Disclaimer: Some dialogue was taken directly from the series and I do not own it.
Warnings: Spoilers for "Tell-All"
A/N: Hello, everyone! Here is the next chapter for this story! Hope you enjoy!
"We ran the plates of the abandoned car that was found near the crime scene," Natalie said.
"It was involved in a drive by, gang related shooting in Washington Heights," Tim said.
"I remember seeing that BOLO," Tony said, crossing his arms over his chest, "that was two weeks ago."
Natalie turned, slightly, to glance at him. "Ducky puts our sailor's death two weeks ago. There's a chance that he sold the drugs to the gang, drove them out to the spot and they called him."
Tony's green eyes grew dark. After working in Philadelphia and Baltimore, he knew how dangerous getting involved in gangs could be; he'd seen a lot of good cops get murdered by gangs for getting too close… "Let's tread lightly here," he said. I don't want one of us ending up in a body bag.
Tim looked at him, befuddled. "Metro has an open case in the drive-by, we found the car—we should call them, set up an interview with their suspects."
"McGee, this is a gang we're talking about. You don't just drag them in here," Tony pointed out.
"He's right, Tim," Natalie said. "If we're not careful, we could be their next victim."
"So what do we do?"
"Call Metro and let them take lead."
"Really?"
Tony nodded. "Yes. They'll know more about who we're dealing with."
Natalie held her cellphone up. "Should I give Metro a call?"
"Better call Gibbs first," Tony said.
"Speaking of Gibbs, where is he?" Tim questioned.
"Right here," Gibbs sai behind Tim, causing all three agents to jump. "Already handed this case off to Metro and the NCIS team investigating the drug ring. Go home. See you in the morning."
Tony, Natalie and Tim all exchanged glances. "Boss, are you sure?" The senior field agent asked.
Gibbs chuckled and nodded. "Yes. Better get going before I change my mind."
The agents didn't questions Gibbs any further, gathered their stuff up, and headed towards the elevator. All three would agree that it was odd that the team leader had let them go and given up a case so easily. Something else was up and when Gibbs was ready, he would tell them. Until then, they were going to enjoy the reprieve they had been given.
Natalie was putting away their laundry when she heard Tony's cell phone beep. Tony had fallen asleep on the sofa while watching a basketball game and Natalie had decided to do their laundry from their weekend away. Curious as to who was contacting her new husband at two in the morning, she went to find his phone.
She found it on the coffee table. Picking it up, she ran her finger over the touch screen and saw that it was a text message from EJ. She doesn't give up, Natalie thought as she opened it, feeling a little bit guilty that she was spying on Tony. She knew that she had no reason to worry about anything going on between Tony and EJ, yet she couldn't stop herself. Sorry I got mad, EJ had written, Natalie comes first, obviously; hope we can get that drink we missed Friday sometime.
Drink? Natalie swallowed, hard, and put the phone down on to the coffee table. She felt a stab of betrayal. Had he declined a drink with EJ and proposed to her to make a point? She collapsed onto the sofa, waking Tony up.
"Hey," he whispered. "It's late. Why are you up?"
"Laundry," she replied, honestly. "Your phone was beeping."
"Really? Think Gibbs needs us?"
"No. EJ was apologizing for getting mad at you about Friday."
Tony shifted and sat up. "Nat, I saw you and didn't go."
Natalie blinked back tears. "I know. You saw me and proposed and then had sex with me."
He reached for her hand and was surprised when she didn't pull away. "Everything I said to you in that elevator was true—I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you—I want a future with you, the house, kids. I know… I know it was probably rotten of me for how it all came about…"
She finally pulled her hand away and glared at him. "Probably? If EJ had not asked you to go get a drink with her and I had shown up looking for you to go out for dinner—would you have proposed to me? Would you have come up with this crazy idea of running away for the weekend and eloping?"
"I…I don't know, darling."
"Maybe we should just go to bed and talk about this tomorrow."
"Nat, I don't want us to go to bed angry."
"I'm not angry," Natalie replied, softly.
"You're not?" Tony questioned, unsure.
Natalie stood up and shook her head. "No. I'm doubtful that this was the right thing to do—that we were really ready to take this step."
Tony winced and stood up with her. Cautiously he reached out for her and pulled her into his arms, she willingly went to him. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. "I should have told you about EJ, the invitation to go out with her—and I didn't. I blew it. Big time. I hope that I can chase your doubts away, eventually."
She closed her eyes and felt exhausted. Emotionally, physically. Maybe with time he would be able to erase her doubts. For now, she wasn't sure she had made the right decision. Who knew that marriage could jeopardize their relationship? "You can start in the morning. I really think we should go to bed now."
He kissed he top of her head and let her go. "I promise, Natalie, I'm going to make this up to you. I'm going to treat you right from here on out. No more secrets. And if EJ asks me out again for another drink, I'll say no. You should come first. Only you should come first."
"Funny, she said the same thing in the text message," Natalie countered, "that it was obvious I should come first. She can see it, but my own husband can't."
"Do I get a little slack—I've never been married before," Tony said, running his thumb along her cheek bone. "This is all new to me."
"It's new to me too."
"Then I guess we can learn together."
Natalie gently smiled at him. "First lesson?"
Tony nodded, earnestly. "Yes."
She leaned forward and gently kissed his cheek. "Tell me when other women asks you on a date."
He looked a little dumbfounded. "It wasn't a date."
"No? She wanted you to go to a bar, late with her. Sounds like a date to me."
"Alright… maybe it was a date."
Natalie sighed, exhausted, and headed back towards the bedroom. She invited Tony to join her and repeated her sentiments that they would talk more the following day.
Tony followed her to bed, already planning on all the ways he was going to make up his mistake of not telling her about EJ's offer.
The following morning EJ was gone. Rumor around the building was that another body had been found in the P2P case and her team was off to investigate. With no EJ around it meant that Tony could focus on his young marriage without the threat of EJ sabotaging it.
Natalie didn't say anything out loud, but she was happy to see that EJ wouldn't be around for at least a few days. Sometimes, she was gone from headquarters for weeks. If the other female agent didn't text Tony while she was away, Natalie didn't see them having any issues. They had talked that morning some more at breakfast and while Natalie still had some doubts that they had jumped into the marriage too soon, Tony reassured her that all newlyweds shared doubts.
As far as Mondays went, it was quiet. The team had not been handed a case and Natalie was spending the free time catching up on her paperwork and looking at some new furniture for the house.; less than a week until move in now.
"Where did Tony go?" Tim asked, breaking her concentration.
"He said he needed some more coffee," Natalie replied.
"And get some more coffee I did," Tony announced entering the bullpen. He was carrying a tray of beverages for his team and a bouquet of roses for Natalie. "My lady," he said with a grin as he handed her the flowers. "For you."
Natalie took the flowers from him and thanked him, coyly. She eyed the coffees in the tray. "As much as I love the flowers—I would really like a coffee."
Tony wiggled one of the cardboard cups out of the tray and handed it to her. "Lucky for you, I got you both."
Tim rolled his eyes. "Did at least bring me one?"
"Calm down, McJealous," Tony snapped, wiggling another cup out of the tray, "I got one for you."
"Are the nicknames ever going to stop?" Tim asked.
"No."
"Figured."
Their bickering faded away into the background while Natalie placed her flowers in a vase near her desk and admired them. If someone had told her two years ago that she was going to get herself back, that she was going to be happy again, she probably would have called them a liar.
She felt fingers run through her ponytail. When she glanced up she noticed that Tony was looking at her with concern in his eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked, softly.
Natalie smiled. "Yes. Better than okay, actually."
Tony gave her a gentle smile and went to place the coffee he got for Gibbs on the team leader's desk. A fancy envelope caught his eye, when he picked it up he heard Natalie remark, "Tampering with someone else's mail is a federal offense, Tony."
"And we're federal agents," Tim added, "seems like it would be our duty to arrest you."
"How do you know it's not mine?" Tony questioned.
"Because it's addressed to Gibbs."
"It was also on Gibbs' desk."
"Eagle eyes team," Tony cracked, holding the envelope up to show McGee. "Tell me, what else do you see, Timmy?"
Natalie was confused. "Why are you so interested in Gibbs' mail?"
Tony smiled. "Isn't it obvious? The raised calligraphy, the fabric more expensive than Tim's shirt—he got the same invitation last week."
Tim glared at his partner. "How would you know that? Have you been going through his mail?"
"I saw it," Tony said, waving the invitation. "Same fancy handwriting, same fancy paper."
"Someone must really want Gibbs at their wedding," Natalie said getting back to work.
"Who would want Gibbs at their wedding?" Tim asked.
"Hmm, good question, Tim; guy is all kinds of bad juju for a wedding," Tony said.
Natalie rolled her eyes. "You two are overreacting. I for one would have liked Gibbs to have been there when I got married." She immediately realized the slip of her tongue when both Tony and Tim's eyes went wide—for different reasons, obviously. "I meant, get married. Obviously, we're nowhere near that point yet, Tony."
Tony swallowed the nervous bile in his throat, chuckled anxiously, and dropped the invitation back down onto Gibbs' desk. "Yeah, we have to move into our house first and we're taking things slow from there, right?"
Tim wasn't sure why they were trying to convince him of this, but he shrugged it off. Even if he wanted to ponder the strange conversation his friends were having, Gibbs returned to the bullpen telling them to gear up; they had a case.
As the team was grabbing their gear, they all watched as Gibbs grabbed the invitation and chucked it into the recycle bin.
