Short and angsty. Tony gets an unwanted reminder of what he's lost.
Tony hesitated a moment before walking with Ziva into the isolation ward of Bethesda. Immediately he was thrown back to the last time he'd been there, with Kate, and he cast a glance at Ziva, wishing things were different. Tony and Ziva walked over to the desk where Nurse Emma and Brad sat talking. "Nurse Emma, Brad. Tony DiNozzo, NCIS." Tony began.
"Tony, how could I forget?" Nurse Emma laughed flirtatiously. But Tony only smiled half-heartedly back. Ziva went with Emma to a nearby office to interview her, while Tony and Brad sat. After asking a few questions Tony was finding it hard to concentrate. He was having flashbacks – blue lights, coughing, face masks, Kate. "So," Brad began, "I see you have a new partner. How's Kate doing?" Tony tiredly rubbed his face. His voice cracked as he spoke.
"Kate's, Kate's dead." Brad's eyes widened in shock and he replied quietly.
"I'm sorry." After a few minutes silence Brad continued, "I never got to ask her out." Tony smiled sadly.
"Me neither."
"She was an amazing woman. She obviously loved you a lot." Tony snorted.
"Kate? Love me? Nah."
"Tony, she stayed with you, she risked being infected, so that she could be by your side. You should have seen her eyes when I told her you were infected. She pretended that she had the plague, just so she could…she said it was to give you hope, but really I think she was just too afraid to leave you." Tony's eyes glazed with tears, but he wiped them away when Ziva and Nurse Emma returned. "Thanks Brad. And for what it's worth, she would have said yes to you too." Tony and Brad both smiled, and as Tony walked away they both randomly thought 'This reminds me of the end of alien.'