Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or the characters portrayed on television. The story is mine.

A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait; real life can be a bear. My elderly father fell and broke his wrist. It's all healed up, but the scare and taking care of him seems to have sent my muse running. It's mostly back now, I just have to find the time to sit and write. I was determined to finish this story and I have. I hope you enjoy.

A/N 2: Thank you to all of the people who have reviewed this story so far. I normally answer all reviews, but my motivation left with the old muse. I will do my best to reply but I will read all of them. Thank you for your patience. I hope the wait was worth it.

And I posted the rest of the story. Wohoo! Thanks for reading.

Kate's Decision: Version Two and It's Epilogue

Caitlin Todd sat on her sofa pondering what she'd learned today. She refused to believe that Tony DiNozzo frat boy extraordinaire had a Master's Degree that wasn't paid for by rich daddy DiNozzo. Tony acted just like the frat boys she'd met in college. All they did was party, sleep with girls while their rich daddy paid for their grades. What was worse was DiNozzo played at being an agent, while the rest of them worked hard to solve cases. She was a good profiler, there was no way she was wrong about her teammate.

Sighing, she turned on her laptop and started doing some research into one Anthony DiNozzo, Jr. simply because Gibbs would know if she didn't follow orders. She really didn't believe that there was anything for her to find but no one made a fool out of her and Caitlin Todd was determined to prove that she was right.

First she looked up the requirements for a Phys. Ed. Degree and was shocked. Tony would only have had to take a few extra classes to major in pre-med. It wasn't the "soft" degree she had believed it to be. Kate then looked into the alumni page for Ohio State finding his profile and was shocked to learn that DiNozzo had a double major, Phys. Ed. and criminology. To top it off the man had maintained a 3.8 average with distinctions for both degrees. That was on top of playing two time intensive sports. Digging further the profiler found the same information Tim had about DiNozzo's Master's Degree.

Kate sat back completely confused. According to the information she gathered, Tony was smart and well educated, that is if DiNozzo, Sr. didn't pay for his son's grades. He brags about his dates and just about anything else, so why hide his education? It failed to cross her mind that her earlier thoughts about Anthony's time in college, parties, drinking, sex, were the exact reasons he'd given Tim and her about not bragging about his degrees. He'd experienced the scorn of people who believed that Senior had paid for his education and his grades. The hazing that people had put the senior agent through made his pranks child's play in comparison.

Todd was proud of her degree and accomplishments and saw no need to hide them from others. It never occurred to her that she her bragging made her sound as arrogant as she accused DiNozzo of being, when she went on and on about her degree and being a former Secret Service agent.

Another thing she didn't understand was why Tony didn't talk about his childhood. He had money growing up, so he must have had a wonderful childhood, getting anything he wanted. Kate should have been wondering why he chose to be a cop than an agent rather than follow in his father's footsteps, if his childhood had been so wonderful. A large part of Kate's problem was that she lacked real life experience. Todd didn't realize it but she was somewhat sheltered by her family as the "baby" of the family. Then she had gone straight from college into the Secret Service. Even though she had studied about child abuse, its affects and other such psychological issues, she had never encountered the truly dark and ugly side of life. Protecting the President was a far cry from investigating crimes and the terrible acts humans were capable of committing despite her belief that her former career made her better than a former cop.

This lack of life experience also fueled Caitlin Todd's disbelief that her teammate had been disowned. Who would disown their own son? With his family money why didn't he become a doctor, gone into physical therapy or sports medicine? Why did he become a dime a dozen cop? Actually he could have become an agent right out of college and yet he became a cop first. She didn't get it.

The simple answer was that Kate was an intellectual snob. One had to have a college degree in something important to be smart; Todd never considered the fact that not everyone could afford college. So there are many "smart" people out there without a vaunted degree. Her opinion about cops was rather low, and believed Federal Agents were superior. In her experience, cops directed traffic, wrote parking tickets, and chased speeders. Even though she knew intellectually that detectives investigated crimes, they were still cops and not as good as federal agents. Caitlin would have been surprised to learn that detectives needed to have at least a Bachelor's Degree to be promoted or that the work they do for civilians wasn't much different what NCIS did for the Navy and Marines. The reality that she had no investigative experience, or any forensic knowledge, made her just like any other probationary agent at NCIS, who had to gain experience before being able to become a senior agent, never mind a Senior Field Agent never crossed her mind.

Todd sat back looking up at her ceiling feeling frustrated. The profiler needed to decide if what she learned today made a difference. Could she follow the orders of someone who behaved like DiNozzo did? Gibbs claimed that the "frat boy" was an act but the young woman didn't buy it. Kate had brothers and as a Secret Service agent she'd worked mostly with men. Those agents had all been professional and worked hard. Tony simply fooled around instead of working.

It dawned on Kate that all the thinking she had done tonight boiled down to one thing, could she treat Tony DiNozzo with respect or not. The Team Leader had made it perfectly clear that her tenure on the team depended on how she treated his Senior Field Agent. And since she just didn't see why DiNozzo deserved to be her superior despite what she had learned today it would be better for her to transfer and avoid a black mark on her record.

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Senior Supervisory Agent Jethro Gibbs entered the bullpen very early the next morning. He had some transfer paperwork to complete. The Marine had watched Kate leave yesterday and could tell from the set of her shoulders and the look in her eye the probability that she would be able to treat DiNozzo with the respect he was due was very low.

The young woman seemed to be unable or unwilling to get past her preconceived notions of his Second. Todd had potential and he wanted that potential for his team but he wouldn't allow anyone to disrespect his choice of Senior Field Agent including himself. Having subordinates who hesitate to follow an order in the field could be fatal. The safety of his people depended on following orders from a superior, not just from a Team Leader.

After the confrontation the day before, Gibbs had gone home and done some more thinking. Tony had been right about how he acted towards the younger man and the junior agents led them to see DiNozzo as an equal instead of their superior regardless of his position as Senior Field Agent. He had been at NCIS longer, and had more experience as an investigator; therefore he was a senior agent while Tim and Kate were still junior agents, even if the younger man hadn't been his Senior Field Agent.

Gibbs used competition between the three agents believing that it made them better and got the results he wanted faster. An unanticipated result of this competition made it appear that the three agents were equals when they weren't. Another issue was his inability to give Tony a compliment without adding a put down in the form of a joke. The Marine had no problem giving McGee and Todd praise for a job well done, but he had difficulty doing the same for DiNozzo.

After a second shot of bourbon and few hours of sanding Jethro had figured out the root of his problem with treating the younger man with the respect and care he deserved. It had been an unconscious effort on his part to keep his new agent at arm's length. The Marine had known right from the beginning that Anthony DiNozzo would be a danger to his carefully protected heart. He had seen very quickly that there was a lost little boy inside the grown man who needed a father figure. Deep down he wanted to be the father Tony needed. He missed being a father, but losing his girls had nearly destroyed him. In their line of work, the risk of losing Tony was too much for him to risk getting emotionally attached to the younger man. Sitting on the lone seat he acknowledged that it was too late and Tony had found a way into his battered heart as the son he and Shannon had wanted as a brother for their beautiful daughter.

Gibbs knew it was time to fix his mistakes and change how he interacted with the younger man in order to demonstrate that DiNozzo was worthy of being his Senior Field Agent and Second in Command. If the two junior agents couldn't shape up, oh well. There were plenty of other agents who could take their place.

The Marine was severely disappointed by her attitude. Caitlin was a supposed to be a profiler but she never looked beyond her first impression of DiNozzo to see the great investigator and more importantly the good man hidden behind the image. If she decided to stay on his team, he would give her a week to demonstrate that she was willing to adjust her attitude before forcing a transfer.

His thoughts were interrupted by a cheerful, "Hi Boss!" from DiNozzo as he walked into the bullpen area carrying two coffees. The younger man placed the coffees on his desk before tossing his bag behind the desk, picked up the larger coffee and headed to Gibbs desk. With a flourish the Senior Field Agent placed the cup on the desk saying, "One large marine strength coffee hand delivered and made especially for you. I figured you'd need it to finish the transfer paperwork for Kate."

The Lead Agent tilted his head, raising one eyebrow wanting to know how his Second knew.

Smiling sadly Anthony answered, "I saw her face too Boss. She's not going to give up on the idea that I'm an immature frat boy. If I noticed, I know you did. I wish we were wrong because I like Kate and think that she'll make a good agent once she gets past making assumptions and running with them. She's had ample opportunity to see the truth but she hasn't, or doesn't want to see the real me. I can only guess that she was hurt by a real player. It's…"

The younger agent stopped suddenly causing Gibbs to look so he could see what DiNozzo had. Kate and Tim were exiting the elevator. He turned back to see his Second sitting down and going through the process of starting up his computer. And people thought he was sneaky.

"Morning Gibbs, Tony." Caitlin greeted the two men.

McGee added a quiet, "Good morning Tony. Good morning Boss."

The Lead Agent merely nodded at the two junior agents.

Tony greeted them cheerfully, "Good morning Probie and Katie. I hope you both slept well. We have lots of cold cases to work on today!" His Senior Field Agent turned towards the silver haired man and said, "Hey Boss I forgot to tell you that McGee found a lead on one of our cold cases yesterday. He still needs to do some more cyber sleuthing but I think he's onto something."

Gibbs looked at the blushing computer genius and nodded as he said. "Good job McGee. Keep digging."

The Lead Agent turned to see Todd standing in front of his desk. "What can I do for you Agent Todd?"

Caitlin took a deep breath before replying. "I respectfully request a transfer to another team. I don't think that I can treat Tony with the respect his position requires. I like working for NCIS and would rather work for another team than lose my job."

The Marine studied the younger woman for a few moments trying to discern how sincere she was being. Very sincere he decided. "Alright Todd. I'll get the paperwork filled out. I'll speak to Morrow and see if there's an opening here in DC. Make a list of places that you might like to work if there isn't an opening here."

"Yes Gibbs. Thank you."

He returned to the transfer paperwork he already had out. Gibbs looked over at his Second to see how he was taking the news. The younger man was looking on with resignation in his eyes before he went back to his own work. Though the Marine hated to admit he was wrong he realized that DiNozzo had been right about how others perceived his own reluctance to show others his complete faith in his Second and his lack of enforcing the chain of command probably led to Caitlin Todd's actions and beliefs about Tony. That would not happen with any new agents on his team. Frankly, he was getting tired of training agents only to have them leave for one reason or another. Usually it was a personality conflict with him not DiNozzo.

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Six months later Caitlin Todd was doing well with Steve Balboa's team though the first few weeks were very rocky. She missed her old team and learned to her regret and chagrin that Tony really was a capable agent and that she didn't know as much as she thought she did. Thompson, Balboa's Senior Field Agent took her aside one week after she transferred to the team. He reamed her out for not knowing how to fill out paperwork properly.

"Did you ignore Tony's corrections thinking you knew better? I'll bet he protected you from Gibbs' wrath by making the corrections for you. That won't happen here. If you can't get your act together you won't last on this team or at NCIS."

He'd shaken his head at her finishing his tirade saying, "You worked with one of the best agents in DiNozzo but ignored him because you believed his shtick. He is the Senior Field Agent on the MCRT, only the best are even considered for any MCR Team. And our MCRT is headed by one of the most demanding agents at NCIS; no one lasts on Gibbs' team unless they perform to his standards. For someone who prides herself on being smart, you behaved like an idiot. You made assumptions about DiNozzo based on your first meeting and didn't bother to verify if he was really like he acts. Until you learn that not everything is as it seems you'll never move beyond being a junior agent. You have a lot of work to do to make up for lost time."

The profiler also watched Gibbs' team when she had a moment or two. The new agent on the team seemed to fit right in with the others seamlessly. She watched as the Marine's behavior towards Tony changed. He treated the younger man with respect and tolerant affection. This new attitude, and the recent dressing down she'd received opened her eyes and allowed her to see the real Tony DiNozzo. He was a capable agent even though he still played pranks, quoted movies and talked too much. Watching from the outside allowed her to see that his way of looking at things and solving cases was unique but quite effective. Kate was ashamed to realize that her own prejudice had prevented her from seeing her former team mate as a great agent. It was too late for her to go back, but the young woman vowed to herself that she would learn from her mistakes and become a good agent.

The End