I know, I know. I have two huge school projects due this month, so I am trying to keep up on them and this. Oh and now at the bottom of each chapter is the reason I chose the chapter titles.

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Kate couldn't believe what she had just heard. Had Tony just said what she thought he'd said? She just sat and stared at him in complete and utter shock. "How did he find out?" she wondered. "The only person who knows is Abby and she hasn't said anything. Has she?" Her mind was spinning, a million things were running through it at once. Kate was speechless, nothing, no idea of what to say and she couldn't help but contemplate how Tony had discovered, what she thought, was a well hidden secret.

"What are you talking about?" Abby asked, trying to play along as if she had no clue what Tony was referring to.

"Let me rephrase. How long has it been 'that time' of the month?" he asked, rewording his question.

Kate let out a sigh of relief while Abby let out a sigh of frustration.

"So he doesn' know," Kate thought. "I am not on my period Tony," she said aloud.

"Well you've sure been acting like it. You have the 'usual' period symptoms. Extra moody, not so good at the comebacks, eating funny and like last night, it takes some convincing to get you to have sex," he explained.

"Whoa," Abby said, holding up her hands as if saying T.M.I., but of course, it really didn't bother her... Kate just needed humoring.

"Tony!" Kate yelled. "Although Abby knows about us, I would like to keep our private life... private."

"Come on Katie. With that whole against the wall thing last night, it's obvious that we have a wild and crazy- ugh!" Tony groaned as Kate elbowed him in the ribs, stopping him from finishing that embarrassing sentence.

At first, the ride back to the office seemed quiet, until they all begain arguing about whether Brad Pitt was a jerk for what he had done to Jennifer Aniston. Of course Abby and Tony were on Team Jolie while Kate was left alone on Team Aniston.

"Come on. Angelina is so hot! How could you not want to be with that woman? I mean, she's got more sex appeal than... Gibbs."

Tony eyed Abby wierdly and made a quick gagging noise after she said that, but the spoke up. "Exactly. I slightly agree with Abbs... minus the Gibbs thing. Don't get me wrong, Jennifer Aniston is gorgeous, but Angelina Jolie is... well Angelina Jolie. She is like a sex goddess Kate."

"So you would end like a four year relationship for Angelina Jolie?" Kate asked, trying to make her point that Brad Pitt was an ass.

"It depends," he replied.

"On what?"

"Whether or not you ever really loved them," Abby said, helping Tony out.

"Okay well, what if it was me?" Kate inquired.

"Well geeze Kate. I never really thought of you like that but..."

Kate laughed slightly. "No offense Abbs, I love you and all, but my question was more for Tony."

"Oh yeah. I knew that."

"Well then Tony?" Kate asked again. "What would you do? Leave me?"

Tony thought for a minute. "No, I wouldn't leave you. I would... ask you to marry me."

"What?" Kate looked at Tony, shocked. He just smiled back at her with the one-hundred watt smile.

"Oh my God! Tony look out!" Abby screamed from the back seat.

Lights were flashing, red, blue... red, blue, over and over. He felt a sting in his left side and his breaths were coming in short gasps. He tried to move his arm, tried to lay it on Kate's shoulder, leg, arm, anything. But he couldn't move his arm. He didn't even know where he was. He wanted toturn his head, see if Kate was by his side, but he was too tired and he knew that it was no good, he couldn't see anything over the blinking lights. They were blinding.

Then he heard a voice and saw a blurry figure standing over him. Kate?

"Mr. DiNozzo? I need you to blink twice if you can hear me."

No, not Kate. He blinked twice.

"Very good. If you can feel this, blink twice."

She pressed lightly on his leg. Once again, he blinked twice. She continued to do this, over and over. He continued to blink, over and over. But when she got to his left side, he felt pain, especially in his arm. She knew this.

"I'm sorry Mr. DiNozzo."

"It's okay. You are just doing your job," he reassured her, surprising himself. He hadn't known that he had enough air in him to talk, to even continue to breathe.

The woman smiled lightly at him, her face still slightly blurry through his swollen left eye. Her smile reminded him of Kate and he immediately felt a pang in his chest, his heart. Is she okay? Is Abbs okay?

"How are my friends?" he asked. "Where are they?"

"You shouldn't talk so much. You're weak," the woman replied. He knew she was avoiding the question, but he wasn't going to let her.

"That wasn't what I asked. Please answer me. Are they okay?" he asked again and again, she didn't answer. "Listen, both of those women in that car... I love them." He felt himself beginning to cry, tears welling up in his eyes. "They are my co-workers and my friends. I have to know. You have to tell me."

"Get some rest. You'll be taken to the hospital in a few minutes. We contacted your boss and he requested that if you weren't hurt too badly, then he'd like for us to wait so he could ride with you." The woman left the ambulance without another word and Tony was left wondering whether Abby and Kate were still alive.

Chapter Title- I titled this chapter 'Bete Noire' because Tony is extremly scared and his worst nightmare may be coming true.