DISCLAIMER: See prior chapters for disclaimers…still do not own NCIS or any of its characters

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, to all of you who have checked up on me and encouraged me to update this story. I am so sorry it has been such a long time since my last update but I was without a home laptop for quite a while and life has been so busy that there was just no time…but I have a new computer and things are settling down (at least for a bit… lol) but it feels great to get to write again…hope you guys enjoy it – I feel a little rusty so it may take a bit for me to get back into the swing of things Again, thank you all for all of your continued support! You guys are amazing!

My New Year's Resolution is to start writing again so hopefully you guys will like what I write

CHAPTER 20

The rest of the afternoon in the basement working on Gibbs' boat actually went pretty well. Mark was happy that Gibbs didn't bring up his grades again and they just worked in comfortable silence for most of the afternoon. Mark was also grateful that the sanding could be done standing up so his poor backside got a chance to stop stinging. As the sting started to wear off he was careful to watch anything he did say so as not to earn any new swats that would just reheat the sting. Around five Gibbs had them start cleaning up so they could head back to his house knowing Penny would have dinner ready about six. Gibbs was having a very hard time keeping his mind off Penny and wondering how the rest of her afternoon went. Every time he spied Mark unconsciously rub his backside his mind would wander back to Penny…and the condition of her backside

Pulling into the driveway of Penny and Mark's house Gibbs killed the engine but caught Mark's arm before he got out of the car. "Tonight after dinner the three of us are going to sit down and talk about your grades and your new study routines. I'm telling you now so that you have a little bit of time get any attitude that might be wanting to rear its head back into check. I know I didn't spank you as hard today as I have in the past but trust me, you do not want that attitude of yours causing us to revisit the conversation, ok?"

"OK" was Mark's only reply as he got out of the car without making any further eye contact with Gibbs. He was definitely not happy about the idea of having this conversation again today but his butt still stung enough to cause him to keep the comments on the tip of his tongue to himself. As annoyed as he was, he knew Gibbs was right that he would need a little time to get his attitude in check before they all talked or he would probably say something stupid to Penny the second she started to lecture him about his grades and his short time with Gibbs had already taught him that would probably NOT go over well with Agent Pain in the Ass. Walking into the house Mark groaned to himself when he suddenly realized how accurate that stupid nickname he had given Gibbs when he first met him turned out to be!

As Mark walked through the front door he could smell the pot roast Penny was cooking and suddenly realized how hungry he was. Turning the corner into the kitchen Mark saw Penny singing to herself as she iced the cake she had apparently made for desert. "Wow Sis, roast and a cake? What's the occasion?"

Startled by Mark's voice, Penny jumped dropping the butter knife she was using to frost the cake. "hey there sweaty" Penny smiled at Mark as she retrieved the knife and tossed it in the sink before getting a new one out of the drawer. "I didn't hear you come in, is, um, Jethro with you?" she questioned trying to act casual.

"I'm right here" Gibbs answered walking up behind Mark and putting his hands on his shoulders. Looking from Gibbs to Mark and back again she took in the relaxed attitude and whispered a silent thank you that they both seemed fine so she could only assume that Gibbs had not yet told Mark about them starting to date. Penny was so nervous about telling Mark that she had kept herself busy with work until she was tired of working sprawled out on her stomach on her home office floor and had moved to cooking/baking just to keep herself busy with an activity that did not require sitting down. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, go wash up please Mark" she asked as she walked across the kitchen to give him a quick hug. "So how did it go with Jethro today?" she whispered in his ear during the hug. A low groan was all she got in reply but Mark had a little smile so she figured it must not have been too bad.

As she watched him head down the hallway to the bathroom she felt Gibbs come up behind her and kiss her neck. Turning into his arms she let him kiss her in a way that made her forget herself and everything else that was going on. Looking up at his smile she started to ask how his day went when he reached down and none to gently squeezed her butt reminding her of just how sore her bottom still was from their earlier "conversation". Frowning at him for breaking the romantic spell that kiss left her under, Penny narrowed her eyes at him and turned back to the cake and finished spreading the icing on her chocolate cake.

"Still sore?" Gibbs asked as he dipped his finger into the icing. "Really Jethro must we talk about that? Mark might come back in and hear." "Fair enough honey, we can wait til later to discuss it…how was the rest of your afternoon? Did you get a lot of work done?"

Penny didn't look up from her icing as she chewed her bottom lip, slightly concerned all of a sudden that he may not approve of the way she found to get around his "no cushion on the chair" rule. "Ummm, yes actually, I did get a decent amount done before I started dinner" she replied trying to sound more confident than she felt.

Recognizing instantly that there was something about this that she didn't want to tell him he started to ask her about her office chair but before he could Mark came back in the room. "Want me to set the table sis?" Mark asked as he passed by the two of them looking at them a little oddly. He wasn't sure what they had been talking about but Penny had a funny look on her face – like she was blushing at something…

Clearing her throat, Penny smiled at Mark "Sure honey, thank you!" Looking back at Gibbs she whispered that this was the first time Mark had ever offered to set the table! Gibbs just smiled and winked at her.

Sitting down for dinner Gibbs had to suppress a chuckle as both Mark and Penny winced silently when their butts hit the chair, so caught up in their own stinging bottoms that neither noticed the other wince too. Dinner was delicious and the conversation was light – none of them bringing up any of the events of the day yet. When they were done Mark went to do his homework while Penny and Gibbs cleaned up the kitchen.

Finally alone with her, Gibbs asked her point blank, "Did you follow my directions and use your office chair without a cushion young lady?" Penny, with her hands in the soapy water was quick to correct him, but didn't actually look up at him when she spoke, "technically Jethro, all you said was that I could not put a cushion on my office chair – you did not specifically dictate that I had to use that chair when I did my office work this afternoon." Raising one eyebrow at her pinning her with a glare, "I see, and what chair did you technically use to do your work today?"

"Well, I didn't use a chair…I simply laid a comfy blanket on the floor and rested on my stomach as I worked on my laptop. Which I would like to point out DID NOT break your rules." The last part was punctuated by Penny's soapy hands hitting her hips as her chin jutted out. "I see" Gibbs responded without breaking his eye contact. "You're right – I did not specifically forbid you to work that way but I think we both know that my intention was for you to spend some of the afternoon thinking about why you were spanked today by working on a sore bottom and you are trying to play me like you would one of your opponents in court. Am I right?"

Penny instantly felt guilty – Gibbs knew exactly what she had done and no matter how she tried to justify to herself that she was 'technically' right – she knew what his intentions for her for the afternoon were- but she wasn't quite ready to admit that yet. "I'm not a mind reader Jethro, I simply did my job in the most efficient way possible for me while still working within the rules you had established – nothing more than that." Feeling as though she had argued her case well Penny stuck her chin out and returned Gibbs' glare while she attempted to dry the wet spots on her hips and turned back to the dishes in the sink – a much safer view than trying to meet Jethro's glare any longer.

"Penny" was all he said, he didn't yell her name or say anything further to correct her – just the stern almost growl way he said her name was all it took… "fine – you're right – I knew that while I was not breaking the actual rules I was likely going around the 'spirit' of what you wanted done. OK – is that what you wanted to hear?!"