Author's Note: I've received a few questions about the sequel for Heart of a Child. Yes, it is coming. I've got the chapters mapped out right now; I'll start writing it as time allows. I hope to post it sometime this Spring or early Summer at the latest. I just wanted to take a little break from Bailey and Josie and write about Noah. Thank you all for your interest! You guys are awesome!

Chapter Two

After the rough morning at the hospital, Gibbs knew he needed to do something relaxing with Noah to help ease his anxieties and calm him down. As promised, he took the little boy to Cold Stone Creamery and they each got an ice cream cone. It was a little out of the way, a little pricey and definitely not the healthiest option but after enduring everything they had to put him through that morning, Gibbs wanted to give him a special treat.

It was a warm, sunny, mid-September day in Washington DC. Large, white, fluffy clouds floated peacefully by in the sky, birds sang as they sat perched on tree branches and the sun shined brightly down, providing enough warmth to be comfortable in shorts but not too much to be uncomfortable in long pants. After getting their ice cream, Gibbs and Noah headed outside to enjoy the beautiful day while they ate. With most children still in school and most adults still at work, the ice cream shop wasn't very busy, leaving Gibbs and Noah alone on the patio.

"Why I is wearing this dress?" Noah asked slightly ashamed. "Where is my clothes?"

"That's not a dress, Kiddo," Gibbs said. "That's a hospital gown because we had to borrow your clothes for a little while. When we finish our ice cream we'll go to the store and you can pick out some new clothes. Okay?"

Noah stared at Gibbs in disbelief. On the rare occasion his mother bought him new clothes, he never actually got to pick them out himself. All the other kids at his school showed up in nice clothes with bright colors and fun pictures on them but he had to wear somebody else's hand me downs that his mother purchased at thrift shops. Often times they were too small for him, the colors were faded and the pictures had worn off after going through the laundry too many times.

"Eat up, Bud," Gibbs said. "Your ice cream's melting."

Noah did his best to remember his manners and eat like a big boy but he was so hungry and after getting a taste of how good his treat was, he devoured both the ice cream and the cone in record time then licked his fingers and hands clean. Gibbs watched with a sad smile on his face; taking pleasure in the fact that Noah was enjoying his ice cream so much but sad that the boy had been so deprived his whole life.

After their late morning snack, Gibbs took Noah to Sears so he no longer had to wear the 'dress' the hospital had given him. Gibbs had no intention of making him walk around in the gown all day. They walked around the boy's clothing section until Noah found a pair of white board shorts and a bright blue long sleeve t-shirt with a picture of a surfer catching a wave in front of a very colorful sunrise. He also picked out a package of superhero underwear, even though he wasn't sure who any of the heroes were because he'd never been allowed to watch TV at his house and a bag of white socks with gray bottoms.

Gibbs decided to go ahead and get the boy some new shoes as well so he'd have a completely fresh start and no reminders of his old house. Noah settled on a pair of simple gray athletic shoes with a picture of Spiderman on the one side of each shoe and Velcro instead of laces. He didn't have a clue how to tie his shoes which meant he was always tripping over his laces. The little boy almost wanted Gibbs to take him back to school so he could show all the kids his new clothes in hopes they might want to play with him.

After he paid for the new clothes, Gibbs took Noah into the family bathroom and helped him get changed then the two headed back to the Navy Yard. There was still much work to be done and now that Noah was taken care of, Gibbs could focus on working his case.

"Where we is?" Noah asked as they stepped into the elevator inside the NCIS building.

"We're at NCIS, where I work," Gibbs answered as the two rode the elevator to the top floor. "I'm going to leave you with Jenny. She's really nice. You'll like her."

"Where you is going?" Noah asked staring at the bright colors in the pictures on his brand new shirt. He loved his new clothes. He couldn't think of a better reward after what he'd endured at the hospital.

"I have a little bit of work to do," Gibbs explained, "but I'm going to be right downstairs and I'll come back and check on you. Okay?"

"I will try to be a good boy," Noah said quietly almost as if he knew that were impossible.

Gibbs ruffled the little boy's hair as he smiled down at him. "You're doing just fine, Noah."

A lot had happened at NCIS while Gibbs had been out taking care of Noah all morning. News of the abused youngster had reached Child Protective Services and, because of her close working relationship with NCIS, D'Arcy McKinna was sent over to evaluate the situation. Principal Porter and Mrs. Masters from Tyler Elementary School were scheduled to drop by after school let out for the day and Christina Tate, Noah's mother, had just been brought into the interrogation room.

Tony, Ziva and Tim had also managed to get quite a bit of work done over the course of the morning. After making sure all their witnesses and suspects made it into NCIS at some point during the day, they headed over to the Tate residence with a search warrant. A search of the house revealed living conditions that weren't suitable for an adult, let alone a young child. The small one bedroom, one bathroom house sat in the middle of a known drug neighborhood with several busted out windows that had never been repaired or boarded up. The floors were littered with drug paraphernalia and cleanliness was obviously not high on the list of priorities.

Once they returned, it was Abby's turn to get to work. She busied herself by pouring over forensic evidence from the Noah's hospital visit as well as everything the team had brought her from their search. Thankfully, Tim had thought to stop and get her a Caf-Pow! to bring with the mountain of evidence they dropped off.

Gibbs was proud of his team. They'd accomplished a lot in a short period of time. Child abuse cases were the one thing in law enforcement that never got any easier with the passing time but his team was handling it like pros. They were the best, all of them, hand chosen by him, an elite team. Gibbs knew it was time to give them a break.

"DiNozzo, your turn to go get lunch," he said. "Take Noah, get him whatever he wants."

"You got it, Boss," Tony said happily.

"I'll be with D'Arcy," Gibbs said.

Jenny watched as the four year old sat at the conference table in her office and colored his picture. He was an observant little guy but overly quiet. Every few minutes he would stop scribbling and peek around the office to see if anyone had managed to sneak in without him noticing. He would look over at her until she smiled and waved at him then he would quickly turn his head back to his picture as if his curiosity was going to get him in trouble.

It wasn't long before she noticed his eyelids starting to droop and his head starting to bob up and down. He was definitely exhausted but seemed unwilling to give in to sleep. "Noah, would you like to lie down on the couch and take a little nap?" she offered.

"No," he said quietly.

"If you change your mind, you let me know, okay Sweetheart?"

Noah looked up at Jenny and nodded shyly. He was a little tired but it was too dangerous to sleep. He'd long ago learned the consequences of letting his guard down for too long. He decided to just rest his head on the table for a minute while he colored.

Twenty minutes later there was a knock on Jenny's door. Instead of calling out for the person to come in she stood, walked over to the door and opened it to find Tony standing there.

"Boss Man wants me to take Noah out and get him some lunch," Tony said not knowing the little boy was sleeping.

"Shh," Jenny said. She moved out of the way so Tony could see Noah only to realize the boy was already waking up. Noah lifted his head and wiped the drool off his face with one hand while he returned his crayon to the box with the other.

"Sorry," Tony said when he realized he woke the boy. He walked over to Noah and used his shirt sleeve to dry the drool that had made a trail across the little boy's face. "Are you ready for some lunch, Buddy?"

"I not a'ppose a eat till Mom says I can," Noah said, still groggy from sleep.

"We don't have to worry about her anymore," Tony said as he lifted Noah into his arms.

Noah sat stiffly in Tony's arms. What did he mean they didn't have to worry about his mother anymore? Where was she? What was going on? Did she know he'd gone to the doctor? Did she know he'd talked to the police? Was his mother in trouble because of him?

"Hey," Tony said gently, "everything's okay. We're just going to go get some lunch. Agent Gibbs told me to get you whatever you want."

Tony took Noah out to the sedan, buckled him in the backseat then the two headed out. Noah was thrilled when the young agent rolled the windows down so he could feel the wind against his face. It made him feel free, almost as if he were flying, as if he'd escaped the torments of the world.

"What are you hungry for?" Tony asked as he headed for the front gate.

Noah thought for a minute. He was going to be in deep trouble when his mother found out he ate without her permission. He always got an extra whooping when he stole food from the other kids' lunch boxes at school. On top of that it always made his teacher mad at him. He decided if he was going to eat, he'd better make it worth the beating. As they drove past fast food joints, Noah rattled off lists of foods that he hadn't been allowed to eat in as long as he could remember and sure enough, Tony granted his every wish, going through drive-thru after drive-thru after drive-thru.

Before heading to the conference room, Gibbs stopped off in the break room to get the child services worker an orange soda as was customary. Despite his image of 'not playing well with others' as Jenny liked to put it, he was more than capable of maintaining both personal and professional relationships. His issue came with trust. He made you earn it and it was never easy to earn the trust of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

The special agent smiled as he set the can on the table in front of D'Arcy. D'Arcy returned his smile and cracked the soda open. After a short swallow of the carbonated beverage, her eyes met Gibbs'. She steeled herself; it was time to take on another impossibly difficult case. "How bad?" she asked.

Gibbs sat down in the chair across from her after pouring himself a cup of coffee. He normally didn't drink the coffee in the conference room because it was always too weak but today he needed it. It had been a long morning and he was just getting started. "One of the worst I've seen," he answered. He took a long swig of the brew and winced as it went down; definitely much weaker than he liked. "Emotional, physical and sexual abuse. The kid's a wreck."

"I don't have anyone who can take Noah tonight," D'Arcy said sadly. Foster homes across the city were overloaded. The children who needed emergency placement often got stuck in shelters which usually ended up being just as bad as the situations they needed to escape. There simply wasn't enough of anything to go around. "I can put him in a shelter for the night and try to find him a bed in a home tomorrow but right now that's the best I can do."

Gibbs knew how fragile Noah was. He'd heard stories about what the shelters were like. He couldn't do that to Noah. "I haven't had a chance to question him yet," he replied, "he's been through enough today. Let me take him tonight. I'll make sure he gets a good meal, a warm bath and a comfortable bed. You can pick him up tomorrow, after he and I talk for a little bit."

D'Arcy smiled as she took another sip of the soda. "Sounds like a plan," she said. A reasonable compromise; both were happy with the arrangement. "Can I meet him? Is he here?"

"If you want to hang around," Gibbs said as he stood. "He's out with DiNozzo getting some lunch. They should be back soon." He paused and turned back around before exiting the conference room. "He's had a helluva day, D'Arcy. He can't handle much more."

Gibbs' way of asking her not to push the little boy; she understood. "I just want to say hello," she replied with a warm smile.

By the time Tony and Noah made it back, Gibbs had returned to his desk and was making notes on the report Dr. Jamison had given him. He had to make sure he had his facts straight before questioning the mother. He knew if she wasn't directly responsible for the abuse on her child, she likely knew who was. D'Arcy was sitting with Ziva looking at photos from her recent trip to the beach with Tony, Tim, Jimmy and Breena. Tim was sitting at his desk making phone calls and Abby was in her lab working diligently on trying to identify several DNA samples.

Tony stepped off the elevator carrying several bags from a wide variety of fast food joints and a couple boxes of pizza with Noah following behind him. "You doing okay, Tater?" he asked looking down to make sure the little boy didn't walk into anything while he was eating his popcorn chicken.

"Tater?" Tim asked skeptically.

"His last name is Tate, McGoo," Tony snapped, "it's not rocket science." He put the fast food bags on Gibbs' desk and the boxes of pizza on his desk. "I got Noah popcorn chicken and macaroni and cheese from KFC, fries from Mickey D's, a cheeseburger from Wendy's, nachos from Taco Bell, an apple turnover from Arby's and some chocolate milk and a chocolate glazed donut from the gas station down the street. I got pizza for the rest of us," he explained as Gibbs pulled another chair over behind his desk for the boy to sit in.

"The child must be hungry," Ziva said staring at the mountain of food on Gibbs' desk.

"Well, he didn't actually pick all of that. I added a few extra things for him," Tony admitted. "I just wanted to make sure he had a good variety to choose from."

"You did good, DiNozzo," Gibbs said with a slight smirk. D'Arcy approached Gibbs' desk, smiling down at the little boy as he ate his chicken. "Noah, this is D'Arcy," Gibbs said as he started unwrapping the boy's lunch. "She's going to be really good friends with us and she's going to help us out a little bit." He didn't want to worry Noah about going to a new home or stress him out over anything that wasn't absolutely necessary at that point.

"Hi Noah," D'Arcy said with a friendly smile. "It is very nice to meet you."

Noah looked from D'Arcy to Gibbs and nodded that he understood even though he was still quite confused. He was kind of tired of meeting new people. The only thing he really wanted to do at that point was eat. Gibbs unwrapped the rest of Noah's lunch and laid it out in front of him. The little boy grabbed at his selections, taking a couple bites of each item before quickly moving on to the next thing.

The group watched as he shoved handfuls of food into his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing and adding more. "Slow down a little bit, Bud," Gibbs said. "I don't want you to choke. Nobody's going to take your lunch away." Noah slowed slightly at Gibbs' instruction, heeding the agent's advice. He didn't even notice that everyone was watching him eat.

"You guys are having a party up here without me?" Abby mock whined as she rounded the corner into the bullpen.

"There's plenty to go around, Abs," Tony said, "help yourself."

"Thank you, Tony," Abby said, bypassing the boxes of pizza on his desk and walking over behind Gibbs' desk. "You must be Noah," she said kneeling next to the four year old.

Noah put a couple French fries in his mouth then looked over at Gibbs. He had no idea who this other new lady was or what she wanted to do to him; all he could hope for was that it wouldn't hurt.

"This is Abby," Gibbs said. "She's helping us out too."

Noah took one more peek over at Abby then continued eating his lunch. Gibbs ruffled the little boy's hair as he turned his attention to Abby. "What do you got for me?" he asked.

"I isolated two different genetic samples in the swabs the hospital sent over," she said, choosing her words very carefully around Noah. "One female, one male."

"Do we know who?" Gibbs asked before taking a bite of his pizza.

"The female sample is definitely a relative," Abby answered, "but with nothing to run it against I can't tell you it for sure belongs to—you know who. I have them both running right now. I'll let you know if anything pops."

"Thanks Abs," Gibbs said as the reality of the situation hit him like a brick wall. Noah had never had a loving mother, it was doubtful he even knew what real love felt like. He rested his hand on the little boy's head, silently vowing to do whatever he had to to help him.

"Am I done now?" Noah asked, thinking the hand on his head meant he needed to stop eating.

Gibbs smiled at the child and ran his thumb over his messy blonde hair. "You eat until you're full, Noah," he said with a reassuring smile.

Noah peeked up at Gibbs, sensing something was wrong at the change in the man's demeanor. The agent's smile eased his fears slightly but the confusion of the day was only building. He picked at what was left of his food until the rest of the group was done eating. Gibbs packed up the rest of his popcorn chicken and the donut he hadn't eaten then threw what was left of the food away.

"Alright Kiddo," Gibbs said turning to Noah, "I'm getting ready to go have a talk with a couple people and I need you to go with Abby for a little while. Can you do that for me?"

Noah looked from Gibbs to Abby then sank down in his chair. "What her is going to do to me?" he whispered.

Gibbs smiled at the boy as he sat him up straight in the chair. "She might color some pictures with you, maybe play a game, maybe watch a movie and eat popcorn. She might even show you her hippopotamus," he added mysteriously.

Noah cocked his head, curiosity winning out over fear. "What is a-a… what is that?" he asked.

"Why don't you come with me, Noah," Abby said offering him her hand, "and I'll show you."

Noah thought it over for a minute as he stared the black nail polish on Abby's fingers. He kind of wanted to go with Gibbs considering he didn't really know this new lady but he was wondering what mysterious thing Abby had to show him in her lab. He put his hand in Abby's and let the Goth lead him over to elevator, staring back at Gibbs as he was led him away.

UP NEXT: We meet Noah's mom and have a chat with Noah's teacher and of course more of Noah interacting with the team. My apologies to smush68… I told you we were going to have an interrogation scene with the mom in this chapter but it got too long. It's coming in the next chapter, I promise!