Most of CJ's teachers were ok… two stood out… Mr. Richardson her sixth grade teacher taught 7th grade math and Ms. Stewart a new French teacher. They stood out for different reasons. CJ respected Mr. Richardson very much, she may have been in trouble on several occasions last year but as a teacher he was really cool. School was more fun and he was the first teacher that had made himself a person, someone you could relate to, talk to even. He was the one she turned herself into when she'd caused havoc on Halloween. Ms. Stewart was the exact opposite of Mr. Richardson. She was … a b****h; there was no other word for it. She was rude, disrespectful of the students but expected implicit and immediate cooperation. CJ had no time for her. This was probably what led to the incident that had her currently sitting in her bedroom waiting for her father to come home.

CJ wasn't known for sitting still or keeping her mouth shut. It was in her file, it had been what she'd been in trouble for almost every day of her life. She was reprimanded on a daily basis in Ms. Stewart's class even if it wasn't her fault. CJ complained about it to Steven, Abby, and her parents anyone who would listen. Steven was the only sympathetic ear. All the adults told her to keep her head down and do what she was told. The whole military just follow orders thing might work for all of them but not for CJ; she didn't work for the Navy. As the year wore on CJ's patience for being picked on was wearing very thin.

So this afternoon when she entered the class and was snapped at before she even got to her desk she didn't respond 100 % perfectly. She swore under her breath and slapped the top of her desk. Ms. Stewart walked over to CJ's desk and placed a detention slip on it with an annoying smirk. CJ counted to ten… someone had told her that counting helped to not do anything rash when angry… it had never worked but she attempted it at times like this when she was very angry and didn't have anything specific she wanted to do. She got to 10 and was still angry. She sat seething in her desk.

The class continued. CJ wasn't paying any attention. Ms. Stewart stopped blabbing at some point and handed out desk work. CJ didn't even make an effort to do the work. It was pointless anyway she didn't care about French. Sasha sat in the desk in front of CJ and often turned around to ask CJ about the work. This was not the right day to do that, but Sasha didn't know that. Turning repeatedly to verify the answers Sasha kept her voice low but still drew attention to the two girls. CJ hadn't opened her mouth even once nor had she moved. Sasha was truly the one to blame. But true to form Ms. Stewart blamed CJ.

"Miss DiNozzo… do you think you are so important that you don't have to follow the rules in this classroom?"

CJ stayed still and quiet. She was not going to get into more trouble for something she didn't do. She was going to keep herself under control.

"When I speak to you I expect you to answer, that would be one of the rules in this classroom you don't seem to want to follow"

Ms. Stewarts tone was condescending, rude and she was definitely power tripping. CJ resolve to keep her temper was gone by the time the teacher had finished the statment.

"You don't want me to answer. Because my answer isn't what you want to hear. My answer is that I wasn't talking in class, Sasha was. You've had it in for me the whole year and for no reason. I don't follow the rules in your class because you aren't worth the respect to bother following the rules."

By the end of the rant CJ was so angry she was screaming. Her fists were clenched and her face was red as her blood began to boil. Ms. Stewart was beyond angry by the time CJ was finally quiet. Rage sparked in her eyes. Ms. Steward didn't even speak; CJ wasn't sure she could have, when she pointed to the back of the class and pointed to the corner.

CJ was in 7th grade, she was 12 years old, she was not going to stand in the corner, and Ms. Stewart had another thing coming. But sitting working wasn't a good choice either, so sitting at the back of the class with her back to the bookshelves looking out towards the classroom and having some fun might be a good option. Ms. Stewart returned to her desk and sat slamming her books around as she started to work. The class was extraordinarily quiet. You could have heard a pin drop.

As CJ sat her anger only grew. If she was going to be in trouble… then she might as well have done something to make that worthwhile… she was pretty darn sure that Ms. Stewart would be strapping her before she left for her next class… she had before… CJ decided that if that was the case then she was going to make sure she actually deserved it…

She began to make faces at a now standing Ms. Stewart. The couple of boys at the back of the row saw her and began to laugh. They quickly turned back to the front of the room before Ms. Stewart saw them. CJ continued to rile the class quietly. Over the next 20 minutes CJ had the entire class laughing in hysterics; Ms. Stewart had lost complete control of the class and herself. CJ had accomplished her goal of actually doing something to be in trouble and felt really good about it. It was the first time she'd had fun in French class all year and she felt she had paid Ms. Stewart back for her tormenting. With 10 minutes left in the class Ms. Stewart top finally blew. Shouting at the top of her lungs she demanded that CJ leave the classroom and wait in the hallway. An overconfident grin spread across CJ's face as she strode arrogantly out of the class and slammed the door behind her.

CJ leaned against the wall waiting for Ms. Stewart to come and talk to her. CJ was acting more than a little cocky. The bell rang to signal the end of class, the hallway filled with students travelling to their next class. Many of the students from CJ's class gave her a high five as they passed by. CJ was not the only one who couldn't stand Ms. Stewart. Her actions were seen as a coup by the other students.

Ms. Stewart's next class was all seated in their desks before she entered the hallway carrying her pointer. CJ was still cockily leaning against the wall with one leg bent with foot on the wall. Ms. Stewart grabbed CJ's collar with both hands and shook her, brought her face inches from CJ's and began yelling. CJ's foot slid down the wall to support her from falling. Her cockiness turned to utter surprise but not fear. There was little point in actually listening to the rant so CJ just stayed quiet and still. When Ms. Stewart finally stopped, CJ smirked and asked in her most condescending tone "Are you quite through I need to get to Mr. Graham science class."

The teacher was almost trembling when she instructed CJ to hold out her hand. CJ held out her hand, her smile never leaving her face. Ms. Stewart brought the pointer down hard across CJ's palm four times quickly. It stung but the picture of the hysterical teacher in a class of laughing students kept the stupid grin on CJ's face through the entire punishment.

CJ grabbed her belongings and headed towards Mr. Grahams newly renovated science lab. Many of her classmates cheered as she entered. Mr. Graham seemed confused by quickly got the class back under control.

The rest of the afternoon went by without incident that was until CJ was packing up her backpack at her locker. As she was about to slam it shut and look for Steven to walk home with her someone grabbed her shoulder. Startled she reflexively grabbed the hand and tried to flip the offender as her mother had taught her to do for self defense.

"CJ, it's me" Gibbs growled as he grabbed her arm as well as maintaining his grip on her shoulder. Once again he was proud of her actions. Ziva had been smart to teach her daughter how to defend herself and she'd learned it well. "Oh. Hi Uncle Gibbs"

"What are you doing here? Did mom and dad get called out of town again?" Seeing her Uncle at the school was not unheard of and didn't set off any alarm bells.

"Nope. Let's go" Gibbs stated as he turned and walked towards the exit that led to the parking lot.

"Gibbs, I need to tell Steven I'm going with you, I told him we were going to walk home together" she called after him.

"Don't bother he can come with us, we're going to your place" he answered without turning back.

CJ ran off to find Steven and together they made it to the parking lot to find Gibbs already behind the wheel of the car. The two kids were laughing easily. CJ didn't have any of her usual guards in place when she entered the vehicle.

They had only been in the car for a couple of blocks when Gibbs asked "So anything exciting happen today?" Laughing Steven began "Oh yes… Gibbs you shoulda seen CJ… she was great… Ms. Stewart was being totally vicious and CJ put her in her place. It was 'Sweeeet'." Steven obviously didn't see the nasty glare CJ shot him. "CJ got strapped for it but she said it didn't hurt and … " CJ finally silenced him with an elbow to the ribs.

"Oww, CJ that hurt, what did you do that for?" Steven whined but quickly shut up when he saw the mutinous stare CJ was giving him. It wasn't until this very moment that he realized what he had just done. His story was getting CJ into more trouble. He mouthed "I'm sorry" and winced to show he felt bad.

Gibbs smiled … that was way too easy… CJ apparently hadn't warned Steven that he needed to keep her little escapades to himself… CJ didn't realize until that question had been asked that her 'tantrum' had been reported to the 'home' authorities. It never occurred to her that Ms. Stewart would report the episode. Obviously she was wrong. There had been a few other occasions that CJ had been punished and Ms. Stewart hadn't reported them.

Steven was dropped off first and whispered to CJ as he slid out of the car "Sorry ceejj"

They arrived in the driveway of CJ's home and before Gibbs got out of the car CJ grabbed her bag and headed as quickly as she could to the door. She used the keypad to access the house and made it to her room as fast as she could. CJ dropped her bag and threw herself into her desk chair. Spinning the chair around helped her to calm down and start to think. Think, think, think…. How could you get yourself out of such a situation? Assessing the situation CJ realized that the biggest problem was Steven's 'testimony'… maybe if she explained that the kids over exaggerated because that's what kids do … would that be enough to bring this back into manageable territory.

During her spinning moments she had missed the fact that Gibbs had entered the house and come up the stairs. So she jumped when the door to her bedroom swung open. He stood in the doorway with his arms crossed staring at the not so smug girl in front of him. He could wait, he was only there on a fact finding mission. Tony had asked if he could pick her up and find out exactly what happened.

When Ms. Stewart had called to complain about this afternoon's incident she had been beyond angry and her explanation was somewhat sketchy. Tony wanted to know if it was because she had been sent over the edge by his daughter or if she may have been embellishing exactly what happened.

"Are you here as interrogator, executioner or both?" CJ decided to break the tension with a question. Gibbs allowed a smile to break but only slightly. "I'm just here to talk… you got anything to say"

"Not really" she said hesitantly. Gibbs pursed his lips and shook his head. It was worth a try she thought.

"What do you want me to say?" CJ asked carefully.

Sitting on the edge of the bed he leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and rubbed his hands across his chin. "I want you to tell me exactly what happened today in French class, from the moment you walked into Ms. Stewart's class, until the moment you walked into your next class."

CJ inhaled and cautiously started to explain… "I got into class and before I even sat down or had a chance to do anything wrong… "she looked to Gibbs to see if he was on her side " … she snapped at me… I slammed my desk and sat down… Ms. Stewart strode over and put a detention slip on my desk… she had this look … on her face… I was so mad… and I tried to count to 10 … I don't know why people think that works because it NEVER does." CJ stopped retelling the story out loud and slipped into recalling what happened in her head. When she got to the part where the entire class was laughing she laughed.

Gibbs sat still and quiet waiting for CJ to continue. When she laughed he cleared his throat menacingly.

CJ was brought back to reality quickly and got back to her explanation. She was truthful in her recollection but didn't give specific details about what she said.

As she finished the "Un uh" from Gibbs came as expected.

Without saying anything else he stood up and made for the door.

CJ didn't like not knowing what was going on or what to expect and this afternoon wasn't going as she had anticipated… just before he had completely exited her room, she spun her chair to face the door and stated "I'm confused… why are you here?"

"I am here to figure out what happened today… that's all… I'll talk to DiNozzo and he'll take it from here."

"Aaaahhh" CJ screwed up her face and nodded … so this wasn't over ….

Once Gibbs left the room she listened for his movement down on the main floor. He puttered around a bit and then sat down at the kitchen table, sounded like he was reading the news paper she could hear it crinkling. As soon as she thought he was settled she crossed the room, closed her door and threw herself down on her bed. Her parents were really big on respect and doing as you're told…. And today's little occurrence would put her in the not doing as you're told category…. And also definitely in the disrespectful category.

CJ weighed her options… one… stay here and do nothing waiting for her father to get home… two.. sneak down the stairs and see if she could make it out the front door ….or three… go down and plead her case with Uncle Gibbs and see if she can bring him to her side ….. none of those seemed like GOOD ideas. But waiting changed nothing, running would cause more problems …. That left talking to Gibbs. CJ got up, took a deep breath, she slowly and carefully approached the top of the stairs. Before her foot even touched the top stair Gibbs called up "Don't bother… I'm not going to talk DiNozzo out of tanning your hide" How the HELL does he do that…. she barely knew what she was trying to do.

So this is how she ended up sitting on her bed waiting for her father to get home.