Gibbs had to take a few deep breaths before he could look at Abby without wanting to smack some sense into her. After this morning, he really thought that things were settled but now they just seemed so much worse. But it was his duty to see it through. He sensed that it would do both of them some good to run the 5 miles from NCIS headquarters to his house and get Abby's punishment miles out of the way for today and tomorrow morning.

"Abby, do you have anything suitable to wear for a run?"

"Huh?" She really wasn't expecting the question and said, "I have some sleep pants and a T-shirt I think."

"Okay. I'm going to escort you to your lab and you'll change into them."

"But why?"

"Because we are running back home."

Abby looked at him dumbfounded. She had kind of forgotten about her punishment miles and right now with everything hurting and no caf-pow it was the absolutely worst situation to go for a run.

"Gibbs, please. I'm exhausted and caffeine-deprived and everything hurts. I cannot run right now. And anyway isn't the distance to your house closer to 5 miles than 3?"

Trust his scientist to know everything.

"Punishments stand and are followed through with despite how you're feeling. They aren't something you do if and when you feel up to it. And yes the distance is 5 miles. I am being extremely generous by only adding 2 extra miles of running today and tomorrow for this stunt that you just pulled."

"But Ducky already punished me!"

"He punished you for trying to drink caf-pow and being disrespectful to him. I still need to deal with your disrespect to me."

Before she could argue anymore, he swatted her bottom, rather lightly but she still screamed, and he said, "Get moving."

Not seeing an alternative, Abby did as she was told but she was seething mentally. 'Who does he think he is? I'm done with listening to him. I apologised and have fairly made up for my comment about Kelly. So I'm done. I just have to figure out how to escape while still protecting my butt!'

Gibbs took Abby to the bullpen and asked Dinozzo to not let her out of his sight while he changed into his gym clothes. When he came back, the first thing he heard was "I'm sorry, Tony. I remember what it felt like when I didn't know if you were safe or not. I promise I'll take you along next time!" And he was shocked when Tony turned her sideways and gave her a smack. She glared at him, "Tony! I am in a world of pain right now." "Then learn your lesson. You are not a field agent. You do not go on field trips. It is too dangerous. Period." She wanted to say something scathing back but right now it felt like everyone was angry at her and she really needed her big brother's comfort so she just hugged Tony really hard and said, "Aye Aye captain." Gibbs couldn't help but smile seeing his 'kids'. Tony somehow was always able to make Abby feel better. He entered the bullpen in his signature sweep and went to his desk to gather his things and said, "Let's go Abs." Abby held Tony tighter and started crying again. Tony melted. He said, "Boss, I think Abby here has learnt her lesson and won't do something like this again. Can you go a little easier on her, please?" Seeing Abby cry broke Gibbs' heart but hearing Tony plead on her behalf made him feel like a complete monster. "No Dinozzo, I can't go easy on her. This is not the first time that she has done something dangerous because of disobeying orders and being wilful. Would you rather she be sore for a few days or that we lose her forever? This is a lesson that she needs to learn, whatever it takes." Tony couldn't argue with that and looked at his boss with apologetic eyes. Gibbs nodded and held Abby by her shoulders, turning her towards the elevator, "Come on, Abs." As they walked a couple of steps Tony suddenly said, "Gibbs, can I join you on the run too? I'll run right back and get my car. I planned to run 10 miles anyway." Gibbs knew that Tony would much rather run the 10 miles in the comfortable gym while watching some videos on his phone but if Tony's presence was going to make Abby easier to handle, he'd take it. "What do you say Abs?" "Don't want to run," she grumbled. Before Gibbs could react, Tony stepped forward, took her arm and started walking to the elevator saying, "When will you learn when to shut your mouth?" Gibbs decided to let it go for now.

The run started okay with Tony distracting Abby with stories and jokes and Gibbs following a step behind. Half a mile into the run, Gibbs realised that they were letting Abby pace the run but she had pretty much brought them to walking speed. In his marine voice he boomed, "Speed up!" Tony reacted instantaneously but Abby just stopped and held her knees. Gibbs stood in front of her, "Abs, move it." "No, Gibbs, I can't run anymore. I'm done." Tony circled back to them and tried to pull Abby along. "Abs we're almost there. You've got this." "No Tony, I know that we haven't even run a mile and everything hurts so much. I can't take this. I'm sorry but I'm not a field agent. I'm not expected to run." Gibbs heard his cue, "Finally you understand that you're not a field agent. But that's why you're only running 5 miles. If you were a field agent, you would run 10 regularly and closer to 20 for punishment. Now move." He swatted her bottom and Tony glared at him and pulled Abby more forcefully this time.

Abby started running, not much faster than before but at least she was running. But once they got close to a mile, Abby just sat down, in the middle of the sidewalk and then sprang back up as her bottom hurt on impact. Tony said, "Abby, are you okay?" "No Tony, I'm absolutely not." Gibbs had seen the antics and swatted her again, "Keep moving, Abs." Tony couldn't help saying, "she's trying her best. Will you stop swatting her?" And that earned him a swat too.

That was the last straw for Abby. She screamed, "Enough is enough, Gibbs. You can't do this. You're being an absolute brute. I get it that I assumed wrong that you care about me but you care about Tony right? Don't hit him!" Gibbs knew that Abby was just lashing out but it still hurt. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he said quietly, "Dinozzo, I really appreciate your gesture to join us but it's time for you to leave. Go back to NCIS, home, whatever. We'll see you tomorrow morning. Good NIght." "But boss…" "Son, I know you want to protect your sister but you don't need to protect her from me." Tony nodded, hugged Abby, turned around and started running, much faster than their current pace. When Abby tried to move towards the road, presumably to get a taxi, Gibbs said, "Abby, stop." What he was about to say was really harsh but it had to be said. "I know this is really hard for you but it is also a test for me to see whether you obey my orders even when it is really hard for you. If you don't, I cannot let you keep working on the case." Abby was shocked and hurt and frustrated. She made up her mind and just said, "Yes Sir!" and started running again. Gibbs hated being called sir and he could have easily caught up with Abby but he knew that Abby needed the anger to fuel her for the run so he remained two steps behind her and followed at her pace. When they reached 2 miles, Gibbs pulled out the small bottle of water he had carried in his jacket and offered it to Abby but she didn't stop or acknowledge him. Gibbs held her arm and brought her to a stop. She didn't want to talk to him or look at him so she just took the bottle, drank a few sips and said, "Maybe I resume my punishment sir?" Gibbs just nodded and followed along. The only breaks they took form the run were when Gibbs made Abby drink some water in between but still it took them almost 90 minutes to complete the 5 miles. And Aby was huffing and puffing and looked like she was about to collapse. But she had made it. She had run 5 miles for the first time in her life.

Gibbs decided this was worth commendation an dsaid, "Good job, Abs. Your first 5 miles. I'm proud of you." She didn't answer and when he tried to pull her into a hug she seethed, "Don't touch me." Gibbs sighed and just patted her back. "Okay Abs, go upstairs, soak in a warm bath. I'll call for food. After dinner, we'll take care of your spanking and then you can sit at the table and start working on your essay for Ducky till bedtime. Okay?" Abby wanted to scream, "Not okay, nothing is okay. I hate you." But she just said, "Yes sir." Gibbs hated being called sir even in normal circumstances so he tried to lighten the situation by saying, "Don't call me sir, I work for a living." "I'm sorry, yes Agent Gibbs." Somehow that stung even more than the Sir. Abby had never addressed him so formally. Suddenly, the crestfallen look on Ducky's face when Abby addressed him as Dr Mallar made complete sense. Before he could formulate a response, Abby had gone upstairs. Gibbs sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day and decided to get Abby's favourite food from that fancy soup place she kept raving about. He also ordered her favorite dessert in lieu of the banned caf-pows. He was certainly getting softer with punishments. As a child, when he was being punished, it would be the whole thing with no dessert. But he never wanted to risk Abby's relationship with him turning into the broken one he had with his own father. So we would keep doing the small things he could to show her how much he loved her.

After 30 minutes, Abby came down and Gibbs called out, "In the kitchen Abs!" He had spread out the food on the table, including the dessert. Right now if Abby said she was only going to eat dessert for dinner, he almost would have let her but she didn't even give it a second glance. She said, "Agent Gibbs, my stomach doesn't feel right. May I please eat some cereal?" Gibbs sighed, "No can do Abs, you need your energy. And the food is from your favourite place!" "Yes Agent Gibbs." "Will you stop that?" "What Agent Gibbs? Oh I'm sorry I meant Special Agent Gibbs." He rubbed his hand on his face. "You may take the food to the couch to eat. That might be a little easier on your backside." She struggled for a moment, almost refusing but then common sense won out and she said, "I'll do that. Thank you." No Agent Gibbs. That was some progress.

They ate the meal in silence. When he saw that her plate was empty, he said, "Give me your plate, Abs. I'll be back in a minute and we'll take care of your spanking." When he came back, he found her sobbing, trying to be quiet. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder which she shrugged away but he put it back and said, "Hey. You'll be okay, I promise." "Easy for you to say that!" when she realised that she had said that out loud she said, "I'm sorry Agent Gibbs, I didn't mean to say that out loud." It broke his heart to see her sob. And when she said in a quiet voice, "Can you please not spank me? Just tonight. I'm really sorry and really sore and I just want this day to end. Please Gibbs?" The 'Gibbs' was music to his ears but he hated that he couldn't give her what she wanted and make it all go away. He said, "I can imagine your bottom bust be really sore right now. I plan to only spank your thighs, I promise." "But that hurts, even worse." "If it didn't hurt, it wouldn't be much of a punishment right?" "Yes Sir." He felt about ready to pull his hair out.

But he gently moved her, and positioned her across his lap. He hated doing this but knew that he had to follow through. He didn't want to be doing this anytime soon and he absolutely couldn't lose another daughter, and certainly not to preventable, foolhardy stunts. With that resolve, he started spanking her thighs till they turned a bright read. Abby sobbed from the start and by the time he finished, she was sobbing, lying limply. When she didn't get up, he rubbed her back and said, "It's over Abs." She nodded and got up. He tried to pull her into a hug, she held his arms and moved them away from her, shaking her head 'no'. No angry retort, not even an angry shove. He was starting to get worried. She asked in a small voice, "May I be excused to my room?" He really wanted to say yes and put this awful day behind them but he found himself saying, "Sorry Abs, you need to work on that essay for Ducky. Let's say an hour. Then you can call it an early night. Okay?" "Yes, Special Agent Gibbs."

She went to the table. She tried to sit down but her knees wouldn't bend, anticipating the pain. She looked at him with so much pain and hurt and accusation, he had to swallow another lump in his throat then she shut her eyes and sat down, tears escaping her eyes in the process. Tears came to his eyes too and he started washing the dishes to hide them.

After an hour when Abby kept sniffling and neither could focus on what they were doing, Gibbs sighed with relief as he said, "That's enough for today. Time for bed, Abs." He didn't have the heart to check how much she had written. He went up to kiss her good night but sh eagain just shook her head no. He kept looking at her retreating form, climbing up the stairs.