Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.
Spoilers for SWAK and Hiaitus. AU in that Kate is still alive, but Ziva's still part of the team.
The Only One
Blue lights …
An exasperated groan.
"They'll be bonging beers next."
Sympathetic blue eyes.
"I don't think they will."
"Oh, you don't know Tony …"
"Agent DiNozzo's been diagnosed with pneumonic plague. You're alright. It's just him."
Her partner was going to die. That was alright?
"So tell me Doc, what have I got?"
"Pneumonic plague."
"Plague?"
"Yeah, Tony, plague. Because only you could go off an get a disease from the Dark Ages."
"I didn't put plague in that envelope!"
"You opened it!"
"What are you so worried about? It's not as if …"
Why did he look more scared about that than his own predicament?
"Kate?"
"She'll be okay, right?"
She wanted to scream; why wasn't he worrying about himself?
"Kate?"
"The strain has been genetically altered to resist antibiotics. You know what that means?"
Someone laughed. Was it her?
"That the IV in Tony's arm is useless? Then why do it?"
"Well, it can't hurt. And it gives him …"
"Hope."
She wished she could have some of that right now.
"Kate?"
Her partner's … friend's face … white and gaunt … blood dribbling from the side of his mouth.
"I'm sorry I teased you with all those movies, Kate."
No, Tony, don't apologise. That means you're giving up.
"Kate!"
"Why are you wearing a mask?"
"Because I have a cold."
"Why aren't you sick?"
"Because I'm stronger than you, Tony."
"Are not."
"Am too."
"Are …"
"Tony! Tony, sit up. Tony!"
"Kate, you should leave now."
No, don't make me leave; don't make me leave him … this is it; this is the end … he needs me here …
"Oh, Caitlin …"
"He's dying, Ducky …"
Blue lights …
White face …
Red blood …
Coughing … gurgling … drowning …
"KATE!"
Kate's eyes shot open and she sat up, gasping for breath. It took a few seconds of blinking to clear her consciousness.
The blue lights faded into darkness, a lone streetlight flickering through the gap in the curtains.
A loud coughing came from beside her, probably caused by the shout of her name that had woken her.
Forcing her dream to the back of her mind, she turned quickly, pulling Tony back into a sitting position, ignoring his efforts to lie back down. "You okay?"
"Fine." Tony assured her. "Just a cough."
"Don't lie to me, Tony." Kate whispered. "You've been like this for the last week; raising your voice shouldn't have this effect."
"Alright, it's a bad cough." Tony amended, taking a sip from the glass of water she handed him. "I'm fine, Katie. Really." With a charming smile that had loosened the lips of many a female witness over the years (and loosened a few other things as well), he lay back and tugged her hand, gently coaxing her back into his arms.
Kate didn't argue, taking the excuse of cuddling against him to listen to his breathing. It was a little heavy after his coughing fit, but there was no sign of the horrible rattling noise that had accompanied the plague and then the pneumonia that followed.
She relaxed all at once, sagging against him, and he stroked her hair soothingly, almost lazily, as he kissed her forehead.
"What were you dreaming about?"
"Blue lights." Kate answered, knowing she didn't need to say anything else.
Tony kissed her forehead again, not bothering to offer any form of verbal comfort.
They both had their bete noirs, only now Kate's had changed from dentists (she'd been lying when she told Tony she never had them) to watching her partner slowly succumb to the plague, and Tony's had changed from vampires to watching his partner take a bullet to the head.
Okay, so Tony had made a full recovery.
Okay, so the bullet had missed Kate by inches.
No one ever told their dreams that.
Tony knew that, when he woke up screaming, Kate's assurances that she was alright did nothing to help him, so he didn't attempt it. "I love you, Kate." He whispered. "Try and get some sleep; Boss'll kill us if we're late tomorrow."
Kate rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement, and he fell asleep quickly. She lay awake, however, unable to get the sounds of Tony's coughs out of her head.
She was satisfied that it was just a cough for now, but she also knew that he had a cold coming on.
Before Gibbs's temporary retirement, she wouldn't have given it another thought. This had happened that winter as well.
"DiNozzo, that's the fourth time you've coughed in ten minutes."
"It's nothing, Boss." Tony insisted. "Just a tickle."
Gibbs glared at him, but his phone rang before he could say anything. "Agent Gibbs." He hung up almost immediately. "Gear up; got a dead Marine in Fairfax. Not you, DiNozzo. Ducky. Now."
"Boss, c'mon!" Tony protested.
"Ducky or desk." Gibbs told him bluntly. "Only options."
Tony sighed. "I'll go to Ducky."
"If he says hospital, DiNozzo, you go." Gibbs added.
Tony sighed again. "On second thought, I'll take the desk."
"All this over a cough?" Ziva asked as they reached the elevator.
Kate tried not to snap at her, reminding herself that Ziva didn't know. McGee, seeing her inner turmoil, took it upon himself to explain things to their newest team-member. "It started with a letter …"
Back then, they had been a family. Even Director Shepard had turned up at hospitals when one of them had been hurt. She'd even played the role of Tony's mother to get information when he and Kate were both shot during a raid.
But now, things were different.
Ever since that bomb had left Gibbs with 15 years worth of memories to recover, things had been different.
Now, when Tony coughed, nothing changed. Only Abby would question it, but drop the subject when she got the reassurance she was looking for.
Occasionally, Ziva would catch Kate's eye across the bullpen, during a particularly bad bout of coughing.
Sometimes Ducky would appear, called by Kate or another agent on their way past autopsy.
But each time, Tony would wave them off, Gibbs would bark something about being in the middle of a case and shouldn't they be working, and McGee would roll his eyes and mutter that Tony was being a Drama Queen.
Again.
Why did none of them remember that Tony made the biggest fuss out of the smallest problem and the smallest fuss out of the biggest?
Why did none of them remember the scarring on his lungs that could prove fatal with the smallest amount of irritation?
That scarring was the reason they knew Tony hadn't been in his car when it had blown up (admittedly only after the longest two hours of Kate's life, followed by one equally long one while they waited for him to resurface) – did they think it just appeared when it was convenient and reappeared when it wasn't?
The latest reminder had come just yesterday.
"Gibbs, Tony's been coughing a lot lately; I think he's coming down with something."
"What do you want me to do, Agent Todd; make him some soup?"
Kate knew how dangerous the flu could be. It had landed him in Bethesda more than once, and she still had Dr. Brad Pitt (no relation to the actor) on speed-dial.
Tony, being Tony, had made her promise not to tell anyone and she understood why. Being raised by a father who constantly told him he was weak had left him with a deeply ingrained need to prove the opposite.
"Hey." Tony murmured, startling her. "I can hear you thinking."
"No you can't." Kate sniggered.
"Can too." Tony argued.
"Can't."
"Can …" Tony trailed off, coughing heavily.
Kate winced, unable to keep from remembering that last horrible conversation in the isolation room. "You okay?"
"Fine." Tony sat up slightly to retrieve the glass of water from the nightstand, still keeping her clutched to him with one arm.
"I swear, Tony, you're like a child with a teddy bear." Kate grumbled good-naturedly, fighting her way out of his arms. "Sit up properly."
"Yes, mom." Tony rolled his eyes, putting the glass down again. "And you're not a teddy bear, Kate. If you were, I'd be a little concerned about my state of mind."
Kate laughed, glad of the distraction as she settled back in his arms, but her heart wasn't really in it.
Once again, Tony quickly fell back to sleep, with a soft kiss and whispered 'I love you'.
"I love you too." Kate rested her head back on his chest, wincing once more as he coughed again.
Sometimes it felt like she was the only one who remembered.
AN: Hope you liked it. You may have noticed that my other Tate fics have been deleted - I'm re-writing, re-editing and re-uploading them in the proper order this time XD Review please!