Title: Aftermath

Author: Cailyn

Rating: PG-13; some violence and language. I'd rather just keep the story all at one rating.

Summary: Second chapter of The Morning after

Disclaimer: I do not own the NCIS characters and do not profit from them in any way, shape, or form; unfortunately…

Kate placed a hand over her forehead, shielding her eyes from Gibbs; she couldn't bring herself to look into his piercing blue eyes. She bit her lip, astonished at what she had just revealed. Silence hung in the air. Tony stood, and for once knew better than to say anything.

"My stuff..." Kate said, keeping her words few and blunt.

"What?" Gibbs said, confused and obviously still shocked by his co-worker's previous confession.

"My stuff, you know? Gun, wallet, jacket," she returned, still keeping her words quick and to the point.

"Oh right, of course. They're on the kitchen counter," Gibbs responded, also all-too-willing to avoid Kate's eyes.

"Tony will give you a ride to your car--it should still be at HQ--and then go home and get some sleep. You don't have to come into the office today. It's been slow and all that's left to do is paperwork."

"All right."

Tony and Kate went out to Tony's car. He unlocked both doors, and he and Kate slid into the seats. Tony was still in his blue polka-dotted pajama pants and basketball jersey, and Kate in her clothes from the day before. They both shivered in the sharp air of the D.C. morning. Tony started the car and they drove back to NCIS in silence, Tony too scared to speak, (because Kate now had her gun back) and Kate too angry with herself to speak. As they pulled into the NCIS parking, lot Tony finally broke the silence.

"Look, umm, Kate, I don't know what happened with you and Gibbs, and frankly, I don't care, but if you ever need to talk about anything—anything--give me a call."

"Thanks, Tony," she said sincerely.

Kate slipped out of Tony's car; she fished around into her purse until she found her keys. She unlocked her own doors as Tony pulled out of the parking lot. Kate was now cold, alone, and hurt. She didn't know what to do with herself. Regardless, she slid into her own car and started up the ignition. Immediately, the tears began to fall until her face and sweater were soaked and she realized she'd been sitting there for over twenty minutes. Taking Gibbs up on his offer, she decided to head home to her own apartment.

When she parked her car outside her apartment, she noticed that all her lights had been left on. Kate paused for a moment. She felt both her gun on her hip and acknowledged the other gun securely back in her ankle holster. She almost wanted to go back to her car and grab her Smith and Wesson .38 special she kept between the seats but decided against it.

As she unlocked her door, she thought about who had access to her apartment, but she couldn't think of anyone; not since she had changed her locks six months ago, anyway. Kate took the stairs one at a time, her senses on overdrive. When she got to her door, it was open. She knew she should call someone--Gibbs, Tony, the police--but she ignored the warning light going off in the back of her mind and cautiously tapped the door with her foot, her right hand on her holster, ready at a moment's notice. She entered her apartment cautiously.

Her apartment was trashed.

Her kitchen table was flipped over, cabinets open, food spilled everywhere. She drew her gun, thoroughly inspecting every inch of her apartment. Behind doors, in closets, and even under her bed. When she felt satisfied that she was the only person in her apartment, she grabbed her cell phone and made the dreadful call.

"No point putting off the inevitable," she said out loud as she hit 5 on her speed dial, assuming that Gibbs and Tony would be at headquarters by now. Tony answered on the first ring.

"Special Agent Dinozzo," he answered.

"Hey, Tony," she replied, exasperated and not at all up to the task that lay ahead. "Is Gibbs there yet?"

"Yeah; he left his house right after you did. He wasn't there when I got back. You wanna talk to him?" Tony sounded shocked, even amazed at Kate's request.

"Yeah."

As Kate waited for Gibbs to come on the line, she heard her front door squeal open; she rounded the corner the re-shut it. Just as she made the turn, a man stopped her with a .32 caliber pistol pointed at her chest; a glimmer of recognition ran across her face before the man swung the butt of the pistol at her temple. Kate gasped, then yelped. She stumbled backward and fell to the ground. Her wrists failed in a pitiful attempt to break her fall. The back of her head hit the table and she lay unconscious on her kitchen floor.

The man left, satisfied that he had accomplished the task he set out for.

Meanwhile, Gibbs yelled Kate's name into the receiver having heard all that went on. He hung up grabbed Dinozzo, and his keys as well as Kate's personnel file and ran to his car. "He hung up and told Dinozzo to get to the car immediately. He grabbed his keys and Kate's personnel file and ran to the car. As Gibbs drove, Tony rummaged through her file until he found the agent's address. Gibbs floored it as he called to have an ambulance meet them at Kate's apartment.

Kate lay on the floor, the door wide open. A fair amount of blood was on the floor. Gibbs checked for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. Gibbs and Tony stayed with her until the paramedics came to take her to the hospital.

After they left, Gibbs walked around the apartment. On the kitchen table sat Kate's gun, loaded.

"Shit!" Gibbs said. "Why didn't she just shoot the asshole?"