A Multi-ship Story **in Editing*

*Stairs*

Lexi left Abby's and wandered for a little while before ending in the break room at one of the tables. She sat with her head down, trying to calm her emotions. She couldn't allow herself to get angry. Bad things happened when she got angry.

She heard footsteps approach, and then someone sat at the table next to her. When they didn't speak for several moments, she tilted her head to see who it was.

"What do you want, McGee?" She groaned, sitting up.

McGee shrugged slightly. "I- uh- are you okay?"

Lexi deadpanned. "Abby told you about my meltdown."

"Yeah..." When neither of them said anything for a minute, he asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Did she tell Jenny or Gibbs?"

McGee shook his head. "No. Just me."

Alexis sighed with relief. "Good.."

McGee stared at her for a moment. "Alexis, you're going to have to talk eventually. Either to me or to someone else. So, who do you want to talk to?"

Lexi sighed. "Fine... I'll talk."

McGee's eyebrows raised, as if he was surprised she gave in so easily. "So... what exactly happened?"

"I'm just... I don't even know what I feel... overwhelmed, I guess... I'm scared, and I'm mad that I'm scared, but I'm scared that I'm mad, and-"

"Let's start simpler," McGee cut her off, sensing her getting upset. "Why don't you tell me exactly what those memories are that you want so badly to forget?"

Lexi sighed, closing her eyes, before opening them again. "I don't have everything straight yet... but I remember the guys who had me, and the one lady who kind of ran it all... they hated NCIS, but especially Gibbs. And... they'd inject me with something that made me feel really angry and really scared and really... not me. And then they'd fill my head with... with lies, I think. I'm still trying to figure out what's real... but those weeks were so bad. And I just want to be free of them. I don't want to be scared that I'm going to get angry and hurt someone who I know only cares about me..."

McGee swallowed hard before saying, "Alexis, Abby was right... and you know that... you need help. More help than anyone here can give you..."

Alexis's eyes began to fill with tears. "Yeah, I need my parents..."

"Lexi..." McGee though for a moment before he continued. "Your parents went through a lot, too, yknow... I was there for some of it, I know how they hurt..."

Alexis looked at him through her tears. "But... Dad was so strong. And Mom... she was perfect..." Lexi let another wave of tears in. "How?? How did they get through it?"

"They let their people in... and they let them help... they were honest with each other, and they leaned on people who loved them."

Alexis seemed to really think about this. She stayed quiet for a few minutes before taking a quick, deep breath. "Okay... I'll tell Jenny everything... and if she hates me-"

"She won't," McGee took Lexi's hand. "Jenny loves you like you're her own daughter. None of this was your fault, and she doesn't blame you?"

Lexi refused to let any more tears out. "Let's go tell her."

~~~~~~

McGee led Alexis to the elevator and pressed the button to go up to the floor Jenny's office was on. The doors seemed to hesitate for a moment before they opened and Lexi stepped on. She didn't think much of it.

A few moments after the elevator began moving up, there was a loud snap, and it jerked, falling for a moment, before stopping entirely. The lights flashed, and Lexi screamed and fell into McGee.

He leaned on the wall for support. Looking up at the ceiling, he stabilized Lexi. "That didn't sound good..."

Lexi glanced worriedly up. "Just my luck..."

After trying and failing to open the escape hatch on the ceiling, McGee and Lexi took to banging on the doors. Eventually, they heard voices call out that they were getting help.

Lexi walked away from the door, favoring her wounded ankle slightly. She leaned her forehead against the wall.

"Are you okay, Lexi?" McGee asked, concern oozing through his tone of voice.

Lexi didn't answer for a moment, before grumbling, "I'm fine."

He leaned against the wall next to her. "No, you're not. If you want to get better, you have to talk to someone. What's going on?"

Lexi tilted her head to shoot a glare at him, before closing her eyes and returning to leaning against the wall with her forehead.

She waited another moment, steadying her breaths before saying, "I hate being trapped... this is about the size of my cell back where they kept me..."

It was McGee's turn to stay silent for longer than normal. He seemed to be making connections in his head for a few moments before saying, "I'm sorry..."

After about 20 minutes, the doors opened slightly, then were pulled apart. McGee made sure Lexi got out first, then followed her.

Jenny, on the other side, checked repeatedly that Lexi wasn't hurt. She gave someone an order to have the elevator blocked off and fixed, then turned to Alexis.

"I'm taking the rest of the day off, we're going home. This has been... very different from what I was expecting."

Lexi laughed a little. "Yeah, me too."

Lexi waved bye to McGee as the two of them headed home, being sure to take the Stairs this time.

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Hi guys!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I tried to mix some action into all of this drama! XD

Happy Reading!
~Abi <3