(AN) Hello and welcome to the first full chapter of Predator; hope you all enjoy.
In this chapter, Gibbs and the team begin their investigation into Pam Brown's rape.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS; all characters and locations are owned by CBS and Belisarius Productions.
Chapter One
It was a quiet morning for the NCIS team, who were sitting at their desks and chatting away.
"So, Tim, has Delilah forgiven you for not telling her about the dead bodies?" asked Torres teasingly.
"Yeah, she's forgiven me and I apologised," replied McGee, "Though now I have to do the dishes by hand for six months."
"Should've told her as soon as it happened, man," said Torres before grinning, "Karma's a bitch."
"Hang on, I thought you told Delilah about the break in and the body under the bed?" said a confused Bishop.
"I lied so that Torres would get off my back." admitted McGee.
"Oof," said Bishop, "Well, it's true what they say: Hell hath no fury like a woman not knowing that her husband shot an intruder in their apartment and that there was a mummified body under the bed."
"Amen to that," grunted Gibbs as he appeared from nowhere and strolled over to his desk before grabbing his gun and badge, "Grab your gear: a Navy lieutenant's wife was raped up at Norfolk last night; let's go."
McGee, Bishop and Torres slung their backpacks over their shoulders and followed Gibbs over to the elevator.
Gibbs, McGee, Bishop and Torres arrived at Pam Brown's house, which was cordoned off by police tape and several police officers.
"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS," said Gibbs as he flashed his badge at one of the female officers, "You mind telling me what happened here?"
"Well, at approximately 5:30 this morning, we received a 9-1-1 call from a Mrs Pam Brown who reported that a man had broken into her home and raped her before forcing her to take a shower to get rid of any evidence," informed the officer in a grave tone of voice, "When we arrived, we found the window in the kitchen had been smashed with a brick, which is how the intruder got in. When we found out Mrs Brown's husband was Navy, that's when we called you guys. Mrs Brown and her son are now at Washington General."
"Thanks, officer." thanked the silver haired agent before turning to the others, "McGee, Torres, Bishop, go inside and see if you can find that brick and any sort of clue."
The three agents nodded before making their way into the house.
After collecting the brick, along with Pam's bathrobe and underwear and finding no other evidence, the team left and soon arrived at Washington General. Gibbs and Bishop went to interview Pam Brown, while Torres and McGee went to speak to Zack.
Pam was sitting in a hospital bed and wearing a hospital gown. The blonde looked up as the door opened and Gibbs entered, followed by Bishop.
"Mrs Brown, I'm Special Agent Gibbs with NCIS," said Gibbs, flashing his badge along with Bishop, "We'd like to ask you a few questions if that's okay with you."
"Y-yes, that's fine," replied Pam, allowing Gibbs and Bishop to approach the bed, "Is Zack okay?"
"Two of my other agents are with him now," assured Gibbs gently, "We've contacted your husband and have made him aware of what's happened. Do you mind giving us a detailed account of what happened?"
"No, I don't mind," replied Pam, "I woke up at five in the morning because I heard a crash from downstairs, so I went to investigate. When I entered the living room, a man grabbed me from behind and put his hand over my mouth and told me not to scream, he then kissed me on the cheek a few times. I managed to kick the man in the groin and run upstairs, but he caught up with me, knocked me to the ground and then dragged me into my bedroom. T-the man ripped my bathrobe off, threw me on to the bed a-and I struggled, but h-he said if I continued t-to struggle, he would hurt Zack. H-he then raped me."
Pam then shuddered before taking a deep breath.
"You're doing great, Mrs Brown." assured Bishop gently.
After a few moments, the blonde calmed down and continued to speak. "After he finished, I begged him to l-leave, b-but he ordered me to take a shower," she continued in a terrified whisper, "Zack came out of his room and I told him that me and the man were just playing a game. The man threatened to shoot my son if I didn't comply, s-so I-I went into the bathroom a-and he watched as I t-took my clothes off and took a shower. I begged and pleaded with him to leave, b-but he refused; he seemed to be enjoying what he was doing. After that, he left."
Pam broke down and sobbed loudly. Bishop went over and gave the woman a hug.
"You did great, Mrs Brown," assured Gibbs, taking notes, "Did you manage to get a good look at the man?"
"H-he was wearing dark clothes, gloves and a balaclava," sniffled Pam, "I never got a look at his eyes."
"That's okay," assured Bishop, "Do you know of anybody that would want to hurt you or has a grudge against your family?"
"The only person I can think of is my ex: Chris Baxter," suggested Pam, "After I broke up with him, he kept on harassing me until recently. He might have decided to escelate things."
"Thank you, Mrs Brown," thanked the silver haired man as he put his pen and notepad away, "We'll leave you to get some rest now. Don't worry, Mrs Brown, we'll do everything we can to catch this guy."
"Thank you, Agent Gibbs." thanked Pam.
Gibbs and Bishop then left the room.
Out in the hallway, Gibbs and Bishop walked over to McGee and Torres as they approached.
"So, did you learn anything useful?" asked McGee.
"Mrs Brown says that this creep forced her to take a shower after he'd finished raping her." informed Bishop in disgust.
"Spoke to Zack, but he's of course too young to understand," informed McGee gravely, "All he knows is that there was a strange man hurting his mom."
"Well, we might have a lead," stated Gibbs gruffly, "Mrs Brown believes that our mystery rapist could be her ex Chris Baxter. McGee, when we get back, dig into this guy."
"On it, boss." said McGee.
The team returned to the bullpen, where McGee began to dig into Chris Baxter. After a few minutes, McGee got up, picked up the plasma screen remote and started bringing up information on Pam Brown. "Pam Brown: 38; lives in the Norfolk area with her husband Navy Lieutenant Jim Brown; 39 and their 4 year old son Zack," he began as he brought up images of Jim and Zack. Jim Brown had messy brown hair and wore glasses, "Lieutenant Brown is currently overseas in Afghanistan."
McGee then clicked the remote again, making the images and info vanish and replacing them with an image of a young man with black hair. "Chris Baxter: 39," began McGee, "Single with no kids; has a criminal record for aggravated assault. Was given a suspended sentence in 2008 for drunk driving."
"Sounds like he has quite the temper." remarked Torres coldly.
"That's good enough for me," growled Gibbs through gritted teeth, "McGee, get this guy's current address: I think we need to pay Mr Baxter a little visit."
"On it, boss." replied McGee as he removed the info from the screen before heading over to his computer.
Chris Baxter was currently in his front yard mowing the lawn.
Gibbs quickly pulled up outside Chris' house in his car. Gibbs and the other three agents stepped out and approached Chris, who stopped what he was doing before giving them confused looks. "Hey, this is private property!" he snapped irritably.
"NCIS," announced Gibbs as he and the others flashed their badges, "We need to ask you some questions."
"About what?" asked Chris.
"Pam Brown." replied Gibbs in a dangerous manner.
"What about her?" asked Baxter in confusion, "I stopped trying to talk to her ages ago. It's not a crime to talk to your ex."
"No, but rape is," said McGee, "Somebody broke into her house this morning, raped her and then forced her to take a shower while they watched!"
A look of complete and utter shock came over Chris's face. "W-what? And you think I did this?" he asked in shock, "God no, I'm not that sort of person. I was annoyed when Pam broke up with me, and yes, I did try winning her back, but I'd never resort to something like that!"
"Where were you between 5 and 5:20 this morning?" asked Gibbs as Bishop's phone began ringing.
"In bed, asleep." answered Chris.
"Can anybody vouch for you?" asked Torres teasingly.
"No, but I swear to God, I didn't hurt Pam." insisted Chris.
"Gibbs," began Bishop as she ended her call, "That was Metro: there's just been another rape with the exact same MO as our first victim … our mystery man murdered the husband this time."
"What." said Gibbs in horror as his blood turned to ice.
"Boss, is this what I think it is?" asked a horrified McGee.
"Yeah, it is," replied Gibbs gravely, "We've got a serial rapist on the loose."
(AN) And that was the first full chapter of Predator; hope you all enjoyed.
In the next chapter, Gibbs and the team continue their investigation, but this predator will soon make things personal for two team members.
Until then, this is TimeLordMaster108 signing out.