She exits the building in Langley, Virginia, and makes a beeline for her non-descript mid-size, silver, SUV. She unlocks the vehicle, and climbs inside. She turns up the radio, as she pulls out of her parking spot. She tucks her ID in a secret compartment, and heads towards the exit of the parking lot. She drives at a fast rate of speed, toward a suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of D.C. She pulls into her driveway before dark. She pulls the car into the garage. She exits the garage, and heads down the driveway. She closes the garage door, with the remote in the palm of her hand. She walks across the street. She passes two houses, and stops at the third. She heads down the walkway, eagerly awaiting the greeting she is about to receive. She raises her fist to knock on the door. The door flies open, and a nine year old girl steps onto the stoop. The brunette with bright hazel eyes wraps her arms around her.
"Mommy!" She rejoices.
"Are you ready to go?"
"I just have to grab my bag," she informs her.
She hears footsteps, and Tony appears in the doorway. He holds out a green backpack. He hands it to his daughter.
"Here you go, sweetie."
"Thanks, daddy."
"Thanks, for keeping her, this weekend."
"Kate, you know that I am happy to keep her any time. How was your conference?"
"As boring as they get," she stretches the truth.
"You look exhausted," he points out.
"I should get home. I have to get Addy ready for school tomorrow."
"Okay. Addy, I'll see you at your game tomorrow. Love you."
"Bye, daddy. Love you," she hugs him tightly.
He sits at the island in the kitchen, with a child on either side. His four year old daughter, Jenny sits to his right, coloring him a picture of a sailboat. Jackson sits to his left working on assembling a toy car. Jethro thumbs through the paper. He hears the sliding glass door open, and Hollis comes in from outside. She grabs a glass of water, and he folds the paper up. He surveys the room. Hollis picks up on the look in his eyes. She cocks her head, and asks, "What are you thinking about?"
"How differently things could have been."
She furrows her brow, "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing," he shakes it off.
That night after he exits Jackson's room, after tucking him in, he finds his wife waiting in the hallway.
"You don't have to ambush me," he points out.
"What were you thinking about earlier, when you were in the kitchen with the kids?"
"I was just thinking about our life."
"Is there something wrong?"
"No," he grins.
They head towards the master bedroom, "What were you thinking about?"
"I just can't help but wonder how things could have turned out differently."
"What do you mean?"
"What if Kate really had died?" he takes a seat on the end of the bed. She situates herself next to him.
"What do you mean?"
"What if Ari had succeeded in killing her?"
"I don't know? I never considered it."
"What if she hadn't chosen to fake her death in order to catch him?"
"Things would have turned out a lot differently."
"Yeah."
"You know you don't talk about that, much. What happened that day?"
"I saw her get shot, and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I thought that it was real. It was so real. I didn't know that the CIA had any had in it."
"How long was it before you realized she wasn't really dead?"
"When she called me from the hospital months later. She broke cover, because she felt she had no choice. She explained what really happened, and asked for my advice."
February 16th, 2006-
He enters the hospital room, and takes a seat next to the bed. He stares at Kate in utter disbelief. He shakes his head.
"I know that you're angry, but I can explain."
"I thought that you were dead. You better have a good reason."
"Several months ago I was contacted by the CIA to be part of their team."
"So you ditched us for the CIA, and now that you're in trouble, you called me?"
"Not exactly. At first I turned them down."
"What made you change your mind?"
"Unforeseen complications."
"What unforeseen complications are you talking about?"
"I broke the rules."
"What rules?"
"I slept with my partner."
"What does that have to do with the CIA conspiracy to fake your death?"
"I needed a way out."
"Why? You couldn't handle it anymore?"
"I didn't want him to know."
"Didn't want him to know what?"
"I didn't want to have to explain a baby to him, or to you."
He furrows his brow, "What are you talking about?"
"I left because I was pregnant."
"You had DiNozzo's baby?"
"How is it that he ended up married to Ziva, instead of Kate?"
"They weren't compatible. They knew that in the long-term they could never make things work."
"How long was it before she told him about Addy?"
"A month."
"What was she so afraid of? He's great."
"He was a fool. He was very childish."
"Where do you think we would be if I hadn't gotten pregnant with Jackson?"
"You almost didn't tell me," he reminds her.
"I didn't want to, but I couldn't be that selfish."
"Do you remember how you told me?"
"Not my finest moment."
December 25th, 2007
He scurries towards his front door, with a beer in his hand. He pulls open the door, and finds a familiar face staring back at him. The snow is flurrying around outside.
"What are you doing here?"
"I…" she hesitates.
"Come in, it's cold out there," he motions for her.
She enters the house, "Jethro last time I saw you…"
He cuts her off, "Look I am really sorry for the way things went last time I saw you."
"It wasn't what I expected," she admits.
"I never intended for anything to happen. I know that you moved on, I just…"
She shakes her head, and cuts him off, "We can't take that night back."
"What are you doing here?" He cocks his head to the side.
"Um…" she pauses, her eyes falling to the beer in his hand.
"You want one?" He follows her line of sight.
"Desperately," she nods.
"I just opened this one, you can have it."
She shakes her head, "I can't."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to intoxicate your spawn."
He furrows his brow, "Come again?"