Chapter Three - "Getting Closer"

"So we now we have another thing that connects them" Tony said as he pulls up the pictures he had gotten of each of the women's boyfriends on the plasma to show Gibbs. "Him" Tony said. "So far he's been known as Mitch, Michael, Malachi, Martin, Mario and now Max."

"And each time we talk to someone, they all say he isn't who he says he is." McGee added in.

"Find out who he is" Gibbs said.

"Abby's running facial recognition, but hasn't come up with anything yet." Tony said to him. "There is more Boss. He's not just picking random women and killing them. He dating them each for two weeks and then killing them. Not to mention, they all have similar looks, this isn't random at all. He's really thinking about this." Before Gibbs could say anything, his phone went off.

"Gibbs" He said as he answered it. "I'll be right down" he then shut off the phone. "Ducky's got something. Find me a name and him" Gibbs said before he left.

"I'm going to see if Abby has anything" Tony said, before heading out of the bull pen.

Ziva walked off the elevator. After her talk with Gibbs she had decided to go for some air, she just needed to clear her head. She finally decided to come back, hoping everyone would stop push her out the door. She just wanted things to go back to normal, even though she knew that could never happen. Once she turned to the bullpen, there staring right at her, was the face she never wanted to see again.

Ziva heard a knock on her door, she figured it was Tony. They had just finished talking about a case and she swore he always liked leaving something there so he could just come back and annoy her. She had soon caught on to him and made sure he had everything. She walked over to the door and opened it surprised to see Matt standing there.

"You are not welcomed here" Ziva said. She then started to close the door, but he stopped it and forced it open.

"I don't know what you said to Lily, but you're going to fix it" He snapped at her. He made sure to hold the door open so she couldn't slam it in his face.

"If she left you then I am not doing a thing" Ziva said to him. She didn't act it, but was happy that Lily kicked him to the curb. She knew he was no good and now he was proving it more than ever. "Now leave"

"If you don't fix it, David you will be sorry" Matt said to her. "And don't think about trying any of your tricks on me. I know all about you." He said as he got right in her face.

"Get out, before I make you get out" Ziva said to him coldly.

"Think about what I said" Matt said before walking away. Ziva closed the door and made sure it was locked before walking back to the kitchen.

"Ziva, you okay" McGee said, noticing Ziva's change when she walked into the bullpen as soon as she noticed what was on the plasma.

"Yeah fine" Ziva said shaking it off. "Who is he?" She asked even though she knew the answer.

"Not sure, but we know he's our killer" McGee said. "He never uses the same name. He gets close to his victims and then kills them"

"He makes them believe they are special, that they have someone that truly loves them" Ziva started to say never taking her eyes away from the plasma screen. "Makes them feel like they are safe and everything is fine. Then takes it all away in the matter of minutes"

"Ziva?" McGee started to question what she had just said.

"He did that to Lily" Ziva said as he turned and looked at McGee.

"He did" McGee asked pointing to the plasma.

"Her so called boyfriend" Ziva said quickly, hiding what she really knew.

"Ziva you can't beat yourself up over this" McGee said. "You did what you could and that is all you can do"

"It was not enough. I could not stop him" Ziva said, she looked back to the plasma.

"Stop him? Ziva If you had tried he might have killed you too" McGee said to her.

"This is a fate worse than death McGee" Ziva said to him before walking away. McGee couldn't help but agree with Tony that something was defiantly going on with Ziva, something much more than her just friend's death.

"Are you sure Abby?" Tony asked her. Abby turned to Tony and looked him straight in the eye.

"I have run it five times, Tony. He killed her" Abby said to him. They both knew how this was going to end up and it wasn't going to be good.

"Did you call Gibbs?" Tony asked her.

"Not yet, but he's bound to come up sooner or later." Abby said to him.

"And we can't not tell him" Tony said to her he then started pacing back and forth.

"You know what this means" Abby said to him. Tony stopped and turned to her.

"Yes I do. She'll be taken off the case" Tony said.

"You find anything yet Abby" They heard a voice say, they both turned and looked at the door only to see McGee walking into the lab. "You guys are more jumpy then Ziva. Speaking of which Tony…" McGee started to say.

"You saw Ziva?" Tony asked, cutting McGee off mid-sentence.

"Yeah, in the squad room" McGee answered. "She walked in after you left. We talked about the case. She made a comment that just didn't seem right. I think your right Tony; something is going on with Ziva and it's a lot bigger than her friend's death."

"Yeah much bigger" Tony said to him. "Did she say anything about knowing who the killer was?"

"No why?" McGee questioned. "Should she have?"

"Yeah" Abby said. "He's the one that killed Lily"

"That would…" McGee said realizing how he missed what was staring him right in the face. "She couldn't take her eyes off the photo and talking about him as if she knew him. But she went on to say she only knew because it's what her friend's boyfriend did to her. I can't believe I could have been so stupid"

"McGee, she could have fooled any of us" Abby said to him, as she walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Not Gibbs. He would have seen through that." McGee said.

"Did you get me a name Abby?" Gibbs said as he walked into the lab. She stopped and looked at them all, wondering what they were doing.

"Not yet" Abby said, she then brought her hand down and walked back over to her computer. "But I might have his first victim." Abby types a few things in and brings up the picture of the big screen. "Lillian Carter, Ziva's friend"

"Are you sure?" Gibbs asked as he walked over to the big screen.

"I ran it five times to make sure. The DNA and finger prints match the open case file." Abby said, wishing it wasn't the case.

"Find me a name" Gibbs said. He turned around and started to leave, but before he could even get half way to the door he was stopped by Ziva walking into the lab.

"His name is Mathew Mackenzie." Ziva said as she walked into the lab. Everyone just looked at her, unsure of what to say. "His real name." They all just stood there and looked at Ziva.