Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, or the characters thereof. This is just for fun.

Enjoy!

Tony didn't hesitate, and he never regretted it, not even as he felt that bullet pierce through his chest. He was willing to die for her, and in the end... he did.

It had started out like any other day, Tony drove to work, Ziva and McGee were already at their desks when he arrived, the boss arrived just minutes after Tony, but not before Tony could well and truly irritate his colleagues. It was just like any other day, they went out into the field on a case. Even the case started out being nothing out of the ordinary, a couple of marines overdosing on heroin within a couple of hours of each other, usually it wouldn't have been their job, but the other teams were swamped, they didn't realise the depth of what they had gotten into until it was too late.

Tony and Ziva went out to question a young sergeant who they suspected of being involved with what at that time they had thought was a couple of isolated drug incidents.

It seemed to be a normal base house from the outside, but lurking inside, unbeknown to anyone it had become home to a large scale drug operation. It goes without saying that the occupants of the house were not happy to have NCIS turn up on their doorstep.

Tony and Ziva were quite casual about it, they knocked on the door and awaited an answer. The door opened a crack, only to slam shut a moment later, then there was shouting coming from inside, sounds of glass breaking and people running.

That was the first, and until the house was searched hours later, the only indication the team got of what they had walked into. Tony nodded to Ziva as they both drew their weapons, Ziva moved stealthily towards the back door, while Tony waited for her to be in place. That's when the first shot was fired and the shit truly hit the fan.

Ziva did not even reach the back door of the house, a young marine, he couldn't have been older than twenty slammed into her as he attempted to flee the house. Ziva was thrown off balance by the sudden impact, she lost her gun.

The marine didn't miss the opportunity, he snatched up Ziva's weapon, he aimed it, and fired.

Lying on the ground, even Ziva had no chance to defend herself. She felt the bullet pierce through her flank; at least the guy wasn't a marksman. It hurt like hell, in that moment she almost accepted that this would be how she died, then as the second shot was fired, Ziva saw Tony dive in front of her.

Tony heard the gunshot, and he moved around the house towards where the shot had come from, he was just metres from Ziva, he saw a man standing over his wounded partner, preparing to shoot again.

He did it on instinct, diving through the air to protect Ziva, firing his gun repeatedly in the direction of the shooter as he fell. At first Tony did not even feel the bullet hit him.

The shooter fell, Tony fell, and for just a moment Ziva lay there in shock; she checked herself over to see if she had been shot a second time, she had a graze on her right temple and a deeper wound in her left flank, both were bleeding, but not too severely. Ziva got onto her knees tentatively, only as she got vertical did Ziva see Tony lying less than a metre away, bleeding profusely from a chest wound; blood was already pooling around his body.

Ziva called for an ambulance before moving to her injured partner's side; Tony was writhing in pain, he was barely even aware of her presence. You did not need a medical degree to know that he was in bad shape. "Hang in there Tony, help's on the way..." Ziva tried to soothe him, with little effect.

Tony took a sudden sharp breath, and in a moment of clarity, he looked into Ziva's eyes, saying, "Where am I? What's happening?"

"You saved me Tony," Ziva said shakily. Tony began to fade again, "Please hold on Tony, please! Don't die on me!"

In his last breath, Tony murmured, "I love you too." Then he was gone.

Little in life is simple, and as Tony died something happened that simply could not be explained.

One moment Tony was diving to protect his fallen partner from the gunfire, and then he was in another place, the rooftop where Kate had died, and standing before him was Kaitlin Todd; she looked the same as the day she died.

"Kate..." Tony was stunned, "Wait, does this mean...? Am I dead?"

Kate smiled softly, sympathetically, "Yes, you're dying Tony."

"Where am I? What's happening? I can't even... What happened?"

"You saved Ziva's life Tony, you took a bullet for her. Welcome to the afterlife, Tony."

"...What happens now?"

Kate offered Tony her hand to him, "We leave."

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know, I've been waiting here for you."

"You... Why?"

"I love you Tony, always have, always will. I couldn't leave you."

"...I love you too," Tony murmured, taking Kate's hand with his own. A stunning white light surrounded the couple, and they disappeared, together forever.

The End.

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