"So," Tony announced his re-entry into Kate's hospital room. "What do you say we ditch this joint?" He could tell the anesthetic hadn't completely worn out because her eyes were already drooping.

"Yeah. I don't suppose you know where my clothes ended up?" She attempted a smile, but was too exhausted, and failed miserably.

Tony turned his head and began scanning the small room for any sign of her clothes. Finally, he spotted them in a white, see-through bag at the foot of her bed. After grabbing the bag, he pulled out the black dress pants she had been wearing that morning, along with her sweater and boots.

"Help me Tony." He was going to make a wisecrack about her in a backless hospital gown, but when he heard her plea, he immediately sobered.

"Sure Kate." Without a word about her hot pink bra, or the kind of underwear she was wearing, he slid her pants on, and then helped her with her sweater. "I'll be right back Katie." Although she always yelled at him when he called her 'Katie,' she was too tired to care, and if the truth came out, she actually liked it.

After securing a wheelchair, Tony helped her into his car, and they were on their way.

"Tony?" Kate had slept the entire drive to her house.

"Ssh." Gently, Tony laid her on her bed and covered her with a quilt. "Go back to sleep."

He barely managed to close her door before his cell phone went off. Instantly, his hand went to his hip to shut the ringer off.

"Yeah."

"Tony?" He had never heard her sound so insecure.

"She's fine Abbs." He couldn't help but smile at his words. 'She's going to be fine.'

"Ducky said she collapsed."

"Yeah, she did."

"Oh God."

"Abbs, she's okay. We're at her place. Come see for yourself." He heard her sniff.

"Okay." With a click, she hung up, and he pocketed his phone.

It was then he noticed the state of Kate's apartment. Judging by the throw pillows and blanket on the floor, the dishes in the sink, and the overflowing hamper, she hadn't been feeling well for several days. Picking up the pillows, he arranged them neatly on the couch. He then proceeded to the kitchen, and that's where Abby found him fifteen minutes later.

"What does she eat?" Tony greeted Abby.

"Huh?" That came out of nowhere.

"Kate has no food." Abby smiled.

"What do you expect Tony? We're at work 23.5 hours a day."

Tony stopped cleaning and looked at her.

"She's asleep. Will be for a while."

"That's a good thing. Hey, why don't you go home? I'll stay with her tonight." Abby knew how the couple cared for each other, although they themselves didn't. She also knew today had taken a toll on him.

Tony shook his head

"No. She can't get up by herself. I'm going to go home, grab some clothes, and run by the store. I'll be back in an hour. Don't let her get up."

"Don't worry Tony." Abby stood up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

An hour later, as promised, Tony returned with a large duffel bag, and several bags of food.

"She wake up?" Tony sat his many bags on the counter.

"Nope." Abby followed him into the kitchen and began unloading the groceries. "Jeez Tony. You buy out the store?"

"Well I had to buy healthy food for Kate, and I'm not going to eat that crap. So I bought me food too."

"Right. Oh! By the way, Gibbs called. He said unless there's a new case, you can stay with Kate. Well technically Tim said it, but Gibbs said it first. He also said Gibbs actually seemed worried about Kate."

"That's 'cause Kate's his favorite."

I'm extremely sorry for the lack of updates. Thanks for all the great reviews. Here's the next installment, I won't make any promises, but I'm going to try and finish the story soon. Maybe 2 more chapters tops, and TATE will definately be there!