Abby went excitedly into Alex's hospital room on the third day of Alex's hospital stay. When she saw Alex was fast asleep she quickly toned herself down as she went over to where Gibbs was sipping a cup of coffee.
"Gibbs! I have great news!" She whispered.
"Abs, Alex is currently heavily medicated not to mention exhausted, he's not going to be waking up anytime soon. Now what is it?," Gibbs said in a normal voice.
"Oh, right sorry. But Gibbs, Jack Starbright has woken up!" Abby said excitedly.
"Alex's guardian?" Gibbs questioned.
"Yep, and apparently she's been awake for awhile. People failed to inform the team that she was awake because she wasn't awake and coherent during the first few days. And the fact that we were all looking for Alex. Now she's awake and talking, and she's really upset that no one has any information for her about Alex," Abby relayed.
"Have you been there already?" He asked.
"No. Tony's outside talking to Mcgee, he's going to sit with Alex while we go see Jack and let her know everything's okay. And Ducky's going to meet us there to talk with Jack's doctor," Abby said decidedly.
"Since when did you become the team leader?" Gibbs asked with a smile as he stood up.
Abby smiled back at him, "Gibbs, you know no one can take your place."
"I don't know I thought I was doing a good job," Tony commented walking in, smiling as tossed Gibbs the keys to the Charger.
As soon as Abby and Gibbs entered Jack's hospital room at Bethesda the woman attacked them with weak but firm words from her bed.
"What the hell is going on?" Jack asked.
"Ms. Starbright, calm down. We-" Gibbs started.
"No, I will not calm down. I wake up in a hospital being told that I've just woken up from a coma from poisoning, and that no one in this hospital knows where Alex is. I don't think you people understand. Alex is my responsibility, I'm his guardian. And you people are making it damn hard to take care of him," Jack fumed, most of her anger being directed at Gibbs. Mostly because Abby looked like she was about to cry.
"Ms. Starbright-" Gibbs tried again only to be cut off again.
"Jack," She corrected.
"Jack. Alex, has been staying with me until you are back onto your feet. We did lose him, and he's currently in another hospital, but he's healing fast. He'll be okay," Gibbs informed the redhead quickly, knowing their tempers.
"Does he know I'm awake? I want to see him," Jack said firmly.
"Well see what the doctors have to say about that. There's no reason to rush this, you need just as much time to heal as he does," Gibbs explained.
"You don't understand I'm all that Alex has, him being alone in that hospital is not good for him mentally," Jack argued.
"He's not alone, and hasn't been since the start of this. Me or one of my team has been with Alex the whole time," Gibbs replied.
"We've all gotten attached to Alex," Abby chimed in.
Jack's face somewhat softened, "Really? In that case, I suppose I should thank you, and apologize. Even though Alex did wind up getting hurt," Jack said in relief, even though she was still somewhat wary of the situation.
Gibbs turned to Abby, "Abs, why don't you go talk with the Ducky and the doctors about Jack's condition?" he suggested lightly.
Abby must have seen that she wanted some time alone with Jack so she nodded and replied, "You got it, Boss man."
Once the goth was out of the room Gibbs turned his attention to Jack.
"Alex told me about MI6 blackmailing him," He started.
Jack was momentarily shocked by that. Alex didn't normally just blurt things like that out, so he must really trust the man that was sitting before her in the vacant seat beside her bed.
"Then that means he must really trust you. Don't mess that up," Jack ordered quietly.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Gibbs promised.
Jack looked at the man and he could tell that he was sincere, " Yeah, true marines normally keep their promises."
"How did you know I was a marine?"Gibbs inquired.
"Dad's a former marine, you reek of strong coffee, and your stature and tone of voice scream 'Marine'. I can spot one a mile away. Semper Fi, right?" Jack asked with a smug smile.
Gibbs cracked a small smile of his own, " Right."
"But you didn't come here to tell me that you and Alex are buddies, did you?" She asked, getting back on topic.
"No, I didn't. I'm not going to let MI6 get to Alex anymore. Me and my team are going to do everything we can to keep Alex safe from MI6 and SCORPIA," Gibbs explained.
Jack looked at the man for a moment before tears welled up in her eyes, " you're serious?"
"Children should not be in the position Alex is in. We want to help him," Gibbs said.
Gibbs could see the weight that looked like was being lifted off Jack's shoulders as she whispered, "thank you."
Gibbs nodded, "No problem. What I am having trouble with is that Alex is having a real problem opening up about some stuff. Like the topic of his godfather," Gibbs offered as an example.
Jack's face immediately fell, "And I can't say that I blame him, Ash was a huge traitor to Alex and his parents." She explained.
"His parents?" Gibbs asked.
"Oh... You mean you don't know about John Rider?" Jack said, mentally kicking herself for her mistake.
"Alex's father?" Gibbs asked remembering the name from Alex's small file they had been given on the boy.
"Yes, I, uh, don't know how Alex would feel about me telling you this," Jack replied uncertainly, she knew she probably needed to tell Gibbs about Ash and the rest of Alex's haunted past, but she also didn't want Alex to hate her for it.
"Yeah, I understand. But if I'm going to help Alex I need to know about what's been going on in his life, especially his SCORPIA dealings. I can't do that if he's not willing to talk, so if you can talk to him about talking to me or...anyone on the team it would be greatly appreciated," Gibbs replied.
"I'll definitely talk to him. If you're willing to help him it's the least he can do," Jack replied firmly. Gibbs could see that Jack was a great caretaker for Alex, firm and caring.
"I-" Gibbs started just as his phone went off.
"Gibbs," he answered.
"Boss, we have a problem here," Tony's voice came through the phone.
"Well spit it out, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, standing up his thoughts instantly going to Alex.
"The CIA is here, they want Alex," Tony said.
"Don't let them in Alex's room, Tony. I'm on my way," Gibbs said, standing up and walking for the door as he pocketed his phone without another word.
"What's going on?" Jack asked worriedly.
"Nothing to worry about. You just worry about getting better so you can see Alex," Gibbs said as he exited the room in a fury.
He nearly ran out of the hospital to get to the Charger. Once in there Gibbs left angry burn outs at the entrance of Bethesda in a hurry to get to Alex, daring any LEO to pull him over.(1)
Alex sat up in his raised bed desperately wishing he could just go back to sleep. He could hear Tony talking angrily with Joe Byrne and one of his agents. Alex was momentarily surprised that Byrne was there himself, he was the Director of the CIA what was he doing here?
Hearing the raised voices becoming louder he had finally had enough.
"Tony!" Alex yelled.
There was a brief silence before Tony's head poked into his room, "yeah? I'm sorry are we being too loud?" he asked pleasantly.
"You might say that. Just...let them in, Tony," Alex said tiredly.
"Sorry, Gibbs said not to. He's on his way though," Tony assured just as his phone rang.
"DiNozzo," Tony greeted much like Gibbs.
He listened for awhile before smiling widely before turning around, holding a finger up to Alex, signaling him to hold on.
He walked out then after a few minutes he saw Tony enter the room again with a huge smile plastered onto his face as he sat down in the chair beside Alex's bed.
"Well?" Alex asked.
"Vance just...persuaded for Byrne to meet with Gibbs at NCIS first," Tony explained.
"How did he managed that?" The teen asked.
"Lets just say they owe Gibbs and Vance a favor or two," Tony said wisely.
Gibbs and Byrne were currently having a staring contest in the conference room as Mcgee, Ziva, and Byrne's agent watched on.
"What do you want?" Gibbs asked finally.
"Alex," Byrne said simply.
"That's not going to happen. He's been injured, not to mention he's the target of a Criminal Organization," Gibbs replied.
"We'll keep our eye out for him. This mission really is something that only Alex can do," Byrne stated.
"I don't care. Get another agent to risk his life. Alex Rider is off limits," Gibbs said angrily. These people just didn't let up.
"This is none of your concern, Agent Gibbs," Byrne warned.
"Alex is my responsibility. If he dies or gets hurt, I'll have to explain that to his bed ridden guardian. So yes, this is my concern," Gibbs replied smoothly, "and whether you like it or not, Alex is still a British citizen. You have no authority over him, even if he's decided to leave MI6. He's simply on a vacation here in DC."
"And he can be made to leave he does not co-operate. And I can assure you, Agent Gibbs, he would do way better with the CIA, who will look out for him, than with MI6 who sends him on a mission and hopes for the best," Byrne said trying to persuade the man.
"You have no valid reason to make Alex leave, now unless you have a reason for being here I suggest you leave, because I think the press would love to here about the CIA's new hobby of exploitation of children," Gibbs replied.
Byrne stared at the Gibbs momentarily with an expression of hatred, "You wouldn't...I would have your job!"
But Gibbs only shrugged, "Go for it." He could see Mcgee and Ziva looked a bit apprehensive at that statement but he ignored them.
Byrne breathed out heavily through his nose before standing up, "I'll be back, Agent Gibbs. Alex is too good at what he does to quit. Whether he works for the CIA or not he will be in the spy business somehow. It's in his blood."
"Yes, and he may have been a great agent, when he was older. You people pulled him into this too early. And now he's sick of you people. He won't work for you people again. Not after what you put him through," Gibbs said dangerously.
"We'll see about that. Tell Alex we do hope he gets better,"
"Good bye, Director Byrne," Gibbs said, strolling out of the conference room without another word.
A/N- This chapter is way shorter than usual, and for two good reason;
There's probably a lot of loopholes in this chapter...I just don't know what they are. I'm not sure about coma patients, how long do they have to stay in the hospital after they've woken up?...and the whole CIA deal probably have a lot of problems with it. But I couldn't find the answers for it on the internet. BUT if it looks like it can be fixed in the next chapter, tell me and I'll make the correction.
I've waited tooooo long to post another chapter. Mostly because I had no idea what to do next. I mean, I kinda have an idea for the story in the future I'm just having a problem...getting it there. But it'll happen just bear with me :)
(1)- Has anyone else noticed that when Gibbs breaks traffic laws there's never a police officer to pull him over? Do they have like a sticker in their window that says that they're NCIS? Lol I've always wondered about that
And I want to thank everyone that kept sending me words reviews of encouragement, they really made me work harder and probably got his chapter out quicker than it would've if I had gotten none.
It's kinda just a filler. More soon though, again sorry for the delay. Hopefully my writers block is gone. ;)
Enjoy and Review!