Aftermath
The bedroom was furnished with 17th century brocaded silk and linen bedcovers, on a solid dark oak canopy bed, and a settee in one corner and a small uncomfortable chair in the other. I recognize this place but can't place where I have seen it before. Kate walks in out of the bathroom to my right, wearing a see through nightie and a smile. I stare confused at first then I remember where I had seen this room before. Before I can say anything, I notice movement on the bed; Abby and Tim are on it, or in it. Things start to get blurry and then I think I can hear Kate call out to me as I hit the floor with a thud.
"Tony, what happened?" I snap to attention to as I realize McGee has just climbed up to the roof and has just spotted Kate lying on the ground, with a bullet in her forehead.
"Ari" one word is all I can muster, as I realize Kate's blood is drying on my face.
"That bastard killed Kate, and now I'm going to definitely kill him, screw his FBI protection," Gibb's says as he keeps staring off into the beyond searching with his eyes for Ari.
"Should I call Ducky, boss?" McGee asks as he reaches for his phone.
"Yeah go ahead, McGee, Tony radio for backup, to canvas the area; I want this bastard before the end of the week."
"Yeah boss," I say though I'm ready to drop and cry for the woman who in time I probably could have come to love, and whom I already loved as a sister, the woman who stayed with me in the quarantine and pretended that we both had the plague. Once again I think back to the daydream, and then I snap back to attention as Gibb's gives me his usual slap to the back of the head.
"Dinozzo, did you hear what I said?"
"Yeah boss, sorry I- um I'm on it." I take out my phone and call headquarters for backup being sure to tell them that we have an Agent down and our specific location. Once Ducky arrives Gibb's allows McGee and I to return to Headquarters to give Abby the bad news and to get myself cleaned up. If only I had taken another week off, maybe Kate would still be alive; maybe I am home in bed dreaming all this. I snap myself back to reality as McGee grabs the wheel and guides the car back to the right lane.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive?" McGee asks making sure his seatbelt is tight.
"I'm fine besides it can't be worse than when Gibb's drives." I say as I grip the wheel with two hands and focus my eyes on the road ahead.
"Yeah well, at least he stays in the right lane."
"Again sorry about that it's just a real shock to have," I pause to swallow the lump in my throat, "Kate gone."
"Abby is going to be devastated. Ducky already looked ready to cry when he went to put her in the body bag."
"Palmer was numb with shock when he climbed over onto the roof with the body bag and the rest of his gear. Gibb's isn't going to be resigning anytime soon now."
"When was he going to resign?"
"He turned in his resignation when Director Morrow wouldn't let him go after Ari right away after Ari tried to kill him at the coffeehouse."
"How do you know this?"
"Kate told me after she was assigned the task of guarding Gibb's with her life."
"Too bad it cost her, her life."
I don't answer but as we pull into the garage I feel a tear drip down my face and I touch McGee's shoulder gently before we exit the car, "I loved her McGee."
"We all did Tony, we all did."
I shake my head knowing that it would take too long for me to explain what I really meant. McGee and I walk quietly to the elevator and take it to Abby's lab, where she greets us with a smile and gives McGee a big hug, and then she notices the blood on my face.
"Tony, whose blood is that," Abby asks as she slowly releases McGee.
"Tell her McGee." I say as I walk to Abby's sink and wash the blood off my face.
"Abby, Kate was shot by Ari."
"NO!" Abby buried her face in her hands and ran out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. I knock on the door softly and ask to enter, Abby doesn't answer but neither does anyone else so I enter and find Abby crouching in the corner under the sink trying to hide the fact that she was crying.
"Abby, it was a sniper shot to the forehead, Gibb's and I where helping Kate up from the ground after she took a bullet in the vest. McGee came up after the fact and only saw her on the ground. I had a brief daydream before he arrived on the roof."
"You had a daydream; don't tell Gibb's he'll have your ass."
"I think he's more concerned about getting Ari right now to even care. Should I tell you about the daydream?"
"Maybe later, after I stop crying. Hey McGee."
I turn around to see McGee standing in the doorway, I help Abby to her feet and then the three of us walk back to Abby's lab and console each other until Gibbs returns with Ducky and Palmer.
Despite being in a suit and tie McGee and I get comfortable on the floor, sitting cross-legged as best we can with Abby between us leaning into McGee upon occasion when she starts to tear up, while we share stories about Kate. Eventually I tell McGee and Abby about my daydream, and they stare at me like I'm crazy. McGee blames it on the fact that I'm delirious from the plague still and Abby calls it a new version of my Bête-noir; which it very well could be considering I just went through a bout of the pneumonic plague. When Gibbs walks into Abby's lab an hour later he drops a load of evidence bags on her desk and stares at the three of us sitting huddled on the floor.
"I miss her too, but we got work to do, so stop this petty crying crap and let's get to work, that means you too Abby," Gibbs barks as he helps Abby to her feet and then looks to me and McGee to follow suit.
I get up slowly and I feel Gibbs touch my shoulder gently and to make sure I'm ok, I nod and shake off his hand trying to appear macho though I feel like crawling into bed and sleeping for a week. McGee follows Gibbs and I up to the bullpen and when we all see Kate's empty desk we freeze for a moment before Gibbs walks past it to his own desk and boots up his computer. I sit down at my desk and stare at Kate's desk half expecting her to walk off the elevators with some God awful health food in a sack or better yet Chinese food with no forks.
"Tony, do I need to relieve you of duty or are you going to pay attention to what I'm saying?" Gibbs asks as he walks up to my desk blocking my view of Kate's desk.
"Sorry boss, what do you want me to do?" I ask, hoping not to get slapped on the back of the head again.
"If you can't handle this right now then I suggest you go home."
"I'll be fine boss."
"Good, then pull up all the case files on the cell that Ari is working with, even if it means stealing from the FBI."
"On it boss."
"I'm going for coffee, want any?"
"Yeah, cream no sugar."
"Ok and McGee?"
"Plain black today Boss," McGee says as he stares at Gibbs in dismay.
"Good, I'll be back in an hour."
"We'll be here boss," I say even though I know while Gibbs is gone I won't get any work done. I wait until the elevator doors close before turning to McGee, "I've never seen Gibbs offer to buy us coffee before, he's taking Kate's death harder than we think."
McGee thinks a moment, "Like the rest of us, but he sure shows it differently."
"McGee this is Gibbs of course he's taking it differently, he does and thinks differently from us, he's a Marine."
"You do have a point there, but at least we're getting coffee."
"That we are McGee that we are," I say as I begin pulling up case files off the FBI database.
An hour later Gibbs returns with our coffee, and not more than fifteen minutes later Senior FBI Agent Fornell walks into the bullpen and stops in front of Gibb's desk.
"I know what happened Jethro and I'm here help."
"That's great Tobias, now if you want to help you can start by telling us everything about the cell that Ari is working with, and don't try to pull FBI rank on me." Gibbs says sternly.
"Wouldn't dream of it after what happened to Agent Todd." Fornell says as he glances at Kate's empty desk.
"Good," Gibbs says as he motions for Fornell to take a seat.
McGee and I glance at each other before going back to our work.
Fornell talks to Gibbs and as I listen intently while rifling through the case files I notice something that could lead us to Ari, "Hey boss one of the members of the cell connected with Ari owns a warehouse in the vicinity of Newport News."
"Good work Dinozzo, keep looking for other leads, I'm going to talk with Director Morrow."
"Gotcha Boss."