Warnings: None for this chapter.

A/N: This verse has my attention this week. More to come later! Happy Sunday!

Tony and Natalie were not the only ones late for work because they were making love in the shower—McGee was also late due to his girlfriend going out of town that morning and wanting some morning sex before leaving.

Gibbs was smirking knowingly when all three agents arrived in the bullpen. "Is everyone satisfied this morning?" All three of them went pale, eyes darting between each other as Gibbs chuckled. "Glad you didn't keep me waiting much longer… it would have been hard to explain to the SecNav why my team wasn't here. Doubt he would have liked the answer that you were all off getting laid."

"SecNav is here?" Tony choked out, trying to ignore the fact that Gibbs was making jokes about their sex lives. "Why?"

"Didn't say. Just said he wanted to meet with all of us," Gibbs replied, gesturing for them to follow. "Let's go."

Tony dropped his gear by his desk and lead his partners up the stairs. His curiosity was peaked. They very rarely received a visit from the SecNav. "He doesn't want us to participate in another war game, does he?" the senior field agent asked, his voice dripping with disdain. "Because that went so well the last time."

Natalie glanced at Tim, who winced subconsciously. She could surmise what had happened during that assignment since it was before her time. From the sounds and looks of it, it had not gone great. "Are we in trouble, Gibbs?"

Gibbs shook his head. "No," he said. "Got the impression he had some kind of assignment for us."

"It's unfortunate we have to take it," Tony mumbled as Gibbs strode into Vance's secretary's office.

"They inside Pamela?" the team leader asked.

Pamela nodded her head. "Yes, Director Vance is meeting with Secretary Davenport and Mr. Stone."

Gibbs paused before knocking. "Mr. Stone?"

"Press secretary for Senator Adams," Pamela responded, "Apparently the Senator's daughter ran away with a sailor."

"For crying out loud," Gibbs grumbled as he opened the door to Vance's office.

Vance looked up. "Brock Stone, this is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs," he introduced, used to Gibbs barging in by now. "He's the lead agent of my best team."

Brock Stone was a young, well-built man. It was easy to tell he worked out, maybe excessively. He had bleach blonde hair, wore a suit that rivaled Tony's in price and had dimples when he smiled. "Heard a lot about your team, Special Agent Gibbs. The Secretary of the Navy was just talking about your work. Sounds like you're the man for the job."

Gibbs eyed Davenport for a moment. "What exactly is the job, sir?"

Davenport sipped his drink. "Senator Adams' daughter, sixteen, ran off with her eighteen-year-old boyfriend who's a Firstie at the Naval Academy. I don't have to tell you what's going to happen to that boy's spot at the Academy if he doesn't return soon, and the Senator would like to keep this out of the papers."

"Where does the Senator think they've gone?"

"Boston," Stone replied. "The young man is the son of Henry Samuel."

"Henry Samuel?" Natalie repeated.

"Yes. Do you know him?"

"Henry Samuel is one of Boston's biggest tycoons. He's worth millions of dollars," Natalie answered, looking at Gibbs.

Tony noticed the tension in Natalie's shoulders. "I know that name. He's one of the city's biggest philanthropists."

Natalie nodded. "Yes, but you probably know the name because Henry Samuel was investigated for the murder of his wife, put on trial, and acquitted."

Gibbs remembered reading about that in the newspapers. It had been one of the hottest trials of that year. "Did you investigate it?"

"No," she shook her head. "I was just a rookie cop, but my partner and I responded to the 911 call."

"What can we expect from this family, Nat?" Tony inquired.

"Headaches," Natalie replied. "That wasn't… that wasn't the only time I was at their house. The son became a bit of a behavior problem after his mother was killed. Mr. Samuel pulled some strings to get the boy into the Naval Academy."

Tony knew all about that. His father had pulled strings to get him into the military high school in Rhode Island. "What should we do, boss?"

Gibbs closed his eyes for a moment. "Sounds like you and Natalie are going to Boston. Interview the detectives from the original case, find out if there's been trouble at the Samuel house lately, anything to suggest why the boy would run away with his girlfriend this time."

Stone smiled at the lead agent. "Looks like Senator Adams' picked the right team to do the job, Agent Gibbs. He'll be pleased to know that someone has insider knowledge involved in the investigation."

Vance scowled. "I picked the team, Mr. Stone. As for Miss Callahan, she was a top detective in the Boston PD, and is one of my best agents. Regardless of her insider knowledge, I'd place her on this case."

Natalie appreciated the Director's vote of confidence in her, but she had no desire to go back to the Boston PD and ask questions. She hadn't left things in the best of standing, after all she had been forced from her job because of a combination of emotional abuse and an obsession with finding a serial killer. "Tony and I should probably leave as soon as possible, sir."

"McGee, make sure they get the first flight out of D.C to Boston that they can," Vance ordered. "Agent DiNozzo, Agent Callahan, I trust that you will act discreetly."

"Yes sir," Tony assured him. He led Natalie out of the office, briefly catching Gibbs' eyes. In that brief look the senior field agent knew that Gibbs had seen Natalie's silent distress about returning home.

Natalie fidgeted in her seat. They were on the plane, waiting to taxi out onto the runway. The last time she had stepped foot in her precinct in Boston her captain had told her to take a leave and get her head on straight. That was when she had dived into the serial killer case that led her to D.C, when she had unknowingly found the place that was going to help her heal.

Tony's hand suddenly covered hers. She stopped her fidgeting and looked at him. His green eyes were studying her, concerned for her. "I know this isn't easy for you," he said, gently. "But I'm right here, okay?"

"Have you ever been back to any department you've worked for?" Natalie asked him, seriously.

"No. I walked away and never looked back," Tony stated.

"Would you go back?"

"Only in a situation like this—when I'm being asked too."

Natalie looked out the window and swallowed. "When I left I wasn't in the best place. My captain had his concerns that I was burning out, that I wasn't meant for the job. I went to D.C to prove to him that I was meant for the job… and I ended up not leaving Washington."

Tony smiled at her and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "And for that, I'm very grateful. I'm sure Gibbs and McGee are grateful as well, but you know, I have my reasons."

She laughed and turned her face towards, realizing how close his lips were to hers. Eagerly she pressed her mouth to his and kissed him, hard, briefly. "I'm grateful I stayed too. You know… for reasons."

He let go of her hand and slipped his arm around her, drawing her close until her head rested against his shoulder. Tony planted a soft kiss on forehead. When they got to Boston they would have to be professional, separate their personal feelings for each other from the job. The closer they got, however, the harder that was becoming.

"I told my parents we were going to be in town," Natalie said, interrupting his thoughts. "If we can spare the time, they want to see us."

"I think we can squeeze a lunch in," Tony said with a smile. "Heard there are a lot of good Italian places in Boston."

Natalie wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. She was unsettled about going back to Boston, but at least she had her knight in shining armor to protect her. Or my knight in a sharp Armani suit, she thought with a silent laugh.

Tony rubbed her back and sucked in a deep breath of her scent. In little less than an hour they would be landing at Logan, they just didn't know the firestorm they were going to be walking into.

Tim popped down to the lab with a Caf-Pow for Abby. Gibbs had the unfortunate task of meeting with the Senator and until his partners arrived in Boston, there wasn't much for Tim to do in this case. "Hey. What are you up too?"

Abby smiled at him. "I'm pretending to be a profiler since ours is in mid-air right now. I pulled up Lucy Adams social media pages. On the outside she seems like a typical teenage girl—that likes to party."

"Oh, I bet that went over well with her father," Tim mused.

"Now that you mention it, it did not," Abby said. "Lucy talks about her dad threatening to send her off to boarding school, summer camps, you know to get her away from all the partying. And he did not like her boyfriend."

Tim nodded, recalling what Natalie had said upstairs. "I get the impression that the Samuel family is not well liked, even if they do donate a lot of money."

Abby chuckled. "Donations do not buy you good social standing, at least not in this case. Appears that a lot of people in Boston still seem to think that Henry Samuel killed his wife."

"Anything on Trevor Samuel?" Tim asked.

"He hated the Naval Academy. Blamed his dad for just about everything," Abby said.

"Do you think he blames his dad for his mother's death?"

"I got that impression."

"So why are they going to Boston?"

Abby shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Lucy hasn't been seen since Saturday night. Metro investigated but determined that she ran away. That's when the Senator called the SecNav and got NCIS involved. He thinks that Lucy is with Trevor."

Tim felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw Gibbs name flash across the screen. "Got to go, Abs! Looks like Gibbs is out of his meeting. Keep me posted." He darted out of the lab and into the elevator. "Hey, boss, I was just checking in with Abby…"

Gibbs sounded somber on the other end of the line, "Grab your gear, Tim. We have a crime scene to investigate."

Tony knew something was off the moment they stepped out onto the curb at Logan International Airport. Natalie raised her hand to signal for a taxi, her badge flashed in the sun and it acted as some kind of signal for the swarm of reporters that rushed at them.

Natalie was caught off guard, stumbling backwards slightly as microphones and recorders were shoved in their faces. So much for being discrete, she thought as a million questions were fired at her.

"We don't have any comment at this time," Tony snapped when the cab pulled up. He wrestled his way through and got the door open, pushing Natalie and their go-bags into the backseat.

"NCIS doesn't want to comment on the fact that Lucy Adams was found dead, a mile from the Naval Academy?"

Tony reared back, shock clearly evidence on his face, and looked at the reporter that had asked the question. "What?"

Immediately the reporter's eyes went wide, realizing that she had broken the news to the two agents that had been on a plane and had not checked in with their superiors yet. "Lucy Adams' body was found over an hour ago. Secretary Davenport has promised a press conference, but our readers would like to hear from NCIS."

Natalie poked her head out of the cab and tugged on Tony's suit coat. It pulled him from his haze and he shook his head, "Right now, NCIS does not have anything to share with the public. This is an on-going murder investigation."

"Are you here because you believe Trevor Samuel killed her?"

"Again, on-going investigation. Until we have more, NCIS is not going to comment."

The crowd of reporters burst into a frenzy as Tony climbed back into the cab and slammed the door shut. He told the driver to take them to their hotel and then glanced at his partner with a frown. "So much for being discrete."