Title: Shattered Lives

Author: Jeana

Spoilers: Twlight

Pairing: Tony/Kate. The Gibbs/Abby interaction is intended to be purely a close friendship, but could be taken as ship if you wanted.

Disclaimer: Navy NCIS is the property of Belisaurius, Paramount, DPB, CBS, and all that jazz...The characters just run around in my head all day long, so I put them to work.

Author's Note: I know that just about everybody has done a post-Twlight fic to get it out of their systems, but mine has a different twist. I also wasn't able to get this edited or beta-ed, so any mistakes are completely my fault. Enjoy.

Kate's cry of "Shooter!" startled Tony, and he looked up in time to see Kate run and jump in front of Gibbs, throwing her body in front of the bullet intended for her boss. She groaned when it hit her, then she fell to the ground with a grunt.

Tony and Gibbs immediately began firing in the direction of the shooter in the stairwell. The terrorist, full of bullets, tumbled through the door, down the steps, and collapsed, lifeless, on the roof. Gibbs turned to woman who had just saved his life. "Kate?" he called worriedly. Tony looked at Kate lying there, motionless, and felt his stomach flip-flop. Both men rushed over and knelt by her side.

The rolled her over onto her back and pulled her jacket open. They sighed in relief when they saw the terrorist's bullet imbedded in her Kevlar vest.

"You okay?" Tony asked, as relief washed over him.

"Oww," was Kate's reply. "I just got shot at point-blank range, DiNozzo, what do you think?"

Tony smiled; Kate was just as snarky as ever. "You're not going to be going to Pilates class tomorrow?"

Kate just groaned in response.

Gibbs and Tony helped her up, and she grunted in pain as she stood. "Protection detail's over, Kate," Gibbs informed her.

"You did good," Tony said with a grin.

"For once, DiNozzo's right." Gibbs smiled.

Kate chuckled. "Wow. I thought I'd die before I ever heard a compli-"

Bang! The bullet came seemingly from out of nowhere and went completely through Kate's head, splattering blood everywhere, including the side of Tony's face. Her lifeless body fell to the ground. Tony looked down at Kate in shock, then looked up, trying to figure out who had shot her and from where.

Gibbs raised his gun and looked at the building across from them. He knew who had shot his agent. "Ari…" he whispered.

XXXXXX

As soon as they were sure that the area was clear, Tony knelt by his fallen comrade. "No, no, no, Kate…not now…not like this…" Ever hopeful, he placed his fingers on her neck, feeling for a pulse. His hopes were crushed when he didn't feel the blood coursing through her veins, and he didn't even try to stop the tears that started to fall. "Kate…" his voice broke as he brushed her cheek with his fingertips. He pulled her lifeless body into his arm and began sobbing quietly.

As Gibbs watched Tony's show of emotion, he felt his throat tighten. He swallowed hard and angrily blinked back the bitter tears that threatened to spill. After a moment, he walked over to Tony and knelt next to him, putting his hand on the other man's shoulder. "Tony…" he had opened his mouth to say something comforting, but no words would come.

"Boss…I know I've always been strong, but…" Tony's throat constricted. "I can't, boss…I just can't."

"I know. I understand." Gibbs stayed there with his hand on Tony's shoulder and soon, he too, lost the battle and succumbed to tears. They were just tears, though, not sobs like Tony's. Gibbs willed himself not to break down in front of the other agent.

A few minutes later, when Tony's sobs subsided, he said shakily, "This can't happen! I loved her."

"I know, Tony. I know."

"No. You don't!" Tony pulled back the collar of her shirt, reached under her Kevlar vest, and pulled out a thin golden necklace. Strung on the necklace was a diamond ring. Not trusting his voice, Tony just looked up at Gibbs and let his eyes do the talking.

When Gibbs saw the ring, scintillating in the sunlight, a new pang of sorrow and bitterness stabbed him like a knife in the heart. "Tony, I…I'm so sorry."

"We were going to make it official a few weeks ago, but then I got the Plague."

Gibbs squeezed Tony's shoulder, a very emotional gesture for Gibbs, and whispered, "So sorry…" Needing a moment to himself, he stood and said, "I'll call Ducky. Why don't you go find McGee?"

Tony nodded and reverently lay Kate's body back down, closing her eyes with his fingertips. He reached a hand up and let Gibbs pull him to his feet. Then he walked slowly over to the stairs.

After watching Tony disappear down the stairs, Gibbs gave in to his emotions. He sank to his knees and let sobs rack his body for several minutes. Then, he regained his composure, wiped away all traces of the tears he had shed, and pulled out his cell phone. "Hey, Ducky, can you come out here? And bring the truck…"

XXXXXX

Tony met McGee at the bottom of the stairs.

"I got all the terrorists in the building," McGee said pleasantly. Noting Tony's depressed expression, he asked, "Hey, are you alright?"

"No. I'm not alright, McGee." He was fighting to keep his voice even.

Noticing for the first time the blood on Tony's face, McGee began to get worried. "Tony, where are Gibbs and Kate?"

"Gibbs is up on the roof calling Ducky."

McGee's stomach flip-flopped. "And Kate?"

Tony pressed his lips together, then managed. "They shot her."

"But she'll be alright, won't she?"

"No. She's dead. He killed her! That bastard killed her!" Tony could feel the tears threatening to return.

McGee stepped back in shock and then repeated, "She…she's dead?"

"Yes, McGee, she's dead! No longer living! Gone! Never coming back!" Tony was trying hard not to cry in front of McGee, but it was no use. In frustration he turned and slammed his fists on the door of the building as he cried out in rage.

Still in shock, McGee just stood there, as if in a daze. His jaw had dropped during Tony's last outburst, now he slowly licked his lips as he tried to process what his colleague had just told him. Kate, his fellow agent, his teammate, his friend, was dead.

While McGee was standing there in shock and Tony was leaning against the side of building, taking deep breaths to try to calm himself, an NCIS truck pulled into the parking lot. Ducky and Palmer quickly got out. The former's eyes were slightly puffy and the latter's nose was red.

"Gibbs has informed us of what happened," Ducky said with an edge in his voice. "Mr. Palmer and I are deeply grieved."

When Tony made no response, Ducky looked at him; Tony was staring off into space, a glazed look in his eyes. "Tony? Tony, are you alright?" Ducky approached the younger man and patted his shoulder. "Tony?"

Tony slowly turned and stared at Ducky, the look in his eyes was similar to that of a lost, abused puppy. "Ducky, she can't be gone. She just can't be gone!"

Seeing that his friend was on the edge of breaking down, Ducky pulled Tony into a comforting embrace.

Tony hugged the kind M.E. fiercely and lamented, "It just isn't fair, Ducky! I was going to marry her…"

McGee and Palmer's eyebrows shot up at this, while Ducky just nodded; he had seen that coming for quite some time.

"After years of searching, I finally find the right girl, and then she's taken from me!"

"I know, Tony; life isn't fair." He patted Tony's back, then looked at McGee and Palmer and nodded towards the stairs, indicating that they should remove Kate's body while he talked to Tony. The two men quickly complied, getting the gurney and body bag from the truck and dragging it up the stairs.

When they were gone, Tony released Ducky and leaned his back against the side of the building. Ducky stood next to him. Tony rubbed his eyes and asked quietly, "Why, Ducky? Why?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that, Tony. But I can say that I know how you feel. My wife, Amelia, died in a car accident shortly after out seventh wedding anniversary."

"I'm sorry, Ducky," Tony responded sympathetically.

"Amelia was an amazing woman, as was Kate.

Was. Kate was.

Rage suddenly filled Tony's mind. "I'll kill Ari! I swear I'll blow his head off!" As he made his threat, the image of his beloved lying in a puddle of blood with a bullet hole in her head flashed through his mind and Tony began to feel nauseated and light-headed. Suddenly, his knees buckled underneath him.

"Tony!" Ducky barely managed to catch his colleague before he hit the ground. "Gibbs!" Ducky cried loudly.

"What?" came the reply from above.

"Call an ambulance! Quickly!"