"Mr. Gibbs!" Abby squealed indignantly. She was whining. Gibbs of course was no mind reader but he somehow he knew that had something to do with the fact that a certain student by the name of Anthony DiNozzio had just pulled her pig tails.

"Mr. DiNozzio, do not pull Miss Scuito's hair!" Gibbs snapped, sighing. Some days he questioned in what state his sanity had been in when he decided to apply to be a middle school teacher of all things, today just happened to be one of those days. Hell everyday had been one of those days since he'd gotten these students as his class. They lived to torture one another and their teacher. Damn fifth graders, he thought silently. Despite his qualms he liked his job and his class. It was never…boring…with them around.

"But Mr. Gibbs, She hit me!" Tony yelled back to his teacher.

Gibbs rounded on Abby, who had her mouth open in protest.

"He looked up my skirt!" She complained, loudly.

"It's true!" Both Ziva and Kate piped in together backing Abby up. Timothy McGee and Jimmy Palmer made no remark. To get on the girls' bad sides was to ask to die a miserably painful death and they knew it.

"DiNozzio!" Gibbs barked. He reached toward Tony. It was sharply that he slapped the back of the boy's head. Tony merely complained in a mutter. He had learned not to object by now. It would only earn him another one.

The silvery haired former marine spun around as he heard someone clicking their tongue at him. He had a sinking feeling he knew exactly who that was. A glance toward the door confirmed his suspicions. The principal, Jenny Shephard, stood in the door way grinning wickedly.

Damn it!, Gibbs thought, How the hell did I miss the clicking of those ridiculously high-heeled shoes? Giving Jenny a one over, he had his answer: She was barefeet. Gibbs cocked an eyebrow. That was definitely strange. It took him a second to realize she'd probably taken them off just so she could sneak up on him. He scowled at her as she spoke,

"You would be the reason I sent out the memo concerning child abuse." She said obviously amused.

"Wasn't abuse, Jenny. It was a wake-up call. He was looking up Abby's skirt."

His piercing blue eyes studied her for a minute. She was no longer amused with him. He knew why too. He'd broken her cardinal rule:

Never ever call me by my first name in front of the students.

"You still hit him, Leroy." The words were a cruel hiss as they came from her mouth. Her green eyes flashing dangerously all the while she spoke.

Damn. She was pissed! The fact she'd called him Leroy of all things was what convinced him. It was difficult as Gibbs fought the smart-ass grin that was threatening to appear on his face, the corners of his mouth were twitching.

His class sniggered. Thos was amusing for them. This…battle of wills. Not so very amusing for Gibbs, well maybe at the moment but he'd have hell to pay later and he damn well knew it. But at the moment it was worth it.

"Sorry, Jennifer."

"Damn right you're sorry! Though isn't that one of your rules from God knows where? Never apologize? It's a sign of weakness?" The wicked grin had rematerialized. That only meant one thing…she'd plotted her revenge already. Gibbs watched her warily as she breezed past him, into the room. She sat on the edge of his desk, crossing her legs. That caused her skirt to slide up a little, exposing just a hint of the skin beneath. Just a little though, she knew where she was. There were children about, after all. It was still enough to catch Gibbs's attention. Next thing he knew, he was checking her out. Abruptly he shook his head to stop himself.

"Language, Miss Shephard." He reminded her, watching coolly as she reached for his coffee. He narrowed his eyes as she popped the lid off.

The eyes of the watching DiNozzio got real big. He exchanged a glance with Abby. Did their principal have a death wish? Only once in the very beginning of the year had they tried to mess with Gibbs's coffee. That had been a mistake, a mistake that nearly cost them their lives. Neither could quite count the statement an exaggeration either. Never had they been stupid enough to attempt that stunt again.

"Jenny." Gibbs cautioned, his eyes narrowed to snake-like slits.

There was a sudden sparkle in the red head's green eyes as she put into her pocket and drew from it, only moments later, cream and sugar. Gibbs's arch-enemy. She was going to poison his coffee! He had to act now! And so he did; he leaped toward her and knocked her from the desk.

The coffee went flying and did Gibbs and Jenny. All three of them wound up on the floor. Coffee landed first, most of it's contents spewed upon the floor. On top of that went Jenny and on top of her landed Gibbs. Neither was very pleased to be on the floor, though Jenny didn't mind being close enough to smell the wood shaving and sawdust Gibbs always smelled like. He sure as hell didn't mind smelling her perfume either.

Caused to come running because of the loud commotion, the science teacher Donald 'Ducky' Mallard appeared In the doorway. "Jethro!" He said shocked. "I think now is hardly the time-there are children—I mean really! Jethro!" The science teacher spluttered. He'd misconstrued the scene before him, greatly.

Gibbs rolled off of Jenny in one solid fluid motion. He stood and scooped up the cup with the remainder of the coffee in it. He took a sip and watched Jenny, not bothering to offer her a hand. Jenny looked rather annoyed at this new development whether it be because he was no longer close in proximity or because he hadn't offered her a hand, the cause was uncertain.

She aimed a kick at his shin before getting up slowly. Her hand went to touch her curls that felt slightly heavy. As she found them damp with coffee, she sighed, absolutely disgusted. "I'll make you pay." She warned giving him a wicked look before barreling past Ducky, heading to her office.

Gibbs's class had sat there silent and had not moved nor spoken since the coffee and their teachers had gone flying. Suddenly, they started laughing and cheering and clapping all at once. It had been quite an entertaining performance.

Their reaction earned them a Gibbs glare which quieted them instantly. He smiled a little, though. as Gibbs turned to Ducky to explain the events that had led up to the incident and the incident itself.

He had won this battle but Jenny was determined to win the war.