Warnings: None for this chapter.

A/N: Sorry that it has been so long that I updated but I just did not feel like writing. I was completely discouraged by some anon reviews that I have since deleted claiming that this story was hateful and disgusting. I didn't think I was bashing Ziva in anyway. Just that at this point in the series I do not think she could be trusted. Doesn't mean I hated the character and I've read/seen far worse regarding hate being spewed at Ziva or any of the other characters. I do not want to shut anon reviews off so I have gone to moderating them. So, if you are a person that leaves a guest review don't be alarmed if it doesn't post right away :)

Moving forward, if you recall Tony and Natalie have gone back to the bar and Gibbs is going to be getting some insight from Ducky on our new gal. Enjoy!

Tony pulled the Charger up outside of a rundown bar in an equally as run down part of Baltimore. He shut the vehicle down and yanked the keys out of the ignition. "Just so you know," he told Natalie, "the owner, he ah, well he doesn't like NCIS too much."

Natalie glanced at him, with a puzzled look. "Why? What did you do to him? Rough him up a bit while questioning him?"

"Ah, no...just well...might have called a favor into a buddy of mine to do a raid one night and do random ID checks," Tony said. "Turns out, they were serving underage patrons alcohol."

"How did the owner find out it was you that called in a favor?" Natalie asked.

Tony scowled as he put the keys into his pocket and opened his door to get out. "My buddy might have let it slip that it was NCIS that gave them the tip." He slammed the door shut and looked over the top of the car at her. "Maybe...you should do the questioning?"

Natalie grinned at him and shook her head, slightly. "Sure. If I didn't know any better, DiNozzo, I'd say you were afraid of the guy."

"I'm not afraid of the guy," Tony snapped at her as they walked across the street towards the bar. "Just think he's going to be...more...wiliing to talk to your pretty face than mine."

"If you guys need such a feminine touch around here, why don't you have a woman on your team?" Natalie asked as they stopped outside the wooden door of the pub.

Tony winced as he reached for the door and pulled it open. "Um, well, we did have a woman but she...ah...it didn't work out. She transferred to another post."

Natalie could immediately see him closing up to her. What had brought that on, she couldn't be certain. She detected a history between the federal agent and this woman. How much of a history she couldn't be certain but she had been a cop long enough to know the hidden meaning. Tony had a relationship with this woman and it had probably gone South and she left. "There aren't any other female NCIS agents?" she asked as they strolled into the bar.

"Of course there are but you can't just pick one out of a hat-it has to be the right fit."

"So, why don't you do auditions?"

Tony chuckled at her teasing nature, even as Gary, the owner of the bar, glared at him from behind the counter. "Hey Gary," he said, "Mind if we ask you a few more questions?"

Gary snarled. "Why should I help you, DiNozzo? NCIS nearly put me out of business and I had to fire four waitresses for serving to minors. Not to mention the Baltimore PD has made it a point to stop in every Friday night just to make sure everyone is following the rules."

Natalie found her badge and showed it to the bartender. "I'm Detective Callahan from the Boston PD. Were you here the night that Amber Hamel was raped?"

"Yeah. I was working in the back," Gary said, wiping his tumblers dry. "Girl and her friends were pretty hammered. Guys kept buying them rounds of shots. "

"Did you see her leave?" Natalie inquired.

Gary shook his head. "Nope. I went back to do inventory and when I came back out they were gone. Waitress said that Amber's friends had left her and that some guy offered to get her a cab."

Natalie looked above the bar at a camera. "Do you have footage of that night?"

"Sorry, sweetheart. Like I told NCIS-those cameras are just there for show," Gary replied. "NCIS has a sketch of the guy anyways."

"Yeah, it's not a very good one," Tony snapped. "Apparently your waitresses don't like to look at your customers' faces."

"Hey. I pay them to serve drinks. Not to have heart to heart conversations with them."

Tony frowned and opened his mouth to comment back, when Natalie put her hand on his arm and stopped him. "Thanks Gary. I think we have all we need," she said, sweetly leading him back outside.

He blinked rapidly for a second. "We have everything we need?"

She pointed across the street at the connivence store. "I bet they have real cameras. Maybe we can pull the footage and see who put Amber in the cab. Why didn't you check there before?"

"We were under the belief that it was Amber's friends that put her in the cab," Tony said with a shrug. "Now that I know it wasn't well...naturally I would have come to the same conclusion that we should go across the street to see if the store has any video footage."

"Great idea,"Natalie said, grinning as she led the way across the street. "I'm so glad you thought of it!"

"Do I detect a hint of sarcasm, Ms. Callahan?"

Natalie tossed him an easy smile. "Perhaps."

Tony felt like he should roll his eyes at her or something, but instead he smiled back, following her inside the store and letting her take the lead. She seemed surprised by that. "Well...truthfully it was your idea."

"You're not going to take all the credit?" she asked, teasingly as they entered the store.

"No. Gibbs sees through that anyways," he replied, honestly, glancing at the small woman working behind the counter.

She noticed their badges right away and frowned. "My son didn't do anything," she snapped in a thick accent.

Tony and Natalie looked at each other briefly before Tony asked, "Um, who do you we're with?"

"You are not with the Baltimore police?"

"No. Agent DiNozzo, NCIS, and this is Detective Callahan from the Boston PD. We just wanted to ask you some questions about a woman that was raped a month ago."

She took a deep breath and nodded her head. "I am surprised you have not come to talk to me sooner. Night girl was raped I saw her get into cab with a man."

Tony couldn't help the small stirrings of hope. "Did you get a good look at him?"

Natalie pulled the sketch they had out of her pocket and held it up. "Did he look like this?"

"Could be. But he was wearing glasses...hipsters is what you Americans call it I think."

"You sure he had glasses?"

"Uh-huh. Wearing a black tee shirt."

"Do you have an security cameras outside?"

The small woman tossed him a look and then sighed. "Yes. Not sure they would have gotten any footage for you."

Tony offered his most charm grin and asked her to get them the tapes. While she was off doing that for them, he noticed that Natalie was staring at the sketch. "Problem, Detective?"

Natalie shook her head. "Just trying to imagine him with glasses."

"And?"

"And...isn't anyone we've ran into today...if that's what you're hoping."

"I was...but that would be too easy."

The store owner came back then, carrying an old VHS tape, with a white label that had the date that Amber was raped. She handed it to Tony and hesitated letting it go completely. "You promise that you are only looking for information regarding the rape? Not my son?"

Tony narrowed his eyes for a moment. "What kind of trouble is your son getting into?" Natalie cleared her throat and Tony took the hint. "Yes," he said, "promise we are only looking for information regarding our case." He snatched the tape up before she could change her mind and thanked her, turning on his heel and leading the way back outside.

Natalie followed, quietly behind him, still clutching the sketch in her hand. "Hey. When we get back to NCIS do you think I could look at my file again? Or do you guys have it under lock and key?"

"It's not being filed away in Area 51 if that's what you're concerned about," Tony snarked. "Why do you ask?"

"I think...I think I've seen this man before," she replied holding up the sketch that she had now added hipster glasses to with her pen.

"From where?"

"A case in Florida. Photograph of a driver speeding through a toll the night the victim was killed."

"Did you run his plates?"

"It was the victim's car. It was how she was identified."

Tony unlocked the Charger and opened his door, leaning against it for a second. "The investigators weren't able to pull a clear shot of him to run through AFIS?"

Natalie shook her head as she opened her own door. "No. He wore a baseball cap so they couldn't see his entire face."

Baseball cap? Tony went over all the evidence collected at the scene. One item that had been found nearby had been a baseball cap bearing the symbol of the San Francisco Giants. "Was it a Giants cap?"

"San Fran or New York?"

"San Fran. It would have been black and orange-"

"I know. I'm from Boston I know my baseball."

Tony grinned. "Of course. So...was it a San Francisco Giants hat?"

Natalie nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"Because," Tony said, getting into the car. "We have his hat and we might be able to pull prints and DNA from it."

"What? You have his hat?" Natalie asked, climbing into the car excitedly. "Why didn't you try to get prints before?"

Tony sighed and started the car up, directing it into traffic and back towards NCIS. "Because it was found near the crime scene but not close enough that we thought the perp dropped it. Besides, Amber didn't say he was wearing a baseball hat."

Natalie pressed her lips together. "He must have dropped it when he fled."

"Let's get back to NCIS," Tony said. "Gibbs is gonna want to hear all this."

Gibbs stepped into the bathroom and turned the sink on, splashing the cold water over his face in the hopes that it would center him.

It had taken a lot of will power not to manhandle Amber's boyfriend like he'd manhandled Natalie Callahan. And perhaps he should have cuffed the bastard right then and there but he felt for the couple. Amber had been the victim of a brutal attack and someone as macho as her boyfriend was had to be feeling all sorts of anger. His team certainly wasn't helping matters—especially a charged up DiNozzo who was looking for any outlet to unleash his aggression.

Normally Gibbs wouldn't worry about it. Tony would figure things out on his own but after what happened in May, this case was only adding to the pressure and frustration that DiNozzo was already feeling. It was only a matter of time before the senior field agent exploded.

"Ah, Jethro," Ducky's voice said, pulling him from his thoughts, "there you are."

"Yeah, can I help you, Duck?" Gibbs asked, reaching for a paper towel to dry his face.

Ducky nodded his head. "I went over Detective Callahan's file. The young lady is a bright profiler, Jethro. She's painted an accurate description of our suspect. This man knows the Navy inside and out, perhaps still serves. He kills women because he was probably humiliated by one, dressing them in uniform to feel powerful, authoritative over them. If he is in the Navy I'd say he's probably a junior officer."

Gibbs tossed the paper towel into the trash. "All these women have the same physical appearance?"

"Yes. They did. He's replicating the woman he felt wronged him. In fact, I went back to look at the first case thirteen years ago—she was in the Navy—it's still a cold case in the NCIS database."

"She was the officer that humiliated him."

"Chances are yes. He's very good Jethro, he kills them and disposes of their bodies in rivers so DNA evidence washes away."

Gibbs sighed and turned to face Ducky. "Any way you can get your hands on that autopsy?"

Ducky nodded. "I don't see why not. I have a call into San Diego now where she was found and examined by the local coroner." He turned to go but Gibbs stopped him.

"Hey Duck, what do you think of Callahan?"

"She is smart, resourceful, perhaps a little unsure of herself, but she isn't afraid to take risks."

"Yeah, I got that impression too."

Ducky smiled and nodded. "She fits our needs, Jethro," he said simply before disappearing.

Gibbs sighed again. Yes, he was starting to feel that Natalie would fill that hole on his team nicely because no matter how much Abby wanted him to try and get Ziva back, that ship had sailed. If Ziva had stayed on his team she would have destroyed them.

Straightening up he exited the bathroom and strode back to the bullpen. McGee was at his desk working and Tony was not back yet. "Hey," he said to the junior agent, "did you get that background information I asked for?"

"Yeah," McGee said. "I put her personnel file on your desk. She was formally reprimanded two weeks ago for investigating this case on her own. Guess a witness in the case filed a complaint that she was harassing them."

"Did that lead to anything? By doing this so-called harassing the witness?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, I talked to her partner," McGee said. "According to him he wouldn't call anything that Natalie did harassment. Just that the witness might have something illegal to hide—turns out they arrested the guy a couple of days later for dealing crack."

Gibbs frowned and went to grab the file off of his desk. "Did her partner seem surprised that she was here?"

McGee shook his head. "Ah, no, boss. She, um…I guess she asked for leave time. He figured she had come down here to speak to us."

He looked at the empty desk, thinking back to what Ducky had said in the restroom just moments before. She fits our needs. Now it was just convincing her that she was the right fit and to make the move to Washington. He was asking her to uproot her entire life and judging from the glance he took of her file, she had never ventured too far out of her home city.

"Boss?" McGee questioned, making the team leader realize he had zoned out for a moment. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Gibbs said, softly. He grabbed his gun and badge and strapped them on. "Let me know when DiNozzo gets back. I'm going for coffee."

"Sure thing, boss," McGee said as the lead agent disappeared into the elevator.

Gibbs pressed the button for his floor and sighed, again, then chuckled. DiNozzo didn't need to look for a new agent after all-she came to us. Now it was just a matter of convincing her that it was right.

Abby Sciuto's music was not loud and blasting like normal. Which, made Tony slightly anxious when he stepped off the elevator near the lab. It meant that she probably was not in a good mood.

"Hey Abs," Tony greeted, casually as he and Natalie stepped inside the lab. "Got something for you."

She turned, her pigtails following suit and fixed her glare on the detective. "Who's this?" she asked, harshly. "Did Gibbs already hire a replacement for Ziva? He isn't even given her a chance to think about coming back, Tony."

He frowned slightly. "This is Natalie Callahan, detective from Boston. She's helping us with our case. And it's been...a month Abs. The team can't be down an agent much longer or Tim and I are going to explode. Ziva made it pretty clear she didn't want to come back to NCIS."

"What did you bring me?" she asked, ignoring him.

"Can you pull DNA off of that ball cap we found?" Tony wondered.

Abby shrugged. "Sure, they're might be traces of skin or hair, even sweat on the cap. Why? I thought that cap was just found in the radius of the search area?"

Natalie glanced, briefly, at Tony. "We think our suspect was wearing it and dropped it when he fled the scene."

"Well, DNA doesn't help much unless we have a suspect," Abby pointed out to her. "But I'll see what I can do."

"Great!" Natalie said, enthusiastically. "Do you think you can pull up footage from this tape of Amber getting into a cab?"

Abby looked at Tony, incredulously. Tony just smiled. "It would be helpful," he said with a slight shrug, and he wasn't surprised when she turned on her heel and shooed them from her lab.

Natalie on the other hand was a bit confused and stated, before leaving, "It was nice to meet you Ms. Sciuto."

Tony chuckled as they stepped onto the elevator. "So," he said, pressing the button for the main floor, "you survived your first meeting with Abby and you met the grumpy version. That's quite the feat, Ms. Callahan."

"Why? Is she...normally not so grumpy?"

"Happiest Goth you'll meet."

"Just not today because she thinks I took this Ziva's place?"

Tony bit the inside of his cheek as the doors opened. "Yeah. We've been through a rough patch and Abby...doesn't like change."

Natalie smiled. "Well, no one really does. Besides," she said as she got off the elevator, "it's not like I'm working for you guys."