Authors Notes - Thanks to all my readers and reviewing. No warnings in this chapter, it's fairly safe.

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Aurora heard Tony scream her name, felt herself being knocked sideways and then hit the ground and more gunfire roared and she rolled over just in time to see a man fall from his upstairs hiding stop and land on the concrete below with a splat, she heard Gibbs and Cait yell Tony's name and come running and she saw Tony lying on the ground obviously shot by the man he'd just killed. Shot saving her life.

'TONY!' Aurora yelled, racing to his side. She looked over him, seeing no blood where the bullet hole was and she frowned, reaching out and touched him. 'Tony,' she whispered, realising he was wearing a vest. 'Tony!' she looked at him.

'Damn that hurts,' he muttered as he sat up. 'Ahh hi boss,' he looked up at a furious Gibbs and a clearly concerned Cait. 'Hey dad nothing damaged,' he chuckled slightly and instantly regretted it.

'That's not funny,' Aurora punched him.

'Owww,' he pulled a face that made him look like a little boy. I knew what I was doing.'

'Trying to get yourself killed!' Aurora said. 'What were you thinking?'

'Well a thank you would be nice he had you dead bang,' Tony got to his feet and saw Cait nodding while Gibbs just frowned and Aurora he could tell was clearly upset thinking about what could have happened.

'Sorry,' he muttered holstering his weapon

'Don't be,' she said softly, grabbing his hand and pulled him into a tight embrace.

'I think we're done here Cait,' Gibbs turned to her. 'Where the hell is McGee?'

'I'm here Boss,' he appeared. 'Escorted one of the bad guys to a car to be taken away,' he said.

'Right,' he nodded. 'Let's get out of here.' he said, heading for the door of the warehouse and indicated the others should follow. He knew Tony and Aurora needed a moment.

Tony held Aurora tightly in his arms. God he could have lost her, had come so close.

'Damn you DiNozzo,' Aurora thought as she held him. Damn him for pushing her out of the way and endangering himself. Damn him for making her want him for more then just a one night stand. Damn him for smelling so good and having such an incredible smile. Damn him for making her want to forget about all the risks for the chance to be with him. Damn him, damn him, damn him.

'Damn you Aurora,' he thought as he gently stroked her back. Damn her for coming here and turning his life upside down again. Damn her for making him care so much that he was willing to get himself killed instead of her. Damn her for making him want to leave his job and his entire life to be with her. Damn her for having an effect on him that no other woman ever had. Damn her, Damn her, Damn her.

'I.. I have to go,' Aurora was the one who broke their contact, pulling away slightly. 'I.. I'll have to talk to Barry, Gibbs would have taken him back to NCIS HQ.'

Tony nodded slightly. He knew what this meant. She'd speak to Barry and then escort him back to Omega headquarters, wherever that was, to be dealt with. This meant she was leaving.

'Not yet,' she knew what he was thinking. 'Later today but not now,' she said.

He nodded. He wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. The longer she was here, the harder it was going to be to say goodbye.

'I'm glad you're alright,' Aurora told him softly. She wanted to say so much more but that was all she could bring herself to say. Anything else would have seemed to be over the top for them.

'I'm glad you're alright too,' he told her, knowing what she meant. He knew they couldn't say how they truly felt, aloud. It would have made a difficult situation so much harder.

'But I will still kick your ass later,' she whispered to him.

Tony smiled slightly. 'I look forward to it,' he grinned.

Aurora laughed softly. 'Come on I'll drive you back to NCIS,' she said and he nodded, following her out to her car.

When Aurora and Tony arrived back at NCIS Gibbs intercepted them and grabbing DiNozzo by the arm propelled him towards the elevators. 'You're going to the hospital and have yourself checked out.'

'What? I'm fine,' Tony protested. 'Just a bruise, nothing more,' he said.

'Yes and that may be but it is way better to be safe then sorry Tony.'

'He's right, you should go,' Aurora said. 'I need to interview Barry. Actually I need to kick his ass and then interview him,' she smiled slightly.

'Okay fine,' Tony sighed. 'I suppose it can't hurt.'

Aurora nodded. 'I'll pop over to the hospital when I'm done here,' she assured him.

'Hopefully I won't still be there,' Tony grumbled

'I'll catch up with you before I take off okay?' she said. She wanted to go with him but knew she couldn't.

'Ok I'm going to hold you to that,' he told her.

'I promise,' she assured him with a smile.

Tony nodded as Gibbs handed him over to the care of Kate and Abby. 'Make sure he actually gets to the hospital.' he told them.

'With a gorgeous gal on each arm I'm not going anywhere but wherever they want me to go.' Tony simply grinned at them.

Gibbs shook his head. 'Just make sure he gets there, or shoot him,' he said.

'Hey I've already been shot once today,' Tony protested as Kate and Abby guided him out of the office

'Then don't run away and you won't get shot twice,' Cait grinned.

'Hey like I said I'm not going anywhere. '

'Wonderful,' Abby smiled as they hit the ground floor button in the lift and the door closed.

Aurora watched them before she turned back to Gibbs. 'Lets do this,' she said, indicating the interrogation room.

'I couldn't agree more,' Gibbs nodded as they headed for the interview room.

Review Responses

M/L Only - Thanks for revieiwng. Cliffhangers can be fun, itadds to the excitement of the story. Glad no one sent rotton fruit! Thanks for reading

shirik - Thank you, glad you're enjoying and thanks for reviewing. No Tony didn't die, just injured a little.

AndyCake - Yes, some Tony ouchies but he'll survive... for now. Thanks for reading and reviewing

jtbwriter - Glad you're enjoying. I love writing the characters interactions. They're all so wonderfully different but together they work together really well. Thanks for reviewing.

Franki - Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter.Thanks for reviewing. I'm really glad you're enjoying.

Well thats all for this update. Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone!