(AN) Hello and welcome to the first proper chapter of Incel; hope you all enjoy.
In this chapter, the team will start their investigation.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS; all characters and locations are owned by CBS and Belisarius Productions.
Chapter One
It was another quiet day in the NCIS bullpen. Tony, McGee and Bishop were talking away as they usually did when it seemed that there were no new cases.
"So, Tim, how's it going with Delilah's new job?" asked Bishop curiously.
"She seems to be really enjoying it," answered McGee happily, "She seems to have finally found a position where she's happy and respected, and I'm glad we can now be in a proper relationship."
"Ohhh, I bet you are," teased Tony, smirking, "Hey, if you need any advice on … you know, getting back into it, I'm an expert."
"No need," replied McGee, blushing slightly, "Besides, what me and Delilah do in our private time is none of your buisness, and I thought you'd learned that after trying to look at my phone."
"Fair enough," uttered Tony sheepishly, "Besides, you two deserve it after being held hostage and nearly being killed by a terrorist."
"I just hope the keeping secrets bit doesn't come between you two." said Bishop to McGee.
"You and Jake doing okay?" asked McGee in concern.
"Yeah, we still love each other, but we both hate keeping secrets from each other," explained Bishop, "But don't worry, McGee, if me and Jake can still make it work, then you and Delilah can too."
"Couldn't have put it better myself, Bishop," remarked Gibbs as he seemed to come from nowhere before going over to his desk and grabbing his gun and badge while continuing to talk, "Grab your gear: there's a dead Navy captain in Rock Creek Park; let's go."
Tony, McGee and Bishop stood up, slung their backpacks over their shoulders and followed Gibbs to the elevator.
The team soon arrived at the crime scene; Ducky and Jimmy arriving just behind them. Bishop hopped into the ditch and began snapping photos of the victim, while Tony and McGee interviewed the two joggers. The entire area was cordoned off by police tape.
Gibbs walked over to McGee and Tony, who had just finished interviewing the joggers.
"What do we know?" asked Gibbs gruffly.
"Well at 8:15 this morning, our two joggers, Pat and Frank Holland, were jogging through this part of the park. Pat fell into the ditch, which is where they found the body." informed McGee.
"Did they see anybody else in the area?" asked Gibbs dryly.
"No, boss." replied Tony.
Gibbs then turned towards Bishop, who was just clambering out of the ditch. "Find anything useful?" he asked sharply.
"Our dead Navy captain's name is Lorraine Clarkson," informed Bishop, "Nothing was stolen from her and there's no signs of sexual assault. Ducky's examining her now."
Gibbs simply nodded in understanding before walking to the ditch, where he could see Ducky examining the body.
"What you got for me, Duck?" he asked.
"Cause of death appears to be a stab wound to the abdomen," informed Ducky gravely, "Time of death appears to be 4:45AM, though why she was here so early in the morning shall remain a mystery for now."
Gibbs climbed out of the ditch and approached the three other agents. "Dinozzo, McGee, Bishop, canvas the area and try to find any clues or the murder weapon: I'm hoping that Captain Clarkson's killer was dumb enough to leave it behind."
"On it boss." replied Tony, while McGee and Bishop nodded.
Soon after, Bishop wandered over to a small pond area, where she suddenly spotted something quite alarming: the water had turned blood red. The blonde got down on her knees, reached in and pulled out a blood stained machete. "Guys, I think I've found the murder weapon." she called out.
Gibbs, Tony and McGee came rushing over. Bishop held out the machete for the trio to examine.
"Nice work, Bishop," remarked Gibbs dryly, "Dinozzo, get in touch with the park site owner and inform them that their pond water is contaminated."
"On it, boss." replied Tony.
A bit later, Ducky and Jimmy were in Autopsy. Lorraine's body was lying on one of the autopsy tables; a sheet covering everything up to her neck. As they were currently waiting for Gibbs to arrive, Palmer was showing Ducky photos of Victoria on his phone.
"How adorable," chuckled Ducky, beaming, "So, who is Victoria going to be most like?"
"Definitely her mom," replied Palmer with pride, "She's very determined and stubborn and also very cheerful. I just hope she and Breena stay safe and don't fall victim to any crime."
"Sadly, we can never control what happens in life." lamented Ducky.
Palmer put his phone away as Gibbs entered with a cup of coffee. "Any updates?" he asked, slightly impatient.
"Nothing that will help," lamented Ducky gravely, "Captain Clarkson was stabbed once through the abdomen with a sharp blade, possibly a machete, this caused internal bleeding. We also discovered that she has a sprained ankle, indicating that after she was stabbed, her assailant rolled her into that ditch and left her to bleed out."
"Then he must've tried to dispose of the weapon by throwing it into the pond." said Palmer gravely.
"Abby's trying to see if she can get any fingerprints off of the blade," informed Gibbs, "Hopefully, she'll get a match."
And with that, Gibbs turned on his heels and walked out the door, ignoring Ducky as he tried to say something.
Over in the forensic lab, Abby was typing away on her computer; her regular choice of music playing in the background. The forensic scientist didn't seem to notice Gibbs as he entered the lab.
"Hey, Gibbs," greeted Abby, who didn't even need to turn around to know it was him.
"How did you know it was me?" asked a surprised and slightly disappointed Gibbs.
"I managed to convince Director Vance to let me upgrade the CCTV in the lab," said Abby excitedly as she got up and pulled Gibbs towards the computer, "This CCTV allows me to see everywhere in the lab."
Gibbs noticed the various CCTV camera angles on the screen, one of which was right above the door. "Was the upgrade necessary?" he asked curiously.
"Hey, after all the crazy things that have happened in this lab, I felt like I needed an upgrade." explained Abby defensively.
"Ya feel like tellin' me about the machete?" asked Gibbs impatiently.
"Oh, right," said Abby sheepishly before going to her computer and typing away, "The machete is approximately 18 inches long and was in extremely good condition before being covered in Captain Clarkson's blood. I'm beginning to think this wasn't random, Gibbs: I think this was a targeted killing."
"What makes you say that?" asked Gibbs, a little impatiently.
"Well, I managed to get into her phone and found a brief text exchange between her and a man named Michael," informed Abby in a grim tone of voice before bringing up the texts on her computer, "Whoever this Michael is, he's deliberately targeted her."
Gibbs viewed the texts: the first one was from Lorraine and read 'I told you to leave me alone!' The second one was from this Michael person and read 'Please, I just want to talk. Meet me at Rock Creek Park in ten minutes.' Lorraine replied with 'It's four in the morning: why so early?' The final text read 'Because it's better to be alone. Oh and come in your uniform; just like when we first met.'
"Any luck getting a DNA match from the machete?" asked Gibbs.
"No luck I'm afraid," explained Abby, "I only got a partial print; not enough for a match."
"Good work, Abs." said Gibbs before kissing Abby on the top of her head and handing her a caf-pow.
"Update for you all," said Gibbs as he strolled into the bullpen, "Captain Clarkson knew her killer: she was texting a man named Michael, who told her to meet him at Rock Creek Park shortly before she was murdered."
"Lorraine Clarkson: 50; joined the Navy in 1990 and was promoted to captain this year," informed McGee, "Is single with no kids."
"Her sister is coming in shortly," informed Bishop, "Hopefully, she can shed some light on who this Michael is."
April Clarkson arrived and was currently sitting in the conference room with Gibbs and Tony. She was a few years younger than her sister and had dark brown hair that was tied into a bun. April had just been told about her sister's murder and was currently dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.
"I still can't believe Lorraine's dead," sniffled April in a distraught voice, "She was so sweet."
"Ms Clarkson, can you think of anybody who would want to hurt your sister?" asked Tony gently.
"Everybody loved Lorraine, I can't think of anybody," answered April quietly.
"Shortly before your sister's murder, she was having a conversation via text messages with a man named Michael, who we believe to be her killer: does this name seem familiar to you?"
"Yes, it does actually," replied April in a more serious manner, "A month ago, Lorraine went on a date with a man named Michael Hines: Lorraine told me that he was initially nice, but then it turned out that he had serious anger issues. He started going on about how women are trying to control men and that they should know their place. Lorraine decided to leave, which led to Michael hitting her and saying that she was just like every other woman."
"That's very concerning," said Tony, sounding worried, "Did Captain Clarkson report this to the police?"
"No," replied April, "She didn't think it was worth causing a fuss."
"Thanks for your help, Ms Clarkson," thanked Gibbs dryly, "We'll keep you informed of any development. Rest assured, we'll do everything that we can to find your sister's killer."
"Thank you, Agent Gibbs." said April.
Gibbs and Tony exited the room and began walking down the corridor.
"So, do you think Michael Hines is our killer?" asked Tony.
"He's certainly got strong motive," said Gibbs, "I think we need to pay Mr Hines a visit."
After finding Michael's address and getting an arrest warrant, Gibbs, McGee, Tony and Bishop arrived at Michael's house. Gibbs walked up to the front door and banged on it several times. "Michael Hines: NCIS!" announced Gibbs firmly, "We have a warrant for your arrest! Come out with your hands up, or we'll be forced to enter the property!"
After a minute, nobody came to the door. Gibbs then took a few steps back, ran at the door and kicked it open. "NCIS!" he yelled while drawing his gun.
Tony, McGee and Bishop followed Gibbs inside as they too drew their guns. The group began to search the house: McGee and Bishop searched upstairs; Gibbs and Tony searched downstairs.
"Clear!" came McGee's voice from upstairs.
"Clear!" yelled Tony, who was searching the kitchen.
Gibbs began searching the dining room, he looked at the table and saw an open laptop that was clearly still on. Gibbs approached the laptop, shook the mouse to reactivate the screen and peered at the screen; his usual stoic expression quickly turning to concern. "Found something in here!" he called out.
After a few moments, Tony, McGee and Bishop ran into the dining room and joined Gibbs at the laptop.
The screen showed the main page of a website called Fight Against The Chads and Stacys. The name of the site was written in bold, white letters. The background of the site was a dull grey. A description of the site read 'Help in the fight against the Chads and Stacys slowly poisoning our planet and oppressing men.'
"Boss, is this what I think it is?" asked a horrified McGee.
"Yep," uttered Gibbs gravely, "Michael Hines is part of an incel group."
(AN) And that's the end of the first chapter of Incel; hope you all enjoyed.
Yeah, couldn't think of a better name for this group, so that's what I'm going for.
Until the next time, this is TimeLordMaster108 signing out.