Son Retour
You keep watching from your picket fence
You keep talking but it makes no sense
You say we’re not responsible
But we are, we are
You’ve washed your hands you come up clean
Fail to recognise the enemies within
You say we’re not responsible
But we are, we are
From all outward appearances, 2005 was shaping up to be a pretty good year; if no one counted the whole death filled letter that bought both Tony and Kate two days in isolation and Tony a further week in a private room at Bethesda. Besides that small incident, it had been a pretty good start to the month.
The past two weeks had been relatively quiet compared to when Tony was around. There had been one active case, which of course Tony would have loved, involving DVD piracy, fraud and the death of a petty officer. From Monday, there had been nothing, so Gibbs and his two remaining agents spent their time filing paperwork and reviewing cold cases.
Kate, for the most part of the past two weeks, had done everything possible to prevent herself fretting about Tony. She threw herself, whole-heartedly, into her work, only stopping when Gibbs made her. She allowed herself small moments of weakness in the mornings if no one was around. When she was filled with rage over the stupidity of Tony’s actions, she took herself down to the gym to take it out on the punching bag, but that had only been in the first few days. Occasionally she caught herself staring at Tony’s desk longingly or like this morning, filling page upon page of her sketchpad with images of him drawn from memory.
This was how McGee found her this Tuesday morning.
*~*~*~*~*~*
“Is that Tony?”
Kate, who had been in a small world of her own, jumped at the sound of McGee’s voice so close to her shoulder. Her agent senses had been put on hold for the moment, and she knew that was bad conduct in her line of work. She tried to cover the sketch which she had drawn from memory, Tony on the phone reclining in his chair with his feet on the desk, as best she could but already knew that McGee had already seen it.
“No.”
“Are you sure? It really resembles--”
“Is there are reason you’ve been haunting my desk all week?”
“Uh, no. I was just…”
“Or maybe you decided to take over DiNozzo’s job of annoying me while he’s on sick leave.”
Kate knew what was wrong with McGee, it was the same thing that was wrong with all of them; guilt. He was hovering because, like nearly always, he wanted reassurance. He wanted to be told it wasn’t his fault a team-mate nearly died, that he wasn’t to blame. Kate, for all the good in her, couldn’t bring herself to tell McGee that none of it was his fault, not yet anyway.
There was always something decidedly sweet the way he checked on her and Abby, made sure they were both okay before moving onto something else.
“I just wanted to check that everything was ok.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
The sketchpad on the desk was long forgotten, Kate was beginning to see the real reason he’d been hovering over her. Making her jump every time she turned around to find him lingering there.
“Well, you and Tony were close and, you know…”
And there it was. Not the fact he was making observations on her and Tony’s relationship, or that he was even concerning himself with it anyway. He was speaking like Tony was already dead and not recovering. Kate could swear on a stack of bibles that Tony was still alive, she got enough phone calls at home from him and she visited him often enough after work to see he still had a pulse.
It was the fact that McGee had used the past tense, insinuating either that she and Tony weren’t as close as they were before, or that he’d died without her knowing. She had a bad feeling in her gut already and it didn’t need adding to.
“No, I don’t know. What?”
“He almost died.”
She’d been able to hold it for the past two weeks, not thinking about it. Tony’s situation had really put things into perspective for her, things that hadn’t been clear enough before were certainly crystal now. She knew before she took on this job there’d be a chance she could die, she wouldn’t even have needed to be an agent to know that when it’s your time you have to accept that.
She’d been thinking in terms of crossing the street and being hit by a bus or having some sort of household accident resulting in death. Now with this small incident hitting so close to home, she knew there was a higher chance of being killed in an explosion or fire fight.
She understood, Gibbs and Tony understood. It was McGee’s turn to understand.
“We’re N.C.I.S. agents, McGee. There is a chance one of us might die every time we walk through the door.”
Her voice were gentle yet firm, but the tired worn out way she said it made McGee feel like he should already know this. She didn’t speak down to him, making him feel like the naïve, silly little boy he sometimes felt when she and Tony came up with strong sentences while he could only stutter and stumble over his words, but she made it sound almost as if she was sick and tired of saying those words. It was as if she’d exerted herself on a daily basis, telling herself this over and over until she could believe it; not wanting to but having to.
When he finally opened his mouth to respond, he knew what she meant and agreed, but still the guilty sentence slipped out and he found himself on the side of Kate he’d seen before. The comforting side. She used his given name to show she was being honest and serious and tried her best to tell him that it wasn’t his fault Tony got sick. She watched him, checking for the signs that he was accepting this and finding none she changed tactics. There were probably a million and one bad things she could say about Tony to take McGee’s guilt away, but she settled for a limited few; one of which included the fact he still owed them money. At least that gained her small smirk.
It was when the phone on Tony’s desk began to ring that the small amount of tension in the room dissipated only to be replaced with emptiness. Both turned towards the noise, seeing Tony picking up the receiver with that ever present grin and chatting to one of his weekly girls. It almost became too much for Kate before McGee pulled her back to the present.
“Do you miss him as much as I do?”
“More.”
Having no idea where that came from and the fact it was said with a heavy and regretful sigh, Kate quickly continued before McGee caught on to what she had just said and possibly took it the wrong way.
“It’s part of his charm. He’s like an ex-rated Peter Pan.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
Kate was beyond pissed. She could seriously see herself heading down to the gym now, but unfortunately for her the team had caught a case and she was now standing in autopsy watching Ducky check Tony’s vitals. Not only had Tony already partially admitted to saying she’d had breast implants, which she most certainly had not, convinced her the snake wrapped around her ankle was poisonous before proving he was worth keeping around in order to stop her blowing off her foot, he had then proceeded to get himself blown up.
Today was shaping up to be a fantastic day. Kate couldn’t have been more thrilled and her sarcasm levels were shooting through the ceiling, even as she rambled to herself internally.
Focusing back on what was happening in the room, she heard Tony tell Ducky for at least the tenth time since arriving that he was fine. She couldn’t quite help the roll of eyes that came along with that statement, she‘d said it enough times in the past to know it was a huge lie; strangely enough, a huge lie that most people seemed to believe.
“One thirty six over eighty four is not fine for you, Tony. Your blood pressure is high.”
“Almost getting blown up tends to do that to me. Not to mention hanging around Kate when she’s in one of her moods.”
He was back. Despite promising herself not to give him a hard time for a few weeks, he needed it. It was as if he needed the anchor to keep him sane, to make him feel better. Whatever the reason, he was back to being DiNozzo, not Tony, and had been for a couple of minutes now. In her head at least.
She wanted to blame him for nearly dying this time around, blame him for making her worry. She shouldn’t really complain because this is what she had wanted a few months ago, but today had changed everything once again.
She supposed she could blame him for the hoarse voice she’d gained after she had screamed his name when he was caught up in the explosion. Digression had never felt so good.
“This isn’t funny, DiNozzo.”
“No, it’s not. If I didn’t come in to work today, you and McGee would be lying on one of those tables over there.”
Kate tuned out again, trying to imagine life at NCIS without herself or Tony or McGee being present. She’d tried once or twice before, trying to work out what emotions everyone would feel if one of them were no longer around. It didn’t help current matters. In the back of her mind she registered Ducky saying Tony needed a rest, and Tony saying he needed to get back to work. Admittedly, yes, they did need to get back to work, but Tony was in no such condition and she couldn’t hold her tongue any longer.
“Damn it, Tony. I should just take you home and get you in bed.”
Kate’s original intention of chastising Tony and forcing him to go home had somehow backfired, leaving her standing in front of two very amused gentlemen. Ducky allowed himself an amused smirk while Tony, as only he could do it, showed his “I’m shocked, yet impressed and ever so slightly smug” smile which also translated as “I am a Sex GOD!”. Kate hated it; especially when it was directed at her.
“Okay, that didn’t come out the way I intended.”
Both men continued to stare, trying to find the right words to respond to Kate’s faux pas when Gibbs blew in, asking what hadn’t come out right. Not having the words to tell her husband of just under a year that she had expressed she wanted to get Tony in bed without sparking the same reaction in him as she had done Ducky and Tony, she kept her mouth shut only to be saved by Ducky diverting his attention to their patient.
“Yeah? How is he?”
“Stubborn, pigheaded, and unaware of his own limitation.”
“Sounds about right.”
During Ducky and Gibbs’ conversation, Tony had kept his eyes on Kate. For some reason, hearing those words fall from Kate’s lips had provoked a little train thought that he didn’t really want to stop. He’d had her on the edge for a few months now, even through finding the wet t-shirt picture, he’d still managed to have her worried about him and his lack of, as Ducky put it, pigheaded attitude. He felt it was time to give her a little more of the old Tony back.
Kate tried in vain to keep her eyes away from the man sitting half undressed on the table in front of her. Crap had been the first word to come to mind, followed swiftly by the need to explain what she’d actually meant. Eventually drawing her eyes up from the floor, she caught Tony’s eye who was now grinning like a maniac. Hearing that Gibbs had began talking about the victim on the table next to Tony, she headed over in their direction followed by Tony. He sidled up to her best he could with his sore ribs, and bent so he could whisper into her ear.
“So are you buying me dinner first or should we go back to your pl--”
He was naturally rewarded with a swift elbow to his sore ribs, causing him to gasp and wince in pain before they moved on to hear the results on the autopsies. Ducky informed the trio that the dental records were conclusive, that the two passengers were Navy Lieutenants were Dean Westfall and Curtis Janssen. Tony pointed out that Dean Westfall had rented a car two months ago.
“Kate, pull up the service records. Have McGee find out who made that nine-one-one call.”
“On it.”
“Tony.”
“Yeah?”
“Go lie down before you pass out.”
Even the suggestion that he was going to collapse made Tony laugh, and he tried to prove his point that he wasn’t all that ill by rambling idiotic things, trying to garner some sympathy.
“I’m not going to pass out. I might cry a little, maybe feel sorry for myself. But DiNozzos do not pass out.”
He shuffled slowly away from Kate and Ducky, who were trying not to smirk as he called out to inform Gibbs he was on his way to the elevator, where Gibbs was waiting rather impatiently for him to catch up. When he was gone, Kate turned to Ducky and expressed a little more of her concern more thoughtfully.
“Can’t you do something, Ducky?”
“I’m doing it right now.”
“What?”
“Praying.”
It was more or less the same as she was doing.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The team had been working quietly to get the information they needed for less than an hour. Tony, after having been harassed by Kate and McGee, had gone down to Abby’s to lie down only for Gibbs to drag him out the room a few minutes later.
Abby explained that the main electric charge on the bomb was C-four and was primed with DET cord and blasting caps. After Tony questioned being able to trace the manufacturer, Abby mentioned the fact that there were no taggants mixed in for identification meaning that it had been made from scratch.
Up in the squad room, Kate and McGee were also making progress. As McGee began explaining about the nine-one-one tape, Gibbs gut was churning and he already knew what McGee was going to tell him. The call was anonymous and untraceable. Kate had been checking out the backgrounds on the Lieutenants and had learned they were both pilots, one of whom was T.A.D. at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Everyone had suddenly become aware of Gibbs’ paranoia level rising and each took it upon themselves to find out more.
“Someone wanted NCIS to investigate the scene.”
“Why?”
“The same reason they rigged that car to explode, Kate.”
“We were set up. So someone really is trying to kill us?”
“Yeah, they came pretty damn close.”
Now it had come to light that someone was out for blood, Gibbs rushed up to MTAC to relay the information to Director Morrow. With the fact that Gibbs had his suspicions as to who the culprit could be, Morrow didn’t seem to be too convinced by Gibbs argument. He explained in no uncertain terms to Gibbs that there were other factors possibly involved that he wasn’t at liberty to discuss. That didn’t stop Gibbs from pushing the issue, trying to guilt trip his boss into giving him information that he could use, but Morrow was stonewalling him. The second Gibbs was dismissed, Morrow placed a call to the head of the FBI.
After leaving MTAC, Gibbs found his team already eating dinner at their desks. He didn’t really want to keep them all here all night, but he could see no other choice. If someone was out to get them, he wanted his team where he could see them at all times. He quickly divided up their tasks; Kate checking out Westfall, McGee looking for reasons behind the hand dissection and Tony to eat something before informing them he was going out. No one thought anything of it, and knew his foul mood was most likely through a lack of caffeine.
*~*~*~*~*~*
After half heartedly coming up with reasons as to why a person would cut off someone’s hands, Kate and Tony left McGee to ponder the reasons while they continued with their dinner. McGee still hadn’t settled enough not to look up when he heard the elevator doors emit a bright ding, announcing a persons arrival, so when it happened he naturally looked up and was concerned at what he saw.
“We’ve got trouble.”
His two colleagues joked with him until he mentioned the fact their least favourite person had just entered their domain. Kate looked up sharply at the man approaching their desks, as did Tony while McGee cautiously backed away. He’d seen how territorial his friends could get over cases and he didn’t like how this was shaping up.
“Fornell?”
Tony muttered something over on his side which McGee caught and realised that he wasn’t joking. He rarely seen Tony serious but when he did, he knew to pay attention to what was happening.
“Where’s Gibbs?”
Not liking the fact that Tobias Fornell was approaching them and looking for Gibbs specifically, Kate figured the best thing to do for now would be to deter him from looking for their boss. Fornell, in typical behaviour, didn’t accept it.
“Where is he, Agent Todd?”
“He’s out. Try him on his cell.”
“I did. He’s not answering.”
Kate smirked knowing full well her husband wouldn’t answer if he knew Fornell was calling him. She pictured him walking back to the office, coffee in hand, ditching his cell phone somewhere along the road. Or throwing it under a passing car. They’d probably have to replace it.
“What’s going on?”
Now with Tony’s participation in the conversation, Fornell looked at each member of Gibbs team individually, weighing up the consequences of informing them of his news. Kate, doting wife, would freak. Tony, faithful senior agent, would take charge. McGee, young and insecure, would have no idea of the fall out. There was no other way and he knew he’d get his ass kicked several times over by them, but they needed to know, especially now it was too late to do anything.
“Ari Haswari is back in the country.”
Under the dim lighting, no one noticed Kate’s complexion paling considerably upon hearing that her nemesis was back on her turf. The one thing she feared more than the wrath of her husband was Ari Haswari coming back to kill one of them, and it seemed her fears were coming true.
At this moment she didn’t care if she lost her job or was reprimanded, she needed Fornell to understand what this meant for her and her team, the fact it would likely kill them all. And her mind wasn’t being too helpful in stating she meant that literally. Unlike a previous case where she had to be physically restrained, she kept her composure and only yelled the one question on the other twos lips.
“You let that psycho back in the State without telling us?!”
Fornell turned his attention to Kate, and only now severely regretted not informing them sooner. He’d been at the farmhouse when Kate had been recovered and had seen what had happened. He’d been there when she’d been interviewed and he knew what her husband had done afterwards.
For once in his life, Tobias C. Fornell, was feeling guilty.
“He was supposed to be helping us uncover an Al Qaeda cell in the D.C. area.”
“What do you mean “supposed to”, Fornell?”
He could feel the guilt and regret spreading through him like wild fire, unstoppable; like the team in front of him. He admired them more now than he had before. They were strong and determined, they kept each other in line and watched each other’s backs; the less could be said for his agents. They’d be able to handle this.
“We now think he’s here for more personal reasons. He’s planning on killing Gibbs.”
The silence in the room was palpable and only Kate‘s harsh breathing could be heard. She leant heavily on her desk, her legs barely able to support and looked up to the enemy. He looked back, and the profiler in her could see every inch of regret, sorrow and guilt. Not only was it written on his face, but it was in his eyes. Gibbs told her eyes could lie, but she couldn’t be sure with Fornell. It was only when he put a hand on her shoulder, as if to comfort her, did she know that what she seen was the truth.
*~*~*~*~*~*
After Fornell had delivered his news and vanished up to the director’s office, Kate collapsed into her chair. Her head was full of a myriad of images, ones she wouldn’t dare repeat with the exception of being under a psych evaluation order. It wasn’t going to happen, he wasn’t going to die on her. They’d fought too hard to give in now and she was making it her mission to not only protect her husband and her team, but to rid them of Ari once and for all.
Alarm bells started ringing as she recalled Fornell saying Gibbs wasn’t answering his phone and immediately picked up her receiver and called him, leaving all kinds of messages. First it was the typical, “Hey, where are you?” messages, then there was the “Why are you not picking up? Call me when you get this.” messages and finally there was the “If you don’t answer this goddamn phone, now Gibbs, I swear, you’re sleeping on the sofa if I don’t shoot you first!” messages.
When, after twenty minutes, he still hadn’t got in contact with her or anyone else, Kate decided enough was enough and went to the filing cabinet to retrieve her spare gym clothes, receiving a moment of comfort from Tony which she appreciated. He was trying to keep her calm and sane, but it wasn’t helping much.
It was time to vent her frustration on something other than her team.
*~*~*~*~*~*
McGee ran off to inform both Abby and Ducky of the recently received information and was met with the same attitude of kill the bastard. The nervous, young boy in him was instantly replaced with the iron strong agent, and he told them both, under no circumstances, would Ari Haswari live to see tomorrow.
He hadn’t been there when they first encountered him, but remembered what happened the second time; how Gibbs had flipped out at Abby, himself and Tony one right after the other; the incessant pacing around the lab and between the desks when they were getting no where.
He didn’t like it then and he most certainly didn’t like it now.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Tony jumped into action. He called Gibbs in between Kate calling and leaving messages, he informed specific agents, Balboa and Axelrod, of the situation because they’d assisted the previous times.
He watched Kate for a moment, while she was leaving what would be her final message on Gibbs voicemail, and thought he saw a flicker of fear in her eyes and posture. She had every right, he figured. She had a basic idea of what Ari was about and had dealt with him twice before. She was alone then, she had them now.
When she left her desk and headed towards the filing cabinet next to him, he caught her hand while he was calling Gibbs again and gave her fingers a tight squeeze. It wasn’t a hug and it wouldn’t do much, but the thought was there.
When she’d gone, he retrieved the large case file he’d learned about Kate keeping in her desk to pull out occasionally and go over what she had, and started going through it; looking over her case notes, digging further into what Kate had found and finding more to add to the file. Running through a list of possible locations.
He was amazed at the size of the folder and the amount of information Kate had apparently found in a short period of time. It seemed after she had been taken hostage the first time, she learned everything about him except his name and his status in the world. He was impressed.
When the phone on Kate’s desk rang, he dived out his chair straight over to her desk to answer in case it was Gibbs calling. When it turned out not to be Gibbs, but to be the directors secretary informing him Kate had been requested to the directors office immediately, he worried and took off to the gym to get her.
*~*~*~*~*~*
A ten minute warm up stretch, a fifteen minute round against the punching bag and a five minute shower found Kate back in the locker room redressing. The workout helped some, but not as much as seeing Gibbs in the flesh or shooting out Ari. One or the other would do the trick to alleviate the tension that had crept into her spine, preferably the former.
Just as she was leaving the gym and turning down the corridor, Tony quite literally ran into her, almost knocking her over and informed her quietly that the director had requested her presence.
Being requested to the directors office after hearing of Ari’s possible inclusion in their case wasn’t a good sign; especially since Kate was married to their supposed target and had personal dealings with Ari.
Neither Tony nor Kate mentioned the possibility of team reassignment, but they thought it.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Just as Kate was entering the directors office, at a small coffee shop not too far from NCIS, Gibbs felt himself being watched. He’d felt it since he left the office, but had seen no obvious signs that he was being tailed, or that there was anyone suspicious around him. He’d walked slowly, trying to get a glimpse of anyone who would be an ideal suspect; it came in the form of a motorcyclist.
Paying for his coffee, he stepped outside, trying to convince himself that if he were to take Kate of the case, it would be better all round; especially for her. Stepping out into the warm May air, he found his attention being drawn to one of the patrons at a small table, who was reading a paper, the motorbike parked directly behind him. He kept his distance from the person, his gut telling him not to get too close to whoever it was, and watched as they lowered the paper and revealed their identity.
Ari.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Conversation between the two gentlemen was kept to a minimum, Ari doing the majority of the talking while Gibbs pretended to listen. There were mentions of Ari accompanying Gibbs to the office for questioning, of someone trying to kill his team and Gibbs believing it had been Ari. And also the threat that there was an explosive device planted under one of the tables. None of this was of any interest to Gibbs, he only wanted to know one thing.
“What are you doing here?”
“An Al Qaeda cell is planning an attack in Washington. I’m here to stop it.”
“Yeah, what’s the target?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is the cell located?”
“I wish I knew.”
Gibbs knew he was lying; not that there were any signs but then again, Ari was trained in this sort of deception, lying came easily to him.
Ari then informed Gibbs that he was able to gain access to the appropriate information, but that it came a price. Again, Gibbs wasn’t concerned with this, nor the fact that Ari had been sent there to kill him in order to get that information and become a part of the Washington cell. It didn’t mean anything, because it wouldn’t happen.
“You don’t seem surprised.”
“That means I’m doing my job.”
“Yes. And in order for me to do mine, you have to die. I wonder, what would you do in my position?”
“Kill myself.”
Ari had laughed, and seemed very put out seeing as he couldn’t do that to himself. He claimed that it were the only part of his religion he subscribed to; Gibbs offered to help with that. Ari, it seemed, was willing to accept Gibbs offer to kill him, and then offered one himself.
“You have twenty-four hours to find and eliminate the cell. If you fail…”
“I appreciate the heads up.”
“It’s the least I could do.”
There was a drawn out moment of silence in which Ari watched Gibbs for a long moment. Gibbs kept his attention focused solely on the man in front of him, wanting to know why he was offering up this information if the only thing in it for him was death.
Ari clearing his throat brought Gibbs out of his reverie of seeing Ari die at his hands and back to the crisp May evening weather they were sitting in and back into a new nightmare.
“How’s Caitlin, by the way? I’ve thought of her often since my last visit.”
The threat there was obvious and Gibbs didn’t know why he hadn’t considered that before. Of course Ari was offering up information, there was something in it for him. It would seem that he would get another chance at Kate, and possibly this time kill her for little and all she knew.
“Go near her and I don’t care what government agency is watching your back, I will kill you this time.”
Gibbs’ threat was far more vocal and he had made sure to get his point across clearly. Ari certainly appreciated this warning, because now the game they had been playing had become a challenge; Gibbs was unconsciously daring him to try and get to Kate and Ari would certainly try, just to see how far Gibbs would go.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
When Gibbs finally returned after an hour of having his team worry, he let them know he already knew Ari was back in town since he’d just had coffee with him. Tony and McGee asked what had happened and Gibbs informed them bluntly that he’d tried to kill him, which was true.
He noted Kate’s absence, and knew the chances of her being either in Abby’s or in the gym was a high possibility. This was something both of them had feared since their first encounter and Gibbs knew she would need to vent her anger if she were to go into the field and keep a level head. Suppressing his worry for his wife, he focused his attention on what McGee had learned about Westfall.
“Uh, Boss, aren’t you going to elaborate a little bit first?”
“Yeah, McGee! I’m alive! Now tell me about Westfall.”
McGee quickly informed Gibbs of what he knew, before Tony answered his next question and also mentioned the fact the FBI were checking Danborn’s security.
“The FBI?”
“Lots happened in the last hour, Boss.”
“Where’s Fornell?”
“MTAC.”
Gibbs strode off to the stairwell leaving Tony and McGee to watch him go.
*~*~*~*~*~*
While Gibbs met with Fornell outside MTAC, Kate was inside with the director, describing a very strategic security plan she was going to be putting into operation as soon as Gibbs knew.
When she had met with Director Morrow, unpleasant thoughts had been going through her head again. Once she was told that she were to be head protective custody agent, plans were replacing the thoughts as she considered the ways she knew of to keep her husband alive for a few more years.
They’d discussed the possibility of team reassignment for her until the case was closed, to which she had declined and also the possibility of witness protection for both she and Gibbs for the time it took them to take down Ari and his cell and again she declined. Kate explained it as nicely as she could, she wasn’t going to let Ari win and if that meant her life for millions of others she was willing to do it. She didn’t particularly want to, but if she was risking her life to save millions of innocent civilians, she could accept it, even if it meant leaving her team to mourn her.
Gibbs entered the room not long after Kate had taken her seat at the back, in the dark, where she was able to hear every word that was being said between her husband and her official boss. Gibbs hated surprises and this would be one hell of a surprise for him. She heard the word resignation and also the sentence that followed, and the thought that Gibbs was willing to leave NCIS over this sent a chill through her body. Of all the things they witnessed through their work, this was the one that it seemed Gibbs couldn‘t deal with. She knew both men would forget this section of their conversation and waited patiently for her cue to approach them in front of the large screen.
“I will now hand you over to our federally certified protective custody expert, Agent Todd. I hear she used to protect the President. You should be flattered. He‘s all yours. I expect you to follow her orders to the letter, as if they were mine.”
Kate walked down the stairs and stood next to Morrow, smirking at Gibbs. Gibbs didn’t do flattery and he most certainly didn’t do protective custody unless he was the one doing the protecting; Kate knew after this case was over, she’d have some fun with this. She turned to watch Morrow leave the room before turning back to Gibbs, who looked totally confused at the fact he was being ordered to respect his wife‘s authority over him now.
“That last part? He meant it.”
She watched as he considered his place under her watch before she felt his arms slide around her waist and pull her closer. Kate copied the motion and tilted her head up so she could have a proper look at Gibbs, seeing the obvious question in his eyes: why?
“Because this was my only choice. Well, actually I had three; I liked this one better.”
“What were the other two?”
“Witness protection for both of us until Ari was taken care of or team reassignment for me.”
“Personally, Katie, I prefer team reassignment.”
“Yeah, and I prefer knowing my husband’s coming home with me tomorrow. Look, I‘m not going to sit back and watch you take Ari out by yourself or wait for the phone call to tell me you‘re dead. At least this way, I know you‘re safe and I get to watch him die.”
Gibbs, having already resigned himself to the fact there was no talking to or disagreeing with Kate when she had already decided what was best, found himself giving in just a little bit more to her. Kate, seeing his indecision of whether or not to allow her to protect him the way she had been trained to, moved her arms up around his shoulders and around his neck, anchoring herself to him.
“We’ll be okay.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
Kate spent the better part of an hour writing out plans and security details after having left Gibbs in MTAC. She considered and reconsidered every possibility, ran through various scenarios and finally had things the way she wanted, now all she had to do was put said plan into action.
Tony and McGee had watched her silently from their desks, waiting until they were told what to do. Receiving orders from his partner, who was of a lower ranking, was not at the top of Tony’s list of things to do, but if it meant they got to keep Gibbs around for a few more years he was willing to comply. That and not get on the wrong side of Kate at this precise moment as it wouldn’t bode well for anyone. So he found himself here, standing by Gibbs desk, listening as Kate ran off her list of necessities.
“At home two teams. Six hour shifts, alternating radio checks every ten minutes. Outside I want a mobile foot patrol and two permanent observation posts.”
“Gibbs is not going to like that.”
“Well screw what Gibbs likes, Tony, I’ll deal with him myself. I’m not letting that psycho within five miles of him. McGee, I need full audio and video surveillance inside and out. Everything tied back into MTAC.”
“You got it, Kate.”
Gibbs had been watching from the stairs as Kate made her preparations into his safety. He heard what would be happening, including Tony’s mentioning that he wouldn’t like it, and had to agree with him. None of this was sitting well with him, but his team’s lives in danger rarely did go down well.
“Go home, it’s late.”
“Gibbs, we’re not going anywhere.”
“No, I’m staying here, you’re going home.”
“Gibbs…”
“Kate, I do not need an army of agents staying up all night to watch me build a boat.”
“Jethro, deal with it. You are under my protective custody, and for arguments sake, so is everyone else. You go, I go, meaning they go. With us, to our home. We stay, they stay. Got it?”
He was growling at her and she knew it, but Kate wasn’t going to back down from this. She was going to stand her ground and make him see sense; make him see that he was setting himself up for death if he didn’t listen to her. The growling, and the staring, finally eased and Gibbs gave in to her, again.
Kate definitely liked her new status.
“Fine.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
At some point during the night, Gibbs found himself with a new cup of coffee, it wasn’t his regular and it wasn’t his favourite. It seemed that his wife had taken it upon herself to inform other agents not to let her husband go anywhere, even on a quick run for coffee. When he’d found himself needing more, he’d started to head out the building only to be stopped by security and escorted back to his desk. A junior agent had then approached him cautiously with a Styrofoam cup, apologizing that it wasn’t from his usual place but from down the corridor. He was going to get her back for this; no more late night cuddles for her.
Shuffling through the notes and pictures on the original case from that morning, Gibbs heaved a sigh and stood from his desk. McGee and Tony were asleep in their chairs, pizza boxes on their desks. He smirked in the barely lit room, knowing they’d have stiff necks in the morning.
Rounding his desk, he came to a stop in front of Kate’s and wasn’t surprised to see that she was sensible enough to sleep on the floor behind her chair. Her position suggested she was lying in wait for any sign of danger that may befall anyone under her protection, and she would be ready to jump to their defence.
The grey woollen blanket she had pulled from the same drawer she kept Ari’s file in offered hardly any warmth to her, but still Gibbs knelt down and pulled it higher up to cover her shoulders. She didn’t move nor wake, simply mumbled something, possibly thanks, in her sleep and dreamt on. As much as he wanted to, Gibbs could do nothing more than rub her shoulder, tracing a line down her ribs and waist with his hand to make sure she stayed sleeping.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The morning light saw Kate with a sore back, sore head and no real reason to get up. The threat of the case was playing on her mind, and she was pretty thankful that she hadn’t had a nightmare. Pulling herself up with the help of her desk, Kate looked around her team to see what they were doing; she was hardly surprised to see both Tony and McGee still asleep, she let them off simply because they hadn’t crashed until about three and it was now seven.
She was expecting Gibbs to already be up, freshly dressed and drinking what would be his fourth coffee of the morning. What she wasn’t expecting was to turn to her husband and find him at his desk with his throat slit open. The blood had ran and stained a large portion of his shirt front, his eyes were open and cast toward the ceiling. He was dead.
The scream threatening to escape her throat was stalled by the presence of someone behind her. The hand that suddenly landed on her shoulder caused her to turn around only to come face to face with Ari Haswari. Kate gasped, realising that there was a psycho standing in front of her, having found another way to bypass security, and that she was without a weapon to defend herself.
“Did you miss me?”
*~*~*~*~*~*
“Gibbs!”
The vivid and almost real-time quality of the nightmare caused Kate to sit bolt upright. The sudden rush to her head made the room spin slightly and she didn’t even register the fact Tony had been kneeling over her while she‘d been sleeping.
“You dream about Gibbs?”
The fact she dreamt about Gibbs was neither here nor there, she had every right to dream about Gibbs if she so chose and that piece of information was so beyond Tony’s right to know, Kate wanted to give him a good hard head slap but couldn’t find it in her to do. She just wanted to see Gibbs, make sure he was okay.
“What? No.”
Just like in her dream, Kate struggled to her feet and wasn’t nearly alert enough to start one of these conversations with Tony, especially knowing where this one was leading and when McGee joined in she felt backed into a corner with no way out.
Tony knew exactly what was wrong with Kate and he had taken it upon himself to make her forget. He knew what it was like to have a dream so real that you woke up in a cold sweat with the pressing need to call the person to hear their voice or go by their place and just touch them, make sure they were real and alive.
He’d been watching Kate since he’d woken up, saw her distress. The only reason he’d been kneeling over her was because he was trying to work out a way of waking her up without being injured in a vital area. When he’d realised it was a nightmare about Gibbs, the sudden decision to make a joke out of it to help her relax wasn’t surprising. The decision to have McGee join in with the conversation hadn’t been planned.
He couldn’t have been more pleased when, out the corner of his eyes, he noticed Gibbs arrive, fresh coffee in hand and head their way. He kept her attention long enough to make sure she wasn’t about to run over to him and make sure he had no injuries or get on at him for leaving and not waking her.
If anyone other than him or Gibbs had seen her obvious distress, she’d be taken off the case and left with Abby, or to do paperwork. It was bad enough that she was already freaking out even though nothing really eventful happened yet, but it would be worse if Gibbs told her to stay in the office; that he wasn’t trusting her state of mind or her emotional well being.
They needed her to be strong and to set aside her fears of anyone being injured in the coming hours. The fact that she brushed off his comments without so much as a slap or an elbow to the gut or even a reproachful comment laid her distress out to him and he was just glad McGee couldn’t read it.
Brushing past the two men that were currently crowding her, Kate made her way over to Gibbs desk, not even bothering to ask where he’d been or if he’d got her a coffee. The simple fact he was standing there in front of her, alive, was all she needed to know right now. When he’d set his coffee on the table and turned to get a clean shirt, she’d sneakily taken a sip and tried not be affected by the bitterness. When he was about to change, Kate realised she’d need to jump straight in to protect him and they hadn‘t even left the building yet.
“Look, if you want to check out the defence contracting company with us today, you’re wearing a vest.”
He was about to complain, they could all see that. He was about to argue that he wasn’t wearing a vest because, like so many times he’d said it before, it would be visible under his shirt. But it seemed, the longer he looked at Kate, the more he could read in her eyes what had happened and that she needed him to do this. If not for himself but for her.
“I can live with that.”
There was no sigh of relief from Kate, which would certainly betray her nerves and have her taken off the case, instead there was a slight smile, a nod of agreement and five words given in a quietly sarcastic tone.
“That’s kind of the point, Gibbs.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
In the half hour before leaving for Danborn Avionics, Kate made sure everything was set security wise. She checked three times that Gibbs was still wearing his vest and was pleasantly surprised to find that he was each time.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, because she did, it was just the fact that she didn’t trust him to keep his vest on. During several cases in the past two years, Gibbs had taken his vest off despite knowing how much it pissed off Kate. He’d tried reasoning with her then, failing spectacularly every time, but always promised he’d never put himself in the position where taking off his vest would ultimately result in his death.
Seeing her beginning to get nervous again at the thought of facing Ari, Gibbs pulled Kate away from her desk and the eyes of their co-workers and into the elevator. He’d been partially witness to what had happened with her earlier and wanted to know that she was steady enough to handle what was about to happen.
Instead of stopping the steel box like he normally would, during a rather informal interrogation or ass kicking, he rode down with her to the second floor and pulled her off into the break room. He was forced to stop halfway through the door as Kate insisted on going first and checking to make sure there were no nasty surprises waiting for them. If Gibbs wasn’t sure she was nervous before, he was sure now.
When Kate finally gave the all clear, he followed her in and locked the door behind him, wanting to have her alone for this. He hadn’t told her that he’d met with Ari the previous night, or anything regarding their conversation so telling her now was going to be hard, most likely on him. The probability of him telling her of his encounter was zero to none, wanting to focus everything on her and make sure she was okay.
“Kate.”
“I’m fine. I just…I could really use a hug right now.”
She’d been avoiding his eyes since being dragged away from her desk, appreciating the silence between them and appreciating that he waited before finally succumbing to his curiosity. The look she gave him was that of an exhausted and vulnerable young woman and Gibbs didn’t hesitate in stepping forward and taking her in his arms.
As much as he loved standing there with Kate in his arms, a night spent half awake in a chair had killed his back and moved so he was perched on the edge of the table in the middle of the room, drawing Kate in to stand between his knees. In turn, Kate moved slightly so some of her weight was resting on his left thigh and wrapped her arms more securely round his neck.
“Want to tell me what happened this morning?”
“Nightmare.”
“Ari?”
“What else? It’s been such a long time since the last one, and it scared me. Then again, seeing your husband with his throat slit open will do that to a person…he was here and he killed you…and I couldn‘t protect you.”
“You’re doing a pretty good job right now. Katie, I’m going to make all this up to you when it‘s over, I swear it. I‘ll take you away, for a week, maybe two. I‘m thinking the Bahamas, or Cuba.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
The couple stayed like that for a few minutes longer before Kate decided they should head out to Danborn if they wanted any evidence to prove Ari was behind all of this. When she looked at Gibbs this time, what he saw was a determined, pissed off, out for revenge woman he knew he himself had to be scared of. There wasn’t anything in this world that would make him cross Kate when she was in a mood like this and so agreed to follow her lead.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The information they gained at Danborn Avionics wasn’t much, but it proved to them once again how utterly useless the FBI actually were. Not only did they fail to mention a piece of vital information, they also stepped over a crucial piece of missing evidence, a target drone, that could potentially have proven a link to the terrorist cell that Gibbs was sure Ari was leading.
It was only when Gibbs mentioned the fact that the company was missing this technology, did the company director inform them of what would be needed to potentially fly one if they were operational. Again, Gibbs’ gut sensed that the radio flight control formerly belonging to Lieutenant Westfall would be missing.
Back in Abby’s lab, Kate and Gibbs checked the possibility of a team of terrorists being able to fix up a drone to make it flyable again. Abby became the bearer of bad news in a matter of minutes, not even having enough energy to crack a proper joke. She’d realised how serious the situation was with the case twenty four hours ago when McGee came running in promising he’d protect her.
Kate supposed that if the stolen transmitter were from a modern UAV, the cell may not have been able to fly it, Abby stated that Danborn’s flight codes were based on original software and anything was possible and that the range would be forty miles unless it were loaded down with explosives, which Gibbs knew it would be. Abby further explained that there would be much ‘bang for your buck’ even if there was a low amount of explosives but she was then informed it wouldn’t be headed for a hard target, but a soft one.
“Soft target?”
“People.”
“Oh.”
“Any was to stop it if it’s launched?”
“It wouldn’t be hard to destabilize the system. I have the operational frequencies; another controller could probably jam it.”
“Get me another controller.”
Gibbs stormed out as Abby was telling of the flaw in the plan, and caught Kate as she went to follow. She confided in her friend that’d she’d had a weird dream, and Kate wanted to tell Abby of hers but not wanting to scare the girl more continued to listen. Hearing of how Tony had been standing with blood on his face and how Abby had woke up crying made Kate more determined to make sure none of that happened, and tried to set aside Abby’s worries by telling her it was only a bete noire.
She was usually one to listen when Abby had a hinky feeling, similar to Gibbs’ gut, but this was just too real for her liking.
Tony and McGee had been working vigilantly since returning to the squad room, trawling through tape upon tape of security from the past forty-eight hours, courtesy of Danborn Avionics. McGee had edited the footage to show only the room they’d searched earlier, instead of the whole building as that would’ve taken them longer.
They’d both seen the looks on Kate and Gibbs’ faces and they didn’t want anything stopping them from getting their man; their revenge.
It finally came to a point where Tony found the footage they needed, despite being unable to clearly identify him, everyone surrounding the plasma screen know it’s Ari. It’s all Gibbs needed to request Fornell’s presence, inform him Ari was running the cell and to further delight in telling him he’ had just made the second biggest mistake of his life.
*~*~*~*~*~*
To lighten the tension that had settled over the team that day, Tony and Kate made sure to get ringside seats in MTAC to watch the fight that was about to break out while McGee went down to Abby to learn how to block the drone.
When Fornell arrived, he was aware of the two agents sitting ringside knowing they were only there for the showdown between their boss and his counterpart instead of any information, and decided to inform them that he figured Gibbs to exaggerating when told how Diane would screw him over. He was also trying to lighten the potential violent atmosphere he was going to create just by being in the building.
The little piece of information he did have on Ari, however, he wasn’t willing to part with as it would mean their source would be killed and the FBI would no longer have an informant working as part of a terrorist cell. It would also mean his director would come down on his ass, as would the CIA, because they had been informed that Jethro Gibbs was sitting this operation out. He had tried to tell them that getting Jethro Gibbs to stop extracting his revenge would be more harder than keeping tabs on Ari, but no one had listened to him. The CIA lied to him, he regularly lied to Gibbs but this was one thing he’d share willingly. It was time to offer a joint investigation with Gibbs leading the way.
“Ari’s playing you. He’s no double agent! He never has been! Where is he?”
“All we’ve got is an encrypted spook cell phone number.”
“Call him.”
“But you can’t trace it from here, Gibbs. You need a high level NSA intercept.”
“Patch us through.”
“We’re talking dedicated satellite time.”
The black plasma screen they were standing in front of suddenly came to life as an NSA satellite technician came into focus, telling the four agents in the room that there were two NSA satellites in range and usable for the next five minutes and that if they wanted their man they had to move now. Fornell reached into the pocket inside his jacket and pulled out his wallet, before opening it to retrieve a card with Ari’s number on it. Hesitating, he looked down at the card in his hand before looking at Kate and Tony who were waiting expectantly in the shadows and then at Gibbs who looked ready to open fire.
“Are you sure about this?”
“As sure as when I told you she would clean out your back account when she left.”
Fornell could never figure out why Gibbs was always right and grudgingly handed over the number to Gibbs, who in turn gave it to a technician who typed it into the computer and called. Cranston patched the number thorough but couldn’t be sure it would be answered until Gibbs told him to put his name on the caller I.D..
*~*~*~*~*~*
The phone call to Ari had gone surprisingly well; Gibbs not losing patience with him once and Ari showing some mediocre form of regret of hearing Gibbs had been thrown off the case. It was all an act, of course, and neither men had been fooled by the other. Gibbs ended the call abruptly just as Ari was about to say something of a compliment in regards to him, but no one had the chance to hear it. Cranston had immediately informed them of Ari’s whereabouts, Newport News, and Gibbs took his two agents to pick up McGee leaving Fornell dumbfounded.
“What the hell’s he doing in Norfolk?”
Perhaps if he hadn’t bought the lies that the CIA had told him, and he hadn’t forced them down Gibbs’ throat continuously over the past year, then maybe he would’ve been able to realise when he was being played for a fool. But if he hadn’t figured it out after a few months with Diane, what chance did he ever have a realising it with a double agent who it seemed was rather ingenuous in his schemes.
He was going to owe Gibbs big time for this one. For everything he’d put his team through and more importantly, his girl.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The ride down to Newport News was tense to say the least.
Having picked McGee up from Abby’s lab, where she was running through how to disarm the controller for the fifth time, the four kitted themselves out in Kevlar vests and communication equipment before Tony headed to the weaponry lockup and snagged a rifle for Kate and a case of bullets that had Ari’s name written all over them. They each made sure they had spare ammunition and enough revenge and hate in them to last at least the majority of a fire fight. Whatever Tony and McGee didn’t have in hatred was made up between Kate and Gibbs in waves that practically radiated off them. Tony at least understood their pressing need for revenge, he’d felt it himself a few times, but he’d never seen it as powerful as this before and seeing the rawness of it in Kate’s eyes made him never want to cross her ever again. Ever.
Kate and McGee sat in back while Tony rode shotgun and Gibbs, as usual, drove at a break neck speed. Kate fumed silently as McGee checked his computer program beside her. As much as she detested the way Gibbs drove, she found herself wishing him to just floor the pedal a little harder. Not even Gibbs could have established how much hate was coursing through her veins right now at finally being able to see the end to what had been a very long and dark tunnel filled with nightmares, sly glances over shoulders and the ever present feeling of being watched. The sooner she made it to that warehouse the sooner she could get back to as normal as was possible.
Any conversation that occurred flew over her head until Tony directly asked her what the days date was. She replied quickly with a strength in her voice she never knew existed and was exasperated to hear that all Tony could think about was the fact that Paula Cassidy was returning to shore and that they were hooking up that weekend.
“Well, don’t you think you should concentrate on that terrorist attack first?”
“The whole Marine Amphibious Strike Group returns today, Kate. Five ships, all of them headed to Norfolk.”
With this new information in mind, Kate recalled the conversation in the lab earlier about soft and hard targets and suddenly Tony’s peaked interest in Paula Cassidy made sense. It was further justified when Gibbs explained to McGee about the piers being packed with Navy families. The new information made Kate more determined to take this son of a bitch down, and again she meant that at the cost of her own life.
*~*~*~*~*~*
They pulled into a long alley way, surrounded by several large warehouses on both sides. McGee had finally figured out how to take out the drone, by being able to hit three frequencies including the one it was on.
Tony was scanning the area, as was Kate, and he wasn’t too helpful in pointing out they were surrounded by buildings and that it would take them hours to search every last one thoroughly. Gibbs, keeping his head in the game, took the shotgun from Kate and fired a single shot into the air, eliciting yells from one warehouse just down the road.
“Tony, get the fire escape. Kate, with me. McGee, start jamming.”
McGee immediately set up his console behind the car as Tony, Kate and Gibbs set off running down the alley towards their destination. McGee came to realise as he sat there, shaking slightly, that perhaps he wasn’t as cut out for field work as he had thought last year. He was glad he was resident computer geek, because it meant he got to sit here in the dirt while his friends risked their lives for their country. He was wimping out, which made him nervous which made him lose focus. He struggled with himself to push the images of the lifeless bodies of his friends from his mind and focus more on the task at hand. It would do none of them any good if he screwed this up, and he couldn’t screw this up even if he tried.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Having left McGee where he was, and running ahead of Tony who climbed the ladders up to the roof, Kate and Gibbs found themselves inside the warehouse taking cover behind a crate and a more than likely stolen state trooper car.
Kate quickly took out one terrorist, already loving the range she had with the rifle, while Gibbs took out another. They met left their positions and met in the middle before continuing up to the roof to help Tony.
Gibbs was pissed they hadn’t already encountered Ari, but then that would spoil the game. It was typical cat and mouse, and Gibbs wasn’t particularly fond of either animal. He was just glad that Kate was by his side, in life, in fight and in every way she possibly could be. Determined as she was to protect his life, he was just as determined to make sure she wasn’t injured and didn’t personally come face to face with the man they both sought.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Tony was nervous. He had to holster his weapon in order to climb the ladder, and that feeling of vulnerability didn’t sit well with him. As soon as was possible, the heavy metal was back in his hand and he was taking aim at one suspect and firing without second thought. Just as he was taking aim over the wall, searching for a potential target, the drone was launched, which caused the hiss of static in his ear before he heard McGee’s worried tone followed quickly by Gibbs taking charge.
Moving into a safer position behind a low wall, Tony voiced his confirmed kill as was ready to meet up with his fellow fighters for the last stand. He was reminded of “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” or some similar cowboy film in which good met evil at high noon. It wasn’t quite high noon, time was leaning more toward twilight, and he wasn’t sure who the bad or ugly were, but the scenario fit.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Gibbs and Kate had just reached the door that would lead them out to the roof when both heard Tony over their earpieces. He turned back slightly, to confirm that Kate was still with him and that she was ready, before he went out first and ran across the roof to hide behind a wall. Kate remained at the door, edging herself out slowly.
Just as Gibbs fired a shot, she noticed he was about to take one at the same time and didn’t hesitate in pulling her trigger. Gibbs had already moved from the wall and Kate moved into his position, ready and waiting.
Running across the roof, Tony met halfway with Tony and together they took out their final man that was standing between them and the controller. Tony checked the body, and any other potential shooters before he lowered his weapon and stood beside Gibbs, whose own gun was down and together they inspected the screen and were aggravated to learn the drone was still flying and was about to hit it’s target in less than five minutes.
“McGee, this thing is still flying!”
Being on the end of Gibbs’ foul mood was something McGee hated slightly less than being on the receiving end of Abby’s, and it wasn’t really helping his own situation much. He’d managed to get one frequency down before he took fire and dived behind the rear of the car. McGee returned fire the way he was taught and returned to his new location behind the car. Another shot was fired, just as McGee had sat back down, and went directly through the transmitter, causing smoke and sparks. This was shaping up to be a bad day and naturally he had to be the one to relay this to Gibbs.
Gibbs growled when he was suddenly struck by an idea. Kate had slowly been edging her way towards the two, not liking the fact they had yet to see Ari at this little shin dig he had set up and arrived just in time to see Gibbs blow out the controller.
“McGee, are you okay?”
“I got one terrorist inside! I don’t know if I got him, but he stopped shooting.”
“Hold your position. We’ll flush him.”
“Okay.”
Gibbs unclipped his magazine and found he hadn’t enough rounds left for any more big fire fights, and heard Tony say the same. Kate checked her own ammunition and found she had nothing at all left and would have to resort to her sig if she wanted to stay in the game. Just as Gibbs and Tony were about to compare their spare rounds, Kate looked up and saw the barrel of a gun pointing directly at Gibbs and didn’t hesitate in voicing it.
“Shooter!”
She ran into position, ready to take the hit, and caught the bullet just as she jumped in front of Gibbs who began shooting back at where the shot came from, Tony joining in just for the hell of it. Kate hit the ground hard and rolled once with the impact. If she’d had time to think things through, she would have felt her head throb with the rebound before she had rolled onto her side with her arms protectively over her ribs.
When it became apparent Gibbs had got the guy, Tony lowered his weapon again to preserve the little amount of bullets he did have and rushed over the where Kate lay motionless on the roof.
“Kate?”
Tony grabbed her right shoulder and rolled her onto her back. There was a collective holding of breath as Gibbs pulled down the zipper on her jacket and checked for the bullet. Imbedded in the black material, just two inches above her heart was the offending piece of metal that had caused the pained expression on her face.
“Are you okay?”
“Ow!”
Tony and Gibbs looked up at each other and sighed, neither one planning on admitting their fear any time soon, and returned their attention to their wounded soldier. Gibbs reached out and brushed the hair off her face, causing Kate to open her eyes slightly which looked more like a glare.
“I just got shot at point blank range, DiNozzo. What do you think?”
“You’re not going to be going to Pilates class tomorrow?”
Taking one hand in theirs, both helped Kate to standing causing her to groan more as her ribs ground together and more air filled her lungs. Turning so her back was to the sun, she looked at the two men she had just risked her life for and couldn’t have been more happy to see them both standing there with no apparent injuries. She was still bent over slightly, her ribs protesting at every and all movement, but that didn’t stop her from trying.
“Protection detail is over.”
Kate struggled to an upright position, but was helped with Gibbs hand on her shoulder, holding her up and comforting her at the same time. There was no chance she was going near a hospital to get checked over, she’d rather have Ducky take a look.
“You did good.”
“For once, DiNozzo is right.”
“Wow. I thought I’d die before I ever--”
Without warning, Kate felt herself hit the deck for the second time, barely having the time to register Tony yelling at them to get down, more concerned with the pain that suddenly coursed through her body.
It was bad enough she had the weight of her husband on top of her, putting pressure on her already injured ribs, but she also felt something give way in her left arm when she hit the rooftop and she was pretty sure there was some damage to her right knee at having been pushed and pulled down at an awkward angle.
After a few minutes, the weight on her left, leaving her only with Tony by her side. He moved her slowly, having already heard her cry out with pain, and moved her into his side with his arm protectively around her. They both looked up to see Gibbs standing a few feet in front of him, his useless weapon raised high scanning the roof tops for the one person they all knew it to be.
Kate recoiled in fear as Tony tightened his hold on her. The name that had already caused so many problems in the team slowly, but strongly, fell from their leaders mouth as the sun began to set over the rooftops of Newport News.
“Ari.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
The infamous roof episode. Hate this so much. Very AU from the point onwards - VERY
Chapter End Notes:
I hate this ep so much! This is the way things should've gone down.