Kate and Tony arrived at the park about fifteen minutes later. Gibbs was there waiting with a couple of other agents to search. Tony had called him right after they'd left Kate's apartment.

"Hey, Gibbs. Look, I'm sorry…"

"Don't," Gibbs cut off.

"Gibbs, you may not believe in apologies, but I do and I owe you one," Kate said.

"No, you don't. You found out from a victim that your son was nearly abducted. You did what you thought was right for your child. Wish you'd come to us, but you don't think clearly when your kid is in trouble," Gibbs said. He knew he probably shocked everyone there by saying this, but he did get this. He'd had a child too. He couldn't say what he would've done if Kelly had ever disappeared. The situation hit a little close to home for him because Kate's son was around the same age as Kelly was when she was killed.

"Thank you," Kate said with shock etched in her voice and on her face.

"You got a picture, Kate. We need some idea of who we're looking for," Gibbs said.

Kate nodded and pulled a wallet sized picture from her pocket and handed it to Gibbs.

Gibbs looked at the picture for a few seconds and then handed it to one of the agents behind him. "You two take that with you. We'll be splitting up. Kate, you go with Tony."

"Uh, Gibbs, don't take this the wrong way, but my son takes one look at you and he's gonna be terrified. I think I should go with you," Kate said. Honestly, all these people were going to scare the hell out of Tim. He didn't like strangers. He was always worried that one would hurt him. She could thank John for that fear. But Gibbs would frighten him the most. Kate had seen Gibbs with kids and he was amazing, but first glance was pretty scary. Her child was probably already terrified. She didn't want him frightened any further.

Gibbs nodded curtly and motioned for her to follow him.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim McGee was sitting against a tree in the middle of the woods hugging his knees and trying hard not to cry. He was really scared. His father had popped up out of nowhere while he was in the park with his friends. Seeing the man alone terrified him. He hadn't seen his father since the last time he hit him. He would hit him a lot when no one was around and would call him names. He was glad when he didn't have to see him anymore.

Things had gotten really bad after his dad showed up. Alex ran away and then Paul attacked his father and told him to run. Tim didn't want to leave Paul there, but he was really scared of what his father might do to him, so he ran into the woods. He'd hoped that he could hide behind the trees and his dad wouldn't find him. That seemed to work, but he ran so far that now he didn't know where he was. He had been there all day. It was dark now and he still had no idea how to get back.

Tim shivered a bit. It was getting really cold and he had a really light jacket on. He was also really hungry. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. He wanted to go home. He knew it wasn't a very grown up thing to think, and Alex would make fun of him big time for thinking it, but he wanted his mother. If he saw her, he'd know things would be okay.

Tim wished to God that he hadn't let Alex talk him into skipping school. He knew that was wrong and that he'd be in big trouble if his mom found out, but Alex said you did that sometimes when you were cool. He said that if he and Paul didn't do it too then they weren't cool enough to hang out with him. Tim didn't have any other friends but Paul and Alex, so he agreed.

"Tim!"

Tim immediately stood up, startled by the male voice that called out to him. He didn't know that voice, but somehow the man knew him. He was scared. The man didn't sound mean, but he didn't like strangers. He always worried that the person would be like his dad and try to hurt him.

"Tim, if you can hear me, say something, buddy! I wanna take you to your mom!" the man yelled.

Tim wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to go home to his mom, but what if the man was lying. What if he was really trying to help his dad get him. Even if he wasn't, the man was a stranger. He'd been taught just like everyone else at a young age that strangers were bad. But this was the only chance he had of getting home. "I...I'm over h...here!"

Tim's heart pounded as he heard footsteps. Then he saw light from a flashlight as a man came towards him. He instantly took a step back, now regretting his decision to call out.

"Hey, buddy. My name's Tony. I work with your mom," Tony said with a reassuring smile. He made sure not to go too close. He could tell the boy was terrified, both of him and the situation, and he didn't wanna scare him further.

Tim remembered that name. He heard his mom talking to his Aunt Rachel on the phone one day about someone named Tony. He wasn't sure if this was who she was talking about though. A lot of people had that name.

"Your mom's really worried about you. Can you come with me back to her?" Tony asked.

"W...Why isn't she here?" Tim asked.

"She's here in the woods. She's looking for you with our boss. We've been looking for you all day. Your friends told us what happened and we started looking," Tony said.

"Is P...Paul okay?" Tim asked.

"Yeah," Tony said simply. He wasn't going to tell the kid that his friend was in the hospital. Kate would do that at some point. The kid didn't need the undeserved guilt that Tony knew he'd feel

Tim breathed a sigh of relief. At least he didn't have to worry about Paul anymore. He was still scared for himself though.

"Do you think we can go now?" Tony asked.

Tim was still very hesitant to trust this man. He didn't know him and he wasn't sure he could trust what he said

"I won't hurt you, Tim. I just wanna help you and your mom. Will you please let me?" Tony asked before holding out his hand.

In the end, Tim's desire to his mother and go home won out over the fear and he hesitantly walked towards the man.

Tony smiled. "Great. I need you to take my hand. It's starting to get really dark and I don't want you to get lost again."

Tim very hesitantly reached his very shaky hand out and placed it in Tony's. He couldn't help but flinch when the man gently tugged at his hand.

"You watch a lot of movies, Tim?" Tony asked.

"S...some," Tim stuttered.

"Well, I'm a movie buff, so I think that's what we're gonna talk about while we find your mom," Tony said as he led him away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Kate and Gibbs were walking through the woods, both carrying flashlights. Kate was worried. Well, she'd been worried all day, but they'd been looking for a while and there was no sign of her son. She was afraid he wasn't sure, and if not, she didn't know where he was. "Tim! Tim, it's Mom! Answer me please, Baby!"

"Alright, Kate, we're not going to assume this yet, but just in case, if your ex-husband did get him, any idea where he would take him?" Gibbs asked. He'd had Kate fill him in on everything she knew or suspected while they searched.

"If John has Tim, he's taking him away, probably out of the country. That's the only way he'd be able to keep him from me. He knows I have a lot of connections," Kate said. She tried very hard not to think about her ex-husband having Tim. She didn't wanna think about him in that bastard's hands.

"He have any connections?" Gibbs asked.

"He has a few Navy buddies, I'm sure. Most of them turned on him when they found out he was a child abuser though. Tim!" she yelled again.

"We'll find him one way or another, and this bastard will pay," Gibbs promised.

"Mom?"

Kate turned her flashlight to the right just in time to see Tony come through the trees with her son holding his hand. She let out a huge sigh of relief. Her boy was safe. "Thank God. Come here," she said as she crouched down to her son's level.

Tim let go of Tony's hands and ran into his mother's arms. "I'm glad you're here, Mom. I got lost. Dad was there and I ran."

"I know, sweetie. It's alright. He's never getting near you again," Kate said as she rubbed his back soothingly.

Tim pulled away from his mother after a minute. "I'm sorry, Mom."

Kate sighed. She knew her son deserved a lecture and he would get it later, but right now she wanted to make sure he was okay and then get him home. "We'll talk about it later, buddy. Are you okay? Were you hurt at all?"

Tim shook his head.

"Well, we're going to take a ride to see a friend of mine to make sure," Kate said. She planned to take him back to NCIS to see Ducky, since all doctor's offices would be closed by then

"A doctor?" Tim asked with a groan. He hated doctors.

"Yes. You'll be fine. Then we'll get you something to eat and go home," Kate told him.

Tim's stomach grumbled just at the mention of food. "Okay."

"Tony, go with them. I'll let the other agents know we found him and meet you in the parking lot," Gibbs said.

Tony nodded and started off with Kate and her son.