A/N: Name and description of the park - mine.

OC Characters - are mine (Literally - Shyanne is my granddaughter - Andrew is her father) Last names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Also - a bit of A/U applied to the family status of my OC's. Thankfully - None of the story's deceased are gone in real life.

Oh - and the discrepancy in the little sister's name - belongs to Shyanne. (Literally) She calls her Kira - and we attempt to correct her by pronouncing with the emphasis on the part she gets wrong. "Kiara"


"DADDY! DADDY!"

His heart stops at the terrified screams of a child. The coincidence is too damning – the fact that he's just left the presence of a child with her father – and now this heart-wrenching… Tim whips around and freezes in horror. Even from here, he can distinguish the figure of five year Shyanne, terrified and screaming on the ground in a heap, next to the still form of her father laying motionless at her feet, the jogger standing over the fallen man, reaching out to him with, wait is that something in his hand?. Without further hesitation, Tim's off like a shot in their direction, trying to get there faster than his feet can carry him. "Hey!"

*****NCIS*****

The man who she'd just seen walking fast from the woods, now stands over her daddy and bent down to say something to him. There's something in his hand but she doesn't know what it is. With her hands and knees hurting from where she'd fallen, her tears come on their own and for a minute her eyes are on her own boo-boos and not on her daddy so she doesn't see the push the object closer to her daddy's chest and pull the trigger or see him leave. But Daddy's still not moving and that is very scary! Turning her eyes back to his still form, her fears take over because what's even scarier is that his white shirt is turning red now. Even as she hears Mr. Tim yell out in the distance, Shyanne yells out. "Daddy, get up!"

*****NCIS*****

He can't be in two places at once he realizes as the jogger takes off in the opposite direction from Tim, moving too fast for him to be easy to catch. Besides the fallen man's life is more important right now. Tim's heart is up in his throat even before the next fear filled scream from the distraught preschooler rents the air.

"Daddy, get up!"

Dropping to his knees at the little girl's side, he tries to calm her as he looks the downed man over. "Okay, Shyanne. Mr. Tim's gonna help. Sssh Calm down, okay?" Spotting the quickly growing spot of red on the man's shirt, he whips out his phone and speed dials 9-1-1 with one hand, tucking the phone under his chin as he shrugs out of his light windbreaker and uses it to apply pressure on the wound.

"Timothy McGee, NCIS Agent. I'm at McArthur Park, got a man down – looks like he's been shot. He's on the hill right before the dip where the playground sits. Hurry please!"

Snapping his phone shut, he glances at Shyanne as he applies pressure to the fallen man's wound. "What happened, honey?"

"HIM!" Shyanne yells angrily as she points with her middle finger, towards the retreating jogger who, for some reason seems to have slowed down as if maybe he's thinking he's gotten away with this. At this moment the guy is whipping the ski-mask from his head while stuffing his hand into his pocket as he walks fast, heading toward the parking lot. Storing that in his memory, Tim quickly returns his attention to the man needing medical attention. "C'mere, Shyanne. Daddy needs your help okay?" He distracts her with what's more important.

"Okay." The little girl steps even closer to her daddy.

"Push down with both hands right here. Okay?" He looks at her little hands and thinks better of it. "No. better yet, sit here on top of my jacket. This is very important, Honey. Don't wiggle and don't get up, okay?' Seeing her hesitation, he reassures her. "Honey, you won't hurt him. He needs you to sit on this right now, okay?"

"Okay." She answers, her voice small, scared and heart-breaking.

"Good girl. ll be right back." Tim encourages her, hoping she'll fall in with what he's saying and actually move real soon because time's wasting. "I need you to stay right there until I get back. Okay?" He really wants to catch the bastard who did this but not at the expense of Andrew's life.

"You're leaving me?" She cries pitifully without moving any closer to her daddy's wound.

"No! I promise, I'm not leaving you. But, I have to catch the bad guy who did this okay? I promise I'll be right back." Tim looks at her pleadingly.

"Gammy says a handshake means you keep your word." Shyanne says firmly. Her eyes brimming with tears.

"I'll handshake on it, sweetie – but I have to run fast to catch him first okay? Hurry, help Daddy now while I'm gone. Okay?"

"Get him, Mr. Tim! He hurt my daddy!" She encourages him as she sits down beside his hands on the downed man's chest.

"Good Girl." Tim adjusts her position so she's sitting directly on the wound and holding back the bleeding. He steps back, taking time enough only to pull his backup weapon out of his sock before giving chase. "Remember, don't wiggle or get up. Okay?"

"I know. Mr. Tim. I know. Daddy, it's okay. Mr. Tim's gonna catch the bad guy and you'll be okay." Shyanne announces firmly, her eyes plastered to her daddy's face. "Right? Daddy? Daddy?"

With the five-year old's heartfelt words in his ear, Tim's gone, once again his heart up in his throat as his anger pumps energy into his strides. Damn it, this bastard needs to be brought to his knees for doing something like this! He pours all of his training into his motions as he works hard to gain some ground on the quickly moving culprit

Thankfully, the guys not actually running so it's not long before Tim's within range. He aims his weapon, and shouts at him. "NCIS! STOP!"

Startled, the man turns around. Immediately looking back in the direction of the fallen man, he starts laughing. In fact, he's soon laughing so hard, he's literally doubled over from the effort and Tim's handcuffed him before he even realizes it.

"You think it's funny, to shoot a man in front of his 5 year old daughter?" Tim snaps off angrily.

"Hell yeah it was funny. They call it a silencer for a reas…wait, what did you say? 5 year …. Oh, Jesus… I didn't even see her there! Oh, my God! Shy!" Now, the dirt bag is no longer laughing. In fact, he genuinely looks horrified.

"What kind of a person does that in front of a child?" The NCIS Agent demands. "You expect me to believe you didn't hear her or see her walking next to him?"

"I didn't see her there, man – I swear! All I saw was red! Oh, my God I tripped over her and didn't even realize it!"

"Why would you…wait…you know them?" Tim demands in bewilderment. The man's use of a nickname for the 5 year old screams of personal vendetta against her father, the intended target. Taking a second look, Tim realizes not only that, but the relationship between this guy and the victim is unmistakable. They have to be related somehow, they look too much alike not to be. It turns the fire up on Tim's anger into white hot fury. "What kind of person does this to someone they know – especially if they have kids?"

Glaring back at Tim now, the guy has one thing to say. "I want a lawyer!"

*******NCIS*****

Shyanne is surprised by the arrival of lots of people, all at once – some wearing blue clothes and some wearing white clothes. Only two of them try to talk to her at once though. Still it's confusing as the one wearing white tries to make her get off her daddy's chest and the one wearing blue tries to ask her questions she doesn't understand. Finally, she can't take it anymore. "UH HHH! MR. TIM!"

"He's lucky I shot him. I was gonna gut him like a fish!" The guilty man spits out angrily, as if suddenly angered enough to revoke his right to remain silent.

Jerking on the man's handcuffed wrists, Tim hurries him back toward the downed man and his distraught daughter as the little girl's panicked shout for him rents the otherwise calm afternoon. "Do NOT say that in front of that little girl!"

Tim pushes his handcuffed criminal into the hands of the first metro cop he sees on the scene; issuing him an order –"Read him his rights! And DON'T let him go anywhere near that little girl or say anything to her!"

"No! I'm helping Daddy! Mr. Tim said so!" Shyanne's belligerent tone is loud and strong.

Sprinting towards her, Tim returns to the crowd of cops and E.M.T.'s surrounding Shyanne to find her staunchly refusing to cooperate with the E.M.T. trying to help her father.

"No! Mr. Tim told Shyanne to stay right here!" She cries as strong arms attach themselves and attempt to lift her from her father's chest. "Daddy, get up!"She wails as she uses her hands to push on her daddy's unmoving arm.

"Let her go!" Tim requests firmly, his tone bordering on fury. "Let me talk to her."

The uniformed people step back but not far. Time is of the essence here. "Hurry."

"Mr. Tim!" Shyanne's relief is heart-breaking as her small arms reach for him, tears running down her already tear-streaked face. "They tried to make me move, but I told them…"

"I know, sweetheart, I heard what you told them. And you did a great job sitting on Daddy's wound, okay? But these people in white? They're here to help Daddy, now. Okay? You can come with me and let them take care of Daddy right away, okay?" Tim picks her up, but set her down on her feet, holding onto her hands, bending down at the knees and looking into her eyes as he speaks to her "It's their job. And we need to let them. Now, I owe you a handshake, don't I?"

"Yes! You do!" Shyanne replies firmly, her little hand going to her hip in a Prima Dona stance that has Tim's mouth quirking into a grin.

Putting his hand out, he welcomes her own hand in a genuine handshake.

"This is how Gammy promised things." She announces proudly as she keeps her hand in his for a minute longer.

"Gammy kept her word to you." Tim marvels on her level.

"To me and Kira - all the time!"

"That's important. Right?"

"Yes! Even Mommy and Daddy said that. Kira too!" Her eyes move back to her father as the downed man now laying on a medic's gurney is rolled toward the walking path. "They're taking my daddy?" Shyanne's tone is becoming agitated and louder as things in front of her keep changing. "Where are they taking Daddy?"

"Honey, it's okay. I promise you. They're like doctors. Okay? They're helping him but they have to get him to place where there are more doctors. Okay?"

"But, he's okay, right?" She asks Tim point blank. Her eyes demanding the truth.

"I'm not going to promise that, honey because I don't know. That's their job. To help him. So we have to let them, okay?"

"But you said it's okay!" She argues angrily.

"Honey, I said it's okay for them to help him. Because it's their job and we need to let them do it." Tim gently reminds her. "I'm not making you any promises I can' keep. Okay?"

"Okay." She whimpers. "Don't leave me?"

"C'mere." He encourages as he opens his arms and moves to lift her up into them. "I promise you this – I won't leave you."

"Kay" Cushioned in his arms, she cries against his shoulder, her own small shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs. "I…***sniffle*** want **sniffle*** Mommy!"

"I know sweetie. I know." Tim tries to comfort her as he uses his back to carefully straighten up and to stand to his feet without letting go of her. Glaring at the Metro cops waiting to question her again after their failed first attempt, Tim sternly yet without raising his voice, tells them off. "There's no reason to make this harder on her than it has to be. I already handed off to you guys, the guy who did it!" Nodding his head in the direction of the still sitting handcuffed man.

"Yeah? Wanna tell us how you just happened to do that, Mr. NCIS?" The youngest looking metro cop there, sneered, seemingly oblivious to the distraught little girl in their midst.

"Look, I'll answer any question you have. Once. Anything more than that will mean you calling my boss since you'll have to call him and tell him why I'm late getting back to work." Tim replies, instinctively wrapping his arms a little tighter around Shyanne, whos' beginning to grow quieter as she nestles more comfortably into his hold. "And don't expect me to say anything that's going to upset her."

"In other words, you're refusing to cooperate." The smart-assed cop jibes.

Tim rolls his eyes. "Not what I said. Look just point me in the direction of your supervisor and I'll answer his questions instead. Will that work?"

"Uhm, No. We're good." Mr. Attitude concedes as he whips out his notebook that instantly puts Tim in mind of Gibbs.

"Yeah?" Tim quietly challenges with the Gibbs-patented lift of his eyebrows while he gently shifts Shyanne in his arms as he feels her slide into an exhausted slumber.

"Yeah, we're good."

"Actually, Officer Tate." A new voice throws itself into the conversation, in the form of a female metro cop. "You need to take this over to the bench over there. The little girl is asleep. Have a heart and let this poor man sit down with her, will you?"

"Was just gonna say that, Joanne."

"Sure. Oh, and Captain Reynolds is looking for you."

Glancing around, the smart-mouthed cop seems to shrink in his shoes as he spies an older, taller cop heading in their direction. "Must have followed your scent." He mutters.

"What was that, Tate?" She demands with quiet fury.

"I said he's comin' over here."

"Uh Huh. Still a pig, huh, Tate?" Joanne snipes. "Mr?" She turns to Tim, waiting for him to introduce himself.

"McGee. Tim McGee, NCIS"

"NCIS." She marvels as they walk toward the bench. " Coincidence?"

"Me being here? Absolutely. I was on my lunch hour, actually. Sitting over there on that bench when Shyanne here and her father were walking by. She spotted my badge when the sun shone on it. They stopped for her to look at it. They were on their way to the playground over there when I headed back to my car. Next thing I know, Shyanne's screaming for her dad. When I turned back to look, he was on the ground at her feet and that piece of….was standing over him. Did something to him, then took off real fast."

"You didn't waste any time taking care of things." She admires.

"Instinct – Comes from years on the job – under the right boss and training, I guess." Tim embarrassingly admits.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, Son." A deep, rough male voice speaks up from beyond Tim's vision Turning his head slowly, the NCIS agent now realizes he's already said what Metro LEO's needed to hear – to an actual Metro Cop supervisor. "Damned good job done, here. Damned good. You helped save the victim, kept the very vulnerable and scared witness as calm as possible under the circumstances and nailed the dirtbag responsible. Couldn't ask for more – from anybody"

Nodding. Tim quietly speaks his thanks as his eyes take in the nametag on the man's shirt. "Thank you, Sir. Does this mean you're done with me, Captain Reynolds?"

"We'll need your written statement of course." The older man replies with a small smile that speaks of his respect for Tim's handling of the situation.

Again, Tim nods. "Sure."

"But, you can take care of that after we get this little angel settled." The older man points to Shyanne, his face a picture of compassion. "Child Protective Services has been notified. They're on their way.

"Oh." Tim's heart drops. The last thing he wants to do is release this little girl into the world of Foster Care, bouncing from one home to another "Isn't there some way she wouldn't have to go through that, Captain?"

"She's already on your heart, heh? Not that I don't understand. I mean look at her. The poor thing" Captain Reynolds lets Tim see he's human. "Look, Agent McGee. I'm a grandfather, myself. I know I'd hate like hell to see one my little granddaughters put in Child Protective Services. But unless we find some family members…? You know how it works. We don't have a choice."

"She and her father were talking earlier about Shyanne forgetting for a minute that her sister, mother and I think both grandmothers recently died in a car accident." Tim informs them. "Add that to the fact that the guy who did this knows them personally – and I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess you're not going to find a reliable family member."

"Doesn't sound like it." Captain Reynolds sadly agrees. "But we'll give it our best. Tell you what, it's obvious that she's attached to you – so, you can hold onto her until they get here."

"I'm not letting her go at all unless and until I have to, Captain. I promised her I wasn't leaving her and I meant it. She's already learned to value a person's promise to her."

"Son, that's not a promise you can keep. Not letting go of her."

"I'm gonna do whatever I have to, Captain." Tim argues. "But, right now, I have to call my boss. It's a lot later than I'm supposed to be getting back to work." Tim sits down on the bench and shifts one arm around until he can get snake his hand down into his pocket and get his phone out without disturbing Shyanne while she continues to sleep on his shoulder. Flipping it open, he calls Gibbs.

"Hey, Boss. I know… I know… I'm sorry. But, something came up."

"Lemme talk to him, son." Captain Reynolds holds his hand out for the phone and Tim adds his name to the attempt to placate the man on the other end. "Boss, the Metro Police Captain on the scene wants to talk to you." Handing over the phone Tim tells the man trying to help out what he needs to know, "Agent Gibbs."

Captain Reynolds nods, takes the phone and walks away. "Agent Gibbs? Captain Reynolds, Metro P.D. Yes, Sir, here's what we've got.…"

********NCIS***********

"Agent McGee. I know she's traumatized but we really need to take her and get her settled in somewhere for the night." The matronly woman from Child Protective Services says sadly. "We have trained professionals on standby to help deal with this sort of thing. I promise we'll dig deep to try to find members of her family before we have to even think of placing her in a temporary foster home."

"Look. She hasn't let go of me since it happened. You can't rip me away from her like this!" Tim objects in an angry stage whisper so as to not wake Shyanne up from where she's still napping on his shoulder.

It's been a tiring forty minutes since Shyanne's screams first brought Tim running. And right now, things seem to be spiraling out of control for the little girl's future. It's taking all of Tim's inner strength to stand here and fight it out, rather than just tighten his hold on her and walk away in defiance. Fighting the system won't help and he knows that but damn it, something has to work here and soon or this little girl's going to have one too many promises made to her but not kept. And that's not even including her father's condition if and when he gets stabilized at the hospital.

"We have to take her, Sir." The woman pushes. "It's getting darker out and we need to get her settled."

"NO. At least… not yet. Give me a few minutes. Please. I'll think of something! Whatever it takes not to break my promise to her!"

"Fine. As long as you walk with me to my car while we wait." She concedes while walking in a way that says she fully expects Tim to get to his feet and follow her. "I know you mean well, but there are more important things in her life than whether or not you're here when she wakes up."

Walking beside the woman with Shyanne in his arms, Tim feels his heart sinking. What can he do? He doesn't have any claim on her. He's not her immediate family. All he is is a stranger she and her dad happened to meet long enough that she can put his face with the name and the memory of the badge. The question remains, what to tell the five year old when she wakes up and has to go with a stranger because in the eyes of the law, Tim's too much of a stranger for her to stay with?

Lost in his thoughts, Tim is walking without noticing anyone around him, except the little girl on his shoulder and the woman walking beside him. When she stops walking, he stops as well, his eyes coming up off the ground to meet hers. "I don't have any solution. But you can't take her without letting me talk to her and explaining to her why she has to go with you."

"I'm not sure I understand why that's something you have to do, Agent McGee." The woman's getting testy. "But, alright. Quickly, please!"

"Hang on a minute." A new voice is heard from behind Tim's shoulder.

The familiarity of that voice calms Tim's nerves enough that he doesn't nervously whip around to see who it is. In fact, when the hand comes up to supportively grip his shoulder, the weight of this situation seems to slide off his shoulders completely and he can't help but smile even as he nervously greets the man he never expected to see in the middle of this situation. "Boss?"