Cole watched Carly for nearly two weeks before seeing any laxness in the way her lover guarded her. Each day that passed by just fueled his fury. He had given up his life because of her. If she hadn't been so insistent on breaking things off, his actions never would have escalated with those other women.

He had ignored his urges until she left. He had known at first that they were wrong and he was able to stop himself from hurting other women, women who needed to be saved from their selves. Women who were just like Carly. Yes, he had known she wasn't an innocent and she had never settled on one man, but he believed he could save her from herself.

When she told him it was all in fun, that she hadn't been serious about him, he had realized the other women were as undeserving of his consideration as Carly was. They didn't deserve to live and trap men that way.

After that time, his entire focus was on delivering those women from their wayward paths. And Carly, well just to see her reaction to the evidence he left for her was more than enough at the time.

He was close to being caught and he knew he had to leave. Faking his death was the only way. He had continued his work, helping those women he met across the country, working his way back to Carly. Finding her in DC was unexpected. It also filled him with a surge of energy considering his work had been lacking of late. Finding that she hadn't changed had made up his mind. Until he had helped her realize she was wrong, he couldn't continue on. It was time and he now had the perfect opportunity.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Carly was getting tired of feeling confined all the time. Cole wouldn't act if he knew someone like Jethro was around. He wouldn't try anything knowing he wouldn't get past the Marine trained to do what it takes to complete his objective, and Jet's objective was protecting Carly. She had finally convinced Jet of this and had kissed him on his way out the door.

The panic button Abby had given her was at hand but out of sight and 30 minutes after watching Jet drive away, she had to activate it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gibbs had just sat down at his desk when the pager linked to Carly's panic button went off. He shot out of his chair running without explanation to the elevators. Tony and Ziva looked up and like a shot they were after him with Tim and Michelle bringing up the rear.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cole was circling Carly, having tied her up again. He had found the device but Abby had worked wonders with it and he thought it was an ordinary pager. Her thoughts were racing, wondering if Jethro would get back before Cole could use the knife he held in his hand.

Cole was going on and on, explaining why he had done nothing but help those women. He had saved them from self-destructing any further.

Twenty minutes into his diatribe, Carly was furious enough with him she shouted, "You're an idiot, Cole. For centuries, men have been doing exactly what you have been ‘saving' these women from. You're a hypocrite as well. The very traits you hate in us women are the same traits you've displayed yourself. You were one of the biggest players in our precinct and you are just killing women," she scoffed at him.

"I changed when I started seeing you." He tried to explain.

Snorting in disgust, she said, "Sure, you did. Instead of sleeping with my best friend, you turned to strangers. Come on, you were never serious about me. You were never faithful to me. I've never been unfaithful. When I'm with someone, that person is the only one I'm with."

Angered into action, Cole pressed the knife to her neck at the base of her throat. "Listen you bitch." He stepped closer and the tip of the knife broke her skin. Smiling at her blood, the sight seemed to calm him. "You don't have to worry about double standards anymore."

He was about to cut her throat when shots were fired, three in quick succession, finding their targets without error. A look of surprise flitted across Cole's face as he realized he had been shot and couldn't finish his task. The knife dropped, cutting Carly's leg as it fell. In a daze, Carly saw Tony and Ziva still in their firing stance and Jet moving quickly across the room.

He had her untied and lifted away from Cole's dead body before it really registered that she was safe. Michelle had called for the paramedics and Ducky.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Carly was sitting at Jethro's desk, her neck and leg bandaged, giving her statement of what had happened. When the report was completed, she sat in silence, not knowing where she'd go. There was a crew hired to clean her apartment so she couldn't go there yet. She was about to ask Abby if she could stay with her when Jet walked over and took her hand.

"Let's go, Carly." At her puzzled look, he explained, "You're staying with me for now."

The entire team was in shock, staring at Gibbs blatantly breaking Rule #12. As they reached the elevator, he turned to Tony and said, "Don't keep Abby up so late this weekend. Twelve Caf-Pows and she was still dragging last Monday."

As the elevator doors slid shut, they could hear the explosion of voices questioning Tony. Jethro took Carly in his arms and smiled.