Prologue
With that he watched as the man lying before him closed his eyes that small smile still playing on his lips.
He could feel the muscles relax beneath the rain soaked clothes which clung tightly to his body.
He felt the pain that comes with sudden unbearable loss, overwhelming emotions taking hold of his body as the last ragged breath leaves his body and then silence, the finality of that last resounding breath, despite the storm brewing around them, the muffled cries of the rest of the team, the sound of sirens screaming in the distance.
He closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face freely mingling with the rain and aware that his hands were still pressed tightly against his chest, redundant now.
He didn't know how long he sat there until he felt a familiar soothing hand on his shoulder and slowly the pressure he was exerting eased off until he removed his hands altogether, he gripped them into balled fists unsure what to do with them and watched mesmerized as the blood trickled down over his knuckles and fell away to the ground.
He felt the force of the hand on his shoulder turn him around slowly bringing him back into the present. A present which he didn't know if he had the strength he had to face, but knew he had to find the courage to as he felt the team congregate around him, Ducky's hand still planted on his shoulder, the heartbreaking sight of Abby running towards them, arms wide open, face tear stained and a look of such pain in her eyes that he couldn't bear to meet them. He couldn't help but glance over his shoulder at the body that lay lifeless on the ground and he wondered if without him that look of pain would ever go away entirely, but he knew that it wouldn't. He was gone and no amount of tears or grieving would bring him back.
