Double Life
By that belle

A freak accident puts Kate into a coma. Nothing is what it seems when she finally wakes up... ..Tony & Kate.. ..Ari & Kate..

Ding. The elevator doors opened, and Kate stepped out. She was dressed in a light pink shirt and a white skirt, and had a damp towel around her neck. Her hair was wet and brushed back as she wore it everyday, and her face was slightly red. As she approached her desk, her co-worker, Tony, came up to her, grinning his Cheshire cat grin at her.

She took one look at him, and rolled her eyes. She hung the towel over the barrier next to her desk, and switched on her computer. "What is it, DiNozzo?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

"You look like you've had a good workout, Kate." He grinned, ruffling her wet hair. He pulled his hand away as she tried to swat it away. "Feisty this morning, are we?"

Kate rolled her eyes. She was about to tell him to mind his own business, when another idea came to her. "Actually, Tony," She said, smiling warmly at him, "I have had a good workout this morning." Tony's eyebrow rose. He was clearly interested in her little 'story'. "Yes, I didn't know that working out at the gym here could be so…" She noticed Tony's mouth slowly opening as she pretended to look for the right word to describe it. "… satisfying."

"I-is that right?" Tony stammered, watching Kate as she sat in her seat, and crossed one of her legs over the other. 'Damn, she had to be wearing a skirt today.' Tony thought to himself.

"Is what right, DiNozzo?" Gibbs came in, holding a coffee in his hand. He looked at his two agents warily. "Well?" He asked when neither of them had moved. Tony was still gaping at Kate, and Kate was still seated at her desk, looking at Tony with a sly smile on her face.

Suddenly, the moment seemed to end, and Kate looked up at Gibbs. "Morning, Gibbs." She said, returning to her computer. She logged in and looked at her partner over the top of her screen.

"Y-you were kidding?" Tony spluttered, sitting down at his own computer. "Why would you do something like that?"

Kate shrugged a shoulder. "I'm sick of having the same conversation with you, Tony." She said, continuing as though she didn't know Gibbs was in the room. "Every morning for the past four months, I have come in here to work to be greeted by some sexually charged remark by you."

"C'mon, Kate, be reasonable." Tony said, scratching his head.

"I am being reasonable." She retorted. "It's the truth."

"Don't you two have something more important to do?" Gibbs asked from his desk. He was tired of coming into work every morning to see the two bickering. He sometimes wondered if hiring Kate had been such a good idea.

His two agents looked at each other, and then at him. "Not really." They replied simultaneously. When he looked like he was about to fire the two on the spot, Kate quickly added, "What Tony and I meant to say, Gibbs, is that there are no cases right now."

"Then work on a cold case!" Gibbs ordered, taking a sip of his coffee, and swearing when the hot drink burned his tongue.

Kate and Tony looked at each other again and, deciding they didn't want to get into Gibbs' bad books that day, decided to get on with their jobs.

A call had come in about 30 minutes before they were due to head home that evening. A petty officer had been at home when an intruder had broken into her home. She had managed to restrain him, but was in shock.

"Kate, Tony, grab your gear." Gibbs announced, hanging up his phone. The two agents looked over at him in disbelief. "Now!" He said, when they hadn't moved. "A petty officer restrained a man who broke into her house."

"So why do we have to go?" Tony pouted as he grabbed his badge and gun. "She's alive, isn't she?"

"You're only upset because you had a date tonight." Kate snapped from her desk.

"You're only upset because it isn't you." Tony teased, watching Kate as she glared at him from her desk.

"I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole, DiNozzo." She snapped, getting up and following Gibbs to the elevator. Tony rushed up behind then and the three stepped into the elevator.

"You two have been acting like children today." Gibbs commented as the elevator went down. "You might want to try working on that, otherwise I'll have to replace you."

Tony and Kate looked at him, incredulous. "You mean fire us?" Tony exclaimed.

"That's exactly what I mean, DiNozzo." The elevator stopped, and the three stepped out. They went to the petty officer's house in silence, although Tony and Kate spent the entire journey glaring at each other while Gibbs drove.

Once they arrived, Gibbs went up to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. He turned to Kate. "Go around the back and try the door." He ordered, and she went off. Gibbs then tried knocking on the door.

Moments later, a red haired woman came to the door, and looked through the glass at them. "Yes?" She asked, wringing her hands together.

Gibbs held up his badge. "NCIS." He said. "Are you Petty Officer Moore?"

"I am." The woman replied. "Please, come in. He's in the kitchen." She unlocked the door, and opened it. Tony and Gibbs went inside, and looked around. She led them into the kitchen, where Kate was standing. Chained to the refrigerator door was a man, who was dressed in dark clothes. His hair was a dark brown, and his eyes were glaring at Gibbs.

"You chained him to your fridge?" Tony asked, slightly bewildered.

"Yes," Petty Officer Moore replied. "It was the best I could do, considering the situation I was in."

"Well, you were very brave." Kate said.

Suddenly, the man turned to her, as though he had just noticed she was there. His eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. "Raya? Raya Zavad?" He continued talking to her, but not in English. She just stood there, looking as confused as everyone else in the room felt.

"C'mon, Kate, let's take him back to interrogation." Gibbs said finally, breaking the silence which had followed the intruders' speech.

Kate approached him, and unchained him from the fridge. She grabbed his arms and pulled them behind him, causing him to cry out. She followed Gibbs out of the Petty Officer's house, and Tony followed her.

Things went horribly wrong when they were walking down the steps towards the car. The intruder, who seemed to be subdued, suddenly became violent. He pulled himself from Kate's grasp, and started screaming "Raya!" at her. When Kate reached for her gun, his hands came from nowhere and fixed themselves around her neck.

"Kate!" Tony exclaimed from behind her. Gibbs turned and reached for his gun, but that only seemed to aggravate the man more.

The gun dropped from Kate's hand. The shock at being attacked so suddenly had delayed her reaction time, and she had not been able to do anything to defend herself. Her vision was starting to blur and her head was starting to throb. It felt as though it was going to explode. Tony tried to pull the man away from Kate, but as he went to do so, he lost his footing, pushing Kate and the man down the stairs. The man rolled off Kate, a little dazed but unhurt, but Kate did not fare so well. Her head hit the edge of the stair as she fell down, and landed with a dull thud and a crack.

Time seemed to stop for Tony and Gibbs as what happened sunk in. Gibbs rushed to Kate's side while Tony went to restrain the man. Gibbs knelt down over Kate, and opened her mouth. He checked for signs of breathing, and felt his heart stop when he couldn't find any.

"DiNozzo, call an ambulance!" He yelled.

Abby sat in the comfortable chair next to Kate's hospital bed. She was holding her friends' hand in her own. A single tear slid down her cheek as she recalled what Gibbs had told her when he told her that Kate had been rushed to Bethesda.

"A man who broke into a Petty Officer's house became violent and attacked her." He had told Abby over the phone two hours earlier. "She was pushed down the stairs, and hit her head when she fell. The doctors think her skull was damaged."

What made the already bad news worse was the fact that the man managed to escape. Abby had gone straight to the hospital as soon as she heard, and had been there ever since. It scared her to see Kate lying there so pale, yet so peaceful… she looked like she was never going to wake up, and that alone brought Abby to tears.

The door to the ward opened, and Tony came in. "Abby," He said when she looked up at him. "It's late. You should go home and rest."

"I can't, Tony." Abby replied, turning back to look at Kate. A tube was coming out of her mouth and there was a bandage wrapped around the top of her head. "It's breaking my heart to see her like this. I can't leave her alone."

Tony walked over to Abby, then knelt down and hugged her. She cried into his chest. "It'll be alright, Abs." He said, stroking her hair. "Time will tell, I suppose. Kate is strong; she'll pull through this."

"I hope you're right, Tony." Abby said. She stood up and smiled at Tony through her tears. "How about we go home, and come in and see Kate in the morning?"

Tony nodded, and led Abby out of the room. No less than five minutes after the two had left the hospital, two men came in, asking to see Kate Todd.

"Kate's condition is currently unstable." The receptionist replied, frowning at the two men. "She is not conscious."

The first man held up his hand, and the receptionist saw the gold band on his finger. "I am Kate's husband." He said. He then pointed to the man he had come in with. "This is her brother. We would really appreciate it if we could see her."

The receptionist thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Her room is right over there." The men thanked her, and then entered the room the receptionist had pointed out. Once they were inside, the first man closed the door and turned to the second man.

"Reuben," He said to the second man in Hebrew, "I know we were having difficulty finding her, but was it a good idea to attack her? She is your sister."

Reuben shrugged a shoulder. "I could not do anything else. I did not mean to hurt her so much, but she did not appear to recognise me. She tried to shoot me, Ari."

"Then you are lucky you escaped." Ari replied, taking a seat near Kate's bed. He took her hand in his own, and sighed. "They call her Kate?" He asked Reuben in English.

He nodded. "Kate Todd. She found the name in an archive in the state library. Women who served their country, apparently."

Ari chuckled. "Very creative."

Reuben paced the room. "Ari," He said, returning to Hebrew. "We should consider leaving soon. That Gibbs man has been here ever since she was admitted. Who knows when he will pop up again?"

Ari looked up at Reuben. "I wish to stay with my wife." He muttered, looking at her delicate frame. "And you should wish to stay with your sister. It has been six months since you last saw her."

Reuben sat down in the other seat, and looked over at his sister. "Oh, Raya." He said, sighing. "I am truly sorry."

Gibbs, Tony and Abby went to see Kate before heading into work the following morning. Gibbs and Tony went straight to her room, but Abby spoke to the receptionist.

"Have there been any changes overnight?" Abby asked, afraid to hear the answer.

The receptionist shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Although, her brother and husband came in last night to visit her. I thought that was nice."

Abby started to nod her head, but froze. "I'm sorry?" She asked the receptionist. "Did you say husband? Kate isn't married! And her brother lives in Indiana! There must be some mistake."

The receptionist look at Abby, confused. "B-but two men came in last night. One had a wedding ring. He said he was her husband, and that the other man was her brother."

Abby walked down to Kate's room, where Tony and Gibbs were sitting. Gibbs came up to Abby almost as soon as she entered the room.

"Did she say anything?" Gibbs asked hopefully.

"She did." Abby nodded. "None of which you're going to like…"