Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or any of its characters.

Learning to Trust

A/N: Tim has not joined the team in this story and is not even an agent. He will play a huge role, but in an entirely different capacity, as he is much younger in this story.

Special Agent Caitlin Todd made her way through the bullpen of NCIS. She was in a bit of a mood. She didn't get much sleep the night before and it showed this morning. She was exhausted. She just hoped it would be a quick and quiet day. Although, with Tony, the quiet thing might not work out so well.

"Morning, Kate!" Tony exclaimed.

Kate groaned. She was right about the quiet thing. "Tone it down, DiNozzo."

"Are you hungover?" Tony asked shocked. Kate wasn't the kind of person to get drunk on a weeknight.

"No, I'm tired. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," Kate said as she sat down and started getting herself settled in.

"Why not? What were you doing last night?" Tony asked with a grin.

"Nothing that your gutter of a mind has come up with," Kate said. There was nothing sexual about her night, nor was it anything Tony would guess. Tony would be godsmacked if he knew what her personal life actually included.

"What kept you up then?" Tony wondered.

Kate shrugged. "Just couldn't sleep."

"Well, not sleeping now," Gibbs said as he walked passed them.

"Case, Boss?" Tony asked.

"Uh huh. A Navy Lieutenant Commander's son was attacked this morning," Gibbs said.

"Oh, man," Tony said with a cringe. He hated cases involving children. He didn't see them as often at NCIS, but he saw them a bit as a cop and he hated them every time. Hurting a child was just evil.

"A kid?" Kate asked in horror.

"Yeah, nine-years-old. He's still alive. He's at the hospital. Let's go," Gibbs said.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The team made their way through the hospital and approached a couple. The man had short wavy brown hair and was wearing a navy uniform while the woman had shoulder length blond hair.

"Lieutenant Commander and Mrs. Jones?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, it's about time you guys got here. My son was attacked," Lieutenant Commander Jones said.

"Jake, don't. Excuse him please. We're just really upset about Paul," Mrs. Jones said.

"We understand. How is your son doing?" Kate asked.

"They say he'll be okay. He has a concussion, a couple of cracked ribs, and some bruises. We were really worried about him though. Who would attack a little boy like that? And why our son? We've only been in the area for about a month," Mrs. Jones said.

"I was just deployed here," Jones said.

"We will find out who did this to your son, we promise," Kate said. That was a promise she'd keep. She absolutely despised people who took whatever issues they had out on little kids.

"We're gonna have to take to him," Gibbs said.

"Of course. I'll come with you," Mrs. Jones said.

"Um, actually, it's better if we do it alone. It's just that sometimes children are more forthcoming when their parents aren't around. I promise we'll do everything we can not to upset him further," Kate said.

Mrs. Jones reluctantly nodded.

Kate and Tony immediately headed for the door to boy's room. "Let me handle this, Tony."

"Uh, not sure that's a great idea, Kate. I've interviewed kids before, you haven't. Have you even been around kids before?" Tony whispered.

"I know how to handle it," Kate said before walking into the hospital room. In the bed, she saw a little boy with light brown hair and blue eyes. His face was covered in bruises. It broke Kate's heart and also made her angry. She intended to beat the crap out of the bastard who did this. "Hi, You're Paul, right?"

The boy nodded.

"I'm Kate and this is Tony. We're with NCIS. Do you know what that is?" Kate asked.

Paul nodded and then shifted a bit uncomfortably. "My dad told me. You're the police for the navy."

Kate could see that the boy was scared and very intimidated by them. The poor kid probably thought he was in trouble. She had to get him to relax a bit. "That's right. I used to be with secret service too."

Paul's mouth popped open in awe. "Really? Did you meet the President?"

Kate chuckled. "Yes, I did. I protected him."

"That's so cool! So you've been to the white house?"

"Uh huh."

"What's it like there?" Paul asked.

"It's pretty cool. It's really big. Although, there a lot people there, so it has to be big. I'd guess you've been to some cool places though. Your dad's an important guy. What's it like traveling to different Navy bases?" Kate asked.

Paul shrugged. "I've lived on them my whole life. I really just wish we'd stay in one place. I don't like moving so much."

Tony watched the exchange. He was impressed. Kate had gotten the kid to relax pretty quickly. He was surprised. He didn't think Kate had any experience with kids. She didn't have any of her own and she wouldn't have dealt with them in the Secret Service. She must just be a natural.

"Yeah, that's probably less than fun. Maybe this will be your last move for a while," Kate said.

Paul shrugged.

"Okay, now we have a few questions we have to ask you. Is that okay?" Kate asked.

"Am I in trouble?" Paul asked, getting a little nervous again.

"Absolutely not, honey. You were the one that was hurt. You have done nothing wrong," Kate assured him.

"Yes, I did," Paul said quietly. "I wasn't supposed to be at the park."

"You were skipping school?" Kate asked.

Paul nodded. "It was Alex's idea. Tim and I didn't want to, but he called us babies."

"I'm guessing Alex is older than you?" Tony spoke for the first time.

Paul nodded. "He's eleven and he's really cool. He said cool kids skipped sometimes. We wanted to be cool like him. If we didn't do it, he would make fun of us and maybe get the other kids to too."

"Where are your friends now, Paul. Were they hurt too?" Kate asked alarmed. They were now facing the prospect of other kids being hurt as well. If that was the case, they had to find them.

Paul shook his head. "No. When he got there, he told told me and Alex to get lost or we'd suffer. Alex ran right away. I didn't. I couldn't let him hurt Tim. I got in front of him and told him to leave my friend alone. He wouldn't. He was screaming at him to go with him. Tim was really scared, so I rushed the man and told Tim to run."

Kate and Tony glanced at each other. They both knew they had to find this other kid soon. He was in a lot of danger. "We need to know Tim's full name, Paul," Tony said.

"Tim McGee."

That one name nearly had Kate fainting. She knew it. She knew that boy very well.