Wahoo! I've had quite the day of posting - and it still isn't over! The celebration will continue with two more stories after this! (Ones that I adore, so I hope that you will all love them as much as I do!)
I couldn't have a major posting day without an update to "Echoes", my main NCIS story of the moment. So thanks to all the reviewers since last time - starie78, Troubled-Angel-26, DS2010, A, S, Ludy, KrisShannon, Fashionista-girl (two reviews on two different chapters! Yay!), and Fan!
Now, everyone, I hope that you enjoy!
...
Ziva had been enjoying spying on Gibbs and Jenny. From the frustration in their faces it was evident that they were talking about her. She watched for the frustration to turn to anger. Once that happened, she would be vindicated in running away. But instead, their faces softened. They looked sympathetic. Oh, she hated that expression!
Due to her surveillance, Ziva had seen Jenny spot her. The redhead moved off of the couch and headed toward the door.
Should I run? No, what is the point? Besides, Jenny can not climb this tree. I can stay here as long as I want without her actually being able to get to me.
She looked back toward the window. Gibbs had walked over to the window and was watching her carefully. He raised an eyebrow, a clear warning to obey. She looked away.
"Ziva David! Get down from there this instant!"
Ziva curled her legs up onto her branch and took another bite of her apple, ignoring Jenny. A glance at the window revealed that Gibbs was giving her the glare. She smiled. She was in control of the moment.
"Ziva!"
"Hello, Jenny," she said cheerfully. "The apples up here are very good. Would you like one?"
Jenny tightened her lips. Ziva recognized that as Jenny's "I'm-trying-to-keep-my-temper" face.
If I can only push her a little more then she' will lose her temper. And when she loses her temper, she will refuse to discipline me right away because she is always afraid that she will hurt me. Then I can go to bed before she calms down and she will not wake me up just to spank me. I am very clever!
Jenny began to speak again, but this time her voice was not just "controlled calm", it was deadly calm!
"Ziva, I think that it is unnecessary to tell you this, but you ARE going to get a spanking for breaking the rules and coming outside. That's breaking two rules - not going outside without permission, as well as directly disobeying when we told you earlier that you could not. Now, the only question is, do you want the spanking with my hand or with a wooden spoon? I am going to go back inside and go up to your room to wait for you. I will give you five minutes to decide. If you come back inside before the five minutes, you will only get my hand. After that ... well, I know you hate the wooden spoon but I will be forced to use it. In the meantime, enjoy your apples."
And then Jenny turned and walked away.
Ziva dropped the apple despondently as she heard the door close to the house. Her plan was falling apart. She saw Gibbs and Jenny talk for a moment, then Jenny went into the kitchen, then up the stairs. Ziva knew what she was holding.
The spoon always hurts so much worse than her hand!
Gibbs waved, then took a seat on the couch again. It looked like he turned on the television. Ziva bit her lip nervously. There was no justification for her to run away. There was only one choice left for her, and either way it was going to end with her over Jenny's lap getting a bedtime spanking.
Gibbs did not seem to be watching - although Ziva knew that he was. At least he was trying to give her some autonomy. And by Ziva's count, she had two minutes to get inside before Jenny would use that horrible cooking utensil on her bottom.
Sighing, she swung down from the tree.
...
Gibbs smiled from his post inside the house. He was not happy that Ziva was going to have to be disciplined, but at least she was going to accept it.
Unless she bolts between the tree and the front door!
He looked out the window again, hoping that he would not see her hopping the fence and disappearing. He was more relieved than he let on when the front door creaked open and a dejected Ziva stepped inside. Once she saw him she straightened and stiffened.
Why does she have such an aversion to appearing human?!
He could imagine Jenny quipping, And why do you?
"Jen's upstairs," he told the hesitating girl.
"I kn..." She cut her sassy words off abruptly. "Yes, sir," she amended meekly, taking off her shoes and then slowly heading upstairs.
At least that's an improvement.
He tried to turn back to his movie but it could not hold his interest, not when he was too concerned about what was going on upstairs. He shut off the television set and leaned back on the sofa, listening for any clue of what was happening.
...
Ziva hesitated in the hallway outside of her room. She did not want to go in there.
"Zi?"
Jenny's soft voice held no temper, no anger. Ziva slowly stepped around the corner, locking eyes with Jenny.
"Come here, Little One." Jenny held her arms open and Ziva shuffled toward her, finally leaning toward the waiting hug. Her rebellion melted. She felt sorry that she had been bad. Jenny kissed her cheek, whispering, "Good choice, darling. I'm glad that you came in within the time limit."
Jenny stroked Ziva's curls for a few minutes. Her fingers working through the tangled hair, gently massaging Ziva's scalp. It felt nice.
But the fresh sting in her bottom did not.
"Ow!" she protested the light swat.
"Ready to get this over with before you fall asleep?"
Stern Jenny was back. The spanking was imminent.
"No," Ziva whimpered. When it was just her and Jenny, she had no issues being ... not weak - no! never weak! - but slightly more "childlike" if it might help her keep out of trouble.
Ignoring her protests, Jenny gently pulled Ziva to her feet and positioned her in front of her lap.
"Why are you going to get this spanking, Ziva?"
The game is past, Ziva. Just take your punishment with as much dignity as you can find.
"I broke the rules and went outside."
Jenny nodded. She guided Ziva into position, kissed her cheek, then bent her over the waiting knee. Ziva immediately began to struggle a little.
"I'm glad that you listened and came inside." Jenny set a thick wooden spoon on the ground within Ziva's range of sight. "I would have hated having to use this on you."
Me too!
She stopped her squirming, remembering that this could be worse - much worse!
She felt Jenny's hands on her waistband.
"No, Jenny! No! No!"
"You know that with me, you get your spankings for being very naughty on your bare bottom. You have been pushing for this all day and you've earned it. Down they go."
And down they went. Ziva gulped at the feeling of the cool air on her very bare bottom.
"No!" she protested loudly, squirming.
"Goodness, Ziva, hold still. You haven't even been spanked yet."
"You are mean!" Ziva accused.
SWAT!
"Ow!" Ziva yelped.
SWAT!
SWAT!
SWAT!
SWAT!
Her sentiments were confirmed. Jenny WAS mean!
SWAT!
SWAT!
"Ouch!"
Ziva kicked a little.
Unlike Gibbs' deliberate spanks, each with significant weight and purpose, Jenny always gave her spanks like a pepper shaker. Light and scattered, each with just enough emphasis to keep her attention - but combined they created a very unpleasant experience!
SWAT!
SWAT!
SWAT! SWAT! SWAT!
"Stop!" Ziva protested. She could feel emotions building inside of her. If she did not end the spanking now, she would end up in tears! And that, even more than being given a pink bottom, would be humiliating.
SWAT!
"You don't get to decide," Jenny informed her. "Stop your wiggling. You're getting this, no matter how much you squirm."
SWAT! SWAT!
"You disobey rules, you have to accept the consequences!"
SWAT!
SWAT!
It was time to bargain.
"Please! I will not go outside - not tonight. Do not give me any more spanks!"
SWAT!
Ziva gritted her teeth. She could feel it building. She had to fight!
The swats were now beginning to really sting. Jenny often let her at least keep her panties up for part of the spanking. Right now Ziva was very much missing the thin barrier.
SWAT!
A harder spank right in the middle of the underside of her bottom did it. She burst into tears.
That was something that Ziva could never understand. She had been beaten without shedding a tear, yet every time Jenny spanked her she ended up sobbing out her heart. That was why she always pleaded and wiggled and kicked. She wanted to avoid the unfathomable embarrassment of tears.
SWAT! SWAT!
SWAT! SWAT!
Jenny focused the steady, deceptively light spanks on her sit spots. The increasing sting prevented her from being able to swallow back the next batch of sobs. Time for tactic two - moving to avoid the spanks, and also to distract herself from the fact that she was crying.
"Nooooo!" she wailed, thrashing back and forth.
"Stop that!" Jenny said in her "scary mommy" voice, swatting Ziva's thigh.
SWAT!
A blossom of sting burst out where the spank landed. "Ziva, when you struggle like that I could drop you! I'm disciplining you, not trying to seriously hurt you." She locked Ziva's legs with her own, then continued spanking.
The protests had failed. The escaping had failed. Now all that was left was to just let Jenny finish so that it would all be done. Long ago she had discovered that she could not zone out while Jenny spanked her. There was no relief except in knowing that it was almost done. But to make sure that Jenny knew that she was willing to stop the disobedience, if only to get the hard swats to end, she had to say the dreaded words. And another half dozen spanks loosened her tongue.
"I am sorry!"
"Hold still. We're almost done, Ziva. You're doing well," Jenny praised, pausing the swatting to pat Ziva's back. Ziva just let her head hang down as she cried, the tears wetting her entire face.
SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT! SWAT!
The six searing spanks finished off the spanking, but they were harder than any of the other spanks. Although she was now released, Ziva lay over Jenny's lap, crying and hiccuping as the pain lingered in her reddened posterior.
"Shh, shh, shhhhh," Jenny soothed, pulling up the now-hated underwear and pants. She shifted Ziva until the crying girl was cuddled against her. "It's all done. All done."
...
Gibbs breathed easier once the sharp sound of spanks stopped coming from the bedroom upstairs. He was confused at the sobs coming from his new daughter.
Jenny was right. That does sound dramatic.
Aside from his confusion at Ziva's reaction to what had sounded like a stinging but fairly light spanking, he was glad that it was over. He crept up the stairs noiselessly, wanting to be nearer the two women while still giving them their space. Now he could hear Ziva, no longer sobbing, still sniffling and hiccuping pitifully.
"Jethro, come in," Jenny called.
She always did know when I was around.
He went to the doorway and looked in at Jenny with her arms filled with their repentant and tear stained little ninja.
"How are you, Ziver?" he asked tenderly. But Ziva, seeing him, paled. She gulped back the whimpers, swiped away the tears, and scrambled away from Jenny in a clumsy but deliberate fashion.
Jenny tried talking to her. "Zi, it's okay to be hugged and ..."
"I apologize. Now can I please go to bed?" she asked with a flat voice, looking at some blank spot on the floor rather than focusing on either one of them.
"Zi..."
"I am tired. Please!"
Her voice bordered on a sob. Jenny exchanged a glance with Gibbs, then reluctantly stood.
"Yes, Little One. Do you want me to ..."
"Go! Please, just go!"
...
Ziva held her breath until she heard the tell-tale steps - five VERY long minutes later - of Gibbs and Jenny finally going downstairs. Then she buried her face in her pillow.
He saw me crying over a spanking from Jenny! Jenny does not even spank very hard! He will angry, thinking that I cried to try to get out of deserved punishment! He will be disgusted with how weak I am! He will be disappointed in me!
A bump in the pillow reminded her of something - rather, someone - but Ziva fought against the idea.
I do not need him to see me with that! That would only make him more upset!
But as he is not here right now, it would not hurt. I am already disgraced and humiliated. Maybe just a few minutes would help me calm down so that I can be in control of myself again?
Having justified it to herself, Ziva finally retrieved her teddy bear from her pillow case and climbed under the covers. She kicked off her pants once hidden away by the blankets, pulling her panties down on the back far enough so the fabric would no longer touch the stinging skin. Then she pulled a blanket over her head and finally hugged Peanut.
...
"Jethro, just ... hold me, please?"
The two older adults - both feeling MUCH older after the last half hour - sunk back down onto the couch.
"Why does she have to fight me so much?" Jenny whispered. "She could get away from me in a second if she really wanted to. I wouldn't stop her and she knows it. I tell her all the time that if she ever feels too overwhelmed by a spanking, tell me 'it is too much'. She never has. But she does that whole routine every time! And it is EXHAUSTING being the bad guy!"
"You're right. We need to sit down with Ducky and get him to explain what's going in her head," Gibbs said. "How early do you think he could make time to talk to us tomorrow?"
...
An hour passed and Ziva was beginning to drift into the realms of sleep. Her crying had tired her out, as well as the emotional upheaval. She had seen how upset Jenny was when she left the room. She had hurt Jenny by making her leave! But it had to be so. She could not let Gibbs see her be weak. She could not let him hate her. She was fairly certain that Jenny would not hate her for being touchy after a spanking - she had never been in the past. It was all about risk management. She had finally settled on that fact and curled up to fall asleep before she heard the footsteps outside of her room.
She froze. She could hear Jenny whisper, "I think she might be asleep."
Ziva began to fake sleep to the best of her ability.
"Are you sure? I don't want to startle her," she heard Gibbs whisper.
"I think it is fine. Can you pull down the blind? I'll adjust her blankets."
Ziva carefully sneaked Peanut down from her face to her chest so the bear would not be seen when the blankets moved. She heard the blinds quietly being pulled down, and felt the warm blanket be pulled down a little from her face to cover the rest of her as well. Jenny's hand ghosted across her face, pushing curls off of her cheek.
"I hated doing that, sweetheart. I hope you understand why I had to do it, or at trust that I did it for your good," Jenny whispered in the tones one would use with an actually sleeping person.
I must be faking very well.
A soft kiss rested on her cheek. "I love you so much. Sleep well."
"We love you, Ziver," Gibbs added gently. She felt a second kiss on the top of her head. Then the two parental figures left the room, leaving a well-chastised but also cherished girl to her dreams.
...
I hope that was worth the very long wait!
I have two stories left for the celebration. The next one will be a one-shot that is probably one of my top favourites of the day. To go with the fish theme from the earlier NCIS:LA story, "Small Fish in A Large Tank", this will be an NCIS one-shot by the strange name of "Peanut Butter Fish". If that title makes no sense and you are intrigued, keep your eyes open for it - as well as the last surprise story, which is something TOTALLY NEW! for me to be writing - during the next few hours as I finish up my posting for the day!
I love you readers and reviewers! You are the reason that I have been so encouraged to write and write and write for this website! It has been so awesome to connect with so many of you. I would encourage those of you who haven't tried the writing side yet, try it out. Watch an episode, think of an idea that you wish had been explored more, and then just aim for one or two hundred words at first. It is hard to keep an idea that small and suddenly - BOOM! - you're a 1,000 words (or 500, or 10,000!) in and you've got a story to share with the world. I highly doubt that you would regret the experience, even if you only try it once. :)
And now I will leave my customary ending - please remember to review! Thanks for reading!