Abby. "Oh my gosh! This is exactly like that Stargate episode!"

"You and your sci-fi." Kate shook her head disbelievingly. "Which one?"

"The one where Carter gets trapped on that alien ship in the middle of nowhere. Wait, no, it's more like the Atlantis one where Rodney is trapped in a puddlejumper under the ocean! Except, you're on earth, and you're not having sexual fantasies about Sam..."

Kate was quickly losing interest. Her thoughts began to grow fuzzy, but just in time she was brought back to earth by a very familiar voice.

"Kate, Katie, Caitlyn, Kate-Kate-Kate-Kate-Kate." It was Tony.

"What are you doing here, DiNozzo?" she asked, although her heart skipped a beat.

"You were getting tired of Abby, almost lost ya there for a minute," he replied, flashing a grin.

"I didn't get tired of Abby," she protested.

"Did too."

"Did not." She tried to hit him in the arm, but her hand went
straight through.

"Hallucination," he reminded. "Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too, anyways, I'm better, 'cause you love me," he said, still grinning.

"Do not," she lied.

"Oh, come on, you may be able to lie to the real me, but not to
yourself," the hallucination said.

"Okay, so I love you, him, whoever," she admitted. He had a point. It was no use lying to herself.

"Good, now just hang on long enough to tell him," Tony told her.

"Right," Kate said, but she was already beginning to drift
away. The pain was just too much for her to bear.

"Kate, stay with me, that's an order," his voice was demanding, but caring. Kate replied automatically.

"Yes, Boss. Boss?" She opened her eyes to see Gibbs sitting next to her.

"I'm here, Kate," he said.

"I screwed up," she confessed. "I shouldn't have let him get away."

"No," Gibbs said, "you shouldn't have let yourself get shot!"

"Sorry," she said, her voice full of pain.

"Just hang in there," he replied, "they're coming." There was a loud "ding" and she knew no more.

Chapter 2

Kate opened her eyes, looking around at the stark white hospital room, confused.

"Hey," a familiar voice said next to her. "Nice to see you've joined the living."

"Tony?" she asked, trying to remember what had happened. Her voice was weak and shaky.

"Shhh, don't talk, you lost a lot of blood back there," he said.

"Where are…" she mumbled anyway.

"Gibbs went for coffee, Abby's getting flowers, McGee went to pick up lunch, and Ducky's talking to the doctors," he rattled off. Kate started to nod, but her head hurt too much.

"You know, you talk a lot in your sleep," Tony said, grinning. "Who's Rodney?" Kate's inside seemed to freeze. She had been dreaming about her hallucinations. What else had she revealed?

"Uh, some guy off a sci-fi show Abby was telling me about..." she trailed off, realizing how weird that sounded.

"Right, and you love him?" Tony asked, putting her on the spot.

"No, it was just a dream. Forget about it," she said. She was saved from further comments from Tony by the sudden arrival of
Abby and McGee. Abby was half hidden behind a large bouquet of lilies.

"You're awake!" she squealed. "I wanted to get you something black, but McGee said these would probably be better." She placed the flowers on a nearby table and rushed over to hug her. Tony grabbed the Subway bag from McGee and rifled through it.

"Glad to see you're okay," McGee said.

"Thanks," Kate said, smiling. "I'm glad to see I'm okay, too." At that moment, Gibbs walked in, his face unreadable.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm alright," she said, but he gave her a look that clearly reminded her of Rule Number Seven, "Be specific when you lie." "Okay, so I feel like crap. Did you at least get the guy?"

"Yeah, we got him," Gibbs said, "but next time, try not to get yourself shot over it."

"Sure thing, Boss," she said, smiling. The small hospital room
was quickly becoming even more crowded as Ducky entered.

"Ah, Caitlyn," the elderly ME said, seeing she was awake. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright," she replied, but after another look from Gibbs she elaborated. "Sore, and I've got an awful headache, but I've been worse." Ducky smiled.

"Well, we should let the poor dear rest," he said to the room at large.

"Right, I should get going," Abby said, giving Kate a quick hug goodbye before leaving the room with McGee, who also bade her farewell.

"Jethro, could I see you outside for a moment?" Ducky asked, and together they left the room. She was alone with Tony again.

"So what happened after you got shot?" he asked. "You were stuck in there for like an hour."

"Just a few hallucinations," Kate replied.

"What?"

"Oh, Abby showed up and tried to explain it all, something about my subconscious and how falling asleep might kill me," she explained.

"Wow," Tony said, "anyone else there?"

"Yeah, you showed up after Abby, but instead of keeping me alive, it seemed like you were trying to annoy me to death," she said, smiling.

"So it was pretty much like real life?" he asked.

"Yeah, except...never mind." She had almost spilled her secret.

"What?" he asked.

"Forget about it," she said.

"Tell me!" he demanded.

"No, well, you told me to hang on so I could tell you..." she trailed off. His eyes glinted, and immediately she knew that he had figured it out.

"So it wasn't Rodney," he said. "You like me!"

"Don't get a big head, Tony," she warned.

"I knew you liked me!" he said.

"Well, maybe a little," she joked.

"Good, cause I think I like you a little, too," he said, smiling. Gibbs reentered the room.

"What are you two talking about now?" he asked, seeing their smiles.

"Nothing," Kate lied, and then remembering his previous looks, added quickly, "Just about Tony's latest girlfriend." Gibbs smiled inwardly. Finally they admitted it to each other, he thought, reading their faces. Even I saw that one coming!