Warnings: Slight spoilers for "Spider and the Fly"

A/N: Sorry for the long delay! Hope you enjoy! Like I said before I have the arc all plotted out, just need to write it :). Like I said I think you'll enjoy it, plenty of BAMF Tony, Gibbs on the warpath and a bit of spicy romance ;)

Natalie heard the sound of dishes being put away in her kitchen. Opening her eyes she glanced at a rather annoyed Luna that their peace had been disrupted and then at her alarm clock. Groaning she sat up and realized that someone was missing…

"Tony?" she questioned, entering the kitchen to find him cleaning up. "What are you doing? It's two o'clock in the morning."

"Cleaning up from dinner," he answered her honestly.

She saw his gun strapped to his waist. "With your SIG?"

He glared at her. "Yes with my SIG. I'm your protection detail, Natalie."

Natalie saw the fear flash through his eyes—the fear of her getting hurt. She went to wrap her arms around his waist and bury her face against his chest. "She's not getting to me, Tony," she whispered, leaving a feathery kiss over his heart.

Tony let his hands fall to his sides, dropping the dishtowel onto the counter. He closed his eyes tightly. "Nat, I want to believe that she isn't getting anywhere near you… but we need to play it safe. Someone needs to be here watching out for trouble while you sleep."

"You need to rest too."

"Not while that woman is out there threatening you."

"Nothing is going to happen to me…"

"You don't know that!"

She pulled back slightly, smiled at him softly. "Yes I do because there is no way she's going to get through both you and Gibbs to get to me, Tony."

He sighed, his green eyes softened and he gently pulled her back towards him. "I love you, Natalie. I don't want anything to happen to you. And it's killing me that I'm stuck here in D.C when I should be out hunting the bitch that threatened you!"

Natalie reached up and cupped his face between her hands. She then pulled him down towards her and kissed him. For a moment, they forgot all about his sore ribs as they stumbled their way to the sofa, making out heavily.

Tony managed to slip his holster off and drop it on the coffee table before they fell against the cushions of the sofa. His heart raced and he felt the blood rushing south, quickly, and he ignored the pain in his sides. Instead he focused on getting that tee shirt off of Natalie so he could touch her. But as he lifted it over her head and tossed it aside, a sharp pain shot up his body and he hissed.

"Stop!" Natalie panted, pushing him back gently and laying him down on the sofa. "We… we need to stop."

"I'll work through it," Tony growled. "Wouldn't be the first time I've had painful sex. Once dated this girl that got off by how much pain she could cause…"

"Anthony. It won't be enjoyable for me if I know I'm hurting you."

"Natalie. I cannot wait four more weeks."

She smiled at him, sadly and kissed his cheek. "You're going to have too."

He frowned at her, looking at her half naked on the sofa was not helping matters. Tony ran his fingers through her hair, gently pulling her against him and kissing her. Fine, if she wasn't going to let him make love to her, the least she could do was let him hold her and kiss her. She didn't seem to object to that and he was more than willing to make out with her for the rest of the evening… until both their cell phones rang at the same time. It took one peek at the text message from McGee to know that they had a case.

Grumbling Natalie pushed away from him, threw her tee shirt back on and shook her hair out. "Damn job," she mumbled as she slipped a pair of sneakers on.

Tony watched her. "You're going to go to a crime scene in nothing but leggings and a tee shirt—with no bra on? Are you trying to get me in trouble on the job?"

Natalie tossed him a look and went back into her bedroom. She found a bra, put it on and then slipped on a fitted hoodie. When she came back out, Tony was ready to go.

"I still see you without your bra on by the way," he snarked as they left her apartment.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing I didn't get completely naked," she threw back.

"You know we still have time for…"

"Get in the car, Tony."

Tony tossed her a glare and got into her car, slamming the door shut. Natalie slid into the driver's seat and said nothing to him. He sighed, realizing that it was going to be a very long night.

Gibbs stood just behind the floodlights illuminating their crime scene. Metro had called him when the body had been discovered, young female, and possible drug overdose with dog tags around her neck.

His team worked around the disgusting back alley, dressed in various forms of loungewear. McGee with his sweats and M.I.T shirt, Tony in flannel pants and black tee, and Natalie with leggings and a hoodie on—it was apparent that they had all been sleeping when the call went out. Their manner of dress was not going to change their ability to investigate this case—but their level of exhaustion will, he thought, sadly.

With Reynosa still out there he had been working his team hard. Nerves were already frayed and tensions were high if the confrontation with Tony in the squad room was any indication. Tony had been thoroughly pissed off at him for the rest of the day… but had kept it to himself.

There was no one on that team who wanted to put an end to Reynosa more than Gibbs. That woman had nearly torn his team to pieces, had nearly taken Tony and Tim's lives from them, and was no targeting Natalie. Easily the one that could bring us all to our knees, he thought as he watched his newest agent work. Reynosa was obviously targeting the women in his life, just like Ari had. She knew that his weakness was losing a woman to a violent death much like his wife and daughter. Pathologically he felt it was his duty to protect every woman that came into his life…

Natalie must have felt his eyes on her because she looked over from what she was doing. Gibbs had heard her snark at Tony when they arrived that no one was going to get close to her with both him and Gibbs present… she knew the dangers that Reynosa was imposing… but she also knew that Reynosa was going to have to fight her way through both Tony and Gibbs to get to her.

"Found this needle," McGee said, approaching him. "It was the near the body. DNA should tell us if it's our victim's."

"Find any needle marks on her arms?" Gibbs asked, softly.

"Yeah. Natalie photographed them," McGee replied, solemnly. "Tony was going to contact his friend in Metro Narcotics in the morning. See if they had any leads."

Gibbs sighed. He needed coffee but most of the shops were closed until about four in the morning. Another ninety minutes to go. "While DiNozzo does that, you and Callahan go speak to her unit. Maybe they knew where she was getting the drugs from."

McGee looked over his shoulder at his partners, "Ah, boss… only one problem with that… Tony… well he's been hovering around Natalie like a vicious guard dog."

Vicious was probably the best way to describe it. Gibbs had watched as Tony practically gnashed his teeth at a young rookie cop that had gotten a bit to close for the SFA's liking. If the circumstances were different, Gibbs would have head slapped the younger man. "Wish I could say he was all show and no bite…"

"Yeah… maybe I could call Tony's contact and he could go with her?" McGee offered, knowing full well that Tony wasn't going to let Natalie leave his sight.

"Tim, you're perfectly capable of watching Natalie's six," Gibbs pointed out.

"I know that boss, but…"

"Tony gets rather hostile when he's protective…"

"Just a bit."

Gibbs chuckled and glanced at his watch. "Tell ya what, McGee. I'll go with you to interview her unit, and we'll leave Natalie with her guard dog at NCIS."

McGee nodded in agreement. "She seems like the only one that can call him off."

"He'll calm down once we have Reynosa behind bars."

"Yeah, until the next psycho comes along. Sorry, sorry boss, I'm tired, I get cranky when I'm tired."

"Can it, McGee. I understand."

McGee shook his head. "I know that Tony really cares about her and he just doesn't want her to get hurt…"

Gibbs glared at the junior agent. "McGee."

"Sorry, boss, I'll get back to work," the younger man said as he put the needle into an evidence bag and walked away.

He went back to silently watching his team. Gibbs could understand McGee's annoyance with the snapping, growling Tony—he was getting annoyed too, but at the same time, the team leader didn't want to call Tony off his unofficial protection detail of Natalie. His desire to protect was just as fierce, if not more than Tony's and for that reason alone, the drug cartel and Paloma Reynosa were going to have to carefully watch their steps.

"Where are Gibbs and McGee?" Natalie asked after returning from dropping the evidence off at the lab.

"Went to interview the victim's unit," Tony replied, glancing at his reflection in his computer screen. "I look like hell."

Natalie sat down at her desk and tossed him a teasing little smile. "You've looked worse, you know."

Tony glared at her. "Oh, really? When?"

She was saved by his phone ringing and didn't have to answer him. Natalie booted up her computer. Gibbs had requested that she work on a profile of their victim. She knew that it was useless in this case but he was keeping her tied to a desk to keep her safe. Natalie was too tired to fight with either Gibbs or Tony. One of them she could handle, but the both of them? Some fights just worth fighting…

"Just talked to my buddy in Narcotics," Tony interrupted her thoughts. "Our victim is the sixth overdose in three days."

"Big city. Lots of drugs," Natalie surmised. "Overdoses probably happen daily."

"Ah, except, these were all squeaky clean people until they overdosed," Tony pointed out.

Natalie looked up, her interest peaked. "So… party drugs. Our marine unit was on twenty-four leave. But… where was she that she got the drugs? And how did she get the alley where she died?"

Tony frowned. "My buddy didn't have the answers to those questions. He did, however, have a hunch where the drugs came from—guess who's been making quite the splash in the drug dealing world around here, especially for party drug users?"

"Let me guess—your favorite drug cartel leader and mine—Ms. Reynosa."

"Thankfully the one and only."

"All our Intel has her in Miami."

He ran his tongue over his lips. "Maybe she's made her way North… she isn't just looking at expanding her business you know…"

She glared at him. How many times were they going to have this fight? Countless times it seemed like. Or at least until Reynosa was dealt with and the threat was gone; of course getting Reynosa might not necessarily stop the argument. Natalie went back to profiling their victim and decided to let it drop for now.

Tony got up from his desk and went to hers, invading her space. He put the palms of his hands on top of her desk, trapping her between his arms, and he leaned down. "Nat, I'm only doing this because I love you," he said, softly so only she could hear. "It would kill me if anything happened to you."

Natalie instantly melted. He really did play unfair and he knew exactly what to say to get her to melt. "I know. And I know you're just trying to keep me safe."

"Do you, because you've been fighting me at every turn it feels like."

"Yes—I do. I just think you're going a little overboard."

"Better to be safe than sorry."

Natalie had heard that hundreds of times over the last twenty four hours. She sighed and continued working, noticing that Tony wasn't leaving his spot. "Is there something else I can do for you, Very Special Agent DiNozzo?"

Tony grinned, let his fingers run up her back lightly. "Not right now… maybe tonight."

She shook her head. "Forget it. Your ribs still aren't healed."

He cursed underneath his breath. "This is stupid! I can take it!"

"Take what, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, entering the bullpen with McGee behind him.

"Heat… boss… I can take the heat…" Tony recovered, straightening his form and moving away from Natalie's desk.

Gibbs smiled, slyly. "Well, that's good… because you two are going to Miami."

Tony and Natalie looked up at the team leader with surprise. "What?" they questioned at the same time.

"Our victim more than likely got her drugs from a dealer in Miami," Gibbs replied. "Miami has been a hotspot for Reynosa. Vance is sending the two of you undercover."

"Boss… thought he wanted to wait until my ribs had healed," Tony said.

"Well, you just said you could take the heat. Can you take the pain?"

"Sure. Of course."

Gibbs smiled again and sent them on their way. "Go! Pack your sunscreen! You're gonna need it!"