Warnings: Not many for this chapter, bratty Abby
A/N: This is a long chapter, but it concludes the Reynosa arc. Thanks for all the wonderful feedback last chapter :) Ginger, Guest, E, and amaia, thanks for leaving reviews, normally I would respond to each of you personally, but well, I don't want to clutter up the A/N, but I did read all your reviews and appreciate them:)
Blood still stained the hall when Gibbs and McGee arrived early the following morning. Miami coroner's office had taken care of the body and prepared it to be shipped back to D.C for Ducky to autopsy.
Crime scene tape cornered off the section of the hotel were Reynosa had been killed. One cop stood guard checking their credentials as they stepped underneath it to enter the hotel room. Tony and Natalie had been kept there by the police and instructed by Vance to cooperate. When they stepped into the room they noticed Tony leaning against the wall ordering Natalie to drink the bottle of Gatorade in her hand.
"Trust me," the SFA snapped, "You're going to feel better once you drink that."
"Stop telling me what to do," Natalie argued with him, taking a sip of the blue Gatorade. "It's not helping my headache any."
Tony looked up to see Gibbs and McGee. He smiled, wearily. "Hey boss. Glad you could join us."
Gibbs nodded and instructed McGee to coordinate with the Miami PD to get their evidence. When the junior agent had left the hotel room, he asked, "What happened?"
"Paloma tried to break into our room. Blew the lock off. She fired at me, I fired back," Tony stated, matter-of-factly. "I was just the better shot."
"We still have to notify the Mexican authorities," Gibbs stated. He noticed that Natalie flinched at those words.
Tony chuckled, dryly. "You mean, Rivera? He'll probably be the only one that misses her in Mexico. Besides, she dug her own grave, boss. What did she think was going to happen when she blew that lock off? That I was going to just surrender?"
Gibbs could tell that Tony was clearly agitated. He didn't blame him. "Mexican authorities are not going to come after you, Tony." Not legally anyway. "What you did was justifiable. She shot at you, you responded to protect yourself."
"Let's not forget she tried to murder my partner," Tony snapped pushing off the wall and storming into the bathroom. He slammed the door shut.
"He been like this all morning?" Gibbs questioned Natalie.
Natalie nodded, taking another sip of Gatorade. "He's worried that Rivera is going to retaliate. It wasn't just Paloma that was part of the problem, Gibbs. They were two pieces of the puzzle that were working together. I'm sure that if one of them were to be taken out, they had a plan in place for the other to finish the job."
Gibbs jaw twitched. "Tony thinks that Rivera is going to come after you—not him."
She took a deep breath, another sip of her drink. "Yes," Natalie whispered. "I'm the one they can use to hurt you and the others the most."
He sat down on the bed with her and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. It felt dry and gummy from the salt water. Gibbs began to wonder if perhaps it had been a wise idea to allow Tony and Natalie to break Rule 12...
"Boss," McGee said coming back into the room, "Miami P.D is going to send all the evidence to Abby. There isn't much. Just the slugs from Paloma's gun they pulled from the wall and her cell phone."
"Okay, that's good work, Tim," Gibbs said, getting off the bed. "Let's pack up here and go home."
News of Reynosa's death had traveled fast around the NCIS office. Tony was being cited as a hero. He didn't feel much like one.
As suspected Alejandro Rivera was furious that the NCIS agent had shot his sister—even though publicly he had not admitted to her being his sister—he claimed that the Mexican government wanted a full investigation. Vance had promised Abby would send all her findings, but he was not shipping Tony to Mexico for questioning—that would be hanging his agent out to dry.
Tony had gone home from the airport exhausted and on orders from Vance to take a few days off. He had only seen Natalie briefly in that time—she insisted that he rest—and if he was being honest with himself, she needed to rest too after their time in Miami. They had spoken on the phone, had dinner, but she had gone back to her place every night afterwards.
He figured she was slightly ticked off that Gibbs had assigned an unmarked car to tail her to keep Rivera away from her. She wouldn't say, it wasn't really her style. She would grin and bear it... and after everything that happened down in Miami...
Natalie bounced back from her second tangle with GHB and declared that she was never drinking on an undercover assignment at a bar ever again. Tony wasn't going to argue with her on that. He was tired of being unable to protect her in those situations.
Coffee—a Jamaican Mocha—and black roses waited for him on his desk when he got back into work the following day. Tony dropped his gear by his desk, tucked his badge and weapon away in the top drawer, and decided to start the morning off by sipping his coffee from Jimmy while he got caught up on his emails. He moved the vase of black roses from Abby onto the self behind him.
"See Abby and Jimmy were up here," McGee quipped when he arrived.
"Indeed. Think I spot a coffee on your desk too, Probie," Tony said, gesturing towards the cup that had been left on McGee's desk. "Jimmy wouldn't want any of us to feel left out, you know him."
McGee was happy to see the brew because he'd been running late that morning and had not had a chance to stop. "Natalie in yet?"
Tony looked at his partner's desk and saw that Jimmy had left her a chai latte. He shook his head. "Not yet."
"You guys didn't spend the night together?" McGee asked, then immediately blushed. "Sorry, sorry... that was a completely inappropriate question!"
"Relax, McGee," Tony said with an easy smile, "Now that we've been broadcast in MTAC—naked—I doubt our relationship is much of a secret."
"It wasn't much of a secret before," Gibbs cracked joining them. "Nice flowers."
Tony looked back at the roses. "Thanks, boss. Abby got them for me."
Gibbs smiled, dryly. "Well, you earned them, Tony."
Natalie arrived then, dropped a ziploc bag of cookies on his desk with a grin. "These too," she said, brushing her ponytail aside. "Rosa taught me how to bake last night."
"Aw, you really do love me," Tony teased her with a smile.
"Keep it up and I'll take them back," Natalie threatened, half-heartedly as she sat down at her desk and beamed that Jimmy had left her a chai.
Gibbs sat at his desk watching his team work—his "gibblets" as Abby liked to call them. For the longest time he felt like the team had been going in separate directions with all the tension that Reynosa had caused, and even though Rivera was pissed that Tony had taken out his sister... Gibbs wasn't nearly as worried.
Tony looked a bit more relaxed than he had in Miami. A good night's sleep had probably provided him with the much needed energy, and Natalie had a little bit more of a sparkle n her eyes than she had before the partners left for South Beach. It was going to take a little time, but eventually things would get back to normal.
His phone rang on his desk, Gibbs picked it up expecting to get a case... it was one of the guards down in the lobby. "Agent Gibbs. I thought you should... Alejandro Rivera is on his way up to see Director Vance... and he's angry."
Slamming the phone down, Gibbs stood up, snapping his fingers at Tony and Natalie. Both agents looked up, shocked. "You two, vanish—now."
"Boss," Tony said, getting to his feet. "What's going on?"
"No time for that. Take Natalie and get the hell out of the squad room," Gibbs ordered.
Something in his voice propelled both Tony and Natalie out of the bullpen. Halfway towards the hall, a voice snapped out, "You wouldn't be trying to hide them from me, now would you Agent Gibbs?"
Natalie's shoulders stiffened as they both turned to face Rivera.
Gibbs stood, coming between his two agents and the Mexican official. "Until I know your agenda, Alejandro—damn straight I'm going to be hiding them from you."
"Your agents murdered a Mexican citizen," Rivera snarled.
"Spare me," Tony snapped. "She was a murderer and drug dealer."
Rivera came at Tony then but a wall consisting of Gibbs and McGee pushed him back. "You are going to pay for your crimes, Agent DiNozzo! I will see you rotting in a Mexican prison!"
Gibbs softly whispered to Tony and Natalie, "Go on. Get out of here." He watched the pair of agents disappear from the squad room, then he turned back towards Rivera. "If you're here to see Director Vance, Agent McGee will take you up to him. And lay a finger on my team... you'll be answering to me."
Natalie was visibly shaking. Tony halted the elevator by hitting the emergency switch. Her eyes darted up towards him and he could see her fear, her uncertainty. "Oh, darling, nothing is going to happen to us," he said, reaching out for her and pulling her into his arms.
Tony felt her tremble and he hushed her. "Honestly, do you believe for one second that Vance is going to hand me over to Mexico? Or that Gibbs is going to allow him? Come on, both of us know that Mexico doesn't have a leg to stand on in this case. She broke into our hotel room, she fired at me—I was protecting us—I was protecting you."
"It's not that," she whimpered. "I just... I pictured you in jail... and..."
"Nat, shhh," he comforted her. Pulling away he released her and brought his hands to her face. He wiped her tears with his thumbs. "Stop crying. Everything will be fine."
She nodded her head and leaned in closer to him, seeking his physical presence knowing that it would calm her. "Tony."
He stroked her cheek, drying the tears. "Yes?"
"Can you stay... can you stay with me tonight?"
"Yes, of course. And you know what—I'm going to make you the best pasta dinner you've ever had."
Natalie smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest. Now that she was in her "safe place" she felt herself calming down. Tony was right—there was no way that Gibbs was going to let Vance hand Tony over to the Mexican authorities. Besides... the death of Paloma Reynosa had been ruled justifiable.
Tony stroked her hair and when he knew she was calm, chuckled, "Are we going to stay here all day?"
She sighed. "If no one else objects..."
He laughed. "I think Gibbs might..."
Natalie pulled back and lowered him down for a kiss. His arms drew her closer as they deepened their embrace. Kissing him was never going to get old, she thought, because she felt so damn good when she did it. "Since we've been banished from our desks... we could stay in here for a while..."
Tony grinned at her, slyly and kissed her back. As much as he'd like to totally get her naked here in the elevator... he knew the longer it was stalled that someone was going to call and send a worker to repair it. He reached for the emergency switch, bringing the elevator back to life. He continued kissing her for a few more seconds, before the cab stopped and let them out near the lab. Pulling back he let his lips linger over hers, "Mmmm hold that thought for tonight, okay? After I have thoroughly wined and dined you... I plan to spend the whole night making love to you."
"You know I can hear you, right?" Abby snapped from her lab. "If you're done feeling each other up in the elevator. I think I found something."
"Found what, Abs?" Tony asked, entering the lab, Natalie behind him."I didn't know we were working a case."
"Gibbs wanted me to look into Reynosa's phone records," Abby said. "There were a few calls to United States government officials that I thought odd."
Natalie looked between Tony and Abby. "Maybe Rivera was using her phone."
Tony nodded. "Would explain how she knew where to find us in Miami."
"Rivera has his own problems. It seems that the Mexican government is trying to oust him, since well, it came out that his sister was drug cartel leader."
"Ah, so that explains why he's upstairs going all Rambo on us."
Abby's eyes grew wide. "Rivera's here? Why?"
Tony shrugged. "He wants to bring me back to Mexico to face charges."
She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "You're not going anywhere. Rivera will have to fight me."
He chuckled. "You'll have to wait your turn after Gibbs."
"Is that why you two are down here?"
"Yeah. Mind the company until Gibbs tells us we can return?"
Abby pulled back from Tony and eyed Natalie. She didn't mind Tony's company but she certainly didn't get a long with his partner. She was trying, but it was hard. The ease at which Natalie had integrated herself with the time was such a slap in the face to her, an insult to the woman that had occupied the desk before. When Kate had died, Tony, Gibbs had not been that welcoming of Ziva. It took the two of them a while to warm up to her. But with Natalie... they just opened their arms and pulled her in...
Natalie seemed to see that Abby was upset about her being down there. And while some aspect of their relationship had changed, she didn't see them becoming friends anytime soon. "I can always go hang out with Ducky and Jimmy," she snapped, turning on her heel.
Tony grabbed her arm. "What? No! Stay! Come on! This will be fun... give us a chance to catch up... bond!" He smiled at her for good measure. She sighed and agreed to stay, even though she knew that this terrible experiment of trying to get the two women to talk was pointless.
In fact it was painful. Tony did the most talking, filling in awkward silences and making dumb jokes to ease tensions when they started to run high. It boiled down to that Abby blamed Natalie for what happened to Ziva, that she did not come home to NCIS where she would have been able to heal and not go off the deep end like the last time they'd seen her—and Natalie was just tired of trying to make an effort to pretend that Abby's behavior didn't bother her.
By the end of the day all three were glad when that phone rang.
Natalie and Tony were not allowed back into the bullpen until Gibbs gave them the all clear—meaning that Rivera had left the building and not returned for hours. When they made it back to their desks their boss told them to go home for the night.
Tony gathered up his things quickly, wanting to get to the grocery store so he could pick up what he was going to make his girlfriend for dinner. He crossed the bullpen and planted a soft kiss on Natalie's temple. "I'll meet you back at your place," he said as he left.
"Is Tony staying with you?" Gibbs asked, softly when the SFA was gone.
"Yes. I asked him if he would," Natalie replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Gibbs got up and moved towards her desk. He perched himself on the corner of it. "Vance has spoken to Mexican officials. They are not pursuing a case against Tony. Rivera came here on his own... seems that the Mexican government has asked him to step down."
Natalie looked up at Gibbs. "He came to finish what Paloma started. Meaning neither myself or Tony are safe. Maybe even McGee and Abby..."
"Why don't you head home?" Gibbs inquired, leaning forward to kiss her forehead softly. "Tony is going to be waiting for you."
"And if I'm not there he'll send the cavalry after me," Natalie replied, grinning.
Gibbs chuckled in response. He watched as she gathered up her gear before he moved away from her desk, turning his back on her. When she gasped in shock, Gibbs turned about while McGee jumped up from his chair. "What is it?" the junior agent asked.
Natalie held up a skeleton like doll. "It's a Mexican Day of the Dead Doll—Rivera must have left it in my desk."
"Tony has one too!" McGee gasped, opening the drawer where Tony kept his magazines.
"McGee with me! Now!" Gibbs snapped, grabbing his weapon and heading for the elevator. "Callahan! Don't move!"
Natalie started to argue and realized that she was too late—they were gone.
Tony sensed that something was off. Glancing around he noticed that the parking lot was empty. It was only him standing among the damp pavement from an earlier rainstorm that day. Even so... the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He reached for his weapon just as the fist came at him from out of nowhere.
His gun went sailing through the air, landing on the hood of McGee's fancy Porsche. Tony fell back into a defensive position becoming aware of Rivera's dark eyes with filled with a lust for revenge. "Let me guess... Vance wouldn't hand me other to the Federales... must just tickle you pink, Rivera, your sister's death a justifiable homicide..."
Rivera came at him with a growl. They exchanged a few blows before Tony was able to take him down—easily. Rivera really was no match for a trained agent, and one that had been trained in combat by a marine. Still, that wasn't going to stop him from trying. Tony tried to get to his gun on top of McGee's car but River kicked his legs out from underneath him. He managed to catch his balance on the hood of McGee's car but the gun went sailing over the hood and underneath Abby's red hot-rod.
Cursing, Tony jumped back to the balls of his feet in time to absorb Rivera's punches. He lifted his knee and kicked his opponent in the gut. It gave him time to pull his knife from his belt, hoping that it would scare off Rivera from continuing the fight. It had the exact opposite Tony realized. A dark look came in Rivera's eyes and it was clear that he had every intention of using that knife to kill Tony.
He lunged for the knife, causing Tony to throw a left hook, connecting with Rivera's jaw. His right hand tight around the handle of the knife, Tony rocked back on the balls of his feet. The two fought for control of the knife, Tony used the advantage of his training to keep the knife firmly in his grasp. He kicked and punched and thoroughly thrashed Rivera until the man collapsed by McGee's Porsche.
Tony wiped some sweat from his upper lip, relaxing his stance only slightly. Rivera was rising up, getting ready to come at him again... it was then that Tony saw the gun... Movement caught both their attention and sending Tony's heart racing with fear when he saw who had wandered into the parking lot. Rivera's eyes grew wide with anticipation, evil and darkness as he saw his victim out in the open...
Natalie was standing in the middle of the parking lot, eyes wide with fear—and completely defenseless since her weapon was still in the holster. Rivera pointed his gun directly at the female NCIS agent, squeezing back on the trigger with an evil grin on his face...
Sounds of two guns going off exploded across the parking lot. Rivera fell face first into the asphalt, his weapon falling from his hand, felled by the rounds from Gibbs and McGee's guns.
"I thought I told you not to move!" Gibbs yelled at Natalie. He wouldn't admit to her though that because she showed up, it gave them a better shot at Rivera.
"I'm sorry," Natalie cried, hands clenched at her sides. "Tony's my partner! I couldn't just leave him!"
"Next time," Gibbs snapped moving to get into her personal space, "You make sure you have your weapon drawn."
Natalie was taken back by the slight smile on his face, and then the soft kiss to her cheek. "Sorry... sorry I don't know... I don't know what I was thinking..."
Gibbs chuckled and turned towards Tony. He reached out and steadied the younger man. "You okay, DiNozzo?"
Tony was trying to catch his breath. His left cheek was bruising, lip bleeding, but other than that he was in good shape... considering he'd just been in a fight. "Yeah... he got the worst of it. Even if you hadn't shot him, Gibbs. But boss, if you don't mind... can I just skip my report for tomorrow morning?"
"Yeah, Tony," Gibbs said with a smile. "Director Vance will understand. McGee and I will get Balboa to help with this... take Callahan home.
"On it, boss," Tony responded, eyes locking with Natalie's.
Natalie rushed at him and he absorbed her embrace. Tony wrapped her securely against him, looking down at the prone body of Rivera—the last vengeful puzzle piece in this mess—finally dealt with.