The Heart Wants…
Summary: AU: Kate never died, although she did quit NCIS. Now that she is replaced by Ziva, DiNozzo seems to find someone new to tease. But when Tony is hurt, which one will be the one his heart chooses?
A/N: I decided to write this story after me and my friends got into a discussion about who was better for Tony: Ziva or Kate. I haven't decided who wins yet, since either Kate nor Ziva won in our discussion. I haven't seen all of the episodes of NCIS so if anything is wrong, let me know. This is my first NCIS story since all my stories for Supernatural are giving me major writer's block. Also this is unbeta-ed, so all mistakes are my own. Let me know what you think, good or bad, I can take it! *Puts on bullet proof vest*
Chapter 1: Blood Shed
"Romance between agents, Kate…it never works."
Although Gibbs hadn't been talking about herself, she felt as though he was warning her, but how could she have known? When she first meant DiNozzo, she definitely wasn't expecting to fall in love with him. But sometimes these things happened and she knew it was unprofessional. There wasn't anything she could do, but quit. It would just make everything easier. After Tony got sick, well, it just made her realize how far her feelings had gone from the first time she'd seen him. The feeling to just run up and kiss him was starting to rush through her mind more often and it was not something she needed.
Handing in her resignation papers was hard enough, but after Gibbs' glare continued to stare into her eyes, she could feel the words wanting to spring to her lips. The words almost choked her as she tried to look as serious as she could. "I'm sorry Gibbs, but I can't."
And before her former boss could even respond she turned and walked away. As her back retreated into the elevator, Gibbs felt the urge to call after her, but got to his feet instead. Quickly moving towards the elevator, he stopped the doors from closing and stepped in. "Not now Boss."
Gibbs remained silent as the elevator doors closed and started to make its decent. Flipping the switch, the lights turned off and the elevator was at a stand still. Kate had never liked the idea of going to Gibbs' 'office'. "You better be prepared—"
"I am Gibbs." Kate cut him off, not daring to look up at her boss. "I'm serious about this. I quit." She reached over and flipped the switch back, causing the shaft to move again. Without another word, Gibbs stopped the cart and turned to Kate.
He stared at her, both of them knowing the question that would come. "Why?"
She continued to stare at him as she tried to think of her reasoning. Because she was in love? Because she felt like she couldn't do her job without Tony drifting into her mind? Because she was afraid of being broken, or Tony leaving her? Of Tony saying no?
Gibbs could feel the feelings that were running through Kate's body as she thought. He couldn't figure out quite what she was thinking, but he knew only one thing: she was making the biggest mistake of her life.
That had been over two years ago and Kate could still feel her heart slowly breaking everyday. She still hadn't decided if she had made the right decision. She would busy herself with her work, sticking her nose into anything she could find. She was still an investigator, but just not of the Navy.
She had kept in touch with McGee at first, keeping taps on the team. She had felt bad for leaving without a goodbye to either McGee or DiNozzo, but it was just simpler. After a while she stopped calling, trying to keep her stay at NCIS what it was. In the past.
But as she continued to wonder what could have happened if she stayed at NCIS, she couldn't help but remember the way Tony and herself teased each other. The head slaps Tony received, the glares Gibbs would give to anyone and everyone, the stuttered response of McGee when he was first starting out; it was almost as if a family had been taken away from her when she left.
Her phone rang and she quickly grabbed it off its receiver. "Special Agent Caitlin Todd."
"Kate?" It was McGee. She felt bad hearing his voice, realizing how she must have hurt him when she stopped calling. She started to deliberately ignore McGee's until they finally stopped coming.
"Yea McGee, what is it?" There was a small quiver in his voice as he had spoken her name. It made her worry.
"It's Tony."
A worried smile grew across her face. "What did he do this time?" She hoped that Tony was okay, but there was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that said he wasn't.
"Kate…he's…I don't know if he's gonna make it. There's so much blood, and the doctors—"
"McGee, where are you?" Kate stood up, grabbing her coat and trying to put it on as she awaited McGee's response.
"Bethesda Hospital." She could hear a woman's voice in the background, but Kate ignored it as she remembered where she would be heading.
"Alright McGee, I'll be there." Not even bothering to make sure the phone made it back to its cradle, Kate ran out of the building and towards her car. She had no idea what was going on, but she was sure as Hell going to be there for Tony.
Ziva wasn't sure if she should just cry in front of everyone or punch a wall. It was as if Tony refused to keep himself out of harms way. Only a few months ago, they had all believed that he had been blown up. And now, now the danger was real. Death was hanging over his door and Ziva wasn't sure how long Tony could fend him off.
It should have been like any other raid. But Tony could never make things easy. He always seemed to find a way to get himself into harm's way. There was never a time that he wouldn't try to save others before himself. Just once, Ziva wished he'd just let someone else take the bullet. Or multiple bullets as was the case this time.
Ziva wasn't exactly sure what had happened. All she could remember was Gibbs kicking the warehouse door open, expecting to find a few rogue marines selling arms to terrorists. Nothing too extravagant as far as they knew. Before the four letters could ring out of Gibbs' lips, shots were fired and the two of them had ducked behind some large wooden boxes, probably containing weapons.
The sound of wood breaking reached Ziva's ears as she realized that Tony and McGee had entered through the South side, opposite them. Not completely sure if the fire was now being directed at her two teammates or still at them, Ziva looked over at Gibbs who nodded in her direction.
Simultaneously both of their heads popped up, along with their guns—pointed in the area of the gun shots. Gibbs and Ziva emptied their bullets upon the 8 men that immediately returned fire. It seemed like it would be a never ending fire fight, since the warehouse was essentially an arsenal.
Ziva dropped back behind the wooden box, taking cover. She had no idea what was going on, but Gibbs' yell echoed in her ears as bullets continued to ring throughout the warehouse. A loud yelp of pain hit the air and Ziva immediately recognized it as her partner's.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs yelled again. Ziva lifted her head high enough so that her eyes were able to peer over to see Tony lying on the ground, a pool of blood already forming around his body. She couldn't see anymore movement, although she could see the slight rise and fall of his chest as his lungs craved the air. Or was she imagining it?
Bullets continued to whiz past her as she realized that they were still in danger, but her eyes continued to linger on DiNozzo. She desperately wanted to go over to him and make sure he was okay, but that was unrealistic.
The rest of it was a blur now. Everything flowing together and mixing as if it had all happened in a few seconds. The paramedics arrived and whisked Tony away, taking McGee along with him. Gibbs had blood all over his hands and shirt, but it didn't seem to phase him.
"Ziva." She either couldn't hear him or didn't want to. Her eyes were trained on the blood spot on the ground. It had to be at least a pints. She hadn't even been able to see where the bullets hit Tony; she felt so out of place. McGee and Gibbs had applied pressure while she called for the ambulance and back up.
Although a few men escaped after shooting Tony, three were wounded—awaiting more ambulances—and two were handcuffed and waiting to be transported back to the Naval Base.
"Special Agent David!" Gibbs spoke, a little harsher this time. He succeeded in getting her attention as he moved towards the captured men. "Watch them. Make sure they don't try anything. If they do, shot 'em in the foot." Gibbs' face was impassive and a shiver of fear went through the men as they truly weren't sure if he was kidding or not. By the look of Ziva's face, they assumed that she was taking him seriously.
Gibbs walked away, wiping his hands on his pants, but not succeeding in ridding his fingers of the blood. In his frustration, he almost ran his hands through his hair, but stopped himself in time before spreading the blood throughout his scalp.
Digging into his pocket he produced his cell phone and called Ducky. "Ah, Jethro. What can I do for you?"
"Ducky, they just took Tony to the hospital. One shot to the chest, a second to his stomach, and another to the head." Gibbs remembered assessing his agent and realizing that the side of his head was bleeding pretty badly, as all head wounds do. Cursing under his breath he quickly stripped off his jacket and placed it over Tony's abdomen, pressing down hard, hoping to see Tony's eyes flutter open from the pain or a moan escape his lips, but nothing happened. McGee followed suit by applying pressure to his chest wound. The chest wound hadn't been a major problem, but they were afraid that the bullet might have hit his lung.
"Oh my. I shall get down their as soon as possible. Have you told Abby yet?" Gibbs could hear the old M.E. rummaging around, probably grabbing a jacket and hat before quickly moving towards the elevator.
"No." Gibbs' response was short, but everyone knew how she would react to the news. No one wanted to let her know what happened.
"Of course not, Jethro. I'll stop by the lab and let her know. She'll most likely want to accompany me to the hospital."
"Thanks Duck." Gibbs could hear Ducky send a few words to Palmer, mostly trying to get him to follow him along.
"He'll be fine Jethro."
"I know Ducky." And Gibbs closed his cell phone before turning back to Ziva and the men she was guarding. He wasn't sure what she had been doing, but by the look on the men's faces, she must have been doing one hell of a job keeping them in line.
As the six members of Gibbs' team awaited the verdict on DiNozzo, a worried woman entered the hospital. She ran towards the front desk and asked to see Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Her voice seemed so familiar to Gibbs, but he couldn't bring himself to believe it. Not until she walked into the waiting room and came face to face with all of them.
A/N: Alright, I know, the team would probably have bullet proof vests on, and although they are not invincible with them on, I did not feel like trying to figure out the exact location in which they are vulnerable with them on. Sorry, I get pretty lazy. If you can overlook that, please click the little comment button. It'll make me get the next chapter up soon...I promise!