"Please, Gibbs? Please don't. I swear that this isn't necessary. I know that I-"

Gibbs tilted his head to the side and appraised his favourite in open disappointment before moving slowly towards the kitchen. Pulling a chair from the dining table, he walked it silently into the middle of his living room floor before setting it down and sitting down pointedly. Pushing the right sleeve of his trademark red hoodie up to his elbow, he cleared his throat before sitting back and allowing the pressing silence to reach boiling point.

"Gibbs!" Abby meowled, unable to take another second of psychological warfare. "This is so unfair."

"Unfair?" came the quiet response. "Unfair? Do you care to explain to me how this could possibly be considered as unfair? Because from where I'm sitting this is more than fair. In fact, from where I'm sitting I ought to take a paddle to your behind for your carry on this afternoon… maybe you should think about that the next time you want to tell me that this is unfair."

With that, he pointed firmly to the carpeted spot to his right-hand side.

"Come here."

Her wide eyes pooled into a puppy dog stare and Gibbs had to grit his teeth to resist their pull.

"No dice, Abby," he said sternly. "You're not going to sweet talk your way out of this one. You deliberately disobeyed me today. You deliberately went to a dangerous crime scene without me and got into a spat with another Forensics Expert when they didn't share your opinion on the blood splatter, causing an inter-Agency incident and a bite out of my ass courtesy of Vance. I warned you not to leave your lab. I specifically forbade you from attending that crime scene. I explained to you that both we and the local cops felt the perp would revisit the scene… and you still decided that you were above following the rules… my rules."

He pointed to the dreaded spot once more.

"Your behaviour today tells me that you, madam, are in desperate need of a firm reminder as to who is the Boss around here. Newsflash, it ain't you and until it is you, you will obey my direct orders. If you cannot or will not obey those direct orders, you will find that sitting down is a permanently unpleasant experience. You are not any different to the boys or Ziva. You are every bit as obligated to do what you are told, when you are told, as they are. The chain of command applies to you too and I intend to remind you of that fact right now."

He gave one final and unyielding point to his right-hand side.

"Get over here. Right now. You got some learning to do."

Abby hopped from right foot to left foot and back again, chewing her lip nervously.

"I'm sorry," she practically whispered. "I'm sorry I disobeyed you… I was just so sure that I was right and that I needed to see the scene with my own eyes to prove it. I shouldn't have gone when you told me not to and I shouldn't have gotten into with that moron… uhh… that other Forensics Expert and I'm sorry for that… but please, Gibbs? Please don't?"

She looked at him with such pained upset that she snatched two years clean off his life span.

Working hard as hell to keep his Boss mask on, Gibbs shook his head. Abby could never know how hard this was for him but he had to see his promise of consequences through. It would, if nothing else, be a slap in the faces of both the boys and Ziva if she were to evade punishment for her wilful and well publicised disobedience. Not to mention the fact of the sheer, staggering impertinence of his lab rat to consider his orders as mere suggestions. Swallowing his reluctance and replacing it with steely resolve, Gibbs turned a stern glare on a shuffling scientist.

"Please Gibbs nothing," he said firmly. "It's too late for all that, Abby. You understand? It's too late. When you pulled the stunt you pulled this afternoon you bought yourself a non-refundable, one-way trip over my knee and I intend to make sure you don't miss your flight. You are getting a tanned behind and that's the bottom line of it. Now, we can either do this the easy way or we can do it the hard way. The easy way is you march yourself over here and bend over my knee for the spanking you know full well you deserve. The hard way is I come over there to get you and bend you over my knee for the spanking you know full well you deserve… and I pick up the wooden spoon on the way."

He eyed her with a raised brow.

"What's it to be, Abby? Do I need to go and get the wooden spoon?"

Knowing when not to bet against the house, the lab rat dropped her head in misery.

"No," she mumbled. "You don't need to do that."

Feeling relief flood through him which he carefully concealed, Gibbs nodded.

"Good. You got three seconds to get yourself over here then."

Not wanting to test that numeric system, Abby swallowed hard and forced herself to put one foot in front of the other. In four strides she was at her appointed execution block, diligently examining her sock clad feet in radiating misery. The pointed clearing of Gibbs' throat saw her reluctantly dragging her gaze up to meet his and she couldn't help the whimper when she saw the disappointed determination in the usually kind eyes.

"Tell me why you're getting this spanking."

If there was ever a question that each of the famous four loathed, it was that one. Blinking back tears, Abby took a deep breath and resolved to get the words out before they died in her throat. She knew from experience that to keep the man waiting was not good for one's health.

"Because I deliberately disobeyed you," she said softly, forcing herself to maintain eye contact. "Because I put myself in danger by going to a crime scene I wasn't supposed to be at and because I… uhh… was overly vocal in my criticism of another Agency's Forensic Specialist."

Gibbs nodded approvingly before patting his knee pointedly.

"Correct. Now, over my knee and let's get this taken care of."

Bitterly regretting her every action within the last twenty-four hours, Abby took a deep breath before laying down over Gibbs' knee in what was an all too familiar position. She braced her two hands on the floor as the tips of her toes balanced her on the other end. It was a cruel twist of fate, one that she had often lamented, that she fit perfectly over Gibbs' knee. Her eyes snapped shut in misery as she felt her skirt flip up to rest on the small of her back and her underwear be pulled down to her upper thighs before Gibbs' arm wrapped firmly around her waist, locking her in place.

"If I have cause to do this again for the same reason, Abby, I will take a paddle to your behind." Gibbs said quietly. "You better remember the spanking you're about to get the next time you're tempted to disobey me. Is that clear?"

The dark head nodded immediately.

"Yes, Gibbs," Abby replied miserably, tears threatening in her voice.

Sighing with misery of his own, Gibbs nodded and resolved to do what needed to be done. The spanking was as thorough as it was severe. Rarely did Gibbs divest his favourite of a warm up over her clothes and even more rarely did he employ the full force of his leathery hand across her behind. This time, he embraced both those rarities as he methodically painted a thick coat of red across Abby's backside. Unlike the boys and Ziva, Abby never had any regard for stoicism and her yelps, yips and yowls bounced around his living room from the first swat. Feeling like an absolute cretin, Gibbs hardened his heart against his favourite's whimpers and then sobs of distress and delivered a fitting punishment for her hairbrained actions. Raising his knee somewhat, he focused his unyielding hand on Abby's tender sit spots so that she would remember her lesson when she sat down tomorrow… and the day after. It wasn't long before Abby's loud sobs, intermingled with pleas and promises of better behaviour, gave way to soft, chastened weeping. With a few final, perfunctory swats across the smoked bottom, Gibbs brought the spanking to a close with intense relief. Quickly righting Abby's underwear and flipping her skirt back down, he acted on pure instinct.

Standing up and easily scooping Abby into his arms as he did so, he walked with her to the sofa and sat her down gingerly beside him. The weeping scientist clung to his sweatshirt, burying her head in his shoulder as she expelled every ounce of emotion within her. Rubbing a soothing hand on her back, Gibbs felt the all too familiar guilt burn him like acid at being the one to cause the tears his lab rat was producing. Accepting this as the price he had to pay to keep her safe, he continued to gently rub her back and murmur soft words of reassurance and forgiveness. After what felt like an eternity, she pulled her head up from his shoulder and scrubbed a hand across red eyes, looking at him morosely.

"M'sorry, Gibbs," she mumbled. "Won't happen again."

Smiling his crooked smile, the Team Lead reached out and wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

"Oh, if only I could believe that," he teased gently. "How many times have I heard it won't happen againfrom you four? If I had a dollar for every time I'd have a retirement home in the Hamptons… where none of you pests could find me."

Abby laughed a small, watery laugh that was music to Gibbs' ears as she recognised his clear forgiveness.

"You would not fit into the Hamptons, Gibbs," she chuckled with a gulp.

He raised an exaggerated brow.

"You saying I can't stick my nose in a glass of disgusting wine and say something pretentious?"

Abby smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder, wincing at the burning pain in her behind.

"Pretty much," she confirmed. "You'd be found out within seconds."

Rolling his eyes, Gibbs threw an arm over her shoulders and drew her into his side, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her unruly mop of hair.

"You okay kiddo?" he asked softly. "That was a pretty rough tanning."

She looked up at him with exaggerated outrage.

"Yes, it was a pretty rough tanning. Jeez, Gibbs, I'm gonna have to sleep on my stomach tonight. You know that plays havoc with my gastrointestinal health… not to mention it's a very uncomfortable sleeping position in a coffin."

Gibbs rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Well, that's too bad. I thought you'd want to rack here tonight so I got that extra mint, mint chocolate chip ice cream you like and that disturbing horror movie you were twittering about for the last week… but, hey, if you want to go home and sleep on your stomach in a coffin, who am I to dis-"

"I'm staying," Abby interrupted firmly. "I'm just going to go upstairs and change into my pyjamas and then I'll get the ice cream."

Snorting, Gibbs nodded and removed his arm so she could stand up. Her small yelp when she did so was not unexpected and he felt another unpleasant stab of guilt at the sound of it. He watched as Abby reached back and furiously rubbed the sting out of the charred behind. Usually, he would reprimand her for that but he didn't have the heart to. However, when she walked carefully to the downstairs bathroom instead of her and Ziva's room upstairs, he shook his head in exasperation.

"Abby…"

Turning innocently, far too innocently, to face him, Abby raised a brow.

"Yes, Gibbs?"

He offered the sternest glare he could muster, which wasn't very stern at all.

"Don't."

She blinked.

"Don't what?"

Dragging himself to his feet tiredly, Gibbs crossed the floor to his miscreant. Turning her gently by the shoulders towards the staircase, he issued one firm swat across her skirt clad behind which drew a pained yelp and an accusing look.

"You think I don't know you have your pain relieving butt cream stashed in that bathroom, Abby?"

She groaned in despair and turned on the puppy dog eyes.

"Please, Gibbs? Just a little? I have third degree burns on my ass!"

He rolled his eyes.

"Not a chance. Now, upstairs and get changed and get back down here so I can fall asleep watching this hellish film. You got ten minutes and if I catch you with any cream other than ice cream… well… let's just say those burns you were talking about are gonna blister."

Abby meowled in misery.

"But, Gibbs-"

"Abigail Scuito, do not make me put you straight back over my knee. You know I will."

Knowing that his threat was as far from empty as was possible to be, Abby narrowed her eyes.

"I liked you better when you came back from your hiatus… all chilled and surfer dude like."

Gibbs laughed, shook his head and pointed upstairs in a clear move it order.

"I'm sure you did, Abs. I'm sure you did…"

…

A/N: My apologies for spamming your inboxes… I've just been in a very "write, write, write" mood recently and I realised I had been neglecting the girls!

If you guys are looking for more fics in this genre, can I recommend the stories of MaidenMoonshine and QuintaWrites.

As a general point, thank you ALL so much for your feedback on my stories – I really appreciate you all.

Inks x

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