A/N Based entirely on my experiences at children's museums. Not based on any specific one. Also, I tried looking this up, and it might be a stupid clarification, but I don't want my readers confused. An omni theatre is a domed one, where the seats are steep and appear high up due to the domed nature of the theatre. As a child, I was terrified of them, probably because I am scared of bleachers….but that's another story =)

^^^TTIT^^^

When Tim and his father arrived twenty minutes before the museum opened, there were only a few people in line.

"Looks like we'll get in yet, Tim" Gibbs told his over eager son. Tim wisely kept his mouth shut, and instead took in everything in the lobby. There was so many facts, photos and simple activities in the entrance alone.

"Look, Dad, they have different signs on their recycling programs!" Tim said excitedly. Gibbs had no idea how a thirteen year old could find recycling so fascinating, but he obliged his son as they both got in line. "Did you know that they give all the food scraps to local farms to feed the pigs? How cool is that?"

"That's pretty neat Tim" Gibbs responded appropriately.

"And they have water bottle filling stations and don't sell any plastic bottles anywhere in the museum!"

Sounds like a good ploy to make some money to me Gibbs thought to himself.

"That's great" was what he actually said. And so the trend continued until he ran out of signs to read from where they stood in line.

"Can I go over there and look at those signs?" Tim asked his father.

"Not unless you want to lose your spot in line." Gibbs told him.

"No, it's okay. You can stay here, and I'll just go read them and come back." Tim clarified, inching towards the signs towards the front of the line.

Gibbs quickly grabbed his son's arm, and pulled him back in line.

"That's not how lines work, Tim" Gibbs explained. "It would be rude to hold your spot, when there is no pressing need for you to go anywhere. Now, if you decided to go over there, we will go to the back of the line. Do you understand?"

Tim looked at how many people had lined up behind them in the last ten minutes, and decided learning about the history of the museum really wasn't worth it after all. It didn't matter, as a few minutes later a volunteer came through the line and handed out brochures.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Tim?" Gibbs sighed.

"There's a special exhibit on space! That's what's playing in the theatre today. Can we go? Please?"

"It's an omnitheatre, Tim" Gibbs noted.

"So?"

"The last time we went to one of those, we didn't even get to our seats." The older man reminded.

"Yeah, but I was seven. I'm not some little kid anymore. I won't get scared." Tim declared confidently.

"Tell you what, Tim. We can buy the tickets, but we are going to watch the entire thing, no matter what. Okay?"

"That's why I asked, Dad." Tim said obviously.

Gibbs was stopped from commenting, as the line began to move as the museum officially opened.

When they got to the front of the line, the cashier surprised them by explaining that today was a special occasion and the first 50 kids got a free t-shirt.

"Tony still has to do my chores though, right?" Tim clarified with his father as the entered the museum.

^^^TTIT^^^

Gibbs and Tim enjoyed the morning seeing various exhibits on dinosaurs, the weather, the human body and on bugs and other small critters.

"Alright, Tim. Time for a break, let's get some lunch."

"It's okay, Dad. I'm not hungry yet." Tim said, walking away from the cafeteria.

"Uh-uh Tim." Gibbs said, grabbing Tim's wrist before he could get too far. "Time for lunch. There will be plenty of time to explore after."

"But Daadd-" Tim whined.

"No buts, Tim. Let's go." The father said and led them both towards the dining area. Since they were on the top floor, the lines were not too long.

"What do you want to eat?" Gibbs asked, releasing his grip.

"Doesn't matter." Tim said, looking at the map in the brochure, and not even paying attention to his father.

Gibbs quickly grabbed the map, and repeated the question.

"I don't care, I'm not hungry." Tim said, crossing his arms.

"Knock it off Tim. I didn't say we had to leave, we are stopping for lunch. Now chose what you want or I will." Tim uncrossed his arm but didn't say what he wanted to eat. "Fine, hamburgers it is. Then we are going to hit the Java lab, because I am going to need another coffee." The father stated.

^^^TTIT^^^

After paying for their orders, they found a spot by the railing that gave them a view of the other patrons exploring the dinosaur exhibit below them. Tim watched them playing, and didn't touch his meal. Gibbs knew Tim was a light eater normally, but always ate when prompted, except when he was emotionally charged. So Gibbs gave him some encouragement.

"Hey" Gibbs called, grabbing his son's attention. "Are you going to eat, or should we sit somewhere else?" The man asked.

"No!" Tim responded quickly. "We can eat here." And as if to prove his point, he took a large bite of his burger. The father nodded his approval.

After Tim had eaten enough to satisfy his dad, they stopped to get Gibbs another coffee and then they were back on their way to exploring.

"We need to head to the theatre now, Tim. We have twenty minutes to get there." Gibbs told his son. He had chosen this time slot as hopefully most people would be at lunch.

Tim followed his father agreeably, as he had been looking forward to the movie all morning. After they gave the guy their tickets and they got inside the theatre, Tim was not so sure. He stopped in front of the first step and refused to move.

And this is why we got here early.

"Let's go, Tim" Gibbs said, and gave his son a slight push to get him moving.

"I-I don't want to see this anymore." Tim said nervously. "I've probably learned about this stuff in the exhibit anyways." He continued, trying to convince his father to leave.

"Not so fast, Tim." Gibbs said, turning his son back towards the stairs. "You promised we would see this."

"Okay, let's sit over here." He said, leading them to the front row, which was still a few steps up. Knowing both their necks would hurt if they sat in the front and that the experience would not be as enjoyable, Gibbs again took Tim by the wrist.

"Come here, Timmy" The man said, very glad they were the only ones in the theatre. "Let's go to the middle."

Tim shook his head vehemently.

"Uh-hu. It's okay Tim. Hold the railing." Gibbs encouraged softly. A few minutes later the go to the middle row, but they still faced the challenge of the narrow walkway to the middle seats.

"Almost there, Timmy." The man encouraged.

"Dad, please" Tim pleaded, his fear written clearly on his face.

"I know, tiger. But you are almost there. I've got you" Gibbs promised. By now people were starting to trickle in, and Tim could see more clearly how far up they actually were.

"I don't want to" Tim moaned, but continued to walk towards the seats. He kept a death grip on his father's hand, but Gibbs didn't mind. The grip only loosened slightly once the two were seated.