Kate felt an extreme amount of panic when she heard the other boy's name. Her stomach dropped and her heart started to beat rapidly. Her hands were also shaking and she was sure her blood pressure skyrocketed. She was terrified.

"Kate, are you okay?" Tony asked his partner. She'd gone very pale and she looked like she might pass out or have some kind of panic attack.

"Paul, can you repeat your friend's name please?" Kate asked. She heard wrong. She'd been thinking of him since Gibbs told her that a child was attacked, and the first name was the same, so she just imagined his name. It couldn't be him.

"His name's Tim McGee," Paul said again.

Kate's fear doubled as she realized that it was him and that he was in serious danger. She had to find him fast.

"Kate, what's wrong?" Tony asked concerned. He'd never seen such fear in her eyes before. Hell, he wasn't sure he'd ever seen her scared at all, but right now she was completely terrified

Kate immediately fled from the room and passed Gibbs and the Jones'.

Gibbs noticed Kate immediately. "Kate? Kate, where the hell are you going?!" She didn't stop to answer him though. He wasn't even sure she heard him. So instead, he turned to Tony who came out seconds later. "What the hell is going on?"

"I have no idea. We were talking to the kid and all of a sudden she started panicking. It has something to do with one of the other boys involved," Tony said. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew it involved that boy, Tim.

"Other boys?" Mrs. Jones asked.

"Go stop her," Gibbs told his senior field agent.

Tony nodded and ran down the hall after Kate.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gibbs exited Paul Jones' hospital room ten minutes later. He'd gotten the whole story from the kid. It made him more than a little uneasy. A child's life was in danger and he hated cases like that. Tim McGee needed to be found fast.

Tony was waiting outside the boy's room when Gibbs came out. "I was too late, Boss. She took off with the car. So we're kinda stranded."

"What exactly happened DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"She flipped out when she heard the other boy's name. She was terrified," Tony said. He still couldn't understand Kate's reaction. It wasn't simply a child being in danger. She was personally invested in this boy's safety.

"She knows this boy," Gibbs said. It wasn't a question. It was the only thing that made sense with Kate suddenly going off the grid.

"Probably. Maybe he's a friend's son," Tony suggested.

"Alright, well, we've got a missing kid right now and that has to take precedence. We get a cab and head back to the office," Gibbs said. He would have to wait to find out what the hell was up with Kate. A missing kid came first.

Tony nodded and they both started down the hall.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gibbs walked through the bullpen just as Tony got off the phone. "Boss, I got the address for Alexander Rogers."

"The McGee boy?" Gibbs asked.

"They wouldn't give me any information on him. Apparently Mom has strict orders for them not to give out any information to anyone. I explained that it was an emergency, but the principal wouldn't give me anything without a warrant," Tony grumbled.

"Alright, go talk to the Rogers kid," Gibbs said.

"Yes, Boss," Tony said before getting up and heading to the elevator.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tony was seated in the living room with Alex Rogers and his parents. "Agent, DiNozzo, I"m assuming you're not here because my son was truant," Mr. Rogers said before fixing his son with a glare.

"Yes and no. NCIS certainly doesn't go around lecturing kids about going to school, but your son and his friends encountered a situation today," Tony said.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Rogers asked worried.

"It's not a big deal, Mom," Alex said.

"Oh, it very much is. Your friend, Paul is in the hospital, Alex, and Tim is missing," Tony said.

"Oh my God!" Mrs. Rogers exclaimed.

"Paul's an idiot. He should've run when that guy told us to," Alex said.

"You ran. You left two younger boys alone with a stranger and didn't get any help for them," Tony said irritated. It wasn't that the kid ran that bugged him. He was still a kid and had no way of taking on a grown man. Kids shouldn't even be expected to try something like that. Paul had and that was admirable, but no kid should be expected to. However, he should've told someone what happened, and at the very least show some kind of concern for his friends now.

Alex shrugged. "I would've gotten in trouble for skipping. Besides, the guy obviously knew Tim. I think it was his dad. They looked kind of alike. I figured he was just pissed that he skipped."

"Do you have any idea where Tim would go? Do you know where he lives?" Tony asked.

"No, I don't know where he lives. I've never been to his house. The only place I can think he would go to is a library or something. He's a geek. He reads a lot," Alex said.

"Alex! You know better than say things like that," Mrs. Rogers admonished.

Tony sighed. He doubted he would find Tim at any library. He wasn't looking for a place to read. He was looking for a safe place. The problem was that Tony didn't know where he would go to feel safe. He couldn't ask the kid's parents because he didn't know yet who they were. "Okay, thank you for talking to me."

"I'll walk you out, Agent DiNozzo,' Mr. Rogers said.

Tony stood up and followed Mr. Rogers to the door.

Mr. Rodgers followed Tony outside and closed the door. "Listen, I met Tim McGee once. I picked Alex up from school one day and the two boys were with him."

"Alright," Tony said waiting for what he had to say next. There was obviously something he wanted to tell him.

"The kid was really nervous around me. I asked Alex about it and he said that he was 'just weird like that'. Agent DiNozzo, I'm a psychologist. It was not simply shyness. Kids don't behave like that unless they've been given a reason to," Mr. Rogers said.

"You think he's abused," Tony said through clenched teeth. He hated abusers. If that kid was abused, he was going to make sure whoever did it found out exactly what it was like to be in that position.

"Is or was, maybe. I guess it's not right for me to say for sure, but something was up with him," Mr. Rogers said.

"Thank you for telling me," Tony said before heading for the car.