Disclaimer - I do not own NCIS.

A/N - You may have noticed the warning on the summary. You've been suitably warned.

Tim McGee groaned drowsily as the pounding in his head continued. It was only after a few minutes that he realised that it wasn't his head that was the cause of the thumping noise.

"McGee!"

The door of his hotel room continued to be pounded hard, and eventually, he recognised Abby's raised whisper.

"McGee! Open up!"

Blinking hard through his still sleepy eyes, he opened the door. He was immediately forced back against the wall, as Abby and Ziva stormed into the room.

"What happened at the bar last night?" Abby asked, as she shook Tony from his sleep.

"ON IT BOSS!" he barked, as he stood bolt upright. He ran his hands over his face, as he realised, Gibbs wasn't there. The wake up call had come from Abby.

"G'mornin' Abby. Ziva," he slurred in reply, and then excused himself to go to the bathroom.

Abby looked wide eyed at Tim.

"Come on! Tell us what happened last night?"

He swallowed hard and grimaced as he recalled the whole scene. With a groan, he flopped back down on the bed and held is head in his hands, unable to speak. Tony came out of the bathroom and Abby smacked him upside the head.

"Oowch! What was that for?"

"I swear to God, if you don't tell me what happened last night!" she squeaked with growing frustration.

Tony rubbed the back of his neck,

"We got into a fight last night at the bar. We got arrested and ended up in New Scotland Yard. Then, when Gibbs came to bail us out, he got arrested too, for being one fist away from assaulting the Chief Inspector. Fornell called the Director, who called the American Embassy, who sent someone to get us released and smooth things over with the Met Police."

In the space of a few seconds, he had stunned the room into silence. Ziva placed a gentle hand on his cheek,

"And we thought we got the worse deal last night."

"What do you mean, what happened to you guys?" he frowned with concern.

Abby put her arms around his waist and pouted.

"Gibbs caught Ziva and I coming in from the Ghost Tour, which was totally excellent, and he, uh, decided to, uh. You know when he really gets mad, and his entire body goes through that weird metamorphosis and thinks it's back in the Corps? And he does that thing where he straightens his back, and twists his neck a little, and that little part on his brow starts to move down towards his nose, and his eyes get that 'killer' look, and you think he's gonna somehow magically produce a ka-bar and slap you silly with it?

They all nodded.

"Yeah, well, he went all 'Crazy Gunny' and he punished us for not being reachable."

Tony hissed in sympathy and Tim snapped his head up.

"What did he do?"

She looked at him with wide eyes, glassy with tears as she recalled Gibb's punishment.

"The worse thing imaginable, Tony. He was really mad!"

Tim stood and faced Ziva, "Come on, tell us! What did he do?" he asked.

Ziva inhaled and folded her arms, "Gibbs is sending us home early. We're leaving this afternoon, and, let's put it this way, it will be a very uncomfortable journey for Abby and I."

Tony winced, "He, uh, you know. Like he normally does?"

Abby shook her head from side to side, "Worse Tony! He's making us fly back coach! He's downgrading us from the business class fight and making us sit in the cheap seats."

Tony gave a small chuckle, "If I were you, I'd think that would be getting off damn easy, by Gibbs standards. At least you'll still be able to sit!"

His face slowly fell into a frown and he looked sympathetically at Tim, "I can't see us getting of that easy McGee, huh?"

Tim slowly shook his head from side to side and shuddered, "There's more chance of me hitting a home run at baseball."

Abby stuck out her bottom lip in sympathy and then hugged him hard.

"Okay, Gibbs said he'd meet us in the lobby at 0800 guys. You better hurry and get ready."

Just before 0800, Tim and Tony made their way to the elevator heading for the hotel lobby. As the doors swished open they could see Gibbs, Abby and Ziva waiting for them. They approached silently, unable to look Gibbs in the eye.

He stood staring at them for a moment, before he quietly issued his orders.

"The kid from the American Embassy informed me last night that we're under strict orders from the Director to, I quote, 'get our assess back to DC asap', so I'd say she's more than a little pissed off about what happened. We're all going home on the flight at thirteen hundred hours. After breakfast we gather our gear and meet again in the lobby."

He then turned his attention to Tony and Tim,

"Until we get back to the Navy Yard, you two will stick to me like glue. You will walk, where I walk. You will sit, when I sit. You will go to the head, when I go to the head. I do not want either of you out of my sight."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice,

"And when we get back, we are going to discuss in detail, your behaviour last night."

Both Tony and Tim gulped and gently nodded their heads in acceptance of their fate.

Abby bit her bottom lip, trying to keep her words in her mouth. However, she failed, miserably,

"Where were you yesterday, oh, great one?"

He raised his eyebrow in response, "I was networking with Fornell and then trying to get hold of my team!" he snapped.

"Aren't you gonna tell us what you got arrested for?"

He looked at her dangerously, angry that she was pushing him,

"You're in enough trouble Abby. Don't go there. Not today," he growled.

Fornell and Sacks appeared from the elevator and joined them.

"Tobias," Gibbs said with a hint of a smirk, as he nodded to acknowledge his presence.

"Gibbs," Fornell replied, as he too, smirked in mutual understanding.

"The Embassy car will be here in an hour to transport us back to the airport."

Fornell nodded. Behind him, Sacks let out an audible sigh.

"I think Sacks has seen more than enough of London than he would care for. Isn't that right, Agent Sacks?"

"Uh...yes, sir," Sacks replied sheepishly. Behaving more humbly in front of his boss, it was clear that Sacks had obviously been punished.

Fornell and Gibbs exchanged steely glances. Gibbs inhaled and hesitated slightly before questioning further,

"Did you, uh, take that advice I gave you Tobias?"

The older FBI agent grinned, recalling the earlier advice he'd been given, to offer Sacks an alternative to the official sanctions that he had lined up for him.

"Sacks here wasn't really entirely keen on accepting your novel approach Jethro. So, he's gonna be denied all overtime working for the next month, restricted to desk duty for two weeks and doing Probie tasks until I decide he's learnt a valuable lesson, in conduct befitting an FBI agent."

Sacks couldn't look the team in the eye and stood with his head directed to the floor. Fornell folded his arms and frowned in his direction as he continued,

"However, he steps out of line within the next month, I may decide not to offer him the choice after all, and go straight for that alternative!"

Sacks immediately snapped his head up and his eyes widened as he gulped,

"B...boss! You can't! You said...." he began to protest, his mouth flapping in dismay.

Fornell raised a warning finger and Sacks quickly snapped his mouth shut and began staring at the floor once more.

Despite hating his guts for getting him into more trouble than he'd ever imagined, Tony DiNozzo found a shred of sympathy for the young FBI agent. He glanced over to Tim and sighed. There was an unspoken acknowledgement between them, that there wasn't a hope in hell, that they would heading for the luxury of desk duty or Probie tasks, where Gibbs was in charge of punishment.

They all headed into the breakfast area and silently ate before returning to their rooms to gather their gear. Gibbs accompanied Tony and Tim to their room and they silently packed up their belongings. They then waited patiently outside Gibbs' door as he quickly fixed his small carry on bag.

Soon, they were all waiting in the lobby, for their car from the Embassy. Gibbs eventually broke the silence.

"I'm going to the head. You two, with me!"

Tony rolled his eyes indignantly, "Come on boss, this is crazy! It's not as if we're gonna go anywhere! We don't need to hold your hand. I mean, uh, we don't need to go with you. In fact we don't need to go at all. It's probably best if we stay here. I mean, it's gonna look pretty hinky if we go with you, and don't do anything, right Probie?"

As he spluttered through his protest, he looked to McGee for support.

"I actually need to go. Sorry."

Gibbs beckoned Tony with his finger.

"You still racking up disobeying orders when you're already in a whole heap of trouble DiNozzo?"

Tony gave a resigned sigh and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"No boss! On your six boss," he said dejectedly.

The journey to the airport was tense and the silence almost unbearable. After checking in for their flight, they realised that everyone would be travelling back on an economy ticket as the only seats available. Tony and Abby sat together in the departure lounge and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"It's going to be a long seven hours Tony. I just want to get home now. I'm not having fun here any more."

Tony gave a small nervous chuckle, "It's not exactly gonna be fun when we do get home. I think we are all in the firing line for this one, including Gibbs."

"I haven't done anything!" she pouted.

With a grin, Tony raised his eyebrow, "Well apart from breaking rule three. You know, if I hadn't gotten you to cancel that order for your new mass spec, then you would be joining McGee, Ziva and I for a little conference room tour!"

Abby smiled with relief. Suddenly she paled as the recollection of what she'd done, back at the exhibition, entered her head. The revelation hit her, in the pit of her stomach.

"T...Tony?" her voice wavered.

His brow furrowed with concern, "What's wrong Abbs?"

She held her forehead with both hands, "I didn't cancel the order!" she whimpered.

His face fell and his eyes went wide, "You wh...what?" he spluttered.

She sat up in her chair and began wringing her hands,

"I didn't cancel it, I thought I would do it today. I just wanted to have it a little longer! You don't think they'll put the order through that quickly? Do you? I didn't mean to order it, it's just that it was so cool and the guy asked me for all the details and before I knew it I was signing things. And it looked so new and shiny and I couldn't wait to take a picture of it back in my lab, and I didn't think about the money and......"

She threw her arms around Tony's neck and sniffled,

"I don't want to go home!" she whined.

Tony hugged her hard for a few moments, before he lifted her gently and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm sure they won't have processed the order that quickly Abby. Don't worry. As soon as we get back to DC, you can clear everything with Accounting and the company. I'm sure it'll be fine."

She smiled at him sweetly, with complete and utter trust in his sincerity that everything would be okay, before slumping back in her chair.

"Did I tell you about the Ghost Tour?" she whispered as she snuggled into his shoulder once more.

Jethro Gibbs wandered to the window of the departure lounge, out of earshot, but with the team still in his vision. He dialled a number on his cell phone.

"You still extremely pissed off with me, or just slightly mad?"

Jennifer Shepherd sat up, straight as a poker, in her seat and inhaled deeply. She deliberately let the silence drift towards awkwardness before finally responding,

"I want you, and the rest of the team, to report to my office as soon as you land in DC. I'll be waiting here for you."

"Oh. From your tone, I assume I was right the first time. Jen, I can explain..." Gibbs started.

"What have you done or said to the team?" she snapped.

He closed his eyes momentarily and sighed. Dealing with Jen when she was in full 'Director' mode really tried his patience. He knew he was in trouble, but he sure as hell didn't need his former Probie rubbing his nose in that fact with her attitude.

"I'll deal with each of them when I get back," he growled, "I may be a bastard Jen, but I'm not a sadist making them sit through a seven hour flight after I'm through with them!"

"Fine! After I get to chew them out, you can deal with them in whatever way you want. And then....."

She relied on that awkward silence, once more, to dominate the conversation,

"...and then Agent Gibbs, you and I will be having a full and frank discussion on appropriate team leader behaviour. Let me make it clear, Special Agent, that the standards by which you discipline your team, damned well apply to you too."

Gibbs huffed with anger, "Dammit Jen, I was the one protecting the team!" he snarled.

"Save your schoolboy excuses Jethro! It didn't work for you in the fifth grade or when you were in the Corps or when you were Mike Franks' Probie. And it sure has hell won't work now, the situation you're in!" she spat before slamming her phone down on him.

He snapped his cell phone shut and thumped the window ledge hard. At least he had seven hours to decide what the hell to do with his team and how to make his former Probie see some sense. His anger dissipated and he smiled as he gazed through the window. He found it particularly amusing that Jen even came close to thinking that he would willingly 'assume the position' for her, as he had done on numerous occasions with Mike Franks. He snickered quietly as he rechecked his watch, counting the time remaining till they boarded and whispered,

"Not a hope in hell Jen. Not a hope in hell!"

To be continued...