Wow…I feel…horrible. In all senses of the word, actually. I'm sick (strep KILLS), I feel bad about not updating (lack of inspiration), and I'm about to cry. (Season finale) HOW COULD THEY DO THAT! -cries some more- I was actually thinking about ranting on and on in this chapter about how they CAN'T do what they did in the show, but it might spoil the surprise to any sad little people who are unfortunate enough to not have seen the newest episode. Unfortunate, and fortunate at the same time, when you think about it. WHY! T.T

But back to the story. Again, sorry for not updating in, like, forever. I had NO inspiration and no idea how to go on with the next chapter. Not to mention I was completely fed up with my writing abilities (still am), but I feel I have caused you all to suffer for far too long. So onto the story!

Whoops, can't forget my thanks. I would like to thank Alexandra Williams, Christieanne-Anna, FallenStar126, Thought, DrusillaBraun, TV-LUVIN-HOTTIE, devil3567, KFF, stormhawk, Liz, Lucifer666, mj0621, and eventyraren for their reviews. I really do love reading what people think of my story, and if you want a hint, the longer the reviews the faster I might be able to get the chapters out. Maybe.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Deal? Deal.

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Gibbs refilled his coffee with a look of utter annoyance upon his face. The marines had drilled him hours and hours to not show emotion, showing emotion was showing your weakness, but two weeks was long enough. And now…and now they just had more on their plate.

Taking another sip out of the cup, he walked to the back of the room, staring down at the file on the desk. It was the CSI's file on their case, petty-officer McCarthy's parents. He shook his head, flipping open the front cover. There staring back at him was a family portrait, a mother, father, and a bright-eyed boy all were smiling; now all three of them were on a cold slab in the medical examiner's office. Sometimes, in this job, things got hard to handle, but it wasn't like he was about to quit. He wasn't like Mike…

"Excuse me." A voice came from the door to the room; Gibbs, caught off guard, spun around to see who had walked in on him. Especially when he was reminiscing on his past. It was Grissom.

The leader of the CSI team they were working with here in Las Vegas nodded to Gibbs, walking in and refilling his own cup of coffee. "Long night." He commented, staring down at the maker.

Gibbs grunted, smiling slightly. "You've got that right."

Grissom nodded, turning back to the marine. Holding the cup up to his lips, he paused, his eyes falling to him. "But you've faced longer, haven't you?"

Gibbs froze, slowly turning back around to face Grissom completely. He nodded, taking another sip.

Grissom laughed slightly, his shoulders rising then falling. "We're similar then."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. "Is that so?" Grissom nodded, taking another sip before refilling the cup again.

"This case may seem long, but it's not the longest we've had." After his cup was filled, he turned back to Gibbs. "The key is to not get frustrated. You might be at a standstill, but science always has exactly what you need right in front of you. It's all a matter of finding it and using it." He started for the door, pausing right before he walked out.

"Always?" he asked. "How can you be so sure?"

Grissom took another sip, and then shrugged. "We're scientists here, Special Agent Gibbs. We have to believe in science, or it won't believe in us." With that, Grissom walked back out, only to be intercepted with one of his members and walk away.

Gibbs laughed slightly, glancing back down to the file. 'Believe in science…' he thought, finishing up his cup. 'That's something new.'

That was when his brow furred. Throwing away his cup, he picked up the file, reading back over a line he had glanced at. That was it.

696969696969696969696969696969696969696

Kate opened the door to the SUV she and Tony were driving in. She, Nick, Warrick, and Tony had been about to go and check out Tony's revolver idea with Mr. McCarthy when Gibbs had busted in, telling her and Tony to follow him.

As it turned out, Mrs. McCarthy was vary active in the neighborhood children scene; from the files Gibbs had been looking at, she had apparently taught Sunday School at a near-by church, tutored, and babysat for the kids around her house. Gibbs wanted them to go around and ask the families about her.

So there she was, in front of a small suburban home with Tony, about to ask a ten year old a few questions. Just peachy. Nick and Warrick were following the revolver, while she was stuck with kids. Not exactly her forte.

"Loosen up Kate." Tony's voice came from the driver's side of the car. He was outside of it, looking up at the house. "They are only ten."

Kate clenched her fists, "Tony, don't you think I'm aware that they are ten? It's just…it's hard to profile children."

Tony laughed, taking off his large sunglasses. "You don't profile ten-year-olds, Kate. You ask them questions."

Kate rolled her eyes as Tony walked up and rang the doorbell. The door opened as she made it to his side. "Hi." He began. "I'm Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo, and this is Special Agent Katelyn Todd. We were wondering if we could ask your son a few questions."

The woman at the door tilted her head to the side. She couldn't have been more than 35, but she already looked aged. "Why?" she inquired.

Tony grinned. "He does know Mrs. McCarthy down the street, doesn't he?"

"Yes…" she looked from Tony to Kate, then back to Tony. Then it must have hit her. "This isn't about her and Jason's murder, is it?"

Tony sighed, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but he was traumatized enough by the fact his favorite teacher-" she was cut off when a boy appeared next to her.

"Mom? Who are these people?" he asked, looking up at Kate.

"I'm Anthony Dinozzo." Tony answered for her. "We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions." Kate glared at Tony, trying to make him remember that the mother had the right to refuse and interview since she was his legal guardian until he was 18, but he didn't seem to get the message.

"This is about Mrs. Megan's murder, isn't it?" he asked, looking from Kate to Tony. Tony nodded and the kid nodded. "I'll do anything I can to help."

"But-" his mom tried to cut in.

"Mom," he stopped her. "I am going to do anything and everything to help them find her killer. It's the least I can do." With that, his mother sighed and opened the door completely, ushering them in.

"Here, Michael, why don't you take them to the living room? I'll be in with some things to drink in a minutes."

Michael nodded and showed them through a hallway to a small room. Inside was a couch and a couple of chairs. Nothing real special, but not too bad. Kate's eyes wandered as she followed him into the room.

"You guys can sit there." He said, motioning towards the chairs as he took the place on the couch. "How can I help?"

Kate sat down, Tony in the chair next to her, and she immediately tried to profile him, pulling out a pen and paper. Both were instinct by now.

'He's extremely mature for his age.' She noted, seeing how he spoke and held himself as he sat down. 'Clean too.' His nails were cut, but not manicured, and they showed no signs of dirt or biting.

"Well, Michael, you knew Mrs. McCarthy, right?" Tony started, taking off his hat and ruffling his hair casually.

"It's Mike." The boy stated, leaning back. "And yes, I knew Mrs. Megan. She was my Sunday School teacher, babysitter, and my tutor."

Tony sat back, looking around the room. "Tutor?"

Mike nodded. "She was teaching me all the stuff that my teachers at school were ahead of time. I don't learn very well in a school setting, so she'd teach me the lessons in advanced. And she did it for free, too." He looked over to the small window. "She was like an older sister."

"A lot older." Tony just had to comment, but Mike just nodded.

"I know it sounds weird but…" he looked around, making sure no one but they were there. "But…I loved her. She was pretty much my mother, because, you see, mine's rarely around."

Tony nodded and Kate continued to listen. "Did you see her the night she died?"

Mike gulped, but straightened up right after. "Yes." He muttered. "She…she was teaching my multiplying fractions at her house."

Kate wrote this all down, keeping her ears open for any signs he was lying.

Tony tilted his head to the side. "What time did you leave?"

"Nine." Mike gulped again and looked around.

'God.' Kate thought. 'He looks old for his age.'

"But…"

"But?"

"But…" Mike looked over to Kate, and then went back to staring at the window. "But I went back." He seemed to choke when the words came out, and Tony sat foreword in his seat.

"You went back?"

Mike nodded. "I forgot my math book and I wanted to work on some more problems." He glanced to the window. "And…"

"And?" Tony was forcing Mike to tell him what happened. For one reason or another, he went from completely helpful and wanting to help to unwilling.

"And…well…I didn't go back until, like, 9:30. But when I got there…"

"Yes?" Kate urged him on this time. He looked over to her, giving her a strange look before continuing.

"When I got there, I saw someone come out the back door. I always go in and out from the back. But when I got back there…when I got back there, someone was coming out. They were in a hurry, slamming the door shut and running into the woods behind their house."

Kate wrote all the information down as fast as she could, scribbling down extra notes herself.

"Can you recognize the guy if you saw pictures?" Tony asked.

Mike shook his head. "It was really dark, and I couldn't see his face."

"I'm back." The sudden voice came from the doorway as Mike's mother came walking in carrying some snacks and drinks.

"No, it's okay mom. They were just leaving." Mike stood up suddenly, motioning for Kate and Tony to leave. They stood up too, nodding and placing their caps back on.

"Yes ma'am, we were just on our way out." Kate said, looking over to Mike. "Thank you so much for your cooperation, we might be contacting you again if need be."

Mike nodded and showed Kate and Tony out, who decided to grab a cookie as they passed the mother.

It wasn't until they were back outside that they spoke to one another again. "You don't think…"

"No." Kate answered. "He didn't kill them. He was sincere in his answers, I'm 100 sure of it."

Tony shrugged and stopped before getting in the car. "We should tell Gibbs."

Kate rolled her eyes. "We'll-" but it was too late. Tony already had the cell phone out and was talking to Gibbs, telling him everything that had just happened. Kate shook her head as she got into the car, and waited for her 'driver' to get in also. She wanted to go back to the lab. Now.

"Yessir, yessir, we spoke to him, yessir." Kate could hear Tony's muffled voice in the car as she leaned her head back against the head rest. They may have just gotten a lead, but she was dead tired. As soon as this was over, she was defiantly taking Abby to the spa she had been talking about. She needed the time off.

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Done. Finally. Again, sorry if this chapter seems rushed or short or whatever else may be wrong with it. I just needed to get it out there so I didn't feel so bad. Review please? PLEASE? Flame, applaud, say moo, say hi, SOMETHING. I really need reviews, not only because I like them. They remind me that I need to update. So…thanks to all you people reading! And I know this may shock and amaze you all, but I have already started on the next chapter. And something BIG is going to happen. SO again, thanks for reading. And REVIEW!