After everyone had left Tony pulled one of his movies and watched it with Alex and his friends. Tonight it was 'A Few Good Men'.

It hadn't been long before Sabina felt Alex breathing slower as he fell asleep beside her. Sabina smiled as she watched him sleep through Tony's commentary and Tom's laughter whenever Tom Cruise told a joke.

But Sabina's thoughts weren't on the movie. Abby had explained the situation to her on the way to Gibbs' house. The Goth had been the one to pick up her from her hotel. In the beginning she couldn't believe that Alex had gotten so close to someone that he agreed to let them adopt him. She knew Alex wasn't too keen on trusting people.

But when she saw how close this NCIS team was and heard Alex interact with them, her suspicion slowly morphed into acceptance and gratitude. There were many weeks that she would go with no response from the boy and her gut would churn with worry until she heard something from either Jack or Alex himself.

Alex usually had a tense hard demeanor about him when it came to adults. He didn't trust them and with good reason. That wasn't the case for the people in this team, if anything, Sabina could see the tension leave him as the team was close.

Especially when she saw Gibbs, Alex's new father, put a hand on his shoulder.

Alex trusted the team, trusted Gibbs, to keep him safe. Sabina didn't know how the man had done it but she was grateful.

As she thought about the silver haired man she noticed that he was nowhere in sight. She looked around for any sign of him and her movements must have been picked up because Tony smiled knowingly at her.

"Boss is in the basement," He stated simply before nudging Tom and saying, "here comes the good part!"

Taking that as an incentive she got up and found the door to the basement. It was half open and she could hear the scraping of wood. Sabina slowly made her way down the stairs before stopping half way and knocking on the railing beside her.

The scraping stopped and she heard Gibbs give her the okay to come the rest of the way down.

She reached the last step and stopped short at the sight in front of her.

"A boat in the basement? Is that a marine thing I'm not aware of?" She asked, admiring at how beautiful it looked.

"More of a hobby. Helps me think." The man replied, as he moved to his work bench and picked up a tool.

"You must think a lot, then." Sabina said, causing Gibbs to smile but not offer any reply as he turned back to the boat and pulled out a measuring tape.

The girl studied him for a moment.

"You don't talk a bunch, do you?" She asked with a laugh, sometimes getting a reply out of Alex was this hard.

Gibbs shrugged.

"Most people who come down here have something on their mind. I'm willing to bet you're no different."

Sabina sighed, suddenly all the joking was gone from her as the man called her out.

"I like Alex. I liked him even before I knew he was a spy. He's fun and easy to talk to. I don't care how many states we're divided, we're still close. We can go months without seeing each other and when we finally meet up together we manage to pick up right where we left off with no problem. My parents like him too. I'm certain that if you hadn't been here to take Alex in then my dad would have done it. And...I don't know...I just...I'm so relieved that Alex isn't in danger anymore. Sometimes I would go weeks without hearing from Alex and then Jack or Tom would send me a message telling me that he's in the hospital. And I know that you probably can't see it as well as someone who has known him when he was being used by those assholes, but you can tell that it just looks like a load has been lifted off of him."

Gibbs looked at the girl. She genuinely cared for Alex. He could tell that she thought of Alex as more than a boy crush or some guy that she idolized because he had saved her life. No, this girl was worried about a boy that she wanted to see safe.

"Good. He didn't deserve the load that was on his shoulders in the first place." He replied simply.

Sabina nodded finally finishing what she had wanted to say to the man. She looked around the boat.

"So, do you name these when you get done with them?" She asked.

Gibbs nodded.

"Every boat's gotta have a name." He said.

Noise at the stairs pulled them from their conversation.

DiNozzo stuck his head in the door.

"Sabina, your dad's here. Boss, Alex fell asleep on the couch. What do you want to do with him?" He asked.

Gibbs placed his tools down on the bench, it was time to call it a night anyways.

"I'll get him. Go ahead and take Tom to the guest room." He said.

Tony nodded and smiled thinking about how this was the first time that more than one kid had invaded Gibbs' household for over twenty years. He held onto this thought as he went to get the spiky haired teen into bed. Tom amused Tony. He was like a little mini version of himself. He had been the one to go and pick the excitable boy up from the airport while Abby picked Sabina up. It had been pretty easy to spot the teen as he came out of the terminal since he was holding a poorly constructed home made sign that had 'I Am Alex Rider's Best Friend, Please Don't Shoot Me'.

Sabina and Gibbs walked up the stairs and into the living room for Sabina to get her things.

"You're coming by tomorrow, right?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, my dad's here doing a story on Congress and he has meetings most of the weekend that we're here." Sabina informed as she grabbed her things and leaned over a sleeping Alex and placed a kiss on top of his head.

"Tell him I said goodnight." She ordered Tom who was threatening to fall asleep too. The jetlag was really hitting the boy hard, hence the quiet demeanor he had a the moment. Tom gave the girl a mock salute as he went by her with Tony.

Gibbs walked Sabina to her dad's car and spoke with Edward for a few minutes, he had already spoke to the man over the phone when he was planning to bring Sabina to DC.

When he came back in Tony was showing Tom to the guest room while Alex still dozed on the couch.

The marine walked up to the teen and shook him.

"Alex, wake up." He roused.

The teen peered sleepily up at the man.

"Time for bed."

Alex sighed.

"I was asleep." He grumbled as he got to his feet and let Gibbs guide him up the stairs then he realized that everyone was gone.

"Sabina left?" He asked guiltily. He hadn't meant to fall asleep on her visit. She had crossed the country to see him after all.

Gibbs nodded as he opened the door to the teen's room and ushered him in.

"Yeah, her dad took her back to their hotel. She'll be back tomorrow." He assured.

The boy nodded and sunk gratefully into his bed.

"Thanks for bringing them here, Gibbs."

The man sat on the edge of the bed.

"No problem. I'm sorry they couldn't stay longer." Gibbs said. Sabina and Tom were still in school and were only here for the weekend.

Alex smiled.

"It's enough. I mean...I miss them...don't tell Tom I said that." He said with a yawn.

"I'm sure he knows. How are you feeling? This is the most excitement you've had in awhile."

Alex shrugged.

"I'm just a little tired. Nothing to worry about." He assured.

Gibbs nodded in acceptance. Now for the hard part. He reached into the nightstand and pulled out the sleeping pills. Alex had told him that he'd only take the pills the one time to help him sleep but that hadn't been how things worked out. Gibbs had talked him into taking them whenever he thought that the boy had too long of a day.

"You think you need them tonight?" He questioned.

Alex was long over refusing the pills. Not only did he know it was futile but he was beginning to realize that some nights he needed them. Ducky had also assured him that with his and Gibbs' guidance that he was in no danger of any complications but still...

Alex sighed.

"I can't keep taking them forever. I mean, sleeping through the night isn't supposed to be this hard."

"You can take them as long as you feel you need them. You shouldn't be afraid to sleep and if this helps then this is what we'll do. You heard Ducky this medication is something that some people take on a daily basis. It's not going to hurt you."

But the boy's mind was made up.

"I don't want them tonight."

Gibbs nodded.

"Alright, we'll give it a shot. You know where I'll be if you need me." He agreed as he stood to leave.

"I...I have a question." Alex stuttered, he didn't want to bring the subject up but it was something that was beginning to plague his mind more and more.

The Marine turned back around and peered at his teen.

"What's up?"

"The trial...Not everything is as cut and dry as you think it is..." He trailed off.

Gibbs only looked at the boy prompting him to elaborate.

"Gibbs, I've told you not all of my missions were strictly blackmailed. I went after SCORPIA on my own. I went after Yassen myself when MI6 wouldn't believe me about him. Whether I like it or not...I come from a family of spies and it's not just something I can turn off."

Gibbs was silent for the moment and Alex waited for him to respond with baited breath.

"You went after this Yassen guy on your own after MI6 wouldn't believe you. Why?" He asked, easily slipping into interrogation mode.

"The guy he was working for was going to kill people. And when I had the information to prove it...Yassen kidnapped Sabina and I couldn't just leave her. So I was on my own."

"And which mission was this? Your second?"

"Fourth."

"So, you risk your life three times before that and they couldn't do you one favor and look into your suspicions like an agency who's supposed to protect it's people? Especially when it involves a top assassin?"

"They said Cray, the guy Yassen was working for, was too charitable to get involved."

"And you managed to what? Save the world and your girlfriend?"

"...Kinda."

"That's what they're going to look for Alex. What drove you to doing what you did. MI6 wouldn't believe you so what choice did you have? And then your friend was in danger and the bad guys were blackmailing you. You will have your chance to tell your story. No one will be able to manipulate your side of things. Trust me. And even if they did exclude that mission there's what? Seven more to choose from where you were screwed over. Okay? Stop worrying about it. We'll have plenty of time to get prepared for this. If I knew you were going to react like this I wouldn't have told you so soon. You're not the one going on trial here. You're the victim. Now relax and go to bed. I'm handling it."

Alex sighed again.

"I know you are." He relented quietly as he sunk down into his bed for the night.

"Good, you're learning." The man said as he flipped the light off on the kids room leaving the door cracked.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Gibbs met Tony on the stairs.

"DiNozzo, perimeter check. Tomorrow night I want McGee on my couch. Not you. You need a break tomorrow."

"On it, Boss. But I don't mind staying." Tony said checking his gun at his side as he scaled down the stairs and towards the front door.

"Well I do. No sense in running you ragged when Ziva or McGee don't mind helping out." Gibbs replied firmly as he pulled out his cell phone.

"I gotta make a call. You see anything suspicious you come and get me you do not engage unless absolutely necessary." Gibbs called to Tony's retreating back.

"I got it, Boss."

When Tony was out the door he sighed. There was one thing about the trial that needed addressing. A lawyer. As much as he didn't want to make the call he knew it had to be done. And there was only one person Gibbs knew who would more than gladly take this case and keep it private.

He found the number in his phone and his send. It rang a few times before he heard, "Mister Gibbs, just what can I do for you on this fine night?" Come out of the mouth of M. Allison Hart.

Gibbs gritted his teeth. No matter how much the woman angered him he knew she was a hell of a lawyer. She could help Alex. And it would be easy to get her seeing as she was NCIS's new Liaison attorney.

"I got a job for you..."

A/N- Okay, this is a poor excuse for a chapter. It's short, nothing happens and it's poorly constructed. I'll do better next chapter.

As you can tell I'm putting this story at the end of season 8 so that Allison Hart( yeah, I know you don't like her...me ) can be Alex's lawyer and also so I can put things in motion for the sequel to this story I have in mind...(which will focus on Gibbs' job more and how it's going to affect Alex...but more on that later. We aren't quite done with this story yet.)

I'm sorry this took so long and things are hectic here. You guys rock. I know it's not much but reviews are still awesome and helps move the story along! Writers block has torn this chapter to bits.