I'm sorry I wrote one-shot in the other AN, so PLEASE stop begging me to continue this. This is obviously a twoshot, okay? OKAY. No more of the begging and the puppy eyes. I can't take it anymore. Oh, and thank you, SamayouTamashi for giving me the praise that she did and the criticism, along with the rest of you that also reviewed. It warmed my heart.:)

Seriously, I'm sorry that it's so short compare to the last chapter, but...yeah. It's sort of like, tying up loose ends. Short, blunt, and to the point—I'm not trying to stretch this out for long.

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e x c e p t i o n a l
slide and switch / move and hitch
watch me
(because we're exceptional.)

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After a few more minutes of chatting, Ziva ended the call and slapped her phone shut. She turned to Gibbs, who had turned on the elevator's emergency switch to normal. 'So, what do you think of him?'

'How old is he?' Gibbs asked immediately, facing the steel doors. 'He didn't sound older than twenty.'

Ziva chuckled, but Tony could detect a bit of—was that sorrow? 'Well, I'll let him tell you. It's...not my place.' Seeing Gibbs' raised eyebrow, she explained, 'There is a long story. You'll understand when he gets here.' She fell silent, as if she had just said something she shouldn't have. It was mind-boggling for all of the men on the team to see Ziva this way; usually, she was confident, so sure of herself, loyal to a fault to Gibbs. Right now, she seemed more...worried and frazzled...almost motherly. Or, that could be sister-ly. Or it might've been Tony, but she had more than just conflicting feelings for this mysterious Brit.

Alex, on the other hand, sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had parked and checked his car for any damage; luckily, other than one or two stray bullets that he could fix, nothing had too much damage. But still...his car...Sighing, he tapped the screen on his phone and put it toward his ear. One ring, then two. He tapped his foot impatiently.

Finally, someone answered. 'Agent Rider,' came the curt voice of Mrs. Jones; Alex's face twitched up into a small smile. Despite her emotionless and blank persona, he could tell that she was genuinely worried. 'Is something the matter?'

'Permission,' he said in a way of explanation. 'I have a friend whose in NCIS, a sort of police force for the Navy. She's on the Heifermann case, and they've come up at a dead end. I was wondering if you would call it off with their director...?' He grinned, almost sheepishly, even though Mrs. Jones couldn't see it on the other end.

'Of course,' she replied shortly. 'If that is necessary for the operation.'

'It is.'

There was the short pause where he heard Mrs. Jones type something on her computer—she was actually at her desk, go figure—and the short chat of some distant personnel before her voice filtered through again. 'Consider it done. Anything else, Alex?'

Alex hesitated, before sighing. 'Well, that same friend and her teammates want to know about SCORPIA. I was wondering if I had permission to...?'

'Not specific details containing your past missions,' she said reproachfully. 'Those are top secret. Basic things. You may list a few instances that involved SCORPIA, along with some of the dead board members, if they are adamant for names. But only the ones that are dead and arrested; do not reveal anything that you are related more than necessary to SCORPIA.' Alex grunted in response. 'This is a good thing, in fact. If more people are aware of SCORPIA, the more allies we have to bring them down.'

Alex snorted. 'If they don't get in the way.'

'Yes,' Mrs. Jones agreed, 'There is that. Good day, Alex. I assume that you want your flight changed...?'

'Yeah,' he said distractedly, placing himself inside the car once again, starting it up. 'That would be good. Three days at best I'll be here, but no promises.'

'Three days,' she repeated. 'Until then, Agent Rider.' And then her side of the conversation was cut off.

Alex scoffed and look at the phone with disinterest. 'Same old Jones,' he murmured, before flipping his phone shut and stuffing it in his pocket. Taking a long look at it, he sighed and clicked it on, hearing the familiar beep of the class-three armored vehicle. He wasn't in a far off place, so he just decided to park in the hotel's back area, where the trash was being taken out and such. They didn't know of him or his real identity, so Alex threw a tarp over the car—one that was left in his trunk—before searching his wallet for money and coming up triumphantly with a MetroCard still in use.

Good thing these things have long life, he mused, looking both ways for the nearest bus station. Now, how the hell do I get to NCIS headquarters again...?

/

Team Gibbs was almost antsy when Alex arrived, but he was met with Ziva's crushing hug—literally crushing—and the amused glances of her teammates. Or, by the way one of them was looking at him sourly, the unpleasantness of jealous coworkers. Beside the unhappy one was a short, slightly chubby man with a baby face and bright eyes that smiled his way. The silver haired one stared at him, hard, before nodding and acknowledging his presence. There was a dark-skinned man beside them and Alex's eyes lit up when he met them.

Ziva let him go and led him over to the group, quietly saying, 'You're not hurt anywhere, are you?' At Alex's denial, she stared at him as though probing for lies, but then seemed satisfied when she couldn't come up with any. Alex stood awkwardly in front of them, his eyes on the director of NCIS.

'Leon,' he acknowledged, slowly grinning.

'Alex,' the other man replied back, face twitching up in a smile. 'You've grown.'

He cocked his head and gave an amused smile. 'Obviously.' The blonde seemed to bite his cheek before grinning and saying, 'You know, the last time I saw you, I was bothering you with your cases and you were ready to hit me over the head with Kelsey's paperwork.' The name Kelsey was hung in the air, leaving the agents confused, but Leon chuckled.

'Yes, well,' he straightened. 'Those were the old days.' He turned to see the stunned faces of his agents, Gibbs excluded, but Leon was sure that he was surprised all the same. He motioned to the men. 'These are the people we're working with. Special Agents Gibbs, DiNozzo, and McGee.' He waved to each in correspondence. 'Agents, this is Agent Rider, of the Special Operations division of MI6.'

'Ooh, now I need extra copies of the OSA,' Alex glared at Leon. 'Thanks, Vance.'

'You two...know each other?' Tony said, looking between them, vocalizing what every one of them was thinking. Ziva shook her head. 'I'm not surprised,' she sighed. 'Alex knows practically half the world's agencies by hand.'

Said teen shrugged. 'What can I say? I'm popular.'

'What does she mean by that?' Tony said, crossing his arms and shifting.

He shrugged again, a motion they were realizing he did a lot. 'I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.' he said lightly. Ziva smacked him on the arm, and to the others' surprise (save Leon) he only sniggered good-heartedly. And Ziva's slaps hurt. 'Okay, okay,' he revised, 'We need to be in a secure place where no one's watching us so I can talk.' Alex tilted his head, moving some blonde hair across his shoulder. 'And you need to get SecNav on the line. Plus three copies of the OSA.'

'SecNav?' Leon raised an eyebrow. 'What do you need with him?' Once again, ignoring the 'OSA' thing.

Alex sniffed. 'Ah...case-sensitive stuff, sorry,' he smiled apologetically. 'You know how it is.' There was a silence, Leon gazing at Alex intently, yet the teenager didn't seem to be at all fazed by it. Gibbs was unnaturally silent, waiting for him to make the first move. Finally, Leon said, 'Ziva, take him, DiNozzo, and McGee to MTAC,' he started. 'I'll be there in a second.' Ziva nodded and took Alex by the elbow, who followed her casually.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Gibbs turned around and demanded, 'How do you know him?'

Leon let out a breath, knowing that this was coming. 'I've worked with him once before,' he admitted. 'Years ago. He's nothing if not capable and I trust him fully, Gibbs.' There was a pause. 'In fact, I've missed Alex. He was like a little brother that never went away. I'm glad you told me about this.' Gibbs knew that this wasn't because of professional reasons; this was highly personal and Leon wasn't afraid of admitting it.

After a moment, the ex-marine said, 'Let's get going to MTAC.'

'Hell knows if SecNav is even available at this time,' Tony remarked dryly, sitting in one of the seats before the big screen. 'Having so many things to do, you know.'

Alex shrugged. 'He'll come through,' he answered cryptically. He was standing off to the side, sunglasses perched up on his head, not at all looking like he was just in a car chase that involved bullets and a most probably bruised shoulder. He stood with a calm intensity that unnerved people that didn't know him—like Tony and McGee, for example. Even so, they waited patiently, Ziva beside Alex, until Gibbs came in along with Leon.

The director motioned to another worker for a set of headphones, when he got immediately. 'Patch me through to the Secretary of the Navy,' he said confidently, and the worker nodded and pressed a few buttons. There was a brief pause before the brilliantly colored screen turned to a white background, the Secretary of the Navy standing in front of it, looking a bit harried but nothing huge.

'I hope that this is important, Director,' he grunted. 'I've got a meeting to get to that won't settle for latecomers.'

'It is.' Leon said shortly. 'I, myself don't know the reason why I'm talking to you—'

'Then why are you still connected?'

'—but Agent Rider seems to converse about something important,' he finished lightly. Immediately, a change was seen in the white-haired man; to Tony's shock (along with others) SecNav chuckled, and his face became a tad bit warmer, as if remembering a particularly fond memory.

Alex stepped into view, his own headphones strapped firmly around his head. 'Long time no see,' he said, flashing the other a smile. 'Don't worry about that meeting—COBRA, right?' SecNav nodded. Alex waved it away. 'They'll understand.'

SecNav raised an eyebrow. 'You're supposed to be there yourself.' he said, admonishing slightly. Alex shrugged. 'Uh, well...' he coughed into his fist. 'There was a few..complications, you could say.' the blonde shuffled awkwardly and gave a truly sorrowful glance at Ziva, pleading her to forgive him. The woman was taken aback slightly, sending him a questioning look, but Alex didn't answer it. 'If you guys don't mind...' Alex bit his lip. 'I'm afraid I can't let you guys hear this part. You too, Leon.'

'Now wait a second—' Gibbs put a hand on Tony's chest, stopping what he was about to say, looking between Alex and SecNav and nodded slowly.

'Ten minutes,' he said shortly, before waving his team out the door. Ziva was still pondering about the look that Alex had given her and Leon came out a minute afterward, looking a bit harried and frowning. They stood still for a moment before McGee took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and asked his co-workers, 'What do you think that was about?'

'He needs to talk something over,' Ziva said immediately, looking at the metal door that let into the top-secret area. 'But what, I don't know.' He definitely feels guilty about it, or at least sad. Maybe even a bit nervous... Ziva shook the thought out of her head. Alex was rarely ever nervous. She knew that he felt sadness and guilt many times before—the one time he had a breakdown in Israel with her was horrible—but she also knew that it didn't happen often.

Tony was glaring at the door distrustfully. Despite having a cool car and a charming smile, he didn't trust Alex one bit. And even though Ziva said that she only thought of Alex as her brother, it was still odd, seeing her care about him so deeply that it showed. He looked young...Tony didn't know that Ziva was into those type of guys...

Everyone being lost in their musings, no one saw Gibbs retract a phone from his belt, pressing it against his ear for a fraction of a minute before saying 'Alright' and closing it again. 'Hey!' he said loudly, starting to walk down the stairs toward the elevator. 'Abby has something for us. Come on—Tony, you stay here and call me when Alex comes out.'

Tony twitched, but didn't move.

/

'Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs Gibbs!' a hyperactive woman practically squealed, sounding more like a valley girl than her her style presumed; she was decked in black, from the color of her hair to the tattoos on her neck to the chunky boots she had on. Only her lab coat was white, and it bounced up and down as she did in excitement. Only when Gibbs placed a hand on her head did she stop.

'Calm,' he reminded, before letting go. 'Whaddya got for me, Abs?'

Abby grinned widely, her dark red lips a startling contrast against her pale skin. 'Okay, so you know the clean-up crew, right?' She didn't wait for him to give the affirmative, instead continuing on. 'Well, one of them accidentally slid his phone across the road—don't ask me how, I heard it was a bet.' she defended when Gibbs raised an eyebrow. 'Well, they went across the street to get it, and guess what? Ta-da! They found blood stained on one of the sides of the house, right on the gutter.' She had a smug smile on her face. 'Something happened there, and the blood could have been if someone scraped themselves getting down from the roof—a perfect position to—'

'Assassinate Major Gen. Heifermann,' Ziva breathed, eyes wide.

'Who is it?' Gibbs asked bluntly, ignoring the rookie mistake and calling it out.

Abby pouted. 'Well, I've been running it through AVIS, and there are no matches. Well, as in, there are matches, but there are so many of them—like, lots of numbers, all with different names.'

'...Excuse me?' Ziva asked, affronted.

'Are you telling me that this blood sample belongs to hundreds of people?' Gibbs looked a bit stunned now, if not anything. That was not possible, and Ziva was focusing on the large plasma screen now.

'Not exactly hundreds,' Abby corrected, 'but rather like...tens. Names like John Tylers, Micheal Corscott, Ravi Salmuni, Elizah Al-Hamidi—'

'Wait, what?'

Abby stared at her. 'Elizah Al-Hamidi,' she repeated slowly, taking in Ziva's slowly paling face. 'Ziva? Are you okay?'

'No.' Her voice was sullen and empty. 'No, I know your killer.'

'You do?' Gibbs raised a brow.

'Yes,' she said, shoulders slumping, looking toward the door as if it would provide some kind of escape. 'He's in this this building, as a matter of fact, in MTAC. Talking to SecNav.'

/

Alex had barely gotten out of MTAC with Tony by his side when he was faced with a very angry, stony-faced Gibbs. The gray haired man walked right up to Alex, both at the same height, and looked him straight in the eye. 'I don't want to hear your excuses,' he snarled. 'Why did you do it?'

Unfazed, the blonde spy replied, 'Because I was told to.'

Tony looked back and forth between his boss and the seventeen year-old boy, unsure of what was going on. He kept a hand close to the waistband of his pants, where his gun was located, because it seemed as thought something was going to happen soon and it was going to be violent—be it verbal or physical. His eyes flickered to the lithe form of Ziva's, who was running up behind them, a peculiar light in her eyes. Tony only realized it a second later—betrayal. And understanding.

'Major General Conner Heifermann,' Alex started, his voice robotic. 'Renowned military officer. Navy. SEALs. Sold nuclear weapons from the plant that he was in charge of to SCORPIA and Blackbird, once to COBRA, and many times to snakehead and Al-Qaeda.' Alex cocked his head. 'Are you finding justice for the man that ruined your country?'

Tony sucked in a sharp breath.

'It doesn't matter. All it matters is that you killed him.' Gibbs snarled, a murderous look on his face. Tony wasn't sure what for; being fooled by a kid or knowing that Alex was actually right; Tony knew that Gibbs wanted to think the same way, let the whole thing go as a cold case, but something about Alex set him off, and Tony didn't know what.

'I did.' Alex agreed. 'I shot him in the head. You should get the papers from England soon. A copy of the OSA too.'

'Why did you come here if you killed him?' Ziva said, demanding. 'You knew that I was working on this case, knew that I was in NCIS—...' she bit her lip.

Alex softened. 'I didn't actually.' The corner of his lip quirked. 'I knew that you were working with NCIS, but that was about it. I really didn't know what the hell that was for, or what it searched. I talked with Joe Byrne too if that makes you feel any better.' He shrugged nonchalantly. 'All I wanted to do was meet up with some old friends.'

'Joe Byrne?' Tony repeated, surprised. 'As in, CIA's Joe Byrne?'

'The one, and only,' he nodded.

A muscle in Gibbs' jaw twitched. He turned around and walked away, like he hadn't been talking with him a moment earlier. Three pairs of eyes followed his way as he disappeared around the orange-walled corner into another hallway; most probably to get another coffee to calm himself.

'That wasn't smart,' Tony advised. 'You made him mad.'

'No,' Ziva replied absentmindedly. 'I don't think he's mad at Alex. I think he's mad for Alex.'

'It doesn't matter,' Alex said, tired. He rubbed the side of his face, pushing slightly against his temple. 'Anyways, we can't let this leak. MI6 has already been hounding me lately, this'll just make them angrier. I'm sorry that our reunion had to end so badly, Ziva. Maybe next time I come, it won't be on a mission.'

Ziva stared at him for a minute and nodded. 'You're leaving?'

'I have to,' he shrugged. 'Jones with kill me if I don't. I've spent enough time here as it is.' His looked a little uncomfortable. 'They don't usually send me out for assassinations. I guess this is taking a toll on me.' he sighed. 'See you later. I'll call you on the plane.' Alex gave a small salute and Ziva hugged him, watching his back as he disappeared behind the metal doors of the elevator.

'What was that all about?' Tony asked quietly.

The Israeli's eyes flickered to him. 'Alex or Gibbs?'

'Alex.'

Ziva pursed her lips. 'Promise you won't tell,' she said in a whisper. 'A few years ago, Alex had joined SCORPIA. As in, he worked for them and trained with them, became an assassin. He quit quickly afterward—I still don't understand most of it, because he never told me the full story, but something happened and now he hates SCORPIA with a passion. He's been working for years to bring it down and many times, he came close. The only reason he took this job when he usually does espionage, my guess, is because Heifermann was part of SCORPIA.'

Tony was silent. He took some time to soak this all in. Then, 'Gibbs?'

Ziva grimaced. 'You know Gibbs. He doesn't like the idea of Alex being a spy. He doesn't like the fact that a country has a teenager—someone who should be having fun, drinking, partying, not worrying for his life—diffusing bombs and killing terrorists.'

'Yeah,' Tony agreed. 'I can understand that.'

Ziva shot him a look. 'You know that he'll try to avoid you and the rest of the team the next time he comes?'

Tony gave her a grin. 'Hey, at least there'll be a next time.'

And, until then, they'd have to wait to figure out the mystery that was Alex Rider.

/