A/N: Hey! Update for you :) Please note this chapter contains mentions of abuse AND is really short.
Oh my God, realised my thank you wasn't put into the last chapter: THANKS A MILLION! Love you guys thank you so much for being such faithful readers and reviewers.
Although, technically, she had only met Jeanne Benoit once, Ziva knew immediately it was the girl before her.
Her husband, she had insisted, was trying to kill her. Ray…
Not only was the father of her child married to her potential boyfriend's ex, but he was quite possibly a killer.
The Israeli watched Jeanne's brilliant green eyes flicker for a second to Tony, who could only look rigid in apprehension, then back to Ziva.
"What exactly did he do?" Ziva asked calmly.
In tears, Jeanne lifted up the bottom of the white blouse she was wearing, to reveal dark purple bruises on her once perfect flesh. The entire team looked, wide-eyed, and Ziva felt Tony's hand wrap around hers.
She thought carefully then slipped out of Tony's grip to whisper something to Gibbs.
"I think you should speak to her alone," she advised.
"Why not you?" he whispered back. "You two do have a lot in common."
Ziva looked at the woman. She needed help. That was clear. She gestured for Jeanne to follow her and went behind the stairs, the one place they could be in semi-private before the maintenance crew got here to double check the elevator was OK.
"I hate to stress you out more," Jeanne apologised. "Ray's given you enough problems, I mean—"
"I know, I am not the only one," Ziva replied, remaining calm still. "He is…was your husband, and we'll protect you, but you need to tell me what happened."
The other woman inhaled deeply. "OK. After I found out about him cheating on me, I threw him out. I didn't hear from him again until last night. He came into our house at four in the morning. I was asleep but he was so loud he woke me up. I saw him coming towards me and panicked. I could smell the alcohol and I knew he'd been drinking. A lot."
"Then what happened?" Ziva asked, not liking how it was sounding so far.
"He tried to kiss me. I knew he was drunk and pushed him away and he…he started punching me." She sobbed. It was a painful memory. "He had to stop to throw up and I just grabbed my handbag and ran. He was following me, and I didn't have time to even get in the car before he grabbed me. I managed to get out of the parking lot. He was ringing my cell phone non-stop and sending me abusive text messages."
"We'll need those for evidence," Ziva interrupted.
"OK. Anyway, I knew he wouldn't leave me alone and wherever I was, he'd find me, so I stopped off at a friend's house and borrowed some clothes then headed for the airport. DC was the first place I thought of. I know the area."
"Did Ray say anything while he was at your home?" This was starting to get a little too personal than what Ziva would have liked.
"He just said something about you…that if I were gone then he could have you."
The words hit home. "No. He is not getting near either of us. We'll arrange a safe house for you and Gibbs will take care of you. There is no one better for the job."
"What about Tony?"
Ziva was shocked. "You are not serious? I mean, I have not exactly spoken to him about you…I apologise but he has a lot to handle."
"Well, I'll talk to him. I want to get things straight between us. Things shouldn't have been that bad and we both deserve to get the monkeys off our backs."
"I'll make sure that happens."
…
"Anyone care to tell me why my ex-girlfriend is talking to my current g—talking to Ziva?" Tony asked.
Crap, he thought to himself. Now McGeek's in on it.
"Ziva's your what?" the younger agent asked, flabbergasted.
"Shut it, McLonesome, and listen up: yes, Ziva and I kissed last night. Some things may have been said…I'm not really sure where we stand but right now, someone needs to tell me what Jeanne's doing here?"
"Um…" Tim stammered, trying to soak up all that information that had been delivered in the space of thirty seconds. "If I knew…I'd tell you…"
Tony, as he always did, turned to Gibbs for guidance.
"Don't look at me," he said. "I've got no idea what's going on lately."
Before Tony could say any more, the two women returned. McGee hurried to his desk and Ziva proceeded to brief Gibbs, leaving Tony and Jeanne to talk for a moment.
"Hi," he said simply.
"Hey," she replied with a fleeting smile. "I, um, just wanted to apologise for, you know, saying I wished I never met you. The truth is, I'm glad I did."
"Same here," he said, offering his hand for a simple shake. "I liked having you in my life, but I gotta thank you for making me see what I already had before you."
"Well, now that we're, shockingly, on the same page, I have to ask: why NCIS? Why not just call 911?"
"Well, three reasons. First, Ray works for the Navy, second, I know you're a really good cop and so is your boss, and third, Ziva really needed to know."
"Why? And how do you two know each other?"
"She didn't tell you?" Jeanne turned to Ziva, who was only behind her. "You didn't tell him about Ray?" she asked, quieter, but loud enough for Tony to hear.
"Ray's your husband?" Tony exclaimed. "You have got to be kidding me! You're joking!"
He kept yelling things as he walked away, towards the bathrooms.
"Well, he took that rather well," Jeanne commented.
"I think you took things pretty well too," Ziva replied. "I am glad you two sorted things out."
"You're lucky to have him, Ziva. He must really love you."
Both women momentarily stared at the place Tony had been standing.
Someone has got to start telling me things, McGee thought to himself.
…
Since there wasn't really a body to operate on, they had Ducky inspect Jeanne while Abby handled the evidence from her phone and Ziva organised a safe house. McGee was keeping BOLOs on all of Ray's things and Tony was looking into his email and bank records.
Ducky examined Jeanne carefully, and Ziva was waiting to take her to the safe house when they were done. They were seemingly friendly with each other, which Tony wasn't particularly happy about.
Once the two women had left, Ducky called Gibbs.
"Whaddya got, Duck?" he asked in his usual way, striding into autopsy to greet his old friend.
"Well, I have made an unusual discovery about our visiting doctor. Actually it reminds me of a case I worked once I was a mere ME assistant."
"Short version, Duck?" Gibbs grunted.
"The bruises were from a particular angle, Jethro. And not only that, but as she put it, they were inflicted by a male hand but there were fingernail marks on some."
Gibbs looked at him blankly.
"Well, I can't think of a motive but I would swear the injuries were self-inflicted."
Gibbs promptly walked into the elevator to see what Abby had for him.
…
"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!" Abby shouted. "You're right on time. I have news for you!"
"Always do, Abs," Gibbs replied.
"Yeah, we think this could be big," said McGee, who was by no surprise down in the lab too.
Abby blushed and smiled before remembering her job. "OK, the GPS on Ray Doucette's phone says that it was at his house in Miami yesterday, when the texts were sent."
"But I called his office and they all said he reported for work that day," McGee finished.
"The phone never left the house, Gibbs. Even when Ray did. Jeanne made all the text messages herself. And wait, there's more."
Abby smiled at McGee, offering him the big finale.
"And two weeks ago, guess who a call was placed to: none other than our friend Christopher Mason."
"How does Jeanne know him?" Gibbs asked, becoming quickly apprehensive.
"When she still lived in D.C., Jessica Mason had cancer, but survived. Jeanne was her doctor. With the way he said he loved her, he was probably there all the time," Abby explained.
"She must have still been in touch with him, and known about the killings," Gibbs said.
"I…we think, Boss, she was targeting Ziva. After all, she had an affair with her husband and hooked up with her ex, even if it wasn't intentional, maybe it just got too much."
"Is Ziva still here?" Abby asked innocently.
"No," Gibbs said solemnly. "She left for the safe house a half hour ago. She's alone."
…
A/N: And there you have it! I know this was a short ass chapter but hopefully with a nice cliffy you will forgive me :D thanks again for the reviews, you're all amazing!