Double Life
By that belle
A freak accident puts Kate into a coma. Nothing is what it seems when she finally wakes up... ..Tony & Kate.. ..Ari & Kate..
The next two days passed slowly. Kate had had no visitors since Tony and Gibbs, but Abby and Tony had called her frequently. Gibbs called her once, but she hadn't heard from him since she explained to him that her gut was trying to warn her about something.
In the early afternoon, Kate was sitting up in bed reading a trashy romance novel. She found it when she looked through the drawers of the table next to her bed, and although it was corny and predictable, she found herself enjoying it. She was pulled out of her feeling of comfort and security when the doors to her ward opened and Ari came in, followed by Reuben. Kate noted that her 'brother' seemed put off and slightly cautious.
"Raya," Ari greeted her, bending over and kissing her on the cheek. "Ready to leave?"
"And go where?" She asked him, keeping the fear out of her voice.
"Back to Israel, of course." Ari said, smiling. "Your mission here did not go well, and we are returning home so you can recover there."
Kate's stomach dropped. She wanted to scream and protest, but before she let her guard down, she thought of an idea. "Why don't you let me have another shot at completing the mission?" She asked him. "The Americans have been visiting often, which means my cover has not been blown."
"Are you sure, Raya?" Reuben asked irritably. "Maybe they are playing a farce; they will kill or imprison you as soon as you step foot inside that building!"
"It's a chance I am willing to take." Kate replied stubbornly. She crossed her arms and looked away. "I refuse to return until my mission is complete. I would much rather cut off my own leg." Kate was surprised at herself as the words continued to flow out of her mouth. Ari and Reuben were surprised too at her 'firmness', and Ari slowly nodded his head.
"Consider it done." He said. "But you are coming back to the hotel with us tonight. Go to work starting next week."
Kate wanted to throw up at the aspect of spending the entire weekend in a hotel room with Ari, but she couldn't think of anything that would make him change his mind. Gibbs' warning about making them believe she was this Raya person was still looming over her head. Eventually, she nodded. "I don't have any things."
"That is easily remedied." Ari smiled. "We will stop by your favourite clothing store on the way to the hotel."
Kate hadn't noticed Reuben leave the room while she was talking to Ari, but she noticed it when he returned with a nurse. "The nurse says Kate is ready to be released." He said.
Kate was about to say "What?", but she remembered that she had been brought here under her own name. The nurse signed the discharge forms, and left, wishing her well.
Ari turned to her, smiling. "I will go and call a cab."
As soon as Gibbs dismissed the team for a break, Tony left for the hospital. It took him long enough to get there, he knew he was going to be late back to the squad room but he didn't care. He wanted to see Kate, and that was his main priority.
He walked up to the receptionist and flashed her a smile. "Hi, I'm here to see Kate Todd." He said.
The nurse ran through the files, and looked at him, a confused smile on her face. "Didn't you know…?" She asked him curiously. "Kate Todd was discharged about thirty minutes ago." She said, shrugging a shoulder. "She left with her husband and brother."
Tony swore under his breath, thanked the receptionist, and left the hospital. He delayed calling Gibbs until he was back on the road.
"DiNozzo, you had better have a good explanation for why you aren't here." Gibbs answered.
"Nice to hear from you too, boss." Tony said sarcastically. "And as a matter of fact, I do. Kate's been discharged." He said. "The hospital receptionist told me she left just over thirty minutes ago… with her husband and her brother."
Gibbs swore. "We're going to have to wait until she contacts us, DiNozzo. Luckily you went out there or we wouldn't have found out."
"So, I'm not in trouble for being late, boss?" Tony asked hopefully.
"Oh no," Gibbs said, and Tony swore he could hear Gibbs' grin through the phone. "You're still in trouble, DiNozzo."
Tony grimaced as the line went dead. But he wasn't as worried about his pending punishment as he was about Kate's current condition.
"Lingerie?" Kate asked in disbelief. "You brought me to a lingerie shop?"
"You like to shop here, remember Raya?" Ari said, a smirk on his face. "And I have to admit, I quite like your taste."
She shrugged a shoulder, and looked at the shop. The front windows were displaying two mannequins wearing very suggestive clothing. "This looks like a sex shop."
Ari laughed. "It is. You just like the lingerie from here. Don't tell me you can't remember?"
She nodded her head. "Vaguely." She said. She then turned to him. "Remember, Ari, that I have just come out of a coma. Don't expect me to remember absolutely everything."
Kate wandered into the shop before Ari had a chance to answer. As she opened the door to go in, she heard Ari tell Reuben to meet the two there in half an hour. Reuben replied, with obvious relief in his voice, that it was not a problem. Kate went inside the shop, and looked around.
The shop, Kate observed dryly, had mood lighting. The shop assistants were dressed casually, and there weren't very many customers. Kate counted about three other people. The door opened behind her and Ari came in.
"See anything you like?" He asked her.
If Kate wasn't pretending to be Ari's wife, then she would have slapped him. A classic DiNozzo comment. She sighed as she thought about Tony. On a normal day, Kate didn't mind shopping for sexy lingerie. But the stuff in the store was X-rated. There were things that would even make Tony blush. She shook her head in reply at Ari and moved further into the store. A matching set caught her eye on a rack in the front corner. She approached it, and couldn't help but smile. It was black lace, with a small amount of pink ribbon around the waistband and between the breasts.
Smiling wickedly, she found her size, and went to find something else to try on. Usually, Kate hated spending her wages on lingerie, but since Ari was buying it, she might as well find a few things she liked. She saw a black negligee and robe set, and she decided she would try on the black one, as well as the red one. Finally, in the back corner, she stopped by a single negligee that caught her eye. A mannequin was displaying what it would look like on. It was black, and made of silk. It had thin straps, and ran down to her mid-thighs. Along with that were two see-through gloves that went all the way up to her upper arm, and thigh-high black stockings. She decided she would try it on, too.
As she headed towards the changing room, she turned her head to look at Ari. He was watching her, unable to believe some of the things she had picked out. Even though it scared her to see the way he was looking at her, she had to remember that he thought she was Raya, and they had obviously been apart for some months. So she braved a smile, and went into the changing room.
These changing rooms had long, thick curtains, rather than lockable doors, which bothered Kate, but she went to change anyway. She tried on the set first. She was shocked and surprised at how it looked on her.
Ari came into the changing room just after she changed into the negligee and robe set. She almost screamed when she looked in the mirror and saw him standing there behind her.
"W-what are you doing in here?" She asked in disbelief. "You scared the living daylights out of me!"
"I wanted to see how you looked in these." He said, smirking. He stepped closer to her, and she gulped nervously. She hoped he didn't try anything in the changing room. "You surpassed yourself, Raya… you look good enough to eat."
Kate turned around quickly, so she was facing him. "Well…" She said, smiling slightly. "We can save that until later, alright? Now, go. I need to change."
He left, chuckling quietly. When he was gone, Kate let out a long sigh. Not wanting to risk something like that again, she changed quickly. She didn't want to try on the other thing now. It could wait until later.
Tony and Gibbs were sitting in a café in the street later that day. After Tony came back from the hospital, he had been 'punished' by Gibbs - a slap on the forehead - then the two had set off in trying to find out details about Ari, his wife Raya, and her brother.
At the current moment, the two were sitting in the busy café, sipping on their drinks quietly. Tony was looking out the window at the other shops. There were quite a few women's clothing shops, as well as an adult shop and a restaurant. The other shops there didn't really catch his attention, and he was about to turn away, when three people leaving one of the women's clothing shops caught his eye.
There was one woman, with dark hair, accompanied by two men. One of the men had an arm around the woman's waist, and the other man was talking on a cell phone. They walked down the street to the restaurant, and went inside.
"Boss, do you feel like lunch?" Tony asked, smirking. "My shout."
Gibbs looked up from the paper, and shot him a wary look. "What do you call this?" He asked, indicating to the two coffees.
Tony looked at him. "I call it… coffee." He said. He was having trouble hiding his excitement, so he just decided he'd tell Gibbs. "Listen, I think I saw Kate. She went into that restaurant over there."
Gibbs abandoned his coffee, and stood up. "That restaurant does takeaway, DiNozzo." Gibbs said, reaching for his gun. "I'll watch from outside, you can… get us something. Watch out for Kate, and don't reveal yourself."
The two left the café, and crossed the street. Tony went inside, leaving Gibbs outside, looking through the window every so often.
"Good afternoon, sir." The waiter at the front desk said to Tony. "Is it a table for one? Or would you like to order from out take out menu?"
"Take out, thanks." Tony said. Nodding, the waiter gave him a menu. Tony ordered some noodles for himself, and some soup for Gibbs.
"That comes to 35.10, sir." The man said.
Tony pulled out his wallet, and handed the man some money. As the man went to give him some change, Tony looked over into the bar. The three people he had seen earlier were sitting at a table near the back, and he could clearly see that it was Ari, Kate, and the other man. He smirked to himself, and turned back to the waiter. He handed the waiter a 20 bill, and said, "Mind if I wait in the bar?"
"Not at all, sir." The waiter said, smiling.
"Great, thanks." Tony said. "You can keep the change," He said, indicating to the change that was still in his hand.
"Thank you, sir!" The boy said, smiling.
Tony grinned to himself and headed into the bar. A woman was tending the bar, so he went over and flashed her a smile. "I'll have a glass of your best red, thanks." Tony said, flashing her a smile. The girl giggled and went to get it for him. While she was away, Tony risked turning around to look at Kate. He was thankful that the two men were facing away from him, otherwise they would have seen him immediately.
Kate saw him immediately. She didn't show it, otherwise both of their covers would be blown, but she smiled at him. He mouthed 'bathroom' to her, then turned away. The waitress was back with his wine, so he paid for it, giving her a huge tip just like he had with the waiter. He sipped on his wine, then turned his head. Kate had excused herself from the table and was heading off to the restrooms. Gulping down the rest of the wine, he waited a moment before following her.