A/N: Uh, I truly have no reason for not putting this up sooner. I'm just really lazy. Sorry. Thanks for the comments and story alerts, though!

Chapter 4: Tony, Can you Hear me?

Abby came back without Gibbs at her side, her face was basically the same. Kate couldn't tell if she was relieved from seeing Tony or even more worried by the sight of him. This made her worry even more. "Gibbs said that it was time for someone else to see him."

All of them looked at each other. All of them wanted to run to the room, just wanting that glimpse of DiNozzo. Even the smallest peek, the shortest look. It was just worth it. They wanted to make sure that he was alive.

"McGee and Ziva, go." Gibbs came up from behind Abby with a fresh cup of coffee in his hand. He moved past her quickly, but not before planting a kiss upon her cheek out of reassurance. He looked at his two agents and cocked an eyebrow. "You waiting for an invitation?"

"No Boss." Ziva and McGee quickly got to their feet and ran towards Tony's room. There was a certain heaviness that Gibbs noticed in both of his agents' steps, filling that observation in the back of his mind when they came back. He had other things to attend to; firstly the appearance of his former agent.

When Gibbs knew that Ziva and McGee were indeed in Tony's room (which was not that far from the waiting room), he turned to Kate. Her eyes flickered away from his and turned towards the ground. Wrong move. "Kate."

"Yes Gibbs?" Kate answered as sweetly as she could, which wasn't even close to a normal voice. It seemed to break with the emotion she felt. Love? Worry? Fear? Jealousy? She had no idea. But something was there and she didn't like the way it was making her feel. Maybe that was the reason why she left in the first place.

"Here. Now." His voice was calm as it always was. But there was a certain edge to it, that she could remember from when DiNozzo had the plague. She just couldn't bring herself to think about that. That was the second time she almost lost him.

Getting up slowly she moved towards Gibbs, noticing the new director—well new to her—Jenny Shepard staring at her former boss. Kate couldn't quite make out what the woman was trying to convey to Gibbs. There was a lot of glaring between the two and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. No wonder suspects always cracked under Gibbs' interrogation techniques.

She sat down next to Gibbs and looked over towards the Director again, but she had turned away, engaging Ducky in a conversation. Not wanting to look at those blue eyes, Kate looked down at the floor, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Gibbs would just let her sit there. The anticipation was much better than actually talking to Gibbs sometimes.

"Kate." Damnit. "We need to talk."

"I kinda figured that out when you called me over here." She turned to look at Gibbs and could feel his blue stare burning holes into her face. There were some moments where she wished DiNozzo or McGee would screw up or make some sort of distraction that would allow her to slip away. Nope, no one was coming to her rescue.

"You never told me why you left." Gibbs knew the reason, at least he and Abby had agreed upon the reason. But he just wasn't sure if she was expecting something from Tony after all this was over or she was just there to make sure a former colleague and friend was alright. Gibbs didn't want Kate to get hurt or Tony to feel the same as he had when Kate left. Gibbs could remember the look upon his senior field agent's face.

He came walking into the bullpen, late as always, with a bright smile upon his face. Obviously he had a story to tell Kate and McGee. He threw his backpack behind his desk and looked at the desk that was opposite his own. Empty.

His eyes flickered towards Gibbs and McGee, cocking an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh, Boss?"

"Yea DiNozzo?" Gibbs looked up from his computer, although he really wasn't doing anything. He had been pretending to look busy in hopes of buying some time on telling DiNozzo about Kate's resignation. But obviously that hadn't done it.

"Where's Kate?" DiNozzo still had a smile upon his face, assuming that Kate was either late or taking the day off. If she was late than Tony would have the time of his life making her miserable. And if she had taken off, well let's just say he had glue in his desk.

"She's not here."

"I can see that Boss. But why?" DiNozzo was just so nosey. There were just moments where Gibbs just wished that everyone would keep to themselves, but then he'd be out of a job.

"She resigned."

"What?!"

"Ya need a hearing aid DiNozzo?" Tony had already moved from his desk towards Gibbs', staring at him in outrage and confusion. His hands were placed upon Gibbs' desk as he stared at his boss.

"No, Boss." He paused, letting out a calming breath. "Kate quit? And you didn't stop her?" Tony could hear the silence coming from McGee, not even hearing the click of the keyboard as he pretended to be doing work. Obviously McGee wanted to know just as much as DiNozzo, but didn't ask. Smart kid.

"Kate is her own person."

"Yea, but you just let her go? She didn't even say goodbye!" He pushed himself off of Gibbs' desk and walked back to his desk. His face twisted with mixed feelings as they all fought to reach the surface. Pain, anger, confusion were present.

Gibbs looked at McGee, who immediately started typing upon his computer again. Moving his eyes towards his senior field agent, Gibbs saw the thin mask slip upon DiNozzo's face as he turned on his computer and dug through his desk in search of something. It was what DiNozzo did; he'd bury himself with work in order to forget about the pain he was feeling.

"Gibbs, I just needed some change." Well it wasn't a total lie. She just didn't tell the whole truth. That's lying.

He glared at her, waiting for her to crack under pressure. She started to squirm under the glower from her former boss. Her skin crawled and her lips ached with the truth. Kate wanted to tell him, but she just couldn't. No, she didn't even know if it was the truth.

"Ducky. You can go now." McGee had reentered the waiting room, his face looking a little pale. Oh God, I hope it's not that bad, Kate thought. Her eyes followed the M.E. as he stood and looked towards Kate. Nodding his head, he started towards Tony's room.

She was hoping that Ducky wanted her to follow and quickly turned her attention back to Gibbs. He nodded in reply, and she stood up and ran off as fast as she could. Kate was happy for the rescue from Gibbs and also the opportunity to finally see Tony.

Kate noticed Ziva standing outside Tony's room, staring through the window that allowed her a small view of DiNozzo. Ducky stopped next to her and placed a hand upon her shoulder and spoke words of encouragement, Kate was sure of that. Although she didn't care to hear what they were. The urge to just run into the room was almost too great to fight, so moving as quickly as she could, she stepped into the room.

The room was dark; the curtains were blocking what little sunlight was outside. It was oddly ominous that day when Kate had arrived at work; it seemed to fit the mood of her day.

The lights had been dimmed, allowing the bright lights of the machinery to attract Kate's full attention. There was a rhythmic beat, obviously DiNozzo's heart beat. It seemed to draw her in, causing her to step closer towards Tony. She could see the white bandage that was wrapped around his head from the wound he had sustained. It covered part of the left side of his head and hair, stopping short of his eye. She noticed the pale look upon his face and let her eyes roam the face she had engraved into her memory. The smooth curve of his lips, the color of his eyes, the smile that graced his face so often while teasing McGee and herself. Kate could see it in her mind, but not on the face in front of her. It was as if someone wiped away the mask and left only a shell of Tony DiNozzo.

"It's sad to see him like this." Ducky appeared behind Kate, his shoulder brushing softly against hers. They both stared at Tony in silence for a few more moments until Kate moved closer, taking a seat next to him. She grabbed hold of his exposed hand that lay on top of the hospital blankets. An IV was attached to it; Kate made sure she was extra careful not to knock it out.

She noticed the white bandage on his chest, but turned her eyes back to his face. She didn't want to see what else was on him. Just seeing his face—however painful it was—made her feel as though they were back at NCIS again, together. Kate so desperately wished they could go back to those times, but it seemed impossible. She had to push those thoughts out of her mind.

"I shall leave you alone with him m'dear." Ducky excused himself quietly after a few minutes of checking upon Tony, making sure that everything was in order. A small smile stayed upon his lips as he exited, leaving Kate with DiNozzo.

"Tony, come on. You have us all worried sick. Abby is a mess and so is McGee. Even Gibbs is worried. He won't say it out loud, but I can tell." She paused, fearing she may sound a little too much like Abby for her speech had sped up to a frightening speed. She let out a breath before continuing. "Tony, please. I've missed you. I know I left and didn't say goodbye, but I couldn't. I just couldn't. And I refuse to say goodbye to you this time. I won't. I'm never going to leave you!"

She could feel her heart lift with excitement at the thought of being with DiNozzo. That was what she wanted, what she craved for so long. And now it was within her grasp and Kate just wanted Tony to wake up so that it could become a reality.

Ducky left Tony's room, leaving Kate alone in the room and Ziva alone outside. She had wanted to go inside, she really did. But something wouldn't let her. She just couldn't.

And now, the words that Kate spoke. The words that seemed so passionate, so guilty, so hopeful. They all seemed to scream at Ziva. Telling her that she was nothing more than a partner, a coworker, someone to tease, and it started to break her heart.

Normally it wouldn't have bothered her, but it was Tony and Kate. Obviously they had had a close relationship, given the way that he reacted to Ziva replacing her. But she had assumed that Tony realized that there was something more, at least for Ziva. She hadn't noticed the deadly emotion spread throughout her body until it was too late. Ziva had fallen in love with Tony.

But now Kate had come back. Now there seemed to be no hope for her and Tony, and she needed to accept the truth.

Placing her hand on the window, she turned away and moved back towards the waiting room. She could feel the tears coming to her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. She was too weak to even step into his room, how could he ever love her if she couldn't be there for him in his time of need?