Warnings: No spoilers, but Abby is not very nice, and Ziva isn't painted in a good light.

A/N: I hope everyone had a great holiday. I was sick most of but I'm on the mend now and back to writing.A while back someone did ask if we would see the Davids again and it inspired me. I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think, your feedback is very much appreciated and sometimes inspiring ;).


Several weeks had passed since Natalie had been reinstated as an active field agent. Her first case she had been a bit reluctant but Tony and McGee had encouraged her the entire way and after that things fell back into place. Gibbs didn't notice anything change within the closure rate of his team, or the dynamics. Tony, Natalie, and McGee all worked well together and got the job done. It seemed that Patricia's worries about Tony and Natalie's unresolved feelings seemed to be premature. Of course that didn't mean at some point Gibbs was not going to have to have chat with Tony about rule 12. For now, he was happy to let things play out naturally.

Besides, with a new case, he didn't have time to lecture his agents on the importance of rule 12. Gibbs stepped out of the Dodge Charger, brisk November air hitting his face, and pulling his cap down low over his forehead, walked towards his team already hard at work. "Talk to me," he ordered.

"Lieutenant Justin Stein was out jogging this morning, boss, discovered the body," Tony replied, gesturing towards the decomposing corpse in the brush.

"Ducky estimates he's been there about two weeks," Natalie responded. "According to the residents... this isn't a very highly traveled footpath this time of year. Too cold for most. The lieutenant said he likes it back here because it's quiet."

Gibbs licked his lips and nodded. The lieutenant apparently was not the only one that liked the path because it was quiet. "Any identification on the body?"

Tony shook his head. "No. McGee was going to go get his fancy finger print scanner...thingy... to try to get an ID. By all appearances it looks like a mugging, maybe he owed one of his unit buddies money. Victim was shot through the back of the skull."

"Or this was an execution, DiNozzo."

"Well, or that too."

McGee returned with his fancy new gadget and carefully made his way down the slope towards the body. Gibbs, Tony, and Natalie all stood at a safe distance and watched as the junior agent placed one of the victims fingers on the scanner and let it get to work. "Shouldn't take long boss, if our victim is in the system."

Tony grinned, playfully. "Aw, look at him, he's like a little geek on Christmas morning." The comment earned him a glare from Gibbs and an elbow to the gut from Natalie. He squealed a little. "Hey, that hurt."

"Bet it didn't hurt as much as the head slap I want to give you," Gibbs snarled at him.

"Come to think of it... it didn't hurt at all," Tony quipped, rubbing the back of his head.

McGee suddenly snapped back, away from the body when his scanner beeped and gave him the identity of their victim. "Oh no," he muttered, thinking he was speaking only to himself, until Tony called down from his spot, asking what the problem was. McGee turned to look up at his team. "Boss... we have a problem."

Gibbs really hated when his agents did that. Why couldn't they just come out say what the problem was? "Spit it out, McGee!"

"S-sorry," the junior agent stammered, "Our victim... our victim... he's Mossad, boss."

"Just when I thought we were done with them," Tony cursed.

"Why... why is Mossad in Washington?" Natalie asked, uncertainly.

Gibbs felt anger boiling just underneath the surface. Especially when he heard the undertone of fear in the probationary agent's question. This had Eli David written all over it. And he would be damned if he let that smug bastard get his team caught in the cross-hairs once again. "Finish up here," he ordered, gruffly. "I'm heading back to D.C to speak to Vance."

Tony licked his lips and glanced at Natalie. "Boss... I know that the body was found by a marine, on a marine base, but maybe we should just hand this case over to the FBI. Every time we get involved..."

"Yeah. I know, Tony."

"So... what are we going to do?"

"What we always do, DiNozzo," Gibbs said before heading back to his car, "Find the bastard who did this."


Tony watched as Palmer and Ducky loaded the body into the back of the M.E's van. If he was honest with himself, he was terrified that Mossad was back on the scene. Mossad had nearly come close to killing him and Natalie back over the summer. Both agents still carried those scars around. He had hoped and prayed that they were done with the Israelis once they left Ziva behind in Israel. He should have known better. Tony sighed, helped Palmer slam the doors shut and gave a little shiver.

"You alright, Tony?" Palmer asked, softly when he noticed the stiffness of his friends shoulders.

"Never ends well with Mossad, Jimmy," Tony replied, heavily. "Last time I ended up tied to a chair with a bullet through my shoulder, offered up as a sacrificial lamb. What's going to happen this time?"

Jimmy looked away, towards Natalie and McGee packing up their gear. It had been a hell of a way for Natalie to start her NCIS career that was for sure, captive, in a terrorist camp. It hadn't left her without scars. And come to think of it, Jimmy realized as he looked back at Tony, it hadn't left the senior field agent without scars. "Director Vance isn't going to be happy once here's Mossad's back in town."

Tony had to agree. Vance didn't liked to be played and that was all Eli did with them. His gut was screaming at them to walk away from this, to hand it over to the FBI and let Fornell deal with Mossad and Eli David for a change. "None of us are happy they're back in town, Jimmy," he huffed as he walked away.

His nerves were frayed and every sense was heightened. Tony knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the team was in for another long, grueling battle. It never seem to go any other way with Mossad. He just wanted to know how to keep Natalie and McGee from getting hurt. Kate, lying dead on that rooftop, flashed before his eyes. It would destroy him if Mossad were to put another bullet through his partner. If anyone would be taking a bullet this time... it was going to be him.

"Everything's all set to go," McGee announced. "Gibbs is probably already back in D.C by now."

"And probably already gave Vance an earful," Tony muttered, taking his cap off and running his hand through his hair. "Any signs of anything out of the ordinary?" he questioned, looking around.

Natalie and McGee exchanged glances. "No. Other than a foreign operative found dead on a military base," the probationary agent answered. "It's almost like he was left out here as bait... or to taunt us."

Tony set his jaw and gestured towards the van. The sooner they got back to NCIS the better. At least there they weren't out in the open and vulnerable. At least there he could protect his probies...

"Hey, Tony," McGee said as the van started up and Tony directed it back towards Washington, "This isn't going to end up like the last time."

"Oh?" the SFA questioned, not taking his eyes off the road. "How can you be so sure of that?"

"Well... for one thing we have Natalie."

"How do I figure into this equation?"

McGee looked at the former detective sandwiched between him and Tony. "Because... I have never once questioned where your loyalties lay."

Tony clutched the steering wheel, but felt his shoulders ease. McGee was right. Things were different now. Natalie was loyal to them, she would have their backs and vice-versa. He swallowed the angry bile in his throat thinking about how Ziva had betrayed them back in May, how she had used their trust in her against them... how it had nearly cost him his life. "Tim's right," he finally said, "We don't have to worry about you feeding information to Mossad and using NCIS resources to help them."

Natalie crossed her arms over her chest. She knew very little of the history of Ziva David and NCIS, but what she did know made her question why Gibbs had trusted her in the first place. "Do you think... is it possible that this is just a giant set up?"

"For what?" Tony asked, honestly.

"To get me off the team and Ziva reinstated," Natalie answered, just as honestly. "We both know she wasn't happy that Gibbs rejected her."

"I don't know... murdering one of their own to place a mole... that sounds low even for Mossad," McGee quipped with a shake of his head.

Tony scoffed as he turned the van on the highway. "Not that low. In fact... I'd place bets it's happened before."

McGee was highly confused, Natalie on the other hand was not and supplied him with the information he was seeking. "Ari."

"Whoa, wait a minute, Tony... you think Ziva killed Ari?"

"I think Ziva is so brainwashed by her father... she'd do anything he asked of her in the name of the cause."

For him, it was hard to believe that Ziva would kill her own brother. Sure, his sister drove him crazy at times... but to put a bullet in her... it just didn't seem... right. McGee clutched tightly to his cap in his hands. "So... if your theory holds true... if she killed Ari... why did she do it? It couldn't have been simply orders..."

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "We both know that Ari was out of control. Her father needed the mess to be taken care of. Once Ari killed Kate and it opened up the slot on our team and Jenny took office... Eli saw his opportunity and pounced. She killed him to gain Gibbs' trust and used his death as an excuse to Jenny to get out of Mossad for a while. It was the perfect set up and we all fell for it."

Natalie could see the storm clouds raging in Tony's eyes, but there was always a twinge of fear. He was scared that Mossad was back... maybe even scared that Mossad was coming after her to get her off the team. "We just don't fall for it this time, Tony."

"Easier said than done."

"I know."

Tony didn't say anything else, the van fell silent. He vowed that this time he wasn't letting Eli David and his daughter fool him. This time... he was going to fight back.


"You're sure that the body that was found is a Mossad operative?" Vance asked, his voice strained.

"Positive, according to McGee's fancy scanner," Gibbs replied, softly. "Have you heard from Eli David lately?"

Vance shook his head. He hadn't heard very much out of Israel since he had left there at the end of the summer. But that didn't mean Eli wasn't up to something. "I don't like the direction this is taking, Gibbs. I can't afford another tangle with Mossad right now."

Gibbs smirked and shrugged. "DiNozzo suggested that we hand the case off to the FBI. I think Fornell owes me a favor..."

"Don't tempt me... any ideas on how or why a Mossad operative was on a military base?"

"Talked to the base commander myself. Joint training exercises with the Israeli military. He didn't have a clue about any Mossad operatives, though."

Vance felt a twinge in his stomach, and it wasn't the tacos he had eaten for lunch. "Mossad had an undercover operative on our soil and we didn't know about it. Son of a bitch. Eli managed to operate under the radar again."

Gibbs shrugged his shoulders. "Isn't that always the way? Bass commander said that all Israeli soldiers had returned to Israel by last week. As far as he knew they all left. And there were no records of our friend down in autopsy on the base. Not going by his real name of course, but an alias."

"I'm going to have to let Eli know. Chances are he has someone here looking for his missing operative."

"If he didn't order them dead himself."

There was always that possibility but Vance still had to make the courtesy call. He knew by doing so he was about to send his agency into a tailspin, once again. He paused for a moment. "Let's wait a few hours... see what your team comes up with and then I'll give Eli that call."

Gibbs chuckled to himself and turned to go. "You got it, Leon. See you in a few hours."


Abby sensed the doom and gloom feeling amongst the two agents when they came down to her lab. "I don't have anything yet. Just... the bullet was from a 45 caliber... and before you even ask... it's too damaged for me to make a match if you find a weapon."

Tony shoved his hands into his pockets. "What can you tell us, Abs?"

"Your killer was most definitely standing directly behind the Mossad officer. He was executed," Abby said with a heavy sigh. "You're most likely looking for a professional hit man."

"Great... that narrows the field down," Natalie tossed out, frustrated. Two hours since they had been back in D.C and all they had managed to dig up on their Israeli friend was that he had traveled to the base under an alias to participate in military training... or perhaps to gather intel... they really didn't know.

Abby looked at her a little annoyed. "I'm trying my best here but you didn't give me much to go on."

Natalie snapped then, something she normally didn't do around Abby. It was true their relationship was getting better but it wasn't like they were swapping stories and planning girl's night. And when Abby was in a bad mood like she was right now, well, she displaced her anger and crankiness onto Natalie, and the former detective had had enough of it. "Me? Why is this my fault? Sorry if our killer didn't leave an easy trail of bread crumbs for you to follow, Abby."

Tony pulled back on Natalie's arm just before Abby could pounce on her, and said, firmly, "Abby. You'll call when you get something?"

"You know I will," she spat, glaring daggers at the probationary agent.

"Great, let's go, Nat," he said, directing her out of the lab before the two women came to blows.

Natalie wrestled her arm loose from his grasp before they got into the elevator. "I can't believe no one has punched her yet," she hissed, leaning against the wall of the cab.

Tony hit the button for their floor, waiting until the doors were closed to speak. "Actually, according to McGee, Ziva slapped her once."

"Can't say I don't blame her."

"Nat, she's... just... frustrated... we all are."

"Please. She's looked at me like I'm poison since the moment I arrived here."

"Give her time, she'll come around," Tony promised.

Natalie glared at him. "Really? When? It's been months, Tony."

Tony reached out and flicked the emergency switch. Something else besides Abby's attitude towards her was bothering her. He moved towards Natalie in the darkened cabin. "What's going on with you, Nat?"

"Do you want the truth?"

"Always."

"I'm scared."

He searched her eyes, her walls completely down now in front of him. Tony slowly reached out and tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear. "Natalie, I'm not going to let them hurt you again... and Gibbs... what do you think Gibbs is going to do?"

She looked away, briefly, taking comfort in the feel of his presence besides her. "Gibbs is going to make sure I'm safe," she whispered.

"Then you really have nothing to worry about," Tony promised her.

"But I feel like they're lurking around every corner, just waiting to take me down," Natalie confessed.

"It would take a force to bring you down, Nat."

"Tony, I know you're trying to make me feel better... but it's not helping."

He knew exactly what he needed to do to make her feel better. His arms reached out and pulled her close, hugging her tightly. She buried her face against his shoulder, the same one that Saleem had put a bullet in. Natalie was the only partner of his that didn't mind his physical comfort, didn't mind him holding her, sometimes he wondered if she sought it out herself. He felt her body instantly relax in his embrace and in turn it eased his concerns for her. "Better?" he whispered in her ear.

She nodded against his shoulder. She had always considered herself a strong woman, one that could handle what life threw at her without the need to be coddled by anyone, but there was something about his arms being around her that bolstered her. They were safe, the silent promise that he had her back, always.

Tony's cell phone rang in his pocket and he pulled back, keeping one arm wrapped around her waist while he fished it out of his pocket. He flipped it open and answered, "DiNozzo."

Natalie watched as a dark look came over his face while he listened to the person on the other end. Tony let go of her, snapping the phone shut and closing his fingers around it in his left hand. He paced the small space in the elevator, brushing against her accidentally a few times. "Tony? What's wrong?"

He took a deep breath and gave her a steady gaze. "We have a visitor."