Death Of A Conspiracy
AN: Thankyou for the reviews
as promised...the next chapter of the fic :-)
Gibbs scrubbed at his face and looked blankly at the two Kates looking back at him.
The Kate who had just walked in frowned, but calmly said, "Ducky mentioned before that you had been hallucinating,"
Gibbs's face took on a pained expression and his voice betrayed the distress he was feeling, "But I don't know what's real anymore. I mean, y-you're dead…both of you, and yet I'm still seeing you,"
"I never died, Jethro, we've been over this," the Kate at his bedside told him
"That's a natural reaction to stress, Gibbs," the Kate who'd just walked in responded at the same time
Gibbs closed his eyes and took a few steadying breaths, "Look, just leave, both of you, I don't have enough headspace for this at the moment,"
The Kate who'd just walked in nodded, saying, "Okay, but I'll be in later to check on you,"
"Jethro, I didn't leave you when Lenny and Jenny were torturing you, I'm not about to leave you now," the Kate sitting on the side of his bed replied at the same time
Gibbs gave a weak grin to the Kate at his bedside and said, "Well, that'd make you an hallucination, because Kate wasn't really there,"
With that the Kate at his bedside disappeared, making Gibbs sigh with relief.
The other Kate had turned around and was watching Gibbs with concern, "Did you want me to send in a nurse?"
"What for?" Gibbs asked
"Well… I don't know, are you in pain?" she asked
Gibbs frowned and sat up straighter, "Kate, how did you visit me in the hospital the first time? Without getting caught on the security tapes,"
Kate walked forward, with a frown, and replied, "Gibbs, I didn't visit you in the hospital. I rang your doorbell and led you to an alley. That's the only time I visited you, it was too dangerous,"
"Where did you go?" Gibbs asked quietly, still not sure if he was still hallucinating, "After we thought you died. And why couldn't you tell us?"
Kate sighed and sat on his bed, "Are you sure you want me to explain this all now? It's a long story,"
Gibbs studied her face for a while, before saying, "I-I'm not hallucinating am I?"
Kate shook her head, responding, "But wouldn't I say that if you were?"
"Then… you….you're not dead?" Gibbs asked, frowning
"No," Kate responded, then proceeded to tell him what had happened and the following cover up, "…then I got a phone call, and it was Tony and everybody. They told me what was going on and that you'd been kidnapped,"
Gibbs was silent for a while before eventually responding, "You know, I looked for so long to try to prove you were still alive. Everybody at work thought I was insane, except for Jenny. I eventually found a few pieces but didn't know how they all fit together and there were bits I couldn't figure out,"
"Well, you know now," Kate replied
Gibbs smiled, "So, um, when we were in that alley, you said that you…liked me too,"
Kate smiled too, then embraced him in a hug and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, "No, I said that I loved you,"
The moment was interrupted when a nurse walked in and took his blood pressure and checked his stats.
"The doctor will be in shortly," the nurse told him, before walking out
Gibbs nodded before looking back at Kate, "Now, where were we?"
Kate grinned and held his uninjured hand in hers, "I was about to tell you that you better get better soon,"
"Nah, I'm sure we were past that," Gibbs responded, "You know, you were the only thing that kept me alive when I was in that warehouse?"
"You wouldn't have given up anyway," Kate assured him as Ducky walked in
"Jethro, the nurse told me you were awake," Ducky said as he came in, assessing Gibbs's situation to see if there was going to be a repeat performance of the last time he'd come to visit his friend
Gibbs smiled at him, announcing with happiness, "Duck, Kate's alive,"
Ducky smiled back, "Yes, I can see that,"
"I was right," Gibbs continued
"Indeed," Ducky responded, "So, how are you feeling?"
"Good," Gibbs answered, then smiled at Kate
"Jethro, we're not going to think any less of you for telling the truth," Ducky chastised
Gibbs frowned slightly, "I am telling the truth,"
Ducky sighed and asked Kate if she could leave the two men alone for a while, then asked Gibbs again.
Gibbs sighed, then scrubbed at his face, "I'm just trying to enjoy this whilst it lasts. Cause I know when I wake up, I'm going to be back in the warehouse,"
"You think you're dreaming?" Ducky asked
"Well, yeah, Kate's alive and she loves me," Gibbs responded, "And right now, the line between reality and fiction is more than blurred. The amount of drugs they're pumping into me," Gibbs shook his head, "…and the torture…Ask Kate, she can tell you I was hallucinating her before she walked in – assuming she walked in, and assuming I'm actually talking to you," Gibbs paused, "This is all about to disappear and Lenny's gonna wake me up with a bucket of cold reality,"
"You believe that?" Ducky asked
"How can I not? You guys think I've lost it, you probably don't even know I'm missing from the loony bin. And you definitely don't know where I am, nobody does. I'm gonna die here," Gibbs answered
"Jethro, we found you. Lenny and Jenny were killed when we infiltrated the warehouse. Tony rode with you in the ambulance as you were rushed to hospital," Ducky told him
"No, I dreamt that" Gibbs replied, "Didn't actually happen, I didn't need their drugs to make myself believe there'd been a rescue attempt. Would've been nice, but…"
"Jethro – " Ducky started
"Duck, nothings changed," Gibbs interrupted, "Kate's still dead, I still killed her…I'm still going to die, you guys aren't gonna find me,"
"Jethro, Jenny was a good agent, but she was never very good at covering her tracks, you know that, you worked with her," Ducky told him
Gibbs nodded, "That's how the French found us, never let her live down that mistake,"
"And you handpicked you're team, do you have no faith in their abilities to find you?" Ducky asked
"They're the best of the best," Gibbs agreed, "And they work together better than any team I know,"
"So why do you believe they didn't find you and rescue you?" Ducky asked
Gibbs shook his head, "I just don't know, Duck,"
"You're not convinced?" Ducky asked
"Give me a few weeks, hopefully something will sink in. Like I said, I'm just gonna try to enjoy this whilst it lasts," Gibbs responded
That's it for this chapter! Hope you liked it! Please review! They make me write faster! Not sure how many more chapters there is left of this fic, but I think it's near the end... :(