A/N: In this AU, Senior Officers of the Watch are allowed to marry and have children. Also, Jon is a Stark. Jon and Ygritte cannot have children of their own, so they have adopted two children; Olly and Gared.
Gared Stark was used to the taunts from other teenagers within Castle Black. He was the eldest adopted son of the Lord Commander. Many of the other boys took great joy in reminding Gared of his status; that he was not Jon Stark's natural son.
Gared could withstand those japes; what the 13-year-old could not resist, however, was the slander directed at the honor of his parents and his younger brother, Olly. That was when Gared's fists came out.
Most of Gared's fights were small dust-ups, scuffles that left no damage on himself or his opponent. So far, Gared managed to escape with a scolding and confinement to his room for the remainder of the day.
Today, however, was a whole different story. Gared was leaving his sword practice with Olly when they were cornered by one of Gared's training mates; a burly 15-year-old boy named Slynt.
"Well, if it isn't the two little rejects," Slynt taunted, moving to block the siblings' path. Sensing a possible fight, Gared gently positioned Olly so that his 12-year-old brother was out of harm's way.
"What's the matter, whelp?" Slynt asked. "Going to cry to your worthless father?"
"Out of our way, Slynt," Gared demanded. "I don't want to fight you."
"Ah, I know where you're going," Slynt continued. "You're going to find that wildling bitch mother of yours. That's all she is anyway, you bastard father's whore-"
His vision clouded with red, Gared reached over and grabbed a sword from the training rack. The teen charged at his opponent with a scream, his steel meeting Slynt's weapon.
The two boys attacked each other with frenzied blows, each trying to outdo the other. Through the rushing in his ears, Gared could hear his little brother screaming for him to stop. However, Gared was deaf to his brother's pleading; he only had one thing on his mind, making Slynt pay.
The reckless battle stopped abruptly when both boys were yanked apart and roughly thrown to the ground.
"What in Seven Fucking Hells do you boys think that you are doing?!" the voice of their weapon's master, "Frostfinger," roared out.
Jon Stark was reading over some paperwork when the door to his office flew open, and Frostfinger, the recruit training master, entered, dragging Gared and another boy with him. Olly was following meekly behind
"Shit," Jon thought, "What has Gared gotten into this time?"
"Found these two in the courtyard fightin' with live steel," Frostfinger said by way of greeting. "Your younger one was the only one to have his wits about him, kept screaming for them to stop."
"'Thought I'd bring your boys to you before I deal with Slynt here," Frostfinger continued.
Jon nodded his thanks to his subordinate. The Lord Commander kept silent, not trusting himself to speak for the rage that bubbled up in his chest.
Jon took a few deep, calming breaths before moving to kneel in front of Olly. His youngest was wide-eyed and trembling; dried tear tracks lined his face.
"Olly, I need you to go to our quarters and find mother," Jon commanded gently. "Can you do that for me?"
Olly nodded before running off to obey his father's command.
Now that they were alone, Jon rounded on his eldest.
"And I want you to sit over there and keep your mouth shut until I am calm enough to deal with you," he ordered Gared in a deathly quiet voice, pointing to bench in the corner of the room.
"Father," Gared ventured only to be met with a stinging smack across the mouth.
"I told you to sit down and shut up!" Jon roared. "You will obey me unless you want a thrashing now on top of what you have coming."
For the next few hours, the room was quiet except for Gared's occasional hiccups and cries.
Every so often, the boy would venture a glance at his father, only to be met with stony silence.
As evening settled over Castle Black, Jon finished reading over his last report and filed it away. He was calm now. Calm enough to deal with Gared.
"Gared, come here," Jon ordered, adjusting his chair so that he could face his errant son.
Gared obeyed, walking over to stand in front of his father.
Jon drew the boy to stand between his legs and took Gared's arms in a gentle but firm grip.
"Do you understand why I am so angry with you?" The Lord Commander asked.
Gared looked down and fidgeted nervously in his father's grasp.
"Gared Benjen Stark, when I ask a question, I expect an answer," Jon scolded, putting a stop to the teen's stalling.
"'Cause I got into a fight," Gared answered.
"The fact that you got into a fight is of least concern to me right now," Jon responded. "I am enraged that you handled a sword in anger and without any supervision! In front of your little brother no less! What kind of example do you think that is setting for Olly, eh?"
Gared just shrugged dismissively, causing his father's eyes to flare with anger.
"Well, I tried to talk to you as the young man that I thought you were," Jon said, his voice laced with disappointment. "However, your little display this morning and your current attitude tell me that you do not respect the privileges and independence afforded to a young man in training with The Watch."
Gared's head shot up at that statement.
"Father please-" he tried, letting out a yelp at a stinging swat to his backside.
"You had a chance for us to talk," Jon scolded, reaching a hand up to grip his defiant son's chin. "You squandered that chance. So, this is what is going to happen; I am going to treat you like the disobedient and impulsive child that you have shown me you are."
Gared continued to stare at his father in disbelief.
"First off, you have earned yourself a spanking for your recklessness today. You knew that all of the equipment was off-limits without Frostfinger, Pyp, or Grenn to supervise ya," Jon continued. He paused for a moment to let his words sink in before explaining the entirety of the punishment to his son.
"On that note, since you obviously cannot be left unattended; you will remain at mine or your mother's side for the foreseeable future. You will be required to ask permission to leave our side for anything, and if we feel that you cannot be trusted, someone will accompany you. Lastly, I have decided that you will no longer conduct night rounds on top of the wall with me. There are too many ways for a reckless little boy to get himself hurt up there."
"Father!" Gared whined. "This is a child's punishment!"
"Exactly why it is fitting based on how you acted today!" Jon replied in a raised voice. "You are treading on very thin ice, Gared Stark," he warned. "I was going to spank you every night for the next week but thought better of it. Believe me, however, if you don't stop this fussing at once, I will go with my original plan. You have certainly earned it."
A tense silence fell over the room as father and son took a moment to process all that was said.
Finally, Jon broke the quiet with a sigh.
"Alright, son, let's get this unpleasantness out of the way," he commanded matter-of-factly. "Britches and small clothes down. Over my knee."
Gared struggled in his father's arms before freeing himself and bolting towards the door.
"Gared, if you don't do as I say, you won't like the consequences," Jon warned, quickly catching his son around the waist and carrying the rebellious child back towards his desk.
The commander set the boy back on his feet and locked his arms about Gared's middle in an attempt to hold him still.
Gared continued to struggle, even going so far as to bite at his father. There was no way in seven hells that he was going to submit to his punishment meekly.
"Ah!" Jon yelled, feeling a sharp set of teeth sink into his hand. Fueled by pain and adrenaline, his hand shot out, and he swatted Gared's backside with all of his strength, effectively stunning to boy into submission for a few moments. Jon used this advantage and reached out to roughly strip the errant boy of his pants and underclothes. "I hope that was worth it to you, Gared, as you just added on to your punishment," Jon scolded.
"Now, You have until the count of three to obey me, or I make good on my original threat!"
Whether his father's threat had finally registered or Gared was just tiring; the boy obeyed.
The spanking seemed to drag on forever.
As it was his son's first real spanking, Jon was planning on solely using his hand. But it soon became apparent that he would need a firmer way to drive the message home, as Gared was simply too focused on evading the punishment and fighting his father's hold. So, near the end of the spanking, Jon picked up a discarded strap of leather and brought it down harshly against Gared's bottom. The boy let out a scream and threw his hand back in a feeble attempt to protect his backside. Jon paid the evasion no mind, merely bringing the strap down on Gared's hand until the teen had the good sense to move it away.
"You. Do. Not. Play. With. Swords!" The Lord Commander scolded; punctuating each word with a swat of the strap. "If I ever see or hear that you have put yourself in danger like you did today; I can guarantee sitting comfortably be a distant memory. Am. I. Clear?!"
"Y-yes, sir!" Gared wailed, unconsciously taking on a wildling accent in his distress. "Yer clear. Yer clear! No swords! Ah, swear it!"
Convinced that his son was adequately chastised, Jon allowed the boy to stand up. He placed the strap to the side and turned to comfort Gared.
But, to Jon's heartbreak and dismay, Gared was having none of it. Instead, the boy finished replacing his britches and turned to flee to the safety of his room.
Gared squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face against Ghost's belly, trying to stifle his sobs as he heard footsteps approaching his room. His backside was throbbing from the earlier spanking, and his chest was aching from hours of crying.
He kept his back turned and pretended to be asleep as the door to his room opened, and someone moved to sit on the edge of the bed.
A large, warm hand came to rest on Gared's back. It was his father.
"I am so sorry that I had to punish you today, son," Jon murmured. He knew that Gared wasn't genuinely asleep, but he'd play along with the charade if that was what the boy wanted. "I hope that we can put this behind us now and start anew tomorrow."
Gared fought the urge to leap into his father's arms; only the embarrassment of his earlier punishment prevented the boy from doing so.
"I love you so much, my precious son," Jon continued, leaning down to press a kiss to Gared's head. "Goodnight, little wolf. Have a good sleep," with that Jon moved to stand up.
No longer able to keep silent, Gared turned onto his other side. The boy let out a miserable keen as his hand shot out to grab his father's.
"Don' go!" Gared begged, panic seizing him. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Papa! Please don' leave me!"
"Hey now," Jon soothed, sitting back down on the bed. "I'm right here, son. I'm right here."
Gared appeared not to have heard him, and it was clear that the boy was having a full-blown panic attack. He was fighting between breathing and sobbing; face bright red as his chest heaved, and his lips began to take on a bluish tinge.
"Gared? Hey Gared, I need you to try and breathe for me," Jon instructed, hefting the boy into his lap.
Cradling his son as if he were no more than a babe, Jon made a fist and rubbed it firmly over Gared's sternum; hoping that the external stimuli would help to break the boy's cycle of panic. Ghost had hopped off the bed and was now pawing nervously at his master's leg.
"Alright, this isn't working," Jon muttered to himself as he stood up with Gared in his arms.
The Lord Commander intended to open one of the windows in the hope that the cold air would help to calm his troubled child.
However, as he began to make his way over to the window, Jon caught site of an old rocking chair sitting in the corner.
He moved to sit in the chair instead, using one foot to push against the floor to rock them. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
As he rocked Gared, Jon adjusted on of his hands so that he could gently pat the boy's bottom in a soothing rhythm. All of these factors helped to settle the teen, and he soon lay spent in his father's arms; his small chest jumped with occasional hiccups, but Gared was calm.
Jon waited a while longer before a draft passed through the room, causing both occupants to shudder.
"Stay?" Gared asked hesitantly as Jon stood up to find another blanket.
"Not goin' anywhere," the Lord Commander promised as he lay the teen down before swaddling him in two extra blankets for warmth.
Once he had Gared warm and secure, Jon stripped off his sword belt, cloak, and leather jerkin; leaving him in a soft tunic and pants. The young father then joined his son on the bed with the understanding that he would be spending the night there.
Jon barely had time to get settled before Gared moved to tuck himself against his father's side.
The boy took up a loose grip on his father's tunic, worrying the material between his fingers. Gared's free hand clenched and unclenched as he was pulled closer and closer to sleep.
Those actions, coupled with the small sounds that the boy made as he settled, caused Jon's heart to warm with paternal affection for his eldest.
"Gared might be three and ten; nearing a man grown, but underneath all his posturing, he is still just a child," Jon thought. "I often seem to forget that."
The sound of the bedroom door opening drew Jon out of his thoughts. Looking over, the Lord Commander met the gaze of his wife, Ygritte.
"Shh," Jon greeted, indicating to the sleeping boy at his side. "I just got him to sleep."
Ygritte smiled in understanding as she walked over to sit next to her husband.
"Yer sleepin' 'ere tonight, I'm guessing?" Ygritte asked.
"I think that I should," Jon answered. "This whole incident has taken its toll on Gared. He just spent the last hour and a half begging me not to leave him. I fear that if he wakes up alone, he'll panic again and hurt himself.
Ygritte just nodded solemnly.
"Well, I'm just glad that you got things sorted with him. I don't know how much longer I would've been able to deal with that wounded look in his eyes. Gods, I know he deserved that smacking, but I didn't think it'd be so hard to see the aftermath."
That said, she leaned over to kiss her husband before reaching a hand out to stroke her son's hair. Gared stirred slightly but did not wake.
"I'll look in on Olly again before I settle in for th' night," Ygritte promised as she stood up and began to make her way out of the room. "You two get some sleep."
"We will," Jon promised.
Sharing one more loving glance with her husband, Ygritte turned and quietly closed the door.
Jon adjusted his hold on Gared and closed his eyes before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.