Author's Note: Chapter four of Destiny is up, as you can probably tell. So read on, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: Nothings changed, I don't own NCIS or any of it's characters.

- Chapter 4 -

"Shit..." Gibbs growled. "Uh... Tony go... get me a cup of coffee. McGee, Kate, go check out... something."

Tony slipped out towards the stairs, while McGee gently took Kate by the arm and guided her to the elevator. "I need to talk to you." He spoke in a hushed tone.

Gibbs looked over at Collins. "FBI huh? And how do you think you can help us? Just because you saw something?"

"No," Nick replied, "I think I can help you because I was there. In the room, when Rafferty died."

Jethro looked down at his desk and studied the thought in his head. "And how come you weren't killed?"

Collins sighed, and stood straight, before slowly approaching Gibb's desk. "Well now Jethro, I really can't explain that. I shot the guy twice, and he didn't die. He have been wearing one hell of a vest, or he can take a bullet pretty damned well."

It was then that Gibbs finally realized the man spoke with a British accent. Or a cockney accent. Hell he didn't know, he wasn't English. "So how can you help me?"

Nick smirked, and took a seat on the top of Tony's desk. "Because, I know why this guy killed the officer."

Gibbs studied him... he wasn't lying. "Alright then, start talking."

"Well now Jethro, let's not rush into anything." He said. "I'm not about disclose information for free."

Jethro scoffed. "What's your price?"

"I want to work with you and your team for this case, and this case only." He smirked.

"Now why, would you want to do something like that?" Gibbs asked.

Agent Collins chuckled. "Well now, about year ago, I did a case with my partner involving the same repo gang involved in this one. My partner, perhaps you know him. His name is... Timothy McGee?"

Jethro's eyes narrowed.

"Timothy McGee." He gave that contagious smirk again. "Yes, I thought you might. We had a chance to bag this guy. But unfortunately, McGee screwed up."

"And just who is 'this guy'?"

Nicholas chortled and looked over. "Does that mean we have a deal?"

Gibbs sighed, and looked over at McGee's desk. For some reason, he had a feeling Tim wouldn't like this. "Yes, we have a deal."

"Ah, good."

"The killer!" He said, raising his stern voice. "Who is he, and why did he kill Petty Officer Rafferty?"

Nick nodded. "The killer's name is Jericho." He answered, slipping off the desk. "Why he killed officer Rafferty? I can't answer that. But I can tell you what I think."

"Don't play games Nicholas." Gibbs ordered. "Why'd he do it?"

Nick slowly approached the desk, and leaned forward against it, facing Gibbs. His knuckles whitened as he strained them on the desk. "Donald Rafferty was into some very dangerous business Jethro. He was Jericho's shady moneyman on the side. Unfortunately, officer Rafferty got greedy. Figured, he knew where the dough was stored, he was smarter than his employers, so he thought he could sneak away with a bigger share of the profits."

"What was he running cash for? What kind of 'dangerous business was he into?" Gibbs asked.

"Car theft of course. Grand theft auto, illegal repo. Call it whatever the hell you want, he knew what cars were stolen, what they were worth, and how much they would go for on the underground market."

Jethro smirked. "And how, pray tell, would you happen to know this?"

"How do you think agent Gibbs? The FBI cut a deal with Rafferty. Said that they would let him go for the names of those involved in the thefts. I was at his house collecting info for my supervisors."

The cell phone rang from inside the waste basket, which Nick eyed humorously. "You should get that. Might be Jericho calling to negotiate." He said, cackling a bit.

Gibbs huffed incredibly, and reached for the phone inside the basket. Picking it up, he answered the infernal ringing. "Hello?"

There was a minute of conversation between Gibbs and his caller. "Another one? Where exactly? Okay, I'm there."

Nick grinned. He knew what the call was about. "They've found another one haven't they?"

Gibbs eyed him.

"I'm telling you Jethro, Jericho is a ruthless man. He'll tie up all the loose ends until he gets what he wants." He said, following Gibbs for the elevator.

- Capital City Brewing Co. -

Medical Examiner "Ducky" Mallard looked down at the corpse before him. "Poor fellow." He murmured. The man's eyes were wide with horror, as he stared upward at the sun. "It looks as if he died from shotgun pellets Jethro. Identical to those on our petty officer's. Though I'd have to perform an autopsy to be sure."

Gibbs nodded, his coffee in hand as he searched the crime scene for more evidence.

Ducky noticed the look on his face. "Something wrong Jethro?" Gibbs looked over at him. "You think these cases are connected." He sighed. "Well like I said, I can't be sure without an autopsy but... well it doesn't look good."

McGee's car came upon the street outside the alleyway, as he and Kate stepped out. "Got here as soon as we heard boss, where's-" He looked over as the man standing beside Ducky turned showing his face. "Oh, it's you again."

Nick smirked. "Nice to see you too Timothy. Is she your girlfriend?"

The pair blushed, while all eyes turned to them.

Collins grinned. "Of course, well if she is, hold her close. Guess who the mystery killer is."

McGee looked down. "Jericho." He murmured.

The agent approached him, and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Timothy... keep your chin up. This is it!" He said through clenched teeth. "This is our second chance. We can take care of this piece of shit for good!"

He looked back down at Kate. "Nice to meet you miss. Is he taking good care of you?"

Caitlin looked away, refusing to make eye contact while Collins remained on the touchy subject. "Well, we're not going out."

Tony grinned ear-to-ear, Gibbs just stared blankly at them.

Nick nodded. "Listen Timothy, we get the slightest lead, I want you to get that Jericho of yours loaded and the slide racked!" He turned away from them, and returned to the remains of warrant officer Carter.

The two shook off the feeling that everyone on our beloved Earth was staring them down, with eyes that burned like a thousand white suns. McGee stood over the body. "Looks like he had a bad day." He said, watching the dull green eyes staring sentry-like at the sky. There was a think odor, while McGee was careful to step around the large brown stain on the ground around Carter.

"He's killed the exact same way as the dozens of others that this monster has murdered." Informed Nick, as McGee passed by him, followed by Kate soon after. "Slugs, from the customary sawed-off shotgun." He looked over. "You okay Timothy?"

"I'm fine Nick." He answered, not bothering to face him.

Kate was confronting Gibbs about her and McGee working together on the case, while McGee and Nick cleverly parried theories about the warrant officer's death.

"He told me he had some concerns about working with Tony Gibbs, because this case is particularly close to him." It was a well thought out white lie, that wasn't far from the truth. Tim did come to tell her about not exactly being happy paired with DiNozzo.

"Sure it's just because he doesn't want to be away from you?" He told her, trying to poke at the truth. "You know you shouldn't do it Kate, I'm just trying to let you know how hard it is when it doesn't work out for you guys."

And who the hell said it wouldn't work out? She felt like screaming out, "Forget you and your damn rules you bastard! If I want to date someone I work with, then I will." Instead, she chose option number two. "There's nothing going on with me and McGee Gibbs. You're acting like Tony."

So, the man nodded. "Alright Kate, if you want to work with agent McGee, that's fine with me. I'll keep Tony back at the bullpen. But just remember-"

And here we go again. The same exact lecture he had given over a thousand times. For goodness sake, what was he? Her dad?

"Relax Gibbs. It'll be fine." She took a break from this particular sparring match, and started for Tim. He was quickly snapping away shots of the body.

"I'm starting to think you're right about telling Gibbs about us." She breathed.

"Change of heart?" Tim asked.

She shook her head. "More like an acorn sized tumor he's giving me. I can't stand his little lecture anymore!" She said. "I mean, just because he fu-"

"Kate..." Tim said, stopping her from being heard. And being heard saying what some would count as an extremely vulgar word.

She smiled warmly. "I'm sorry. But just because he screwed up with Jennifer Sheppard, doesn't mean other relationships between agents could ever work."

McGee smirked. It was fun whenever Kate was mad. So long as it wasn't him she was mad at. She went on to adorable little rants and huffed, and puffed when the incomprehensible about of words was over. He walked over and rubbed her shoulders a bit, placing a kiss on the side of her head when he thought no one was looking.

Unfortunately, there little act of affection did not go completely unseen. Nick caught Tim out of the corner of his eye and smirked. How ol' Timothy McGee landed a chick like Kate, it was out of this world.

Now, Agent Collins was never one to mock Timothy, but he did have his share of mistakes back at the academy. He was glad Tim and himself would get the chance they needed to confront Jericho again. If anything, it would almost certainly help build up Tim's own self-esteem. Which, from what he heard, could use a boost.

Author's Note: I'm kinda liking the idea of Tim and Nick being old FBI veterans. And their "unfinished business with the bureau" is kinda a cool way to make a fic. Reviews are welcome! No flames.