Night descended quietly on the the Gibbs house. Almost as quietly as the agents silently monitoring the house.

Tony and Ziva were alternating watch outside in the Charger, that was parked a bit back from the house at a safe distance. Mcgee and Gibbs were keeping things under control inside the house. And Alex had slept peacefully in his room for the remainder of the day, which Ducky had assured it was the best thing for him at the moment when he came over to check on the boy for the night.

Jack was taken safely to her parents house with Balboa's team being assigned to discreetly keep watch on the house.

It wasn't until around 0130 until Gibbs heard the light footfall ascending down the stairs. He heard Mcgee talking lightly with Alex so he didn't worry too much about something being wrong.

He didn't stop in his work on his boat when he heard the creak of wood on the basement stairs. He knew Mcgee wouldn't dare leave his post so he assumed Alex was about to grace him with his presence. The older man smiled lightly as he realized that this was Alex's first time down in this part of the house.

"Uhh...Gibbs?" Alex asked uncertainly. He didn't really want to disturb the man but he had woken up and was getting pretty restless with nothing to do upstairs.

"Yeah?" Gibbs asked, but he already knew about what was about to come out of the teen's mouth.

"Is that a boat?" Alex asked predictably.

"Sure is," Gibbs answered, motioning to the teen that it was okay for him to come down the wooden stairs.

Alex slowly made his way down the stairs in his black drawstring pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt.

"Are you expecting a flood?" He asked with a cheeky smile.

"Like I haven't heard that one before," Gibbs said humorously, but with a soft smirk.

"So, you have no television, no computer. Is this what you do in your spare time?" The blonde asked, walking around to admire the craftsmanship.

Gibbs shrugged, "Pretty much. It helps me think."

Though it struck Gibbs that Alex was probably bored out of his mind in this house with none of the electronics that he was used to. Hell, the kid didn't even have his cell phone to talk to his friends. Gibbs also took into account that the boy hadn't complained once about not having any of the things he had mentioned. He made a mental note to ask Mcgee about what could be done about that later.

"So, how many have you made?" Alex asked, knowing that the man's work was too skilled for this to be his first.

"Lost count," came the truthful reply.

"What do you do with them once their finished?" Alex asked, running his fingertips gently over the wood surface of the hull.

"Burned most of 'em. Gave one of them to my god-daughter," Gibbs said before mentally cringing at bringing up the subject of god parents again.

Though Alex didn't seem to make much of it.

"My uncle took me sailing once. We took my friend Tom with us on vacation that year. He got seasick and threw up on Ian's shoes," Alex reminisced with a smile.

"Sounds like, Mcgee," he muttered.

They lapsed into silence for awhile as Gibbs stopped working and leaned against the hull of the boat to gaze at Alex, who was mimicking his stance as he leaned against Gibbs' workshop table.

"I thought about what we talked about earlier," Alex said softly, easing them both into the conversation, breaking their staring contest in the process.

"You don't have to rush into this, Alex. It's okay if you need more time to think," the man assured.

"I have thought about it. And if you're willing to do this then the least I can do is give it a try. That, and I feel bad about obligating Jack to be tied down to me in England. She needs to get on with her life and go back to law school. I know she would never tell me if taking care of me was getting to be too much of a hassle. I know you're the kind of guy that's going to speak his mind. So I'm going to trust you to tell me if it gets to be too much. I don't want to be a burden to you." Alex explained slowly.

"Alex, kids aren't meant to be considered burdens," Gibbs replied, turning back to his work.

"Regular kids, no. But a teenaged spy wanted by a criminal organization? Yeah, I can see a bit of a burden there. Just promise me you'll tell me if it becomes too much?" Alex asked. He didn't see any reason to stay somewhere he wasn't wanted.

"Yeah, okay, I will. But it's not gonna happen," Gibbs agreed.

"We'll see," Alex replied doubtfully. But Gibbs let it go, he didn't feel like starting another fight with the teen again.

Alex watched Gibbs work on his boat with uncertainty. Should he just go back upstairs? Maybe he could keep Mcgee company for awhile, he certainly didn't want to go back to bed at the moment.

Gibbs finally looked over at him and asked, "You hungry? You missed dinner. Ziva cooked."

"No, I'm not that hungry." Alex replied softly.

"Well, in that case grab a sander," Gibbs said simply.

"What? I don't... think that's a good idea. I failed shop class," Alex said trying to make a joke.

"Well then you obviously didn't have the right teacher. Come 'mere," Gibbs said putting the sander in Alex's hand and pulling him toward the boat.

Gibbs stepped beside him and put his hand just under Alex's, "with the grain of the wood." He instructed softly.

Alex was wary at first but with Gibbs' guiding hand under him he slowly became more comfortable, His strokes becoming more broad.

"Hey Gibbs?" Alex asked after a while of silence.

"Yeah?"

"How do you get the boat out of here?"

The next few days of Alex's recovery went by pretty fast and with very few complications.

The soreness in his body was slowly starting to slip away, along with the bruises that once littered his body.

Today had been the first time he was able to go outside since he had been rescued, and Alex saw fit to make the most of it. Gibbs had an old basketball net set up, presumably from when his daughter was alive. Tony brought over a basketball and under Ducky's firm warning not to 'over-do' it, he was finally able to stretch his legs. He was surprised at how restless he had become over the past few weeks.

Alex had been shooting hoops for about ten minutes before he felt someone approaching him. He spun around to see Gibbs coming over to him in a pair of shorts and a 'USMC' hoodie.

Gibbs silently gestured to the ball in Alex's hands. Alex tossed it to him and Gibbs trotted up and did a decent lay up. Alex raised his eyebrows, clearly impressed at how good of shape Gibbs was in.

"Do you think you'll feel like going to the Navy Yard for awhile? I can let Tony stay behind with you if you're not feeling that up to it," The older man suggested, grabbing the ball and tossing it back to the teen.

"Sure. Why?" Not that Alex was going to complain, he was glad for any reason to get some air. He shot from an imaginary free throw line, hitting nothing but net. He smiled slightly as something in him refused to let him be shown up by the older man.

"Got some work that needs to be taken care of. That, and the Navy Yard really is safer, and Abby has a little...bed...thing in her lab you can lay down in if you get tired," Gibbs said, grabbing the ball as it bounced repeatedly on the ground.

He shot the ball again and it faltered on the rim for a moment before falling through the net.

Alex nodded and they both walked back up to the house to get ready to head to NCIS.

When they got to NCIS Alex was amused to find that Tony, Ziva, and Mcgee were all asleep, in some form, on their desks. Tony had his legs propped up on his desk with his head thrown back against his chair, mouth hanging limply open. Ziva's position was a bit more graceful as she cradled her head on her arms, snoring softly for the moment. And last was Mcgee who had his head laying on his keyboard, something Alex was sure Tony would find comical.

But Alex's amused expression quickly morphed into guilt.

"You guys aren't getting much sleep."

"Well, yeah, that's kinda what goes on in a protection detail. Their rotating sleeping shifts. Don't worry about them, they've functioned on worse sleep with this. Their used to it," Gibbs assured.

Though that obviously didn't make Alex feel any better. Gibbs didn't seem to be too worried about it as he went over to DiNozzo's desk and struck his foot against the front of it.

Tony jerked awake shouting incoherently, "the room's clear, Boss!" Before looking confusedly around at his surroundings. Tony's loud wake up caused Mcgee and Ziva to jump awake also, but in a more calm way than Tony.

"Is that so, DiNozzo?" The senior agent said matter-of-factly,

"Going to see the Director," he announced as he herded Alex to his desk to sit down.

Alex sat as Gibbs left and turned his attention back to the team.

"Tony, this is the second time you've woken up shouting out Gibbs' name. Is there something you need to tell me?" Ziva teased with a smile, thinking back to their undercovers operation.

Tony, still upset about his abrupt wake-up call, only glared at his grinning teammates before turning to Alex.

"So, Alex, how is life with our fearless leader?"

"Not too bad. Did you know that he's building a boat in his basement?" Alex asked.

"He's building another one? Gibbs has good craftsmanship, huh?" Tony asked, stretching.

"Yeah, but did he tell you how he gets them out?" Alex asked with a knowing smile.

Every member on team Gibbs turned their attention to the boy cautiously.

"Did he tell you how he gets them out?" Mcgee asked suspiciously.

Alex laughed as all three adults were looking at him, waiting for him to solve the question they've all wanted to know since each member had started their career with Gibbs.(1)

Gibbs told Alex that this would more than likely be the humorous reaction.

"Do you know? Really?" Tony asked, a huge smile spreading out on his face, "you gotta tell us."

"Well, that would be telling wouldn't it, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he strolled back in.

"I thought you were going to see the Director, Boss," Tony said sheepishly.

Alex went to stand up as he felt Gibbs' hand on his shoulder.

"Duck, wants to check you out in autopsy, the Director can wait," Gibbs replied.

"Why? I feel fine," Alex said but he allowed Gibbs to lead him to the elevator anyways.

"You've had first hand experience of how seriously Ducky takes his patients health," Gibbs replied as they stepped into the elevator and he hit the button for autopsy.

"But most of Ducky's patients are dead," Alex pointed out.

"Yeah, but the few live ones he takes care of have never died under his care," he said as the elevator dropped, "Ducky's so good at his job, once a dead body came back to life on him."

Alex snorted, "yeah."

Gibbs smiled slightly at the teens disbelief, but shrugged, "no joke."

Alex looked sideways at the older man. Surely he was joking...Right?

The elevator suddenly stopped, the doors dinged and the doors slid smoothly open. Alex and Gibbs stepped out simultaneously.

"Ah, Jethro, I wasn't expecting you down here so soon," Ducky said as he was wrist deep in someone's stomach, "Mr. Palmer would you minds finishing up here?" He asked a curly black haired younger man with glasses.

"Of course, Doctor," he said respectfully, never looking up from the open body.

Gibbs looked over to see Alex tense and slightly pale, looking at the dead body on the autopsy table with a hard look.

Gibbs immediately knew he screwed up, "Alex, are you okay?" He asked turning him away from the corpse.

Alex had a far off look in his eyes, before snapping out of his thoughts to look at Gibbs, "what?"

"I shouldn't have brought you down here," Gibbs stated gruffly. What had he been thinking bringing a child into autopsy? He had never done that before. He assumed that since Alex was okay around dead bodies that he would be okay around an open corpse with Ducky removing body parts from it. He couldn't believe he had made such a mistake, he definitely owed himself a headslap later.

"No, I'm okay. I was just... thinking that's all," Alex said, refusing to let Gibbs and Ducky lead him out of autopsy.

It wasn't the corpse that had bothered him, but the memories. (2)

~Flashback~

"For some time now my children have been asking to see a human dissection. Tomorrow morning, at half past nine, you will be brought into the laboratory and we shall open you up and have a look at you. We will not use anesthetic, and it will be interesting to see how long you survive before your heart gives out. And then of course, or course, we shall dissect your heart."

"You're sick!" Alex yelled.

"I am a scientist!" Dr. Grief spat the words. "And that is why I am giving you a scientific death. At least in your last minutes you will have been of some use to me."

~End of Flashback~

"About what?" Gibbs asked, snapping Alex out of his thoughts.

Alex figured he would have to tell them about his missions soon, why not now? It wasn't that important, Plus, it wasn't exactly something that Alex wanted to keep buried, he just didn't like bringing up his missions.

"It's nothing, really. On my second mission, the, uh, one where I grazed that train, I got kidnapped by this doctor, Dr. Grief. He was going to kill me because I found out his plan to clone himself to rule the world." Even the stiff laid out on the table could sense the sarcasm in Alex's voice when he said 'rule the world.'

"He was going to kill me, but he decided that the best way to do that was by dissection, that way I could be of some use to him before he died. He was going to let his clones watch as he performed the dissection. But he said that he wasn't going to use anesthetic so he could see how long I would last before my heart gave out."

By the time Alex was done with his tale Ducky looked completely livid. The room was silent as Alex finished, even the curly haired man had stopped his work as he heard the story. Gibbs was trying to picture what the boy had described to him, but he was having a hard time doing so. He had seen Ducky perform autopsies before, but certainly never on live people. It made him sick to even think about it, not that he would ever admit that.

Gibbs looked over to Ducky whose face was red as he got out the medical supplied he was going to need to look at the ever diminishing cuts on Alex.

He saw Alex look guiltily at Ducky.

"He's not mad at you." Gibbs assured, nudging Alex's shoulder.

Ducky must have heard his friend's reassurance to the boy because he looked sharply up at Alex.

"No, dear boy, not with you. I'm just surprised at the levels that doctors go to. People trust doctors to use their knowledge to help, not to abuse their power. It's called an oath for a reason!"

As Ducky ranted it seemed to calm him down. The medical examiner prompted the teen to take off his shirt and hop up onto the vacant autopsy table nearest them.

Alex complied easily but still looked uncomfortable. Ducky stuck a thermometer into his mouth, took his blood pressure, and listened to his lungs before moving on to probe his outer injuries.

"Well, lad, you're certainly a quick healer. You healed twice as quick as I had intended. Your temperatures normal and your lungs are almost completely clear. Your cuts and bruises are are nearly gone also. Still a bit sore, though, I presume?" Ducky asked, he had noticed Alex's very slight wince as he hoisted himself onto the table. All evidence of his outburst gone from his tone.

"Yeah, mostly just my ribs though," Alex answered quietly.

"Well, that too should go away in a few days at the rate you're healing," Ducky replied as he gave Alex his shirt back.

The black haired man reappeared and addressed Ducky, "Dr. Mallard, I've finished up the last of the autopsy."

"Thank you, Mr. Palmer. I don't think you've met our young friend yet, this is Alex Rider. Alex, this is our last member of our team," Ducky introduced.(3)

Palmer smiled warmly at Alex before sticking his hand out for Alex to shake.

"I'm Jimmy Palmer, Dr. Mallard's assistant."

Alex smiled lightly and shook the man's hand, "I'm Alex."

"Well, if you two are done, I got a stack of cold cases on my desk that need tending to and Abby's dying to see you," Gibbs said to Alex.

Alex nodded and said goodbye before following Gibbs to the elevator to take them to Abby.

"Boss, I've gotten all those things you wanted me to get for you," Mcgee said as soon as Gibbs stepped into the bullpen.

Mcgee produced a sleek laptop along with a brand new looking cell phone.

"The laptop is a spare that I had lying around since I got a new one a few months ago. I have an extra wireless modem so Alex can get internet at your house without you having to open a new account. And the phone is also an extra that I had lying around," Mcgee explained as he handed both of the devices and their chargers over the older man.

"This costing you anything extra, Mcgee?" Gibbs asked, since technically he was the one that was going to be taking Alex in it was only fair that Gibbs paid for all of it. And it wasn't like he had many bills anyways.

"No, the wireless connection is already set up in my account, adding an extra computer isn't going to change much. And the extra phone I had was from when me and Sarah shared a plan. We split the bill, but Sarah has recently gotten her own plan. So, instead of ending the contract and having to pay a whole bunch of money to do that I'm just keeping the phone activated until the contracts up. Basically the phones just sitting there, might as well put it to some use," Mcgee explained.

"If you run into any trouble let me know," Gibbs ordered, setting the electronics on his desk as he sat down, not that he had understood a word Mcgee had said.

"Where's Alex?" Tony asked.

"With Abby."

Tony nodded and turned back to throwing paper at Mcgee's trashcan, purposefully missing every now and then, hitting Mcgee in the side of the head or on his desk to annoy his partner.

Suddenly Gibbs' phone went off, he checked the caller ID and it read, 'Vance' on the front.

Sighing the man opened his cell.

"Yeah? Gibbs."

"Agent Gibbs when I said, 'I need to speak with you' I did not mean whenever you get ready I mean now." Came the professional tone.

"Had something that needed tending to first," Gibbs replied indifferently.

"Get in here. Now," the director ordered firmly before ending the call.

The older man sighed before making his way up to the man's office.

Not pausing at the secretary's desk, he strolled in without knocking.

"What is it, Leon?" He asked.

"Alex," Came the only reply.

"Are you going to elaborate? Or am I supposed to guess?"

"I've been getting calls from MI6 all day I cannot keep avoiding them. What am I supposed to tell them?"

"What I'm supposed to be doing your job now too?" Gibbs questioned with a smile.

"You're supposed to keep me informed on what you're planning on doing with that kid!" Vance erupted.

"I can't tell you that just yet, Leon. You're just going to have to trust me. And as for what to tell MI6? Tell them Alex has decided to take a little vacation from work. Permanently."

Gibbs then walked back out of the door before Leon could get another word in.

Gibbs strolled quickly passed the bullpen.

"Hey, Boss! We got lunch! Got you and Alex something too," Tony said as he watched Gibbs walk right by him.

"Alex, will be up in a minute," Gibbs said as he entered the elevator and hit the button that would take him back down to Abby's lab.

Once the doors opened on Abby's lab floor he walked quickly in.

"Hey, Bossman!" Abby greeted.

"Abs," he greeted, "Alex, why don't you head on upstairs? Tony's got lunch and Mcgee has something for you too."

"Okay. I'll see you later, Abby," Alex said as he walked out of the lab and into the elevator.

"Good bye, 007," Abby called out happily.

Once Gibbs was certain Alex was gone he turned to Abby.

"I need you to get this adoption thing done, Abs. MI6 is getting fed up and soon their going to have to get Alex back unless we get this done," Gibbs informed.

Abby's eyes immediately lit up, "He said, yes? That's great, Gibbs! I'll call my cousin as soon as possible to start the arrangements."

Gibbs didn't say anything as he heard the elevator door 'ding' and the light foot falls coming their way.

"Abby, I have those samples you wanted me to...Oh hello Jethro I do hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Ducky said as he entered the room.

"Duckman! Gibbs is going to adopt, Alex!" Abby blurted out.

Ducky looked at his oldest friend and smiled, "He agreed?"

"Yeah, only because he thought that he was being a burden to Jack. Even made me promise to tell him if I decided that looking after him was getting to be too much," Gibbs replied.

"Nonsense. You look after those three rambunctious teammates of yours that seem to find themselves in trouble every other day, not to mention yourself. I think the boy will fit in just fine here," Ducky assured as he handed Abby the samples in his hands.

"Now if we can just get him to see that we'd be doing good," Gibbs muttered.

"He'll warm up to the idea. He just needs some time, and for us to welcome him. Who knows? Maybe in a few years he'll be sitting in Mcgee's seat," Ducky pondered.

"Duck, I doubt that kid will want to work for any government agency when he gets out of school."

"Ah, Jethro, I think you'll find that all the boy wants is to not be forced or manipulated into doing something. If MI6 had not forced him into finishing his uncle's mission and waited until he was old enough to make such a decision on his own, he might have followed into his family's footsteps," Ducky reasoned.

"Until he found out the truth about what happened to his parents," Gibbs muttered. He still couldn't get over that.

He couldn't imagine even thinking about doing that to Fornell and his daughter. What kind of bastard would do something like that? This Ash guy was lucky he was dead because at the moment, Gibbs wanted nothing more than to throttle the man.

Suddenly Gibbs' phone rang out, he pulled it out of his pocket and answered, "Gibbs."

He listened for awhile and Abby and Ducky waited patiently as he hung up his cell.

Gibbs started to walk out of the lab, calling out over his shoulder, "we got a case. This one's a doozy."

~IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE THIS TIME~

A/N- Okay, This took longer than intended, as you know my updates are all over the place. And on top of that...nothing really happened in this chapter, but I had yet another idea...We'll kinda.

One of my reviewers(AR- Bookworm) asked to see Alex on a real case with The team...But as you can see from my last attempt at creating a case that didn't go so well. So I thought that I could just use an actual NCIS episode.

So I need some really good suggestions (from season six) for an episode that doesn't have a bunch of spoilers in it for season 7. I was thinking 'Heartland' or 'Murder 2.0'

I REALLY wanted to do Heartland because that would introduce Gibbs' dad to Alex, but I kinda screwed that up when I talked about Gibbs' yellow car a few chapters ago. :P

So let me know on an episode you'd wanna see with Alex in it.

(1)- haha million dollar question here is; Does Alex know how Gibbs gets the boats out?

(2)- Thanks to Rena The Jedi Pirate Wizard for her suggestion! I got chill bumps when I read that in Point Blanc!... And I own nothing of the Flashback that was all AH's work.

(3)- I know, I know some people don't think of Palmer as 'part of the team' But I do. He cracks me up with his VERY inappropriate jokes and how Gibbs just looks at him like, 'wtf Palmer?'

And unfortunately this story was not betaed :P I think my currently awesome Beta is w/o internet at the moment and is veryy busy. But that's cool she deserves a break from my rambling...and so do you guys

ReViEw!