Title: October Sky

Rating: T

Warning(s): This story contains corporal punishment/discipline. If you don't like cp/d, then you're gonna look like a dumbass when you flame cuz you've been warned. Also contains shameless references to the characters as family members to each other.

A/N: I'm writing this while camping... thank whatever for laptops. I'm also typing it up on freaking wordpad cuz I hate Word2007. Of course, WP doesn't exactly come with spell check so I'll have to 'spell cheque' the old fashioned way. It's also unbeta'ed so let me know if you see any mistakes. BTW, please let me know if you understand the reference the title is making.

This story will become part of a larger arc. I will be writing a prequel to this, so stay tuned.

'October Sky'

Gibbs eased back in his chair, staring at the computer screen without really looking at it. After a long joint case with the BAU they had caught their killer -UnSub- he smiled as the correction came automatically in Reid's voice, even in his mind. He'd come to appreciate and respect the younger agent and his abilities, as he had with all the members of the BAU. But none would ever be as vital to him as his own team, his 'family'. Tim the young one, Tony and Ziva the eldest, Abby the baby, Jimmy the cousin and Ducky the uncle.

However, he knew his team had forged close bonds with their counterparts. Even he, so rare to get too close to another human being had become fairly good friends with Aaron and Dave. The parallels were almost easy to see; DiNozzo and Morgan, McGee and Reid, Abby and Garcia, Emily and JJ and Ziva, Ducky and Rossi, himself and Hotch. He supposed there were just quintessential roles that came with every team in this job. No one ever left high school it seemed. The jock, the nerd, the punk, the leader, the tech. He didn't complain; it meant that everyone had at least one person with which they could get along.

It hadn't been so at the beginning. Tony and Morgan being both Alpha male types clashed before they had to work out their problems in actual combat. Both had come away from it with a healthy respect for the other, and the beginnings of friendship. Gibbs was his usual snarky self, but gradually warmed up to the other men. They were both good leaders, and though he would never be able to have another equal helping him lead his team (though Tony sometimes came close) he could appreciate their style and it's effectiveness. Ziva and Emily actually already knew each other from Israel, so for them it was a matter of rekindling an old friendship. JJ fit easily in with them. Rossi and Ducky both loved to tell stories, and were content to wax on to each other. Reid and McGee instantly recognized the geek in one another and damn near sublimated from strangers to best friends. And Abby was eager to connect with Garcia once she realised she wasn't after McGee.

They also all got along well because both teams had their own unique family dynamic, but they were similar enough that they meshed well. Tony and Morgan gleefully tag teamed when teasing their 'younger brothers', and McGee and Reid retaliated in subtle ways (and some not so subtle). The "dads' were silently approving, and encouraging in that they were not actively unencouraging. Sometimes they would get out of line, as they would with other things and the three of them would bring them back in line with a few (a relative term) well placed smacks (not all at head level).

Tonight though, he wasn't expected trouble. The agents would all be unwinding, probably together since they had each other's company as an option. Whether individually or together, they would probably all head out for celebratory drinks at the bar. Gibbs was pretty much at the point where that was sounding like a good idea (just the drinking part though; he didn't especially like bars, prefering the comfort of his basement). Considering the other agents though, he might go out to the bar with them, or maybe invite them back to his house. Though they joked that the BAU members were princesses, he didn't really think either man would have a problem with drinking brandy out of dust filled jars.

He glanced over at Hotch, who was diligently working away on paperwork. He would never understand his vigilance; he himself saved his patience for grieving family and children. Not that Hotch didn't; he simply had more to use (or waste, in Gibbs' opinion) on the mundane. He shifted his gaze to Rossi, who leaning back in his chair, feet up looked bored enough to be willing to help him drag Hotch away from his paperwork.

He stood, switching his computer off (or wiping the hard drive; he never could get all that straight from McGee's frantic lectures). "You guys up for a drink?"

"Sure." Hotch sighed, pushing the paper work slightly forward and dropping the pen, rolling his wrist in the socket to stretch the aching tendons. He looked up to see two pairs of raised eyebrows. "I can occasionally be coerced away from paperwork without any effort."

"Only occasionally." Rossi noted with his warm smile. "Which bar were you thinking of?"

"Probably the one in his basement." They all turned to look at Vance, who was standing at the other end of the bullpen. He ignored Gibbs scowl and added "Sorry to put a halt to the festivities before they begin gentlemen, but you have a problem to attend to. Actually, just you two." He nodded to Hotch and Gibbs.

"Who and what?" Gibbs grimaced, wondering which 'offspring' he was bawling out now.

"You should go to Abby's lab. I think McGee and Reid are aspiring rocket boys..." he let his voice drift off, as their imaginations turned on.

Gibbs and Rossi barely had time to acknowledge that Hotch had left for the elevator to start following him before the doors closed, and he grumbled as they did slide shut "We talked about those..."

~TBC