Gibbs sighed impatiently as Tony wheeled him down the hall of the ICU ward. He hated wheelchairs but at the moment it was necessary since his leg was beginning to throb.
Soon they came up on a door with two stone faced marines standing in front.
Tony flashed his badge and the marines stepped aside and they entered.
Gibbs rolled himself up to the side of Alex's bed while Tony lingered behind. The teen's face was still swollen and bruised. Both of his arms were wrapped tightly in bandages, one from the cut the other from the nasty sting.
Alex's torso was also wrapped and Gibbs watched it as the machine to the side of the bed breathed for the boy.
"Ducky did say he was doing better, Boss." Tony assured.
Gibbs only nodded.
As he looked at Alex lying in front of him he couldn't help but think about his girls.
He knew killing Yokov wasn't going to save Alex just as killing Hernandez didn't bring back his wife and child. He knew that, hell, he lived with it every day. But he refused to make Alex go through life looking over his shoulder. He couldn't give that comfort to Shannon and Kelly but he could do it for Alex.
Gibbs also knew that his senior field agent deserved some sort of explanation.
"He deserved to die." He said, not taking his eyes off Alex's swollen face.
"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Boss." Tony replied, coming up and taking the empty seat beside Gibbs.
"I signed your report, DiNozzo. Your statement said Yokov attacked me and I shot him in self defense."
"Not a complete lie. He did attack you." DiNozzo pointed out.
Gibbs turned and leveled a glare at his second.
Tony caved after a moment and shrugged.
"Come on, Boss. I know what could happen to my career if I cover for you, but honestly? Can you look me in the eye and tell me that your haven't stuck your job out for one of your own before? Ziva with Ari?" Tony listed as a perfect example.
Gibbs stared at Tony, giving nothing away.
"She told you?" He asked softly. He hadn't told anyone that he covered for Ziva when she killed her half brother to save him.
Tony laughed.
"Did you really expect me to believe that you were fine with having an Isreali spy join our team? Especially with the recent luck we had with Mossad at the time? I knew something hinky had to have happened. And Ziva and I are closer now. We talk. Even spies need to talk...especially when they're drunk at three a.m." Tony admitted with a smile.
"Rule twelve, DiNozzo."
"I've been meaning to discuss that rule with you, Boss. I feel it needs some...re-adjusting."
"Why? Are you and McGee planning on getting married?"
There was a moment of silence before...
"That's cold, Gibbs."
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It took three days for Alex to be weaned fully off the vent.
Gibbs had been discharged from the hospital the first day. Not that that mattered much, the marine still hadn't left the hospital. He and Tony were on protection detail in the Maryland hospital.
Everyone else on the team was back in DC holding down the fort. They weren't happy about it but someone had to do it.
Gibbs had talked to his father as soon as he was able to use a phone. He was relieved that Jackson was fine and was safely tucked in at Ziva's house with McGee and Ziva keeping a watchful eye on him. They had brought Jackson to the hospital to see the both of them.
Alex still hadn't woken up and the doctor said it was all up to the teen now.
Gibbs sat patiently in the chair beside the boy's bed. Tony was out getting coffee for the both of them. This would make Gibbs' fourth cup and it was just barely lunch time.
Gibbs shifted in his seat and winced as the stitches in his leg pulled at his skin. He had refused the crutches and wheelchair that was offered to him. The marine was relatively fine aside from the mild aching in his body, mostly from the fight he had but also from sitting on that hard floor for so long.
Gibbs was looking to the clock, wondering where Tony was with the coffee, when he heard the heart monitor pick up it's pace.
He looked over to Alex and the boy had a pained expression on his face as he began to struggle, pushing away at something.
Gibbs moved to sit on the side of the bed. Hesitating for only a moment Gibbs took Alex's hand in his and waited for the boy to wake.
Alex shifted and groaned at the pain it caused.
"Alex? Come on, wake up for a minute." Gibbs urged gently as he squeezed his hand.
He smiled as Alex weakly squeezed his hand back before opening his eyes.
Gibbs smiled grew wider as Alex physically relaxed when his eyes landed on Gibbs. At least something good came out of this; more of Alex's trust.
"Are you hurting?"
"Throat," Alex croaked at a whisper.
Then, Tony walked in with two coffee cups in his hands.
"DiNozzo, get a nurse and some water." Gibbs ordered, not moving from his spot.
"On it, Boss." Tony replied, setting the drinks down on the roll away tray. Throwing a smile Alex's way he withdrew from the room.
Seeing the confusion etched on Alex's face Gibbs began to explain.
"Your throat hurts because you were on a vent for awhile. You went into respiratory arrest. Ducky took care of things though. You're going to be fine. You just need some time to heal."
Gibbs frowned when Alex's confused expression didn't waver.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
Alex tried to reply but his throat was just too dry to form words.
Gibbs nodded.
"Water's on it's way." He assured.
Alex nodded into the pillow, his blonde hair becoming even more ruffled.
It didn't take long for Tony to come bounding into the room with a nurse who had a cup of water with a straw in her hand and a bottle of spray in the other. Alex's doctor soon followed after them.
"Hello, Alex, It's good to see you awake. I have something for you to drink but first I have some spray medication for your throat. It's going to ease the soreness, okay?" She asked.
Alex nodded and opened his mouth when the nurse prompted. She smiled and sprayed his throat and then helped him take a drink of water.
When he was done drinking Gibbs took the cup from her, nodding gratefully.
She checked a few of the monitors before leaving, letting the doctor take over.
The doctor was an older man with white hair. He stepped up to Alex.
"Well son, it seems you're recovering remarkably. I'm Doctor Mallory. The venom mainly affected your respiratory system. Your heart is fine along with your kidneys. The cuts on your chest are healing nicely we're giving you antibiotics to fight the infections you had in them. You're going to be fine. Although don't be too surprised if you're really fatigued for awhile. It'll pass." Dr. Mallory assured.
"Are you in any pain? Any troubles breathing?" He asked after checking Alex's pulse.
Alex shook his head no tiredly.
The doctor nodded.
"Okay then. If you get to hurting too bad or you can't breath then just buzz a nurse. We gotta great staff here." He said before retreating out of the room.
Now it was just the three of them.
Tony stepped up to the bed.
"Man, it's great to see you awake, Alex." He said.
Alex looked over to the man and smiled lightly.
"Thanks," He said hoarsely.
Gibbs noticed that Alex had yet to pull his hand away from his, in fact, he could feel Alex slightly squeezing his hand, as if making sure he was really there.
Alex turned his gaze back to Gibbs.
"I thought you were dead." He said.
"Dead? Why?" Gibbs asked.
"Gunshot."
Gibbs nodded, "I told you not to worry about me. I'm fine, just a small graze."
Tony looked over at Gibbs at the man's embellishment.
Alex nodded and was silent for a moment.
"Yokov?" He finally asked after awhile.
Gibbs glanced over at Tony.
"We fought. I shot him. He's dead now," Gibbs summarized decidedly.
When Alex looked at him surprised Gibbs chuckled softly.
"I told you I was going to take care of this." He said.
"We're going to keep you safe, Alex." Tony said, settling himself into the seat beside Gibbs.
Alex sighed. The doctor was right, he couldn't remember a time when he was this tired.
Tony and Gibbs watched silently as Alex began to nod off again.
When he thought Alex was finally asleep again he spoke in a soft voice.
"Boss, the Director wanted you to know that he is still handling the situation with Blunt, and Ben is with him."
"Ben's still here?" Alex asked, his voice thick with sleep. He opened his eyes and peered at the two men.
Gibbs smiled, mildly impressed. He had actually thought that the boy was asleep.
"Yeah, he's been staying at my place since you were taken. He was there when we found you too." Tony filled in.
Alex sighed lightly with his eyes closed again.
"I made him quit."
"No one made Ben quit. He did that on his own." Tony replied firmly.
"From the looks of it Daniels is capable agent. He's not going to have any problem finding an agency to take him. I'm sure Leon will be the first to offer too." Gibbs assured.
"Yeah, it's nothing for you to worry yourself with. Ben can take care of himself. He's actually the first spook I've ever liked...Well besides James Bond...and you, of course." Tony said thoughtfully to Alex.
"He wasn't a spy long. He started out in the SAS." Alex noted.
"Yeah, he mentioned that. He also mentioned that you kicked that 'Wolf' guy out of a plane. Gibbs kicked me out of a plane once." Tony shared cheerfully.
"I didn't kick you out of that plane, DiNozzo."
Tony chuckled, "you do when I tell the story."
There was a headslap followed by Alex's weak chuckle.
Gibbs was suddenly glad that Tony was here to relieve some of Alex's worries, even just for a little while. But Alex was tired.
"Get some sleep, Alex. You and DiNozzo can exchange stories later. It's late." Gibbs ordered.
"When can I go home?" Alex asked.
"I'll talk to the doctor. Now get some rest, you won't be going anywhere if you're tired."
Tony smiled as he watched this scene play out, especially when Alex nodded and sank lower into the bed and promptly fell asleep.
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~nearly a week later~
Gibbs looked over as he heard snoring coming from the seat beside him. DiNozzo was sawing logs as his head lolled to the side and grazed Gibbs' shoulder. Gibbs let it happen, Tony was probably as tired as Alex was, if not more.
He just hoped Tony's snoring didn't wake Alex up.
It had been a week since the boy woke up from being on the vent and Gibbs was noticing that Alex had become more and more...aware of his presence. Clingy didn't really describe it but the teen didn't like Gibbs being gone long. The marine had talked to Ducky about this and the man assured him that it was from Alex being captured with Gibbs. The boy had an attachment with him. The only one he's been attached to since Jack.
"It will pass Jethro. He's just recovering and since you're the one that was with him through one of his darkest hours. He knows he doesn't have to be on guard as much when you're there..In a way he's beginning to let you in." Ducky had said.
There was a shrill beeping noise followed by vibrating coming from DiNozzo's direction. Gibbs looked down to see Tony's phone balanced on the wooden arm rest of the man's chair. Deciding not to wake the man, he picked up the cell and answered it.
"Gibbs."
"Ah, Gibbs. Just who I was looking for." Came Ziva's voice. Gibbs could hear a hint of tiredness in her voice.
"Well, what is it, Ziver?" Gibbs asked.
"I was planning on talking to some of my contacts from Mossad to see if they could get information about where you were being held. But then you contacted us and we found you. I still called Israel though. It might take a bit of doing but in a few days I will have SCORPIA called off from Alex's back." Ziva relayed.
"Is this 'contact' of yours reliable?" Gibbs questioned.
"Absolutely. Not only are they good friends of my fathers, but I have quite a bit of dirt on them. They will not cross me."
"See that they don't."
"Is that Ziva?" Tony asked sleepily.
Gibbs nodded and handed the man's phone back to him. Tony stood up and walked out into the hall, closing the door behind him. DiNozzo was still handling being team leader even though Gibbs was cleared and out of the hospital. He would be taking leave until Alex was back on his feet.
Gibbs turned back to Alex. He was sleeping soundly. It wouldn't be long before the doctor came in for one of his daily visits that usually woke the boy up, if even briefly.
He looked at the bags under Alex's eyes. The doctor had been right about the teen being fatigued. Alex hadn't been able stay awake for more than twenty or thirty minutes since he had woken up the first time. Gibbs was somewhat grateful for that though, with Alex sleeping it gave his body time to heal.
The marine felt himself begin to doze until he heard the door creek back open and the doctor approached the bed quietly.
"How's he doing?" Gibbs asked.
Doctor Mallory smiled.
"Very well actually. He surprised me. I think when he finishes this saline drip we can discuss discharging him. I understand Doctor Mallard will be able to look in on him periodically? He'll need someone to take care of the cuts on his chest." He said. Ducky had called from NCIS to make sure the doctor was looking after the teen properly.
Gibbs nodded.
"Yeah, he'll be looked after." Gibbs assured.
The doctor nodded and checked a few more of Alex's vitals before turning to leave.
"It'll take a few hours for the drip to empty but he should be all set to leave. There are some medications he needs to take. I'll prescribe some painkillers as well." He assured before leaving.
Gibbs sighed. He was glad Alex was leaving the hospital, he knew Alex was getting anxious to leave. Alex needed to be home.
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Alex had never been so happy to see a house in his life as Tony pulled into Gibbs' driveway. It had been a demanding drive all the way back to DC, and it had worn Alex out. It was dark by the time they actually got there. He had slept most of the way back and it was starting to frustrate him. No matter how much he slept he still woke up feeling just as tired as he did when he fell asleep. Ducky assured him it would end soon but that didn't stop the annoyance.
Tony put the car in park and all three of them got out of the car. Alex was still a little unsteady on his feet so he was taking it slow.
DiNozzo went ahead and walked to the door and unlocked it. He had held onto all of Gibbs' things while he was gone. He also had a overnight bag in his hands. Surprisingly, it was Gibbs' idea to have Tony stay with them. He apparently wasn't taking any chances of SCORPIA invading his house again.
Gibbs stayed behind and walked slowly to the door with Alex, ready to grab onto him if he fell.
"You feeling, okay?" He asked.
"If you can believe it, I'm tired." Alex stated.
Gibbs laughed lightly.
"Give it time." He said.
They entered the house. Alex was surprised to see that the house looked spotless. There was no trace that there had ever been a kidnapping in the house.
Alex walked over and sat down tiredly on the couch. What really surprised him was the fact that there was a Television mounted on the wall across from the couch.
Tony laughed at his expression as he sat his duffel down at the side of the couch.
"Gibbs' idea. You're going to be living here and he asked me to hook you up. You're going to be spending a lot of time on that couch until Ducky clears you. Might as well keep you entertained." He explained.
Alex looked at Gibbs.
"You didn't have to do that." He objected.
"I did. It's here." The marine said simply as he produced the TV remote and placed it in Alex's hands.
Alex smiled gratefully and Tony set about showing him how to work the DVD player.
Soon, the Senior Field Agent joined Gibbs in the kitchen as the Marine poured himself some coffee before offering him some.
"No, thanks Boss. Your coffee keeps me up. I don't know how you sleep drinking that stuff all the time." Tony noted.
Gibbs only shrugged as he sipped his precious drink.
"We've got agents outside as lookouts. We're not going to let a repeat of last time happen. At least until Ziva can get her assassin friends to get SCORPIA off Alex's trail. Are you sure coming back here's such a good idea, Boss? I mean wouldn't a safe house be safer?" Tony asked.
Gibbs shook his head.
"I messed up last time. No one's getting in this house again." The Marine vowed, "And Alex deserves to have a stable home. They're not going to make the kid run again. He's just now starting to relax here."
Tony nodded, knowing Gibbs knew what he was doing.
"Well, Ziva said she should be hearing word any day now." He said.
"Director say anything to you about Blunt yet?" Gibbs asked.
Tony shook his head, "I think he'd rather talk to you about that, Boss. He's not too keen on keeping me informed.
Gibbs only nodded at Vance's weird ways.
"I'll handle it." He said.
Tony stretched his tired limbs.
"Well, I gotta head back to NCIS. The agents are watching the house, Boss. Don't forget and shoot one of them. I'll call before I come back in the house," He joked as he went for the door.
Gibbs went back into the living room to ask Alex if he was hungry and he smiled as he saw that the blonde had taken his shoes off and was lying with his feet up on the couch, sound asleep. The television was playing a soccer game.
"Or football," Gibbs thought as he thought about the way Alex was accustomed to it being called.
The silver haired man went slowly up the stairs and grabbed a blanket before going down and draping it over the boy. They could eat when he woke up.
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Gibbs came down the basement slower than usual, as his stitches pulled annoyingly. He was still toweling his wet hair off, the long shower he had taken made him feel loads better.
He smiled lightly when he saw the ruffled blonde haired boy, dressed in pajamas, leaning over his workspace. The man's smile faltered a bit as he saw what Alex was so absorbed with.
Alex's head snapped up as he noticed Gibbs. He looked guiltily at the photo album in his hands.
"I...didn't mean to snoop. I came down here looking for you, then I heard the shower come on." Alex explained, clearly worried Gibbs would be angry with him for looking at his things.
If it had been anyone else looking at his things without his permission he probably would have been mad but, for some reason, not with Alex.
Gibbs came over and looked at the album in the teen's hands.
The picture had been taken when Kelly was six, at Christmas time. Kelly was holding up a wooden plaque that had her name carved into it. She had an arm around a darker haired Gibbs. They were both laughing as, presumably, Shannon snapped their photo.
"Did you make that?" Alex asked, he was still amazed at how skilled Gibbs was with wood.
Gibbs swallowed hard and didn't speak fro a moment.
Noticing the hesitation, Alex back tracked.
"Sorry, we don't have to talk about this." He said, moving to close the book.
Alex realized that he was trying to evade his own mourning by crudely bringing up Gibbs' pain.
Gibbs stopped him from closing the book though.
"Yeah, I made it. I didn't expect her to like it as much as she did. But she wouldn't open anymore presents until we hung the plaque up on the outside of her door. She surprised me. Even made me promise to make her a new one every year, no matter how old she got" Gibbs recalled before sighing.
He moved over to a chest under the stairs and pulled it out. He motioned for Alex to come over.
Alex did so with a curious expression on his face. The older man opened the chest and Alex peered in.
Wooden plaques. Each one with Kelly's name on them wrote in a different style. Alex didn't count them but he guessed there had to be at least twenty of them there.
"You kept making them." Alex stated.
"I made a promise...And I couldn't seem to bring myself to stop." Gibbs said.
Alex nodded before heaving a heavy sigh as he walked back over to the work bench.
"Does it get easier?" The teen asked softly after a moment. A death had never hit him this hard. Even his own uncle's death didn't seem as bad as Jack's had.
"Some," Gibbs answered honestly, refusing to lie to the boy.
"Losing someone's never easy, Alex. But, with time, it'll get easier. Especially if you're surrounded by the right people." He came over and gave Alex a nudge, "And you are. You tell them I said this I'll deny it, but, my team really helped me. And they'll do the same for you." He concluded.
Still not able to manage more than a small grateful smile, Alex nodded.
Gibbs put a hand on the back of Alex's neck, he felt tension leave the boy's shoulders under his touch.
"Now come on, you need to eat and then you need to relax." Gibbs said, moving to the stairs with the blonde, his hand never leaving Alex's neck.
He guided the teen up the stairs and to the kitchen table. Gingerly and tiredly Alex accepted the seat. The cuts on his chest were beginning to throb. He was starting to think that his trip to the basement had been a bad idea.
He watched as Gibbs shuffled around the kitchen and started the microwave. Alex knew Gibbs had to be tired too, he had barely left his side.
It was as if Gibbs knew Alex didn't want to be alone.
Yes, when Jack died he had wanted nothing more than to be alone. But ever since he and Gibbs had been rescued and he woke up, he felt nervous about being alone without Gibbs nearby. That's why he had came down to the basement. To look for Gibbs. Lately, the marine made him feel secure in a way he had not felt before. But he didn't want the man to run himself ragged for him.
Alex stood up from his seat.
"Gibbs, I can get that," he objected.
But the marine wouldn't have none of it. He silently came over and pushed the teen gently back down into the seat. For a second, Alex thought he was mad at him the way he was acting, but then he felt Gibbs' hand go through the back of his hair.
"I got it." Was all he said before he turned back to the microwave just as it dinged.
Gibbs pulled out the plate of pasta and sat it in front of the boy. Then he walked back to the counter and grabbed the two pill bottles with Alex's name on them. He shook out one from each and walked back to the table, giving the medication to Alex.
"One's the antibiotic. The other is the painkiller." He said.
Alex sighed but decided not to argue with the man. He had learned that from his last round of painkillers from the hospital. Gibbs could tell when he was hurting and wouldn't take no for an answer on the medication department.
He picked up his coke he had from earlier and downed both of the pills.
"Did you make this?" Alex asked as he turned back to his food and picked up the fork. He didn't think he had slept long enough for Gibbs to make dinner and have time for it to get cold.
But Gibbs shook his head.
"Ziva cooked. She cooks mean Italian food." He said as he sat down with his own plate of food.
"You didn't have to wait on me to eat," Alex said awkwardly. He wasn't sure how he felt about Gibbs paying so much attention to him. It was late but Gibbs had still waited until he was awake before he ate his dinner.
Gibbs shrugged.
"When I was younger my dad always made it a point to make sure that we had at least one meal together." He explained quietly.
Oddly, Alex liked the idea of that. Most people dread trying to keep conversations up with Gibbs, but Alex finds that somehow he manages to learn something new about the man before him everyday.
Alex nodded and began eating.
"Where is your dad? You said he was out of the hospital, he's going to be okay, right?" he asked.
"He's fine. He's staying at Ziva's for tonight. His house is cleared, he can go back home. McGee'll drive him back home tomorrow. Dad came to see you while you were in the hospital." Gibbs assured.
"I'm really sorry your dad got hurt, Gibbs...And that you nearly died. I kinda ruined your dad's visit." Alex apologized, his head bent low over his plate.
Gibbs sighed. This kid wasn't ever going to get it.
"Okay, I'm going to tell you this one more time. Are you listening?" He asked sternly.
This wasn't a tone Alex was used to from Gibbs. At least not to him. He nodded mutely, finding that his eyes refused to stray from Gibbs' ice blue ones.
"Good. Now look, I don't know why you feel the need to be sorry. Yes, you have people after you. We all know you come with a past. I took you in knowing all of that. That means your problems are now my problems. So, stop saying your sorry. What happened was my fault. But it is not going to happen again."
"Your fault? But-" Alex was cut off when he saw the ferocious glare Gibbs was aiming at him from the other side of the table.
"Okay," Alex relented quietly.
"Good. Now-" Gibbs was cut off by his phone giving off a shrill ring. He looked at the caller ID and smiled.
"You know how to put this thing on speaker? It's Abby. Might as well let her talk to the both of us at once." He said, tossing the phone to Alex.
The teen smiled at Gibbs' technology skills as he answered the phone and put it on speaker then setting it on the table in the middle of them so that he could resume eating.
"Hey, Abs." Gibbs greeted through a mouthful of spaghetti.
"Gibbs! Tony told me that you and Alex were both home. I wanted to come see you both, but Tony said that it was too late and that Alex was sleeping when he left. He's okay, right? I know Ducky told me that he was okay but-"
"Abby, I'm fine." Alex said with an embarrassed look.
"Alex! I was soooo worried about you. I'm really sorry I couldn't come see you when you were in the hospital. Everyone was so worried about you. Well, Gibbs too but Gibbs is always okay. But we know that Gibbs wouldn't let anything happen to you either-"
"Abby, you're rambling." Alex said with a laugh. He really loved the goth.
"Right, sorry. I'm just so happy to hear the both of your voices. I can come visit tomorrow, right?"
"You know you're always welcome here, Abs." Gibbs said. Alex could hear the affection in the man's voice.
"Great! I heard you got a plasma screen! I'll bring movies and we can have a movie night!"
"Whatever you want, Abs. Don't be working too long tonight."
"You got it. Night, Bossman. I'll see you tomorrow, Alex." She said before disconnecting the call.
Gibbs closed the phone.
"You want another plate?" He asked Alex, gesturing to the now empty plate as Alex took his last bite. Alex shook his head.
"No, I think I'm just going to go up to bed." Alex said standing up, his eyes blinking slowly.
"Alright, DiNozzo should be back soon. I'll be down here until then if you need me."
"Night."
The marine waited until Alex's footsteps were all the way up the stairs before he stood and went to the living room. He stepped up to his safe on the shelf and spun the dial. Once he had it opened he pulled out his gun. Tony assured him that's where he had put his sig for him. He checked to make sure that it was loaded before stowing it in the waistband of his sweats.
He made a mistake but it wasn't one that he was going to make again.
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Alex was tied to a chair again. There was no leeway in the cuffs that restrained him to the chair. The room he was in was dark.
He heard a shuffling behind him and there was no way to turn around as the movement came closer to him. He felt hot breath on the back of his neck.
"Are you ready to die, Alex Rider?" A voice asked. Yokov.
Alex's breathe hitched.
"Gibbs killed you." He said.
There was an evil laugh. Alex still couldn't see the man. Just hear him.
"You really believed that." He stated. There was another shuffling noise before a body was dropped at Alex's feet, a light coming from seemingly nowhere came on. He looked down and gasped loudly.
Gibbs was lying at his feet and he was covered in blood. His body was riddled with bullet holes.
"There's your so called savior. You actually thought that man was going to be able to save you. You're all alone now. Your guardian was killed because of you and now your adopted father is now dead. I'm starting to see a pattern here, Alex." Yokov said.
Alex couldn't breathe. Everything was crumbling around him.
Gibbs was dead. The man that had tried to help him had been shot at least five times before the last kill shot hit his forehead.
"And that's not all, Alex. Take a look," Yokov said gleefully.
Suddenly bodies were being piled beside Gibbs'.
One by one Alex felt his stomach clench and his chest constrict as his eyes fell on each dead body before him.
McGee. Ziva. Tony. Vance. Ducky. Abby. All dead.
"Right before they died I asked them if they regretted helping you. Do you know what each on of them said? Yes! None of them wanted to help you they just felt obligated. Gibbs himself used his last breath to say that you weren't worth the trouble."
Alex closed his eyes tight against the hot tears escaping his eyes.
"This isn't happening." He objected.
"Oh, but it is. Don't worry though, you're about to be put out of your misery."
Alex saw movement on the floor. He stopped breathing all together as he saw the scorpions. There looked to be at least twenty of them. They were making there was towards him and clawing their way up his legs.
"Wha- No! Get them off!" Alex panicked. He remembered the pain, the panic, coursing through his body from just one scorpion, he couldn't bare the thought of multiple stings.
But suddenly he was alone. No voices behind him, not even the bodies. Just him and the scorpions.
He could feel them scurrying over his body, their tails poised to strike. All he could do was close his eyes and wait for the pain...
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Gibbs stayed in the living room until he heard Tony pull up. He went to the door and unlocked it.
"Hey, Boss. You didn't have to wait up, I had a key." Tony reminded as he went to the couch and sat down heavily.
"Yeah, when this is over I want that back, DiNozzo. I'm going to bed." Gibbs replied tiredly.
Tony smiled at Gibbs' bluntness most people would have been put out at the man's ways. But Tony could see the tiredness etched on the man's face. He also knew Gibbs got testy when he was worried about something.
Tony was about to nod off himself when he ran a hand over his face and winced at the stubble he felt. He sighed. He hadn't had time to shave. He knew he wasn't going to be able to go to sleep with his face scratching against his pillow all night.
He grabbed his shaver and cream and made his way upstairs to the bathroom. He kept his steps light. The bathroom was right beside Alex's door and he didn't want to risk waking him.
As his hand rested on the bathroom door knob he heard the gasping from the room beside him.
He knew he should probably go and get Gibbs but he found himself opening Alex's door and walking in. He saw Alex's chest heaving quickly but his body was ridged as if he was afraid to move. His eyes were clenched so tight it looked like it hurt and there was a fine sheen of sweat on his face.
Tony quickly moved closer to the boy's bed. He doesn't remember where he dropped his shaver and the shaving cream but they weren't in his hands by the time he got to Alex.
He crouched beside the boy and put a hand on his shoulder and shook.
"Alex? Come on, buddy. Wake up." He urged.
"Get them off...get them off..." Alex muttered. His breathing was still hard, his body getting even more tense.
"Alex! Come on." Tony said, realizing he couldn't do this on his own he turned to the door and yelled, "Boss!"
He heard a nearby door pop open almost immediately and the hurried steps of Gibbs entering the room.
"Get them off...Gibbs!" Alex yelled, his voice suddenly becoming loud and panicked. DiNozzo was shocked to see that the boy was still asleep despite his loudness.
Tony felt Gibbs coming up and he stood and moved out of the man's way.
The Senior Field Agent watched his mentor in awe as he sat calmly on the side of the bed.
They could hear the teen still frantically muttering, "Get them off...'M sorry, Gibbs."
Gibbs put a hand on Alex's cheek, holding it lightly, the other hand going to the boy's hair.
"Alex," He called softly, "Wake up. They're not on you anymore. I've got them. You're not going to be hurt anymore." The man didn't need do be told what was actually plaguing the boy's mind.
Tony watched as Gibbs kept saying these things trying to wake Alex. Just when Tony thought he couldn't handle hearing the blonde cry out he saw Alex's eyes fly open wide. Alex's hands when to his body and he started trying to brush and invisible being off.
"Hey, calm down. Nothing's on you. You're okay," Gibbs assured, stilling the frantic hands.
Alex sat up and put his legs up, his elbows resting on his knees as he put his face in his hands as he tried to calm himself.
"Tony, you wanna go get a glass of water," Gibbs called lightly. He knew DiNozzo would get the hint that he wanted to be alone with Alex.
"Sure, Boss." Tony called before leaving the room.
Gibbs rested a hand on Alex's back, rubbing it back and forth.
"What was that dream about?" Gibbs asked. He was done asking if Alex wanted to tell him about his dreams. Especially if they were getting this real.
Alex sighed tiredly.
"It's stupid, Gibbs. Don't worry about it." Alex hedged as he looked up, but focused his gaze on the door.
"If it managed to freak you out this bad I'd have to disagree, now spill." Gibbs replied, getting into a more comfortable position to show Alex that he wasn't planning on leaving until he revealed his dream.
Alex sighed again.
"I...It was about Yokov. He wasn't dead and I was back with him. Tied to a chair. He had managed to kill everyone. The team...even Vance, Ducky, and Abby...and you. He dropped everyone's bodies right in front of me. Then he said that you used your last breathe to say that I wasn't worth the trouble."
"And?" Gibbs asked, wanting to get the whole story before Alex clammed up again.
"And then he said he was going to kill me and then scorpions came out of nowhere and was climbing all over me...about to sting me." Alex laughed bitterly, "see? It's stupid. Now can I go back to bed now?"
This time Gibbs laughed, "You're seriously going to be able to go back to bed after that?" He asked.
Alex shrugged, "Probably not." He muttered, he could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins.
"It's okay to have night terrors. I've seen men come back from war with far worse nightmares than this. You've been hurt. It's okay to hurt."
Alex was quiet, but then he nodded silently. The boy then felt two fingers under his chin lifting his head up to look Gibbs in the eye.
"And you are worth the trouble." He said firmly, Gibbs' ice blue eyes staring deep into the teen's eyes.
"Thanks, Gibbs. I don't think I can say that enough."
Gibbs snorted, "Yes, you can." He joked.
"I think DiNozzo got lost on the stairs. Come on, we'll go get you something to drink then maybe we can watch a movie on the theater screen Tony mounted on the wall. I feel like I should charge admission just to watch it."
A/n- Tada!
I hope you guys liked this one. It was actually longer than it usually is...I was so excited when I saw how long it was.
The story's starting to focus on Gibbs and Alex for a few more chapters. Don't worry though, Blunt's not off the hook.
Now for my unrelated notes;
WHO is following NCIS currently right now? This whole P2P killer thing is sooo awesome and who else is worried about this EJ thing?...I'm doing my best to keep it spoiler free here lol
And May 3rd is the NCIS episode called 'Baltimore' that's centered around Tony and we get to see just how Tony met Gibbs!
Has anyone read SCORPIA Rising yet? Ugh, I loved it but cried at the end. For more than the reason that the book series is practically over.:''( Let me know.
And lastly, I want to thank everyone who was for the Supernatural/ Alex Rider crossover! Way more people than I thought was for this story...soooo if you don't already have me on Author Alert...go to the crossover section and find the supernatural archive and you'll find yourselves a nice surprise! I can't wait for you guys to tell me what you think about this new crossover.
OH, and if anyone's on Twitter you should follow me! Icin_Nicole