In case you're wondering, this is connected to my other story in progress, "Undeniable". It's set after the honeymoon (Chapter 13, "Together"), so we'll say that Ziva and Tony have been married for a few weeks now- maybe three.
Indiana- so far from Washington D.C, and yet the NCIS team was there today. They had been investigating the murder of a Marine Corporal- Corporal Phil Hogar. Gibbs was a good friend of the Corporal's father, which was the main reason why the team had traveled so far to the Midwest. The case had been solved in record time, but Director Vance had given the team extra time to stay in Indiana. He knew the team would need the time to visit a special person.
Indiana. The final resting place of Special Agent Caitlin Todd.
The entire team, except for Ziva had gone to visit Kate's grave at different times so that they could each spend some time alone at Kate's gravestone. So far Gibbs, McGee and Ducky had visited, (Abby and Jimmy were stuck in D.C.) but Tony had yet to go. Now, he walked into the graveyard, carrying a bouquet of flowers, and walked up to Kate's simple tombstone. Keeling down on one knee, he gently placed the bouquet next to the other fresh flowers that the rest of the team had placed there earlier. Tony then sat down, reading the name on the tombstone letter by letter. C-A-I-T-L-I-N T-O-D-D. To anyone else who passed the gravestone, this was just a name. To Tony and the rest of the team, however, it was so much more. It was the name of a wonderful woman who had her life cut short by a violent assassination. As he gazed at the name, a pair of chocolate brown eyes, hidden in the shadows of some nearby trees, gazed at him.
"Hey Kate." Tony whispered. He absently began to trace the letters in her name. "I know it's been a while since I last visited. Hell, I think the last time I came was just before Jenny died. Or maybe just after. It's just so hard to get to Indiana. You remember what work was like. I'm so sorry, though." Tony sighed, shifted, and then spoke again.
"Well, to keep you up to date, Leon Vance is now the director of NCIS. I guess you could describe him as your typical by-the-book man, completely opposite of Gibbs, but he actually gives the same amount of leeway that Jenny did to us. Complains about it, but he works with us. Still doesn't mean I'll be calling him Leon anytime soon. I know he won't let me, and I'm still pissed about the time after Jenny died when he sent me to be the agent afloat on the USS Ronald Regan. Never did like being on the ocean, not unless there's a nice sandy beach nearby. You were always better on the ships than I was. Guess that's because you spent so much time on Air Force One." Tony stopped, noticing that he was rambling. "Man, I'm turning into Abby. She really misses you by the way- she's not too happy she couldn't be here. The black roses are from her."
"Well, the biggest news is that well, I'm… married." Tony chuckled here. "I bet you're rolling around in your grave with that one, right Kate? Me, Mr. Playboy, settling down? Yeah right. Who would have thought I'd be the first one to marry? Not me. But, sorry for the lame cliché, but the perfect woman walked into my life."
"I'm, uh, married to Ziva David. Well, Ziva DiNozzo now. Heck, I'm still surprised she married me. I sure as hell don't deserve her…" Tony started at the sound of an exotic, rich, female voice.
"No Tony. It is I who do not deserve you." Ziva gracefully stepped out of the copse of trees where she had been hiding. Catching sight of Tony's surprised face, she said, "I am sorry. This should have been private. I'll leave." She turned to go, but Tony stopped her.
"No Ziva, stay. I didn't say anything I wouldn't have wanted you to hear. And of course you deserve me! You know that beautiful one." Ziva sat down next to Tony and he wrapped an arm around her. She then laid her head on his shoulder.
"Tony, what was Kate like? I have only seen the file on her, and I want to know who she truly was." Tony squeezed Ziva's shoulder, took a breath, and began.
"Kate was smart, kind and funny, but she hid all that with her tough side. She got that from working in Secret Service. She could almost shoot as well as you can, but I'll tell you, her gentle side was something to see. We once had this case involving the kidnapping of a Captain's daughter- this sweet, cute, blind 8-year-old girl. Kate just about bent over backwards to keep that girl happy when we got her safe in NCIS headquarters. When it turned out that the Captain had his own daughter and wife kidnapped to get two million, she was ready to murder him." Ziva pretended not to see the lone tear rolling down Tony's cheek. He quickly wiped it away, and then continued.
"Kate had a wicked sense of humor as well. She loved to mock me, especially when it came to women and my immaturity. She was a lot like you in that sense- she could be so merciless. There was this one time with a transgender- forget it." Tony said, seeing Ziva's amused look. "You just have to know that she never let up with that one. She could be brutal."
"Did you ever go undercover with her?" Ziva asked, a twinkle in her eye. Tony laughed softly.
"Once, but it wasn't like the time we went undercover, not at all. Still was pretty funny. We played some low-life couple to get this suspect's DNA. I was the gangster boyfriend, and she was my slut of a girlfriend who was supposedly either carrying my baby or someone else's. We got the DNA, but boy, you should have seen us- actually, you should have seen Kate. The reserved, Roman Catholic, good girl playing this twenty-year old slut with a low-cut shirt and popping bubble gum, hah! I mean, she was the exact opposite of you. She'd never even think of fantasizing about men or women naked, let alone say it out loud!" Ziva laughed at this.
"You and her are so different, but there are quite a few similarities between you two. Both of you are pretty strong in your religions- Kate as a Roman Catholic and you as a Jew. Both of you are good with kids, and have a loyal, kind side hidden with a tough exterior, or so you think. And you both have a wicked sense of humor, and are very beautiful in your own way."
"You speak of her as if she is still alive."
"In a way she is, at least to me. It really seemed that way right after her death. I guess I was still in shock from how violent it was." Tony went silent, remembering that Ziva was related to Kate's killer.
Ziva's face darkened somewhat. "You were there when she died, were you not?"
"Yeah. Even to this day I can still sometimes feel that awful spray of blood on my face…" Tony's voice trailed off and he turned his face away. Ziva immediately felt a pang of sadness. This woman had hadn't deserved to die.
"I'll… I'll give you some time alone Tony." She said. Ziva pulled herself from his embrace and walked towards the graveyard's entrance. As soon as she knew she was out of sight from Tony, she broke down. She was so ashamed, so hurt, knowing that she was related to Kate's killer. She felt as if she had been the one to pull the trigger, not Ari.
"I'm…so…sorry…" she whispered in between sobs. Suddenly Ziva felt a wind blow through her hair, and out of the corner of her eye a figure seemed to emerge in the sunlight. Ziva turned, hand landing on her gun, but when she saw who the person was, her hands flew to her mouth instead. Ziva had seen enough photographs to know that this was Caitlin Todd standing in front of her, or at least her ghost. The brunette smiled, her brown eyes full of warmth, and she put a hand that had no weight on Ziva's shoulder. Her voice, strong and rich filled the air.
"I never blamed you for what happened, Ziva. I was a profiler, remember? I saw who you really were, the person under the Mossad training. You were, and still are, and always will be, a good person to the core. You have always made the right decision in the end." Ziva's tears came again, but this time they were tears of happiness, and she put her hand were Kate's should have been.
"Just promise me one thing." Kate continued.
"Anything." Ziva whispered.
"Take care of Tony, will you? You two were always right for one another, and I'm glad you finally married. But just keep an eye on DiNoz- Tony. He likes to get into trouble for some reason." Kate winked, and Ziva laughed.
"I promise Kate." With that, Kate's image faded away, to be replaced by Tony, who was walking towards Ziva, a relaxed smile on his face. Ziva thought that the visit to his partner's grave had done him good. Perhaps Kate had visited him as well.
"Who were you talking to Zi?" Tony asked as he slipped his arm in hers.
"Kate." she replied matter-of-factly. Tony smiled.
"Make sure you listen to what she said. She was always right." He leaned over and kissed her on the brow, and the two walked out of the graveyard, towards the setting sun.
Behind them the image of a smiling brunette NCIS agent faded with the light of the sun. Kate had found her peace.
I really hope you enjoyed this, I did writing it. The idea of Kate visiting Ziva obviously came from the first two episodes of season 3 (Kill Ari 1&2) when Kate visits the team. Plus Ziva believes in ghosts, so it's not too hard to have Kate come visit her.
I just wanted Ziva to somehow meet Kate, so this is it. The idea isn't exactly original- I kinda borrowed it from NCIStivaAddict's "A Trip to Indiana", but made it my own. Thank you NCIStivaAddict!
Review please!
Yeah, sure, you becha!