Tony's Warning
Running, guns drawn, they're after Ari. Tony, Gibbs and Kate follow him up the stairs. Chasing the assassin, they end up on the roof of a parking garage. Suddenly, a shot hits Kate and she falls, stunned and still at Tony's feet. The sound of Gibbs' gun is loud in the bright morning, and Tony kneels, helping Kate to her feet.
"I thought I was dead.." Kate begins, just as another rifle shot echoes through the air. Horrified, Tony finds himself covered in blood and brain matter. Kate's. Looking down, his breath catches in his throat as he sees her dead at his feet, a bullet between her eyes.
"Kate!" Tony screamed, sitting bolt up right in bed. Slowly, the nightmare began to melt away, and he looked to see Kate, startled awake, laying beside him, watching him in the moonlight. Frowning, she sat up in bed, brushing her brown hair from her face.
"Tony?" she asked, her voice sleepy and sweet. "Are you okay?" she asked, placing a hand on his chest. Drawing back, she was alarmed to find his skin wet with sweat. "What is it babe?" she asked, and Tony turned, his face haunted in the dim silvery light from the partially open curtains over the bedroom window.
"Kate," he breathed, terrified and his heart in his throat, "my God, Kate. You were shot," he told her, the vivid dream still in his mind's eye.
Stroking his strong jaw gently with her fingertips, Kate smiled and whispered,
"It was a dream, Tony; not a good one, sounds like, but all it was, was a dream."
Staring at her, feeling the relief wash over him that it was, in fact, a dream, Tony cuddled her against his chest, feeling her warm body against his. That's all it was, he tried to convince himself. It was a dream, a nightmare, but Kate was still with him, still warm and still alive. Yet it was a long, long time before he fell back into a restless sleep.
Several days later, the nightmare forgotten, Tony was at his desk working for once, when the call came on Gibbs' cell phone. With a deadly look in his eyes, he stood, motioning for Kate, Tony and McGee to follow.
"There's evidence that a drone's going to blow up the ship coming in today with a shit-load of military personnel coming home on leave. We've got to stop it." He said, as they took the elevator down to the floor level of the NCIS building.
The assassin ran for the stairs, and Tony followed behind Kate and Gibbs as they exited the parking garage and ran onto the roof. Splitting up, they took cover and managed to pick off a couple of the goons working with Ari. Regrouping, they stood together, unaware of Ari's deadly eyes upon them. A shot rang out, shattering the stillness.
Kate fell, the bullet's impact to her Kevlar vest knocking her off her feet. Tony knelt, while Gibbs squeezed off another round, sending yet another terrorist to the seventy virgins in the afterlife. Helping Kate to her feet, Tony gasped as the nightmare from a few nights ago flashed through his mind.
"I thought—" Kate's sentence went unfinished as she was suddenly pushed back to the ground, the bulk of Tony's body atop hers as another shot blistered the air.
"I thought I was dead—" Kate began, seconds before her blood and brain matter splattered all over Tony's face and chest. Tony dropped to his feet, cradling Kate in his arms. "Kate!" he screamed, and the nightmare ended.
"Tony!" Kate breathed, feeling the warm, familiar weight of his body as he lay atop her. But Tony didn't answer; his weight became crushing, and Kate squirmed beneath him. "Get up, Tony!" she hissed, but he didn't respond. "Tony?" she asked, fear creeping into her heart.
"You were shot," she remembered him saying that night after he'd awakened, screaming her name in a dream. She had soothed him; shushed him by assuring him that he'd been dreaming, and he'd cuddled her against him, his arm around her in a protective embrace. Now, he lay atop her still and quiet. Too still, and too quiet.
"Dear God," she whispered, and then screamed out, panic in her voice. "Gibbs! Gibbs, oh, my god; Gibbs!" It seemed an eternity before she saw the black boots of her supervisor's feet appear before her eyes. She couldn't see anything except pavement and Gibbs' boots. Tony's strong hand on her head kept her face firmly against the roof of the building. Suddenly, his weight was gone, as Gibbs rolled him off of her. Scrambling to her knees, Kate watched in horror as Gibbs checked for a pulse in Tony's neck. Then she saw it: the blood, dark and wet against Tony's soft brown hair.
"No," she whispered, as her stomach rolled, violently ridding itself of the cheeseburger she'd eaten for lunch. Gibbs cut his eyes over to hers, worry and anger in their blue depths.
"He's still breathing. The bullet just grazed him, Kate." He assured, and Kate wondered if Gibbs was lying. Taking deep breaths, she nodded and radioed for help.
A week later, Tony DiNozzo walked into the office, a white bandage wound around his head. Abby was standing at Kate's desk, hands fluttering in excitement as she chattered on about something to do with a new tattoo she was considering. He smiled. It was good to be back, he thought as he let his eyes roam over the office. McGee happened to look up, and smiled, waving to him. Tony raised his hand.
"Hey, Probie!" he greeted, "I see you're still here," it was a joke, and McGee took it in stride.
"Sure am," he said, and then, "good to see you're still here, too." Looking as if he were afraid he'd said too much, the agent quickly began typing something into his computer.
Kate looked away from Abby, who had been trying to convince her to get a tattoo of an angel on her shoulder. Seeing Tony, her face lit up with a bright smile.
"Hey," she greeted, "welcome back!" In reality, Kate knew Tony was coming into work today; hell, they'd been secretly dating for close to a month. But she didn't want the rest of the team to know that. Tony winked, causing her stomach to flutter with relief that he was indeed, still with them.
Abby, her black hair sectioned into her usual pony-tails, bounced over to Tony, throwing her arms around him in an exuberant hug. Kate could see Tony's face as he braced himself for the lab tech's affectionate welcome.
"I'm so glad you're back, Tony!" Abby bubbled, and then stepped back. "I have something for you; I thought and thought about this," she told him, and scurried back over to Kate's desk, where she knelt, reached under and pulled it out: her beloved farting hippo. Tony raised an eyebrow as Abby brought it over and presented it to him.
"I want you to have this," she said and when Tony didn't take the hippo from her, Abby smiled. "I know you secretly like him, and I'd much rather give him away than have to go on living without hearing you pester Kate all the time," she said, and Tony grinned.
"Abby!" he said, truly touched by her selflessness, "that's so sweet of you," he said, taking the toy, which let go an immense, rude fart the minute he touched it. Holding it out to Abby, he said,
"Why don't you keep him in your office for me?" at her disappointed expression, he continued, "that way he can keep you company, and I'll know he's in good hands." Satisfied with his explanation, Abby stood on her toes, and plastered an affectionate, noisy smack right on Tony's cheek.
"Thanks, Tony," she said simply, knowing he was graciously letting her keep her favourite farting hippo. She really couldn't have parted with it, and in her heart she knew Tony would never have asked her to. Humming, Abby headed for the elevator. She had work to do, and she wanted to get to it before Gibbs told her to.
Tony watched her leave, and then turned to Kate, who was standing, arms crossed over her full breasts, smirking. Tony frowned.
"What, Kate?" he asked, a teasing gleam in his eye. Kate grinned.
"Welcome back," she responded, and Tony winked. Walking over to him, Kate leaned in, whispering something meant only for Tony.
"Remind me," she said, wiping Abby's black lip-stick from his cheek, "remind me never to second guess your dreams anymore." Grinning, Tony couldn't resist the quick kiss he placed on her forehead.