McGee's point of view
Ring...ring...ring...
I could hear my phone ringing but couldn't convince my eyes to open.
Ring...ring...ring...
"Uhhh! Ok I am awake!" I groaned and rolled over to reach for my cell phone on the night stand and silently groaned again when I saw that it was 1 am. "Tim." I said, flipping open the phone and holding it to my ear.
"McGee! I need you," Abby's voice yelled into the phone. "Please come get me."
I heard the tears in her voice and sat up, instantly awake. "I will be right there Abbs."
"Ok just hurry," she said softly and could barely hear her over the noise in the background. "Abby, where are you?" I asked, realizing with that background noise that she wasn't at her apartment. "Abby?" I asked again, before I realized that she had hung up.
Crap, I don't know where she is. I thought as I flipped the phone shut. I tried to call her back but got no answer. Flipping it back open, I pressed the speed dial key for Gibbs.
"Gibbs" he growled into the phone after the third ring
"Boss, I'm sorry to wake you up but Abby just called me. She sounded like she was in trouble and asked me to hurry and come get her. but she didn't get a chance to tell me where she was. I need to hack into the NCIS system from my computer here to trace the call. Can I, Boss?"
"Yes, do it right now. I'm headed that way. Call me when you locate the trace."
He hung up as I was sitting down in front of my computer. As soon as I traced her cell I dialed Gibb's number again.
"Boss, she is at McMullins pub on 35th. I am leaving my house now."
"I will meet you there McGee." He said, as I heard a click in my ear. I drove as fast as I could all the way downtown. I made it there in less than 10 minutes. As I pulled into the parking lot, I realized that I didn't see Abby's car anywhere. I parked and was walking inside as I saw Gibbs truck pulling into the lot.
Taking a quick look around, I didn't see Abby anywhere. I walked up to the bartender and pulled up Abby's picture on my phone. "Have you seen her tonight?" I asked, as Gibbs walked up beside me.
The bartender nodded. "She was being hit on by some guy who didn't seem to get the hint that she wasn't interested. He left after trying to grab her arm and take her with him. I asked for him to be thrown out and she ran off to the ladies room. Haven't seen her since."
"How long ago was that?"
"About 15 minutes ago."
Gibbs and I took off towards the bathrooms and he knocked on the door to the women's restroom. "Abby? Are you there?" I called out. Immediately the door flung open and a tearful abby flung herself into my arms.
"Oh thank you, I knew you would come save me." Abby said, lifting her head up and then realized that I hadn't come alone. "Umm...hi, Gibbs." She said softly lowering her eyes to look at the floor. She knew she was going to be in trouble. She had been told more than once not to go out alone.
"Abby." Gibbs said, making sure she heard every thought and feeling that he could put into one short word. "My truck, now!" He said sharply and watched as she slowly untangled herself from my arms. I realized as soon as she took a step that she was drunk. I reached out to steady her and said, "Boss, I will walk her out to your truck."
Gibbs' point of view
I nodded and turned to go ask the bartender a few more questions. I watched as McGee guided a very tipsy Abby out the door to the pub. "Can you tell me what this guy looked like?" I asked, turning my attention to the bartender.
"Yea, he was about your height, black hair, kinda skinny and he had a nose ring."
"Did he seem like he knew her?"
"Nah, man I don't think so, just wouldn't stop hitting on her."
"Ok one last question, did she come alone tonight?"
"No, there was a girl she came with. she had dark hair, real serious like. She talked kinda funny. Definitely not from around here. They got into some kind of an argument after meeting up with a cute little blond and the the tall darker girl left. Then the girl you boys came looking for started drinking a lot and then all this excitement happened."
"How much did she drink?"
"Enough to make 2 or 3 of my buddies completely wasted."
I thanked him and walked outside towards my truck trying to calm my anger before I got there. Tim walked to the back of the truck and asked me about the conversation with the bartender.
"He said he didn't think the guy knew Abby. He also said that Abby came here with another girl. Who, by his description, was dark with dark hair, very serious, and was definitely not from around here because of how she talked."
"Boss! That sounds like..."
"Ziva, yes I thought the same thing. Did Abby mention Ziva?"
"No Boss, but I don't think she has ever been this drunk."
I nodded and tried to decide what to do. I looked over at Abby in the truck. i could see that she was leaning against the window but I was not sure if she was already asleep. "Tim," I said, making up my mind, "Thank you for being such a great big brother and coming to get her. I will take it from here. I am going to take Abby home with me, you go home and get some sleep. You can come in at 10 in the morning."
Tim nodded, "Ok, thanks Boss, goodnight."
Now that I had Abby safe, I needed to find out what had happened earlier that evening, and if it had been Ziva that she was with.
As I got into the truck I could tell that Abby was still awake. "Abbs, who did you come with tonight?"
She shook her head as I started the car. "Abbs, I will not ask you again," I said letting her know by my tone how serious I was, "who brought you here tonight?"
Reaching out I lifted her chin to look at me. I sighed as a tear slid down her cheek. "Abigail, you are in big trouble right now, please do not make this any harder than it has to be." Her eyes widened as she realized I meant business, and what that business meant for her behind.
"I can't... it's all my fault." Abby said, bursting into tears.
I pulled out onto the road and pulled my cell phone out. Flipping it open and hitting the third speed dial button, I waited for an answer on the other end of the line.
"Ziva" she said as she answered her phone, confirming for me that she didn't sound asleep at all.
"Ziva," I said sternly into the phone. And before I could continue I heard,
"Please don't be upset Gibbs, I can explain..."
"Good, because I will be pulling up to your apartment in two minutes and you had better be outside when I get there." I said and snapped the phone shut.
"Abbs, scoot over into the middle so Ziva can join us."
Abby began a fresh round of tears as she buckled herself into the middle seat of the truck. I pulled up as Ziva was walking out of the front door and Ziva climbed into the truck. She didn't say anything as she buckled her seat belt and kept her eyes on the floor. I drove to my house in silence.
As I pulled into the driveway I said, "alright, let's go. It's going to be a long night already without dragging this out any longer than we have to."
The girls walked inside and sat down on the couch. I stood there for a moment trying to decide how to go about getting the full story from my girls. I looked at Abby's tear streaked face and Ziva's stoic demeanor.
"Now, before I jump to any conclusions I want to know exactly what happened tonight.
The girls looked at each other for a few minutes and I realized that they were trying to decide how to cover for one another. "Now!" I said raising my voice just a bit.
Ziva took a deep breath and looked up. "Abby called me this evening and said that a friend of hers from college was in town for the night and wanted to meet up for a drink. She knew we were both told after what happened last time things got out of hand that we were not to go out alone. She asked me to go with her."
I was fuming, so now my girls were going to pick and choose what rules they would follow. "While I appreciate you not venturing out to a bar alone I am wondering what happened to the most important rule of no clubbing or drinking on a weeknight!"
Abby looked up and said, "I'm sorry Gibbs I just really wanted to see her, and she was flying out in the morning."
"Abbs, you could have called and asked me, or met her at a restaurant Instead of a bar!" I said, not bothering to hide the hurt in my voice.
Abby, realizing that she had disappointed me by simply not just asking if she could go, began to cry again. "I know, Gibbs, I'm sorry."
"Do you two realize how badly you could have been hurt? Wait, if Ziva drove you there than why was Ziva not there when you called McGee?"
Ziva looked down at the floor. "Gibbs, I... I left." And a single tear escaped her swollen eyes and slid down her cheek. I did a double take at seeing Ziva cry. She normally tried to hide all emotions, considering them to be a sign of weakness. Ziva wiped it away as quickly as it had appeared but I had seen my tough ninja cry. I knew there was something going on between the girls but I just couldn't quite guess what it was. "Ziva David, I am extremely disappointed that you would leave Abby there by herself, in a bar, on a work night!" Ziva said nothing and simply stared at the floor taking the harsh words without any more signs of emotion. And before I could say another word Abby shouted out "Gibbs! Leave her alone, it was all my fault!" I grabbed her by the side of her upper arms as she stood up and flung herself at me. I held her and pulled her back to look into her eyes. "Abby, what happened?" I said, biting back my impatience.
"I was mean to her and told her to leave." Abby whispered looking down to the floor.
"And you listened to her and left?" I asked incredulously, turning to face Ziva. Ziva said nothing as she continued to look at the floor.
"No Gibbs! Well...not at first. It took me close to an hour to get her to leave. She was being a bossy big sister!" Abby cried as she turned and pointed accusingly at Ziva. "She kept saying that I could only visit with her for an hour and then she was taking me back home! And then she wouldn't let me drink! I wanted to have fun!"
I was relieved that Ziva had a least attempted to keep Abby out of trouble. Abby could get into some messy predicaments. I had heard enough and was ready to get this over with so they could at least get some sleep before work in the morning. "Abby, I want you to wait for me right here, if you move from this couch you will be sorry. Ziva, with me." I said, as I turned and headed down the steps to the basement. I walked over to the tool bench and patted the empty spot beside me. Ziva took a deep breath and pulled herself up to sit on the tool bench beside a standing and angry Gibbs.
Ziva took a deep breath, "Gibbs...I did not mean to actually leave." I raised an eyebrow at her but let her continue. "I only intended to go outside for a few minutes and cool off. I did not want her to know how badly she had hurt my feelings. I should not have cared what nasty things she said to me. But..." Her voice wavering a little for the first time, "it did hurt my feelings. I risked getting in trouble with you to take her and try to help her see her friend. Which was obviously so important if we were risking getting our bottoms tanned by the worlds strictest dad!" She said, with a small glare directed at me. I bit back a grin as she continued. "She just kept nagging at me and telling her friend, Kelsey, that I was her annoying big sister, that I was no fun to be around, and she didn't like hanging out with me. But she knew she would get in trouble if she had come alone. It hurt, Gibbs, She really hurt my feelings."
I knew how difficult it was for Ziva to admit how she felt. I also knew she had to be very hurt to admit all of that to me. "Ziva," I said pulling her into a hug, "I know how Abby can get when she is trying to get her way. I am proud of you for trying to handle the situation. And I truly am sorry that she hurt your feelings. That was wrong and I will make sure she understands that. But Zi," I placed my finger under her chin and tilted her face up towards mine, "you should have called me instead of taking her to a bar in the first place. Why didn't you call one of us when you left her at the bar? Even if you were scared to call me you could have called Tony or McGee."
"I was not meaning to actually leave her there, Gibbs. When I realized I really was leaving, I was just going to drive around the block and then go back and get her. But I was so mad at her. She has never been that mean to me." Ziva paused and took a deep breath, "I am sorry, Gibbs. There is no excuse for me leaving her stranded. I accept whatever punishment you feel is necessary." She finished as I realized she was slipping back into her tough ninja warrior mode. "Ziva, look at me." She fought to pull her eyes up off the floor but looked into mine after a few minutes. "Zi, do you know how I knew where Abby was?" She shook her head and I continued, "Some guy tried to pull her out of the bar after she refused his advances. She called McGee terrified and we went to get her. She wouldn't tell us anything about how she got there until I pried every detail I could out of the bartender. And he gave us a description of you." Ziva tried hard to fight back the tears but another small tear managed to escape and slid down her cheek. "Oh Gibbs, I am so sorry, I did not want her to get hurt! I must be the worst sister ever!"
"Shhh Ziva, it's ok, Abby is fine," I soothed as I pulled her into a hug and she finally let the tears fall. "You are doing a great job, Abby tests all of our patience levels, mine included. And I hope that next time you will call me instead of letting her talk you into getting in trouble." I felt her nod into my chest as she continued to cry. I rubbed her back for a few minutes and gave her some time to calm down.
She managed to stop crying, she took a deep breath, took a step back and looked up at me. "Gibbs...are you...I mean am I..."
I took a deep breath. When I found out that Ziva had left her at the bar I had fully intended to spank her. But after getting the full story I realized that I wasn't sure that I felt that she deserved to be spanked. She had obviously beaten herself up about leaving Abby. But I needed to know how she felt. "Zi, do you think you should be spanked?" I asked her.
I waited as I watched her mull things over in her head. "Gibbs...I..." She stood with her shoulders squared, hands behind her back, and head down, but I could see the uneasy look in her eyes. My Ziva might be able to keep her body under control but I could read her eyes.
"Ziva, do you feel as though you disobeyed the rules tonight?"
She nodded, "Yes, Gibbs"
"Ziva, do you agree that you could have handled tonight differently?"
She nodded again
"How?"
She thought for a moment than said, "I should have called you when Abby first decided to go out."
"Good Zi I'm glad you see that. Come here" I sat down on the chair I keep down in my basement for just this purpose. I took her arm and pulled her over my lap. I swatted her bottom 30 times. Hard enough to make her gasp but probably the lightest spanking she had ever gotten. I knew that she didn't need much to let go of the guilt and gave her just enough to release the last few tears she was holding onto. After I was finished I pulled her up and pulled her into a hug. "Ziva, please call me next time you know that Abby might be in danger. All is forgiven. Now I want you to go up to the guest room and get a few hours of sleep before work. I will wake you up when its time to get ready to leave."
"Yes Gibbs" she said as she yawned and headed up the stairs rubbing her eyes. I climbed them behind her and took a deep breath to go deal with my little troublemaker.
I knew Abby would be asleep but I was not prepared for how peaceful she looked. She had gotten my quilt out of the hall closet and curled up in a ball on the couch. I looked at my watch and seeing that it was approaching 3 in the morning I decided to wait until tomorrow to deal with my youngest. How much had we changed over the last 5 years? We had we gone from 5 people learning to work together as a team to a happy somewhat functioning family. I had two boys that looked up to me and I loved as much as any sons I could have imagined and two girls who were showing me a daughter's love. They all looked up to me as a father figure as three of them had less than ideal fathers and the fourth not a father at all. As much as they wore me out I loved them all, each in his or her own way. I covered Abby up and placed a kiss on her forehead as I headed upstairs to bed. I paused and peeked in the guest room and smiled as I saw Ziva already sound asleep.
Abby's point of view
I woke up and rolled over and plopped right onto the floor. I tried to figure out where I was. I tried to recall the details of the night before but it was all pretty fuzzy. I slid my phone out of my pocket and saw that it was after 9 in the morning. "Oh! Gibbs is going to kill me" I said to myself. Jumping to my feet and realizing that I was not in my apartment, I spun around and saw Gibbs leaning against the doorway to the kitchen with his arms crossed in front of him.
"Yea Abbs, I sure thought about it." He said, and I could tell I was in very big trouble.
"Gibbs...I...I can explain!"
"Ok." He said, and waited for me to continue.
"Wait, aren't we late for work?" I asked, as I pulled out my phone to double check the time.
"Yep, and we have another two hours to finish this discussion. So by all means, please continue with your explanation."
I could tell he was beyond pissed by his tone of voice on top of the Gibbs stare I was receiving. I took a deep breath and tried to find a good place to start. "Kelsey was my best friend in college. She called me yesterday and said she was in town for a meeting and wanted to go grab a drink. I knew we weren't supposed to go out alone and so I called Ziva to go with me. She didn't want to go. She tried to talk me out of it. I was...I wasn't...I ..."
"Abby!" Gibbs snapped at me, boy he didn't like to be kept waiting.
"I was mean to Ziva, Gibbs, I was so mean to her! She is never going to speak to me again!" I sat down on the couch and pulled my knees up to my chest. I buried my face in my knees and began to cry. "I feel so bad for how I treated her. I didn't think about how the words were coming out. I was just mad at her. She threatened to call you and tattle on me, Gibbs! Do you think she will ever forgive me?"
"You will have to ask her for forgiveness, Abbs. She was pretty hurt last night. And you getting her into trouble probably didn't help matters any."
I felt my jaw drop as I realized that I had gotten Ziva in trouble last night and then remembered Gibbs going to pick her up before we came to Gibbs' house. "Oh Gibbs! Did you...? Did she get...? Oh I feel terrible! She shouldn't have gotten a spanking, it was all my fault. I forced her to come with me! Is she here?"
"No I took her to work an hour ago. And let the director know that you and I would be there by 11."
"Gibbs, I'm sorry. When that guy tried to force me to go with him I panicked and realized I needed Ziva and she wasn't there. I was so thankful that the bartender made that guy leave. He was really scary, Gibbs. I felt so bad as soon as I realized that Ziva was gone. I was so relieved when McGee showed up. And you...even though I knew I would get in trouble." I buried my head in my knees and held my breath when I felt Gibbs sit down next to me.
"Abby, you do realize that if you would have just asked me I would have let you see Kelsey and we wouldn't be in this mess."
"Yes I know." I whispered. "I am sorry, Gibbs, I wasn't thinking."
"No you weren't, Abbs. How can I protect you when you lie to me?" He said, as he pulled me across his lap. His hand swatted my bottom as I sucked in my breath. I was in tears before he got to twenty. As he passed fifty I wasnt even kicking and fighting any more, just sobbing across his lap. "I'm sorry! Gibbs! I'm sorry! I will be nice to Ziva, I promise!" He stopped and rubbed my back for a few minutes.
"Abbs, why are you being spanked?" He asked, as he continued to rub my back.
"Because... I was...I uh...I was mean to Ziva." I managed to get out between sobs.
"And...?" He asked pointedly
"Because I saw Kelsey...? I said not sure what answer he was looking for.
"Abigail!" He said as he flipped me over and sat me on his lap. "You went out to a club on a Thursday night and got completely wasted. You almost managed to get yourself kidnapped and who knows what else! You could have been seriously hurt, Abbs!"
I looked down to the floor realizing I had missed that important detail. "I'm sorry" I whispered, as the tears began to fall. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let myself cry as he rubbed my back. "It's hard to remember that I have people that care now. I'm sorry, Gibbs"
"Shh... Abbs it's ok, but you need to be spanked for breaking my rules about going out and drinking on a weeknight."
"Gibbs! My bottom hurts already! Please don't spank me more!"
"Abby!" He scolded, as I threw my arms around his neck and my tears began again. "Abby...look at me." He said, as he waited for me to stop crying enough to look at him. "Abbs..." He continued, as I looked up into his eyes. "Do you feel like I am being unfair? If you can honestly look me in the eyes and tell me that you do not deserve this punishment than I will stop. But if you trust me than you need to finish your spanking and then all will be forgiven. Abby, I care about you and only want what's best for you. But you have to be honest with me for me to be able to protect you and keep you safe."
I took a deep breath. This was my chance to get out of this spanking. But that meant lying to Gibbs. Which would earn me another spanking in itself. I knew I deserved this spanking and I felt terrible about the past 12 hours. I sighed and lifted my chin. "No, Gibbs, as much as I hate being spanked I earned this one fair and square." I began to loose the few ounces of braveness it took for me to admit that and curled back up into a ball against his chest. "Knowing I deserve it doesn't make it any less scary." I whispered into his chest.
He rubbed my back and leaned down to whisper in my ear, "You make me so proud to be like a father to you, Abigail, hearing you admit that and knowing how much courage that took for you. I'm proud of you, Abbs. You ready to get this over with?"
I nodded as I got up and placed myself back across his lap. I felt him lean over and pick something up from the drawer of the end table. I gasped as I felt the hairbrush fall against my bottom. I was crying by the time the fifth swat landed on my upturned bottom. After the eighth swat I tried to reach back and protect my flaming bottom. "Abby," Gibbs said gently as he took my wrist and pulled my arm into the small of my back, completely pinning me in place. "You have 7 more ok, sweetheart. We are almost done." I took a deep breath and nodded, not even sure if he could see me or not. He finished the last swats quickly and swooped me up into his arms. "I am proud of you, Abbs." He whispered once more as he rubbed my back and waited for my tears to subside. After a while he stood me up in front of him. "Abby, please don't make me spank you again. I hate doing that, but I will spank you every single time you need it. You understand that right?" I nodded. "Good" he said and kissed my forehead as he stood up. "Go hop in the shower we will be leaving in 30 minutes. Your overnight bag is in the hall bathroom." I sighed as I walked away. It was going to be a long ride to the Navy Yard. I hope that Ziva would accept an invitation to lunch.