Criminal Minds: Danika

Funeral

"May I?" He asks the soldiers who are supposed to give the flag to the family.

Unfortunately, Kate didn't have any family and I was the closest thing she had to a sister. Fitz gently picks the flag up and carries it over.

"Agent Caitlin Todd was dedicated to her work when she was one of my agents and I know she was just as dedicated, if not more, with her work in NCIS." He humbly states and hands me the flag.

His hand brushes up against mine and I gulp. He gives me a slight nod and I know it's to say that he understands why I yelled at him yesterday.

"She made our world a safer place with her work." He finishes and takes a step back.

I look over and see that the redhead is clearly trying to keep it together. She's obviously in shock that the President showed up.

"Thank you." Gibbs says and Fitz nods his head.

"I'll let you get back to it." Fitz says and glances at me again and gives me a small reassuring wink.

"You can stay. If you want." I say and he looks at me.

"I wouldn't want to impose-."

"Please, I bet it would've meant a lot to her." The redhead states and he nods and walks over and stands next to me.

The pastor says a little prayer and message and I feel numb. None of this feels real, part of me expects to see her in the trees watching her funeral, like Emily did.

But she's not hiding in the bushes or trees, she in the box in front of us with a bullet wound scarring her forehead.

"Would anyone like to say anything?" The pastor asks and I gulp.

"I will." I say and hand the flag off to Gibbs.

"Kate and I had a complicated relationship. The case we had together she lent me some of her clothes. Unfortunately, they ended up burnt in an explosion that could've been avoided if she hadn't identified with the victim who just happened to make small bombs for a living." I start out.

"As we got to know one another better we learned that we were very different people. She was a stickler for following the rules while I saw them more as suggestions. At times we were like sisters, mocking Tony or pulling pranks on McGee to make the day go faster. Other times it was like we were in a silent war with one another for dumb little things. Things like; when I helped Tony look through her stuff and snoop on her, all the way to starting a prank war until it went too far and she ended up with temporary blue hair." I start saying and Tony chuckles a bit clearly fondly remembering how he called her a stuck up Smurf.

"But, she was an amazing agent, especially since she could put up with Tony and I without shooting us. She was always willing to go the extra mile to prove a theory, even if it was completely wrong in the end. Her competitive nature helped with solving cases in record time, yet she still found time to remind us that we were being childish for whatever we were doing in the moment. She wasn't a stick in the mud though because she once said we should burn Gibbs' boat after he made us shoot at one of our favorite items, hers was a old-ass Walkman." I continue and the crowd chuckles.

"Anyway, she is the closest thing I've ever had to a sister and I'll miss every minute of it. But I'm glad I had the time with her that I did, because I hate to admit it, and she'd never let me live it down if I told her that she rubbed off on me a bit. Unfortunately she made me about half a percent more responsible than I was before I met her. But if Gibbs' boat goes up in flames; I'll be in Mexico. I'll miss you Kate." I say and lay my rose down on the casket.