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Chapter 13 - A Rebel's Remorse

"Look Tony!" yelled Ziva from across the street. "Look what I got!"

Tony had just emerged from the woods and was now making his way down the track to the road. Looking up when he heard Ziva call, he smiled at what he saw. Wobbling furiously while trying to pedal, Ziva was slowly making her way up the pavement on a small red bike. Not far behind her was his Dad with a hand held out ready to grab the bike should it look as if it was going to tip over.

Dismounting, Tony carefully crossed the road and waited for Ziva to make her return trip.

"Did you see me?" asked Ziva excitedly. "Daddy and I went to the second hand store and we found this bike. It only cost $15 and I can nearly ride it!"

"Way to go Shrimp!" praised Tony affectionately.

"And Daddy bought me this red helmet so I'd be safe," she said, tapping her head with her knuckles.

"Looks good," said Tony.

"So we could maybe go for a ride tomorrow?" asked Ziva hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe," replied Tony. He had been hoping to spend some time with Rory tomorrow to try and smooth things over. "But you've got to be able to ride properly though. The track is pretty rough in some places."

Encouraged by the thought of riding along the bike track with Tony, Ziva carefully sat on the seat and set off again while Tony made his way inside.

"Let me go on my own Daddy," she called, just as Gibbs was about to follow her.

Stopping suddenly, Gibbs looked on as his daughter made her way towards the corner. She was going quite well and had managed about fifteen yards before the wobbles set in. Quickening his step to try and reach her, he was almost there when she toppled over, falling heavily on her elbow.

"Ouch," he heard her hiss and watched as she grabbed her arm and cradled it for a few seconds, before standing up and mounting her bike again.

"You OK sweet pea?" Gibbs asked as he reached her side.

"Yep," she answered. "It's only a little bump. I'm OK Daddy. I've gotta learn how to do this so I can ride with Tony tomorrow."

He watched with admiration as she tried over and over again to make it from one corner to the next. Each time she fell, she would pick herself up and start again.

With Ziva no longer wanting his assistance, Gibbs decided to go inside and see how Tony was getting along. Finding the boy sitting on the sofa in front of the TV and currently flicking through the many channels he now had available, Gibbs took a seat next to him.

"Did you have a good ride?" he asked, staring at the flickering pictures as Tony surfed the channels.

"Yeah," replied Tony. "Wasn't as much fun by myself though."

"Well, tomorrow you may have Ziva with you," said Gibbs.

"That's not what I meant," retorted Tony.

"Yeah, I knew what you meant," said Gibbs. "I just don't want you to forget you have a little sister who would like to play with you as well. She missed you today."

Gibbs tried to make eye contact with Tony, but the boy's eyes were firmly fixed on the flickering channels. Finally finding a channel showing old Looney Tunes cartoons, Tony put the remote down and curled up on the couch.

"Did you hear me?" asked Gibbs.

"I heard," mumbled Tony. "I'll go for a ride with her tomorrow morning, OK?"

"She'd appreciate that," replied Gibbs.

Realising he wasn't going to get much more out of Tony, Gibbs stood up and left the room. When Tony was in one of his moods, it was best just to let him work through it himself.

Thankfully the rest of the evening went without incident. Tony, somewhat cheered by Jack's famous meatloaf, chatted further about his intentions to meet with Rory tomorrow. Although not entirely pleased by the boy's decision, Gibbs realised he had to trust Tony to make the right choices and, as a result, tried to join in with suggestions of things the boys could do.

Never one to miss anything, Ziva sensed that her father was not happy about Tony playing with Rory and she decided she would bring it up while having her bath.

When Ziva arrived in the bathroom in her underwear, pyjamas tucked under her arm, Gibbs was shocked to see the many bruises and scrapes that covered her body.

"Ziva!" he exclaimed, as she stood waiting for the bath to fill. "What happened to you? You look like you've been tossed down a mountain side."

Checking herself over, she simply shrugged saying, "I guess I fell a few times riding my bike. But I did it Daddy! And now I can go with Tony tomorrow," she added excitedly.

Before responding, Gibbs took her arm and gently turned her around. Her knees and elbows were covered in dry blood and there were bruises covering her thighs and shins.

"Sweetheart, these must really hurt," he said, turning her back to face him. "Didn't they hurt when you fell?"

She shrugged.

"Mmmm, kind of I guess," she said. "But I wanted to learn how to ride properly so I just blocked it out."

"What do you mean by 'blocked it out'?" he asked, frowning slightly.

"Well, I just…" she paused and he could tell she was trying to find the words. "I just ignore it and make myself think it's not there," she finally answered. "It's hard to explain."

"Ziva," began Gibbs gently. "You don't need to do that anymore. Pain is a good thing. It tells us when we should stop something. It's our body's way of talking to us. If you block it out, you could really hurt yourself."

"But I didn't Daddy," she replied, her brown eyes wide. "I used it to help me learn how to ride my bike. I did it in one afternoon. That's good isn't it?" She looked up at him, waiting for confirmation that her actions were commendable.

"It's great that you learned how to ride your bike," affirmed Gibbs. "But it's not good that you allowed yourself to get this hurt. Next time just take things slowly and let me help you a bit more."

"But I'm strong Daddy," she argued. "Needing help is weakness. And I'm not weak!" She crossed her arms in defiance. "I thought you'd be proud of me," she added, looking directly into his eyes.

"I am proud of you pumpkin," replied Gibbs firmly. "I'm always proud of you. I don't care if it takes you a week to learn how to ride a bike. The fact that you are giving it a go is what makes me proud, not how quickly you can do something."

"Well, it didn't take me a week," she said, a note of finality in her voice. "It took me just one afternoon. Er, Daddy, I think you better turn off the water before the bath starts to leak."

Turning abruptly to look at the bath, Gibbs quickly turned off the taps. Feeling for the plug, he began to release some water but not before Ziva had stripped and climbed in. Watching the water slosh over the sides, Gibbs inwardly berated himself for getting distracted.

"Ziva," he reprimanded slightly. "Why didn't you wait until I'd let out some of the water?"

"Because I wanted to see how it felt to be in a really full bath," she said smiling. "And guess what? It's cool!"

"Yes, I'm sure it is. Stand up a minute," he commanded.

"Why?" she asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Because I need to let some water out and the less of you that's submerged, the lower the water level with be," he answered.

Suddenly realizing why she had hesitated, he grinned and said, "Why? Did you think I was going to smack your bottom?"

"Maybe," she replied coyly.

"Guilty conscience hey!" he said in mock sternness.

When the water level had dropped somewhat, Ziva sat down again and allowed Gibbs to wash her hair.

"Daddy, why don't you like Tony's friend?" she asked, as he put the bowl down after rinsing the suds out.

"What makes you say that?" he asked. Her ability to read people was so astute, even at this age.

"I could just tell," she said simply. "So why don't you like him?"

"It's not that I don't like Rory, it's just that I don't like some of the things he and his friends do," replied Gibbs. "They sometimes make bad choices and get themselves in trouble. And, I don't want to see Tony get into trouble if they talk him into doing something that is wrong or dangerous."

"What kinds of things do they do?" she asked.

Lathering more soap in his hands, Gibbs thought carefully before answering.

"Well," he began, carefully washing the dirt and dry blood from her arms. "They've been talking about going to the mines and the mines are really dangerous places. I don't want Tony going there because he could get badly hurt."

"Do you think Tony would?"

She stood up, allowing him access to her legs so he could gently clean the scrapes she has sustained.

"I would like to think he wouldn't seeing as he gave me a promise," said Gibbs, indicating she could sit again. "But sometimes when we want to impress our friends, we do things we wouldn't ordinarily do, to make ourselves look brave, or to be accepted."

Ziva nodded.

"Tony would be in big trouble if he went to the mines wouldn't he?" she asked.

"Yes he would," replied Gibbs. "But, you don't need to worry about that," he added, tapping her nose affectionately. "Tony makes his own choices. And, if he makes choices that he knows are wrong, then he's the one who has to live with the consequences. Now, are you ready to hop out?"

"Yep" she replied, standing up.

Wrapping her in a towel, he had to smile when he heard her say, "Daddy, could I maybe have a bandaid for my knee. It does kinda hurt a bit."

****NCIS****

The next morning, Tony made good on his promise and asked Ziva if she'd like to go for a ride with him. Squealing with excitement, she raced through the house and was ready and waiting at the front gate in less than two minutes.

"Thanks Tony," praised Gibbs as Tony stood and made his way to the garage. "Keep an eye out for her, won't you?"

"I will," promised Tony.

Following them out, Gibbs watched as the pair safely crossed the road. He smirked as he listened to Tony explain the rules.

"Now, you need to stay close to me at all times," he began. "No riding off ahead. If you come to a corner, stop and wait for me. No going off the track and NO going near the lake. Got it?"

"You're not Daddy, Tony," Ziva grumbled.

"No, but I'm the one in charge so you do as I say," retorted Tony. "Otherwise we come straight back home and I go by myself."

"Stop being a bossy boots!" she began, but was pulled up by Gibbs.

"Tony's right Ziva," he said firmly. "He's in charge and you do as he says."

Scowling furiously, Ziva gave Tony a perfect death glare, before nodding slowly and agreeing.

"OK then," said Tony with a sigh. "Let's go."

Gibbs watched as the two of them mounted their bikes and headed down the track to the woods. He had to admit, despite the scrapes and bruises, Ziva was riding her bike perfectly. As the pair disappeared, Gibbs turned around and headed back inside to help his Father in the store.

After about forty-five minutes of riding around the many tracks, Ziva was becoming increasingly tired. When Tony noticed she was riding much slower than she had been, he stopped and waited for her to catch up.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied, trying not to admit she was tired. "I'm just a bit bored of doing this. Can we go to the playground for a while?"

"Yeah, OK," said Tony. Truth be told, he was getting bored with just riding around aimlessly as well.

On reaching the playground, the two children noticed they were not alone. At the top of the climbing frame sat Rory Johnson. Spotting Tony and Ziva, he descended the frame and began to walk towards them.

"Hey," said Tony.

"Hey," responded Rory.

Tony noticed that he didn't appear as friendly as he had yesterday.

"This is my sister Ziva," Tony introduced. "She wanted to play on the playground for a bit."

Rory looked at Ziva and nodded.

Ziva returned the nod, giving Rory just as cold a look as he was giving her.

"So, what ya doing?" asked Tony.

"Just hanging around," replied Rory. "I probably should get going," he added, making it obvious that he didn't really want to be seen talking to Tony and Ziva.

As he began to walk away, Tony called out.

"Hey! Wait up a minute!"

When Rory paused slightly, Tony turned to Ziva.

"Just stay here for a bit, play on the playground while I talk to Rory. Don't wander off, OK?" he warned.

Rolling her eyes and choosing not to answer, Ziva turned and headed over to the swings.

Tony ran to catch up to Rory.

"Why won't you talk to me?" he asked bluntly.

Rory shrugged.

"Is it because of yesterday?"

Rory shrugged again.

"I'm sorry about my Dad. He sometimes gets like that," began Tony. "But that doesn't mean I…"

"He's a cop Tony," interrupted Rory.

"Not really," replied Tony. "He's a Special Agent for NCIS. He deals with the Navy and the Marines. Not kids and stuff."

"Doesn't matter," said Rory. "He acts like a cop."

Looking around, Tony noticed a bench near the playground. It wasn't facing the playground, but looked out onto the bike track and woods. Knowing Ziva would be fine on the playground, Tony suggested they go and sit down.

Once seated Tony turned to Rory and said, "It's not my fault what my Dad does for a job."

"Maybe," conceded Rory with another shrug. "But how can we trust you? You might go running home to 'daddy' and tell him what we're doing?"

"I wouldn't do that," said Tony. Then, taking a deep breath and trying to sound much braver than he felt, he added, "Besides, I can do what I want."

"Yeah?" questioned Rory sarcastically.

"Yeah!" replied Tony angrily, annoyed that Rory obviously didn't believe him.

"Prove it!" said Rory.

Tony looked at Rory. He knew he'd got himself into a tricky situation, but there was no way he was going to back out now.

"Fine! What do I have to do?" he asked.

"Come with me tonight," dared Rory. "If you really can be trusted, prove it by doing something your Dad wouldn't like."

"Where?" asked Tony, a slight hesitancy showing forth.

"Dylan and Matt found a new entrance to a mine. They're going out there tonight to crack it open. It's pretty old but Dyl says it's real deep and there's train tracks down there."

"How do they know if they haven't opened it yet?" asked Tony logically.

"Because stupid," replied Rory insultingly. "They've been down it from the other end, but it's fallen in and they've never been able to get through it. Well yesterday, Dyl found a second entrance."

Tony hesitated. This was the one thing his Dad had asked him not to do. He'd even made him promise and Tony knew how important that was. But he couldn't say no now. That would just prove to Rory that he couldn't be trusted. Thinking fast, Tony tried to come up with a way he could get out of this mess and still save face.

"Why do you want to go down the mines anyway?" he asked, trying to sound scornful.

"Because they're awesome," said Rory, rolling his eyes. "You can walk for miles, and there's heaps of things you can find."

"Yeah, but they'd all be the same," argued Tony. "Why don't we do something different, something original that Dylan hasn't even done?"

"Like what?" asked Rory.

"Um, I don't know, what else can we do around here?" Tony was beginning to feel hopeful that he may have just managed to convince Rory to try something else.

"Nothing," replied Rory. "That's why we go to the mines. Are you chicken?"

"No," said Tony, a little too quickly. "I just think it would be cool to do something that Dylan and Matt have never done. Something that we can brag about."

"Nah, the only cool thing around here are the mines," stated Rory. "Besides, that's your dare. That's what you have to do to prove that we can trust you."

Damn, he was back onto that again, thought Tony.

Realizing he was stuck, Tony did the one thing he really wished he hadn't. He agreed.

"Really?" said Rory in surprise. "You'll really come with us?"

"I said I would didn't I?" said Tony aggressively.

"OK then. Meet me at midnight at the crossroad near the lake. You know where I mean?" asked Rory.

"Yeah I know," said Tony softly.

"Don't' be late," ordered Rory. "And, if ya don't show, then we'll know you're just a chicken who scared of his Daddy."

And with that, Rory took off.

Suddenly feeling sick with guilt and worry, Tony put his head in his hands and thought hard. What was he going to do? He had to show up. Maybe he could think of some way he could still distract Rory tonight. There had to be something else to do in this town that didn't involve the mines. Something that was really cool and would give them bragging rights. But what? Thinking hard, Tony was suddenly hit with an idea. A haunted house! Every town had one. Surely Stillwater wasn't the exception. If he could convince Rory to explore a haunted house then, just maybe, he could avoid having to go to the mines. He'd still get in heaps of trouble if he was caught, but he wouldn't be going back on a promise.

Deciding that was the only thing to do, Tony stood up and headed towards the playground. He noticed Ziva was sitting on the end of the slide. As he approached she looked up.

"I wanna go home now," she said. "I've had enough here."

"Yeah, me too," agreed Tony.

Picking up their bikes, the two of them made their way back to the road. Once on the other side, Ziva quickly parked her bike in the garage and ran inside, while Tony slowly meandered up the pavement.

He would have to talk to his Grandpa about whether or not the town had a haunted house or building and where it was. Then, this afternoon, he'd have to do some exploring. Believing that his plan might just work, Tony leaned his bike against the garage wall and made his way into the house.

It was well after lunch before Tony got his chance to talk to his Grandpa. He was in the store helping Jack to price cans of beans. Having been shown how to use the stamp, Tony enjoyed rhythmic task of swiping each can, leaving behind a stamped sticker indicating the price.

"Hey Grandpa," began Tony, after finishing his first row of cans. "Does Stillwater have a haunted house?"

Jack paused in his task of stacking the cans on the shelf and looked curiously at Tony.

"You know, like what you see in the movies. An old house or maybe a building that people think it haunted," elaborated Tony.

"Why do ask Son?" replied Jack, resuming his task.

"I don't know, just wondering," said Tony as casually as he could. "I mean, most old towns have one and seeing as Stillwater is pretty old, I thought it might have one too."

"Well," began Jack, pausing again and leaning his hip against the bench Tony was working on. "It's not exactly a house, but legend has it the old bank down the end of the main road is supposedly haunted."

"Really?" asked Tony, his eyes widening in suspense. "What kinds of ghost are in an old bank?"

Eyeing Tony with the same stare his son had inherited, Jack wondered why the boy was suddenly so interested. When the stare elicited no response from Tony, Jack put it down to idol curiosity and decided telling the child the legend wouldn't hurt.

"Well," he began, "Folks say that during the late eighteen hundreds there were some unruly characters around these parts. Times were hard and people struggled to make a living. Apparently, one day, two men rode into town with guns drawn and decided to rob the bank. Stepping through the doors, one of them ordered the few people in there to lay on the floor, while the other forced the teller to fill bags with money. Just when they thought they were going to get away with it, the sheriff arrived with three men and there was a shootout. The two men were captured, but not before the teller and one of the sheriff's men were killed, shot by one of the robbers. Both men were hanged for their crime."

Jack paused and noticed that Tony was listening eagerly to every word he spoke.

"Now, I haven't seen it myself, and, to be honest, and don't really hold much with ghost stories and the like, but some folks have claimed to hear loud voices and gun fire coming from the old bank during the night. Some even go as far as to say they have seen the image of a man standing in the doorway, covered in blood and others believe they have seen faces looking out from the upper story windows. Whether that's true or not, I'm not saying. Certainly not something I've ever seen or heard. But, there ya have it Tony, Stillwater's haunted house."

"Wow Grandpa," exhaled Tony. "That's really cool. So where's the bank? Could I ride to it?"

"Yeah, probably," replied Jack, standing straight again and continuing his task of stacking the shelves. "You'd have to ask your Dad first though. It's on our side of the road, but it's a couple of blocks down."

"I will," said Tony, still awed by the tale.

Putting the stamp down, Tony turned towards the back door.

"Hey," called Jack. "You can finish those first. I've gotta get the whole box stacked."

"Oh yeah, sorry Grandpa," said Tony, coming back to the bench and picking up the stamp.

As he stamped the rest of the cans, Tony's imagination went wild. Surely the prospect of exploring a haunted building would be enough to persuade Rory to avoid the mines. They probably wouldn't be able to get into the building seeing as it was still used today, but they could walk around it and look through the windows. Feeling determined that he would be able to convince Rory, Tony quickly finished his task and went off to find his Dad. Now all he had to do was get permission to go there this afternoon and have a look around.

****NCIS****

By the time the evening came and the four of them were sat watching TV, Tony's nerves had reached a new high. Having been granted permission, Tony had ridden his bike to the old bank. Seeing it in daylight did nothing to encourage his confidence in being able to convince Rory this is what they should do tonight. If anything, it only served to increase his apprehension. The building was nothing less than a square, two story box with windows and a door opening onto the corner of the street. Even as Tony tried to make his way around the stone building, he wasn't in the least impressed. Added to the fact he had suddenly realized Rory would have probably already heard the stories and had most likely visited the building tons of times before, he was beginning to feel less and less confident as the day wore on.

So, by eight o'clock, when Gibbs stood to put Ziva to bed, Tony willingly went too. He was afraid he might end up saying something to arouse the suspicions of his Dad and Grandpa.

"You feeling OK?" asked Gibbs when Tony announced he was off to bed as well.

"Yeah," replied Tony, trying to sound nonchalant. "I've got a bit of a headache so I thought I might listen to my iPod for a bit and have an early night.

"Do you want a headache tablet?" suggested Gibbs, as he led Ziva and Tony up the stairs.

"Nah, I'll be right," replied Tony.

"Can I swap with Tony?" asked Ziva.

They had reached the landing and Gibbs was just about to send Ziva to clean her teeth.

"What do you mean?" he asked looked down at her.

"Well, if Tony wants to go to bed now, can I stay up until his bedtime?" she explained. It made perfect sense to her.

Gibbs laughed.

"Nope! Doesn't work that way I'm afraid," he said. "Go go and brush your teeth and go to the toilet."

"But I'm not tired," she argued.

"Not my problem," responded Gibbs. "Go!"

Grumbling, Ziva headed down the hall and into the bathroom. She thought that had been a perfectly reasonable suggestion.

As Tony got into bed after brushing his own teeth, he set the alarm on his watch to go off at 11.30. Not wanting it to wake Ziva, he placed the watch under his pillow and hoped it would still be loud enough to wake him. Plugging the ear piece into his iPod, Tony lay down and tried to relax. He watched as Ziva tossed and turned for a bit and then became quiet. Waiting a few more minutes to ensure she was in a deep sleep, Tony checked his watch, 8.37. Deciding he really should try and get some sleep, he turned off the iPod and put it on the nightstand. Turning to face the wall, it wasn't long before Tony was fast asleep.

It was around ten o'clock when Gibbs and his father were alerted to a noise coming from the direction of the front window. Standing up, Gibbs immediately went to take a look and was shocked to see Ziva tiptoeing back to the garage.

"What is it Leroy?" asked Jack anxiously.

"Ziva," replied Gibbs crossly. "I'll be back in a minute."

Jack smiled as Gibbs left the living room. Yep, those two were certainly a handful.

Deciding a surprise attack would be the best course of action, Gibbs quietly made his way to the laundry room. Seeing the back door was slightly ajar, Gibbs hid himself behind the wall, just outside the laundry room entrance.

It wasn't long before tiny footsteps could be heard and a small figure stealthily entered the room, noiselessly closing the exterior door.

As Ziva turned to make her way back to her room, she was rendered frozen when she saw the doorway to freedom was blocked by the large figure of her Dad.

"Hi Daddy," she said, trying to sound brave.

Gibbs stepped forward and flicked on the light.

"Hi Daddy? Is that all you have to say?" he asked sternly. Picking her up, he carried her through to the living room and sat her firmly on the couch.

"I think I'll go and make some coffee," said Jack, wanting to give his son and granddaughter some privacy. He stood and made his way out to the kitchen.

"Right young lady," began Gibbs, once his father had left. "Tell me exactly why you are wandering outside at ten o'clock at night!"

"I…I wanted to see the stars," stammered Ziva. "They look so pretty out here. You can see them so much better than you can at home."

"You can see the stars from your bedroom window," said Gibbs. "Why did you think it was necessary to go outside?"

"Because I wanted to see them without anything in the way," she answered. Looking up, Ziva tried to make eye contact, but the glare she was receiving had her quickly looking down into her lap again.

"I'm not buying it Ziva," replied Gibbs. "You know you are not allowed to go outside when it's dark. You know it's dangerous."

"But…but, I thought it would be OK here because it's a small town and everyone knows each other," she argued, trying desperately to get out of trouble.

"Ziva, it's never OK to just wander around at night, no matter where we are living," said Gibbs sternly. He looked down at the small figure sitting next to him. "And I'm pretty certain you know that, don't you?"

Continuing to look down, Ziva chose not to respond.

Gently grasping her chin and forcing her to make eye contact, Gibbs said again, "Don't you?"

After a few seconds of tense silence, Ziva finally whispered, "Yes Daddy."

"I thought so," said Gibbs, releasing her chin.

Standing her up, he placed her over his knee and applied three hard smacks to her bottom. The crying began immediately.

When he stood her up again, he took hold of her shoulders and said calmly, "Don't ever go outside at night on your own again. Is that understood?"

Letting her go, he watched her hop from side to side while rubbing her bottom as he waited for an answer.

"Ziva?" he prompted after a few seconds.

"Yes!" she wailed still rubbing furiously. "I understand!"

"Come on then," said Gibbs, taking her hand. "Let's get you back to bed."

When Gibbs returned, he saw a fresh mug of coffee sitting on the coffee table.

"Thanks Dad," he said as he picked up the mug and took a sip before seating himself on the couch.

Jack looked up from his position in the arm chair.

"So why did she go outside?" he asked.
"Apparently to look at the stars," replied Gibbs. "But I think there was more to it than that. At any rate, I don't think she'll be doing it again anytime soon."

Jack chuckled and lifted his mug. Gesturing it towards Gibbs, he simply said, "To parenthood!"

Returning the gesture, Gibbs snorted, "Yeah, right. Parenthood," before taking a sip and settling back into the couch cushions.

****NCIS****

The house was completely silent when Tony tiptoed down the stairs at 11.40pm. Having woken up when his Dad led a crying Ziva into the room, Tony had felt the butterflies begin to soar around his stomach again when he discovered the reason behind the crying. He had to be crazy. Here he was doing the exact same thing that had resulted in Ziva getting a spanking. And she had only gone into the front yard! He was planning on riding a couple of blocks away. Pushing all thoughts of painful consequences from his mind, he made his way out into the garage. Looking around, he noticed his bike wasn't where it should be. As panic rose, he suddenly remembered he had left it leaning against the outside of the garage when he returned from visiting the bank. Lifting the garage door up a couple of feet, Tony slipped under and gently lowered it again. Spotting his bike, he grabbed the handlebars and was just about to mount when he noticed both tires were flattened like a pool of melted licorice under each wheel.

"What! No!" he whispered in frustration.

Leaving his bike, he re-entered the garage and looked around desperately for the bike pump. After five minutes of intense searching, Tony slumped to the floor in defeat. He checked his watch, 11.49. Even if he ran all the way, he wouldn't make in time to meet Rory. It was a ten minute bike ride away. Acknowledging there was nothing he could do except go back to bed, Tony gave a heavy sigh and left the garage.

When he was safely back in bed, Tony thought about what Rory would be thinking.

"I bet he thinks I've chickened out," thought Tony to himself. "Now he'll never be my friend."

Dwelling on this thought, Tony fell into a restless sleep.

What felt like only a few minutes later, Tony was awakened by a hand gently shaking his shoulder.

"Tony, wake up."

Hearing the urgency in his Father's voice, Tony opened his eyes and sat up.

"What's wrong?" he asked drowsily.

Despite the fact the sun was blazing into the room, Tony felt like it was still the middle of the night.

"Tony, do you know where Rory and his brother might be?" asked Gibbs. Tony quickly picked up on the concern in his Dad's voice.

Feeling uneasy, Tony replied, "Why?"

"Because they're missing, along with Matt Tucker," answered Gibbs. "If you know where they might be, it's important that you tell us. Their parents are very worried. And so is the Sheriff.

"The…the Sheriff?" stammered Tony.

"Yes Tony," said Gibbs impatiently. "Do you know where they might be?"

"Um…maybe," replied Tony. "I'm not exactly sure though."

"Well, whatever you know, come and tell it to Ed," said Gibbs firmly, taking Tony's arm.

"Can I get dressed first?" asked Tony.

Sighing, Gibbs said, "OK, but be very quick. Meet us in the store in two minutes."

As Tony quickly put on some clothes and went to the bathroom, he thought about what he was going to say. It was bad enough that he hadn't been able to meet them last night, but to have to tell on them as well. Tony held his head. This situation was going from bad to worse every second he lived it.

Finally entering the store, Tony was confronted by his Dad, his Grandpa and another man who must be the Sheriff. Stepping forward, Gibbs put his hand on Tony's back and directed him towards the third man.

"Ed, this is my son Tony," introduced Gibbs. "He's been hanging around with Rory the last couple of days."

Tony looked at the Sheriff, He appeared to be about the same age as his Dad and he wondered if they had gone to school together as well, especially since his Dad called the man Ed.

"Tony, do you have any idea where the Johnson boys and Matt Tucker might be? It looks as if they may have snuck out during the night which apparently isn't unusual," added Ed with a sneer. "They're normally back in their beds by morning but today they weren't."

Tony took a deep breath. Should he tell? What if something had happened to them? His Dad did say the mines were dangerous.

"Son, if you know anything, I need you to tell me right now," said Ed. "Ain't helping anyone by stalling."

Gibbs put his arm around Tony's shoulder. The touch was warm, and Tony felt himself begin to unravel.

"Tony, you're not protecting them if they're hurt somewhere. You're only added to the danger," said Gibbs wisely.

Swallowing hard, Tony looked up at the Sheriff.

"They were going to meet at a mine somewhere. Dylan had found a new entrance to one of the big mines that had collapsed sometime ago, blocking the pathway. And they were going to smash it open and explore the rest of the mine. I don't know where it is because I was only supposed to meet them at the lake, but it's apparently a big mine."

Tony stopped. He suddenly realized what he had just said. He'd all but admitted he had been planning to go with them. He had to explain that he was trying to talk Rory out of it. He had to let his Dad know that he wasn't going back on a promise. He glanced up at his Dad but saw only shock and disappointment on his face. Suddenly, all words of explanation vanished leaving Tony only with the knowledge of how much he had hurt his Dad.

"Must be the Drummond mine," said Ed looking first to Gibbs and then Jack.

"Sounds like it," said Jack. "Do you need any volunteers?"

"Not just yet," said Ed "I'll take the rescue crew with me. Hopefully they've just got stuck somewhere and need assistance to get out."

Ed reached out and patted Tony on the shoulder.

"Thanks Son," he said before heading out the door, the familiar 'ding' sounding hollow in the tense silence that remained.

Sitting at the table, Gibbs indicated Tony should do the same.

"Explain," was all he said, but Tony was in no doubt of the anger that was bubbling just under the surface.

"I wasn't going to go to the mines Dad," said Tony hurriedly. "I promised you I wouldn't. I only agreed with Rory so that I could buy some time to figure out what to do. He was wanting me to prove that they could trust me even though he kept calling you a cop. And I said they could. So he dared me to come with them to the mines. We were supposed to meet at the lake at midnight. But I wasn't going to go to the mines, honest Dad. I'd decided to think of something else we could do instead that would be just as cool and I was going to persuade Rory to come to the haunted bank with me and see if we could see any ghosts."

Tony paused at looked at Gibbs.

Gibbs remained silent.

After a minute he finally said, "So what happened?"

"Well, when I got to my bike last night, the tires were flat," said Tony softly.

"Why were they flat?" asked Gibbs.

"I…I don't know," said Tony shrugging. "Maybe I hit a sharp rock or something yesterday. Anyway, I didn't go."

"But, if your tires had been fine, you would have met Rory at the lake, at midnight, by yourself?" asked Gibbs, his voice dangerously calm.

Tony looked down.

"Yes Sir," he said almost whispering the words.

Gibbs breathed deeply and, closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose with his hand.

Finally opening his eyes again, he looked at Tony and said quietly, "Go to your room Tony. I need some time to think this through."

"I'm…I'm really sorry Dad," began Tony, tears pooling in his eyes. "I wasn't going to go to the mine, honest."

"It's the fact that you were planning on going out at all that's the problem," replied Gibbs, his voice rising slightly as the anger surfaced just a fraction.

Controlling himself with another deep breath, Gibbs said calmly. "Just go to your room Tony. Right now I need to think about this and calm down before I speak with you."

When Tony didn't move, Gibbs said, a little more harshly then he meant, "GO! Now!"

Scraping back his chair, Tony all but fled the room. Tears pouring down his face, he raced up the stairs and flung himself face down on the bed he'd not so long ago vacated.

Crying into the covers, Tony angrily berated himself on being so easily manipulated by Rory. Why hadn't he just stood up to the boy and said no! He wouldn't be in this mess. And, worst of all, he wouldn't have seen the terrible look of disappointment that crossed his Dad's face when he'd realized just what Tony had been prepared to do, simply to prove the point that his Dad couldn't control his life.

Punching the pillow with all the force he could muster, Tony submitted to the bitter pangs of regret and remorse as he continued to sob uncontrollably.