warning: contains one curse word and hints of depression

Tony clamps a hand over her shoulder. "You did good."

"For once," Gibbs cracks a smile, "DiNozzo's right."

"I thought I'd die before I ever —"

"Kate!"

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Tony is the first one to walk out of the elevator, followed by McGee. Then lastly, me.

"Found Ari's sniper's nest, boss. Roof of an abandoned office building to the east." Somehow, Tony is able to open his mouth without sobbing.

McGee pulls out an evidence bag. "Didn't police his brass. Lapua .308s."

"Lapua's match-grade sniper ammo." Gibbs takes over the bag. "You guys find any bullets?"

"None that match the casings." Tony rubs the tip of his brow, an anxious habit he's picked up through the years as an NCIS agent.

"But we left three guys on the roof searching." McGee quickly adds in case Gibbs sends us back.

Gibbs continues to stand by the window, not uttering a word.

"McGee and I will go back to the roof, boss."

From the corner of my eye, I feel Tony and McGee just watching me. As if I'm a fragile flower that could crumble any second.

"Tony."

He prepares to be head slapped, but it never comes.

"You're soaking wet." Gibbs examines Tony's stature. "Go put some dry clothes on."

The rain outside hasn't stopped since this morning. It's as if the city knew about the loss we faced and was mourning with us.

"Ari's rooftop wasn't much higher than ours." That name brings a bitter, bile-like taste to the mouth. "Roof lines behind us were lower. There's no telling how far a full metal jacket would go after killing Kate."

Even those last words are hard to say. As if ignoring the fact that she's dead may bring her back.

McGee lowers his voice. "How does he know it's a full metal jacket?"

"Didn't you see Kate?" Tony flips through his notes, reviewing as many times as possible. "Her head was intact."

"So. . ." He gulps. "She didn't look bad?"

That seems to rile Tony up from his tense state. "No. No, not at all, Probie."

I silently reach a hand to his arm, trying to calm him down.

"In fact, a little mortuary putty right here. . ." Tony points to McGee's forehead, "and she'll be good as new."

"Tony. . ." McGee begs him to stop.

But he isn't even close to stopping. "Of course, she was having a bad hair day, though, right back here. 'Cause a full metal jacket will put a hole the size of a grapefruit right back there."

"C-Could I use the restroom?"

It takes everything inside of me to open my mouth without breaking down in front of them.

The three men look in my direction, each of their eyes filled with the pain and sorrow brought upon by Kate's sudden death.

"Sure." Gibbs nods his head.

I drop my things off at my desk and storm down to the bathroom on Abby's level. As soon as I walk in, I lock the door behind me, not wanting to be disturbed.

My knees quake, and I fall to the floor.

"You. . .you were supposed to stay alive." Hiccups slip out between words. "You were supposed to be here with me. Y-You were supposed to be my best friend. And now you left me all alone in this wet and-and cold world."

The rain patters against the windows as I rock back and forth, hugging my knees to my chest.

"You were supposed to fucking stay!"

My voice cracks when I reach my breaking point. The point where my whole body is numb, and I can't feel a single thing.

I claw at my throat, itching to find a way to stop this. To stop myself from drowning in pain.

There's a knock on the door, and for a moment, I fear Ari has killed the others and left me to be his last victim. That he finds some sort of sadistic pleasure in choking me to death with his bare hands.

"Occ-Occupied." I struggle to find my voice, sore and hoarse from crying all night.

"Eva, you've been in there for a while. Open up."

Tony.

With help from the sink, I pull myself off the ground. My hands tremble when I curl my fingers around the lock.

"It's the women's restroom. You can't come in here."

Part of me wants to stay here and die. To reunite with Kate so I won't feel so alone.

But the other part of me wants to be wrapped up in his arms. To feel love and comfort from the one person I can lean on.

"I'm worried about you, Ev."

No one has ever called me Ev. It's always Evaline or Eva, sometimes Giudice.

But never Ev.

Hesitantly, I twist the lock and pull the handle, revealing Tony on the other side. He steps inside and shuts the door behind him.

His voice shakes when he exhales. "God, Ev." Drops of water fall from the top of his hat, but his attention continues to focus on me. "I thought. . .I thought he found you and killed you right here in the restroom."

"At least I'd get to see Kate again."

For the first time, when my legs give out underneath me, someone is there to catch me. Even with his soaking wet jacket and cold figure, I feel warm.

I feel safe.

"I'm going to miss her, Tony." My cheek rests against his shoulder, tears flowing down faster than ever before.

He tightens his grasp, if that's even possible. "Me, too."

Suddenly, the glass from the window above shatters, and a bullet whizzes past our bodies. Tony knocks me back before laying on top of me.

"I swear to God, Tony, if that's —"

"My gun." He pulls the Sig-Sauer out of his waist holster. "Just my gun."

In the midst of it all, I never took off my holster, so I still have both my guns. "Got mine, too."

"Eva?" A whisper comes from outside the door. "Eva? Tony? You two in there?"

The door opens, revealing Gibbs. He hits the switch off the lights and sprints into the room. The three of us have our guns in hand, although it's close to impossible to fire at a sniper.

Gibbs sits next to me, his back pressed against the stall. "Close off Anacostia Park between the bridges. Tell Metro cops it's a crime scene."

"Sounds good." When I move towards the door, Tony pulls me back by my belt loops. "Would you let me go?"

"What if he has a night-vision scope?"

"I'll take my chances."

This time, Gibbs yanks me back.

I snap back to look at the two overprotective men. "My pants are going to fall off if that happens again."

"He's after you now, Eva. You can't go off on your own anymore."

Upstairs in the squad room, I write up an incident report while Tony meets up with Metro at the Anacostia Park.

"And. . ." I sign my name on the dotted line, "done."

"You misspelled your name."

"No, I. . ."

In front of me stands Kate. An elegant satin red dress with a slit down the right leg, a simple pearl necklace around her neck, and a tinted-red smile plastered on her face.

"I recognize this outfit." She runs her hands down the dress, smoothing out the edges. "You wore it on a date to Valentino's."

A pink blush spreads across my cheeks. "My date stood me up that night. But Tony ended up taking me out to cheer me up." It feels like ages since then.

"I never got to tell you something." She rests her palms against the top of my desk. "Never in my entire life did I think I would be able to bond with another woman. Growing up, all the girls in school were dramatic and bitchy."

"Tell me about it."

"But you. . .you were the best friend a girl could ever have."

"You were like a sister to me, Kate."

She's about to leave but turns back for a moment. "Promise me one thing."

"Anything, Kate." My eyes squint in concentration.

"Name your kid after me. You know, when you and Tony decide to start a family."

"And you're just assuming that I'll marry Tony and have a kid with him?"

But when I look up, she's long gone.

Merely a small figment of my imagination.

"I promise."