"So if I was to ask you where you were you could give me someone who could place you away from the crime scene?"
"Yeah sure. Like I told that other agent, Tony. I basically live on the streets. Take me back there and I can give you a witness."
"You know you don't have to act like I'm going to make a break for it every five seconds. I'm leaving as soon as I prove to you I didn't do it"
Alex was walking towards Gibbs car with Gibbs walking next to her elbow, ready to move in case she tried to do a runner.
"You're a minor. Even if you have an alibi you can't go back to the street. You can trust me. I can get you a good home"
Alex frowned but said nothing. She was just itching to get back to familiar territory. As Gibbs held open the door she slipped into the passenger seat. Suddenly a pair of socks and converse appeared on her knee.
"Put those on. You can't walk around in bare feet forever"
"Whose are they?"
"Yours. I asked our lab tech to pick out some shoes for you. She seemed to think you'd like those"
Alex gave a small smile. Whoever this lab tech was, she sure knew how to choose shoes. She started lacing the maroon converse onto her feet.
"Seat belt" Gibbs reminded her as he started the car. Biting back a sharp comment Alex fastened her seatbelt and before long they were heading down the main road.
"Take the next right" Alex directed Gibbs down a series of streets until he reached an underbridge.
"Let me do the talking. People tend to shy away from cops here"
She turned away to walk down the street but before she could move more than a few metres a dog came loping towards them.
"Maxie!" she shrieked, kneeling down and opening her arms. The burly chocolate lab ran straight for Alex and ended up on her knee. She crooned all sorts of praises to the dog as she rubbed his stomach and back. The dog, obviously delighted at seeing Alex, sprang all over her. His tail wagged nineteen to the dozen before he noticed Gibbs. His top lip went back, showing all his teeth as his hackles raised slightly.
"Max, down!" Alex warned, standing up next to Gibbs
"Gibbs, meet Maximus"
Gibbs eyed the dog who sat still with his hackles still raised.
"Whose dog?" he asked, looking at Alex who was bending down to talk to the dog again.
"Mine, Pops was looking after him while I went back to the house this morning"
"So he's the one that holds your alibi?"
Alex nodded, already heading towards an old restaurant alley. Max followed close to her feet as she took each step. They rounded the back to some steps and found an elderly homeless man sitting on the bottom step.
"Hey Pops" she called. The elderly man looked up at the sound of her voice.
"Alex, I was beginning to think your old man had got hold of you again. You should go into foster care you know. It's not safe for such a young girl to be out on the streets. No, not safe at all"
"Pops" Alex said a little louder, cutting through his lecture. "He wasn't my old man, and anyways, he's dead. This is Agent Gibbs. I need you to vouch that I was here yesterday afternoon"
She stroked Max's head. "This is Pops. He's kinda looks after me when I run into a rough spot. He looks after Maxie here too when I have to go home for more supplies.
Pops looked Gibbs up and down. "You think she did it?" he asked him roughly.
"It's not what I think that matters. We have to rule her out"
Pops nodded. "She was here. We were sitting right here in this ol' spot. She wouldn't do nothing to harm no one. The bastard had it coming"
Gibbs accepted the man's word without any question.
"That's good enough for me"
"Hey Pops, I won't be coming back. Gibbs is gonna get me a home. Thanks though, for everything" she pushed something into Pops hand. "Now, don't look at that till I'm gone"
Alex hugged the old man tightly before clasping Max's collar and walking down the street. She brushed a tear from her eye. Pops had been there when she had first came to the streets. He had tended to her bruises and taken her to the hospitals when she had broken bones. He was the closest thing she'd had to family. She would ask for him to be helped but she knew the old man wouldn't leave the streets. His life was here.
Pops watched them leave before looking in his hand. A wide smile stretched across his weathered skin. In his hand sat a small gold locket. Alex's locket. He opened it and inside sat a photo of himself and Alex. He clenched his hand back over it.
The trip back to NCIS was sombre. Alex fiddled with Maximus's yellow leather collar as he sat on the floor at her feet. She cast her mind back to her most recent argument with Gibbs.
"He's not coming"
"Yes he is. He's my dog. If you won't let me then I'll just live on the street again. Maximus is more than just a pet"
Gibbs glanced sideways at Alex. Inwardly he thought that Alex having a dog was a good thing, but it would make it harder for her to be placed in foster care. As he stopped the car at the lights he tried to read what was engraved on the second plate of Max's collar. The first one had his name but the second one was engraved with a quote.
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart"
"You must really care about that dog" Gibbs commented, breaking the silence.
"What makes you say that?"
"You spent the money to get him that leather collar and you put two silver plates on it instead of just a name"
Alex kept a poker face. "He kept me company. It was the least I could do for him"
She looked out the window as the car started moving again.
"Hey, this isn't the way back to your work. Where're we going?"
"To the hospital. We need to get your injuries cleaned up"
The words took immediate effect on Alex.
"Let me out, now"
"I can't do that"
"I'm fine" Alex growled.
"Those cuts didn't look fine to me. They haven't been cleaned properly. It's more than likely you have an infection"
"I don't care, just don't take me to the hospital" Alex started to get angry.
Gibbs frowned. "Will you let Ducky take a look at them?"
"Fine, whatever!" she spat.