A\N: Another Tony/Paula oneshot with a sprinkle of Tate siblings, enjoy Angels.
Tony DiNozzo draws his gun on the suspect he's finally cornered after chasing him for five blocks.
"Freeze, dirt bag, NCIS." Tony says coldly, his gun trained on the suspects forehead. "What's NCIS?" The suspect asks. Tony groans. Every time. The agent thinks before telling the suspect what NCIS stands for.
"NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. We investigate crimes made by or done to Naval Personnel. And we arrest dirt bags, like you." Tony explains with a frustrated sigh.
Suddenly a shot rings out and the Senior Field Agent staggers with nothing more than a gasp as the pain of a bullet wound hits him, knocking him sick, his hands dropping his gun and moving to his shoulder trying to staunch the blood flow.
"DiNozzo!" His boss's voice comes in his ear through the earwig.
"M fine, Boss, jus a graze." Tony says. He can hear his own voice starting to slur so his boss will be able to hear the slur too. Tony makes the mistake of pulling away his hand from his shoulder and looking at the sticky redness covering his hands. He feels his head feels lightheaded and his vision is blurring and his chest tightening with the beginnings of a panic attack.
Since Kate's death on the rooftop almost two years ago, he can't stand the sight of blood on his body without having a panic attack or passing out, now every time he sees his own blood, he's reminded of that day on the rooftop and being covered in Kate's blood. Not since the day he had his dead partner's blood on his face that still feels as if it's there no matter how much he washes his face.
"Boss, blood on hands, feel sick, gonna pass out." Tony gets out over his tight chest.
He hears Gibbs's fading voice in his ear, "DiNozzo..calm..down breathe..not..Kate's.. calm..down."
He allows the creeping darkness to swallow him whole.
Tony comes to hearing two female voices.
"He's alright, isn't he?" One of them asks. Her voice sounds very familiar to him but he's too tired to work out who it belongs to.
The second female laughs. "Of course he is, it's DiNozzo." They say.
His eyes slowly open, landing on a white ceiling but he knows he's not in hospital. Where am I? He thinks as he turns to the side, hoping to find Gibbs beside him but he's met with a pair of brown eyes and a smile. He sits up in shock as he recognizes one of the voices.
"Kate?!" Tony exclaims.
"Hi, Tony." His partner says with a soft smile on her face, her forehead unblemished by a bullet hole.
He has to be dead, right? Surely he has to be because why would Kate be here if he wasn't?
Just as he's about to ask her if he's dead, another face swims into his vision.
"Hey, Tony." Paula says, standing beside Kate.
Both women are dressed in sweaters, jeans and sneakers, they look relaxed and not at all dead.
"Where am I? Am I dead?" Tony asks the girls. They glance at each other.
"You're unconscious, Tony. you got shot in the shoulder and had a panic attack and passed out." Paula explains to the male Agent sitting in the bed.
"So why are you here if I'm unconscious?" Tony questions in confusion.
He's terribly confused: if he's only unconscious then why are they here?
Almost like they can read his mind, Kate sighs.
"Come with us." His partner says as they help him to his feet.
The girls lead him into a living room that has a couch, an armchair, a tv, a coffee table and bookshelves of books.
The three of them sit on the couch, all silent until Paula starts speaking, her voice sending shivers down his spine. He's missed her, and Kate.
"You're here because you're still holding onto us. You need to let us go, and that's why we're here." The blonde explains, Tony nods slowly.
"What if I don't want to let you both go? Will I stay here with both of you forever?" Logically he knows he can't stay unconscious forever but he has to ask. Kate and Paula sigh.
"No." Kate says simply, Tony sighs and leans back against the couch, smiling faintly when the girls lean into his sides, Paula being careful of his shoulder. After the three of them sit snuggled up in silence for half an hour, Paula sits up and gets to her feet.
"I'll leave you two alone for a bit." The blonde says before leaving the house.
Tony and Kate both look at one another and smile before Tony brings her into a hug, burying his face in her long brown hair.
"I missed you, Katie." Tony says into his sister's hair.
"I missed you too, Tony." Kate replies, her voice muffled by his shoulder. The two 'siblings' reluctantly pull away and stare at one another in the eyes, Tony bringing a finger to her forehead where the bullet ripped through her almost two years ago.
"You have no idea how many times I've dreamt about seeing you again, Kate. I'm so sorry about getting you killed." Tony says quietly. Kate sighs quietly as she glares at Tony.
"Don't even go there, DiNozzo, you didn't get me killed, Ari killed me, you had no way of knowing that he'd kill me." Kate insists firmly.
"He shot once, I should've known that he would shoot again." Tony shoots back before taking a deep breath. "I didn't get to thank you for staying with me when I got the Plague when you could've gotten sick just like me." Tony says, tears filling his eyes. Tony has an armful of his sister.
"I knew you were thankful for me, Tony, it was in your eyes. I knew you were thankful for me being there. And I know I didn't need to stay, I stayed because I wanted to stay and because my brother needed me." Kate says as she pulls away from Tony who smiles watery.
"I love you, Tony. Thank you for being my brother and partner." Tony leans forward and kisses his little sister's forehead.
"I love you too, Kate. you'll always be my sister and partner." Tony replies before the front door opens. Kate smiles as she stands up and squeezes Tony's shoulder before leaving the house, looking at Paula, closing the door behind her, leaving Tony and Paula alone.
Tony stands up and walks towards Paula, smiling at her. He puts his arms around her waist and pulls her closer.
Well if he's unconscious, he's gonna make it worth his while.
He captures Paula's lips with his own and kisses her, smiling into the kiss when she kisses him back. He doesn't know how long the two of them kiss but he pulls away from her and just stares into her blue eyes. He took her for granted, always thinking she'd be there for him, that he'd die before her, either from his own stupidity or a bullet to the heart.
"I love you, Paula." Tony says as they walk back to the couch, Tony pulling Paula onto his lap, her head going on his uninjured shoulder. "I'm sorry I left it until you died to tell you." Tony tells her softly.
"It doesn't matter how long it took you, Tony. I love you too." Paula replies. Tony and Paula sit in silence, content to be in each other's company.
The front door opens again to reveal a smiling Kate.
"Finally. You two told each other that you loved each other." The brunette says smiling. Tony and Paula return the smile and stand up. Tony looks at Kate's face and sighs.
"I have to let you go now, don't I?" He asks rhetorically. Both Kate and Paula nod somberly.
"Yeah, Tony, you have to have to let us go now." Kate says sadly, Tony walks up to Kate and pulls her into a massive hug, not wanting to let her go just yet, Tony kisses Kate's hair and reluctantly lets her go and kisses her cheek before going to Paula and kissing her deeply.
Kate clearing her throat makes the blonde and brown pull away, both opening their arms for the brunette, a lone tear from Tony landing on her hair.
"Go, Tony, and remember we love you and we'll see you when it's really your time to join here for eternity." Paula says as the three of them pull away, Tony wipes his eyes as he slowly fades away.
Tony wakes up in the hospital with a sharp gasp and tears rolling down his face. Gibbs is beside him in an instant, his blue eyes calming.
"It's okay, DiNozzo, you're okay." His boss says, wiping a few tears away from his face.
Gibbs thinks his tears are because of the blood. Tony thinks to himself before shaking his head and looking at his boss.
"I saw Kate and Paula, Boss. They looked beautiful." Gibbs gives Tony a rare smile.
"I bet they did, DiNozzo, I bet they did." Gibbs tells the SFA.
"I'm gonna get some coffee and get your doctor." Tony nods his head and watches his boss walk out of the hospital room before leaning back against the pillows, looking up at the ceiling, almost identical to the ceiling he was looking at when he woke up in Paula and Kate's house.
Paula and Kate. His heart aches at the thought of them. He knew he had to let them go but didn't mean he had to like letting them go.
Two tears roll down his face, one each for each of his he had let go.
I let them go. Tony thinks to himself as the tears trail down his face.
A\N: Two stories in one day, enjoy this one, Angels.