A/N: Happy New Year Everyone! To my recent followers/favourites, welcome & thank you for joining us on this magical ride! To my reviewers, thank you so so much! Reading your comments, your thoughts always makes me smile & want me to keep writing, so keep 'em coming!

Now... how's Nix doing? Let's find out..

Tony had been momentarily surprised at Gibbs' actions, but as they walked he was feeling more & more settled. And feeling settled was a welcome relief. Gosh it was such a good feeling, but Gibbs had stopped them half a dozen steps away from the SUV's, he turned to the man in query.

Gibbs cupped his neck "go to your sister & nephew, as soon as the boys are ready to travel, we're heading home. We'll head home together, ok?"

"Yea, sounds good" Tony whispered, heading home sounded good, heading home as a family sounded even better!

"Good, go on" Gibbs urged as he double tapped his cheek affectionately, he watched as he headed off before he himself made a beeline for his family.

Kelly saw her dad when he was mere steps from her "dad!"

Gibbs pulled her into his embrace "I'm here, all's ok now" he gave her a kiss to the forehead before pulling back & looking at his wife who was cradling their son.

"Jethro" Shannon breathed, thank goodness he was ok!

Gibbs took a step closer to her, he leaned in & gave her a kiss "I'm ok" pulling back he ran a hand through his son's hair "I'm here son, I'm here"

"Dad" Nix groaned.

"I'm here son, I'm here" Gibbs soothed as he caressed his son's head. He tried to do stocktake of his son & the injuries, apart from the cuts & bruises there was something wrong with his right leg, his left arm, and his chest, and that was worrying him the most.

"Duck, how is he?" Gibbs asked, he had Kelly under one arm & the other was still trying to sooth his son as much as possible.

Ducky took a deep breath before looking at his friend "he's not well I'm afraid, I think he's broken his right knee cap & he's definitely done damage to his left arm, possibly a break or maybe a tear. However…"

"However what?" Gibbs prodded "what's wrong?"

Ducky hesitated for a moment "I'm concerned about his ribcage, there's a fair amount of bruising.."

Shannon was now getting really worried "what is it, what's wrong?"

"I'm concerned there's internal bleeding given the amount of bruising around his ribcage" Ducky finally said.

Gibbs eyes widened, he shared a look of horror with his wife "we need to get home asap" he had to get his boy home quickly.

"No Jethro, we can't risk flying until we know if he's got internal bleeding or not, otherwise we could cause more damage. What we need to do is get some scans done & quickly" Ducky responded quickly. They certainly couldn't fly anywhere yet.

"We need to get to a hospital" Shannon exclaimed "you'll be ok darling, you're ok" she looked to her husband "Jethro!" she was now really concerned.

Gibbs knew his wife was right, he took a few steps away from his family "where's the nearest hospital?!" he barked out.

"Only 15 minutes away, but we've already called for a few ambulances, they should be here any minute" Charles responded, then he heard the sirens.

Gibbs wasn't satisfied "we can't wait!" he wouldn't allow for any more delays, his son had to get looked at.

"The ambulance is here, it will take you straight to the hospital & my daughter Mabel is one of the ER doctors, she will be on hand for when you get there & will take care of Phoenix" Jeffrey remarked, he'd come over as soon as he heard the shout from the man & the ambulance was pulling up already.

Gibbs felt a hand on his arm, he looked at his wife who nodded "Fine" he turned to find his next target "Myles! I want you & your team with us! Marcus, the plane is to be ready for departure as soon as we're cleared from the hospital"

"Yes sir!" came the reply from both Bond boys.

"Charles & Robert will go with you as well" Jeffrey commented.

"Dad" Nix cried out, he hurt, he really did.

Gibbs was at his son's side in an instant "I'm here son, I'm here, we're going to get you to the hospital & checked out. You'll be ok son" he soothed.

Gibbs remained with his son until the ambulance came to a stop & the people got out, he was going to call out but saw that Jeffrey was already directing them.

"What have we got?" paramedic 1 asked getting close to Gibbs.

"My son's been injured, possible internal bleeding, we need to get to the hospital now!" Gibbs asserted.

"We'll assess & stabilise & then get him to the hospital" paramedic 1 responded.

Ducky could see Gibbs was going to well.. yes, he best say something "Excuse me, my name is Dr Donald Mallard, I've secured Phoenix's right knee as best as I can, along with his arm, but it could use an immobiliser. He's been given 1 dose of morphine but I don't want to give any more as I'm concerned about internal bleeding given the amount of bruising that is evident to his ribcage."

Paramedic 1 shared a look with her partner, the doctor seemed to know what he was talking about "ok, we'll immobilise the arm & then get going"

"We might need to double up, there's some others that might need to be transported" Paramedic 2 commented. He'd looked around as he retrieved the gear they'd need.

"Andrew! Get that boy to the hospital, don't wait for any others!" Thomas called out as he came closer "no delays in getting that boy to the hospital, and take the kid in the other SUV with you too!" he knew out of all of the injured no one would stand for the boys not being treated first & foremost.

Ducky looked on, apparently paramedic 2's name was Andrew "the young lad has Aplastic Anaemia, he was behind on his medication for a good few days, but I've given him a boost that should start to help, he has no other injuries so to speak" he commented.

"If you finish up here Natasha, I'll get the other kid sorted for transported" Andrew commented to his partner.

"Ok" Natasha agreed "we should be ready to go in 5, and grab me the stretcher!"

"I've got it for you" Charles commented as he headed for the ambulance.

Shannon just kept hold of her son as the paramedic worked with Ducky to get him immobilised "you're ok darling"

"Ok, we're ready to get him moved, if you can assist me with shifting him to the stretcher please sir" Natasha finished looking towards Gibbs.

Gibbs stepped forward & begun to put his arms around his son's frame "you're ok son, I've got you, dad's got you" he soothed as he started to move his son to the stretcher as carefully as possible "you're ok son" he soothed as he ran a hand over his head. He was struggling to now deal with how bad his son was looking, he felt his wife come up to his side as she too caressed their boy "we're right here son, we're right here with you."

"I've got Jake with his mum in the front cab" Andrew called as he approached "let's get you loaded up"

"Ok, let's get going" Natasha agreed "we can only fit one other into the back"

"You go Shan" Gibbs said before she could say anything "Kells & I will follow you with the others"

Shannon just nodded as they got their boy to the ambulance.

"We've got transport organised sir" Myles commented.

"Then let's go" Gibbs responded "come on angel, let's go, we'll follow right behind the SUV" he remarked as he walked them both towards the SUV that Myles indicated.

"Andrew, Robert here will lead the ambulance from his vehicle, he's local PD so he will help you get to the hospital quickly" Thomas remarked "just follow along" he asserted.

Gibbs saw that Tony was heading for the front vehicle, clearly wanting to go to the hospital too, he though thought there should be one or two more "David, McGee, Harry! All three of you to the hospital with us too!" he ordered, that would give Tony & his girl a bit more support & not just protection.

Ducky was situated on a little down from where Gibbs, Shannon & Kelly were sitting. He'd been quite impressed by the response they received when they arrived at the hospital. As soon as they'd pulled up, there were teams waiting for them, one team took Jacob up to a specialist unit & the other rushed Phoenix into the emergency unit. He'd then had 2 head doctors come to him for a debrief of conditions for both boys. Having passed on the update for Jake & details of his doctor back in the U.S., that doctor had made a beeline for his specialist unit, where he'd said he would contact that doctor too. The doctor that was taking care of Phoenix, whom Ducky quickly realised was Mabel Paddington, daughter of Jeffrey, had asked him a very many questions about Phoenix's condition before she rushed off, ordering scans & bloodwork.

He had to admit he was curious as to how Myles & co would go trying to bring weapons into the hospital, as he knew Gibbs was probably wanting them armed. He was mildly surprised when he saw Anthony, Myles, Harry, Timothy, Ziva & Sgt Fisher all enter the hospital without carrying any weapons, then he noticed that Myles had his handgun tucked into the back of his trousers under his shirt, maybe they were trying to conceal them. Tony, Ziva & Sgt Fisher had gone up to the specialist unit where Jake had been taken, whilst Harry & Myles had strategically placed themselves to see both the Gibbs family & the various entries. He considered that the rest of Myles' team were outside watching on as well. Timothy though was sitting next to himself as they both kept their gaze's on the Gibbs' family, he could see the concern all over the young man's face "Phoenix is in the best place to receive care now Timothy, they'll take care of him."

Tim shared a look with Ducky, he hoped the man was right, he hoped Nix would be ok, because it was all sounding really bad! He hoped Kelly was doing ok, he'd tried to catch her gaze, but she was had barely left her parent's hold, especially Gibbs', the man was barely letting her go.

Shannon was worried, was her son ok? What were his injuries? She just wouldn't be ok until she found out. She just wanted to know what was taking so long "Jethro"

Gibbs was sitting with his girls in the emergency waiting room, their son had been taken for scans almost an hour ago, he'd lost the fight to go with him, the doctor lady, Mabel Paddington, had assured them that she'd take care of him as though he was her own, and well.. they were related.. but still. He'd just wanted to stay with his son, they hadn't been able to give him any more pain medication until they worked out if there was internal bleeding for fear it would thin his blood & he'd bleed out even more, he just wanted to keep soothing his son until they could. He had Kelly under one arm, she'd not said one word since they left the warehouse scene, clearly she was struggling to cope with what was going on. His wife was under his other arm, they were holding onto each other for dear life, their boy had to be ok, he just had to! He heard his wife's whisper, he really didn't want to let go of her, but was about to stand up when he saw Ducky approach "Duck, get us an update?"

Ducky had a feeling they were about to start chasing for an update, so he'd tried to get an update for them "nothing yet Jethro, but…. Dr Paddington" he'd just seen the woman enter the area.

"Where's Phoenix?" Shannon exclaimed, why was she back if he wasn't with her?

"He's getting scans done on his legs & arms" Mabel answered quickly "I just wanted to come give you an update, we've looked at his chest & ribcage and thankfully I can confirm that there's no internal bleeding anywhere"

"ohh thank heavens" Shannon breathed out as she fell back into her husband.

Gibbs sent a quick prayer skywards, thank heavens! "No internal bleeding, that's good" he said quietly into his girl, she'd barely moved, he ran his hand up & down her arm trying to calm her.

Mabel let the news sink in, she was glad for it too "I'm afraid though that his entire ribcage is extremely bruised & 3 of ribs have cracks in them, 2 are minor whilst 1 is a little bit more substantial. He is going to be very sore for quite a while, but we have given him some stronger painkillers to help with his overall pain now & it's already started to kick in."

Gibbs was glad his son didn't have internal bleeding, but 3 cracked ribs & an entire bruised ribcage, his anger started to boil, he cursed that he'd already arrested Liam & Loch! He just wanted to hurt them again for causing his son such levels of pain.

"We're scanning his right leg & left arm to check the severity of the breaks & tears, but do I have your permission to scan his other limbs just to make sure there's no injuries anywhere? I'd like to do a complete head to toe check" Mabel commented.

"And I want to get our son home, we'll get him a complete check when we get there, we just need him well enough to travel" Gibbs responded, he wanted them home so they could decompress away from everyone.

"If I can ask where home is?" Mabel asked.

"Naples, Italy, we live on the US military base there & we have our own planes to get us home" Gibbs responded.

"Jethro, I want to make sure Phoenix is ok before anything" Shannon commented, yes she wanted to get home, but not if it will risk their son's health.

"We won't leave until we know he's ok" Gibbs assured, he looked back to the lady "we just want him well so we can get him home"

"I understand that, and I assure you, all I want is to get Phoenix well again" Mabel responded "how's this, we'll do the scans & see if there's anything of major concern. If not, we should be able to give him enough painkillers & secure him up for the flight, so long as he remains lying down on the plane & you then go straight to your base's hospital"

Shannon felt much better about it now "ok, thank you & yes, you have our permission to do whatever scans you need to"

"Go ahead" Gibbs nodded his agreement as well, then he had a thought, he turned to find the person he was after "Myles" he called quietly.

Myles approached carefully "yes sir?"

"Call your brother, we'll need to transport Phoenix lying down, make sure he can do that" Gibbs ordered.

"Of course sir" Myles responded easily, but he then had a thought "what about transport requirements for Jake?" he asked carefully. He knew this one would be a touchy subject.

Shannon received a look from her husband, she realised he was letting her make that decision. Whilst she had some cause of hesitation given the relationship Patricia had with her biological father, she also knew that Anthony would want them with him & he really was like a son for her. "Myles, speak to Tony & see what Jacob might need to make his journey as easy as possible."

"Of course Mrs G" Myles agreed.

"I will speak to Dr Lawrence about what might be needed as well" Mabel added "we will get the boys patched up & ready for flight, and then Dr Mallard, can I assume you'll be on hand for the flight for the boys?"

"Of course" Ducky answered easily "I will ensure safe passage for them during the flight"

Mabel nodded "I'll go organise the final set of scans, we should have your son back down within the hour"

Gibbs sat there just holding his girls, but he was getting really concerned about his angel, she'd not uttered a word nor moved an inch from his hold. "Angel, your brother's going to be ok, he's going to be ok" he soothed, stroking her head "angel, look at me" he encouraged.

Gibbs tilted her head up to look at him "come on angel, open your eyes & look at me, look at dad" he said quietly.

What Gibbs saw devastated him, her eyes were bloodshot, she'd been quietly crying her little heart out "Angel, your brother is going to be ok, the doc said there's no internal bleeding. Yes, he's got some injuries, but we'll get him home & he'll be ok, your brother will be ok" he did his best to reassure her. What he couldn't prevent was the tear that rolled down his cheek, gosh this was hard!

"He's really badly hurt" Kelly cried falling back into her dad, this time letting the sobs out loud.

Gibbs tried his best to swallowed his tears as he scooped his girl into his hold & shifted them so she was now between himself & his wife "ohh angel, he's going to be ok, we're going to be ok"

"Ohh angel" Shannon cried, she waited for her husband to shift their girl over his lap so they could both comfort her "he'll be ok" she tried to say as she held onto her. She couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheek either.

"Shh angel, it's ok, he'll be ok, we'll be ok" Gibbs soothed as he pulled her into his hold as strongly as he could. He just held her as she let it out. He was glad they were in the cubical of the ER department, so they had a bit of privacy as they awaited his boy's return.

"He can't even walk! He could barely stay awake because of the pain!" Kelly got out, she'd manage to hold it together, but it had all come out, her worry from when he was missing to learning about everything to see him finally but injured. But the last straw had been actually seeing the extent of his bruising of his chest & hearing about possible internal bleeding.

Gibbs had thought he was struggling to deal with his son's injuries on top of everything else they'd had to deal with, but his girl was completely crumbling. He tilted her face to let him look her in the eye, wiping her tears away as he felt some come down his own cheek, he spoke quietly "we'll get him better angel, we'll get him home & he will get better. We will do whatever we have to get him better. I know you're hurting seeing him like he is, it's hurting mum & I too beyond anything, but right now we need to be here for him, we need to be strong for him."

Gibbs took a breath as he steeled himself "let's make a deal, we be brave for Phoenix for when he comes back down to us, we get home & then we… we let it all out together, how about that?" whilst he would never tell his girl that she couldn't feel & express her emotions, he knew they had to be brave for their son. Besides, he wanted to get them all home to the safety of their own home, so they could express their emotions freely away from everyone else & in private.

Shannon swallowed her tears, her husband was right "you're right darling, we can be brave for Phoenix, and then we will deal with everything else"

"Ok" Kelly agreed, she wiped her cheeks "sor.."

"Don't you dare finish that word" Shannon interrupted "there is nothing you need to apologise for, you simply got to a point where you had to release your emotions, I think we all did" she admitted "I guess we needed it, so please don't think it was wrong darling"

Gibbs nodded in agreement "mum's right angel, there is no need to apologise, it's ok"

Shannon just sat there as she held onto her girl, whilst she was held by her man, they just sat there trying to get their emotions back under control. Her husband was right, they had to be brave for their boy, and then they'd deal with the emotions once they were home. She just sat there waiting.. then she saw it, the curtain got pulled aside, she was up & out of her chair as quickly as the rest of her family "Phoenix!"

"Phoenix!" Gibbs & Kelly both exclaimed as they leaped out of their chairs.

Kelly watched as some nurses wheeled the bed her brother was on into the cubical. She could feel her dad still holding onto her, which she was glad for, she really was. "Nix" she whispered, was he even awake?

Gibbs had hold of his girl as they watched the nurses manoeuvrer the bed in, he took hold of his wife, his son appeared to be asleep? He watched as they hooked him up to some cords "what are you attaching? Is he asleep or.."

"We gave him some pretty strong pain killers, so it's helped to sedate him, it probably is best for him to asleep for a little while" Nurse 1 answered "and we're hooking him up to IV & morphine drips, just to help rehydrate him & help with his pain management. The doctors are evaluating the scans & will come give you the update as soon they're done"

"Nurses are on hand right outside if you need anything, just press the call button" Nurse 2 added.

"Thank you" Shannon replied quietly, she waited for the nurses to leave before she moved right to her son's side.

Shannon ran hand through her son's hair, they'd apparently done their best to clean up his cuts & wounds, so he looked a little better, but still, he was a mess! "ohh darling" she whispered as he gave him a kiss to his forehead "you'll be ok my darling"

Gibbs had come to stand on the other side of the bed to where his wife was, he was caressing his son's head just like his wife. He was glad to see that his son's cuts & wounds had been cleaned & clearly disinfected, he too leaned down to give him a kiss to the forehead "we're right here son, we're with you, not leaving you, we love you."

Kelly swallowed as she looked at her brother, she was having a hard time keeping her emotions in check when she felt her dad pull her backwards into his hold. As she took a seat next to him she reached her hand out to take a hold of her brother's, she just squeezed.

"Mabel" Charles greeted as he headed into the hospital.

"Charles" Mabel greeted her brother, then she saw her first cousin "Robert, what on earth is going on? I received a rushed call from dad saying that there were ambulances on the way & that I had to make sure the boys insider were taken care of before anyone else because they were family & he didn't care about anything or anyone else. Something about Uncle Alexander being alive & these boys being related to him & well, us too."

"Have you taken care of the boys?" Charles asked

"Of course we have" Mabel reported "we would have taken care of them regardless, but I heard that there were some ambulances that got directed to the other hospital, an extra 30 minutes away, why?"

"Because the decision was made that those people would not come to the same hospital as the boys" Charles responded.

"The boys & this one" Robert added seeing the latest ambulance team bring in a new patient.

"Who's he?" Mabel asked.

"Alexander McLowry, our uncle" Charles answered "just keep him away from Phoenix & his family for now" he could see confusion "I'll explain later, just get another doc to look after him on the other side of the ER"

Mabel was confused but saw something in her brother's eyes to say this was something that needed to be done "Marge, take care of that one in unit 5, keep him away from unit 19" she ordered.

Charles saw his sister about to depart "how is he the boy? Really?"

"Not good" Mabel responded bluntly "the only good news is that he has no internal injuries, but he's been more than roughed up"

"You take care of him Mabel, his grandfather is Alexander, his mother Shannon is Alex's daughter, they're a bit well… estranged, and the younger boy Jacob, his grandmother is… well…" Charles began to say.

"His grandmother is who?" Mabel prodded, she was surprised that the boy was Alex's grandson, a grandson of man she thought long dead!

"Our Aunt, Jacob's grandmother is, was Patricia Paddington" Charles finished carefully.

Mabel's eyes widened "she was who?"

Charles took hold of his sister "our aunt Patricia had a daughter we didn't know about, and it's all thanks to the Fielding & Lancert kinship, but that's for later. Right now, we, the McLowry & Paddington kinship need you to make sure we get those 2 boys & Alex checked and on the road to recovery. That's all that matters right now. I'll tell you everything that happened later, I promise"

"Ok" Mabel conceded, her brother uttering the kinship was the ultimate family double-down phrase as far as she was concerned, and the thought that the injuries were caused by their family's mortal enemies if you will, that was hard to fathom, and she'd surely need to get a better understanding of exactly what had happened, but for now.. "I'll make sure all three are well taken care of, and speaking of which, I need to update the family on some scan results."

Mabel took a moment for herself, she first & foremost treated the boy because she was a doctor & she'd always treat those needed care. Then there was her father's telephone call to say she had to make a priority to treat the boys as they were family, so that added weight to her cause for treating the boys, but now knowing the actual relationships & knowing these people were her cousins & that somehow the boys injuries were caused by the Fielding/Lancert families cemented her need to see the boys recover as best as possible.

Gibbs was getting concerned, it had been a good 20 minutes since the nurses returned their boy, but they'd yet to see the doctor, he prayed it wasn't bad news. He was also waiting for his boy to wake up, though he knew it was meaning he wasn't feeling the pain he must be in.

Kelly just sat there holding her brother's hand, she wouldn't let go, not for anything. She just wanted him to wake up, she wanted to make sure he was ok! Then she noticed the curtain to the cubical move, she looked up to see the doctor walk in.

"Hello, I'm sorry for my delay in getting back down" Mabel greeted & apologised.

"Is he ok?" Shannon asked, she'd been getting more concerned as the moments ticked by.

"First off let me say he has no life threatening injuries" Mabel assured them.

Shannon breathed a sigh of relief, she shared a look with her husband as they both took a breath they'd been holding.

"I'm not going to lie to you though, he's not in the best of shape & he'll need a few operations" Mabel commented

"Can you just tell us his injuries, please" Gibbs remarked quietly, he just wanted to know, though he did take a stronger hold of his girl as he shared a look with his wife.

Mabel took a seat "ok, let's work through it all then, firstly we did an MRI of Phoenix's head & neck, given all the other injuries I wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong to his skull & neck, I'm pleased to say that apart from the gash to his forehead & the bruises you can see, there are no further issues to his head or neck. I also want to assure you we've found no issues to his spine"

Kelly was glad to hear that her brother did have any major head, neck or spinal injuries.

"His right arm's flexor muscle has a possible strain, but there's no breaks or major tears. His left leg, his hamstring has a possible strain, but apart from that it's ok." Mabel explained as he pointed to the diagram of the various muscle & bones.

Shannon took a breath, it sounded like his right arm was reasonably ok, and his left leg was looking ok too, but why did she hesitate before speaking about his other limbs? "what about his left arm & right leg?"

Mabel took a breath "As for his left arm, he has a large gash where his triceps muscle is located & it will need stiches, and his radius has a severe fracture that will need setting. He also has extensive bruising around his elbow joint, but we can't see any breaks or fractures"

"What about his right leg?" Gibbs asked quietly, if she'd left those 2 to last & if the arm was this bad, how bad was his leg?

"His right leg, it's not good" Mabel conceded "ok, he's torn his hamstring & calf muscles, and there's a fairly deep gash to his calf. His tibia & fibula both have fractures & his patella… well, it looks like it will need to be reconstructed I'm afraid"

Shannon's eyes widened in horror as she tightened her hold of her son's hand, she looked across to her husband who she could tell had also paled at the news "reconstruction?"

"It looks that way to me yes" Mabel conceded, she gave them a moment to digest.

Gibbs ran a hand over his son's head, he really had a long way to go to recover "how long until the sedation wears off?" he asked still not looking away from his boy.

"We didn't actually sedate him, just upped the pain medication, but that combined with the pain that he was in, sent him into a sort of sedation. We're monitoring him, he's vitals are fine, he should wake up soon I'd say" Mabel answered.

"Do you need to set his fractures & do the stitching here?" Shannon asked quietly.

"I'd like to do the stitching here before you travel. As for the setting of his fractures, we can immobilise his limbs for the trip & you can get them set when you arrive in Naples. They will require healing & that means he needs to stay in the one place after the fact, I'd say you'd all want to do that back in Naples" Mabel answered.

Gibbs could handle that "go ahead with organising the stitching, and immobilise his limbs for transport. As soon as we get home, we'll head straight to the hospital" he commented, he'd have to speak with Tristan & Marks, not to mention Cmdr Brine, he'd have to let them know to get ready for Nix's arrival at the hospital.

"Can you please ensure copies of all his scans, reports & assessments are with Dr Mallard so he hand them over to the medical team at our base" Gibbs requested.

"Of course" Mabel confirmed "I'll arrange for copies of everything to be sent to the base hospital & I will speak to team myself as well. That way they can prepare for everything even before he arrives"

Gibbs simply nodded his thanks before he turned his attention back to his son, he caressed his head "you're going to be ok son, you're going to be ok"

Kelly had been taking in all of her brother's injuries, he was more than just banged up, she just squeezed his hand trying to show her that she was there when she felt a squeeze back "Phoenix?"

Shannon heard her girl's call, the next thing she knew she could feel her son shift slightly "Phoenix darling?"

Gibbs had felt the same thing "Phoenix son?"

Nix groaned "mum….. dad… Kell?"

"We're here darling, we're right here" Shannon soothed.

"Right here son" Gibbs echoed, as he kept a hand on his boy.

Nix was pain, though he thought it was less than before, he opened his eyes & saw his dad & sister staring back, turning he saw his mum was on his other side. They were right there with him, but were they ok? Was it over? He look back to his dad "is it over? Are we safe?"

Gibbs caressed his boy's face "yes son, everything's over now, we're all safe & ok, we're together now, all's ok" he assured his boy.

Nix kept his gaze on his dad "please don't leave me"

Gibbs took hold of his son face with both hands, he wanted to look him right in the eye & wanted his son looking back at him "I will never, never leave you again son. I promise you, no one will hurt you again" he said with as much focus and emotion as he could. He'd make damn certain that'd he'd never let his family out of his reach, nor let anything, anything happen to them again!

A/N: So Nix is good at all, they really did a number on him! And his family, especially Kelly isn't taking it well, so it will probably be a welcome relief to get them back to Naples & the comforts & securities of home. But how's Jake doing? And what about Alex?

More to come everyone, so stay tuned! You know I love hear your thoughts, so review away! Thanks again :) And stay safe where ever you may be!