A/N: Life should hopefully be getting somewhat back to normal in January. Until then, I'll update as I can. Thanks for continuing to read. Also, this next bit takes place right after "Probie".
Gibbs sat down behind his desk and watched as DiNozzo and David attempted to congratulate McGee. He winced as the younger agent shrugged them off and sent them silently off to their desks. He hadn't known McGee as long as he had DiNozzo or Abby, and he didn't know as many horrible secrets about the boy as he did Ziva, but he knew him well enough to know that it was going to take awhile for him to work through this. Timothy McGee was the kind of man who was all heart. He took himself and life very seriously; often too seriously, it seemed.
He knew they all had a large pile of paperwork to work through after this case, and though McGee was the most efficient at it out of all of them, Gibbs decided the Probie needed a break. He looked down at his watch. Perfect timing.
"Muh-Gee."
Tim looked up from the pile of papers he had in front of him. He had finished most of his portion already. He was now working on something of Tony's, and he had a stack comprised of DiNozzo's and Ziva's paperwork perched precariously on the edge of his desk. Sometimes they forced him to do theirs. Other times, he snuck some of their stuff off of their desks when they weren't looking. He was quicker at it, anyway. Ziva had to translate everything she read into her mind, and translate what she needed to write back onto the paper, which slowed the usually very efficient officer down. And Tony was Tony. Tim was certain that had it been widely known when the older agent was a child, he would have been diagnosed with ADD. That and there was his whole thing with computers. If it wasn't a specific NCIS program on the computer, or a video game, Tony was terrible with them. And his typing skills were atrocious. So as long as the two of them hadn't spent the day picking on him (which would usually include dumping paperwork on his desk anyway), he would sneak in and grab some of their files to lighten their load.
"Boss?" he responded.
"Kaye's off school in just under an hour. You're going to take the afternoon and evening off and pick her up."
"B-Boss, I-I've never…I've never picked her up before. A-And, Tony knows her better…"
"DiNozzo over there has a pile of paperwork to finish, including, I'd wager, a good chunk of that stack on your desk. And I'll bet David has some in there, as well. You are going to take the afternoon off and pick Kaye up."
McGee looked nervous and confused, but he stood and gathered his things as Tony and Ziva pretended to ignore Gibbs. Coming around his desk, he was looking down at his phone to check the time when he ran smack into his boss, who held out a few bills.
"Here. You're going to take her out for dinner, my treat. Help her with her homework. I know she's been struggling on some of her advanced science, anyway. Could use your expertise. I have a few things to do tonight, but I'll send Abby to meet you for dinner, and the three of you can head back to my place when you're done. You've got a key. Just call her and let her know where to find you."
"Uh-uh, okay, Boss."
"Go to the main office, McGee. Tell them you're there for Kaye Todd and show 'em your I.D. They've got you on record. They'll show you where to pick her up."
"Right. Okay, Boss." McGee accepted the cash and looked awkwardly at his boss and teammates before hurrying out of the bullpen toward the elevator.
"And Tim!" Gibbs called. "Try and have some fun. She's a great kid."
McGee nodded quickly and entered the elevator.
Picking up Kaye. Alone. What had Boss just thrown him into?
NCIS NCIS NCIS
Kaye stared at the clock on the wall. One more minute until the bell would ring. Normally she loved school, but they had been working on their science projects all afternoon and she was bored. Kaye excelled at most subjects. Art was a breeze; it was ingrained into her from her mother. English was easy and writing was a bit more of a challenge, but she loved both. Math wasn't her favorite, but she was a natural in the subject, so she always made sure to buckle down and get it done as quickly as she could so that she could move on to more fun subjects. History and geography were mostly memorization, so they came easily to the girl. But then there was science. Parts of science were fun and easy, like learning about the earth, or animals, or even the human body. It was the other stuff that she struggled with. She had been told by her teachers that it was normal for someone her age to find it confusing, even as an "advanced learner" such as herself and the other kids at Brockton. They were working on lessons and concepts that typically weren't taught until the 6th or 7th grade. Her big struggles were physics and chemistry. She understood basics, sure, but putting them into practice in her homework and projects was another story. At the rate she was going, she would be ready to bump up into the next grade level in all of her other subjects very soon, but science would hold her back.
"Alright class, I want to thank you for how attentive you have been today. I understand that it has been a long stretch of science, but because you all paid such close attention today, we will be skipping our next science session in favor of a study period. However, if anyone would like help with their upcoming projects, that would be the time to come and speak with me."
Just then, the bell sounded and the students began gathering their things. Kaye smiled to herself her teacher was always on time for the bell. As she shoved her last binder in her bag, she looked up to see if Gibbs had arrived yet. He had told her that morning that barring any major complications in Tim's case, he would be there to pick her up. She hadn't gotten to know McGee well, yet, but from the time that she had spent with him, she knew that he was a kind man who probably was beating himself up pretty hard over the whole thing.
Seeing that Gibbs hadn't come in, she went and grabbed her lunch bag from her cubby on the side of the classroom and moved to put it in her pack. As she zipped her last zipper, she heard her name.
"Yeah, uh, hi. I'm here to pick up Kaye Todd? I was cleared at the office. They said they would be calling you? My name's Timothy McGee."
"Right, yes. They phoned just as the bell was ringing. Kaye is right over there."
Kaye looked up in surprise when she heard Tim speak his name.
"Tim!" She ran over to him and hugged him in excitement. "I'm so glad you're okay! Everything's okay…right?"
McGee was taken aback at the sudden act of affection. He stumbled over his thoughts and words. Apparently Gibbs was in the habit of informing this eight-year-old girl of the cases he was working on.
"Uh, uh yeah. Everything is okay. I…I guess I didn't do anything wrong." He said, looking down at the girl who now clung to his hand. "Wh-why don't you grab your bag and we can go? I…I'm supposed to help you with your science and then we're going for dinner with Abby or something?"
Kaye noticeably lit up at the mention of her favorite gothic aunt/big sister.
"Can we go for ice cream after dinner? Abby knows the best ice cream place. And you should pick where we eat dinner. Tony usually picks when he takes me. So now it's your turn. And science is stupid. I like earth science and human science and animal science and astronomy and I like chemistry but I'm kind of not good at it but I hate physics. It's stupid."
Tim smirked at her babbling and gently guided her out the door.
"Well, after we go over some of your homework, I think you will see things a little differently. Science is actually really cool. And who better to help you figure that out than Abby and I?"
For the first time in days, Tim forgot for just a few minutes about the shooting.
