Sitting miserably in his living room, watching the fake and useless Kate the Second swim happily around Kate the First's bowl, Gibbs knew he was screwed. There was nothing left to do. Tony would be here in three minutes, if not less, and all he had to show for his babysitting skills was a fake, wrongly tattooed fraud. The balloon of hope that Tony might not notice the discrepancy in the infernal black dot had long since burst. His second-in-command had a borderline unhealthy relationship with his fish, he knew every inch of her, and he would know instantly that Kate the Second was an imposter. Watching the fish swim jauntily around, at a two hundred and fifty dollar price tag, Gibbs was seized by the manic desire to strangle her. Before he could remind himself that he was no fish killer, the horrifying sound of the front door squeaking open screeched throughout the house.

"Boss? I'm home!"

He could run. He could pack his stuff up and be on the first plane to Mexico. He'd even take Kate the Second with him. They could be fugitives together. The thought suddenly captured him, but then it was too late. Then Tony was bounding into the living room, mercifully sans college buddies. Spying Gibbs and Kate, he grinned widely as he threw himself down on the sofa, tossing a souvenir shop back over to the elder agent, containing mementos of his trip. Murmuring his thanks through a sandy windpipe, Gibbs felt his heart stop when Tony turned his attention to the damnable fish, plucking the bowl right off the coffee table to examine and greet her warmly. When his face fell, the fugitive plan suddenly seemed a viable option once more. When his face turned a horrifying shade of pale, the idea of renouncing his American citizenship became the only viable option.

"This is not Kate."

He turned to Gibbs, accusation burning in his eyes, holding the Changeling of fishes. "What the hell is going on, Boss? Where is Kate? Why is this fish in her bowl, touching her stones? She wouldn't like it, why would you…why would you…." His face suddenly flooded with understanding and a gasp of anguished horror hissed through his teeth. "You murdered my fish? You neglected her into her own death? Is that what happened?" He shook his head, grief swimming in his eyes. "I trusted you. I thought you all of people, I could trust. How the hell could you do this to me? To Kate?" He paled even further then and slammed Kate the Second down on the coffee table, making to leave. Jolting out of his horrified reverie, Gibbs stood to stop him.

"Tony. Tony, wait. I can explain, you don't understand-"

"You killed my fish! What's to understand?"

"It wasn't me. I tried to save her, but Sandy had her and I just couldn't get there in time."

"Who the hell is Sandy?"

Gibbs blushed. Taking a deep breath, he pursed his lips together. He saw the confused and concerned expression on Tony's face as he made a high pitched whistling hiss. A few seconds later, a jauntily fluffy Sandy padded into view, with a soft meow for introductions sake. Tony glanced down in shock as she rubbed around his legs, marking him. "This is Sandy," Gibbs admitted quietly, "She's sort of my cat. She kinda….adopted me. She was here and I forgot how low down to the floor Kate's bowl was and then…she….well it's her nature, see? They're hunters. Anyhow, by the time I got to her, it was too late and I thought, I just thought…I could get you another fish. I got her tattooed…but above the wrong eye…" He swallowed, breaking his trademark rule.

"I'm sorry, Tony. I didn't mean for this to happen, I swear. I know how much she meant to you."

Staring, as the purring cat leapt into Gibbs' arms and nuzzled into his chest, the younger man felt his mouth fall open. Gibbs and a cat? A feline? A dog, sure, he could see that. A German Shepherd or something like that. But a cat? A fluffy, purring cat? He blinked. It was almost surreal. He looked from Sandy to Gibbs in bewilderment, his eyes struggling to take in the very obvious bond that was between them. "She killed my fish?" he said quietly, "That cat killed Kate?" Clutching Sandy tighter to him, Gibbs nodded. "Yes, but she's a cat, Tony. It's in her nature. They're hunters. It was my fault for leaving her in such a low lying position. This was my fault, I take full responsibility. Ok? This was entirely my bad and I'm sorry. Really, I am."

Tony glanced down to Kate the Second and felt his throat constrict.

"How did you tattoo a fish?"

Gibbs grimaced.

"With considerable financial distress and loss of dignity."

Chewing his lip, Tony bent down and scooped up the fish bowl, staring at Kate the Second intently. Sighing, he allowed his loss to wash over him. Logically he knew that it was a freak accident, but man, he had loved Kate the First, he really had. Swallowing, he tucked Kate the Second under his arm and nodded brusquely. "Apology accepted, I guess. But I will never ask you to babysit Ziva, ever." Gibbs frowned. "Why would I ever need to babysit Ziva? She's a grown woman." Tony rolled his eyes and thrust Kate the Second out for inspection. "Now that Kate's dead, it seems only fitting that this imposter be called Ziva. She even has the killer look in her eyes." Gibbs glanced down at….Ziva and found her to be utterly without homicidal intent, but nodded his agreement nonetheless.

He would have agreed to pretty much anything in that moment.

"She's a killer, for sure."

Brightening, Tony glanced down at Ziva and nodded. "She is, isn't she?" Smiling slightly, Tony threw his head towards the front door. "Anyhow, I gotta run. I was planning on showing Kate…Ziva, to the guys. I'm sure they'd buy that this is Kate, but that would be an insult to her memory so I'm just going to bring Ziva home and get her settled in. With regards to compensation for the loss I've suffered, I'm going to need another week off, with pay, to properly mourn her loss. Given that her death was a direct result of your negligence, I'm sure you're more than eager to accommodate my needs and will smooth it out with HR, right?"

Gibbs spluttered.

"Tony. No way in hell are you getting another week off. You can't just…can't…."

The look that was levelled at him, accompanied by the thrashing of Ziva, rendered him mute.

He looked down at the floor, experiencing the unusual and uncharacteristic feeling of defeat.

"I'll smooth things out with HR, have a great week."

…

FIN
…...