The sudden change in Gibbs' tone completely threw Tony for a loop.

Swallowing, he looked at the entirely innocent sofa to his right-hand side. The arm of the sofa seemed to swim in his peripheral vision like a bad acid trip. Blurry, painful images of a bygone era suddenly surged through his brain and the terror, pain and confusion he had felt all those years ago gurgled in his stomach. As bad as they had been to endure at the time, they seemed even worse now that they had had well over a decade to mature and ferment. He felt a clammy sweat bead across his brow and his mouth dry to sandpaper. He peeled his lips open to try and offer some sort of explanation for his sudden and intense change in pallor.

He never got the chance.

Gibbs' warm hand suddenly gripped his shoulder in a gentle hold. The gesture instantly calmed Tony, bringing him back to the present. The fear that suffocated him a mere moment ago exploded into a confetti of irrelevance, fluttering harmlessly to Gibbs' living room floor. Green eyes met blue for a millisecond-come-eternity before the elder man cleared his throat.

"Tony. Just breathe. Take a deep breath, hold it for seven and then let it out. Do it now."

Feeling like a prize fool but not daring to disobey, Tony gulped in an intense lungful of air and clamped down on it. Counting to seven slowly in his head, he exhaled on cue and felt the calmness that Gibbs' hand on his shoulder had provided amplify in intensity. His heart rate dropped back to base line and his pulse followed suit. The tightness across his torso deflated and he visibly snapped to. Satisfied, Gibbs gave his shoulder one final squeeze before dropping it back to his side. Tony mourned its loss.

"Better?"

Nodding immediately, Tony felt the first strains of embarrassment and ducked his head to the floor.

"Better."

He looked up defensively.

"I'm not afraid or anything. I-"

"You're not?" Gibbs interrupted with an odd gentleness. "That's weird cos' I know I sure was the first time I got far enough on the wrong side of my Boss as a rookie to warrant the kind of… conversation… you and I are about to have."

Bewilderment bloomed in Tony's eyes.

"You were afraid?" he blurted out. "You?"

Gibbs, despite himself, chuckled at the complete astonishment in the kid's words.

"Yes, me. Look, let's just say my old Boss wasn't as much of a sweetheart as I am. You're very lucky with my easy-going temperament and laid-back leadership style you know. I wasn't so lucky so yeah, Tony, I was afraid. It's ok to be afraid, it's normal… this is gonna hurt. It's a punishment and one that I want you to remember so it has to hurt but… you need to know that I would never go too far. I know when enough is enough."

He hesitated for a second but trusted his gut.

"I think there may have been someone in your past that didn't know when enough was enough. I think there was someone who chose abuse instead of controlled discipline. That's not me, Tony. I will always know when enough is enough. I give you my word that I will always know. Do you believe me?"

The kid paled and looked at him with wide eyes.

"How… uhh… how did you know that? About my past, I mean."

Gibbs felt an impossible sadness inside him as he measured the impact Tony's past had on him today.

"I just know," he replied simply, in a much gentler tone than his usual gruff bark. "I can't tell you how I know, I just do. Or rather, my gut does. Not to mention the fact that someone isn't born being petrified of a switch, Tony. Someone has to make them terrified, right?"

The kid's eyes found the floor with a red tinge of embarrassment coating his face.

"Right," he mumbled. "But I don't wanna talk about that… please."

Gibbs nodded without hesitation.

"We don't have to but I do need to know you know I'm not him. Ok?"

Tony looked up at him with a clear nod and a wry smile on his face.

"Who said it was a him?"

Gibbs raised a brow with a sad smile in response.

"My gut and the only thing my gut gets wrong on a regular basis is my choice in ex-wives."

Tony's brows shot up.

"Ex-wives? Wives as in the plural of wife? As in more than one wife? You had more than one wife?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes and held up his hands in defence.

"That's a story for another day and more than one bottle of bourbon. Actually, that's a story for more than one bottle of bourbon and couple of beers such is the trauma of the many Mrs. Gibbs'. It's not a story for today."

Tony meowled in indignation.

"But this is prime gossip! I can't believe you managed to convince more than one woman to marry you and…"

His voice trailed off in horror as he realised what had just come out of his mouth. Outwardly, Gibbs' face was a mask of stern disapproval but inwardly his stomach rang with laughter. The kid had a damn good point after all.

"You don't think you're in enough trouble as it is, Tony?"

The kid nodded sheepishly.

"My bad, Boss."

Rolling his eyes, Gibbs scrubbed a hand across his eyes in a sudden bout of tiredness. It had been one hell of a long ass day and he was acutely aware it was far from over. His eyes moved to the sofa beside them and he raised a pointed brow.

"You ready to get this over and done with now?"

His voice wasn't demanding or curt like it so often was. It was a genuine question and he watched as Tony grappled with it, his mind working double time. The kid's eyes flickered to the arm of the sofa that seemed to await him like well-worn gallows and he saw him swallow tightly. He knew he was searching for the courage to answer him and waited patiently for the eventual response. He'd been there, done that and got the t-shirt. It wasn't an easy answer and he sure as hell wasn't going to rush it.

"Boss?"

Gibbs cocked his head to the side.

"Hmm?"

Tony looked at him uncertainly.

"By choosing this uhh… this off-the-record consequence this time, for my actions today… does that mean I have to accept the same kind of consequence every time I might happen to step out of line? Its just… I don't want to sign myself up for something I can't handle…"

Gibbs shook his head immediately and vigorously.

"Absolutely not. You will always have a choice with me, Tony. You want off-the-record consequences; I will provide them. You want on-the-record consequences, I will provide them. I will never force you to choose this type of punishment. Never. Doing that would be nothing short of abuse and I hope I have made it clear to you by now that I will not abuse you. Nor will I abuse my position with you. Do you understand?"

Relief flooded the kid's face.

"I understand. I… I'm ready to get this over and done with now, Boss."

Gibbs nodded and turned to the sofa. Picking up the two or three throw cushions near the top seat with his free hand, he threw them onto the nearby armchair so that Tony's torso would fit comfortably over the arm of the sofa. Stepping back, he tightened his grip on the belt still in his right hand and steeled himself to do what needed to be done.

"You can obviously yell or cry out as much as you like but you need to stay in position while I deal with you. You squirm out of position or try and block me I will add extra and you will not like it. Do I make myself clear?"

Gone was the gentle giant Gibbs and in his stead was strict but calm Gibbs.

Tony missed the former acutely as he nodded.

"Yes, Boss."

"Good," said Gibbs slowly. "Now, bend over the arm of that sofa. Keep your feet firmly on the floor and your arms at or in front of your head. Do it now."

The time for talking was up and Tony knew it. Feeling his heart begin to pound anew, he turned slowly to face the consequences for his own actions. Walking the two steps necessary, he was directly in front of the sofa's arm and with one deep breath he bent over it. His hips fit perfectly over the groove. Instinctively burying his face in the crook of his folded arms, he waited. He both heard and sensed Gibbs move into position behind him. Working hard to keep the terror of times past from swallowing him whole again, he desperately held on to the present. This was Gibbs. Not him. Gibbs wouldn't do to him what had already been done. He had given him his word and everyone knew Gibbs' word was his bond. Any residual doubts he may have had on that front were suddenly and completely erased when the man placed a warm hand on the small of his back.

He had never done that.

He hadn't ever liked to touch him.

Gibbs felt the belt slip in his hand a little and realised his palm was uncharacteristically clammy with sweat. He knew he was never going to enjoy doing what he was about to do but the vitriolic distaste in his throat for what he was about to do shocked him. He had disciplined his men in the Corps in this manner without fear or favour and didn't miss a beat or a wink of sleep about it.

This was different.

This was so different it astonished him. Reproaching himself with the fact that Tony had lived up to his part of the bargain he knew he had to live up to his. To make the kid wait any longer would be cruel. Although his hand on the small of the back before him was a restraining one he was glad of it. Glad of the connection. Gritting his teeth, he moved slightly to the side so that he had a wide swinging berth and tightened his grip on the doubled-up belt in his hand.

The first crack of the belt against the jeans-clad backside was deafening.

Tony's brain noted the sound and he somewhat bemusedly noted that the lick didn't hurt at all. A sliver of hope ignited that this wouldn't be so bad after all. That hope was swiftly extinguished when the sharp stripe of pain made its way from his prone backside to the pain receptors of his brain. He sucked in a shocked breath through clenched teeth. This was going to hurt. This was going to hurt a lot. Burying his head further into his arms, he resolved to stay still and stay silent.

He was going to fail in that resolution.

Gibbs hardened his heart and set to work in earnest. He was methodical and logical in all things and dishing out a tanning was no different. He worked from the top of Tony's behind to the bottom, encompassing his tender sit spots with expert aim. The licks landed with accuracy and speed. The room was silent save for the raining hail of lashes and Tony's answering yelps and hisses of pain. He squirmed slightly in an instinctive attempt to remove his backside from Gibbs' punishing aim but the man's hand on the small of his back kept him easily in place.

"Easy on the squirming, Tony," Gibbs said. "I'd hate to have to start this all over again."

The kid instantly stilled to a statue.

The pain in his backside was beyond intense. It was on fire. Gibbs didn't leave a single patch unattended to and consequently his whole ass felt the full force of the man's displeasure. He couldn't help but yowl when a particularly searing lick cracked down on the undercurve of his backside, glancing off his upper thighs. Gripping the soft material of the sofa in his hands, he fought hard to stay in position and take his punishment. It wasn't even over yet and it was as far from what he had been used to as was possible to be. Despite the unforgiving force and frequency with which Gibbs leathered his backside, there was no frenzy to his application. The man was calm, collected and in control.

He was safe.

He was hurting and hurting badly, but he was safe.

All of a sudden, the belt stilled and the room fell loudly silent. Tony drew a hitched breath and felt, to his horror, the faintest trace of tears in his eyes. The warm hand suddenly left the small of his back and that small patch of skin under his sweatshirt felt oddly cold as a result.

"Up you get, Tony."

Hissing when the movement added an extra helping of pain to his scorched behind, Tony slowly roused himself. Standing, he bit his lip to keep from letting profanity escape his lips as he felt the full intensity of his charred backside assail him. Offering a silently watching Gibbs a slightly wry and apologetic smile, he shrugged his shoulders somewhat and spoke in a somewhat strained voice.

"Well… that really hurt, Boss. But I promise I learned my lesson and I-"

Gibbs shook his head in interruption with a sceptical look on his face.

"Learned your lesson? Oh no you haven't, cos' I ain't finished teaching you your lesson."

Tony blinked, a terrible sense of foreboding blooming in his gut.

"Boss?"

Gibbs gestured with his free hand in a downwards motion.

"Take your jeans and shorts down to your knees and bend back over. You think you've learned your lesson, Tony? You just wait until I'm finished with your bare backside. Then you can tell me you've learned your lesson."

…

I am enjoy writing this far too much but feel free to let me have any (constructive!) criticism so that I can improve!

Inks x

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