Warnings: Minor spoilers "Reunion".

A/N: Hello everyone. I apologize for the long wait on this update but here it is. Still a little bit of a filler chapter but I hope you enjoy! Also wanted to let you know that your continued support of this story has been great. I was nervous about posting it because of lots of reasons but I'm glad I took the chance.

Oh and yes... I went there... I did a Tony/Natalie scene in the restroom lol

Tony didn't notice her there until he reached for a paper towel. "How long have you been standing there?"

Natalie smiled, softly. "Long enough to know you don't have that bad of a singing voice."

He smiled at her as he dried his hand and easily tossed the balled up paper towel over her shoulder into the trash. "What are you still doing here, Nat? Thought you were seeing the shrink and then going home?"

"Gibbs decided he had other plans for me I guess."

"Crafty guy that Gibbs."

Natalie tended to agree. Their boss totally had a plan when she showed up at his house that day… and it had worked. She was just waiting now for the shrink to give the stamp of approval on her returning to work. There was still a long way to go but… she had her team to help her. "I was thinking… while doing those profiles on the victims… my excuse for what happened this morning was lame."

Tony felt his heart skip a beat. "It made perfect sense to me," he lied.

"Don't be nice. It was stupid," Natalie said with a grin. She leaned back against the wall and hugged herself. "The reality is… yes… I'm attracted to you… but if… we can't act on it, Tony… not now after all we've been through. It would just spell disaster."

"So what do you propose we do?" Tony asked her, softly, stepping closer to her. "Because the way I see it, Nat, this attraction isn't going away."

Natalie glanced at herself in the mirror for a second, when she looked back at him there was a sense of sadness in her eyes. "Infatuation always burns out, Tony. If we gave in… once that infatuation ran out… our relationship would be ruined and…and I'd rather have you as a friend than… than a love affair gone wrong."

Tony wanted to ask her what would happen if the infatuation didn't burn out and turned into more but he held back. She was right. He'd seen what had happened to Jenny and Gibbs—he'd seen what had happened to him and Ziva—and he just cared too much for Natalie to hurt her in anyway. "I think that is the first time I've been placed in the friend zone that didn't hurt."

She gave a little smirk and then sighed, "I mean it, Tony. I… in Boston I was a good cop and liked my work… but there was always something missing. I didn't realize until I came here that it was a sense of belonging. Sometimes…friendship has to mean more than attraction."

He understood her, completely. Baltimore had not felt like home to him… neither had Philly or Peoria. It was NCIS and Gibbs that gave him a sense of belonging and purpose and saw something in him… and it would destroy him if he were ever to lose it. "You have a family in us, Natalie. We were all a bunch of misfits until Gibbs saw something in us and brought us together."

"Tony, you sell yourself too short," Natalie told him. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "You were already a good cop before you got here—NCIS just made you better."

Good cop. You were a cop! Tony grabbed her by the shoulders than and startled her slightly. "A cop, Natalie. I was a cop… which means I think like a cop!" He grabbed her face between his hands and kissed her, quickly on the lips. "Genius!" he exclaimed before leaving her standing there stunned.

Natalie spun about and followed him back into the bullpen. She knew very few facts about this case, other than the second bachelor party covering up for something and that they suspected that Jurell was being tailed. Other than that she had been putting a profile of their victims together. Which had lead her to find out that the victims had gone to the same highschool and were known for bullying.

Tony and Gibbs had gone out on a call after she told Gibbs this and when they returned Gibbs was asking McGee to look into Officer Shelley. As it turned out, Officer Shelley went to the same highschool, which made him suspect number one.

Tony leaned down and gazed at McGee. "Shelley has a second phone, McSidekick."

"His first one wasn't registered. What makes you think he has a second phone?"

"Sometimes evidence from a bust might end up in an officer's pockets, isn't that right, Nat?"

"Yes… not that I ever did it," Natalie stated, anxiously. "Who is Shelley?"

"Cop that slipped away from me and DiNozzo, today," Gibbs said entering the squad room. "You got something for me?"

McGee began a quick search. "Yeah boss, Shelley was apart of a bust last year that yielded fifty three cellphones. All the numbers were logged. I can see if any of them have been in use… wait a minute… one is in use now."

Gibbs cell phone rang, startled the team. He answered and put it on speaker. "Gibbs."

"I want to talk to DiNozzo."

"Good ahead, Shelley, I'm listening."

"I know this looks bad. But I've been set up. I heard about the deal going down and I wanted to steal the pot of gold… but that's it. I guess you know where I am by now."

Tony glanced up at McGee. He shook his head. "Why don't you come down to NCIS?"

Shelley scoffed at that idea. "No. You meet me." He rattled off an address, stated that there was a phone booth there and he wanted to see Tony, there, alone in thirty minutes. And with that he hung up.

"Boss?" Tony questioned, straightening his form. "What do you want me to do?"

Gibbs looked at his team and sighed, "I want you to meet him. But you aren't going alone, DiNozzo."

Tony shook his head. "Shelley thinks I have back up he won't show."

"You aren't going without back-up," Natalie argued with him. "Don't be stupid!"

"She's right, DiNozzo," Gibbs said with a smile. He gestured towards McGee. "Let's go, Tim!"

Natalie watched as they left wanting to go with them but still waiting on word from the doctor if she was allowed to come back to field duty or not. It was starting to drive her crazy.

"Director Vance, may I have a word with you?" Patricia caught the director leaving his office. "It's about Agent Callahan."

"You met with her today, correct?" Vance asked, concerned. Was her therapy not working out?

Patricia nodded her head. "I did. Reading over her file, I can see that she's come a long way in the last five weeks. She seems to be coping with what happened to her in Africa much better than when she left here."

Vance raised an eyebrow. "But?" he questioned, knowing that there was more.

"But I'm not entirely sure she's ready just yet. Desk duty perhaps… but I would hesitate to put her out into the field for a few more weeks."

"How does she feel about this?"

Patricia shook her head. "I haven't spoken to her yet. I think she's anxious to get back to work… afraid that someone is going to take her place permanently."

Vance chuckled, silently. "If Special Agents DiNozzo and McGee have any say about it… her spot is safe."

"It would do a great deal to her confidence, Director, if you allowed her back on the team at least for desk duty," Patricia replied.

"I'll consider it," Vance said before excusing himself. He had a meeting in MTAC but as he walked along the catwalk he glanced down into the bullpen to see Natalie seated at her desk, working on something. He smiled slightly. It seemed that Natalie had already assigned herself to desk duty and didn't need to hear it from him.

Meeting with Shelley had gone south and fast. Of course there was no where else for it to go when Shelley had been murdered before they had even been able to question him.

Tony stared at the plasma screen for the longest time, trying to force the pieces together. If Shelley was being set up… who the hell was setting him up? And why? Their first suspect, a guy named Stuckey had confessed to getting into a fight with Shelley but he had an alibi for the murders and for Shelley's apparent suicide.

"Have you looked at the possibility that this had nothing to with the bullying?" Natalie asked behind him.

"Sure. It had something to do with this sale of a cargo plane. Just trying to figure out who would have had a motive, besides Stuckey," Tony replied.

"Is there a woman involved?" She asked, half joking, half serious.

Tony reached for his case file. "Now that you mention it..."

Natalie blinked. "I wasn't being serious. This doesn't sound like something a woman would do. Those murders were pretty gruesome."

"But if she wanted to make it look like a man had done it... come on Nat, keep up."

"I haven't worked in five weeks cut me some slack."

"Gibbs wouldn't."

"Yes, but you're not Gibbs."

Tony knew that her comment wasn't a slight, after all she didn't know the history behind the boss' little foray into retirement. He had put most of it behind him but it still stung a little. "This is true and that was a little uncalled for. I should be more sensitive to you..."

Natalie could see something she had said had bothered him. "Tony... I didn't mean it to hurt you or insult you... but you're not Gibbs... and that's ok. I happen to like you the way you are and beside, no one wants two of you running around. One Gibbs is plenty."

"I think a lot of people would drink to that."

"No drinking on the job, DiNozzo. You got something for me?"

"Actually, boss, I think we do."

Gibbs looked at Natalie, briefly and smirked. "Well?"

Tony held up the file in his hand. "Remember that Stuckey had an alibi for the night of the murders? He's not our guy... but he did fess up to being in a partnership with Jurell and Ross about the cargo plane... the bachelor party was a ruse for that sale. Now, we know Shelley found out about it... what if he wasnt the only one boss? Natalie asked if there was a woman involved. There is."

Natalie was still confused. "I thought the ex wasn't involved?"

"She isn't. The murder weapon was a nineteenth century pistol. Wonder where someone could have gotten that?"

"Hey boss..." McGee said, running into the bullpen. "We traced the suicide note on Shelley's computer... it didn't come from there."

"Elaine Marcus?"

"Yeah! How did you know?"

Tony grinned and winked at Natalie. "Just had a hunch, McGee."

Gibbs chuckled and gestured for Tony and Tim to join him. "Let's go pick her up so we can out of here at a decent time tonight."

It was late when the team got back from arresting Elaine Marcus and booking her. Tim wrapped up his report as quickly as he could and was going down to see Abby afterwards to ask her if she wanted to grab dinner when he made a startling discovery in the cab of the elevator. "Hey… why are you hiding in here?" Tim asked when he found Natalie sitting on the floor.

"I didn't pass the evaluation," Natalie lamented. "The doctor thinks I should do a few weeks of desk duty before getting back in the field.

Tim nodded his head and stepped inside the elevator, the doors sliding closed behind him. "Is that such a bad thing? I mean… it would be a good judge if you're ready to come back to active field duty or not."

Natalie sighed and shrugged. "I guess. I thought I was ready. I feel ready. And the worst part is they won't tell me what the doctor saw that makes her think I'm not ready yet. I have to see her in another two weeks to determine if I can go back to the field."

"Well… at least we won't have to keep your desk safe," Tim joked with a smile. "Or chase away any potential replacements."

"Yeah, I guess," Natalie said with a little laugh. "Gibbs said you guys were possessive of my desk. Agent Fillmore lasted the longest according to office gossip."

Tim shrugged and sat down with her. "She was the most determined to move up the NCIS ladder I think. She was willing to put up with us… when Tony realized that well… he became really annoying. You haven't seen it yet… but… he can be the biggest pain in the ass."

Natalie chuckled. "I can see it." She glanced at Tim and smiled. "I'm surprised you haven't asked about my travel mug yet."

"Oh, well that is none of my business."

"Even though everyone is talking about it?"

"They are?"

She grinned and nodded her head. "Yes. Guess the rumor is that I'm the next notch in Tony's belt."

He looked away, embarrassed. "Tony does have a reputation."

"With fellow agents?"

"There was one, Paula Cassidy but no... he adheres to rule 12 pretty strictly."

"Nothing happened, Tim. Tony came over to watch a movie and stayed over... on the couch... with Luna, my cat," Natalie replied.

Tim felt almost embarrassed for even thinking for a moment that something was happening between Tony and Natalie. Although Tony could date a lot of women he would never take advantage of someone in a state of emotional distress like Natalie. And he certainly wouldn't jeopardize his job like he had with Paula Cassidy ever again. Would he? There was still a small part of Tim that could not ignore the attraction that obviously existed between Tony and Natalie. "Sorry. I know I shouldn't believe all the rumors."

Natalie shrugged. "I don't blame you for wondering. He's certainly stayed over my place a lot. Naturally people are going to talk."

It was true, but Tim still felt bad. "Yeah... but I should know better."

"Did everything go okay with Elaine Marcus?" Natalie asked, changing the subject.

"We arrested her and booked her. She killed them to keep the cut for herself."

"Money. Always a good motive for murder."

"When in doubt blame the wife," Tim smirked, "At least that's Tony's motto."

Natalie smiled and wiped her eyes. "Guess I should be going. I can't hide in here forever. Then they'll really think I'm loosing it."

Tim chuckled, stood and offered her a hand to help her up. "Hey, Tony and I are going to get a pizza. You should come with us."

"I won't be intruding on boys night will I?"

"No. Just dinner between partners. Which means you should be there."

She felt a rush of warmth. Natalie wasn't sure why these three men, especially Tony, cared about her so much and protected her so fiercely... but she was certainly glad for it.