Big hugs and kisses to all who have reviewed this, plus my other Tate fic, 'Everything'. Sorry for the delay – I went into delayed shock over the finale. Heh.

PART FOUR – BETRAYAL

"Where the hell's DiNozzo, Kate?" demanded Gibbs, coffee cup in hand.

Her head jerked up and she felt her cheeks turning red. She still wasn't quite used to the fact that Gibbs knew about her and Tony. "Uh, I don't know, Gibbs. I haven't talked to him since last night." She rolled her eyes as he looked at her questioningly. "We're fine, Gibbs. He just went out with a few friends, okay?"

McGee hung up the phone. "That was him. He just called in sick."

She began to feel the first trickles of worry set into her. "D-did he say anything else, McGee?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

He looked at her, his face softening at the evident worry in her tone. "Yeah, Tony said that he's fine and to not worry about him, Kate."

"He's probably just hungover," she muttered, relaxing slightly and feeling ridiculous at how she had panicked earlier.

"Check on him later, Kate, won't you?" Gibbs said absently as he signed away at some papers.

"Sure." She tucked strands of hair behind her ears and sighed, still unable to completely shake off the unease she felt.

He's fine, she reminded herself repeatedly.

So why does it feel differently?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The knock on his door came at around eight, just as he expected. Feeling scared and nervous, he flung the door open and without warning, Kate rushed into his arms and gave him a big hug.

He couldn't resist her touch, and tension flowed out of him as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer.

"Are you all right?" she asked, finally pulling away and searching his face anxiously.

"Fine," he assured her, turning away from her. Just seeing her hurt him, making him feel even worse.

Her eyebrows knitted together, confused. "Tony…"

"I have to tell you something," he blurted out quickly.

"Okay," she said, putting her arm on his forearm. "Wait, are you sure you're all right?"

He didn't answer, instead leading her into his living room and motioning for her to take a seat. She did so, the worry and fear in her eyes growing.

"What's going on?" she whispered, her heart beginning to beat at a faster pace.

He sat on the edge of the coffee table, across from her seat on the couch. He took her hands in his, looked into her eyes, and told her in a quiet voice everything that had happened.

Her face was blank the entire time, and it stayed that way even after he had finished speaking. A defeated expression came across Tony's face as Kate pulled her hands away from is and stood up, walking over to the far corner of the room.

Her arms crossed, she bit her lip as she tried not to cry. The one thought that ran through her mind was this: How could he have done this to me? A part of her was waiting for him to walk over to her with a goofy smile on his face, telling her he was just joking so she could elbow him in the gut and smack him for playing such a crappy, stupid, painful joke. She would be furious with him but she would cool down in a bit and fall into his arms, relieved that it was just a joke.

But a much larger part of her knew that he wouldn't joke about things like this. This was the truth, the reality of the situation. To be honest, deep down, she had been waiting for something like this to happen, ever since hooking up with him in the first place.

People like him don't change, she told herself sadly. Once a womanizer, always a womanizer. Dammit, why hadn't she listened to her gut before? Why had she deluded herself with the idea that this was different?

"Kate…" she heard him say softly in a voice laced with regret and hurt. "I am so, so sorry."

Why the hell am I hearing remorse in his voice? she screamed to herself in anger. He couldn't possibly be feeling guilty for his actions!

I thought he cared about me, a small voice at the back of her head started. He couldn't have done this. He couldn't have. Maybe this is some mistake. Maybe the alcohol made him hallucinate, or… something. He gave me his word. He'd never hurt me. I gave him my heart!

She wiped hastily at the tears that had fallen down her cheeks and whirled around angrily. "You are a sick son of a bitch, you know that? What the hell is wrong with you? How could you do this to me?"

Every word she said to him was like a slap to the face. His eyes burned painfully as he tried to hold back tears, knowing he deserved every single thing she said to him. He was a sick son of a bitch. Only sick son of a bitches got drunk and slept around with another woman while their girlfriend wasn't around.

"I'm sorry," he said for the nth time, tears slipping down his face for real.

"Sorry won't change what happened," she said to him coldly, refusing to be swayed by the sight of him crying.

"I know, Kate, but I really, truly am – "

"Save it." Her eyes flashed angrily, and all sorts of emotions flooded through her, threatening to push her over the edge any second now. Fighting the sudden urge to throw things at him and call him all sorts of cruel things, she inhaled and exhaled deeply, willing herself to calm down, but it didn't appear to be working. In the end she pressed her lips tightly together and fought to stay silent.

After regaining some semblance of control, she turned back to him, her eyes once again filled with tears. "What now, DiNozzo?"

He looked up at her, looking as though he had aged about ten years. "I don't know," he said softly. "I didn't plan on it…happening. If I could turn back time and undo it, I would, in a heartbeat. I – " He broke off and buried his head in his hands, his fists clenched. He was so stupid. The one time in his life when things were going so well, he had to go and screw it up - and hurt the one he loved in the process.

"Tony… We'd both like things to go back to the way they were. But it happened, and we have to deal with that. I…" She sucked in another deep breath and exhaled shakily before looking up at him.

"I think we should break up," he heard her say.

His insides froze up, but he managed to open his mouth and croak, "I guess we should."

Her eyes had gone shiny with tears again, and she struggled to keep her voice steady. "So that's it, then. We've broken up."

"That's it," he said dully.

A painful gasp shot out of her lips and, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she left as fast as she could.