Death is Nothing But the Next Great Adventure

Tony heard the gun fire.

Tony felt the gunshot wound.

Tony felt the bullet rip through his shoulder.

Tony didn't stop running, though. He ran with all his might, ignoring the flaring pain and fired his gun back at them; killing the two men standing before him.

Tony didn't even batter an eyelash as the two men went down, sprinting past them and out on the pier. He threw his gun away, his legs burned and his heart raced as he neared the edge.

And then everything went green and the cold grabbed a hold of him. Tony ignored that too, his only thoughts were on the struggling man in the submerged car who tried to get the unconscious form of a young lady to awaken.

The pain flared again as the punched and struggled with the windshield of the car. The only thing making him able to even more the damned arm was the adrenaline surging through his blood.

As he pumped both their chests, cursing and praying all at the same time, he could see the blood staining his white shirt. His arm got weaker by the pump, and the world seemed to tilt in and out of focus. Still, he didn't give up. He continued to do CPR until he heard the sound of running feet coming towards him.

By then, both Gibbs and Maddy was breathing, holding hands while lying on the pier.

Tony didn't need to tell Ziva and McGee to call an ambulance. In fact, he didn't say a word.

As the adrenaline slowly faded into a faint echo of what it had been, black spots started to dance in front of his eyes. Tony brought his flickering eyes down to his chest, seeing the blood quickly soaking through the white material. The coldness was ever present, the dripping water running down his face and back. His breathing came in harsh pants as he collapsed.

The sky above him whirled, the clouds dancing in a circle.

The coldness seemed to get colder; it chilled him more than it did moments ago.

Tony felt his breathing slow down, the rasping quality still there. His eyes flickered down again, seeing his now deep red shirt. He was losing too much blood – too fast. Panic seized him viscously.

"Ziva...McGee," Tony rasped, barely making any sounds.

The frantic shouting stopped, and a shadow fell over Tony.

"Oh God," a choked voice sounded as the figure quickly started pulling his suit jacket open.

Warm hands clamped down on his shoulder, pressing down hard, making Tony give a breathless groan in pain. His eyesight settled for a minute and Ziva floated into view; her huge brown eyes showing panic as she clutched his bloody shoulder. Her hair framed her face, tickling Tony. It was a nice feeling, Tony thought airily; a nice feeling to die to.

And then Gibbs face hovered beside Ziva's, his face pale and dripping, just like Tony's own face. His pale blue eyes were a mix between panic and anger. Tony thought he'd already died when he felt the course hand run through his short hair. The hand didn't stop even when the face turned around and shouted something.

Tony's eyes shifted to look up into the sky. The clouds didn't dance anymore.

The coldness grew stronger. It seemed as if icy claws were dragging him down into the water again, his breathing getting more unsteady by the minute.

The panic left him, and a warm feeling of piece settled down in his stomach.

He smiled up at the worried faces hovering above him. The will and power to live was swiftly draining out of him.

"Don't...worry..." Tony gave a weak cough, his eyes gliding in and out of focus, "I'll...tell...Katy... hi...for...you."

Gibbs growled as he took a hold of his Senior Field Agent's jaw and made his glazed green eyes meet his own fevered blue ones.

"You are not allowed to die, Anthony DiNozzo. That is an order!"

A flickering smile crossed the deathly pale agents face.

"I...don't...blame...you...bo-oss," Tony coughed again, river water trickling out, "Don't...you...dare...blame...yourself."

Again, a weak cough ripped through his throat.

Tony's eyes flickered over to Ziva, her eyes moist with tears. He gave her a fading smile.

"Best...ninja...chick...ever."

One single tear rand down Ziva's pale cheek as she gentle stroked Tony's cold jaw, her other hand still desperately clinging to his shoulder, along with Gibbs bigger hand.

McGee looked green, his eyes huge with shock and utter panic as he watched his co-worker.

Tony gave his best smile when he spotted the probie.

"You'll do well, Probie."

It had been too long. The ambulance hadn't arrived yet, and the bleeding wouldn't stop. How could a healthy man die from a gunshot wound to the shoulder? McGee thought angrily. His eyes were drawn to the freezing river. He could barely see the car in which Gibbs and Maddy had been trapped. Tony had saved them, with a bullet wound in his shoulder.

McGee couldn't stop the tears that sprung forwards as he heard his friend; his bothersome co-worker and sort-of-mentor take his last shuttering breath.

Gibbs gave a guttering cry of pain and sat back, letting his blood soaked hands fall down uselessly. Ziva hunched over Tony, her hands just as bloody, wrapped around Tony's face, gently stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. The tears leaked down her face, as she muttered in Hebrew.

They would forever remember the day Anthony DiNozzo, Very Special Agent, died saving the life of Special Agent Gibbs and civilian Maddy Taylor.

-Break-

The first thing Tony saw when he woke was the colour white. Or was white a colour, at all? Tony wasn't sure. His body didn't ache, like he expected it to, but then again, no one really knew what happened when you died.

Tony figured he was laying on something, something soft. He carefully turned his head to the side.

The smiling face of his mother greeted him.

The yelp that tumbled its way out of him sounded way to girly in his opinion. It had sounded that to others as well, if the laughter was any indication. But Tony didn't feel like scowling at the person laughing. His mother; her hair long and brown, her lips red and full and her eyes brilliant green, it was his mother. She was there, merely inches away.

But the laughter didn't belong to her.

Tony's head turned around slowly.

The sight that greeted him was one of the most beautiful he had ever imagined.

Caitlin Todd stood there, with her brown hair and smiling face, beside her stood Paula Cassidy with a teasing grin on her face.

There were a lot more people around, floating in the distance, a faded sound of chatter reached Tony's ears as he sat there.

Tony just stared. And as he stared, a small girl with brown hair came shyly towards him. She was smiling, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger as she came to a stop in front of him. She blushed prettily as she gazed at him from beneath her eyelashes.

"Thank you for saving my daddy," She whispered before she bent forwards and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

She ran quickly back to a woman Tony hadn't noticed before. There were no question to who she was, what with her shiny red hair and all. Tony just gave a quivering smile in return.

He slowly got to his feet; the women surrounding him flocked to him, holding an arm or patting him on his back. He must have done something right in his life to be blessed with such lovely women when he died, Tony thought dazedly as they helped him along an invisible path in all the white.

But as Tony studied the ground on which he walked upon, he noticed that it was slightly see through. He quickly fell to his knees again, shadowing his eyes so that he could focus on what lay beneath them.

It took a while, but he got a few glimpses of his family. All of them huddled together. At least they didn't shut themselves off from each other; that wouldn't have been good.

His funeral was quite a show, if Tony had to say so; a lot women, as well. Something he really hadn't expected.

They would be okay, Tony thought as Kate took a hold of his arm, and dragged him to his feet again.

After all, they would meet again, right?

Edited 12 July, 2011