Warnings: Suggestive themes, some language, spoilers for Season 7

A/N: I've managed to plot point how I want this arc to end. I think you're going to like it! At least I hope you are! Please feel free to leave me some feedback, I love feedback :) Enjoy!

Tony awoke with a gasp. Instinctively he reached out and pulled Natalie closer to him. She sighed in her sleep but didn't wake up. His nightmares were getting more and more vivid, he almost always ended up losing Natalie in them.

Natalie's presence was usually comforting to him, but the last few nights he was finding that nothing was easing his troubled mind. As long as Reynosa was still out there, probably still stalking them… Tony wasn't going to get a peaceful night's sleep. He tightened his hold on Natalie and kissed the top of her head. If it came down to it, he would be willing to sacrifice his life for her. He loved her. He'd do anything for her… and somehow, he believed that Paloma Reynosa knew this and she was fully prepared to use this against him. She had been threatening on using Natalie against him if Gibbs and his partner had not rescued him.

She must have felt his eyes on her, because she stirred and groggily looked at him. "Tony?"

He smiled at her, gently. "Shhh, go back to sleep, beautiful."

"Are you okay?"

"No… not really."

"Another nightmare?"

Tony sighed and hugged her tightly. "Yes," he whispered. "I don't think they're going to go away until we have Paloma in our custody and she's behind bars."

Natalie was fully awake now and aware of fast his heart was beating, it was drumming in her ear. "We'll get her. We're keeping our eyes on her in MTAC everyday. And local authorities as well as the FBI and DEA are aware of her."

It wasn't enough. He wanted to be out there physically looking for her but Gibbs had benched him pretty much until his ribs healed. Four weeks since being rescued from Mexico and he wasn't allowed to pursue the one responsible for hurting him. "Wish Vance would okay the operations to go track her in Miami and Canada. Let's just get this done and over with before she hurts one of us again."

"Your ribs need to heal."

"Okay, mom."

"Seriously? You're going to compare me to your mother when we've slept together?"

Tony looked at her incredulously. And there was the final sore spot between them. Since his injuries they hadn't had sex and he was starting to feel the frustration, but she refused until he was healed. She didn't want to be responsible for reinjuring his ribs. "Lately… feels like you are my mother."

Natalie sat up and glared at him. "Don't start acting like a child. Do you think I like being abstinent too? It's for your health. Let's not make your ribs worse by having rough, throw me against the wall sex."

He growled. "I wouldn't mind rough, throw you against the wall sex."

She groaned and grabbed a pillow. "I'm going to sleep on the sofa."

"What? Why?"

"Because if I don't… I'm going to do just that—throw you against the wall and have sex with you!"

Tony wished he could move faster to grab a hold of her and keep her right there in bed with him but his ribs were still tender and she was fast. Groaning he flopped down against the pillows and threw his arm across his face. Damn that drug cartel leader… he had a perfectly good woman to bed and he couldn't because of his ribs… thanks to Paloma's beatings of him. If causing sexual frustration was a felony… well, Tony would have had her arrested all ready. He cursed and tried to get back to sleep. One thing for certain was, the long his ribs took to heal, the crankier he was going to get

Tim noticed that Tony was grumbling a lot underneath his breath the following day. He had been extra cranky when he had arrived that morning. At first Tim thought maybe it was because the senior field agent had not had his morning coffee yet but then remembered that it was Gibbs that was the cranky one without his morning coffee—not Tony.

Natalie was ignoring him. And perhaps that was part of the problem, Tim realized as he looked at his female partner. She was wearing a gray pencil skirt, black heels with an ivory colored lightweight sweater and her hair was down and wavy. Just the way Tony likes it, Tim thought with a bit of a devilish grin to himself. She was totally teasing Tony and there was nothing that Tony could do about it.

Gibbs seemed oblivious or rather he just didn't care. Tim noticed that every now and then, when Tony grumbled, Gibbs would look up with a smirk. So perhaps he did care or he just understood what Tony was going through. Either way, a sexually frustrated Tony could be entertaining to watch.

"I'm going for more coffee," Tony snapped, getting to his feet as he shuffled about looking for his keys.

"Haven't you had like three cups already?" Tim asked. "You're going to start to bleed coffee soon."

Tony threw him a glare and Tim knew that he should probably drop it. They were working on paperwork that morning, so on top of Tony being cranky from being sexually frustrated, he was cranky from having to sit and do paperwork. Not that Gibbs had left him out into the field that much. "I'm good. I've had enough coffee for today," Tim finally said, deciding to just let Tony go without teasing him. Poor guy has been through enough.

Natalie shook her head, her long hair sliding off her slender shoulders and Tim saw Tony suppress a shudder. The SFA didn't wait to see if Gibbs wanted anything, he already knew the answer to that, and he disappeared from the bullpen, with a bit of limp to his step.

Gibbs eyed Natalie for a moment. "Did he sleep last night?"

"Sporadically," Natalie answered, honestly. "He's having nightmares again."

"Did he go speak to your therapist?"

"I had to drag him."

Tim saw the concern in both their eyes. He was concerned as well. What happened to Tony in Mexico was awful, maybe even worse than Somalia because he had been alone.

Natalie knew what it was like, though, to deal with the demons post captivity. Hopefully she'd be able to help Tony. So far her efforts had been met with mixed results on Tony's part.

"Hey Agent Gibbs," a voice said, causing Gibbs to look up. "Director Vance wanted Intel to pull all of an Margaret Allison Hart's files and look at them."

"What did you find?" the team leader questioned.

"Lots and lots of phone calls to Mexico."

"Anyone in particular?"

"Two people—Merton Bell and Alejandro Rivera."

Gibbs gestured for Natalie to get up. "Let's go. Time to bring Ms. Hart in for questioning."

Natalie put her coat on. "Do you think she's going to talk?"

"No," the former marine snapped as they walked away, "But I'm going to make her."

"How?" she questioned as they got into the elevator. "I mean… you can't torture her, you realize this right Gibbs?"

Gibbs tossed her a glare and hit the button for the garage. "Do you wanna make any bets that the moment I start throwing around jail time she comes clean? She's a lawyer, she's going to know that the cards are stacked against her. One dead federal agent, another one taken hostage and beaten… prosecutors will be out for blood. Especially for one of their own."

Natalie brushed her hair behind her shoulders. "She should go to jail. Especially after what her information did to Lara Macy. And Tony? He's more damaged than he's letting on, you know that, Gibbs."

He flicked the emergency switch on the elevator and turned towards her in the dim light. "Hey," Gibbs said, grabbing a hold of her shoulders and forcing him to face her. "I want to get the bastards that hurt Tony… that murdered Lara Macy as well, okay? So far… we've gotten one—Dean. Now we just need to finish the job and put Hart, Reynosa and Rivera behind bars."

She pursed her lips and set her jaw. "Paloma Reynosa is not going to go to jail. She'd rather you put a bullet in her before that happens, Gibbs. She'll fight us until the bitter end, until there is no way out for her but death."

"Then that's the way this ends, Natalie," Gibbs told her, softly. "If she continues to threaten my family. I'll take her out." He kissed her forehead and released her. "Now," he said more firmly as he flipped the switch back, "Let's go arrest a lawyer."

Tony returned with his coffee and one for Gibbs—only to find that the boss and his partner were missing. "Where's Gibbs and Natalie?"

Tim looked up from his computer. "They went to pick up Hart about thirty minutes ago. Intel traced her phone records back to Mexico, chatting with both Colonel Bell and Rivera, looks like we have enough for an arrest. Not sure it will hold up in court but it will make the bar take notice."

"She's the least of our concerns," Tony mumbled as he sat back down at his desk. He winced when his ribs protested. Maybe Natalie had been right about the no sex thing…

"Well, one at a time, Tony," Tim said, interrupting his thoughts.

"This is going to stop with the arrest of Ms. Hart, Probie."

"I know. Just have to be patient."

Tony shot his partner a glare. "Patient? That woman tried to kill the two of us more than once. Hart set it up so another NCIS agent could be murdered, who knows how much information she leaked to Reynosa about us leading in our near deaths."

Tim could understand his frustration. The constant looking over their shoulder, worrying about who was going to be next on Reynosa's endless hit list—Natalie was not just staying at Tony's apartment to nurse him back to health—it was for Tony's peace of mind that she was safe. Because all three men were sure that Natalie was Reynosa's next target. It made perfect sense. Natalie could easily be used to torment and manipulate all three of them. Tony was in love with her, Tim cared for her like a sister and Gibbs a daughter—if Reynosa really wanted to hurt the MCRT, she would hurt Natalie. "Maybe Hart will give us something that will help."

Natalie bounced into the bullpen then, quick on her feet. "She already did," she exclaimed, reaching for the clicker. "Reynosa and Rivera are both in the States. Having trouble tracking down where Reynosa is obviously, but… Rivera is here, in D.C."

"Hart talked?" Tony gasped, surprised.

"She did once Gibbs threatened to send her to GITMO for terrorism," Natalie replied with a bit of twinkle. "It was a total bluff but she bought it."

"Where is Hart now?"

"Booking. Charged with accessory to murder. She won't be practicing law any time soon."

Tony felt very little relief. He stood and went around his desk to stand next to her at the plasma screen while the three agents looked at Rivera's travel manifest. "Did she say who the next target is?" he asked, low in his throat.

Natalie licked her lips and refused to answer him. She knew that he was looking at her with a dark, protective glare. "We don't know anything for certain."

He grabbed the clicker from her and put it on his desk. Turning her to face him, grasping her shoulders tightly, Tony hissed, "Natalie… who's the next target?"

She nervously blinked, blinking back a few tears that threatened to spring in her eyes. "I am."

Tony would kill Reynosa with his bare hands if that sociopath hurt Natalie. Tim and Natalie didn't have to say anything to know what their senior field agent was thinking. And damn his ribs for keeping him sidelined, keeping the team sidelined. They should be checking out Miami and Canada… and now that there was a credible threat towards Natalie, the Director would not send her alone to either location. "This is bullshit," Tony snapped, tossing the clicker across the bullpen. It came apart as it connected with the corner of a filing cabinet, the batteries spilling out.

Gibbs returned then, witnessing the younger man's outburst. He knew it was coming, especially now that they were positive that Reynosa was targeting Natalie next. "Hey!" he snapped, "take it easy, DiNozzo!"

"Take it easy!" Tony shouted spinning about to glare at Gibbs. "Don't you tell me to take it easy when you were practically snapping necks to get Ari!"

"You have a problem with the way I'm handling things?" the former marine snarled, getting up into Tony's face.

"Handling things?" Tony threw back, his voice lowering to a dangerous growl. "We're sitting around here doing nothing while that woman plots her next kill!"

It had grown silent in the squad room, only the sound of phones ringing and the occasional whir of a printer. Everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch the stand-off between Tony and Gibbs. Natalie and Tim were standing by on baited breath, not sure what either man was going to do next. "Agent Gibbs? Agent DiNozzo?" Vance's voice echoed down from above, "Is there a problem?"

Tony ground his teeth and backed down. "No sir," he threw in the director of Vance. "Was just getting back to work!"

Gibbs watched under a heated glare. If they didn't bring that woman in soon, this could very well tear his team to shreds.