Idealism

"The old hag informed them that she was Leona Vance, and before they could ask for more detail, she announced supper. The children were ravenous, and as if by magic knowledge, Leona had prepared pizza and Caf Pow, which they both loved. They thanked her, displaying the good manners taught to them by their father, as they filled their tummies. As they ate, Leona Vance watched them covertly. The children were right to be suspicious- Leona was, in reality, Leon Vance, a horrible warlock who loved nothing better than to destroy families because of their team dynamic. These two children had fallen into his hands, and he did not want to lose the opportunity to capture them, hold them prisoner, fatten them, and gobble them up when winter settled heavily over the forest."

Gibbs took a deep breath before he resumed. "The criminal made his way to the oven and reached into its depths. Turning around and looking embarrassed, he claimed to have knocked the rest of the pizza onto the bottom of the oven, and asked Abigail to come reach it with her long, slender fingers. The stove was off, but the residual heat kept the pizza warm. She jumped up to do as he bid, and Anthony followed. As soon as Abigail leaned into the warm oven the warlock pushed her in, and wheeled to grab Anthony and shove him beside his sister. Anthony, however, had been taught by his father to always carry a knife. He realized that their lives were in jeopardy, and as the sorcerer made his move, Anthony snatched his sister back with one hand, then held up the knife and ordered Leona to get inside the oven! With a knife threatening him, the evil one realized he had been outwitted by the Team Gibbs kids. He began to cry and beg loudly for mercy, and the children consulted with each other. After a brief discussion, they decided that they would grant a bit of clemency. Quickly they trussed him, and tied him to a board that they made into a pallet. Then they attached ropes to the pallet so that they could pull the criminal behind them, grabbed torches that they lit for illumination, and ordered him to direct the way out of the forest, which he did, though not without a few promptings from Anthony's knife."

Abby couldn't restrain herself then. She had been wiggling excitedly as the ending progressed, and she started clapping enthusiastically, pleased that the children triumphed.

Jack admonished her, "Abby, wait now and let him finish the story." She stopped and rearranged herself against Tony once more, and Tony changed position as well. Gibbs waited for them to get settled again before he concluded the tale.

"A few hours after they left the cottage they spilled out of the forest into the very village which bordered their home. As luck would have it, their daddy, who had waited until daylight to set out, had decided to go to the village first to seek volunteers to help in the search. He and the group of men had just really entered the forest when his missing children ran into them, exiting the woods. What a reunion that was! They children and father were so happy to be reunited that they almost forgot the wicked stepmother. She had gone with Jethro to the village, and her fury reached an incredible level when she saw the children reappear. As soon as the kids saw her they began frantically blaming her for their being lost, and Gibbs stalked over to confront the woman. Before he could make it, though, a scene erupted between Leona, or Leon, who had been released from the board and was being marched to jail. From the screams the onlookers pieced together that Leon and Jen were actually married, but that Jenny had insisted she wanted to travel the world, and she had left him. Minutes later she was locked up beside her real husband, and they remained in prison for the rest of their lives."

Gibbs put down the ledger and started out of the room. "Boss, wait!" Tony scrambled to a sitting position and called urgently. "What happened to the dad and kids?"

Gibbs stopped in his tracks and turned around, giving them a beautiful smile. "What do you think happened? The dad got the marriage annulled, and he and his children lived happily ever after. Besides that, as word of the story spread to other villages, Jethro's dad heard and decided to travel to visit his son and meet his grandchildren, whom he had never seen. He joined them and lived with them from that day forward."

Gibbs winked conspiratorially at his father, and Jack nodded back. Tony spoke softly to Abby, and Gibbs couldn't hide the twinkles in his eyes. "No, Tony, he didn't punish the kids for not telling him the truth. He thought they had gotten more than enough of a reprimand for their omission with their terrifying ordeal."

Abby and Tony grinned at that, and then everyone stood, stretched, and made their way into the kitchen. Jethro glanced up at the clock and registered shock at the time. Turning to Tony and Abby he ordered, "You two, get to bed right now. I didn't realize how late it was."

Both automatically opened their mouths to protest, but he held up a hand warningly, "This is not debatable. Get to bed, now."

Grudgingly, they made their ways to the stairs, and Jack yawned, as well. "We need to turn in also, Son. I'm all tuckered out, and I know you need rest."

Gibbs reached out and pulled his father over to him, then hugged him gently.

When he stepped back, it was to see Tony and Abby stopped midway up the stairs. "Did I, or did I not tell you two to get your butts to bed?" His voice rose irritably.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, we are going, right now, we just…." Abby spoke soothingly.

"Just…" Tony continued, "we just wanted to ask Jack who won the story contest."

Gibbs turned to regard his father. "Thanks for reminding me. Well, Dad, I think we all want to know who won."

"Easy," the older man answered, trying to hide a smirk and beginning to climb the stairs himself. "I won, because I was the only one who didn't make up a story."

With that he passed Tony and Abby on the steps and continued his ascent.

The other three looked at each other in shock, absorbing the fact that Jack had not only duped them, but had given a ridiculous reason for duping them, and watched him stop on the landing to look back at them.

He smirked, raised his eyebrows, and concluded, "And all of you will live happily ever after for it."