The sun has fallen
Another day gone without you
My heart keeps calling
And I don't know just what to do

-From "Wish That I Was There" by Hanson

- - -

"Tony. Wake up. Tony. To-ny... Hey, Travolta!"

Tony sat up, back ramrod straight. His eyes snapped quickly around the room, assessing his situation. He was at NCIS, at his desk, he had been asleep. The edges of his vision were a bit fuzzy- or was that the sleepiness still prickling at his eyes? And in front of him- was that...

"Kate?" he asked disbelievingly.

"In the flesh," she said, smiling.

In one fluid movement, Tony stood and hugged Kate tightly. Pulling back abruptly, he held her by the shoulders and stared at her face.

"You... you were... you-" he broke off, and hugged her again.

"Tony, what-"

He interrupted her.

"You died- it must've- I was dreaming, wasn't I? It was just a nightmare! A bĂȘte noir," he said, a wide grin engulfing his face. "Because you're here, aren't you? You're alive!"

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I'm here."

"Kate, I have to tell you something. Now. Because in my dream, I didn't get to tell you."

She watched him with curious eyes as he rambled on.

"I just want you to know that, well- I- I care about you. No, that's the wrong word. I like you, Kate. That's wrong too, forget everything I just said. Kate, we're more than just brother and sister, aren't we? We're friends, at least, right? 'Cause when I thought you were dead, I was thinking about it, and I decided that I didn't really know what we were, and I didn't think I'd ever know, and, well... what are we?"

Kate stared at him with her doe-brown eyes, but something was wrong. Her eyes were bright with fear as she stared over his shoulder. A shot of fear jolted through Tony, and he turned. Ari. The only person in the world that Tony truly wanted dead.

"Kate, run!" he yelled, but it was too late. A shot rang out, and Kate fell backwards once more, and he dropped to her side. Her lips were moving, she was trying to say something, but he couldn't understand.

"Louder, Kate!" he said urgently. It now seemed that the only thing he needed in the world was to hear what she was saying. It was essential to his very life, and he leaned over so that her mouth brushed his ear.

"I lov-"

There was another gunshot, and another and another, and Tony watched in horror as Kate's body was torn apart by bullet after bullet, and her blood was gushing all over and soaking the carpet and his clothes and pooling on the floor-

Tony woke screaming. He was drenched in sweat, and he was choking on half-sobs of grief and rage, punctuated by expletive after expletive.

And now that he thought about it, the whole dream was wrong, all wrong. Kate would never let him hug her twice without a very good explanation, and she wouldn't just accept the fact he'd dreamed about her dying and move on, and she would never, ever tell him what she'd been about to say in his dream.

He leaned over and snatched the phone of the bedside, and began to fiercely punch numbers. Clutching the phone tightly, he waited seven rings until the machine picked up.

"You've reached the residence of Caitlin Todd. Either I'm not at home, or the phone's off the hook-" here she laughed, her lighthearted, cheerful laugh- "so leave a message after the tone and I'll get back to you."

Tony slowly replaced the phone back in its cradle, and sank into his pillows, staring at the ceiling. His alarm clock read 2:16 in the morning. It was going to be a long night.