Jimmy awoke to the feeling of warm sunlight on his face.
"Did I forget to close the curtains?" Palmer asked himself without opening his eyes. Raising himself on his elbows, he sighed softly. The realization of yesterday washed over him in a torrent along with a sore ass.
"Damn…" He was supposed to have a wonderful day off today after the exam, but that's not it.
Of course, the first thought was to quietly return to his apartment, but the young man quickly drove away this thought. He had enough problems already. So he decided to consult a more experienced person.
With trembling hands, he dialed a familiar number and pressed the phone to his ear, waiting to hear a gentle girl's voice.
"Abby's lab is on." He didn't have to wait long.
"Good morning, Abby," the boy greeted weakly.
"What happened?" her voice sharply acquired demanding notes, for some reason it reminded him of Gibbs.
"Why did you decide this?" Palmer smiled nervously.
"Your voice is not at all the same as usual, so tell me quickly what happened," the girl seemed to be jumping up and down with impatience.
"Well… I may have overdone it yesterday." On the other end, Abby held her breath in anticipation. Jimmy took a few deep breaths and continued, "Maybe yesterday, I ignored Dr. Mallard when he told me to come see him after the exams. Also, I may have turned off my phone. Gibbs caught me smoking a cigarette when I was trying to apply for my resignation without telling anyone" with each phrase his voice became quieter, until finally there was dead silence.
"What did you do?! Totally idiot?! Or are you suicidal?!" Abby screamed into the phone so loudly that the young man's ears rang.
"There's no need to yell like that, I know I screwed up," Palmer replied with slight annoyance.
"Very well, then deal with everything yourself."
"Wait! I'm sorry I was rude... Can we talk? I'm not quite sure what to do," the guy finally admitted, he really couldn't figure out what to do.
"Oh, Jimmy… wait a second… Tony wants to talk to you…" Jimmy was surprised by this statement, and he jerked to his feet.
"Not! Wait!" but it was too late.
"Don't yell like that, Gremlin." A familiar, annoying voice sounded right next to the young man's ear.
"If you want to gloat, I'll hang up."
"I'll have more time to tease you." For now, I'll just give you some advice. Try, at least once, to trust Ducky, maybe the result will surprise you.
"What does it mean?"
"You'll find out soon enough," his voice was distorted with barely contained derision, "see you later, Gremlin."
"It's me again. You should listen to Tony's words. Now it's time for both of us to work, otherwise we'll get into trouble too. Bye Jimmy, good luck to you."
"Bye, Abby," the pathologist's assistant sighed sadly.
"This day is going to be awful."
Stepping carefully on the wooden floor, Jimmy slipped out of the guest room. A pleasant smell came from the kitchen, but the young man did not dare to go down the stairs and cross the archway. He continued to stand, leaning on the railing and watching the entrance to his eventual death.
Probably, he would have stood like that forever, if not for the soft voice of his mentor:
"Come here, Jimmy," despite his tenderness, the young man did not doubt that this was an order, so he did not dare to disobey.
"Good morning, sir," Palmer greeted shyly, leaning against the doorway.
"Good morning, Jimmy," the man finished cooking and took off his plain white apron, "sit down at the table."
Jimmy nodded weakly. He couldn't help but groan softly as his sore ass touched the hard wooden surface. Immediately in front of him was a plate of breakfast.
"Don't you need to go to work?" Palmer asked with a quick glance at his watch.
"I asked for the rest of the day. Now eat. Today we have a lot of work," Jimmy had no choice but to start an omelet with cheese and tomatoes. They ate in silence, the young man trying to stretch the meal as long as he could, he did not want to face the consequences of yesterday's stormy night. But no matter how hard he tried, the plates quickly emptied, and a terrible command sounded:
"Go upstairs, Jimmy. As soon as I'm done here, we'll talk a little."
The boy's face turned pale, but he obeyed. From excitement, he shuffled back and forth around the room in anticipation of his death. He didn't have to wait too long.
"May I come in?"
"Of course," Ducky entered the room and carefully took the boy by the hand, gently pushing him onto the bed. Then the doctor moved the chair closer to where the child was sitting. Now they could look into each other's eyes. This terribly unnerved the younger man.
"We need to talk about yesterday."
"Did Agent Gibbs tell you everything?" The boy's eyes were filled with boundless sadness.
"Yes," the short word was enough to send goosebumps down the poor helper's back, "it reminded me that some time ago you lied to me about something."
At first, the young man did not quite understand what his mentor meant, but after a second, a terrible realization came to him.
"Oh, no." The boy had already forgotten what happened a few weeks ago. He also hoped that the doctor would forget about it. Although, apparently, luck was not on his side.
That day, he was quite stupid and presumptuous. Before work, Palmer smoked two cigarettes and completely forgot to hide the smell.
"Do you smoke, young man?" Dr. Mallard's soft but stern voice interrupted his thoughts. He hung his jacket on a hanger and shook his head quickly.
"No, sir," Jimmy blurted out, "I don't smoke."
"Then why do you smell like smoke?"
The guy thought for a second. He wasn't sure what kind of lie would work, so he chose the most banal: "I met my classmate today, we chatted a little after the exam." He cannot relax without cigarettes. I think the smoke soaked through my clothes while we were talking.
"I'm glad you don't smoke. Your friend has a very bad habit. Cigarettes are ..." the man talked for almost an hour about the dangers of cigarettes, but the boy did not listen to him at all. He was glad his little lie had worked.
In retrospect, this was initially a stupid idea. Now there was nothing he could do.
"I… I lied…" the young man lowered his head. He was so ashamed and embarrassed that he just wanted to sink through the ground.
"Glad you acknowledged it. Now tell me what happened yesterday? Look at me, okay?" Raising his head with difficulty, the young man began his story.
"I turned off my phone and ignored the calls. I was rude, I was late for work, I didn't listen and I didn't tell you anything."
"I'm glad we got this sorted out, now I have a very important question for you. Do you want to continue working with me?" Palmer jerked his head up, and for a second there was an oppressive silence in the room.
"I… I… I like working at NCIS. And I'm glad you're my mentor, but lately, I've been feeling left out. Tony always mocks me, we hardly spoke to Kate for several weeks, I'm even afraid to approach Agent Gibbs, and you only talk about your best assistant in the world," the young man was surprised at his words. He usually never told anyone about how he felt. The guy could chat endlessly, but at the same time not say anything really important. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled into an embrace.
"I'm sorry, Jimmy," a soft, soothing voice sounded right above Palmer's head, "I should have talked to you earlier."
"It's my own fault ... Oy!" a strong slap on the ass did not let him finish the phrase, he whimpered softly, but fell silent.
"Don't interrupt me, please, and I don't want to hear that anymore. We are both to blame for what happened. I also promise you that we will correct this misunderstanding."
"You know, you don't have to. I really understood everything," the boy pulled away and looked at the man with the saddest eyes.
"No chance, boy," the man gently pushed Jimmy back onto the bed, "Now let's talk about your punishment." What you did was stupid and irresponsible. I cannot ignore it. You are under house arrest until the end of the week.
"But I'm not a child," the young man muttered. The doctor ignored him and continued.
"You will also receive two spankings. Today and tomorrow. For being rude and lying and acting like an ill-mannered boy," Palmer groaned softly. He won't survive this week, that's for sure.
"Now that we're done with this, I want to end your lies," the medical examiner pulled Jimmy toward him. The young man tried to pull away, but it had no effect other than a few warning slaps.
"Stop it now, you knew what it would lead to," of course the guy knew, but that didn't make it any easier. In the blink of an eye, he was on his mentor's lap. The young man did not like this at all, but he had already resigned himself to his fate. Until his oversized pajama pants were far below their rightful place. Then he began to squirm like a fish thrown ashore.
"Sir, please…" whined the young man, his face burning, "I am not some boy."
"You have been a very naughty boy lately."
The first blow came quite unexpectedly. It was terribly painful considering that traces of the previous punishment were still visible. Jimmy whimpered softly and pulled a pillow over to hide his horribly red face. He couldn't imagine what was in store for him if spanking had already hurt so much. He didn't have to wait long, after a while his ass was enveloped in hellish flames, he could no longer hold back. Therefore, he began to scream softly, and then to cry into a soft cloth.
"Tell me why are you in this position?" Palmer hated that question more than anything.
"I lied…" he squeaked, his sore ass making it impossible to think straight, he couldn't even stop squirming.
"Okay, you won't lie to me anymore. We're almost done," came the ominous phrase. All movements of the young man ceased as soon as the cold piece of wood touched his burning bottom. Terrified, he turned around and saw a massive wooden comb in Dr. Mallard's hands.
The first blow fell on the left buttock, it really hurt. Not even a pillow could completely stifle his screams. The blows were powerful, much worse than just a hand, the guy was sure of it. It seemed to him that an eternity passed before the painful onslaught stopped. Now he was just sobbing quietly, feeling the man's hand slowly rub small circles on his back.
"Sorry…" The only thing Palmer managed to squeeze out of himself was that it was so quiet that the man could barely catch the voice of his subordinate.
"Shhh… It's all right now… Do you want to get up?" Receiving a weak nod, Ducky returned the boy's clothes to their rightful place and helped him up from his knees before hugging him. Jimmy was still sobbing, but a soothing hand on the back of his head helped him settle in quickly.
"That's not all," whispered Dr. Mallard. Big tearful eyes looked at him with the most pained expression, in the same second Ducky's heart was ready to burst into pieces, but he could not back down. It certainly wouldn't do his boy any good. It's a boy; he likes the way it sounds.
"Let's go," the mentor carefully led the boy out of the room and into the bathroom. There, in the drawer, he quickly opened a new bar of soap and put it under the running water. "Open it."
"Please, I really won't do that again.
"You need to remember that disobedience is followed by punishment. Besides, I don't want you to ever put cigarettes in your mouth again. I'm serious, young man, otherwise you will be very sorry, - the man gently pressed on the guy's jaw to force him to submit, - Five minutes.
The soap tasted disgusting, the young man had never faced such punishment before, but vowed to himself that he would avoid such things in the future.
"Don't sulk, boy." Ducky sat on the couch and Jimmy lay on his side, his feet resting on his mentor's lap. They were watching some kind of documentary about the pyramids of Egypt.
"I'm not sulking," the young man replied with mild irritation. He could not blow, after all he is a grown man. In addition, the disgusting taste of soap was still present in his mouth, he had every right to be angry. But he immediately regretted it. His feet were subjected to cruel tickling torture. "Enough, I'm not pouting anymore," the child squeaked, kicking his legs.
"Okay, it's time for me to cook dinner, can you handle it here?"
"Certainly."
After Dr. Mallard left him, Palmer did not even notice how he fell asleep soundly. Still, he needed some more rest after a too long week.