As Gibbs ran out into the street, ignoring the pounding rain and flashed of lightning, he could see Mike lying in the middle of the road, alone. It was only as he reached his old friend's side that he could see the scalpel in his chest. Thinking the man was already gone, Gibbs cradled Mike's head in his lap forlornly, cursing whoever was intent on killing off his entire family network.

It was only when Mike gasped softly that Gibbs realised his mentor was still alive. Reaching for his radio, Gibbs began to press the call button when Mike spoke in a harsh whisper.

"No point... Probie... I'm a goner."

"No, Mike, We'll get help, you'll recover from this, you're harder to kill than this."

"No... Probie..." Mike's hand shakily reached up to Jethro's face, grabbing his attention as he was quickly fading.

"You need... to know..."

"Know what?"

"Quit... interrupting... you need... to... know..."

Mike took a shaky breath and, for a moment, Jethro worried that he would not hear the secret that was clearly important for it to likely be Mike's last words.

"She is... alive."

"Who is? Damnit Mike, stop being so fucking cryptic!"

"She... isn't dead... she is... alive."

With those final words, and his eternal smirk on his lips, Mike's hand fell limply at his side as he finally slipped away, leaving Jethro alone in the pouring rain, holding the body of his oldest friend and trying to figure out what the final words of his mentor meant.