Last Kiss – Tate Style
~Oh where, oh, where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me.
She's gone to heaven so I've got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world ~
Kate came down the stairs from her apartment. She couldn't believe that he had actually had the gall to ask her out for dinner let alone the sophistication to actually go through with it. She thought of him as being crass and immature but there was something about him that had made her say yes. She couldn't believe that she was really going on a date with Anthony DiNozzo. He really wasn't her type but when she thought about it, maybe he was. He was smart, debonair, sort of like an immature Cary Grant. Oh God! Now she was quoting movie references too. Was it too late to turn around and go back inside because obviously he was starting to have an effect on her?
Tony watched from the car as he saw her glide down the steps. He found himself catching his breath as he saw her. She was beautiful. She had on a little black number that was sexy but without being promiscuous. Her dark chestnut brown hair draped loosely around her shoulders but moved just enough with the breeze that was about to disclose a set of white gold drop earrings that he had gotten her for her birthday. She had on the matching necklace and it sat lovingly around her neck. How he longed to kiss the nape of her neck, but alas, Kate was a lady and dinner came first.
The evening was damp from the rain that had fallen only hours before and they both thought maybe they had of worn something a bit warmer. Tony grinned as he thought of ways that he would have to keep Katie warm. As she approached him though, he made sure that he was thinking of nothing but her.
Kate witnessed him rise and fall with the thoughts that flowed through him, some of the thoughts though, she knew he was up to no good. He had promised her a night out filled with romance (no movies he had said) and then back home by midnight as they both had school in the morning, school being work, not school.
She smiled as she caught his eye and took in what he was wearing; black Armani double-breasted suit over a teal green open collared shirt. As she neared she noticed that the shirt had a vague pattern through it, swirls of black and white swam through the sea of green. The colour of his shirt accentuated his eyes – she had never realized that they were green. Working with him for two years and she had never noticed it. He stood next to the passenger side of the car, holding the car door open for her to get inside. She had to admit, he was off to a very fine start on this date, even down to the inhaling of breath he took as she slid by him. He gently closed the door and ran over to the driver's side to start their night. As he shifted the car into gear, he took one long look at Kate. He couldn't believe she had actually said yes when he asked her to dinner. Tonight was going to be interesting.
~We went out on a date in my Daddy's car
We hadn't driven very far
There in the road, straight ahead
A car was stalled the engine was dead~
Tony couldn't believe the luck he was having. Gibbs had actually let him use his Mustang because Tony's was in the shop getting the upholstery done, Kate had agreed to coming out to dinner with him and also the fact that he was able to get a seven o'clock seating at the most exclusive Italian restaurant in town meant that their night had the signs of being something he would never forget. He was not aware of how true that statement was.
Kate watched him take small glances at her and had also noticed that he hadn't stopped smiling since she hopped in the car. Actually, thinking about it, she had never seen Tony this genuinely happy. He was a happy guy but sometimes the smile didn't fill in his entire face, but this one, oh yeah, this smile was real. She actually found herself wondering what he was thinking about because it was the quietest she had ever seen Tony. Maybe it was a sign of nerves.
She decided to break the silence. "So… Tony?"
"Yes, Kate?"
"Well, uh, I was wondering what you were thinking about. It's not like you to be quiet for so long."
He smiled that genuine smile at her again and even though she would never admit it, it really did make him look quite handsome.
"Well Kate, I was actually trying to work out why you had agreed to come with me on this little venture. All you do all day is tease me and make fun."
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do NOT!"
"Do too," the final one said in a whisper. He grinned. He loved it when they had that exchange. It usually allowed him to see her genuine smile. He got goose bumps just thinking about it.
She smiled as he went back to concentrating on the road. She found herself staring at him, taking in every detail. She was a profiler after all. She hadn't realized that she had missed this part of him though. Who thought that Tony could actually get nervous? As she took it all in, she noticed that he was sneaking small glances of her while he was concentrating on the road. She was quite glad that it was dark in the car except for the dashboard lights because that meant that he wouldn't have seen her just blush. After controlling her emotions long enough, she looked up at the road seeing a dark shape emerge out of the darkness.
"TONY! LOOK OUT!"
~I couldn't stop, so I swerved to the right
I'll never forget the sound that night
The screaming tires, the busting glass
The painful scream that I heard last~
Kate's scream of panic had caused Tony to realize that they were going to plow into another car. There was no warning that the car had been there, no lights to indicate otherwise. In the haste to not hit the motionless vehicle, Tony pulled hard on the steering, overcorrecting and causing the tires to slip on the dampened road. Tony was concentrating on trying to keep the car upright when suddenly the two tires that the weight of the car was leaning on, gripped the road causing the car to roll. Tony looked over to Kate and saw bits of glass falling around the car as he held his arms up to the roof, hoping in some way that it may help their situation. Kate's body was being thrown around the car like a rag doll only she stayed in one place. Her seat belt was doing its job well, clinging to her with every violent action the car could muster. He knew that their fate was in God's hands. The last things that Tony heard would forever be in his memory; the sound of the shattered glass hitting the ground as every roll broke more from the windows, the final scraping sound of the metallic roof of the car echoing from the surrounding buildings as the car finally glided to a stop in the middle of the road and Kate's scream as the agony reached her lungs.
~Oh where, oh, where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me.
She's gone to heaven so I've got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world ~
Somewhere in a lonely office, a cup of coffee was going cold.
Somewhere across town, a siren sounded.
~When I woke up the rain was pouring down
There were people standing all around
Something warm fell into my eyes
But somehow I found my baby that night~
Tony's head was killing him. It was throbbing. Not in a 'you haven't had enough sleep' sort of throb, more of a 'what the hell did you get up to last night' sort of way but even worse than that. Tony tried slowly to open his eyes, only succeeding in opening one and letting it adjust to the low level light that was filtering in through the glassless windows.
"Kate?"
The logical explanation was failing to rear its head as he couldn't quite get his bearings on the whole situation. He tried his best to figure out what had happened. He couldn't think straight with all the noise and the pain in his head. All he was able to figure out was that he was upside down and his seatbelt was still wrapped tightly around him.
"Kate?"
He decided that he was going to undo his seatbelt. That was his big mistake. Not thinking logically due to possible head trauma, he forgot about the gravity part of his plan. His head hit the ground with a massive thump and scream of pain failed to escape his lips. Once upright, he tried to focus on the situation, looking around the car for his Kate.
"Kate?"
A voice returned his question but it wasn't Kate's.
"Is everybody alright in there?" The male voice reverberated through his aching head.
"Yeah, I'm ok, I think." He could feel something warm falling into his good eye.
"Hey buddy? You got a phone on you?" Tony called towards the unknown voice.
"Yeah, it's alright mate, we've called the fire brigade and the ambulance. They're on their way."
"No, I need…" He winced as another wave of pain swam through his head. Placing his hand over his injured eye, he started again, "Can you call someone for me? I'm a Federal Agent and I need you to call someone for me." The strangers head looked through the shattered windscreen of his Boss' car. Gibbs was going to kill him if he got out of this alive. "His name is Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Can you do that for me?"
"Just give me the number and I'll do that for you."
Tony smiled as he reached for his phone. Instead of his phone all he found was crumpled up bits of plastic and circuitry. He groaned again.
"Ok mate, just give it to me."
"Well that's a bit of a problem. His number's in my phone and it seems to be inoperable at the moment. Can you call the NCIS switch for me then?"
"NCIS?"
"Yeah, it stands for Navy Criminal Investigative Service."
"Um, yeah I knew that mate except, they're already here."
"DiNozzo?" A familiar voice broke through the rest of the noise.
"Gibbs! I'm ok, I think." He quickly glanced around the rest of the car looking for a way to get out of there when he saw something that made him nearly faint from shock.
"Kate? Katie?" Tony could see her body twisted and torn in the back area of the car. He could see bruises starting to form on her battered body. He moved as quickly as he could to get to her, forgetting all the pain he was in.
"GIBBS! I need an ambulance!"
~I lifted her head. She looked at me and said,
"Hold me darling just a little while"~
"Kate? Katie? I need you to wake up for me. Katie can you hear me?"
A groan came out of Kate's mouth filled with pain.
"Tony? Tony, are you ok? You're bleeding."
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a bump on the head. I'll be alright."
Tony looked into her eyes. He could see that she was fading fast. They had to get her out of there.
"DiNozzo? Are you still with us?"
"Yeah Boss! We need an ambulance now!"
"It shouldn't be long now."
Tony's voice felt relieved that Gibbs was taking care of the situation, however there was a feeling of dread as he knew he had to tell Gibbs who the ambulance was for.
"Boss?"
"Yeah, DiNozzo?"
"I'm sorry for breaking rule twelve."
"WHAT?" Gibbs bent down to look at his Agent. His face drained of colour as he saw how bad Kate looked.
"McGee! I need the crew over here now. We've got to get this can open!"
"They just pulled up Boss!"
"That's good work, Probie!" Tony muttered mainly to himself. All he could focus on was Kate.
Tony moved to be in a better position so that he could stop Kate from going into shock. Tony saw Kate's lips moving so he leant his head in closer to her so that he could hear what she was saying.
"Tony?"
"Yeah Katie, I'm here."
"Tony? I'm sorry for all the grief I caused you."
"Now Katie, don't you start talking like that. You're going to be just fine, do you hear me? We're going to be just fine and then I'm going to take you to dinner. My treat."
Tony's heart pounded at the sight of Kate's smile.
"No movies, right?"
"That's right, no movies."
"Tony?"
"Yeah Katie?"
"I could have fallen in love with you."
Tony smiled as a tear fell down his cheek. He put his mouth to her ear and whispered something into it.
~I held her close; I kissed her, our last kiss
I found the love that I knew I had missed~
Gibbs had heard what Kate had said to Tony. He had no idea that his two agents had felt that way about each other. He also knew that Kate was not going to make it. He just knew it.
Tony knew that Kate wasn't going to make it out of this alive. He knew that when he found her. Even though they hadn't made it to dinner, Tony felt he needed to give her something to try and salvage the last moment he had with his Kate.
"Kate? Honey, are you awake?"
"Mmm, yeah, I'm awake." He smiled as she did and another tear fell down his face. Without warning, Tony leant down and placed his lips on hers. He savored the moment, letting his lips lock onto hers. It was nothing like he was used to aiming for on a first date as far as the kiss was concerned, but he knew that this kiss would be the one that all others would have to compare.
~Well, now she's gone, even though I hold her tight
I lost my love, my life, that night~
Tony drew away from her. He saw her smile for the last time and then she let out her last breath. Tony couldn't control himself. He let the tears flow freely down his cheeks as he held onto his Kate, never wanting to let her go.
Gibbs went over to the car to let Tony know that the jaws of life were coming over to get them both out. His heart fell as he saw his Senior Agent reveal something about him that Gibbs had never seen. He watched for a moment while Tony wept silently and openly for the love that he had now lost. Tony didn't know it, but Gibbs knew how he felt in that exact moment and his heart bled for the younger man.
After about three hours of grinding and breaking apart the twisted wreck of the car, Tony was free. The ambulance officers led him to the nearest gurney as they lifted Kate's body onto a different one, her body hidden away in a body bag.
Tony just stared as they wheeled her away. His memory walked freely on the moment just before she had died. He could still feel the taste of her lips. Still caught up in his reverie, Tony had failed to notice that Gibbs had come to sit down net to him while a paramedic was fixing the gash on his head.
"I didn't know."
"You didn't know what, Boss?"
"That you felt that way about each other."
Silence fell between the two men, Tony caught up in the memory of Kate, and Gibbs caught up in the memory of someone long ago.
Gibbs got up and went to walk away when a thought came to his mind. He turned around and asked, "What did you say?"
Tony looked up and looked puzzled. "I didn't say anything, Boss."
"I mean, what did you say to Kate just before you kissed her DiNozzo?
Tony smiled. He had meant what he said. It's hard not to mean the truth.
Gibbs reiterated his point by asking the question again.
"What did you say to her, Tony? When she said to you, 'I could have fallen in love with you,' you whispered something into her ear. What did you say?"
"I said that I already had fallen in love with her," and with that the doors to his ambulance were closed and he was taken across to Bethesda.
~Oh where, oh, where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me.
She's gone to heaven so I've got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world ~