Warnings: Spoilers for "Monsters and Men".

A/N: More snow, meant more time to write. Here is another update. I'm not sure how many more chapters this story will be, but I already have some ideas for a sequel.

And thank you to everyone that has taken the time to leave reviews, favorited, or followed this story!

By the time Tony arrived at the coffee house, EMT's were putting a splint on Leah's wrist. Cori was hovering nearby, asking if she needed anything and Leah was smiling through her obvious pain, assuring the barista that she was fine.

Tony had dropped everything when the man who'd helped Leah after Mrs. Evans' assault had called. He'd been in the middle of a briefing with the other SFA's and cited a family emergency when the call had come in. He didn't think there were be any backlash from the SFA's but he knew Gibbs would be after him when he didn't return on time from the briefing.

At this point, he didn't care. He was too angry to even think about what his boss was going to say to him later. Someone had physically assaulted his girlfriend and had tried to use her to get to him. Tony was fiercely protective of those he cared about and Debbie Evans had crossed a line.

"Hi, Agent DiNozzo,"Cori greeted him, anxiously. "I've been making sure that the EMT's take good care of Ms. Dawson."

"Thanks, Cori, you're a doll," Tony said with a tight smile. "I'll take it from here."

"I'm fine," Leah snapped, throwing him a false glare. "I've had worse injuries on falls I've taken on digs."

The EMT working on her wrist looked up at Tony, and said, "She's lucky it's not broken. That woman had a good hold on it and twisted it good."

Tony scowled at her, making no attempt to hide his anger. "You should call Metro, Leah. Assault is a crime."

Leah looked away, doing her best to avoid eye contact with him. "I feel bad for her. She's desperate, Tony."

"Exactly. Desperate people are dangerous. You should listen to me. I know."

"Can we just forget it? I just want...I just want to go home."

"You need to go to the ER first, Ms. Dawson," the EMT said. "A doctor is going to want to do some x-rays on your wrist."

Leah closed her eyes and nodded her head. She looked exhausted and deflated to Tony. He didn't blame her. She'd been attacked by a crazy woman that morning. These things were not something she dealt with on a daily basis, not like he did. "I'll make sure she gets there," he told the EMT.

The EMT smiled and thanked him before packing up his equipment and leaving. Tony grabbed Leah's coat and held it out to her. She slowly stood and put it on. Gently he took by the elbow and led her out to the car. He noticed that she winced when she sat down and he felt more anger surging through his veins. If the Evans were mad at him, fine, but they should come after him not go after someone that he cared about. And just how did Debbie Evans know this was the coffee shop that Leah went to every morning? He was pretty sure the lawyer, Al Ford had something to do with that.

Did he have a criminal case against the lawyer? Probably not. But a call into the Washington bar wouldn't hurt. It might not lead to anything but at least it would make Ford squirm a little.

Tony pulled his cell phone out before they got on their way to the ER and texted, Look up Al Ford's phone records. Both landline and cell.

"What are you doing?" Leah asked, softly watching him as he texted.

"Sending McGee a text."

"Why?"

"Want him to check on something for me."

Leah leaned back into the seat and rested her head against the cold glass. She had a sneaky feeling that Tony was looking into Debbie Evans but she didn't say anything. He seemed adamant that the woman be charged. "You don't have to take me to the emergency room you know. I can drive myself."

Tony looked at her and sighed. "And who's going to drive you home after they gave you painkillers?"

"Cabs are perfectly fine modes of transportation."

"Leah..." he started to say but his phone signaled McGee's answer had arrived. Tony looked at it. Sure, but what am I looking for?

"Tony, I'm sorry. I shouldn't...I shouldn't have had that man call you," Leah blurted. "I was...I was confused and...scared I think."

He saw the cold mask dissolve away. Her eyes filled with tears. Putting his cell phone away, Tony leaned over and stroked her cheek, comfortingly. "Leah. This isn't your fault. Mrs. Evans should never have gotten you involved. Her beef is with me and NCIS and I'm sorry that you got caught in the middle of it."

She looked at him, tears making paths on her pale cheeks. "She mentioned that her daughter...was murdered."

"Yes. Left a bar one night with a man and disappeared. NCIS investigated her disappearance."

"So...you never found her killer?"

"We weren't even sure if she was dead."

Leah looked down, her eyes darting back and forth in thought. "Mrs. Evans said you interviewed the killer two weeks ago."

Tony wiped at her tears. "Yes. Metro contacted us two weeks ago. A man dying in prison from cancer confessed to the crime and led them to her body. Gibbs and I went to interrogate the suspect so we could close the case. Suspect died the day...the day I came over and we watched Top Gun. I don't blame the Evans for being angry, Leah. They have every right. Their daughter laid at the bottom of the river for four years and we never arrested the man responisble. He was serving time for killing his brother. In their eyes there wasn't any justice."

"It's a sad story," Leah whispered bring her watery eyes to him. "How can I make it sadder for Debbie by pressing charges?"

"She hurt you," Tony ground out, his anger palpable.

"Tony, please, just...just take me to the ER," Leah pleaded with him. "I want to get this over with and just...move on."

"Fine. I'll take you to the ER but you're spending the night at my place," Tony told her, firmly as he started the car up.

Leah looked at him and bit down her lower lip. "It's just a sprained wrist. I don't need a baby-sitter."

Tony shook his head. "Not baby-sitting you. I'm going to make you a fine Italian dinner and then treat you to one of America's cinema classics-The Breakfast Club."

"You wouldn't be taking me back to your place because you want to protect me, now would you?"

"Maybe I am."

"Don't you think you're being a little overprotective?"

No. Tony thought sternly as he drove the car along, not making eye contact with her. Desperate people do desperate things. I don't want you getting more than a sprained wrist, Leah. "You haven't seen me overprotective yet."

Leah wrapped her good arm around his right one. "It's rather cute, you being overprotective. You don't need to protect me but I like to know you want to."

Tony shook his head. "Leah. It's my job to protect you."

"Your job? As what? An NCIS agent? Or my boyfriend?"

"Both."

Suddenly the damn photograph that had fallen out of his wallet at dinner didn't matter anymore. Leah could see his feelings for her in his eyes and she felt awful for giving him the cold shoulder because she was hurting. Tony had been hurting too. God, she wished she knew how to bring the topic up but the words just died on her lips. Instead, she offered a little smile. "Well then, I guess I'm lucky to have such a fine federal agent and boyfriend looking out for me."

Gibbs returned from a mid-day coffee run to find Tony still among the missing. He found this strange because he had seen Balboa's SFA right before he'd left for his coffee. Surely their briefing was done and Tony should be back working at his desk. "McGee. Where's DiNozzo?"

"I haven't got a clue boss," McGee said looking up at the lead agent. "He texted me thirty minutes ago to look into Al Ford's phone records but he never told me what I was looking for or why."

"Did you find anything?" Gibbs asked, moving towards McGee's desk.

McGee shook his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Most of his phone calls are to the Evans' and to a private investigator based out of Baltimore. Other than that nothing screamed out to me. I'm kind of confused, boss, why Tony had me do this."

Gibbs nodded his head. He tended to agree but Tony had to have had his reasons. He titled his head towards the computer. "Trace DiNozzo's cell."

"Sure thing, boss," the younger agent said, quickly getting to work. It didn't take him long to trace the signal on Tony's cell since it was still on, but he felt his stomach do about thirty flip-flops when he discovered the location. "He's...he's at Georgetown University Hospital."

"Son of bitch," Gibbs cursed. "Call him."

McGee picked up his desk phone and dialed Tony's cell. It began to ring and he put the receiver down to put on speaker.

Tony picked up after two rings. "Yeah, Tim?"

"Listen, I looked up Ford's records for you. But I don't know what I'm looking for. Care to fill me in?"

"Debbie Evans approached Leah outside of Capital Coffeehouse. She wanted Leah to...persuade me to testify."

Gibbs felt his gut tingling. If Tony was at the hospital did that mean Leah was hurt? He took a long sip of his coffee, finishing it and then dumping the empty cup into McGee's trash can. "We traced your cell to Georgetown University Hospital. Mrs. Evans hurt Leah?"

Tony paused, obviously a bit surprised to hear Gibbs' talking, and then a curt response, "Sprained wrist and bruised tailbone."

"You think the lawyer had something to do with it, don't you?" Gibbs questioned.

"Yeah. How else did Mrs. Evans know where to find Leah," Tony replied.

Gibbs gripped the sides of McGee's desk. Tony had told him about finding the lawyer ambushing the younger agent at the very coffee shop that Mrs. Evans had accosted Leah at. "What time did the assault happen?"

"Around nine," Tony said.

"Debbie Evans last called Al Ford at nine-fifteen. Probably not coincidence," McGee said, looking at the phone records.

"McGee. I want you to pay a visit to Delilah at the rehab. Bring a photo of Debbie Evans and Al Ford. Make sure security knows what they look like. DiNozzo. You stick to Leah like glue."

Gibbs slammed his finger down onto the phone and disconnected the call. McGee sprung into action immediately and he knew Tony would stay with Leah until this whole mess was sorted out. With Bishop off at FLET-C training for the day, the team was off rotation and he could make sure that his team wasn't hurt by this woman and her lawyer anymore.

Leon Vance had just hung up with the SecNav when Gibbs blew into the office with a scowl on his face.

"You didn't come up here to tell me that another one of your ex-wives is here, did you?" Vance cracked, half-joking, half-serious.

"No. Debbie Evans physically assaulted the woman that Tony is seeing," Gibbs ground out.

Vance's jaw tightened. "The mother of Jennifer Evans?" The same one that dressed my agents down not once, but twice? "Why the hell is she in Washington and what does Tony's girlfriend have anything to do with this?"

Gibbs tossed the Director a tight smile. "Mr. and Mrs. Evans have been convinced by a lawyer that they can win a wrongful death suit against the killers' family. They want Tony to testify on the suspect's state of mind when Tony and I interviewed him two weeks ago."

Vance could see where this was going. "Let me guess, DiNozzo said no."

"Told the lawyer that he didn't want to drag NCIS through the mud anymore than we already were the first time," Gibbs replied.

"You can tell him I appreciate the gesture but it appears the Evans do not."

"No. Mrs. Evans approached Leah Dawson outside of coffee shop. Apparently she wanted Ms. Dawson to convince Tony to testify."

The Director stood and straightened his suit coat. "How did Mrs. Evans even know where to find Ms. Dawson? Better yet, how does she even know her name?"

Gibbs chuckled. "What do you think, Leon? Listen, the lawyer's already pulled these kind of tactics. He followed Tony to Leah's apartment, he approached Tim at the coffee shop and admitted to Tony that he had a private investigator look into them. McGee found records of phone calls between the lawyer and a PI in Baltimore. I'd be willing to bet he told Mrs. Evans exactly where to find Ms. Dawson."

Vance sighed, heavily. "We have no way to prove it. Although, I do have a friend who is a member of the bar. I could place a call and put a bug in their ear."

"Good," Gibbs said before leaving, "let's make the lawyer squirm a little."