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I don't own Alex Rider or NCIS

Chapter 9: Decode

It's quarter to midnight.

The doors to the Georgetown University Hospital ER slide back smoothly and a tall woman sidles in, an artful smile playing on her lips. Access to all the distressed patients in the hospital, she silently applauded her acting skills. Then she focused on the job at hand.

Patient Zero, as Kurst had called him, Room #305. The woman's sneakers squeak ominously on the tiled floor. She passes room after room. The sterility of the hospital is almost choking.

She opens a door at the end of the hall, she's found her victim.

James Malkey lay, still as a corpse, upon the hospital bed, fast asleep; she wondered if he looked just as peaceful in death.

"Oh, James…" she sighed. She didn't want to have to do this.

She sat down in a chair by the bed and stared at the man before her. She pulled out a syringe. Slowly pushed the syringe into the James' arm. Then she watched the black-grey liquid drain out, holding her breath. An envelope fluttered from her left hand and onto the floor.

She touched his face and kissed his forehead, then left the room. She went back to the front of the hospital and out to her car, unnoticed, not looking back.

It is five to midnight.

xxxAlexNCISxxx

Alex didn't sleep, no, he couldn't.

He was back at Gibbs' place, lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Moonlight was shining through the nearby window onto the bed. All was quiet, but Alex still tossed and turned.

What would Gibbs think of him now? He was pretty sure that Gibbs was somewhere downstairs, awake; he had never heard the man go to bed in the two nights he had stayed there. Talking to Gibbs had lifted some kind of weight off Alex's chest- probably due to hiding himself from the team- but it had been replaced with a new one.

Alex thought of his friend, Tom, and immediately felt guilty. It had taken him months to confide in Tom, constantly lying to him about missing school. Then, he manages to reveal a bit of himself to a man he only met two days ago. Alex punched his pillow. He suddenly felt energentic.

He got out of bed and glanced at his clock: 3AM. He probably wouldn't be able to get up later. Shrugging, he walked out of the room and down the stairs. Sure enough, he found Gibbs awake, in the kitchen. At the sound of Alex's shuffling footsteps, the older man turned.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

Alex shrugged.

Gibbs looked at the boy. Looking at the boy now, who was standing before him wearing a tee-shirt and boxers, his hair tousled, Alex seemed to be the opposite of everything he had told Gibbs and what Gibbs had observed. An ordinary teenaged boy into a spy…

Gibbs phone rang and he retrieved it from his pocket. Georgetown University Hospital. In a heartbeat, Gibbs knew something had either gone miraculously well or horrifyingly bad. He had a 50% chance of success.

The odds were not in his favor.

"Mr. Gibbs? We have…a situation."

Gibbs immediately turned to look at Alex, who was staring at him. "What's wrong?"

"The patient, James Malkey, is unresponsive and-."

Gibbs didn't wait for the voice to continue. He hung up and called Tony. The phone rang three times before Tony answered.

"Boss?" Gibbs could hear the sleep in his voice.

"Meet me at Georgetown University Hospital in twenty minutes." With that, Gibbs hung up.

Alex deduced that something had gone terribly wrong for Gibbs to act like this. Had someone gotten to Malkey? The idea frustrated Alex. Without a word, he went upstairs and threw on some clothes. Heading back downstairs, he was relieved to find that, no matter how much of a hurry Gibbs was in, he had waited for Alex. Gibbs nodded at Alex and both males left the house wordlessly. Once in the car, Gibbs began talking.

"Do you think it's SCORPIA?"

Alex only gritted his teeth. Gibbs took that as a 'yes'.

Fifteen minutes later, they were rushing into the ER. A policeman shook his head and pointed at Alex. "The kid can't be here. Too dangerous."

"He's with me." Gibbs said. Alex glared at the policeman; he didn't like being called 'kid'. The policeman looked surprised at Gibbs' firm tone.

"But-."

"I said," Gibbs repeated quietly, "He's with me." He kept walking and two other policemen walked forward to stop him.

"NCIS." Gibbs flashed his badge. "I was called."

The first policeman nodded and led Alex and Gibbs down a hallway and into James' room. Despite protests from the policeman, Gibbs walked forward. He couldn't see any difference. James looked fast asleep to him.

Until, he felt his hands-his ice cold hands.

"Dead." He said simply.

"We found an unknown toxin in his body." A doctor said, walking in.

"I knew it." Alex said quietly from beside him. The boy's hatred and frustration towards SCORPIA amplified ten-fold then.

"When was he found?" Gibbs asked.

"Ten minutes before you were notified, Mr. Gibbs."

Ziva suddenly appeared beside Alex. "What are you doing here?" Alex asked.

"Tony called me." She said simply. The man himself walked into the room.

"Hey boss," Tony said. "What's up?"

"Malkey." Gibbs replied, stepping aside for his agents to see Malkey's corpse.

"Just when we got him, too…" Alex said. The anger was almost radiating off him. Couldn't they ever take a break?!

Ziva stepped forward to examine Malkey more closely and stepped on a piece of paper. An envelope. She could see the words Alex Rider Only scribbled across the front in a small print.

"Um…boss?" Ziva handed the envelope to Gibbs. Gibbs read the name and turned to Alex. The boy's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the envelope.

"Alex Rider only…" Alex reached for the envelope but Gibbs pulled back.

"Hey!"

Gibbs turned to Tony. "Déjà vu, Tony?"

DiNozzo gulped and nodded. He remembered the last time an anonymous letter was addressed to him.

"Give it here." Alex said, snatching the envelope from Gibbs.

"Alex!" Gibbs said angrily. But the boy had already torn the envelope and pulled out a small card. Alex opened it and paled.

"What the…" he gasped. He looked up at Gibbs and handed the card to him.

It was a colorful Get Well Soon card. On the inside was a note:

Hello Alex,

This time, there will be no mercy.

And Malkey? The best weapon is always unexpected, almost invisible.

Let the games begin.

ZK

xxxAlexNCIS

"Invisible Sword."

That was the last thing Alex said to Gibbs before he went to bed. The exhausted teen dragged himself into his room and fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed. Unfortunately, he was plagued with nightmares and, before he knew it, Gibbs was shaking him awake.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the vibrant orange in the bullpen; for some odd reason, he felt as safe here as he did with Jack.

"Morning boss." Ziva said from her desk. "Alex."

"Hi." Alex said feebly. He was still thinking about the note. With no doubt, it was in forensics.

Alex silently prayed that Gibbs would want to go and check in on Abby. Gibbs looked at Alex and knew what he was thinking. "Abs hard at work?"

Ziva nodded. Alex stared at Gibbs as he followed the man. "Are you some kind of mind reader?" Gibbs chuckled yet didn't say anything. The moment that they entered the lab, Abby began talking.

"Hi Gibbs, hi Alex," she said. "How are you guys doing? Well, maybe I shouldn't ask that after what I heard about last night. The person who wrote it has a weird sense of humor. I mean, Get Well Soon? That's kinda creepy for a note threatening a kid…"

"Abby!" Gibbs said. Alex laughed as they both put on gloves.

"Yeah, well," Abby said, getting back on track, "I'm guessing it was written by a woman; no offense, but I've never seen a man's handwriting this good. I found fingerprints on the edge of the envelope, they confirm my suspicion of it being a woman. Look!"

Abby brought up a photo of an unsmiling woman. She had short blonde hair and a small face.

Alex couldn't believe it would be this easy to find her. He knew they would find her, but after reading the letter and after what happened to Malkey, he knew there would be some catch to it. But Alex would be ready. He saw the note, picked it up, and smiled.

"Let the games begin…"

There you have it. Another chapter. Things are going to be more serious now, now that Alex is mad. Did you like it? Did you hate it? For those who didn't like the beginning, sorry for killing off Malkey. It was a last minute idea. Did anyone catch that subtle Tiva? He called her as 'backup' over anybody else on the team. Just another way I'm trying to keep it as IC as possible.

Till next time

Warriorette 12