Vantage Points

Summary: Tony's in trouble, surrounded by trees. Warning: spanking of adult. Don't like? Don't read!

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, I just play with 'em.

Warning: this story contains the non-sexual spanking of an adult. If you have a problem with that, click on that 'back' button now. You've been warned.

A/N: This is part of my discipline series. I think it makes sense on its own, but it does build on a larger plot arc developed in my other stories. This takes place sometime after Blowback and before Cover Story, but there's no tag to a specific episode for the events in this story.

Thanks to draggon-flye for the suggestion of a reason for the team to be in the middle of a forest, and to alli1 for the nudge to deal with the 'sibling rivalry' between Tim and Tony again.

It has been one of those days. A missing child is always a tough case to work. A young Marine dependant missing in a national forest is even worse, since it means dealing with the jurisdictional pissing-contest with the FBI and the park rangers over who gets to be in control of the search. Gibbs has been insufferable all day, and Tony has been taking his frustration with the boss out on me, as usual.

The only thing that could make matters any worse would be poison ivy, which I've thankfully been able to avoid. So far. I'd touch wood, but getting that close to a tree would mean leaving the safety of this nice, poison ivy-free path.

I almost got to be the one who solved the problem of the missing child. Bethany's hysterical mother mentioned that the little girl wasn't answering her cell phone. Once I managed to deal with Gibbs's reaction to a five-year-old having a cell phone, I was able to trace her location using the GPS chip in the phone.

Or, that was the plan, anyway. We arrived to find the phone sitting by itself in the middle of a small clearing, no child in sight. There were, however, rabbit prints mixed in with the small running-shoe patterns, which suggested that Bethany had simply wandered off in pursuit of Thumper rather than something more sinister having happened.

But it's still a big forest, and nightfall isn't that far off.

Gibbs smacked me across the back of the head and complained that the goal was to find the child, not her phone. Then he took off to do some fancy Marine thing, following a trail that none of the rest of us could even see, and leaving Tony and me lagging along behind, hoping desperately not to get lost ourselves. Even Ducky, who is with us because having a doctor around might be a good thing when we find Bethany, is somehow able to keep up with Gibbs better than we are, which is frankly embarrassing.

Eventually we stopped zigzagging through the woods and we've been following this path for the last fifteen minutes; our best guess is that Bethany got tired of chasing bunnies, realised she was lost, and took the first real path she came to.

Hopefully she got tired, or scared, and sat down somewhere. Yeah, I know... it doesn't sound that great to be hoping that a little kid is huddled somewhere crying... but if she is still moving, it will be that much harder to find her. If she's curled up under a tree, we should be able to catch up to her before she's in worse shape than just being cold and hungry.

Tony is still tormenting me, telling me that I'm breathing too heavily, just trying to keep up... as if he's doing that much better than me, following Gibbs.

And he's told me a couple of times that it's my fault that Gibbs is even more short-tempered now than he was before my idea about the phone didn't work... or, at least, not as well as I'd hoped it would. We did find Bethany's trail, after all. So it wasn't a complete waste of time. We'd just all gotten our hopes up too much. And that's not really my fault, is it?

I swear, one of these days, I'm going to really lose my temper with Tony, and take a swing at him just to shut him up. I know that it's a reaction to stress... he tries to lighten the tension by being funny, and his idea of funny is to pick on me. But that doesn't really make it all that much easier to deal with. I'm not a violent person, but after a lifetime of being the target of schoolyard bullies, there are days when I really don't know how much more of this shit I can take. Sometimes I think it's only my fear of how Gibbs would react to one agent actually hitting another that keeps me from snapping.

There's a clearing up ahead, and I think I see water. I push my exhaustion to the back of my mind and try to pick up my speed, trying not to think about Bethany getting too close to the lake and...

No, it must be ok, because Gibbs and Ducky are looking around the clearing and not totally freaking out. I stumble into the open area, breathing heavily.

'Decided to join us, Probie?'

That's rich, coming from Tony. He got here maybe thirty seconds ahead of me, and he's acting like I'm lagging soooooo far behind the rest of the team.

I can see Gibbs shooting a dark look at him, but Tony doesn't see it and I don't take very much comfort from knowing that our boss knows that I can't really keep up. I know I'm being irrational... I contribute in lots of ways... it's just that the physical parts of the job aren't really my strongest points. It's not like Tony could manage any of the technical stuff that I'm actually good at. Or Gibbs, for that matter.

But the logical part of my brain isn't really winning this battle right now, and I think I'll just feel inadequate for a while longer, thanks.

Suddenly, Tony takes a step towards me, a strange grin on his face. I step backwards instinctively. He keeps coming, and I have no idea what he's planning to do to me but I'm sure it's one of his frat-boy 'jokes'.

I hate it when he's in this mood... Gibbs snapped at him earlier, so he's trying to make up for his own bruised ego by acting superior to me. Gibbs once referred to the dynamic between us as sibling rivalry, and I guess I can see that... sort of. Tony's acting like a big brother tormenting a younger sibling. But none of that means I like having to put up with this shit from him.

I take another step backwards, trying to get away from him before he can shove me onto my ass, 'accidentally', of course. Probably right into goddamn poison ivy.

Suddenly I'm not on the path anymore, and I feel myself sinking into deep, oozing mud. A foul odour rises around me, and I see Tony backing up quickly, putting greater distance between us. There's a droning buzz that I can't identify for a moment. Then, horrified, I realize that a cloud of yellowjackets is swirling around me.

Some instinct I didn't know I had has me covering my face with my hands. I feel a couple of stings... on my hands... my neck... I'm wearing long sleeves, and I have my jeans tucked into my hiking boots, a fact for which I'm now rather grateful even though Tony was teasing me about it earlier... my ear... I can hear Gibbs shouting something... at me? ...but I can't make out the words...

Suddenly there's a hand on my arm, dragging me backwards. I can't see anything... I'm still covering my face, and my eyes are screwed shut, and there isn't anything in this world that's going to make me change that... I stumble... and I'm still being propelled backwards... and now I'm falling...

It's wet. And very cold.

I realise that I'm in water just as I'm shoved under the surface. I start to choke and, panicked, try to get my head out of the water so I can breathe. I barely get air into my lungs and I'm pulled back... I'm really starting to freak out now, as I realise that someone is deliberately holding me under water. My eyes fly open and I stop clutching at my face and start trying to fight off my attacker. Suddenly there's another hand on my face, turning me to look at... Gibbs? I don't understand...

Gibbs holds up three fingers, then takes one away, then another...

And suddenly I'm above water again, and I can breathe... but only for a fraction of a second and then Gibbs is pulling me back under again.

I'm a bit calmer now. I trust Gibbs completely... I've charged into buildings on his order, been shot at at his side... I've even let him hold me down and whip me when I screwed up. If he wants me to stay in this murky, freezing lake with him, then I'll do it... at least until I pass out from the lack of oxygen... even if I don't have the faintest idea why he's chosen now to test me on my... what is he testing, anyway? I'm just so confused...

I feel his strong hand pulling at me again, and realise that he's half-dragging me out of the water. I'm shivering from the cold, and the stings are really starting to hurt, and I feel a bit dizzy. I stumble, almost pulling Gibbs to the ground with me before he gets me under the arms.

I hear a voice that I dimly recognise, and realise that Ducky is taking me from Gibbs and checking my pulse and telling me to open my eyes. I try to do as he's telling me, but I can't and I don't know why. I hear a distant thudding noise that I know I should be able to identify, but it's just too much work to try to...

X X X

...how much time has passed? I'm not sure what's happening... there are voices I don't recognise, and the thudding is louder now and the clearing is shaking...

X X X

No, it's not the clearing that's shaking. I'm in a helicopter. Ducky must have called for help while Gibbs was trying to drown me. It's going to be ok now, and I can just go to slee...