Hi
Found another one on my hard drive. It's quite old. I wrote it before we knew about Gibbs family, so for the sake of this story Kate was the first woman he loved and lost. For those who read 'A different bete noir', the next chapter will be posted tomorrow. School starts again and now I have to delegate between work, homework and writing, but I hope to get at least two chapters up a week, so stay with me.
PS. Again a huge thanks to all reviewers, I really didn't think that so many would read, and enjoy my stories.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Tried to borrow them but got caught. Now busy making amends to TPTB
Warnings: oy. this one actually has one. There's a major character death at the end, but I think it's in a good way (if that's possible)
Ziva David was afraid. That fact itself was no surprise to her. There were a lot of things she feared but over the years of working with the Mossad she had become incredibly good at hiding it. To the casual observer she always looked confident, brave and ready for everything. She could break a man's arm without breaking a sweat, knew several ways of killing her opponent with her bare hands, but still…
Over the last few years it had been steadily become more difficult to hide behind her self-erected walls, she had started to let people in. Tony had become surprisingly good at reading her, something that came naturally with being partners. But that was okay because she trusted him, she knew he would always watch her back.
Tony
If he was there.
Right now, he wasn't.
And she was afraid.
Lying in a dark alley, bleeding from a bullet wound in your stomach, could do that to you. The pain, at first almost unbearable, had faded into a dumb nothingness, barely acknowledged.
She knew there wasn't much time left, coldness began to creep in, slowly making her tired.
How long would she be able to fight, how long until the exhaustion got the better of her?
How long
Her blood slowly seeping into the ground she tried, one last time, to reach her cell, lying just without her reach. It didn't work.
Panic began to set in, she didn't want to die, not yet. There were things she still had to do, things she needed people to know.
Tony
It would be so easy.
'Just let the darkness take you' she thought, 'stop fighting it.'
"Officer David!"
A voice broke through the darkness, a female voice, strong and demanding. The lights around her changed, the pain seemed to fade, brightness now surrounded her.
"Am I dead?"
The silhouette of a woman, petite, slim, approached. Ziva spotted dark brown hair, casual clothing and a gentle smile. Were her eyes black?
"No, not yet. Believe me I would know."
The woman stepped closer. Her eyes weren't black, she could see it now, just a very dark shade of brown, chocolate brown.
"So I'm going to die."
The woman smiled.
"I don't know yet. Somebody is, that's for certain, I wouldn't be here otherwise."
"So you're what, an angel?"
Outch
Her familiar sense of sarcasm made itself known. But her opponent just smiled and Ziva couldn't shake the feeling that something, something about her was familiar, she knew her.
Knew her
"It's not that easy. I'm still not sure how to describe what I am. Maybe I am an angel, but I think I'm more of a guardian. And I'm here to help somebody cross over."
"Crossing, where to?"
"The other side."
"So, this is the Twillight Zone?"
The woman giggled.
"Quoting American pop culture? You've been spending way too much time with Tony."
Ziva was surprised.
"You know Tony?"
The brunette grinned and suddenly she knew exactly who the other woman was.
"You're dead!"
dead
Caitlin Todd smiled sadly, and stared at the ground.
"Yeah, I guess I am."
"But, but I mean, if you're dead and I'm not how can I, I mean, this is not possible."
She was confused now, completely and utterly confused until suddenly realization dawned on her.
"You said you're here to help somebody cross over, as far as I know, I'm the one being shot, so I am going to die."
Kate looked at her intensely.
"You were shot, that's right. You followed the suspect to the alley where he pulled a weapon and shot you, but you weren't alone, you weren't the only one shot."
The haze that had settled upon her began to raise and she remembered. The case, the suspect, the alley, the shots…
Shots
"Kate."
A new voice, to her left. She turned around. There he was, astonishment on his face.
The woman stepped closer to him, and he slowly raised his hand. Brushing away a few tears rolling down her face, he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her to him, burying his face in her hair.
"Gibbs."
Gibbs
He'd been in that alley with her, she remembered it now, he'd shot that bastard but not before getting hit several times.
Kate pulled away from him, never breaking contact with his body and looked at her.
"You're not going to die. Not yet anyway. You're still needed. They're going to need you, after this. Tell Tony, it wasn't his fault, tell him he can do this without Gibbs now, he is ready. Tell them about this, they need to know, they need to understand."
"Understand what?"
Gibbs pulled her closer, relished in her nearness, something he had missed for too long.
"Tell them it was time."
Ziva smiled, now understanding, she wasn't going to die in that alley, wasn't going to bleed to death.
She nodded.
She would deliver the message. She would take care of them now.
The brightness faded, the pain returned, but she wasn't afraid anymore.
Gibbs last words ringed in her ears, and they would for years to come.
"Remember, rule number twelve is history from now on, I broke it at first, after all."
Tony