His words lingered around the peripherals of her mind for what seemed like the very longest of times. Blinking slightly, she felt her lips move infinitesimally, tracing out the words "my way" in an attempt to understand the clear nuance. One, she was balefully unaware of, but her instincts told her it was not a new way on Team Gibbs, or anything remotely like it. Biting her lip, she felt resentment well up in her. A certainty dogged her, the certainty that if it were McGee or DiNozzo who had shown a bit of independence, they wouldn't be in this strange room getting a roasting. They'd get one of those pathetic "atta boys'" each one craved, which in and of itself was a new level of tragic.

"Need me to spread some illumination, Todd?"

She jerked out of her reverie too suddenly at his speech to even take a minute watch on her tongue.

"That's a bit of a big word for you, isn't it?"

His face tightened so fast and so hard she had a sudden fear for the safety of his skin. Her impertinence surprised even her, as she swallowed subtly. She always got verbally defensive when feeling in any way cornered, but she immediately regretted her words. Despite her frostiness in relation to the topic at hand, she had no desire to be obnoxious for the sake of it. She opened her mouth slowly, but he held up a stony hand in rejection.

"Silence."

She immediately, and to his intense relief, decided to heed him.

Gibbs took her compliance and put it to good use, struggling to control himself once more. On her worst day, Abby, whom he gave considerable licence, would never speak to him the way Kate did. He felt his brows knit almost painfully. Any sensible team-lead would simply boot her as far and as fast from their team as possible, and yet, he knew in his gut he wouldn't do so. Why, he didn't know. Perhaps it was the simple case of her being one of his people, and the Marine protection he felt towards her as a result. Perhaps, and it was a far more likely alternative than he cared to admit, but perhaps…it was because he cared about her. Why, he didn't know. She had given him nothing but lip and headaches since day one.

And yet, he knew in his gut, he cared.

The same way he had begun to care for Tony, Tim and Abby…it was there, for Kate.

Sighing, he instantly felt his headache begin to deepen at the realisation. Staring at her silently, he knew she regretted her latest bout of cheek, and that at least, was some relief. That she had some concept of herself and her flaws was something he could work with. As he continued to gaze upon her, he instinctively knew that she would be the most challenging work in progress he had ever encountered. Deciding once more upon his risky course of action, with the shimmering threat of a pink slip dancing on the hazy sidelines of his mind, he cleared his throat.

"You went to Catholic school, am I right?"

So surprised by the question, Kate didn't have the time to garner a smart response.

"Yes," she blurted out, "Why?"

Gibbs slowly shot her a look that would stop advancing armies in their tracks.

"Because I asked, Agent Todd, that's why. That's basically how the whole supervisory agent and field agent relationship works, in case you didn't know. I ask questions and you give answers. It's quite simple. You got that?"

Biting her tongue with a difficulty none of the other Team Gibbs members would feel, she nodded curtly. Settling his temper once more, images of bourbon and sanding belts were the only thing that kept Gibbs from completely losing his mind. Pinching his brow as he steadied himself, he wondered, and for the very first time, was it even worth it. Was it worth risking his career, like he did without question for the other three, on this insubordinate, defiant and smart mouthed new recruit?

He glanced at her and immediately saw the real fear behind the simply habitual anger in her eyes.

Sighing, he knew the answer.

It was worth it.

It was always worth it.

"Alright, listen up Kate," he mumbled tiredly, "I'm just going to come out and say this, because my patience is well and truly gone. You can have me fired, report me to your precious legal, or do whatever the hell you want when I say it. But until I'm done saying it, I don't want to hear your voice unless I ask you a direct question. Understood?"

The exasperated and acidic tone instantly got Kate's hackles right back up to mountain range levels.

"Is that a direct question?" she queried with sardonic sweetness, "I'm not sure my little brain can detect the difference between your statements and your questions. Must be a female thing, right?"

Gibbs didn't give a verbal answer, but even he couldn't quite hide the shock at her continued tone of contempt and her bullshit sense of gender inequality. Breathing in deeply, he reminded himself that he had never and nor would he ever kill someone under his command. But by all hell was he tempted in that moment, like he had never been before. This woman was causing him more ire than even Burley and DiNozzo put together, and that was quite the damned feat.

"One more outburst like that," he ground out chillingly, "And I will take your badge and gun for good."

He meant it.

He had to have a limit, a limit that went beyond his own methods, and she was pushing it.

Kate knew immediately that he spoke the truth, and she wisely took control of herself. She knew she was being unreasonable, she knew she was being obnoxious, and yet she couldn't quite seem to stop. She was so used to battling for her position in a male dominated sphere, that she viewed everyone with male organs as a threat, as an anchor, pulling her down. Biting her lip, she sweated slightly in the uncomfortable as all hell silence that he purposely allowed to spiral around them. Eventually deciding that her discomfort was at the right level, he eyed her sternly as he opened his mouth once more.

"On my team, I don't force people to sit on their butts behind a desk as punishment. I spent most of my life in the Corps, and I've seen first-hand the resentment and inefficiency of paper based discipline. I've also seen first-hand the benefits of a more…hands on approach. I both received and later used that technique in the Corps, before both receiving and using that method here, at NCIS."

He took a deep breath as she stared at him with confusion seeping through every facial pore.

He swallowed.

He always hated this conversation, the "first" conversation. It was always a killer.

"That method, Kate? It's an officially clean record, but an unofficially sore ass."

A brick wall of silence sprung up between them, as he watched her carefully. Her eyes widened, but not as wide as Tim's had. Her comprehension was quick, but not as quick as Tony's had been. Her inner battling was intense, but much more silent than Abby's had been. He didn't say anything as he trained his gaze on her, letting her come to her own conclusions. His heart, to his annoyance, pounded with nerves in his chest. His main point of terror being that she would think him abusive. Such a thought was so far from the truth but he realised it was perhaps a logical one to a newcomer.

"I don't understand?" she eventually muttered, her eyes down. "I don't understand what you mean."

He smiled almost sadly.

"Oh, I think you do Kate," he countered quietly, "But by all means, ask anything you want to."

She looked up at him, and he saw the beginnings of raw fire in her eyes. Her shoulders went rigid before him, and her face took on a combative hue. He saw her pick her words carefully, clearly sounding them out in her head before speaking them.

That was a pleasant change, at least.

"It sounds like," she hedged slowly, but with an undercurrent of ice, "You are telling me that you…routinely and secretly beat your agents?"

Gibbs inhaled slowly.

"No," he immediately corrected, "That is most certainly not what I am telling you."

She tilted her chin upwards defiantly, but felt an odd lack of shock within her. She was pretty sure she had understood him correctly. And yet, she didn't feel an implosion of horrified shock. She didn't feel a thunderbolt of confusion; it was as if she had almost expected something like that from him. Gibbs was old school; it didn't take a genius to see that. He had always worked, and continued to work, in a field dominated by rigid rules and chains of command, order and obedience. She was also under no illusions as to unorthodox practices in certain areas of the US army, particularly in the eighteen to thirty five categories of soldiers.

But NCIS wasn't the army, and she wasn't a soldier.

And he could go to hell.

A hell of unemployment and investigations, if what she assumed was true.

She would end him.

"I would rather have to spank, or whatever the hell you want to call it, one of my agents, than bury them Kate," Gibbs said softly, "That's what I'm telling you. I never have, and never will force anyone under my command to accept that kind of discipline. It is entirely the agent's choice. I use the methods I do, so I can keep my people both alive and in a job. Citations, reports and suspensions kill good agent's careers, and if I can avoid that, I will. Disrespect, insubordination and recklessness in the field can kill an agent period, and you better believe that I will do whatever it takes to avoid that."

He shrugged slightly.

"It's not something I do because I want to; it's something I do because sometimes I have to."

Kate stared at him silently, before shaking her head incredulously.

"You have to use a childish and illegal punishment with your team?"

Gibbs bristled.

"When they act like children, yes," he answered coolly, "As for the illegal part, I don't really give a damn about that. If it's illegal to keep my people in line and alive, then throw me in jail. If it's illegal to try and get through to someone before they get themselves and others killed, then throw me in jail. If offering someone I care about the option of temporary pain, over unemployment and a potentially unnecessary death is illegal, then throw me in jail."

He shrugged once more.

"I mean it, Kate. Regulations written by agents', who have never spent a day away from the comfort of their offices, don't mean much to me. This is the way I was taught, and it's the way I teach. I'm not in any way, shape or form trying to force you to do anything you do not want to. I'm merely presenting you with your options, and hoping that you're not too pigheaded to cut your nose off to spite my face."

He looked at her with an expression she couldn't quite decipher, and sighed.

"You are the most stubborn, rude and downright egotistical agent I have ever had. And before you let me know, believe me, I'm aware I have an ego of my own. I'm not perfect, and I don't pretend to be. And I used to be a little like you, Kate. An agent with too much to prove, and a completely ill-placed sense of immortality. Trust me, Agent Todd, a bullet doesn't care if you used to protect the president or if you scrubbed floors your whole life. A bullet is a bullet, and it'll go through your skull the same as if you never held a gun yourself. I've seen good people die because of their own crap Kate, and I'll be damned if I'll let that happen to you without trying my best get through to you."

He paused for breath, startled by the unusual degree of openness he was sharing.

"Like I said, the balls in your court now. I've said what I have to say, and told you what I had to tell you. You want to go out that door and up those stairs to Morrow or legal, I'm sure as hell not going to stop you. I've given you your options, and it's up to you to make your decision. You either take a suspension, which is generous considering your general conduct, or you take…my way. Your record stays clean, it stays between us, and we move on."

He fell abruptly silent then, parched from his unusually long bout of speech.

Kate's mind was whirring uncomfortably. She expected to feel an outraged bout of fury, and she did, but not to the degree she anticipated. Try as she might, she couldn't find the deception in his words. Her experience and instincts as a profiler let her know that he meant what he said. That he did what he did for his people, and not because he was sick, or abusive. That he was old school, and saw the virtues in old school methods. She bit her lip as his statement of caring for his people beat its way around her mind. She'd never really had a boss who gave a damn about her, or others, to any great degree.

In the SS, it was almost anticipated and an honour to give your life for the detail. Yet, apparently at NCIS, it was different. There wasn't the same degree of morbidity, there wasn't the same rotating door of supervisors. It was always just Gibbs, Gibbs and his stupid rules that drove her insane. But it was always him nonetheless, routine, stable. She cursed herself as she realised she had grown unconsciously attached to that stability, the routine. Something she had never had in previous employments or relationships with colleagues.

She chewed her lip as another realisation hit hard.

Something she had been trying to place her finger on, but had always fallen short from.

This team, wasn't a normal team.

It was the most screwed up, dysfunctional and downright mental family she had ever come across.

And apparently, in an even more screwed up way, she was now a part of it.

She swallowed hard.

That as it may be, she couldn't allow herself to be be…spanked, by a man who she had visualised killing more than once. A strong Catholic background and schooling had left her more accustomed to the whole concept of corporal punishment than most, so it wasn't that aspect she found galling. Penance and absolution was par for the course where she was from. It was the idea of allowing a grown man to beat her grown ass. She felt her head shake firmly as a late anger suddenly surged within her. Throwing aside the ridiculous sentimentality that had engulfed her, she cursed herself. She wasn't a simpering, delicate flower that needed the firm hand of a man to guide her to safety. She was an accomplished, successful and downright impressive woman that didn't need that kind of crap.

Not from anyone.

Especially not from the self satisfied Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"If you touch me, I will break several of your bones," she hissed, "You got that?"

Gibbs nodded immediately, but with an appreciable dash of sadness. "I would never lay a hand on you without your permission Kate," he answered softly, "That's not who I am. That's not what I'm about, or what I train my people to be about." He shrugged lightly. "If that's your decision, then we need to address your conduct on the record." Taking a breath, he steeled himself to do something he had never once done before. "Give me your badge and your gun. You're suspended for two weeks, without pay. When you return, I'll have made a decision about whether you will return to duty on my team or if it would be best that you transfer to a different unit."

He stifled a sigh of sadness and held out his hand.

"Badge and gun then, Agent Todd, right now."

The air became decidedly hard to digest as Kate looked at Gibbs' outstretched hand in alarm. The idea of shedding her gun and badge was abhorrent, as to was the idea of transferring to another team. Though she'd rather die than admit it, she was finally happy where she was. She sure as hell didn't want a suspension on her record either, she had always, rather anally maintained a perfect federal jacket. Swallowing, she shook her head faintly.

"Gibbs…c'mon, please…."

He threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Kate, what the hell do you want from me?" the team-lead demanded through gritted teeth. "You want me to continue allowing your backchat, to both Tony and myself? You want me to continue wondering if you will or won't be in the mood to follow my orders? You want me to continue allowing you to set that kind of example to McGee?" He shook his head firmly. "Well, it's not happening. I'm not that guy, Kate. I don't know what kind of boss' you've had in the past, because clearly they let you have a ridiculous free rein. It's not going to continue here madam, no matter who you used to protect."

He held out his hand even further.

"So, badge and gun. I won't ask again."

She stared at the hand once more, as leaden dread coated her stomach. Inspiration, cruel and crude stuck her, as she battled with herself. Before she could convince herself to the contrary, her mouth outran her brain, and her words seemed to scorch into the very fibre of the room.

"I could have you fired and investigated, for what you've just told me. Do you realise that?"

But for his years of experience in keeping an expressionless face, the hurt that punched through Gibbs' gut would have been laid bare for all to see. As it was, he swallowed down the irritating emotion and nodded coldly.

"I am aware of that, Kate," he agreed icily, "And once you give me your badge and your gun, you are more than welcome to do just that. I won't hide anything that I've just told you from top brass, you have my word. But you will remove those items before you do, because for now, you are no longer an active NCIS agent, under my supervision or otherwise."

She felt her eyes grow wide as regret coursed through her, but she too, kept it from her face.

"You do this to DiNozzo, McGee and Abby?" she demanded desperately, "Threaten to fire them for every little thing unless they submit to your nineteenth century practices?"

Gibbs felt his gut clench with irritation.

"I will not discuss issues between Tony and I, Abby and I or Tim and I with you," he replied, "In the same way I would never discuss issues between you and I with them. If you want to ask them, and if they want to tell you, then that's fine. Otherwise, that topic is off limits. Whatever you may think about me, I'm not quite that bad." Feeling every single one of his years on the planet, he held out his hand for what felt like the hundredth time. "Now, I'm pretty sure I'm speaking English here. I want your gun, and I want your badge. I want them now, and I do not want to ask again."

Kate, to her intense disgust, felt sheer and utter upset course through her.

"I don't want to be suspended," she muttered quietly, her eyes on the ground. "I can't…"

Gibbs shrugged, apparently unaffected, though in reality he was deeply affected.

"People generally don't want to be suspended, Kate. It's sort of the point I think, though I'm not an expert on the matter. I've never suspended anyone before."

Her eyes snapped up.

"You haven't?"

He nodded slowly, before answering in a tone that reeked of the sadness and failure he was feeling.

"Guess there's a first time for everything, unfortunately."

Kate stared incredulously for a moment, before swallowing hard. Running a hand through her hair, she groaned internally. She couldn't be spanked by him, it would go against everything she stood for. She didn't need a boorish, however well intentioned, man to set her straight. She could see the light of her own errors, without the light of a sore ass to guide her. Remembering suddenly the way Gibbs was with Abby, she stared at him with a resurgence of her defiance and anger burning in her eyes. Before she could fully think through what she was about to say, desperation caused it to burst from her like a waterfall.

"You'd really strike a woman?"

Gibbs felt his mouth drop open at the sheer hypocrisy. Here she stood, the most ferocious and downright overzealous proponent of equal gender treatment he'd ever met…

Playing the "woman card."

Anger bubbled in him as he began to find his voice. About to demand her gun and badge once more before having her thrown from the building, he caught himself.

Initiative struck him like a bulldozer.

Folding his arms across his chest, and leaning back down upon the table, he thought furiously. Her already quickened pulse raced into overdrive as a strange smile slowly crossed his face. Deciding on a more circuitous, but ultimately more fruitful lesson, he nodded apologetically. Her eyebrows were in danger of disappearing entirely into her hairline as he appeared suddenly and utterly remorseful. Rubbing a hand across his face in apparent chagrin, his clearing of the throat also carried an alarming sense of regret.

"You're right, Kate," he said quietly, his voice actually dripping with sorrow, "Forgive me, I don't know what I was thinking." He crossed the room all of a sudden, sending dizziness coursing through the junior agent as he opened the door wide. "We'll come to some other arrangement," he continued apologetically, "Forget about the suspension and my suggestion. I'll think of something more befitting an agent such as yourself, and get back to you. As for now, you're free to get back to work."

He held the door open further, smiling a terrifyingly gentle smile at a stuck-to-the-spot with shock Caitlin Todd.

"Off you go then."

…..

A/N: Don't worry, Kate's still going to get her comeuppance. But, with Kate being Kate, it could never be straightforward.

A/N2: In relation to the coarse language bit, I agree in hindsight. I guess I'm too used to writing Tony/Gibbs, Tim/Gibbs at times. Changed, and thanks!

_Inks

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