Here we go! Chapter 29! Enjoy :-)
Do I really have to type this part? Really? You know the deal...
Tony sat at his desk watching as Gibbs presented his plan of action to the team. While Gibbs' lips moved, the only thing Tony could hear were muffled tones, as his mind as elsewhere at the moment. Mostly on the honey-blonde woman who sat across from him. A woman whom if things didn't go exactly as Gibbs planned, might walk out of his life just as quickly was she returned to it.
The sight of people moving around him broke Tony from his trance. As the rest of the team dispersed, he slowly got up to approach Gibbs.
"This better be a question about what we're doing?" snapped Gibbs, turning his back to the agent as he sat at his desk.
"It is," replied Tony. "Why Kate?"
"Because his issue isn't with Ziva."
"You know what I mean?"
"It's our only option. We don't handle this now, he's going to come after her again."
"So we will handle it, not Kate!"
"And why not?"
Tony had no response.
"You aren't the only one who lost Kate eight years ago, Tony! We all did! Me, McGee, Ducky, Abby, we all lost her too!"
"You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly but we have a job that needs to be done! A job that may require you to lose her again."
Tony looked at Gibbs. "This isn't about me."
"Are you sure?"
Silence came between the two.
"I don't want to lose her either, Tony."
"Then why are you doing this?"
"Because I have no other choice! You have to trust me, DiNozzo! I don't want her bring her back in body bag!"
"That's good to know because if your plan doesn't work, she won't be the only one you bring back in a body bag." Tony walked away, rounding the corner where he ran into Kate.
"Hey, what happened to playing it cool?" exclaimed Kate.
"I was playing it cool," replied Tony, leaning against the wall of the vacant hallway.
"That was playing it cool?"
"I don't like what he's trying to do."
"We have a job to do, Tony!"
"He's going to get you killed!"
"It's not your choice, Tony! This is my life!"
"It's not just your life, Kate! It's mine too!" Tony wilted against the wall. "I can't lose you, Kate. Not again."
Kate walked up to Tony, wrapping her arms around his waist as she rest her head on his chest. "I don't want to lose you either."
"Then don't do this!"
"If there were any other way, I would do it in a heartbeat but there isn't. I'm just happy that we both know how the other feels and that we at least got to share one night together."
Tony rested his head on the top of Kate's head, kissing her soft hair.
Kate looked up at Tony "Please don't hate me for this."
"I could never hate you, Kate."
"You'll have my six out there today, right?"
Tony weakly smiled. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
Kate kissed Tony softly on the lips. "I have to go get ready."
Tony nodded as he unwillingly let Kate out of his embrace.
Jane sat in the Squad Room watching as Kate got ready for their rendezvous.
Kate looked up, noticing Jane watching her. "What?"
"I didn't say anything," replied Jane.
"But you want to say something."
"There's nothing to say."
Kate continued to change.
"You know for a woman who might be walking to her own death, you are mighty calm."
"My adrenaline levels are not elevated at this point. I'm sure the closer we get to the meeting I may become more jumpy."
"Are you scared?"
Kate looked at Jane. "Terrified but it's all a part of the job."
"This isn't your job anymore."
"Until this asshole is died, it is."
"You sound like me!"
"I learn from the best!"
"If the only thing you have learned from me is how to swear, I need to do better."
Kate smiled.
"Anyway I can talk you out of this?"
"No."
"I didn't think so."
"I have to do this, Jane! If I don't there is no telling who else will get hurt or worse killed in his quest to get me! I mean it's because of me that C.J. is in the hospital and that Williams ended up with an ice pick in her arm! You nearly got shot in that hotel and Tony was almost hit by that car, it was all because of me! He wants me! I have to put a stop to this and if that means I don't come back alive well, at least I can die knowing that the people I love most are safe."
"You're coming back alive, Maur. You have four federal agents and two of Boston's finest watching your back."
"I had someone watching my back last time and I woke up as Maura Isles!"
"Nothing is going to happen to you."
"You can't promise that, Jane."
"Yes, I can and I am! I promised myself that I would never let anything happen to you and I don't plan on reneging on that! You are coming back, you hear me?" Jane's voice cracked, her emotions getting the best of her.
Kate said nothing.
"In fact, what do you say to after this is all over you and I go out for a burger at the Robber like we always do?"
"I don't think there is a Dirty Robber in D.C."
"Well, whatever shitty dive bar is around here! Meet me?"
Kate was quiet.
"Say you're going meet me later, Maur!"
Kate nodded her head. "I'll meet you, Jane."
"Good!"
"But if I don't…"
"Nope!" Jane held up her hand, silencing Kate. "Burgers! Tonight! Your treat!"
Kate smiled to herself as she pulled on the black NCIS field jacket.
"So this is what she looked like."
"What who looked like?"
"Kate Todd. I've been trying to imagine you as federal agent, I think I'm starting to get the picture."
Kate picked up the Sig off the desk, loading it and then placing it in her hip holster. "Now you get the full picture," she smiled.
"Badass!"
"You don't look so bad yourself!"
Jane looked down at the matching NCIS jacket she was wearing. "Never would have thought I'd be playing alongside the feds!"
"What? You don't like being Special Agent Rizzoli?"
"This cheap ass jacket is starting to make me itch!"
Kate laughed sitting down to change out of her designer heels.
"What? No Zanottis?"
"While they compliment this outfit well, I don't think they are an appropriate shoe for this situation."
"Especially if you can't run in them!" said Gibbs walking into the Squad room.
Kate stood up.
Gibbs paused as he took in the sight of Kate, in her old NCIS attire. He smiled at the thought of what could have been. "You look good, Kate!"
"Thanks, Gibbs."
Gibbs looked at Jane. "Not bad, Detective! We might be able to make an agent out of you after all!"
Jane raised an eyebrow. "Thanks?"
McGee, Frost, Ziva and Tony entered the Squad Room all wearing the black NCIS jacket.
"All set, Boss!" said McGee.
"Let's do this," ordered Gibbs, sending everyone towards the elevator.
Abby ran into the Squad Room. "Kate, Kate! I need to talk to you!"
Kate stopped. "What is it, Abbs?"
"I had a dream last night! You were on a rooftop and…"
"Abby, the last time you told me about one of your bête noirs, I didn't come back…"
"But…"
"Abbs," Kate looked at Jane. "Tell me later."
"But you…"
Kate held up her finger silencing the Goth. "Tell me later."
Abby watched as Kate got on the elevator with the rest of the team.
Skylar walked up, standing next to Abby. "Good luck!"
Gibbs looked at Skylar as the door closed.
"Kate is going to come back isn't she, Williams?" asked Abby.
"I hope so," sighed Skylar. "There nothing more I can do around here. I'm going to go. See you later, Abby." Williams left, leaving Abby standing alone.
Gibbs drove the car down the alley of the Norfolk warehouses, pulling the car into park. He sighed to himself as he studied his and Kate's surroundings. "He would pick here."
"Where are we?" asked Kate.
"You don't recognize it?"
Kate shook her head. "No."
Gibbs looked at a building a little ways in front of them. "You were killed right on the rooftop of that building."
Kate felt chills run down her spine as she looked around. "Are you sure about this, Gibbs?"
"Nope, but it's too late to turn back now. The question is, are you sure about this?"
Kate sighed. "No, but what other choice do I have?"
"You're coming home with us, Kate."
"Just make sure it's not in a body bag this time."
Gibbs smiled. "Come on."
Gibbs and Kate got out the car making their way to the entrance of the warehouse. Walking inside, all they found were a few abandoned cars along with stacks of crates littering the place.
"This place is empty, Gibbs," said Kate.
"Hello?" yelled out Gibbs. "Is anybody here?"
Footsteps could be heard coming from the distance.
Kate and Gibbs reached for their guns.
"I suggest you drop your weapons," said an accented voiced as the sound of guns being loaded filled the air above them.
Looking up, Gibbs and Kate saw two gun men carrying automatic weapons standing a floor above them, ready to shoot.
"Put the guns on the ground and put your hands in the air where I can see them!"
Gibbs and Kate looked at each other, deciding what to do.
"It's not an option! Put the weapons down or my men put two rounds through each of you!"
Gibbs and Kate put down their weapons and raised their hands.
"Very good!" The footsteps stopped in the shadows. "Did you bring my plans?"
Gibbs reached into his pocket, holding up the diamond between his fingers. "Got it right here!" He placed the diamond back in his pocket. "But you don't get it until we talk. Face to face!"
A chuckle came from the shadows before a figure emerged from the shadow and Gibbs and Kate came face to face with none other than Special Agent Daniel Levi. "Surprised to see me?"
"No," replied Gibbs, smugly.
Daniel laughed to himself. "Agent Todd, nice to see you again!"
"Wish I could say the same," snapped Kate.
"You don't seem happy to see me?"
"You've been trying to kill me! Not really a pleasant reunion."
"Yes, about that. I really am sorry if I put you through any stress, you see it's hard to find good help these days. I sent them out with the simple task of killing you and they just couldn't seem to complete the task. But, I ensure you it won't happen again."
"You're damn right, it won't."
Daniel smiled. "You like the location I chose for us?"
"I'm sure it's not a coincidence you brought us here."
"You're right," Daniel slowly approached the two. "You see eight years ago, the evolvement of you two in my life was supposed to end right here! Ari and I worked together in that terrorist cell for years. We were on our way to greatest until the famous Leroy Jethro Gibbs got involved. First, you shot Kaseem then you foiled our plans to shoot down Marine One, Al-Qaeda was starting not to trust our ability to carry out their work but they gave us one last chance. Ari had convinced them to invest millions of dollars in an attack against the U.S. Navy and they happily obliged. The plan was simple, use our testtrail of the drone to draw you out, we get rid of you and we would be free to carry out our plans. But a certain undercover, NCIS agent got in the way and ruined it!" Daniel focused his gaze on Kate. "Instead of Ari focusing on completing the mission and ensuring our way into Al-Qaeda, he decided he wanted out. He wanted to throw away everything we worked for just to be with you. He told me about his plan to take the money and disappear and I told him not to do it but he wouldn't listen. He was killed and I was left with the task of trying to explain to what happened!"
"So what? You want the plans back so you can perform the attack and be back in good standings with Al-Qaeda?" asked Kate.
"That's part of it," Daniel walked towards Kate. "I lost the only family I had because you and Agent Gibbs. While those plans will help make things right with Al-Qaeda, killing you and Agent Gibbs will bring me so much more joy!"
Kate starred into Levi's eyes, eyes the closely resembled those of Ari's.
"It's pity. You really are beautiful," Levi gently stroked Kate's cheek just the sound of gunfire sent her to the ground.
"Kate!" Gibbs lounged to Levi but the bullet piercing his chest left him laying on his back.
The sound of two shots firing filled the room as both of Daniel's gunmen the hit the ground. Daniel looked around to see where the shots came from just as the door to the warehouse came flying open as McGee and Frost came in firing off shots at Daniel who took off running into the shadows.
"Frost, go!" shouted McGee sending Frost running after Daniel as McGee knelled down to the ground. "Kate? Boss?"
Moans and groans came from the pair as they sat up.
"Fuck that hurt!" exclaimed Kate, holding her stomach where the bullet hit of vest.
"You okay?" asked Gibbs, helping her up.
"Yeah, I think so. Why did I have to let him shoot again?"
"Because now its self-defense and not murder and you won't feel bad when you put a bullet through him!" Gibbs reached behind him, pulling out another gun as did Kate.
"How did you know he would go for the vest?" asked McGee.
The sound of rapid gunfire emerged from the distance of the shadow.
"Two head upstairs, I'll help Frost!" Gibbs rushed further into the warehouse while Kate and McGee headed for the stairs.
Outside, Tony clung to the fire escape ladder on the side of the building, struggling to make his way up to the roof with Jane right below him.
"Dammit Tony! Hurry up and get up this ladder! I'm really getting tired of looking at your ass!" snapped Jane.
"Don't act like you are not enjoying this!" replied Tony.
"I'm not! Now hurry the hell up!"
Tony climbed a few more rungs, peeking his head over the ledge of the roof where he saw two men standing in conversation with guns strapped to them.
"What do you see?"
"Two in visual and they got big guns! Big, big guns!" Tony looked down at Jane. "I don't think we can take him head on, they got automatics. We may be able to get one but the other will definitely get us."
Jane looked into a window right in front of her, noticing a staircase further down the hall with just one person guarding it. Jane retreated down the ladder.
Tony watched as Jane carefully maneuvered to the other side of the ladder, stretching her long legs to stand on the windowsill and then slide in the window. "What are you doing?"
"Come here!"
Tony went back down the ladder.
"Get in here!" Jane helped Tony move from the ladder to inside the window.
The sound of bullets flying on the other side of the floor alerted Tony and Jane as well as the gunmen, who ran up the stairs yelling in Arabic.
Jane nodded towards the stairway. "Follow me!"
Tony followed as Jane tiptoed about the room, trying their best to stay out of view. Jane crossed the hall, signaling for Tony to stay where he was. They shared a look and they both knew what to do. The light filling the staircase let them know someone was coming. Using the hollowed doorframes as a cover, they waited until the gunmen reappeared at the bottom of the stairs, both firing several shots killing the man where he stood.
"Nice shot!" exclaimed Tony.
"You too! Let's go!" said Jane as she and Tony headed for the stairs.
Rushing onto the roof, Jane and Tony fired their weapons, taking out the two unsuspecting gunmen with a few shots. They looked at each other, proud of their accomplishment when the ping of a bullet hitting the door behind them sent them ducking for cover behind an elevated part of the roof.
"I thought you said you saw two of them?" questioned Jane, getting down as low as she could.
"I did," retorted Tony trying his best to hide from the flying bullets.
Tony and Jane fired back into the gunfire.
Inside the warehouse, Kate and McGee ducked behind separate pillars as they took on fire. Kate shot like a pro, until the room went quiet.
"McGee?" shouted Kate, looking for her partner.
"Yeah," replied the agent.
"You okay?"
"Yeah! You?"
"I'm fine! I think we're clear."
"Me too."
Guns still drawn, they began to move from their hiding places approaching the dead gunmen.
"None of these are Levi," said McGee looking at the dead gunmen scattered about.
The sound of popping above them pulled their attention to the roof.
"Oh no! Tony and Jane!" Without a second thought Kate ran for the stairs.
"Kate, wait!" shouted McGee but it was too late.
Running as fast as she could, Kate climbed up the stairs to the rooftop, where she saw see a gunman on opposite side of the roof firing an automatic weapon. Pressing her back against the door, she fired twice at the gunman, hitting him in the arm. Before he had the chance to realize what was happening, Kate was slowly walking onto the rooftop, firing shots with each step until the gunman laid in a pool of blood.
Jane and Tony looked at each other, puzzled by the silence.
"Jane? Tony?"
They looked around their hiding place to see Kate still with her gun pointed at the dead man.
"Kate?" questioned Tony, standing up.
"You two okay?" asked Kate, lowering her gun. "I heard the gunfire from downstairs."
"Yeah, now that you saved our asses!" said Jane.
"Gibbs was right, he said he wouldn't be coming alone."
"Did you get, Levi?" asked Tony.
"No, he took off running, I…" The sensation of hard metal pressed against the back of Kate's head made her freeze.
Daniel wrapped his arm, across Kate's chest, placing her between him and Jane and Tony's weapons. "Put them down or I put a bullet through Special Agent Todd's head?"
McGee, Frost and Gibbs appeared in the doorway, guns drawn.
"Let her go, Daniel!" ordered Gibbs.
Daniel faced Kate towards Gibbs, the gun to the side of her head. "Or what? You going to shoot me? You wouldn't dare! You shoot me, you'd have to put a bullet through her and you wouldn't dare!"
"But I would!" said Ziva, walking from the fire escape with her gun pointed at Daniel's back.
"Nice move, Agent Gibbs," chuckled Daniel. "You got me surrounded!
"Let her go, Levi!"
"I said I would end this here and I meant it! If there is one thing I learned from you Agent Gibbs, its anticipation," Daniel nodded off into the distance. "You see that building over there? That's where Ari was when he shot Kate in the head."
Gibbs and his team looked into the distance to see a reflective flash coming from a distant building.
"Right now, I have one of my men on that rooftop ready to take that same shot. You think I didn't know you two were wearing vests? I'm an NCIS agent, Gibbs! See I figured you were waiting from me to shoot before you took a shot at me. I shot you in the vest because I knew that you would chase after me thus we end up on the roof, where my sniper is ready to take aim and kill Kate the same way Ari should have eight years ago! See, anticipation!"
"You bastard!" gritted Gibbs.
"Yeah, I am! You can kill me if you want but either way, Kate dies!"
Gibbs slowly lowered his gun, causing the rest of the team to do the same.
Daniel smiled. "That's right, Gibbs. Put the gun down! Your hands are tied!"
"Gibbs," pleaded Kate, her heart racing in her chest.
"There is nothing he can do for you now, Kate. He messed up again and again your blood will be on his hands!" Daniel let go of Kate, taking a step back. "Say goodbye to Agent Todd, Gibbs."
Gibbs put his head down he left his gaze looking at each member of his team, especially Tony's. Finally is eyes met Kate's. "I'm so sorry, Kate."
"Gibbs, please," whispered Kate.
"Say goodbye, Gibbs!" yelled Daniel.
"Goodbye..."
"No!" Tony rushed towards Kate but stopped when he felt the blood splatted against his face.
KAATTTEEEE!NOOOOO! What have I done? What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)
