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Thanks to fiftyshadeswritergal for helping me edit, and thanks to the following people for reviews: Fashionista-girl, Fan, DS2010, fiftyshadeswritergal, KrisShannon, Hippiechic81, Ludy, Queenofwheels, and Troubled-Angel-26. :)
Enjoy!
...
It was the now tri-daily battle in the Gibbs house.
Ziva narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.
"No!"
Gibbs narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms as well.
"Yes. Kitchen. NOW."
Ziva's jaw tightened.
"I do not want to eat."
"Too bad. Get in there, sit down, and eat what's on your plate."
Ziva's eyes flashed fire but her stomach grumbled at that inopportune moment, greatly weakening her argument. Gibbs raised an eyebrow at her. A light blush lit up her face.
I wish that ... I wish that ... I hate this.
"Fine!" she snapped, stomping over to the table, throwing herself into a chair, and clattering the dishes. Her glass splashed water across half the table. Gibbs stayed in the living room with his back to her as he slowly let out a deep breath. He turned and deliberately walked over to his own seat.
"Clean up the spilled water."
Ziva stayed stiff. She slapped a napkin down on the splashed liquid, avoiding eye contact the whole time.
I hate this water. I hate this table. I hate being told to eat. I hate being told to sleep. I hate being confused and angry and tired and ... No! I do not feel those emotions! That is not me!
What is happening to me?!
"This is getting old very quickly," Gibbs said quietly, sternly.
"Yes," Ziva grumbled pointedly. "I will not take it longer than I need to do so," she added under her breath.
Gibbs ignored her words, instead giving her a helping of salad.
...
"How's it going with her?" Jenny asked over the phone.
Gibbs checked behind himself, to make sure that Ziva truly had gone upstairs to her room, before allowing himself to grimace. "There will need to be some rules that an be enforced if we are to get along without either of us being killed."
"Oh, that sounds just lovely," Jenny laughed. "But most definitely like the both of you. Do you need me to step in and help?"
"Nope. She needs to learn to listen," Gibbs said quietly.
"She listens to me," Jenny offered.
"Really?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.
"Sometimes," Jenny replied. Gibbs could hear the smile in her voice. "Ah, are you ready for the fight that will come after you lay out the rules?"
"She's trying to fight it now, before they are even in place. Might as well be fighting for a purpose."
Jenny chuckled. "She is so stubborn, Jethro."
Gibbs smiled. "I think that I can be her match - at least if you side with me."
"The 'parents being on the same page' spiel?"
"Call it whatever you like."
Jenny groaned. "Jethro, are you really prepared for this? Once you set the rules, you will have to be consistent - no matter what - if you want any good to come of it. Otherwise, you will be putting yourself into a position where your word means nothing to her."
"I know."
"And?"
"I'm ready."
Jenny sighed again. "I'll be over. I think that we probably should have the rest of this conversation face to face."
...
While Gibbs was waiting for Jenny to arrive, Ziva hurried down the stairs and walked to the door.
"Hold on. Where are you going?" Gibbs asked, stepping out in front of her. He noticed the startle, atypical to her regular stoicism.
"Out."
She said it with enough sass to try to appear confident, but the note of uncertainty rang out from underneath.
"You do not leave the house."
Ziva tilted her chin up a few millimeters, enough for Gibbs to notice. "Or what?"
There it was - the push that Gibbs had known was coming.
"Sit," he said softly, gesturing to the nearby sofa.
Ziva ignored his gesture.
"I want to go out jogging."
"Nope. We're going to have a talk about rules."
"I know your rules."
"Sit down," he repeated. "You're going to learn a few new ones."
Ziva folded her arms tightly in a front of defiance, but Gibbs noticed how she gripped her arms lightly to prevent them from shaking and giving away her nervousness.
"They cannot be that special," she shrugged nonchalantly.
"Oh, yes, they can. Because these rules have consequences when broken."
"What kind of consequences?"
"That's up to you."
...
"But you cannot be serious!" Ziva protested half an hour later. "I cannot stay in this house and listen to you like ... like a child to its ... its ... I cannot and will not do it!"
"Then you can go get treatment at a facility that can ensure that you will be able to fight back whatever demons are haunting you."
"I will not go to any facility!"
"You won't have a choice. Remember what Jen, Duck, and I told you when you came here? Either you listen or your going to be handed over to other doctors."
"I hate doctors!"
Gibbs ignored her interjection. "You're a liason with NCIS, and right now you are on sick leave until your mental state is more stable. You don't have many choices and we are never going to just give up on you."
"You ... you should! I mean, you are not responsible ... I do not want your help!" Ziva shouted, her emotions spiraling out of control. Gibbs took it all in stride.
"Well, you're getting it, Little One."
She froze for a second at the affection placed into the nickname. Gibbs nodded at the sheet of paper in front of her.
"You agreed that each was reasonable."
"But I do not want to follow them!"
"Do you want to leave, Ziva?"
Ziva's eyes widened as she hastily spat out, "No!"
"Then this is your choice." He sat down across from her and held out his hand to her. Ziva watched his warily for a moment before letting him take her petite one between his calloused fingertips.
"I want you to stay, Ziver, but it's your choice."
Ziva blinked back several frustrated tears. How many times she had wished to hear those words from someone else's lips. She needed to distract herself from that thought.
"But if I break the rules, what are you going to do? Head slap me?"
"Again, your choice."
"What are you saying? I would choose my own punishment?"
"Not exactly, but you and I will agree on a list of consequences that fit the action. When you break a rule, you'll receive that consequence."
Ziva settled into her seat a little more. Her eyes relayed her curiousity.
"What kind of consequences?"
"Typical. Grounding. Lost privileges."
"Isn't that how things are already?" Ziva grumbled.
Gibbs tapped her list.
"Read number five again."
"Control my attitude," Ziva replied, head down and subdued.
"Good girl," he said gently, praising the self-control. He moved on to avoid embarrassing her. "Oh, trust me, I could ground you or remove privileges. You WOULD notice a difference, believe it or not."
Ziva's eye roll indicated that she did not believe it and that she still was not in control of her attitude. It took all of Gibbs' strength to control his temper as he continued.
"Those would be rather restrictive right now, at least at 'full strength'. I usually use them moderately in conjunction with something else that's a little faster, although more intense at the moment."
"What?"
"A good old-fashioned spanking."
Ziva's big eyes nearly doubled.
"A ... spanking?"
"You know that I use it with the others."
"But ... but ... you could not spank ME!"
The side of Gibbs' mouth quirked up. "Why not?" he asked.
"You just ... you ... you ...!"
"I use spankings with all of the other team members. Generally they prefer it to being grounded. But we'll use whatever method you feel most comfortable with. I don't want to do anything that could scare you."
Gibbs' coffee maker beeped, taking his attention off of Ziva for a moment, so he missed the flash across her face that would have revealed that, even though she was uncomfortable with the idea of being spanked by Gibbs, she would not refuse due to a fear that she was weaker than her teammates. But there was one last evasive maneouver left in her toolbox.
"Oh, I could take any spanking, but Jenny will not let you," she said with confidence. At least it was an attempt at confidence.
Jenny spanks me - and it stings! - but she would never let him spank me - would she?
Gibbs' chuckle was not any comfort.
"She'll be over in a few minutes. Ask her then."
Ziva's hope wavered, but she shrugged and declared, "I will."
"Good."
"Good."
I hope.
...
"Not allow him to spank you?!" Jenny asked with a gentle smile. "You silly girl. I spank you. Why would I not let Gibbs do the same?"
Ziva's confused expression nearly had the two older agents laughing, but they remained stoic for her sake. It would be hard enough for her to accept rules without them showing any amusement at her reactions.
"Gibbs, let's run through a situation. How would you deal with a young agent who risked her life carelessly while undercover in a volatile situation?"
"Get a wooden spoon and spank some sense into her," Gibbs replied immediately with a small smirk.
Ziva's eyes grew big and she jumped to her feet, cheeks flushing furiously.
"You told him!" she gasped indignantly, stepping angrily toward Jenny. "You told him!"
"Oh, so that's how you dealt with her?" Gibbs asked from his relaxed seat on the sofa. Ziva swung around.
"You already knew because she told you! She told you what she did on my eighteenth birthday!"
"She told me that she spanked you, but not how," Gibbs replied.
Ziva glared thunderbolts and disbelief.
"How do you think I learned how to respond to disobedient agents?" Jenny asked, quirking her eyebrow.
Ziva stared at Jenny for a moment, then looked at Gibbs, then back at Jenny.
"He ...?"
"Yes. And that's one reason I brought you here - for you to learn, not just from me, but from Jethro as well." Jenny motioned for Ziva to sit down.
"You, young lady, are not going to win when you keep fighting us, so you might as well settle down and start learning."
Ziva tried to fight Jenny's gaze, but it was doomed to be unsuccessful from the beginning. She dropped down on the couch and glared distastefully at the list of rules.
"Ready to talk about the consequences then?"
Ziva shrugged helplessly.
"We might as well if it means so much to you."
Twin glares made her shrink down in her seat. She would bide her time. She had no intentions of listening to those rules.
And she would never let them catch her.
...
Uh oh! What will happen next? Any guesses?
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