Author's Note- This is my first story so if anybody actually reads it and decides to review please be nice. Constructive criticism only! Sorry if the time line seems a bit messed up, I have never been any good with dates and ages.

Disclaimer- Anything that you recognise does not belong to me!

It had been over eight years. He had worked for them for eight years and they still didn't trust him. Not the way that Gibbs trusted Tony, Abby, Ziva and Ducky, the way he had trusted Kate as well. Not the way that Tony trusted Ziva and had trusted Kate. The only person he could believe trusted him was Ziva and that was only because Gibbs wasn't the most personable person and sometimes Tony can be too much. Kate had trusted him too. She was his friend, had stuck up for him but still playfully teased him. But she was dead and there was nothing that he or anyone else could do about it.

They had watched a video of Kate that morning.

FLASHBACK

Abby had just gotten a new camera and was going through her old one, seeing what she wanted to keep when she suddenly started crying and laughing at the same time. Tim had run over to her to see what was wrong. What he saw made him chuckle but he was also filled with sadness, it was Kate and Tony having a food fight across the office, Ducky was in the background telling him a story about a case from long ago and Gibbs was drinking coffee. He linked it up to the plasma. Tony and Gibbs were out but Ziva was at her desk, she was looking at the Abby in concern but when the video came up she transferred her attention.

She sat and stared at it for a while, a small smile ghosting across the features of her face as Tony began to chase Kate round the office. The hat and Kate's PDA were lying on Tony's desk with the bullet holes still gapingly obvious. Ziva's features flashed with recognition as she saw the hat, she had been given that on the day she joined. Gibbs had told her that it had the bullet holes in for ventilation. However her eyes lingered with traces of sadness. Tim knew that it was a result of many things, including the fact that the women who was smiling and laughing in the video was now dead, shot in the head by Ziva's own brother who she ended up killing herself. The thing that he thought was making her most upset though was Tony. He was very different from the Tony that she had met, that she had known for six years. The Tony on the plasma was more relaxed, carefree, he didn't have a haunted look in his eyes, he looked truly content and happy, like nothing could go wrong. He still had the look of a school boy about him. It was filmed before he got the plague, before his car exploded and before Kate was killed.

The three of them stared at the video and were so entranced in what they saw that they failed to notice that the elevator door had just pinged, Gibbs and Tony were back. They caught sight of what was on the plasma from the elevator, Gibbs stepping out with his trademark coffee, a rare smile lighting his face as he gave a chuckle. The three of them, now aware of their boss and fellow team leader's presence turned round to look at Tony, he was still stood in the elevator, fixated on what he saw. He had a smile on his face, not his trademark smirk which he was so well known for but a genuine smile. He stood there so long that the doors had closed leaving him inside the lift as it descended to the ground floor to pick up more passengers.

'He won't be mad at me will he?' a worried Abby asked Gibbs. Gibbs in return gave a shake of the head and a small smile but his attention was still on the video on the plasma. Ziva was confused, 'Why would Tony be annoyed at the video?' Gibbs still wasn't really paying attention so Tim decided that he should answer her, 'Tony lost a lot the day that Kate died. He lost his partner and his best friend. It taught him just how dangerous his job is and how much he had to lose.' Tim trailed of, unsure of what he should say. Gibbs had turned away from the plasma with a weird look on his face, he turned to Ziva, saying to her in a uncharacteristically soft voice that Tim could tell was full of regret, sadness and guilt 'It wasn't just Kate that died, a piece of Tony went with her.' Abby was still crying but she also answered Ziva, 'I'm just not sure whether he would want to be reminded of just how much he lost.'

As Abby finished speaking, the elevator pinged, informing them all that Tony was back, he didn't seem angry or sad but happy. 'Sorry about that boss but the elevator had to stop at every floor on the way back up.'

Ziva looked carefully at Tony, over the past few days and weeks he had seemed different, like he had less baggage, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He turned round to look at the plasma. He laughed when he saw the hat and the PDA on the desk. He turned to them all, 'I was talking to Rachel about that. You remember boss, when our most valued possessions got shot.' He shot him a jokily accusing look. Gibbs merely shrugged, 'It helped improve your aim; you only shot part of the hostage's ear off in Columbia.'

Now Tim was confused too, 'Rachel as in…' he was unsure why Tony would be discussing work with someone, especially from Kate's time. 'Rachel the psychologist who interviewed us all.' Tony replied in a nonchalant manner. Now he was even more confused and by the looks of it so were Abby and Ziva. However the boss didn't seem fazed at all, in fact he looked at Tony in a strange way. His face was both proud and surprised and he was looking at Tony with what Tim identified as a new found respect. 'How long did it take you to work it out Dinozzo?' Tony smiled back at him, knowing that even if the others didn't, Gibbs knew what he was on about. 'I knew that I knew her from somewhere or she reminded me of someone but it just took me a while to figure it out. How 'bout you?' Gibbs gave a smirk which was similar to Dinozzo's signature one. 'I just looked her up.'

Tim was growing impatient, trying to work out what was going on in the conversation taking place in front of him. And apparently so was Ziva 'Am I missing something? Or are you talking in American idioms that I can't understand.' Tony chuckled, not sarcastically or cynically as he had done the majority of the time in the past eight years but a proper chuckle. 'Rachel or Dr Rachel Cranston was Kate's sister.' Tim couldn't believe it, how had he missed it looking back over the day there were lots of similarities. Gibbs spoke up again 'I found her asleep under the desk at the end of the day.' The members of the team who had known Kate had identical fond looks on their faces.

Ziva still looked confused, 'so are you having therapy or are you sleeping with her?' she asked bluntly, still not understanding why Tony would be confiding in the psychologist. Tim cringed slightly at this, he knew that Ziva was only asking because she didn't understand the situation but it sounded like she didn't think that Tony could have any friends that were girls and not sleep with them. However, thankfully Tony just laughed and explained to her that they had just gone out for a coffee to talk about Kate because she never really discussed her time at NCIS with Rachel and they had met up several times over the past few weeks. While he was doing this the elevator pinged again. This time it was Ducky and Jimmy. They had been waiting in autopsy for Gibbs to visit them like he usually did so when he didn't turn up they had decided to see what was wrong. When Ducky saw the video he too became interested in it and began to recount to Ziva the story of how Tony's cap and Kate's PDA had bullet holes in it. Tony was also listening in, adding his own input when necessary. When Ducky got to the end of the story, Tony added the part which very few people knew,

'She was seriously mad at you for that' he was addressing Gibbs 'suggested that we break into your basement and set fire to your boat.' Everyone laughed at that, even Ziva. They all seemed to be having flashbacks and memories to when Kate was still alive. The comfortable silence that had settled over the team was broken by Gibbs' mobile ringing.

He snapped it shut, 'Dead Marine in Quantico.'

He hurried up to the Director's office, Ducky and Jimmy headed back down to autopsy to prepare to go and see the body and Abby to her lab leaving, just Tony, Ziva and Tim in the office. Tony was still staring at the screen.

Tim decided that he would prefer to be by the car when Gibbs came back or he might get head slapped and apparently Ziva had a similar idea. They walked together to the elevator, pressing the button for the ground floor. The doors had just closed when Ziva spoke up, 'What was she like, Agent Todd?'

Tim gave her a strange look but decided to answer her question, 'She was kind, proud, and confident. She was friends with everyone and the only person that I know that always listened to Ducky's stories and was actually interested. She could be childish, like when she had food fights with Tony but mature. She always stuck up for me if Tony said and did something especially harsh or something that she didn't approve of. According to Abby she encouraged Gibbs to get me on the team so I owe her everything.' As he spoke Ziva watched him with a strange fascination, like she was trying to absorb as much information about her predecessor as possible. Talking about Kate had made Tim miss her even more; she had been like a mentor to him and more importantly a friend who liked him for him. Then Ziva spoke again. 'It's just whenever someone talks about or mentions her Tony gets a weird look on his face and so does Gibbs actually, why?' 'She was Tony's best friend, but she was more than that, she was like his sister. They had a sibling rivalry, trying to one-up each other. Tony had a bit of a messed up childhood, always at a boarding school, he never really got a proper one where he could just be a kid, that was Kate's reasoning on why he was so childish, and Kate had three brothers and a sister so she had to learn from an early age how to hold her own. They basically were children when they didn't have to be serious for work.' He was consumed by memories again of how easy Kate and Tony's relationship was, Ziva just stood there waiting for Tim to continue. 'They trusted each other completely, Kate stayed with him when he had the plague, and she had to tell him that she was infected as well so that he wouldn't make her leave. When she died,' McGee tried to carry on speaking but he choked up. 'When she died, Tony just pretended it hadn't happened, he didn't think about it, just carried on as if she was there. I asked him about equipment once, he told me to go ask Kate.' He trailed off again. Ziva wanted to know more about her predecessor 'What about her and Gibbs?' This was a relationship that had confused Tim since he had started at NCIS. Gibbs was usually hard to get along with but he and Kate didn't seem to have any issues. 'They were friends.' Tim didn't fail to notice the look of disbelief that crossed Ziva's face. 'No, they were actual friends. They met when Gibbs, Tony and Ducky hijacked air force one. Kate was protecting the President when one of the marines on board died after eating with the president. All the law enforcement agencies were arguing over whose jurisdiction it was and NCIS just bluffed their way on pretending to be medical examiners assistants. Kate was the only one that knew that there was something going on. I mean FBI just walked of the plane. Kate got back on though and according to Tony had an argument with Gibbs about who should be in control or in charge. When they thought the first murder had been sorted Gibbs wanted to get back on Air Force One, he had to get it through Kate though. He wanted to be on the flight so much that he said please. The only time that Abby had ever heard him say please to anyone but her and occasionally to Ducky. After that case, Kate resigned, she had been dating another marine on Air Force One, he died as well, and anyway that was against regulation. As soon as Gibbs heard about it he offered her a job. It must have been the shortest time that she'd ever been without a job. He trusted her, not the way that he trusted Ducky and Abby, not the way that he trusts Tony, more the way that he trusts you. He broke tradition to get her on a submarine; she was his first choice to accompany him on cases. She wasn't afraid to call him out on things, they got along though, she made him laugh. She kept him human, some other agents used to say that she gave the team a conscience, made sure they didn't cross the line of morality. You know, the day that she died, Gibbs was nice. Tony was a wreck. He was trying to hold it together but it was making him mean. He never got upset around us. Kept it bottled inside.' His thoughts drifted again, so Ziva just decided to wait until he started speaking again. 'You know, when I first joined they used to scare me. The three of them were so in tune with each other, they could guess what the other was thinking and often did it before they asked. It was like they could read each other perfectly. I was so scared on the first day. Gibbs would start a sentence, say like 2 words and Tony and Kate knew what he was thinking and wanted to be done. I thought that I would be expected to do that but Agent Cassidy told me that they were the only people she had ever met that were so in sync with each other. It was well known throughout the NCIS and the other agencies as well. She had gone to a team work seminar and, apparently without them knowing, they were used as the example of what a team should be like. The fact that they were able to read Gibbs so well was legendary, it was more that Kate could read him and Tony just picked up on things. She was amazing at profiling.'

Ziva asked the one question which had been on and off her mind since she had replaced Kate and joined NCIS. 'Do you think that she would have liked me?' Tim had to chuckle at that, it was a question that he had also thought about and believed that he had an answer for. 'Yes. I think that you would have been friends. You're very similar but different as well, you would have made quite a team, especially against Tony.'

By now the elevator had reached the ground floor and they both departed

END OF FLASHBACK

It was a difficult case; there were too many suspects and not enough evidence. But something had gone wrong, they had messed up in some way, he had messed up but he didn't know what had gone wrong. Everything they had he was keeping on his computer when it suddenly exploded. Nothing was left intact. Suddenly everything had gone out of control. No matter how many times he insisted that he had nothing to do with it he couldn't explain it. Everyone had turned against him except for Ziva. Tony openly blamed him, Gibbs thought that he must have done something wrong and Abby had believed that he had not looked after computer properly. The only person who had believed him was Ziva. He wasn't sure though whether she actually believed him or was just feeling sorry for him and trying to make him feel better. Whatever she was doing, Tim was grateful, he didn't feel as alone. He was also thankful that it was a Friday. He could just spend the weekend at home, relaxing and attempting to forget just how bad this day had been.

When he got home that night he was feeling quite depressed. Thankfully he had people who trusted him at home. His sister, Sarah, had been staying with him since she had graduated from Waverly a week ago. She was sitting by his computer, spinning around on his chair, she always did that when she was nervous or excited. 'What's up?' he asked her as he walked in the door, briefly forgetting just how bad his day had been. Sarah lifted up the two identical envelopes that she was holding in her hands. 'These letters came today; apparently they are 'highly classified and confidential'. There is one for each of us. I was waiting for you before I opened mine. Any idea what they are about?' Tim was just as confused as Sarah looked. He didn't remember ever getting a letter that was 'highly classified and confidential' and if he ever had it would probably have something to do with work but then why would Sarah have one as well. By now Sarah was practically jumping up and down. 'No idea. Let's open them at the same time.' They both ripped them open like little children on Christmas day opening presents. Tim quickly read through his. It was a handwritten letters.

Dear Mr Timothy McGee,

We are writing to you in regards to a job offer. We understand that you currently have a fully paid job at NCIS but before you turn this down we would like to offer you the chance to get to know more about this job by spending the next few days at one of our facilities.

Your talents in computing but also as a capable agent interest us and they may be extremely beneficial to the job that we are trying to do and were in fact specifically recommended. More information will be given once you reach the facility. This is an order that is coming from the highest level so only those who are necessary to the project have been told details of this by the highest authority. This being said we ask that you keep everything that you have read and will learn over the weekend between you and your sister, especially if you chose not to take the job.

A car will arrive outside your apartment at 1900 hours for both you and your sister.

Yours Sincerely…

Sarah had a similar letter but it was especially written for her. Tim was confused; they hadn't signed the letter so how did he know whether to trust the sending or not. It could just be a prank by Tony. He had nothing to do that weekend and he didn't think that Sarah did either. He knew that whatever he said, Sarah would keep pestering him about it until he agreed to go. It was easier for him to just agree straight away. He turned to his younger sister and nodded his head. She knew what he meant and ran straight off to pack her stuff. Luckily for her, most of her stuff was still in bags from moving from college. Tim had started to pack when Sarah came racing back into his room, 'I can't let you pack for yourself, you'll bring your old man clothes and that will be an embarrassing for both of us.' Sarah went through what he had packed, taking out the clothes that she didn't think were good enough to be seen in public and replaced them with clothes that she didn't mind people seeing him in. She had just zipped up the bags when a car beeped outside the apartment. 'Are you sure that we should go Sarah, I mean we don't know anything about the person who sent us the letter. It could be a prank or a trap, how can we be sure that it is legitimate.' Sarah had to laugh at the conflicted look on her brother's face. It wasn't an unusual look for Tim to have; he was always the responsible one, the one who thought before he acted. 'You need to live a little Tim. We won't know anything about it until we get there so we might as well play along.' She grabbed her older brother's hand and pulled him down the corridor, and into the elevator. She was carrying her bags and he had his rucksack on his back. As they stepped into the black town car that was waiting for them she added, 'You never know, this might change our lives.'