Now that my internet is connected again, I give you the next chapter. Thanks for putting up with the various BS that prevents me from writing more quickly.

I had someone share their opinion about how Neal should have been more mature and had more restraint due to their age difference. I can see that viewpoint, but since I'm the result of my dad at 23 getting my mom pregnant at 16, it isn't one that I can fully support. And if either of them should have greater restraint, I would figure it to be Alex considering she's a spy. I do appreciate the difference in opinion though and thank you for sharing. =)

And to address Aima, thank you for reviewing and giving the story a chance. That said, I don't have a near constant need for approval for anything in my story - even if no one liked it, I would still write it. I believe I've only mentioned the sex issue a couple of times and it was more as a warning to my readers than anything else. I live in Illinois myself and our age of consent is 17, Britain's is 16, and if you go to Mexico it's listed as 12 to 18. Different countries and even states have different ages. Regardless of whatever the age of consent is, there are still people who think that certain ages are too young or that Alex and Neal haven't been dating long enough for sex - neither or which is necessarily the case and there are plenty of examples to the contrary. Mostly, my comments were to avoid any flames because I just didn't want to deal with it. Aside from that, you have my viewpoint pretty well nailed down. =) Thank you for sharing.

17

"Hello?"

"...Neal? What the hell are you doing answering Alex's phone?" Ben's voice came across the line.

"Shit."

"Neal?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. Alex and I talked yesterday and neither of us were really in any condition to walk her home so she stayed the night." It was technically true, just not all of it and oh, crap Alex had rubbed off on him because, now that he thought about it, now that he was aware of it, she did that all the time. And she didn't seem to freak about it half as much as he currently was - which raised the question of whether that was due to being able to hide it well or just how often she had to do it.

"Is that all?" And boy did Ben sound like he didn't believe him. Not that Neal could really blame him since he was holding something back, but it's not like it was really Ben's business either.

Neal frowned somewhat, sitting up to better talk on the phone. "We're back together."

There was a pause. "That's... good." Another pause. "Just like that? You don't... resent her or anything like that?"

Neal sighed, wiping a hand over his face. "I did at first. But then I thought about it, really thought about it, and figured out that I couldn't imagine my life without her in it. Yeah, we still need to talk some more, but I'm willing to listen and work it out."

"Okay. If you need to talk, just give me a call, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks man."

"Yeah. She awake?"

"Nah, she's still in bed."

There was a pause. "And you?"

Neal rolled his eyes. "I slept on the couch." Part of the night anyway.

"Alright. Sorry to sound so suspicious but... It's Alex, y'know?"

Neal huffed a laugh, twisting slightly to look down at her. "Yeah, I know."

"Anyway, I was calling her to see if she wanted me to pass anything on to you. Obviously that isn't needed so, we'll be up in about a minute."

Neal blinked a few times. "Huh?" Why did he feel like he had forgotten something very important?

He heard Ben's sigh of exasperation. "James, Dave, and I are coming by today. Dave wants to check your wound and we're bringing movies, remember?"

Yeah, that would be it. "Right. See you soon." He snapped Alex's phone shut and scrambled out of bed, jostling Alex in the process.

She lifted her head and looked at him in confusion. "Neal?"

"Guys'll be here soon," he rushed out, throwing on his pajama pants from the night before and hurrying down the hall as there was a knock on the door, pulling his bedroom door shut behind him.

He yanked the door open and blinked at his teammates. "Who the hell is open this early for pizza?" he asked, sidetracked by the stack of boxes in Dave's hands.

Tossing a quick glance down at said pizzas, the blond shrugged. "I got them last night so we'll need to use the oven."

Neal nodded, a little blank, and stepped aside to let them in.

"How are you feeling?" the medic asked, passing the food to Ben before pushing Neal to sit on the couch.

Neal rotated a hand in place of a shrug since Dave was peeling back the bandages. "Sore. Haven't taken the medication yet today. I just got up."

"Where is it?" James asked, turning away from where he was watching Ben putter around the small kitchen.

"Bedside table," he answered absently, focused more on what Dave was doing. He blinked, realizing that James was going to get the pills and that Alex was still in the room. "Wait! Don't!" he cried, starting to panic and ignoring how the way he twisted pulled at his wound. As bad as Ben could be, he definitely didn't want to know how James would react to finding Alex naked in his bed.

Of course, by then it was too late. James already had his hand on the knob and was turning it even as he looked back at Neal - who had squeezed his eyes shut so he didn't have to see the train wreck about to happen. Vaguely, he wondered just how it was that James would kill him. As easy as shooting him would be, Neal doubted that James would be willing to show mercy considering how paternal he was toward the girl in the other room. No, it would most likely be slow and painful and involve the others so Ben could do the whole psychological torture thing while Dave kept him alive and awake so he could feel everything while James cut him into tiny little pieces and fed him to turtles and mice and the ducks on the lake in that park Alex liked going to. And, oh god, this would get back to Jack and she'd find someway to resurrect him just so she could do unspeakable things to him and-

"Neal! Calm down! You're hyperventilating!" came Dave's voice, sounding like that wasn't the first time he had tried to break into Neal's panic attack. He forced the other soldier to hunch over and put his head between his knees, talking him through several slow and even breaths.

By the time Neal had calmed down, several minutes had past and everyone had forgotten about his pain medication, gathering instead around their teammate. He lifted his head and smiled weakly at the others. He hadn't realized before how much getting worked up could take out of you.

"I'm okay," he said, before they could start throwing questions at him. "Just didn't want to risk waking Alex." He put a hand to his head with a wince. Wow, he was lightheaded all of a sudden.

"Right," Dave said, and didn't sound convinced in the least as he caught Neal's arm so he didn't fall over from his seat. "Get his feet," he ordered, starting to maneuver the brunet so he could lay down.

No one noticed Alex in the hallway, watching them get her boyfriend settled and him drop into sleep almost immediately. So, when she spoke, they jumped about a foot.

"Is he okay?"

Nearly as one, the men spun in place, eyes wide in surprise which quickly turned to dismay as they took in her attire.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Ben demanded.

Alex glanced over herself, not sure what the problem was. "T-shirt," she answered, tone conveying that she thought that was a stupid question. Then again, the fact her legs were bare and the shirt barely came to mid-thigh on her was probably what the problem was. She shrugged. "You didn't think I'd sleep in my day clothes if I didn't have to, did you?"

"What you're wearing isn't exactly appropriate though. Not at an older man's place," David pointed out.

Alex scowled, shooting an arch look at all of them. "It's not like he has pants that will fit me. Besides, it was either this or wear nothing." She turned, ignoring their sputtering, and stalked down the hall, slamming the bedroom door behind her.

They exchanged bewildered looks before Ben shrugged. "She's been moody ever since Neal got shot. It'll take a little while." Having said this, he flopped onto Neal's lone armchair and promptly ignored the glare James sent his way.

"And you're just going to ignore what might have happened last night?" James grumbled, pulling in one of the kitchen chairs.

Ben frowned. "Just because it might have happened doesn't mean it did. And I'm not going to do or say anything until I've been told that something did."

James scoffed. "You've said as much yourself that Alex's emotional state isn't normal. And we all know how Neal can talk people into things. What if-"

Dave spoke up then, rebuke in his tone. "You know Neal wouldn't take advantage of anyone like that, especially not Alex."

Ben snorted. "The only way someone is going to 'take advantage' of Alex is if she's willing to go along with it. Besides, if you start getting all protective father over her, she'll probably kick your ass." At the looks the other two gave him, he smirked. "Remember that dislocated shoulder I had last October? I didn't actually get it on the job. Alex did it. Probably would have done more too, if Neal hadn't called right then."

Dave settled on the floor near Neal's feet and leaned back against the couch. "Before that explosion, I would have said that you were exaggerating. Now though? I'm not sure what to think."

Ben nodded. "I didn't know she was capable of that either. I mean, I've always known she's skilled and can be dangerous, but it's like I didn't realize how much so."

It was James' turn to snort. "I did, I just didn't know it was a regular thing." He tilted his head in response to the questioning gazes sent his way. "She kicked me out of a plane. I just took it as evidence that she's vicious and vindictive. Then, in France, she just proved to me she was insane - snowboarding down a mountain on a modified ironing board then driving a snowmobile off a ski jump and into a flying helicopter? Who the hell does shit like that?"

The pair blinked, mulling over that before speaking at the same time. Ben's "She didn't tell me about that." overlapped with Dave's "A better question would be, how does it happen anywhere other than a movie?"

James looked at Dave flatly. "You sound like Neal."

"It's a viable question."

Ben raised his eyebrows and leaned back, content to listen to the pair bicker, Alex joining in when she drifted back into the room and sat next to Neal. He smiled, optimistic that things were going to be just fine. Yes, Neal was still healing physically and Alex had the most psychological damage, but they'd recover. All of them would, and they'd be a stronger team for it.