A/N I do not own these characters. If I did I would be fabulously wealthy and wouldn't need to post my fan fiction here. I would be writing for the show and dining regularly with Michael Easton (Snicker perks of the job. LOL) and I wouldn't let that hack Higley near them.

Chapter 12

"What's wrong with her," John demanded again, "What did you say to her."

"It's nothing, I'm ok." Natalie said coming out of her shock and fear. She pushed John back a bit and looked around at the concerned faces, "Really. I'm OK," she told them.

Seeing her color come back to her face John was relieved. He still wanted to know what had made her so scared in the first place, "What happened?" He asked gently.

"Sorry I scared everyone," she said, "Someone had the wrong number and after all that has happened in the last few days it freaked me out," she lied. Hoping that no one would notice her lie she held her breath and waited.

John knew something was going on but he didn't know what so he finally nodded and said, "You sure that was all it was?"

Natalie nodded, deciding not to tell them about the threat. She didn't want to have to leave before she had a chance to spend some time with Rex. After all what could happen when John was right outside the room. So they knew where she was. What did that prove? Just because they knew where she was didn't mean that they could get her. After all she knew where Fort Knox was but it wasn't like she could get in and steal the gold. "I'm fine. Really. Just a little spooked"

Other questions were on her mind though. Who were they? But why call her? Why not just attack? Calling and telling her that he was coming just gave her a heads up. Gave her time to prepare, time to hide. Maybe that was what they wanted, for her to hide, to run. After all they were more vulnerable with just her and John then in a hospital full of people, and cameras. 'Her and John? When had she started thinking of them as her and John, as a team?' she wondered, confused by her own thoughts.

"Ok, if that's all it was," John said; now knowing she was lying. He didn't want to draw attention to it in front of a room full of people but when they were alone he was gonna call her on it. That phone call had been more then a wrong number! He knew it, could feel it in his gut.

It was Rex who asked, "Can we have a few more minutes alone?" And after 10 more minutes of assuring everyone she was fine they left again. "Ok Natalie. What the hell was that about?" Rex demanded.

"Nothing, just a wrong number," She bluffed, knowing he wouldn't buy it but hoping he would let it drop. But she had no such luck as he looked at her in disbelief.

"Try that on someone who doesn't know you so well. I may have gotten the crap kick out of me but I still have my eyes and my ears. I know what I heard. And what I saw." Rex said, he could tell Natty was scared but he knew his sister. When people tried to frighten her she just dug her heals in harder. She refused to let people push her around, most of the time that was a good quality but now, with everything he had heard, it didn't seem like a good idea. If someone was trying to scare her or threaten her it seemed like the thing to do would be to tell the cops so they could handle it.

Not that he had a lot of faith in the cops but it was better then her going off on her own and getting killed. He knew from experience how serious these people were. When he couldn't tell them where Natalie was they had almost killed him to bring her here. He knew better then to try to send her away though. She wouldn't listen anyway. "Now tell me exactly what happened. What did you do? Why are the FBI after you and why did some goons work me over to find you?"

At those words Natalie began to cry, "I'm sorry," she sobbed, "Its all my fault you're here. I didn't think they would hurt you to find me. I figured that if I left without telling you where I was they would leave you alone."

"Natty," he said gently, "It's not your fault. You didn't throw the punches. You didn't put me here. You hear me, it's not your fault!"

"But if I hadn't..."

"No, you can't think like that. Now why did you run away to begin with?" Rex said firmly.

"I killed someone, Rex." She said bluntly.

"What! It was an accident right?" Rex asked. No way did Natalie kill anyone on purpose. That just wasn't her. She wouldn't do that.

"It was an accident," Natalie confirmed and then told him everything that had happened since she had left. She even told him about her unwanted attraction to John McBain. "What do I do Rex?" She asked of him.

"Well, you could always hit the sheets with him. He seems to want you back." Rex said with a laugh. He had seen the longing looks that had passed between McBain and Natty. He also could tell that McBain cared a lot more for Natalie then he was saying.

"Rex!" Natalie groaned in frustration, although his comment wasn't too far from her own thinking. She did want to be with John but she wasn't sure if she could handle the fall out of that decision. She knew that once they did have sex she couldn't continue to deny her true feelings for him. She would have to face whatever it was that was between them and she didn't think she was ready for that yet.

So instead of saying anything else about John she said, "So, you think I should take this DNA test?"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"So do you think she was telling the truth about that phone call?" Bo asked John after Michael had left to start his rounds.

John looked at Bo and said evasively, "Why? You think she wasn't?"

Bo knew John was being cagey and evasive because he cared for Natalie but he needed to know the answer. Apparently he would need to level with John if he expected the same. "Look I can tell you care about her. A lot more then you probably should considering she is a suspect in a murder case but I need to know. Is she in danger from these guys? Do they know she's here?"

"Why is it so important to you?" John asked then sighed, "Look you're a cop, why do you think they left Balsom alive? Obviously they meant for her to come here. So, yeah I'd say she was lying and that they know where she is. But Knowing Natalie she isn't going to let that stop her. She doesn't listen to anyone and does what she thinks is best." John told Bo passionately. He knew that his feelings for Natalie were pretty obvious to someone as trained as Bo Buchanan. Cops were supposed to look below the surface and see the underlying emotion. It was how you got the job done.

"Look, I probably shouldn't tell you this before I tell Natalie but I'm going to say it anyway. If Natalie is indeed a Buchanan and Vicki Davidson's daughter there is a very real possibility that she's my daughter. I'd like to keep her alive to find out." Bo told John frankly. He needed the other man to know that he had a stake in this too, that he wanted Natalie to be safe and away from danger as much if not more then John himself.

"I understand that you feel like you have a right to know everything that's going on but its up to Natalie. I believe that she is innocent of the crime she has been charged with but that doesn't change the fact that I have to do my job. Right now my job is to protect Natalie until the FBI either catches the people that put the contract out on Natalie's life or until the contract is lifted." John told Bo bluntly. He needed Bo to understand that even though he believe Natalie was innocent he was still an FBI agent and he would do his job. He was going to find Natalie the best lawyer he knew but he wasn't just going to let her go because she might be a Buchanan, which was what it sounded like Bo was asking him to do.

"No, you misunderstand me John. What I am saying is that I want you to take Natalie away from here right away. She seems to trust you and I can tell that for her that's rare. I need to protect her, Buchanan or not that girl needs some help and I plan to do that. But I can't do it if she stays around here with Balsom and gets killed." Bo explained. He had decided that the Natalie Balsom needed some one to help her besides John McBain and he had also decided that he was going to be that someone.

He felt a sort of bond with Natalie. He couldn't explain it. It could be pity or it could be concern or maybe he just wanted her to be his daughter; whatever the reason, he had decided to take on Natalie's problems as if they were his own and that was all that really mattered to him. Some thing were just more important.

To be continued...