Choice
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, but we all wish we did.
Spoilers: Bete Noir, Twlight, Kill Ari I&II, Truth or Consequences, Rule Fifty-One
Kate felt the bullet before she heard it, it was in her chest and it burned. Tony and Gibbs were bent over her, telling her to hang on. Her vision began to become clouded and white, she knew she was dying but that was something she accepted long ago.
The next thing she saw was that she sat on the lawn of a everyday neighborhood house. "Strange isn't it?"
She turned to find her grandmother, "being in between."
"Grandma, what is happening?" She stood and turned at the sound of laughter, seeing children not far off. They were laughing as they wrestled, two boys and by looks, identical twins. "Who are they?"
"Your children, your twin boys or what could be." She chuckled and looked at Kate, "my dear, the life you are leaving behind will be challenging but so abundant."
"Challenging how?"
"Let's take a journey, from the present into the future." She held out her hand and Kate took it, Kate was standing outside a warehouse.
She saw Ari and a woman talking, arguing more like.
"I will end this once and for all, she will die and you will no longer be split." The woman grabbed the nearby rifle and Ari grabbed the woman's arm.
"No Ziva, no!" He eyed her and she eyed him, "I beg you."
The woman, Ziva pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Ari, "you have taken much expense to protect her...tell me why?"
"She is like Tali, compassionate and kind..."
The woman shot him in the shoulder, "speak of Tali again and I will shoot you dead, this woman, this Caitlin Todd is nothing but a distraction. You are to be our mole in Al Qaeda, our link to taking down Hamas but you have lost your way...no more, I do this for our family." She moved away but stopped. "But just for your dear brother, I shall make it quick...she will not feel it."
The woman was gone and despite his shoulder, Ari grabbed his phone and dialed a number. "Fornell, it is...I understand, Special Agent Todd is in danger...a Mossad officer named Ziva David will kill her. I shall, I will be there within an hour." He shut his phone and groaned.
Kate shook her hand, "what is he doing," she looked at her grandmother, "why is he doing this?"
The woman chuckled and eyed her, "he has never been given kindness, you are the first and because you don't see him with contempt as everyone else does...he wants to protect you. Next stop is the FBI Building, about a year from now."
They stood by watching Ari swearing something, Fornell was the doing the swearing in. Fornell gave him a badge and gun. "May I present FBI Agent Ari Haswari."
They watched the room disperse and Ari moved to someone in the crowd, a woman, herself.
"That's me."
"Of course that is you, when he defects you will be the one to help him adjust."
Ari kissed the other Kate and she beamed at him. "So, how does it feel to be Agent Haswari instead of Officer Haswari?"
"Better," he moved away, his arm around her. "As if I know that world will not touch me again, however the only thing I am deemed good enough for is Counter Terrorism."
The other Kate chuckled, "just the place for you, you know a few things about that. Listen, I have to get back...I'm on lunch break, I'll see you later for a celebration dinner." She kissed him and smiled, leaving.
Kate shook her head, "I hate the bastard."
Her grandmother chuckled, "you learn you can't live without him, we will go forward to his death."
They sat in a hospital room, an elderly man in the bed and an elderly woman sitting beside him. The woman smiled, "I still remember that day in the morgue forty-eight years ago...I hated you then. I can't imagine another day without you."
The man was not responsive and eventually the monitor flat lined, nurses came rushing in. They helped the woman out before taking care of the body. Kate walked to the door as the elderly woman collapsed in the hallway.
"What happened to her?"
"Stroke," her grandmother joined her, "ended up in a coma, children took her off of it and let her die naturally. You died two days apart, do you know why you couldn't bare to live alone after his death?" Her grandmother placed a hand over her heart, "soulmates, two of the same soul...you may not believe it now but one thing will change it, come see."
They stood in another hospital room, Kate saw herself in bed...she looked only a few years older. She was crying and upset, the door opened and Kate saw Ari come in with a baby. Kate sat up and he sat down on the bed, handing the baby to her. "He is beautiful Caitlin, it is unfair yes but his soul was never meant to reside on Earth."
The other Kate nodded and kissed the baby, "Noah, it means rest and peace. Noah James Haswari." She smiled, "he would have been just like his father...strong."
Kate looked at her grandmother, "stillborn?"
"Yes, his twin sister survives, Kate even if you go back...you can't stop his death, it is meant to be."
Kate shook her head, "how come it didn't tear us apart, stillbirths and miscarriages tear people apart."
"Because Kate, you both see the tragedy but you do not allow it to tear you apart. Your love is strong, nothing can tear you apart...a year later your seventh child is born, the sixth living child."
Kate looked down and then at the two living people in the room, she saw the love in Ari's eyes as he kissed her future self's head. She saw the love in her own eyes, looking down at their deceased child. It was devoted love, the type of love that could conquer death.
"That look of love, its like the type of love that can conquer death."
"Do you wish to see what will happen if you decide to move on?"
Kate thought about it, "yeah, I'd like that. That woman, Ziva...does she die?"
"No actually, no one believes she killed you. They blame Ari and in so he dies...however she soon sees her error and lives with it but she also finds her soulmate. Come see."
They are in a cell, Tony is strapped to a chair waiting. "It'd be easier to find a new drummer for spinal tap, Ziva's not replacable."
The man bent down, "the one you lost, then why aren't you looking for her?"
"If I could drag her back, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But that's impossible, because Ziva David is dead."
It was an hour later that a person was dragged in, it was Ziva. "Tony, why are you here?"
"Couldn't live without you...I guess."
"So you will die with me?"
After a little argument Tony eyed her, "get over yourself."
"I have, now you tell Saleem everything he wants to hear and you try to save yourselves...I am ready to die." She looked down, "I have done things, many unforgivable things and one of them makes me deserve this fate."
"Everything is forgivable Ziva."
She shook her head, "he tried to protect her."
Tony stared at her, "who tried to protect who?"
Ziva shook her head and eyed Tony, a tear in her eye. "Ari, he tried to protect Kate...he didn't kill her, he tried to protect her from her murderer."
"Do you know who murdered her?" It was McGee who asked and Ziva nodded, staring at Tony.
"It was me, I killed her...I saw the distraction she was to him and his mission, I did what I thought was best. I just killed my brother instead, now tell Saleem everything and live."
Kate shook her head, "they must hate her."
"Ziva," Tony looked at her, "can you fight?"
The next thing Kate knew, she was in an apartment...Tony's apartment. Her grandmother pointed to the kitchen and she walked to it to see Tony and Ziva talking.
"You did not tell Gibbs, McGee either."
"No," Tony chuckled, "Kate would kill me for not forgiving you. That's how she was, understanding and kind."
"Ari said compassionate and kind." She looked at him, "do you think its possible they were soulmates...Ari and Kate, because it was if my brother lost all meaning with her death. Do you think I stopped it...what could be for them?"
Tony moved to her and smiled, "Ziva, fate's a funny thing, I mean it gave me a killer...a Mossad assassin to love." He pulled her into a hug, "perhaps they were, perhaps they weren't...we'll never know."
"It's been a year since that confession, I'm an American now...I have you but it still hurts to think I stole life from them both."
Tony smiled, "she came to a few moments after the shot, in the ambulance, she said something that didn't make sense at the time."
"What did she say?"
"It's worth it, dying...love her Tony, always forgive her." He turned back, "we never understood what she meant...she died seconds later with a single word, a name that we thought was a pointed finger. Her last word was Ari's name."
Ziva nodded, "one day we will understand."
He kissed her and smiled, "one day, but for now I have my soulmate."
"Agreed." Ziva smiled and kissed him again.
Kate shook her head and nodded, "give me those minutes, I choose death."
Her grandmother looked at her confused, "why, you have a life ahead of you?"
Kate smiled and looked at her grandmother, "because I can have happiness but what about her, Ziva...she'll just die and never know happiness, just that she is Mossad. Tony will be right, I'd kill him for not forgiving her...that's how I am. It's my time, I just have this feeling everything will be better for me after my death."
"Five minutes, now."
Kate woke, she felt pain but saw Tony and Gibbs beside the EMT. "Kate, Kate stay with us."
Tony looked at her and she smiled a weak smile. "It's worth it, dying...love her Tony, always forgive her."
Tony shook his head, "who Kate, who are you taking about."
Kate thought about Ari, the love she was giving up for Tony, it was selfless but it was right. She felt weak, the light calling her back. "Ari..."
Then she died, understanding her death was paving the way for others. It was peaceful to know that others would prosper from it.
Years later Tony stood looking down at the grave of his friend, "You know, I think you knew...about Ziva. I think you knew what was to come, is that why you told me that...to forgive her?"
He chuckled and bent down, laying a flower on the stone.
"I have to ask you something, I know you'll probably laugh at this but Ziva thinks you were Ari's soulmate...were you Kate, were you destined to change him?"
The wind blew and Tony smiled, looking up.
"I'll take that as a yes, thank you Kate...I know you died but when you did, you gave me her."
A/N: What do you think, Kate had the choice of happiness or death and chose for everyone else ot be happy instead?