My little post-SWAK fic. I had to do one. It was bugging me for ages.

And by the way, there is no end to Twilight in my world. Kate got shot in the vest protecting Gibbs and then she and Tony went home to get it on. I'm not kidding. I saw it in a rather interesting dream. Of course, I only saw them making out on the couch before they demanded some privacy and moved into the bedroom…

In case anyone wants to know, I'm kidding…or am I? What I'm basically saying is, Kate will not die in a matter of weeks after this fic.

Disclaimer: Do you think Twilight would have ended the way it did if I owned the series? No, it would have ended the way I described it above.

---

In a Heartbeat

"This reminds me of the end of Alien."

Tony's words kept ringing in her ear. They were almost comforting. Him and his stupid movie references. She hardly ever understood them. Yet, something about the normally annoying movie reference made her feel a sense of hope. He'd be okay. If she'd learnt one thing abut Tony, it was that he was a fighter. He never gave up. Ever. The word 'failure' was not in his vocabulary. It wasn't in hers either. She would not let him give up.

Kate remembered the way he had looked only hours before. She was sure he was dying. It scared her to see her partner so vulnerable. She had tried everything. She had prayed to God and even tried to get Brad and Emma to do something but none of it did any good. His lips turned blue and Kate nearly let another tear slip down her face as she remembered the sight of him coughing up blood. She would never let that happen again.

"Kate?" Tony's voice was weak and he sounded as if it pained him to speak a word.

"What do you need Tony?" Kate didn't ask unkindly, more as though she was trying to hide her emotions.

"I need you to answer a question." They both turned their heads to the space between the beds, so their eyes met.

"Ask and maybe you'll find out." She smirked. Tony's face, however, stayed the same.

"Why'd you stay with me?" Kate sighed. She knew this was coming.

"I…I don't know." Tony opened his mouth to say something but Kate stopped him. "Don't try and say that's not the answer. It is. I don't know why I stayed. I can't give you an explanation that makes sense. Hell, I can't even give myself an explanation that makes sense." Tony smiled sadly.

"You shouldn't have stayed." His voice sounded as if it held a certain sense of guilt.

"Yes. I should have." Kate rolled back over and faced the ceiling.

"Kate, you could have been infected. I could have killed-"

"No. You would not have killed me." Kate sat up. Tony had officially succeeded in getting her angry. "Even if I did somehow get infected with all the UV lights and things, you would not have killed me. The disease would have."

"Still, you shouldn't have stayed Kate." Although this time Kate noticed that he did not have a reason why. She decided to challenge him.

"Oh yeah? Why not?" Kate asked in an agitated tone. Tony looked at her in disbelief.

"Why not? Why not? Kate, no matter how many UV lights there are, it wasn't necessarily going to stop you from getting infected. And not only that, I was worried sick. You have no idea what it's like, looking up into the face of your partner and realising she lied to you. You lied to me about being infected Kate. You told me you were dying. But then I find out that you were faking. Do you honestly expect me to be okay with all that?"

Kate's eyes were no longer on the ceiling although she could not find the will to look at Tony. She fixed her gaze on the floor between their beds.

"Tony, I…No. I didn't mean to scare you." She could feel the wetness on her cheeks and silently cursed herself at the sign of weakness. "I just…I guess I didn't want you to be alone. I figured that you'd do the same for me if I got sick."

"And I would, Kate. In a heartbeat. But I would never lie to you about it. No matter how many times Brad and Emma told me to get out." Tony's smirk faded as he realised Kate had a few tears running down her face. Normally, it would be a lot harder to notice but she was shaking with silent sobs. "Kate?" She turned around and was no longer facing him.

"I'm going to sleep Tony. I'm tired. It's been a long day." She heard him sigh and pretended to be asleep.

"Kate, please don't do this. Don't back out now." His voice was pleading. It almost made her turn around.

"Tony, I don't really want to talk about this anymore. Can't it wait until the morning?"

"No it can't, Kate. You'll find some way to avoid me and we won't ever end up finishing this conversation."

"I thought it was finished." Tony snorted at her comment.

"Kate, come on. I need to know. Why did you stay? And don't give me that "I don't know" crap because even if the explanation doesn't make sense, I still need to know." Kate turned around and sat up.

"I told you. I just didn't want you to be alone. I didn't think you'd want to be alone."

"Is that it?" Tony pressed on just a bit further. There was something else. He could feel it.

"Yes. That's it. We're partners. You'd do the same thing for me. You even said it."

"That's not the only reason I'd stay." Tony said it almost quiet enough for Kate not to hear. Unfortunately for Tony, Kate did hear.

"What? What's the other reason?" Kate's voice had a confused frown on it.

"You tell me. You wouldn't just stay here for fear of me being alone. There's got to be something else." Tony's eyes fixed on the ceiling above him.

Kate was speechless. Of course she'd stayed for another reason. Not that she was going to admit it to him, at least not until he said it first. After all, men always made the first move.

"You first." She could see Tony roll his eyes.

"Fine, but you need to come over here." Kate stood up as Tony sat a little straighter.

"Ok, I'm here. Now spill." Her eyes widened slightly as he took her hand in his warm one. They had never been this close before.

"Ok, first off, I would like to say that if you didn't want to hear any of this, blame it on the drugs. They're making me a little less like myself than usual." Kate laughed softly. He smiled and continued.

"You asked me why I'd stay. Simple, you're my partner and my friend. In fact, you are far more than that. I love you Kate. I wouldn't let you go through that alone." Kate sat stunned. Had he just said he loved her? Tony DiNozzo? Love?

"What did you just say to me?" Her voice was shaking and for once, she didn't care.

"I said I love you Kate. That's the reason I would stay." His eyes held a lot more certainty the first time he said it.

"Oh God. Tony I-" Kate was speechless.

"You don't have to say it back. In fact, you probably don't want to say it at all. I just…I needed to get it out." Tony looked a little disappointed as he loosened his grip on her hand. Kate quickly took it and squeezed it gently. She wasn't going to let it go.

"You're wrong."

"What?" Now he was the one surprised.

"You're wrong. I do want to say it back. I love you too Tony. As a friend, as a partner and as everything else." She barely had time to register his massive grin before his lips landed on hers in a mind-blowing kiss.

"I really hope I didn't get that cold." Kate smirked. Underneath it all he was still Tony DiNozzo. And that's what she loved him for.

---

A/N: So this was very out of character I'll admit but I enjoyed writing it anyway. Let me know what you think.