This is a beast and a half so I want REVIEWS. Now I have that out of my way, this is the monster chapter of all monster chapters. It's over 25 pages hand written and that's not even completed. It's gonna be a long one folks! (AN: This only the first half and it's 27 pages long on Word)
I don't own NCIS or any recognizable characters. I own Kate Gibbs and Sister Mary Catherine and Father Jerry and you get the idea. Will Scuito belongs to my friend Megan. She writes the awesome story, Another Scuito in the Family, and is graciously letting me borrow her character and some (a lot of) dialogue from her story.
-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-
2005
"You're not going back."
Tony stilled with his back to the doorway of the bedroom. He was in the middle of packing up his things after a weeklong stay at the Gibbs home.
"I am," Tony replied as he resumed stacking a portion of his DVD collection into his bag.
"No you're not," Kate said as she stepped into the room. "You're still sick."
"I'm fine," Tony said as he gingerly sat down on the bed.
"You're lying," Kate said as she crossed her arms over her chest and stood in front of Tony. "Don't pretend you didn't flinch when you just sat down."
"Squirt…." Tony started but was cut off by Kate's index finger in his face.
"Don't 'Squirt' me!"Kate said angrily. "You're not better! You can't go back!"
"Kate," Tony said carefully. "I'm going back. I've been cleared by Brad to return to work."
"I say you're not," Kate replied. "And I can still call Director Morrow and Abby. They can MAKE you stay here for another week."
Tony sighed. He knew Kate would have a difficult time figuring out why he was returning to work. Hell, he didn't fully understand his own reasoning.
"Kate," he said finally. "I need to go back sooner or later."
"Well I vote later," Kate grumbled. "Like another two weeks later."
"Tough luck," Tony joked as Kate plopped down next to him. "I need to be working, Kiddo. Two weeks on my but isn't fun."
"It's not supposed to be," Kate retorted. "You almost DIED!"
Tony sighed again. It was common knowledge among the adults at NCIS Kate had issues with death that a therapist from her post hostage therapy sessions attributed to the deaths of her mother and sister fourteen years prior. "But I didn't, did I?"
"No," Kate said sullenly. "But you were on the verge of it. Dr. B said they barely just got the antibiotics in you before any real damage was done."
"How do you know that?" Tony asked her in disbelief.
"I heard him tell Ducky," Kate said, "after they moved you from isolation to ICU."
Tony shrugged; at that point he had been doped up on antibiotics and some painkillers for his cracked ribs. "I'm going back to work tomorrow, Squirt. I've made my mind up about that."
"I know," Kate said mournfully. "I just wish you would wait until Monday."
"It is Monday," Tony replied.
"I know that," Kate stated. "I meant next Monday."
"Nice try," Tony said. "But Tuesday morning at eight AM, I'll be stepping off of the elevator in the Bull Pen.
"And I'll be suffering through homeroom," Kate grumbled.
"Aww, cheer up Squirt!" Tony said mockingly. "Maybe Ari's back in the area to liven things up and we have to pull you and Will out of school for the foreseeable future."
"Don't jinx us!" Kate cried. "Quick! Knock on wood!"
Tony did as ordered and knocked on the headboard.
"Good. Hopefully we aren't jinxed now," Kate said as she slid off of the bed. "Night, Tony," Kate said from the doorway. "Have a great day at work tomorrow."
"Thanks, Squirt," Tony said to Kate as she retreated down the hall to her room.
-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-
"Now that the exams have been distributed there is no need to talk," Sister Mary-Catherine told her silent Theology class. There was no need to remind the twenty-five assembled thirteen and fourteen year old students in the room. None of them really desired to write a five page research paper on the Beatitudes.
"Pencils up," The Sister said. "You have one hour to complete the test. You may begin."
The only sounds heard after this statement were the scratching of pencils on Scantron sheets and the ominous tick of the classroom clock.
The almost silence was interrupted by a knock the resounded throughout the room and startled the students.
Sister Mary-Catherine elegantly rose from behind her desk, adjusted her habit and glided to the door. She took a quick second to glance the students causing them to resume their tests. "Yes?" The Sister said to the man standing in the doorway.
"Sister Mary-Catherine?" The man in a cobalt blue suit asked.
"That is I," The Nun replied.
"Is Caitlin Gibbs in your class this period?" The man asked.
Kate looked up from her test and exchanged fleeting panicked looks with Becky. Kate shrugged as Becky mouthed 'What did you do?'
"May I ask who you are, Sir?" Sister Mary-Catherine inquired as she shifted closer to the classroom phone on the wall next to the door.
"Special Agent Nelson, NCIS," the man replied and showed the Nun his badge. "Special Agent DiNozzo is in the office dismissing Miss Gibbs as we speak."
Kate shrugged at Becky's curious gaze. She'd never heard of Special Agent Nelson before. Maybe this was the excitement Tony had wished for the night before.
"Hall is clear," a familiar female voice stated in a no-nonsense tone of voice.
Kate dropped her pencil as Special Agent Kate Todd appeared at Nelson's side. "Kate, let's move." Todd said seeing the girl sitting at her desk still.
Katie grabbed her bag from the back of her desk chair and gathered her barely started test papers and handed them to a slightly stunned Sister Mary-Catherine. "Sorry, Sister," Katie said as the Nun took the test back. "But Agent Todd's using her 'I'm-on-protection-detail-don't-mess-with-me' tone of voice. Meaning I have to make tracks. Can I make this up when I get back?"
"Pardon?" Sister Mary-Catherine said as she took the papers from Katie.
"I'm being pulled out of school for something important if there's two armed federal agents in the classroom to escort me to the main office where there's a third agent waiting to dismiss me there," Kate explained. "My guess is that someone is trying to kill my Dad, again. I get to spend an undetermined amount of time at the Navy Yard and I'll e-mail Sister Rosita for my assignments. Bye."
Katie had enough time to wave to her class and sign 'I'll call you later'to Becky before the two agents dragged her off to the office to meet up with Tony.
"You jinxed us!" Katie told Tony.
"I did not!" Tony said after he had excused himself from his conversation with Sister Rosita and Father Jerry.
"Did you not say 'Cheer up Squirt! Maybe Ari's back in the area and we'll have to pull you and Will out of school for the foreseeable future'?" Katie asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and gave Tony her mini-Gibbs glare. "Don't deny it!"
"There's no proof that Ari was the one who tried to blow us up," Tony said and then hastily added, "at least not yet."
"BLOW YOU UP?" Katie shrieked causing the adults surrounding her to wince at the pitch of her voice.
"DiNozzo!" Kate Todd barked. "We weren't supposed to tell her that until she and Will were both in Abby's lab. After they saw we were all okay. You and you're big mouth are going to get us into a lot of trouble one day."
"Or out of it," Tony said in his defense. "Besides, Katie's a smart kid, she knows we're all fine."
"Are you all fine?" Katie asked staring Tony down. "Cuz exploding cars do not mix well with healthy people let alone people still recovering from the Plague."
Tony went to respond when his breath hitched and he momentarily gasped for breath. "Okay, I'm having a little difficulty breathing. Let's get you out of here so we can go get Will and head back to the office and get back to work."
"Fine," Kate Todd snapped. "Sister Rosita, Father Jerry, it was a pleasure to see you again," she added more pleasantly.
"Caitlin," Father Jerry said. "Don't be a stranger. We will look for you at Mass on Sunday."
"I'll be there barring a protection detail. But, I'll do my best to be at the nine o'clock service," Kate Todd replied warmly shaking Father Jerry's hand.
"Let's go," Agent Nelson said. "The Director wants us back by thirteen hundred."
"Um, Agent Nelson?" Katie said cautiously, "it's one thirty now."
Nelson's reaction made Sister Rosita blush, Father Jerry bless himself, remove his glasses and clean the lenses while not looking at the agent, and caused Tony to deliver the ultimate Head Slap for using such foul language in front of a Nun, a Priest and Kate Gibbs.
-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-
"Why are we under lockdown at NCIS?" Will asked dejectedly as he longingly gazed out the windows at the beautiful May afternoon.
"People are trying to kill the team," Kate said as if this was a normal occurrence. "And if this guy went to the trouble of rigging a crime scene with an explosive and ensured that Dad's team responded to the call, then this guy most likely knows about us."
"So that means…" Will said trying to get an explanation from Kate.
"The easiest way to hurt my dad is to hurt one of us kids, or both of us," Kate said as she logged onto her father's seldom used computer. "We get put in a Federal Agency building and don't get to leave it without a bazillion armed agents as escorts or until the bastard is arrested and or shot to death."
"Oh," Will said. "I'm going to go see Abby."
"Don't touch the evidence!" Kate reminded him. "Abby's cataloguing EVERYTHING from the car and had a mini tweak attack when I moved Bert."
"Thanks for the warning," Will said as he disappeared in the direction of the main elevator bay.
Kate was typing up an email to Sister Rosita explaining that she was going to need her assignments emailed to her for at least a week and she didn't know how long she would be out of school for when a flash of red hair caught her eye. Her mom was deep in conversation with a fellow Deputy Director on the way up the stairs to MTAC.
When the African American man turned his back to the Bull Pen, Jenny discreetly waved to Kate and slipped into MTAC.
Kate smiled and thought about how she couldn't wait for that office upstairs to be her Mom's. She like Director Morrow a lot, but it would be super cool to have her mom be the Director of NCIS. She knew that within the next two weeks that office would be her Mom's, she just didn't know when.
"Hey, Squirt," Tony said as he tonelessly sank into his office chair. "What's with the grin?"
"Mom just went into MTAC," Kate replied. "She's back from California early."
"I didn't know she was starting back today," Tony remarked. "I figured they'd have her out there for another week or two."
Kate just shrugged; she vaguely knew why her mom was back early. Tony had no clue that Jenny was lined up to be the next director of NCIS. Kate sent the email and logged off the computer.
"Tell Dad I took McGee with me to go see Jay-Jay at the Base Day Care Center."
"Are you, or are you going to give McGoo the sliperoo?" Tony asked as he made a note on a Post-It. "Stay out of trouble either way. Tim's down in the lab calming Abby down."
"Thanks, Tony," Kate said as she headed out of the squad room.
Twenty five minutes later Kate and McGee signed into the Day Care Center to visit baby Jay-Jay.
"Hey Buddy," Tim said with a huge smile as Kate picked the one year old up and bounced him up and down in a circle.
"Ate!" Jay-Jay said happily as he recognized his big sister. "Im!"
"At least he's getting close to saying our names right," Tim said as Kate set the boy back down and he tugged his sister over to the Thomas the Tank Engine trains.
"To-mas," Jay-Jay said proudly as he held out a blue Thomas the Tank Engine toy to his sister as some bigger boys built tracks behind him.
"That's right, Jay-Jay!" Kate cooed. "That is Thomas."
Jay-Jay beamed at the praise from his sister. "Ca-Ca-KKKKK-"Jay-Jay stammered as he tried to say 'Kate'. "Kate!" He finally cried successfully. "Kate-Kate! Uppy!"
Kate's jaw dropped. She was completely flabbergasted by her brother's sudden ability to say her name correctly. "Did you hear that?" Kate asked Tim as she scooped up the baby.
"I did," McGee said equally dumbstruck. "His speech is getting much better."
"It is," a third voice chimed in.
Kate and McGee spun around to see Jenny standing behind them holding Jay-Jay's Thomas back pack and his Blue's Clues windbreaker.
"Oh, hi Mom," Kate said. "I didn't realize it was time to go home already."
"You kids are leaving early today," Jenny explained as she put Jay-Jay's jacket on him. "Director Morrow wants you two and Will as far away from here as possible tonight."
"How come?" Kate asked as she trailed behind Jenny as they headed for the counter to sign Jay-Jay out.
"Somebody's trying to kill your father," Jenny said bluntly.
"Well duh. I knew that already," Kate said.
"And," Jenny continued on like Kate hadn't interrupted. "Whoever is behind this came dangerously close to killing the rest of the team as well."
"Tony says Ari is behind it," Kate said as they crossed the quad to the NCIS building with McGee silently trailing behind them scanning for any possible threats.
"Until there is concrete evidence that Ari Hasswari is behind the car explosion, do not go around repeating that," Jenny ordered.
"Gotcha," Kate said. "Mom, can you hold Jay-Jay for a sec? My shoe's untied."
Jenny took the babbling boy from his older sister and Kate stooped over to tie her sneaker. She'd had a free day at school and the student body had been allowed to wear street clothes to school instead of their uniforms. She didn't know who was watching them, but she felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle as Timmy and her mom talked shop.
Two miles away in a black Suburban at the riverside park, Ari Hasswari smiled to himself as he watched the Gibbs family (including McGee), made their way back across the quad to 'safety'.
-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-
The next morning Kate stretched out in the bed of the guest room of her Papa Jasper's old Brownstone in Georgetown. Her parents had decided that it would be the last place anyone would look for Kate and Jay-Jay.
They were right.
Ari had actually sent someone to watch the old Gibbs house in Arlington, but no one was there. Gibbs had spent the night in the Bull Pen with his protection detail; McGee, Tony, and Kate Todd.
"Kate," Jenny said as she knocked on the door. "Time to get up."
"Go away!" Kate mumbled into her pillow. "I'm sleeping."
"It's nine thirty," Jenny said as a warning tone crept into her voice. "If you're not downstairs in ten minutes I'm dropping Jay-Jay into your bed."
"Uuuuuggggghhhhh," Kate moaned and she rolled out of bed and opened the door. "I'm up."
Jenny giggled, "Nice hair, Sweetie." She smoothed down Kate's fly away hair and smiled. "You might want to re-straighten your hair before we leave."
"What time do you want to be there?" Kate asked groggily.
"Sometime before noon," Jenny responded. "Tom and I have a meeting at twelve fifteen."
"Okay," Kate said. "I'll just let my hair go curly today."
"All right," Jenny said. "Go hop in the shower then."
"Kay," Kate said as she disappeared into her room to get ready for the day.
At eleven thirty Kate stepped off the elevator in the Squad Room and found the Bull Pen empty. She shrugged and made herself comfortable at Tony's desk as Will appeared from the direction of Abby's lab.
"Hey, Will," Kate said as she searched through Tony's computer for a game other than his 'Whack-bin-Laden' game. "Doesn't this suck?"
"A little," Will replied. "I'd rather not be cooped up in here." It was yet again a beautiful day outside the window. Despite the fact that NCIS was in the middle of the Washington Navy Yard, Kate and Will were not permitted to leave the building without a member of the team escorting them. Playing outside was unfortunately completely out of the question for them.
"Me too," Kate said. "I just wish we had some of Tony's DVD's to watch."
"You ask and ye receive," Tony said coming up behind the two kids and handed them a stack of live action Disney Movies and two Harry Potter books.
"You are psychic," Kate said thankfully as she skimmed over the titles. "The Apple Dumpling Gang, Swiss Family Robinson, The Love Bug, Herbie Rides Again, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Marry Poppins, and Bed Knobs and Broomsticks."
"Enjoy," Tony said. "We have movies to watch in the lab too."
"What are you watching?" Will asked curiously.
"Security footage," Tony said making a face. "I'll see you kids later."
"Kay, thanks Tee," Kate replied as she tossed Roger Rabbit at Will to put in a computer.
"Plasma?" Will asked Kate.
"Plasma," Kate said in confirmation.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
"Hey!" Kate protested as her dad pulled her chair out of the aisle in the Bull Pen to get to his desk.
"Sorry, Princess," Gibbs said as Kate went back to watching what was happening in Toon Town. "But can you pause the movie for a minute?"
"Sure," Kate said as Will looked on silently. "What's up?"
"We're going after Ari," Gibbs said quietly.
Kate launched herself out of the office chair and into her father's arms. "Be careful, Daddy," she whispered as she squeezed him in a bear hug. "I love you."
"I love you too, Baby Girl," Jethro choked out as he rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head. What he wasn't telling his daughter was that he wasn't going to give up until one of them was laying in a body bag in Autopsy.
"I'll see you when you get back," Kate said as Will resumed the movie. It was an order from daughter to father, not a carefree comment. Jethro's name was mud if he didn't come home in one piece.
After the movie ended the two kids scampered down to Abby's lab to play The Sims 2 on a plasma screen in her office while they waited for the ream to get back from the docks and warehouse district.
"Oh, idea!" Kate said as they began to create their Sims family. "Let's make it the team, Abby, Ducky, Palmer, you and me!"
"Great idea!" Will said. "And we can build the house to look like the Bull Pen."
"Perfect!" Kate said as she began to design the family.
"Gibbs will be the dad, Jenny's the mom, and we're the kids…" Will said.
"Ducky's the grandpa," Kate said happily as she began to work on Ducky.
"What about Palmer?" Will asked.
"What about Jimmy?" Kate responded. "He's one of the kids too. Don't worry."
"Okay," Will said, "But don't forget about Jay-Jay."
"Like I could do that," Kate said rolling her eyes. "He's my baby brother. And you're my kid brother."
"Really?" Will asked excitedly.
"Well, duh," Kate replied as she moved on to design her dad's character. She pulled a picture of the team Abby had on the work bench closer to her to use it as a model. "You're Abby's little brother and Abby's my older sister so that makes you my kid brother. You're not young enough to be my 'baby' brother so you're now my 'kid' brother. It's simple logic, Willy Shakes. You just gotta think about it a little without over thinking it."
"Okay," Will said. Kate's logic was starting to sound like Abby's logic, and he was well versed in Abby logic.
-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-
"They've been gone for an awfully long time," Kate commented as she glanced over at the clock four hours after the team had gone after Ari Hasswari and his Al Qaeda cell.
"They're fine," Abby said as she walked into her office. She began to dig around in her desk and said, "Katie, I need your opinion on colors for the bridesmaids' dresses."
"Okay," Kate said as she hopped off of her stool and over to Abby's desk. "What colors have you narrowed it down to?"
Will tuned them out and continued playing with the Sim family they had built. "I'm building a swimming pool for them," he informed Kate as he switched to Build Mode.
"Don't drown any of them," Kate warned as she peered over the color swatches Abby had laid out on the desk. "There's three adults and eight kids. We can't afford to kill any of them."
"Fine," Will said with a dramatic sigh. "Hey look! It's pouring out!"
Just as Will finished speaking there was a booming clap of thunder that Kate swore made the building shake followed by a bright flash of lightening.
"Will, save the game and turn off that computer," Abby ordered. "I don't need another fried hard drive."
"Why?" Will grumbled as he did what he was told. "What can a little lightening do to this old computer anyways?"
Abby's answer was cut off by the ding of the elevator followed by the swoosh and beeps made by her office door sliding open. Standing in the door way was a sopping wet, miserable looking Timmy McGee.
"Timmy!" Abby gasped. "Are you okay?"
"No," he said morosely while shaking his head.
"What's wrong?" Abby demanded as the cloth swatches slid from her hands to the desk top. "Who's in the hospital? Who's hurt?"
"Gibbs wants you all upstairs," Tim said quietly. Kate was struck by the odd look in Tim's eyes and how sick he looked. Something was wrong, Kate could feel it in her gut. The Gibbs Gut was never wrong and Kate didn't like the feeling of dread that accompanied the niggling feeling in her gut.
The elevator ride to the Bull Pen was uncomfortably silent. Kate fidgeted and played with the hem of her t-shirt as they stepped off of the elevator and headed for the team's area.
Tony was seated at his desk with a lost, hopeless, kicked puppy look on his face while Jethro paced the aisle area between the four desks. Kate Todd was nowhere in sight.
"Dad?" Kate said hesitantly, her question going unasked verbally, but the curious look on her face asked Jethro what had happened.
Jethro paused his pacing and stared at the other for a moment like he couldn't believe they were real. "Hey," he croaked out as he took an uncertain step towards his daughter.
"Gibbs? What's going on? Where's Kate? What's happening?" Abby asked in a nervous babble.
He was quiet for a moment before he pulled his baby girl into a bear hug as he tried not to cry.
"Come over here, Will," Tony said breaking the silence. Tony calling Will by his given raised red flags and set off alarms for both kids' heads. No nicknames for either kid was not a good sign.
Will just silently hopped up onto Tony's lap and faced the rest of the group.
"Kate's dead," Gibbs announced finally.
Tim wrapped an arm around Abby as she protested, "She can't be dead Gibbs! I saw her this morning! She's NOT dead! This can't be true! What? Why Kate? How?" Abby broke down and began to sob into McGee's chest.
"Ari," Tony said quietly, a steely tone creeping into his voice. "That rat bastard got her."
"How?" Abby asked again between sobs.
"He set up a sniper's nest on the roof of another building," Gibbs said. "We couldn't see him. A different terrorist came up behind us, only Kate saw him. He took a shot at me, but she jumped in front of it. Her vest stopped it. We stood her up, she was balancing herself and Ari's bullet hit her."
"No!" Katie protested as the news sank in. "She can't be dead Daddy! She can't be!" Katie shook her head in disbelief and squeezed her father tighter. "She can't be dead!" the girl cried, "It's not fair!"
Kate and Will glanced over at the empty desk across from Tony's. It looked the same as always, but the two kids felt that it should look different now that Kate Todd was gone. It unnerved Katie slightly to see that Kate Todd's purse was still in the exact same place it always was next to her printer. A fresh wave of tears flowed from the girl's eyes when she realized that Kate would never come back to grab her purse to go to lunch again.
Tony picked Will up off of his lap and set the boy on his feet on the floor before he excused himself. Will was furiously wiping his eyes and latched onto his sister in disbelief. Kate Todd couldn't be dead. Not now, not before she even had the chance to start her own family.
After a few minutes of miserable silence interrupted with sniffles, Gibbs turned to his team and said, "Tim go get Tony. Find Ari's sniper nest."
"On it, Boss," McGee said as he disentangled himself from his fiancé.
Abby just cried harder, pulling Will closer to her as Timmy retreated to the men's room to retrieve Tony.
"I'm going back to my lab," Abby announced letting go of Will. She half heartedly ruffled his raven locks and shuffled over to the elevator.
Will stayed up in the Squad Room with Kate and Jethro went up to MTAC. Kate fiddled around with everything on top of her father's desk and Will was playing solitaire on Tony's computer as the storm ragged on outside the window.
After unsuccessfully trying to open the top draw on her father's desk, Kate slammed her hand down on top of the desk surface and rose from the chair. "I'm going down to see Abby," she announced.
Will stood to follow her. "Can I have fifteen minutes?" Kate asked him as she paused in front of Tony's desk. "Please?"
"Yeah, sorry, of course," Will said sitting back down and he resume his game with a hurt look on his face.
"Sorry, Will," Kate said before she moved on. "I just…I...you know?"
"Really, it's fine," The boy said. "Go."
"Okay," she said and stepped onto the elevator. Once the silver doors slid shut, Kate sunk down onto her haunches and balled her eyes out.
The elevator finished its descent to the lab, and Kate stood up, whipped her eyes and stepped off of the elevator and headed into Abby's lab. As she crossed the threshold, Katie noticed the forensics lab was eerily silent.
"Abby?" Kate called hesitantly when she didn't see the Goth at her normal work bench. Stepping further into the lab Kate saw Abby sitting on the floor against the wall clutching Bert to her chest crying into the hippo's fur.
"Katie," Abby said as she noticed the girl. "Come here, Sweetie."
Kate ran to Abby's side and buried her face in Abby's shoulder.
"You put your pigtails in," Kate mumbled as Abby rubbed her back.
"I did," Abby said. "And put my black lipstick on."
"Kate would approve," Katie said as she rubbed her eyes.
"I felt like she told me to put them in," Abby commented as she played with one of her pigtails.
Katie nodded, "I'm going to miss her, Abby. Really, really, miss her."
"Me too, Katie. Me too," Abby said as she leaned her head against the girl's and handed her Bert.
"It's not fair," Kate was saying, "she didn't do anything to deserve to die."
"Sometimes," Abby said as she chose her words carefully. "Sometimes bad things like this happen to good people. We have no control over that and we can't stop it, no matter how hard we try to change that."
"That sounds like Henry Blake's rules," Kate said.
"Who?" Abby asked the younger girl.
"Lt. Colonel Blake," Kate repeated. "From M*A*S*H. One of Hawkeye's friends from Crabapple Cove died on somebody's operating table in OR and he got wicked upset about it. Henry told him almost the same thing, but it was the two rules of war he learned in medical school."
Abby nodded silently, she vaguely remembered that episode of M*A*S*H. "You watch M*A*S*H?" she asked Katie.
"Just the reruns on Hallmark," Katie replied. "Kate got me hooked on it when she babysat me one night last year."
Abby nodded and they sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Hey Abby," Kate said after a thoughtful moment. "Let's have a M*A*S*H marathon night in Kate's honor. She woulda like that."
Abby nodded, "After funeral. You guys can cram into my place."
"I'll get the DVDs and video tapes from the library," Kate said.
"I'll make the popcorn," Abby added. "And I'll call Kate to…" Abby trailed off as she realized what she was saying and burst into tears again.
"Oh, Abby!" Kate said as she began to cry again. "I'll be right back."
Kate stood up and staggered to the in lab bathroom and sank down onto her bottom and pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned up against a wall to cry.
"What's with all of these tears?" Katie glanced up and saw that Kate Todd was in standing in the middle of the bathroom wearing the exact same outfit that Katie had seen her in. She wasn't going to forget that outfit; Katie had been astounded to learn that Kate had survived almost being blown and taking cover on the highway in white pants without getting the pants dirty. Katie couldn't keep the khaki pants to her uniform clean during the 6 hour school day let alone keep white pants clean after lying on the ground.
"Kate?" Katie asked slowly as she stared at the ghostly figure.
"In the flesh," She looked down and then ran her hand through the bathroom sink. "Well, almost in the flesh."
Katie giggled and used some of the toilet paper as a tissue to wipe her eyes. "Why are you here?" she asked the apparition. "I mean it's great to see you again, but why me?"
"Well, I've already said good-bye to Abby, Ducky, your dad, and now it's your turn. After you and I are through I'm off to see Tony and McGee."
"What about Will?" Katie asked.
"I'll stop by and see him if I get a chance to." Kate said. "So a M*A*S*H marathon? I wish I could be there."
Katie smiled, "Good. I wasn't sure if you'd approve or not." She paused and really looked at Kate Todd. "So you're dead," she said lamely. "What's it like?"
"You're the first person that's asked me that," Kate said.
"Oh," Katie said.
"It's a good thing, Kiddo," Kate said with a warm, motherly smile. "It's different that's for sure. I know now it was my time to die and there was nothing anybody could have done to save me."
"Oh," Katie said. "That actually makes me feel a lot better."
"Good," Kate said. "I need to go now, Katie. Your mom found me earlier and she said she wants you to know she loves you and she's very proud of you."
Katie started to cry again at the mention of her deceased mother, "Thanks, Kate. Can you tell her I love her too and miss her and Kelly?"
"Of course, Sweetie," Kate said with a soft smile. "Just do me one favor and remember to stay safe and out of trouble."
Katie nodded as she wiped her eyes and smiled, "I promise I'll try to."
"Good," Kate Todd said as she began to shimmer.
"Wait!" Katie said when she realized that meant Kate was leaving. "Was it Ari? I mean, did Ari, our Ari, kill you?"
Kate sighed and looked into the blue eyes of the young girl, "He did," she said quietly as she began to get fainter and fainter. "Be careful, Katie, he's still on the loose."
Katie nodded, "Thanks, Kate. I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too, Katie," Kate said as she disappeared for good.
Katie sniffled and emerged from the bathroom to hear Tony and Abby arguing about shell casings and to find Will sitting at the workbench. His eyes were blood shot from crying and he looked up at the older girl forlornly.
"This sucks, doesn't it?" Kate asked him as Abby and Tony's argument began to escalate.
"Yeah," Will said looking past the arguing adults and out through the window at the rainy sidewalk at the ceiling level.
"My dad's gonna get him, I mean he always gets the bad guys. And he's been chasing Ari for a year and a half," Kate said trying to convince herself and Will that Gibbs would catch the terrorist.
"He'll get him," Will said, agreeing with Katie.
"Of course he will," Katie said with a sigh. "I just wish he'd get him already."
Just then the argument and all conversation in the lab was ended by a bullet piercing the glass of one of the lab's windows. Tony threw Abby to the ground to protect her while yelling, "Katie! Will! Get down!"
The two kids scrambled to hide under the workbench and huddled together. Being shot at was an entirely new experience and it was one they didn't like at all. Katie briefly saw her father rush into the lab before all of the lights were extinguished, including the green glow of the refrigerator.
Kate inched closer to Will and her grip on him tightened as she noticed a dark shadow crawling in their direction in the pitch black, silent as a grave forensics lab.
"It's just me," Tony whispered when he got closer to where he last saw the two kids. "Are you two okay?" he asked crouching down in between Kate and Will.
"Yeah, we're fine," Kate said as Will nodded in agreement. "What about you and Abby?"
"I'm fine," Tony said hugging Kate. "I got Abby on the ground just in time and there were no more shots fired so as long as it stays dark down here we should be good."
"Was it Ari?" Kate asked crossing her arms angrily.
"Probably, but we have no proof," Tony said. "Let's get out of here. Abby!" he hissed, just a little louder than a whisper. "Crawl over to the workbench so we can all get out of here together."
"Okay, Tony," Abby said back, her voice a little shaky.
"Okay," Tony said once Abby had joined them, "Everybody stay low. Gibbs is out in the hallway at the elevator waiting for us. Just crawl as fast as you can to the door and once you make it to the elevator you can stand up."
"Gotcha," Kate said and she and Will scurried out of the lab faster than mice being chased by a cat.
Once everybody was standing and in the elevator, Gibbs looked at his daughter and said, "Why don't you two go up to the Director's office?"
Kate knew that tone of voice. It wasn't a suggestion, it was a direct order. She and Will exchanged panicked glances. They hadn't done anything wrong since the super glue incident months ago, so why where they being sent to the Director's office?
Neither one of the kids verbally challenged the order and got off of the elevator at the Bull Pen level with the adults and climbed the thirty-four stairs to the next floor. Yes they had counted the number of stairs between the two floors while under lock down. It wasn't like they had anything better to do with their time.
Kate led the way to the Director's office, she vaguely knew where it was past MTAC; she'd been in the office once or twice over the years and the new receptionist, Cynthia, liked her. Katie had decided a few years ago that it was always a plus to have the steno pool on your side in places like this. They could help you get away with murder, as could the Security Staff and Janitorial staff. Kate and Will knew who to befriend when it came to having allies for pranks.
When Kate and Will walked into the outer office of the Director's office, Cynthia looked up from the document she was typing and smiled. "Hey, kids," she said with a smile, "You can head right in. The Director is waiting for you."
Kate gulped nervously and her palms felt sweaty as her heart began to race. This was worse than being called to Sister Rosita's office when she was in trouble. Her father's BOSS had called HER and Will to his office. Something was really wrong somewhere.
Kate took a deep breath before opening the door and Will trailed in behind her. The back of the Director's chair was to the door as the Director conversed with a woman of Middle Eastern descent seated at the conference table.
When the chair whirled around, Kate could help but let out a shocked, "MOM!" when she saw it was her mother sitting in the Director's chair.
~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~
And so ends Part One of Two. Next chapter will be the conclusion to Kill Ari and we get to meet Ziva for the very first time! Props to my beta surferdude8225 for proofreading this at 11 pm on a school night. Even though I've graduated (WOHOO!) she still has school for another week or so. Reviews are mandatory people and it only takes a minute or so of your time :)
Until next time! Ciao!
Beta Note: Actually, it's past 11 and I should really be asleep because if my mom found me awake, she'd kill me and take my computer away. But I could care less right now. At least school is almost over (for me).
Oooohhh…sorry if I almost got you in trouble…. My bad…. Again Reviews please!
Oh! And before I forget, somewhere in this chapter I referenced the commentary to the episode Twilight. Whoever finds it first and mentions it in a review gets the next chapter dedicated to them!