Thank you again guys for the reviews and for favoriting Nathan James! If you ever have any ideas I'm more than happy to hear them, if nothing else they'll kickstart my imagination. A special thanks to busygirl for the PM last night, it really made my day!

King just stared at Nate while the boy kept his head down stubbornly, refusing to meet his mentor's eyes. Finally, tired of the silence that had been the tune for the past twenty minutes, Nate said the first thing that came to his mind:

"You told me not go quiet on them, but I did talk to them. You also told me I was grounded until you had a chance to talk with me. We talked and I was free to leave so technically I didn't do anything wrong. Besides, I had my phone on me at all times and never shut it off, you could easily have tracked it if you wanted to." The moment the words were out of his mouth Nate cursed himself for it, knowing exactly what his mentor's reaction would be.

"Strike one." Kings voice what soft yet stern and Nate looked surprised at the man for a few seconds before looking back down. The soft tone wasn't one he had counted on, not after all the trouble he had landed himself in.

"You already heard everything."

"Yeah, doesn't mean I won't have you tell me though."

"King…"

"Nathan."

"Where do you want me to start?" Nate asked defeated, knowing he didn't have much of a choice, not when King used that tone with him.

"Why did you run after our talk?"

"I guessed you had talked to Dad and knew that if that was the case you would want to have a longer talk and I just couldn't bring myself to talk with you right then. Knowing you, you would have had the whole story from me in less than two minutes and you would have been even more disappointed in me."

"Is that what you feared?! My disappointment?!"

"Yes sir." Nate answered quietly glancing up at his mentor.

"I still don't think I understand Nate, I was disappointed before our longer talk was going to happen."

"I didn't know if you knew I'd broken my promise then."

"I did. If you would have stayed son, we would have had this cleared up in a matter of hours. And I hate to tell you son, but I am far more disappointed in you actions now than I was then."

"I'm sorry."

"Why don't you tell me why you only avoided me? Why not your parents as well?!"

"I avoided Mom and Dad as well." Nate protested.

"Strike two. You know exactly what I'm asking Nathan."

"Dad is great at reading me, but there was no way I could hide any guilt from you and I know you wouldn't have approved of how much I was beating myself up." Nate admitted, having totally forgotten that he already had told Gibbs part of the answer.

"Good boy." Pride praised, momentarily cupping his son's neck with a warm hand, knowing the kid just like his brother, needed the reassurance at times.

"It wasn't easy ignoring your calls, not after how much you've done for me during the years."

"But in doing so, you only increased you guilt." It wasn't a question and Nate knew it, so he just slightly grimaced at how easy the older man could read him.

"What really happened with Donnie?"

"I went up to his room and when I came there it seemed empty so I out of curiosity checked his desk for the schoolwork he told us he was working on. Seeing it flared my temper! so when Donnie came out from behind the door I told him I was there to help him pack his bags. Donnie started panicking, but I didn't see it as panicking so when he asked me where I told him his guess was as good as mine. He must have fallen somehow because the next thing I knew he was sobbing on the floor and I didn't know what to do. It wasn't how I anticipated it going."

"You know it was wrong and you also know why so I don't think I need to tell you all of that."

"Yes sir."

"You broke your promise to me Nathan."

"I know, sir. I'm sorry." Nate turned down his gaze once more, not being able to stand the disappointment in King's eyes.

"I know it hurts to hear Nathan, but you broke my trust. That means that until that trust is repaired, you can consider yourself grounded."

"Yes sir."

"It will start here, but I believe your parents want a word with you as well. You really worried us son." King said, his tone softening.

"I know and I'm sorry, I never meant to worry you."

"We know. Now before we move on is there anything else you need to get off your chest?" King had gripped his chin, forcing eye contact which made it impossible for Nate to lie to him. Didn't mean he couldn't try.

"No sir."

"Strike three." As soon as the words registered with his brain Nate got up from the kitchen chair and started backing away with his hands in the air.

"I'm sorry okay, strike three isn't necessary, it's just not something I want to talk about."

"You know how this works kiddo, it hasn't been that long since we did this. I reached thee for a reason and we both know why."

"You can't!" Nate argued desperately.

"I can and I will. You know that, son."

"Come on King, it's been at least 7 months. Besides, I'm too old."

"You weren't too old to reach three just a moment ago so that argument won't work with me. You have five seconds Nate before I forget that this is a warning and spank you far longer and harder." Nate watched the older man torn. How far was he comfortable with pushing him?! "One…two…three…"

"Okay. I'm coming." Slowly but steadily Nate made his way over to stand next to his mentor who just gave him a disappointed look before quickly draping him over his knees. The first SWAT was hard, and Nate hissed at the pain but kept quiet until a sudden sharp SWAT to his upper thigh got his attention quite effectively and caused him to let out a small yelp. After that though he once more willed himself to be quiet and King let out a small sigh before all of the sudden reaching down and unbuttoning Nate's jeans before pulling them down.

"No! King please!" Nate tried hard to keep the tears away, but just a few SWATs later he gave up and let the tears fall freely. King, knowing he had gotten his point across, gave Nate five more firm SWATs to his sit spots before righting his clothes and helping him up into a strong hug.

"Schhh, take it easy kiddo. Take deep breaths." Once Nate felt calm enough he just stood there enjoying the hug, knowing that King would be the one to determine when the hug was over. He had tried several times to push out of a hug before being completely calm and up until this day he hadn't succeeded, so he figured that it wasn't worth the fight, at least not right now. It took several more minutes before King let go of him, but not before pausing momentarily to take a good look at him. "Sit." Nate did so gingerly. "Now, what was that about, buddy?"

"It's just not something I want to talk about."

"I know. But if it makes it easier I already know what you are keeping from me." In that moment it struck Nate that King had listened to more than the end of the conversation.

"How much did you really hear?"

"Enough."

"I hate the fact that you guys have to resort to treat me like a five-year old. And no, it's not about you guys actually treating me like I'm five, it's more the fact that I should know better so I'm mad at myself for pushing you guys as far as I have. And of all the moments I had to do something this childish it had to be the one-time Donnie needed you more. I feel like a jerk."

"I hope you aren't trying to say what I think you are, kid." King's voice was stern, but Nate chose to ignore it, not finished with his explanation.

"You had enough King, so had Mom and Dad, and then selfish me had to go in and make this about me! To make it worse I'm taking you away from your family right now. Gibbs and Tony aren't here forever and with Donnie staying at your place for a week, and I'm not saying that was wrong, not at all, in fact he needed it. But Tony needs his Uncle and all I'm doing is taking you away from the kid. He deserves a chance to spend some time with you."

"Nathan James Williams Pride." The tone of voice effectively cut of Nate who stilled immediately. "If I hadn't busted your butt less than five minutes ago you'd be over my knee right now for even thinking what you just said. Blaming yourself isn't the answer. Yes, Donnie needed us, but so did you and I'll never choose one of you over the other. As for Tony, he is my nephew and I love him more than I can voice, but you are my son Nathan, so get that through your thick skull once and for all. It's not for no reason I put Pride after your name, son."

"You know I don't completely hate the sound of Pride on the end." Nate half joked.

"If you ever want to make that official kid, I know more than a few people who could do it. But that's up to you kid, and your parents."

"Really?! Are you sure? I mean it's nice and all, but you already have Laurel…"

"And just like she is my daughter you are my son."

"You truly don't mind?" Nate asked uncertainly.

"No son, as long as that is what YOU want. But take a moment and check with your parents first. As for now… you are young, son, you are going to make mistakes and we both know it. The fact is though that I warned you."

"I know."

"I realize that you aren't on vacation forever buddy so as long as you can prove to us that we can trust your word, you'll have your freedom back before you leave again. For now, though you'll spend the night here with me and needless to say you'll get a spanking at bedtime for what happened that night with Donnie. And once tonight is done and dealt with I don't want to hear about you blaming yourself anymore, do I make myself clear, son?!" Pride hadn't planned on spanking Nate from the beginning, but the actions from the past week told him that it was the only thing that would get through to his stubborn son. Besides, grounding Nate for his entire leave wouldn't have been fair.

"Yes sir."

"Good boy." King praised, ruffling Nate's hair affectionally. "Now how about you help me make some lunch for us and I'll call Chris, so he can join us. It's been too long since it was just the three of us spending some time together. And don't worry buddy, he's under strict orders to let me handle the past week."