Kate POV

I felt as if I were floating on a cloud, far above everything else. I let myself bask in the sweet softness and let myself take in all the sweet smells that seemed to envelop me and pull me in deeper.

I sighed in relief, a small smile on my face, my eyes closed. Everything was so quiet here, I mused, the sound of gunshots had seemed to evaporate and now I felt as if I were safe again. I turned to my side, expecting to find a pair of strong, muscular arms wrapped around me but instead, I felt as if I were falling.

I struggled to open my eyes, felt as my arms and legs flailing, struggling to grip onto something solid to keep myself from dropping even further down into some unknown abyss.

As hard as I tried though, I couldn't seem to make myself stop falling. My eyes remained closed even when I tried to open them. It was as if I were trapped now.

"Help me, Jethro," I thought, but couldn't seem to open my mouth and say it out loud.

"Help."

Gibbs POV

I sat in the car, motionless, my hands still griping the steering wheel in a death grip. My knuckles were clenched so tightly that they had began to turn white, but I couldn't make myself let go.

I stared intently into the car in front of me, not really seeing it, but instead, seeing the events of the previous night unfold once again in front of my eyes.

The sounds bullets being forced out from revolvers and automatics, the pained expression on DiNozzo's face when he realized that he was dying, the panic I felt when I realized Kate was gone; it all rushed towards me, hitting me in the gut full force.

Suddenly, the sound of a couple laughing pushed those memories away and made me loosen my grip on the steering wheel as I turned my head.

I was greeted with the sight of a man pushing his wife and new born daughter in a wheel chair, his lips stretched into a wide grin. To my surprise, he stopped the wheel chair at the car directly in front of me and helped his wife into the backseat, kissing her swiftly on the lips.

I heard he laugh and whisper something into his ear while their newborn looked over her mothers shoulder, right at me.

I looked back, unable to keep the small smile from spreading across my lips. I gave her a small wave and she pushed a little hand out and waved back at me, her mouth open, probably babbling something incoherently.

Her parents turned and saw me and waved back.

As they drove off, I realized just how ironic the whole situation was; there she was, a little baby girl born right after a night that was just so horrible, and yet she didn't seem affected by the horror, no, she just smiled and waved.

I ran a hand through my hair, sighing, I knew I had to push the memories away and get out of the car to face the rest of the world, but somehow letting go of those memories didn't seem right just yet.

Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming sense of fear cloud my mind that jolted me back to reality. Kate was in there, I thought, fighting for her life along with Tony, and here I am, sitting here like a selfish bastard.

With that being thought, I threw open the car door and stepped out, slamming the door behind me. Ducky had given me a NCIS sweatshirt to wear over my bare chest and yet I still shivered from the coldness in my heart.

I strode purposefully through the hospital doors, walking up to the head nurse.

I pulled out my ID, "Special Agent Gibbs, what's the status with Special Agents DiNozzo and Todd?"

She looked at me and blinked, then turned to face her monitors again, typing in their names. Her brow furrowed in concern.

"Todd is in room 907, it seems as if she had inhaled a good amount of BZ gas. The doctors are currently trying to find the antidote so no one is allowed in her room for fear of infection. DiNozzo is still in surgery, the doctors said the bullet punctured his lung and exited out his back, just barely missing his spine."

I looked at her blankly and nodded, a feeling of dread slowly making its way into every bone in my body.

"Can I," I swallowed against the lump in my throat, "Can I please see her?"

She hesitated, "Are you family?"

"I'm her fiancé," I told her firmly, my eyes pleading with hers, "I'll stay outside and let them work, I give you my word."

She sighed and nodded, buzzing me through the doors. I immediately pushed through the ER doors and made a sharp right; I had been to this hospital too often this year, I thought.

I half ran, half jogged past room 900, then 903, and finally came to a stop at 907. My breath caught in my throat; there she was, lying on the bed, her skin almost as white as the sheets she was wrapped up in.

There were doctors around her, inserting a breathing tube into her mouth, one turned and saw me, quickly walking out.

As soon as he was out the door, I pulled him out into the waiting room, "What's going on, what's wrong?"

"She's inhaled a lot of BZ gas, it made her hallucinate some when we got her in here so we had to sedate her. We're trying several antidotes now, but so far she's still stuck in a coma."

"S-she's pregnant," I choked out.

The doctor nodded gravely, "We're trying to do everything we can to save her and the baby, but it doesn't look good so far."

My heart seemed to skip a beat, "Baby?"

He nodded, running a hand through his hair, "We lost the other fetus, I'm so sorry."

I collapsed into the nearest chair, the pain that I had pushed away previously came back twice as painful as it had been before.

"Oh God," I mumbled, letting my face fall into my hands.

"Try and save her, if you can't save the baby," I told the waiting doctor quietly, not looking up.

I felt him lay a hand on my shoulder and slowly there were retreating footsteps.

"Boss?"

I looked up, suddenly extremely tired.

"Boss, she's not . . . "

I shook my head, cutting him off, "No, McGee."

"Did she loose the babies?"

I sighed, "She lost one, but it wasn't her fault. It was mine for putting her at risk, all my fault."

McGee sat next to me, propping his head up in his hands, "Boss, it wasn't your fault. If it's any consolation I would've done the same thing."

I gave out a short laugh, more like a bark, "That's why I feel like an idiot."

He gave me a small smile in return, "Boss, she'll make it, they'll make it. Don't beat yourself up over it, alright?"

I glanced sideways at the younger agent, "How's Tony?"

He hesitated, "He's out of surgery, still in critical, but the doctors said that if he survives the night then there's a 80% chance he'll be alright."

I nodded, relieved.

"Boss," McGee began, then shook his head.

"Spit it out, McGee," I mumbled, crossing my arms across my chest, unable to make myself look through the windows of her room. If I did, then there wouldn't be any part of my heart left.

"This isn't your fault, none of it. This was going to happen no matter what you did. Think about it," he looked me fully in the eyes, not flinching at my glare, "you couldn't have known about the gas and you couldn't be everywhere at once and take that bullet for Tony. You're a lot of things, boss, but you're no superman."

With that said, he stood up and walked towards the elevator, leaving a coffee cup sitting next to me.

Tony POV

I felt a sharp throbbing on the whole right side of my body and groaned, keeping my eyes shut tight. The light outside seemed to be blinding and I didn't even want to begin to know what the hell that annoying beeping was.

"Tony? Tony, can you hear me?"

I attempted to raise my hand to swat away the annoying voice but realized that my hands felt like iron so I settled for a moan.

"Too bright," I mumbled, my voice sounding dry and cracked, like the Sahara, or as I liked to call it, the Desert Desert.

"Tony, open your eyes," there was that annoying voice again.

I sighed, and struggled to open my eyes, opening one lid and trying to focus on the intruder.

"Ah, Probie!" I half whispered, opening the other eye, I gave him a half smile.

"Got any water?"

He nodded and raised a cup of water to my lips which I greedily drank down.

"God Tony, you got me and Kate so worried," he sighed, collapsing into a nearby chair that was placed next to my bed.

I smiled, "Yeah, well, I had myself pretty worried too."

I tried to remember the past events but only remembered the pain and then Kate's face close to mine trying to get me to wake up and stay awake for her. I remembered Gibbs mumbling in my ear to hang on, and trying to stop the bleeding.

"Where's Kate? She still mad that I told the guys back at the office she got a boob job?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

McGee shook his head, "Tony, they don't know if she'll make it."

The smile immediately disappeared from my features as my brain slowly registered what he had just said. Kate might not make it? No, that was impossible, I wanted to scream. She was too strong, hell, stronger than me, though I would never admit it out loud.

"She was pregnant, DiNozzo," McGee continued, shocking me even further.

"Pregnant? By -

Oh crap, I thought, as the idea struck me. It was so obvious! Gibbs and Kate, all along, they were . . .

"Oh God," I choked out, "Her and the boss man were doing the horizontal tango?"

McGee nodded, a small smirk appearing on his features.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, "You said she might not make it; how come?"

Again, the smirk disappeared as fast as it had appeared, "There was BZ gas down there, making her hallucinate, I guess, and once she inhaled a good amount the doctors told me that she was bound to collapse; they were just surprised that she wasn't dead."

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to make my heart start up again. Kate couldn't just stop fighting, it wasn't in her nature, I argued with myself.

"Is the baby OK?"

McGee shook his head, "I have no clue, I've been waiting for your doctor for an hour, I didn't even know she was admitted until Ducky came about half an hour ago and told me."

"Ah, Probie you stayed by my side this whole time? I'm touched," I laid my hand over my heart and winced.

"Jesus, why do I feel like I was shot to death?"

McGee laughed, the moron actually laughed!

"Because the bullet entered your chest, punctured a lung and come out the back."

My eyes went wide, "Well," I began, "That's not good."

Gibbs POV

I cradled the now cold coffee in my lap and began to tap my foot again impatiently, searching for something, anything, to keep the pain at bay.

I sighed, I had to look in, I told myself and threw the cold coffee into a nearby trashcan and coming towards her room.

The doctors were gone now, only one was left. I let my eyes fully take in her motionless form. Her face was still just as white as before, her lips had turned a pale pink and were parted slightly as if screaming help.

I knocked on the glass and the doctor looked up from his chart and came over, opening the door a crack.

"I'm sorry sir, you can't be in here right now. She's contagious," he told me, a mask covering his features.

"How's she doing?"

He shook his head, "No change, but we didn't expect there to be. She was just admitted a few hours ago. This could take a few days, at the least and a few weeks at the most."

"But," he began, looking slightly uncomfortable, "After the weeks are up, I need to have your consent to take her off the respirator because if she isn't breathing on her own by then than the chances of her ever waking up is about 5%."

I glared at him, "So you're asking me to basically kill her once the weeks are up?"

Kate POV

I struggled against the invisible waters trying to pull me under, each time failing and sinking a little deeper. I was cold. So, so cold.

I wanted his arms wrapped around me, warming me up and telling me that it was going to be alright, but I couldn't find him in these waters.

I tried to open my mouth and call out, but each time I did, I would get a mouthful of water and choke on it.

It was so dark here, I couldn't see anything, not even my own hands and feet. It was as if I were a shapeless thing floating in limbo.

Limbo, I thought, that's where I must be but how do I get back?

I shook my head, trying once more to break through the waters and felt myself float closer to the top but when I tried to toss my head free of the water, I was pulled roughly back.

Jethro, I thought, mentally trying to call out to him, I need your help, please.