Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.

Chapter 11

Taylor didn't spend anywhere near a whole hour administering first aid to the strap. There were way too many distractions in the form of unexplored cupboards and boxes, to concentrate on her given task. Although Taylor made sure she was oiling the strap when her dad reappeared an hour later, she had also acquired a pocket full of bits and bobs that might come in useful in the future. Nothing important or valuable that would be missed, but silly little things like a thick piece of elastic which could be fashioned into a makeshift catapult if she tied it to her thumb and a finger and a realistic looking worm from her dad's tackle box.

When her dad showed up, Taylor waited patiently for him to check the condition of the strap. He seemed happy enough, but instead of letting her go he handed her a hammer and nail.

"What's this for?" She was eager to go track down Jared and Jason and wasn't overly keen on being roped into another boring task.

He pointed to a wooden support to the right of the workbench. "There will do nicely."

Still not sure why, Taylor hammered the nail in until her dad told her to stop, then turned to see what he was doing. He had punched a hole into one end of the strip of leather.

"Perfect. You can hang it up."

Taylor was not impressed but did as she was told. "Why?" He was looking way too smug for her liking.

"Three reasons. One, I'll notice if you try to get rid of it again, two, it'll remind me to keep a closer eye on you, and three, it will hopefully inspire you to behave." Ignoring her scowl Jethro nodded towards the stairs. "You can go now, Jared's waiting in the yard."

Making sure she didn't voice her opinion about the new 'decoration' Taylor gave him one last glare before escaping from her makeshift dungeon.

o

As she made her way through the house Taylor was surprised to find Vicky at the kitchen table. Still annoyed at being left out of her cousin's plans, she marched right over to her. "How come you can still sit down?"

"I've been given a temporary reprieve, until tonight." Vicky admitted.

Taylor folded her arms. "So are you gonna let me see it? Or are you gonna keep that a secret too?"

Standing up, Vicky lifted her t-shirt. "What do you think?"

"Did it hurt?" Taylor took a closer look. The skin around the tattoo was a little bit red, but other than that it didn't look painful."

"Just a bit. Getting my ears pierced was worse."

Jealously building up fast, Taylor had to tear her eyes away from the tattoo. "Where'd you get it?"

Dropping the t-shirt, Vicky shook her head. "I'm not allowed to tell you, and I'm in enough trouble as it is."
"When did you start worrying about getting into trouble? Your ass is toast anyway, so what difference does it make if you tell me?"

Vicky opened her mouth to answer, but it wasn't her cousin's voice Taylor heard.

"It makes a lot of difference."

Taylor spun round to face her father and said the first thing that came into her head. "I was just testing her, ya know, to see if she'd tell."

"The only thing you're testing today Taylor is my patience!" He warned.

Vicky made a quick exit out the back door, at the same time Taylor found herself deposited on the counter top. Avoiding eye contact with her dad was impossible as he leant in close, a hand on each side of her, effectively trapping her in place.

"I don't know how to make this any clearer Taylor, so listen up. You are only twelve years old and you are NOT getting a tattoo." He didn't shout, instead keeping his voice low and menacing. "Even if you manage to get the information out of Vicky it's not going to make any difference. First thing tomorrow I'll be paying him a visit, and I'll be making sure that if you show up looking for a tattoo the first thing he's gonna do is call me. Believe me Taylor you do not want that to happen. Do you understand?"

She sighed. "Yeah." Taylor understood alright. Any hopes she had of getting a tattoo had just been shot down. Didn't mean she had to like it. "Can I go now?"

Jethro straightened up and moved back a bit, leaving Taylor enough room to slide off the counter top and drop to the floor. At least this time it looked as if she had accepted what he'd said. The disappointment was clear in both her expression and body language.

Instead of heading outside to join the others, Taylor made a beeline for her bedroom. As far as she was concerned they could stick their barbecue. Slamming the door behind her, Taylor grabbed her PSP and threw herself down on the bed. Being twelve sucked, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

o

When Vicky showed up about an hour later to let her know Jared and Jason were wondering where she was, Taylor tried to ignore her, but the girl just wouldn't take the hint. Just about to tell her cousin to fuck off, Taylor stopped herself when Vicky mentioned Tony's girlfriend.

"Cathy's been telling everyone how Tony had to rescue the three of you from the graveyard. She thinks it's hysterical."

Now Taylor had something else to be pissed off about. Only this time she could actually do something about it. Leaving Vicky mid story, Taylor crossed the landing into her mom and dad's room. It had a perfect view of the back yard. Everyone was there. Abby and Tim, Ziva, Ducky, Jason, Jared with his mom, dad and sister, and right at the back of the yard, on one of their folding tables were Tony and Cathy. She watched them all for a few minutes, trying to come up with some sort of a plan. It didn't take long. Now she had someone to vent her frustration out on she felt much better.

It didn't take long for Jared and Jason to meet her out front once they each received a text message.

"What's going on?" Typical Jason. Always suspicious.

"I just need you two to provide a little distraction." Taylor grinned at them. "Got a little prank lined up for Cathy."

"Is that the woman with Tony? The one who won't shut up about the cemetery?" Jared kicked at the ground with his foot, normally laid back, he'd been embarrassed by her story telling."

Taylor nodded. "That's the one."

"What are we gonna do?" Jason didn't like her much either, so he was in.

"Nothin' bad. Just give her a little scare of her own." She held up the rubber worm. "Want to put this in her burger. Tony's waiting for it coming off the grill right now."

Both boys grinned.

"If you two provide a distraction up near the house I can come up behind them over the fence. Just don't stop until you see I'm back out of the yard again. Easy! Besides even if I do get caught, it's only a rubber worm not a real one."

Jared took the worm from her, examining it closely. It did look like the real thing. "Got a better idea." He put the worm in his mouth and bit it in half, before passing it back to Taylor. "Finding half a worm in your food is way worse than finding a whole one."

Now why the hell hadn't she thought of that? Taylor hoped she wasn't losing her touch. "Anyone ever tell you you're a genius Jared?"

Five minutes later, Taylor was watching Cathy through a gap in the fence. It was perfect. The woman was working her way through a burger, and every now and again she would set it down on the table behind her while she talked to Tony. When almost half of the burger was gone Taylor waited for her to set it down again before texting Jason. He would feel it vibrate in his pocket.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR YOU IDIOT?" Jason yelled as he pushed Jared in the chest forcing him to take a few steps back.

"I'M THE IDIOT? WHY DON'T YOU WATCH ….."

All eyes were on the two boys as Taylor moved like lightening over the fence. Trying not to be distracted herself by how well her accomplices were doing, she slipped the worm into the bun, leaving a little hanging out of the eaten side of the burger, then just as quickly she retreated back over the fence.

When Taylor emerged from the kitchen a few moments later the argument was over and both were being warned by Vance to behave themselves and shake hands. They did, and the show was over, for now. Choosing a spot on the grass, well away from Tony, but with a clear view of Cathy, the three sat down and waited.

Even Taylor jumped when Cathy's piercing scream filled the yard. Tony being so close almost had a heart attack, jumping to his feet and automatically reaching for his gun, which of course wasn't there. Ziva and Tim had done the same.

Patricia reached Cathy first, who was by now close to tears as she pointed to the burger that now lay in pieces on the ground. "There's something in it!"

Unable to resist, Taylor quickly moved in and reached for the worm, holding it up in front of Cathy's face. "It's a worm. No! It's not. It's only half a worm!" She looked at the woman accusingly. "You ate a worm? What'd it ever do to you?" She did not get the opportunity to say anything further. Cathy did something Taylor had not even considered. She threw up.

That was not good. Still holding the evidence, Taylor backed away as Ducky and her mom took charge, ushering the distraught Cathy into the house.

"Get rid of it Taylor, if they want to see it they'll figure out it's rubber." Jason whispered from just behind her.

He was right. Taylor made sure no one was looking before tossing it over the fence.

The three of them slunk back to where they had been sitting and listened to what everyone had to say on the matter. Most were speculating on how something like that could have happened, Abby coming up with some completely crazy ideas. Unfortunately the general consensus seemed to be that it was impossible and someone had to have put it there.

Tony was the first, but by no means the last to turn in their direction. Taylor ignored them and tried to start up a conversation with Jason, but the yard fell silent as her dad, Tony and Leon stalked towards them.

"Stand up!" Jethro ordered.

All three quickly scrambled to their feet.

"What ya pickin' on us for?" Taylor asked nervously. It was hard enough to hide anything from her dad, never mind adding another two agents to the mix.

It was Tony who answered. "Take a look around Taylor, do you see any other suspects here?"

She put her hands on her hips, ready for an argument. "Yeah ….. YOU!"

Tony let out a growl as he reached out to grab her, but her dad beat him to it. Grabbing Taylor by the arm to hold her still he swatted her backside. "That's enough Taylor!" He stepped back so he could see all three. "Alright. Who did it?"

Jethro knew exactly what his daughter was about to say, and held his finger up in front of her. "Don't you dare pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. I know it had to be at least one of you."

That seemed to take the wind out of her sails, for all of about two seconds. For some unknown reason Taylor seemed to be angrier with him, than he was with her. He really hoped she was counting to ten.

It was time to become more direct before she did or said something she'd regret. "I'm only going to ask you this once Taylor. Was that one of your pranks?"

Taylor really, really wanted to lie, but her dad would know, he always did, and it was not worth the risk of him spanking her right here in front of everyone.

Staring at her sneakers, Taylor sighed before answering. "Yeah."

"What about you two?" Vance asked the boys. "Let me guess, you staged your argument earlier?"

Taylor kept a wary eye on Tony as Jared and Jason admitted their involvement. He didn't seem interested in the fact that she was not the only one involved in making his girlfriend throw up. Right now his attention was focused on her and her alone. It was probably a good thing he didn't have his gun she thought. Taylor shifted uncomfortably, not noticing her partners in crime were already heading into the house to apologise.

"What're you waiting for?"

Taylor's head snapped round when her dad spoke. "Huh?"

He pointed towards the back door. "Inside."

Relieved by the opportunity to put some distance between herself and her godfather, Taylor raced after her friends.