Warnings: Spoilers for Season 7.

A/N: Here's the next part. Enjoy!

Tony was impressed that Natalie survived her first military transport and aircraft carrier landing without loosing her lunch. She fared better than McGee, that was for sure. A little green around the gills, she followed behind Tony as the pair made their way to meet with the Captain of the Enterprise and Special Agent Stan Burley. He was exhausted. Even after all these years working for NCIS and taking military flights, his body still wasn't used to the wear and tear of them.

"Agents DiNozzo, Callahan," the Captain greeted the weary travellers as they entered the bridge, "Welcome aboard. Always a pleasure to host NCIS finest."

"We're still working on accommodations for you," Burley said with a little smile, "You guys can crash in my office for a bit if you need the rest."

Natalie started to thank him but Tony cut her off. "No. We're good. Have the operations gone underway to search for more bodies?" he asked, directing the question at the ship's captain.

For a second the Captain stared at him and then scrunched his nose up. "Yes sir, just like NCIS requested. Not sure what you're going to find down there, sir. Sounds like your marine was a deserter and what was coming to him."

"We have reason to believe that a known terrorist group is in the area," Tony informed him. "Just covering all the bases, Captain."

"Agent DiNozzo," the Captain snarled, "You're in the middle of the Indian Ocean—known terrorists are a dime a dozen out here."

Tony straightened his shoulders. "You'll let me know if your divers find anything?"

Natalie watched, as the Captain nodded is head tightly. Tony then instructed her to follow him and Burley. She wasn't used to such tight quarters, that was for sure, and every time she brushed against Tony, she felt heat rise to her face. When they got into the office she went to the farthest corner away from her partner. Gibbs had a rule about co-workers dating—she couldn't remember the number at the moment—but Tony had snapped it at her when Rob Greene had been flirting with her in the office the other day.

Burley shut the door and sat on his desk while Tony unpacked his laptop. "I'm surprised that Gibbs isn't out here."

"Gibbs," Tony said, with a slight chuckle, "is busy baby-sitting Eli David."

"Have anything to do with his daughter high tailing it out of Washington in May?" Burley asked.

Natalie held her breath, seeing the storm clouds that were forming behind Tony's eyes. The SFA merely nodded his head and that seemed to be enough of an answer for the agent afloat. She put her duffel bag onto the small sofa in the office and opened it up, looking for her clear bag that had her personal hygiene products in it. She knew that there was no shower in her future for a while, but at least she could use a facial wipe and get all the grime of that awful military flight off. She wiped the sleep, dirt, and whatever else was on her face away and discarded the wipe. When she finished touching up her make-up, she turned to find Tony and Burley both looking at her with slight grins. "What? Just because we're on an aircraft carrier I can't look nice?"

Tony shrugged. "Sailors aren't going to care much what you look like. They're just going to care that you're nicer to look at than most of their crew mates." His grin broadened, and he got that suggestive little glint in his eyes that confused her at times.

"Agent DiNozzo?" a young seaman poked his head into the room, "Captain says the divers have found something."

"Look at that…" Tony quipped as he turned to go, "We brought them some good luck."

"Yeah…" Natalie tossed at him, "our arrival had a lot to do with the divers finding something."

Gibbs entered MTAC, fresh coffee in had, freshly shaven, and found that Vance was already speaking to Tony and Natalie. Something big must have happened if Vance didn't wait for the team leader. Every hair stood on the back of his neck and his gut tingled. They were going down a road that he didn't want them to travel. And if his gut didn't tell him that, the look on Tony's face did.

"Divers are still pulling bodies up, but we believe, actually we know, we've found the wreckage of the Damocles," Tony reported, his brow furrowed.

"If that's the case the ship was way off course," Vance mused.

Tony glanced at Natalie for a moment. He licked his lips and looked directly at Gibbs. "Boss…we know that the Damocles was somehow involved in Mossad's last mission. And these bodies…they didn't die from drowning. Divers noted that the life boats are all attached to the ship—with the exception of one."

Gibbs felt his chest tighten. What had he done? He had been trying to protect his team from Mossad and he'd sent Tony and Natalie out into the very danger zone he was desperately trying to keep them from. "Make identification on the bodies if you can and return them to their families."

"Boss…there's a possibility that Cryer was on that ship," Tony argued.

"You do not investigate that ship or crew," Gibbs ordered him, a slight twinge of panic in his voice. "Do you understand?"

Tony sighed and nodded his head. "I understand, boss," he said before he cut the transmission.

Gibbs let out a slow breath. His senior field agent wasn't going to let it go. He'd want to keep digging. The team leader just prayed that both DiNozzo and Callahan were back in the States before that happened. "I don't like this, Leon," he whispered, "It's looking more and more like Cryer was on that ship and that he was killed by Mossad. And just…where are they now?"

"As long as DiNozzo and Callahan stay on the Enterprise Mossad can't touch them," Vance pointed out. "I don't like it either," he informed Gibbs.

"Cryer…his family is going to want answers," Gibbs pointed out. "I can't…I can't pull them yet."

"If Mossad is still in the area they're going to know that NCIS is there."

"Then I guess we need to find out where Mossad is."

Gibbs swallowed the bile in his throat. "That's easier said than done, Leon." I just need to keep my team safe. "Perhaps…it's time to give Director David a call."

Vance scowled but knew that Gibbs was right. It was just not a phone call he wanted to make. He was spared having to make it at this moment because McGee entered the room, looking for Gibbs.

"Boss. I just got off the phone with Special Agent Dunham," McGee reported, the lines in his face deepening. "Cryer deserted about six months ago. He was smart, always ahead of the military and never was caught. The last known sighting was in Jordan. It was believed that he was selling connections. He was last spotted getting on a freighter—possibly the Damocles."

The former marine looked at the Director of NCIS, his blue eyes not conveying much emotion. "Leon…we can't ignore this any longer. Mossad is now responsible for the deaths of an entire crew and a marine."

Vance nodded. "I'll get on the phone with Director David. See if I can get anything out of him since it appears our case has crossed paths with them."

Gibbs glanced at McGee, who nodded his head before leaving. "Finding where Mossad was going means finding Saleem, Leon. Maybe if we find him before they do, we get to the bottom of this."

"Mossad has already caught up to Saleem and killed him. Our priority right now is finding out who pulled the trigger that killed our marine."

"You plan on having DiNozzo and Callahan arrest them?"

"Eli wouldn't hesitate to do the same to one of our people."

Vance scoffed before he dismissed Gibbs. Hand clutching tightly to his coffee, Gibbs exited MTAC and went to stand over the bullpen. He leaned against the railing and looked down at the empty desks. He had worked so hard to protect his team from any one else getting hurt by Mossad. Now, there was the very possibility that both Tony and Natalie could be in their path. And Gibbs knew that anyone who got in their path was a potential threat and they would dispose of that threat no questions asked. He had to keep Tony and Natalie out of that path so they didn't become the collateral damage in Mossad's relentless hunt for Saleem.

Eli David wasn't going to give him much. And Vance wasn't surprised. "Are you looking for Saleem Ulman still, Eli?"

"You know that I cannot answer that, Leon," David replied, coolly. "Saleem is my problem. Let me take care of him."

"That's what you said to me back in May. My intel still has the man alive," Vance snapped, nearing the end of his patience. "Eli if your team is still out there I need to know."

David still wouldn't give him an inch. "When my operations concern you and NCIS—I will let you know. Shalom, Leon."

Vance slammed his phone down. Eli was sending them in circles and he hated that, especially now that he had the lives of two agents in his hands. He could keep Tony and Natalie on the Enterprise but that would get them nowhere. They wouldn't find out who Cryer was selling information too. They had tried so hard to stay one step ahead of Mossad and it appeared Mossad was ahead of them—still. He reached down and pressed the intercom. "Get Agent McGee up here. Now." They were going to find Saleem Ulman and they were going to track the team sent to kill him. He could only pray it wasn't the last thing any of them did.

"Just got off the phone with McGee," Tony reported hours after their first MTAC chat with Vance and Gibbs, shutting his SAT phone down. "Looks like Cryer was selling information in Jordan just before he got on the Damocles."

He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and let out a short breath. "I knew this was going to lead back to Mossad. Always does." It was then that he noticed Natalie wasn't speaking. Tony turned about to see that she had fallen asleep on the sofa in Stan's office. He watched her for a moment. Vance or Gibbs hadn't ordered them to track down where Cryer was going or who he was selling information too, but he knew it was coming and he was trying to think of ways to keep Natalie from all of this.

Tony got up and moved slowly across the tight space. He found a blanket and tucked it around her shoulders, brushing her hair out of her face. I'm going to protect you, Nat…I promise.

Natalie shifted in her sleep, rolling over on her back. Her eyes fluttered open to see him standing there. "Sorry," she said, sleepily. "I…I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's okay. You're adjusting to life at sea."

"Do we have anything new?"

"Cryer might have been selling information to terrorists in Jordan and could have been on the Damocles to meet with a terrorist in Somalia."

Natalie sat up and rubbed her eyes. "So I guess we lucked out that ship went down."

Tony titled his head to one side. "Lucky that someone executed the entire crew—including Cryer."

"So…what now?" she asked, her gray eyes searching his green ones. "Are we going home?"

"I don't know yet," he replied with a shake of his head. He sat down on the sofa with her. "SecNav might want us to go to Africa."

Natalie looked away, contemplating that development. She knew that this job was going to take her to different parts of the world, but the thought that she was going to be in the heart of danger zone, all before she finished her probationary period, scared her a little. She felt Tony put his hand on her shoulder and squeeze it. She looked at him, shyly.

Tony offered her a gentle smile. "Don't worry, Natalie. I've got your back out here. Besides the Marines and the Navy are not going to let us go to shore in Somalia without them, we'll be traveling with either a full Navy Seal team or a full team of Marines. Best guarded agents in the entire agency."

"Marines and Navy Seals are not going to stop Mossad."

"Hopefully we won't have to worry about Mossad."

Natalie looked at him incredulously. "We both know that they're here…there…whatever. We show up with a Navy Seal team we set off red flags. And from what you've told me, they'll kill us if we get in their way."

Tony sighed and stood, rubbing his face with his hands. "Then I just have to find some way to keep out of theirs." He turned to gaze at her, at the worried lines on her face, the slight fear in her eyes. She was just a probie and her protection was solely in his hands out here. So far, he'd been doing a lousy job of keeping her safe—bumps to the head, punches to the face—even before she joined them some guy had drugged her. Would he be able to keep her out of harm's way in Somalia if—when—Vance ordered them there? "Maybe we go out ahead of the Marines."

"Just you and me?"

"Yep. Threat assessment."

"Ah…I think we already know the threat that exists in North Africa."

He flashed her one of his trademark grins. "But…it gives us a guise to slip in and out." He gestured for her to follow him. "Come on, let's see how soon we can a transport out of here."

She followed him. "Tony...Gibbs told us not to investigate that crew or ship."

"And we're not," Tony reminded her, with a slight grin, "We're going ashore to do threat assessments."

"You were serious about that?"

"It's how I roll!"

Natalie just hoped that how he rolled didn't get them killed.

"Abs," McGee said, as he sat in the lab waiting for the results of his search. "There's a package here for you."

"What?" Abby asked, popping up from the back of her lab. "A package? I already saw the mail guy today and he didn't give me a package."

McGee pointed to the black notebook on her table with a black bow and rose tucked under it. "Well…looks like someone left you something."

Abby undid the bow and opened the pages. "Oh my God! It's…it's one of Kate's sketchbooks! Where…where did it come from? Do you think Gibbs or…Tony had it?" She smiled at the beautifully crafted drawings. "I always…well…I always wondered what happened to them! I just assumed that they went to her family." She hugged the book to her chest, like she was hugging a cherished family member. "When Tony gets back I'll have to thank him."

"Don't think it was Tony that gave it to you," McGee said, holding out a card. "Here…see for yourself." He gave her the card for her to read.

Found this in my desk. Didn't feel right keeping it. Think Kate would want it to go to a safe home, Natalie. Abby swallowed back her tears. She had been awful to Natalie since she arrived, balking against any kind of change, and yet…Natalie had been nothing but nice to her.

McGee smiled and went back to work, "Guess she likes you after all."

"Why? I've been awful to her."

"Natalie's pretty easy going when you get to know her and she's willing to put up with a lot. Look…she's partners with DiNozzo…so…that should tell you what she can withstand."

Abby put the sketchbook down and plopped onto her stool. "Tony's different with her. I mean…he teases her and he…gave her that silly nickname that she hates…but there's something…I don't know how to describe it. He just seemed to move on so fast…and well…I let that hurt me too much. I should have…I should have listened to Tony. Do you think…do you think he's mad at me?"

McGee sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Abs. I think he has a lot more on his plate right now than to be worrying about you being mad at him."

"Is it true…that Ziva…well you know?"

"Yeah. It's true. I hacked into Mossad myself and found the security footage."

Abby bit down on her lip. "Guess I owe him and…Natalie an apology."

McGee didn't get to respond, his computer beeped. "Hey. Why would the makers of Caf-Pow be mailing it to Somalia?"

"Somalia? Didn't realize there was such a demand for it in North Africa."

"Abby…I think we found our link to Saleem."

"Caf-Pow?"

McGee nodded his head. "Yeah. He went to school here in America. It's possible that he got hooked on it while here. So, he has it shipped to…wherever he is located. Which right now appears to be Somalia."

Abby was following his line of thinking. "And Somalia is where the Damocles was heading. So…"

"Cryer might have been selling information to Saleem Ulman."

"If that's the case, Timmy…we have a very big problem on our hands."

McGee sighed and looked back at his computer screen that clearly led him to Saleem. Don't I know it.