Title: A Woman's Place

Author: fly casual aka pilotchick06

Pairing: Kate/ Gibbs

Warnings: This story deals with the subject of sexual assault and there is some adult language included.

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. Unfortunately.

Summary: Kate and Gibbs go undercover to find a killer that may be closer than they think.

Chapter 1

"Grab your gear! We've got a case." Gibbs said as he strode confidently from the elevator with scowl on his face. "DiNozzo gas the truck."

"What's up boss?" Tony asked, catching the car keys with ease.

"A dead NCIS agent was found in the parking lot of a local supermarket early this morning." Gibbs said at he walked toward the elevator, anxious to get to the crime scene. The rest of the team, caught off guard, had to hustle to get into the elevator before the doors closed.

At the crime scene the team was confronted with a sight no law enforcement officer ever wants to see—one of their own lying dead on dingy pavement of the parking lot. The body lay on its back; eyes staring sightless. The victim's skirt was pulled up to an indecent level and her shirt had been torn wide open exposing her growing belly. The most disturbing of all was the black and blue handprint that spanned her neck like a ghastly necklace. On the pavement next to the body was a plastic grocery bag that was filled with the remains of what was once Chunky Monkey ice cream and a large jar of dill pickles.

Kate's view of the scene had been blocked by the NCIS truck when she came around the corner she was taken by surprise.

"Oh my God! That's Jackie!" Kate said as her face paled visibly.

"She's right boss," McGee said as he looked up from the victim's purse. "According to the drivers license in her purse the victim is Special Agent Jacqueline Elizabeth Davis." Kate nodded, "She was a field agent on Melrose's team. She transferred over to the profiler squad a few months ago after she found out that she was pregnant."

Gibbs looked over to Ducky who was kneeling beside the body; probe poised to take the liver temperature.

"What have you got for my Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"Not much Jethro, you know how I don't like to speculate, but it seems that she was strangled. Judging by the size of the handprint and the strength needed to strangle someone barehanded I would venture that the attacker was male. Based on liver temp I would say that she has been dead approximately seven hours. She died sometime between eleven pm and one am."

"Was she raped Duck?"

"I won't know for sure until I do the autopsy, but it looks that way Jethro," Ducky said sadly. Gibbs sighed and stood up from where he had been squatting next to the body.

"McGee sketch. Tony bag and tag. Kate you'll take photos."

As they were going about their duties the team was relatively silent until Tony made a discovery. "Hey Boss, her badge and NCIS ID are missing; she doesn't have them on her and they're not in her car. This couldn't be the same guy could it?"

"Damn it! I have to get this guy!" Gibbs swore as he stalked off toward the truck. McGee and Kate gave each other confused glances.

"What going on Tony?" Kate asked.

"Gibbs and I have been after this killer for a while. He goes after pregnant women, rapes them with a foreign object that we can never find, and then strangles them with his hands. Worst part is this guy is perfect. Never leaves any evidence at the scene—no fingerprints, fibers, not even a single hair. We think he has killed four women, well five now, and we still have no leads. He does leave his signature though, he always takes their rank insignia."

x-x-x

In autopsy Ducky was having a chat with the latest arrival.

"My dear you did not deserve this," he said as he leaned closer to examine something caught under the victim's fingernails. "What do we have here?" Picking up a scraper Ducky harvested a few fibers from under the victim's nails. "You fought back pretty hard didn't you?" Ducky turned to a tray next to him and placed to the evidence in a container and sealed it.

"To Abby please, Mr. Palmer."

x-x-x

"What can you tell me about Agent Davis, Ducky?" Gibbs asked as he breezed into autopsy.

"I hate to say it Jethro, but it looks like the others. The exam confirmed that she was sexually assaulted with a foreign object. She was killed by strangulation just like the others, but the killer slipped up this time and left something behind. I found some fibers under her fingernails it looks like she put up a fight." Turning to look at Jackie he said "You fought like a tiger to protect your baby didn't you my dear?"

x-x-x

Even before he reached the lab Gibbs could hear the sounds of Android Lust. As the doors swished open the throbbing music threatened to overwhelm him, seeing Gibbs come in Abby smiled and hit the off button on the CD player.

"What? No Caf-pow?" Abby asked pouting.

"Sorry, not this time Abs. Have you found anything on the fibers Ducky sent you?" Just as Abby opened her mouth to answer him the computer sounded announcing a match. Clapping her hands and spinning around Abby tapped her computer keys enthusiastically to get the test results. Suddenly the tapping stopped and the Goth stared blankly at the computer.

"What's wrong Abs?" Gibbs asked looking concerned.

"This doesn't make any sense. According to these results these fibers are from an NCIS windbreaker. The only reason I matched them is because they are in the system for exclusion purposes, but the only way for those fibers to have been lodged under her finger nails like that is fighting off her attacker……." she trailed off not knowing what to tell her boss.

"God damn it! This bastard is one of us!" Spinning to face Abby he grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Abs you can not tell anyone about this. Do you understand? If anyone asks about these fibers you tell them that it was a dead end, got it? Now totally shaken Abby nodded her head weakly. Gibbs nearly ran out of the lab, his mind whirling. A few seconds ago he had had no suspects, now he had plenty of them and they were supposed to be the good guys!