^^^^NCIS^^^^

Tony was just finishing brushing his teeth by the time his father was tucking Tim into bed. His father must have decided that a night without a bath and brushing his teeth would be okay for Tim. He stood in the doorway and watched as his father gave his brother a kiss. Gibbs turned when he heard a noise by the door, and he ushered his son in.

Tony reluctantly walked over and placed a kiss on his younger brother's forehead, like he always did when he was younger. He then followed his father when the man grabbed his shoulder and led him out of Tim's room.

"Time for bed" Gibbs said softly as he closed Tim's door.

"I-I haven't eaten yet." Tony told his father sheepishly.

Gibbs could have kicked himself. Timmy shouldn't have taken the pain killers on an empty stomach, but he was not about to go wake him up.

"Sorry, Ace." Gibbs decided. "Let's go finish supper." He said before leading his oldest downstairs.

He indicated for Tony to sit down at the table as he prepared two plates of food to warm up in the microwave.

"Should I get the stuff from outside?" Tony asked quietly. He didn't really want to bring up any reminders from earlier, but he also knew it was going to come up no matter what.

"It can wait until tomorrow, Tony" Gibbs said, placing a plate in front of Tony.

But now Tony wasn't that hungry and he picked at his food.

"Come here, Tony" Gibbs ordered softly from his seat across from the boy. He scooted his chair back, to make room for Tony.

Tony reluctantly stood up from his chair and walked towards his dad, sure he was going to get punished now. But when he got within grabbing distance, he let out a surprised squeak when he was pulled to sit on his father's lap. He squirmed uncomfortably, not really comfortable with this level of intimacy.

"You can stop feeling guilty now, Tony" Gibbs told his oldest. Tony quickly looked up.

"Your prank was mean, but I know you didn't intend on hurting your brother" The man explained.

"But I did hurt him" Tony said guiltily. "I know how much he hates snakes, but I did it anyways" He explained further.

"Why?"

"I thought it would be funny" The boy grimaced.

"Was it?"

"Kinda." Tony grinned. "Until he tripped"

"Then how did you feel?" Gibbs inquired.

Tony hesitated before he answered. He thought back to what it was like to witness his brother trip, his eyes fill will tears and the blood. His face was ashen when he gave his answer, but he was sure to look his dad in the eyes to portray his sincerity.

"It was awful. I wanted to faint when I saw all the blood. It was even worse when he started to cry."

"Mmm. Next time you think of pulling a prank on your brother, I want you to remember that feeling. Because how scared you felt when Tim tripped, was probably how scared Tim was when you showed him that snake. And Tim didn't think it was funny."

Gibbs could see that Tony was taking his words seriously. Tears were rolling down the young boys face. Now that he had thoroughly chastened his oldest, it was time to build him back up.

"You were a very good brother though, when we needed you." Tony looked up at his father, clearly misbelieving. "You were strong for him while he was hurting and you followed my orders to call Ducky when even when you were scared." He explained.

"Thanks" Tony mumbled and squirmed. He loved when his father was proud of him, but he wasn't very good at accepting praise from him.

"Are you ready for your supper now?" Gibbs asked. He had said everything that needed to be said.

"That's it?" Tony asked incredulously. Sure, the prank was an accident, but he did not think he was going to get away scot free.

"Was there something else you wanted to talk about?" Gibbs asked, knowing where Tony was going with this.

"Well, no. But…"

"Yes?"

"I'm not in trouble?"

"Should you be?" Gibbs asked him curiously. He was willing to let this go as just an unfortunate mistake, but it appeared as though Tony was looking for a punishment.

"I didn't try to hurt Tim, but I did. And you are always telling me to be nicer to Tim."

Gibbs took this all into consideration. Here Tony was looking for a punishment to appease the guilt he was feeling. He thought of one that might be suitable.

"Okay. Ducky told us that Tim will need to take it easy the next couple days. That means bed rest tomorrow, which he is not going to like. And I need to go into the office for a couple hours. You can be his personal servant and make sure he is entertained."

Tony thought about that. He decided that he could manage that. It wasn't too harsh of a punishment, but he knew that keeping his brother entertained was a lot different than how he kept himself entertained. He would be playing a lot of board games and probably reading a lot. All in all though, hanging out with his brother wasn't a punishment. But he knew Tim would probably abuse the fact that Tony was going to have to fetch him everything.

"That's fair, I guess" Tony agreed.

"Now can we eat supper?"