Hindsight, by rebecca
Title: Hindsight
Author: rebecca
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Why?
Notes: Heavy spoilers for "Kill Ari, Part 1". I kind of invented a missing scene.
Why me, Gibbs? Why did I die, instead of you?
He didn't have an answer for her then. He doesn't know if he has one now.
Ari killed her to make a point. See how easily I can take your people? You couldn't protect her. You can't protect any of them, and one by one I will take them away from you. The casings left at the scenes, the hints of evidence that aren't quite enough for anyone else--he's taunting Gibbs, mocking him. As psychological torture goes, it's terrifyingly effective.
Kate's lying in autopsy now, cold and pale in death, a bullet hole through her forehead and a sheet covering her body. Her parents are coming to claim her body tomorrow; Gibbs doesn't know when the funeral will be. Abby's watching the repairmen install bullet-resistant glass in her lab, sucking down caffeine and focusing on work to keep from thinking about her friend. Gibbs doesn't remember the last time he's been as scared as when he ran into Abby's lab, finding her and Tony there, huddled in the corner with glass in Abby's hair. She might be outwardly recovered from the shot fired into her lab but he remembers her trembling against him, the look of fear and resignation on her face. He's never wanted to see her look like that and he knows it'll stay with him, a stab in the heart.
Wasn't one bullet enough for you?
He closes his eyes against the pain, clenches his hand around the heavy tumbler in it. The liquor tempts him with its smooth burn, its promise of forgetfulness. But he can't forget. He can't let himself forget. Kate deserves better.
She deserved better than what she got. He should have known; there should have been a way for him to anticipate, to prevent it. Instead, he played right into Ari's hands, and she died as a result.
Why? Why did I have to die, Gibbs?
"I don't know," he whispers, a broken voice in the darkness. "I don't know."
Author: rebecca
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Why?
Notes: Heavy spoilers for "Kill Ari, Part 1". I kind of invented a missing scene.
Why me, Gibbs? Why did I die, instead of you?
He didn't have an answer for her then. He doesn't know if he has one now.
Ari killed her to make a point. See how easily I can take your people? You couldn't protect her. You can't protect any of them, and one by one I will take them away from you. The casings left at the scenes, the hints of evidence that aren't quite enough for anyone else--he's taunting Gibbs, mocking him. As psychological torture goes, it's terrifyingly effective.
Kate's lying in autopsy now, cold and pale in death, a bullet hole through her forehead and a sheet covering her body. Her parents are coming to claim her body tomorrow; Gibbs doesn't know when the funeral will be. Abby's watching the repairmen install bullet-resistant glass in her lab, sucking down caffeine and focusing on work to keep from thinking about her friend. Gibbs doesn't remember the last time he's been as scared as when he ran into Abby's lab, finding her and Tony there, huddled in the corner with glass in Abby's hair. She might be outwardly recovered from the shot fired into her lab but he remembers her trembling against him, the look of fear and resignation on her face. He's never wanted to see her look like that and he knows it'll stay with him, a stab in the heart.
Wasn't one bullet enough for you?
He closes his eyes against the pain, clenches his hand around the heavy tumbler in it. The liquor tempts him with its smooth burn, its promise of forgetfulness. But he can't forget. He can't let himself forget. Kate deserves better.
She deserved better than what she got. He should have known; there should have been a way for him to anticipate, to prevent it. Instead, he played right into Ari's hands, and she died as a result.
Why? Why did I have to die, Gibbs?
"I don't know," he whispers, a broken voice in the darkness. "I don't know."