Disclaimer - I do not own NCIS.

A/N (1) - This is the concluding chapter, in what has been my longest story (so far). I don't know about Gibbs and the team, but I'm a bit shattered after their journey. LOL!

I'd like to just to thank everyone for all of the reviews and support that they've given me. I might have thrown in the towel at numerous points in this story, but your reviews really spurred me on to write it to its conclusion. A big thank you, to all of you, especially those who have PM'd me, to keep me going!

I sincerely hope that you like the conclusion to the story

Take care,

Paperhat ;0)

A/N (2) - WARNING! This chapter contains spanking! Please click the back button now if you've got a problem reading this. STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER. NOW!

He thrust the door open heavily and waltzed in, taking a sip of his hot coffee, before taking up position in front of Jen's desk. As he moved the cup from his mouth slowly, he then checked his watch and then smiled with sweetly at Jen.

"Yeeeah?" he drawled flippantly.

"Close the door Jethro."

"Nah, I'm not planning on staying. This won't take long," he responded quietly as he took another sip of coffee, and remained in front of her desk.

She pursed her lips tight. His blasé attitude immediately raised her hackles, but she willed herself to calm down and take a breath. She needed to hang on to the fact that it was her name on the door. Not his.

"What have you got to say for yourself?"

He stood for a few moments, as though deep in thought, and then grinned wickedly, his eyes sparkling at the sight of Jen squirming,

"I didn't think I knew that much about DNA, but you know, I actually do."

"Excuse me?" she replied raising both eyebrows at his response.

"We, uh, did one of those seminar things. It was reasonably interesting."

She could feel her stomach tense with anger,

"I am not talking about the content of the damned conference Jethro, I'm talking about you going AWOL with Fornell and knocking back caffeine, while your team was running riot in the streets of London!"

"Was it Fornell who told you where we were?" he frowned.

She huffed, closed her eyes and gripped the bridge of her nose.

"Okay Jethro, let me communicate this to you, in words even a Marine would understand."

He shoved one hand in his pocket and smirked,

"My radar's fully operative Jen," he said, taking another long sip of coffee.

"Fornell told me everything. However, I want a reason from you, why you think it is acceptable to leave your team unsupervised and spend an entire afternoon in Starbucks, when you should have been attending the seminars which this Agency booked and paid for. Furthermore, I'd really welcome your insight into why you think it is okay to assault a law enforcement officer resulting in me having to bail your ass out of a cell?"

Her slow, calm deliberate voice had increased in pitch, till she was practically squealing.

"After all, it's not like I didn't warn you Jethro, to keep yourself and your team out of trouble!"

He stood silently, letting his grin respond.

"WELL?" she barked.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want an explanation Jethro! I need to understand why you screwed up, before we move on to consequences! You know the drill! It was you invented it for crying out loud! You screw up, you admit what you did and then you take the consequences and then its over and done. No paperwork, no recriminations! Just good old fashioned discipline!"

He laughed out loud, "You seriously think I'm gonna let you whip me Jen?"

"No."

He snapped his head back, flabbergasted at her response, not entirely believing what he'd heard.

"What?"

It was her turn to chuckle. She leaned back in her chair.

"Come on Jethro, I wouldn't humiliate you like that. Having your Probie take a belt to your backside? I don't think so!"

He finished his coffee, his anger and tiredness beginning to wilt the care-free attitude which he intended to put on display for Jen. He took a few steps around her desk and hurled the empty coffee cup into her trash can.

"Then what the hell was that, 'whatever applies to your team, applies to you' crap that you gave me earlier? Hell, I've got DiNozzo, telling me to keep my belt off for you!"

"I meant what I said!" Jen snapped.

He snapped. Driven by total confusion.

"Oh for the love of God Jen, I wish you'd make up your damned mind. Okay, I went for a coffee with Fornell. It's not a big deal. And if you want me to apologise for trying to make that stupid son of a bitch see sense, when he had my team locked up for no damned reason, then you're in for a long wait. But whatever's on your mind Director, I wish you would just get it off your damned chest, so I can get the hell out of here, get some sleep and put this nightmare behind me."

His voice had reached 'Gunny extremely pissed off' volume and his face was increasingly reddening as his anger reached fever pitch,

"If you think, I'm gonna stand here and listen...."

WHACK!

His neck jolted forward violently at the force of the blow on the back of his head. As the stinging pain penetrated his skull, he immediately recognised the aroma of stale cigarettes which tingled his nostrils. In an instant Jethro Gibb's stomach lurched into his throat and he spun around in shock.

"MIKE?"

He gasped at the scowling figure in front of him.

"Wh...what the hell you doing here?"

"Act like a Probie and get treated like one Jethro!" Jen's voice snarled behind him.

His face contorted with a mixture of confusion and disbelief, "What?"

"You heard me. As you were flying back, I contacted Mike and told him the whole story. I decided to use my initiative Jethro, and get some of advice on how I should handle this."

She smiled and nodded to Mike, acknowledging his arrival before she continued,

"Well, first of all he advised me to haul your ass to the SecNav and let him deal with you. However, he decided that if you think it's acceptable to go AWOL, leaving your team behind to screw up, then you've obviously forgotten a few of the lessons that both he and the Corps taught you!"

Gibbs heart was pounding. The look on Mike's face was one that he'd seen all too often. He swallowed hard, denial still overpowering his voice.

"This is ridiculous," he growled as he turned towards the door, intent on leaving.

Mike Franks stood tall, blocking his path. He looked at Gibbs straight in the eye,

"I haven't seen that attitude in a long while Jethro. If I had any doubt, that Jenny here, needed me to sort you out boy, then you've just confirmed it. I see we really do need to have a conversation."

Gibbs eyes widened, recalling instantly, how a 'conversation' with Mike, didn't involve many words, just a whole lot of actions.

"Mike...."

The former agent raised his hand to silence him and he did so instantly.

"Director, I don't think Jethro will be repeating his poor lack of judgement again. And I'm pretty sure that he regrets his actions. Isn't that right Gunny?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes to the ceiling defiantly, an action which caused him to miss the hand which swiftly collided with the back of his head once more.

He hissed at the sharp slap to his head and then scowled at Jen,

"Yeah," he responded quietly, his voice laced with contempt.

Mike raised his hand once more, with a warning glare,

"Yes, Director," he corrected himself as he glanced warily at Mike.

Mike smiled, and nodded.

"I think it's time you lent us your office Director. I'd like to go over a few of those obviously forgotten lessons with Jethro, if you don't mind."

Jennifer Shepherd rose with smug assurance from her chair, and headed towards the door, before leaving she turned back,

"I'm giving the team permission to leave Agent Gibbs, you are also dismissed after you have, shall we say, been taught your lesson."

He clenched his teeth with anger. Only the presence of his mentor ensured complete silence on his part.

With Jen departing Mike Franks walked slowly to the door and closed it quietly before turning the lock. As he turned, his hands slipped to his waist and he locked eyes on his former Probie. The former marine instinctively took a couple of steps back in retreat.

"You've gotta be kidding boss," he whispered in protest.

In the bullpen, the team, including Abby, were hanging around, waiting for Gibbs to return. With the exception of McGee, each was standing around, opting to leave sitting for just a little while longer. The bounding footsteps of the Director descending the staircase drew their eyes towards her.

"I'm sure that Gibbs has dealt with each of you. You all have my permission to leave. I will expect each of you at your desks tomorrow."

She waited, expecting them to begin to gather their gear and depart. However, she then recalled Gibbs insistence on the chain of command and reluctantly accepted that there was no way they would go, without Gibbs giving them permission. Sensing that her orders would be ignored, she flapped her mouth, wordlessly, huffed loudly and then headed back up the stairs.

"I'll be in MTAC if anyone wants me!" she snapped.

"Where's Gibbs?" Tony whispered.

Gibbs finally yelped, totally and utterly defeated. He'd lost count of the number of times Mike had brought his belt down across his backside. It had felt like an eternity as he had furiously gone through the whole gamut of emotions from denial, fear, guilt and then finally acceptance of his mentors' discipline. Just as he thought that it would never stop, he couldn't help but rest his forehead on the table and hiss loudly at each blistering stroke that was delivered to his rear end.

Finally, thankfully, Mike judged he was done.

"Up you get Probie," Mike said gently.

He took a few seconds to comply, as he tried to regulate his breathing and slowly stood, wincing with discomfort. His eyes were transfixed on Mike as he replaced his belt back into the loops of his pants.

"You know that saying, Probie, 'bout not being able to teach an old dog new tricks? Well it's a pile of bull! Listen good devil dog. You'll never be in a position where you're too old to get a reminder of the lessons you've picked up over the years. You're far too good a Marine and an agent for you to think that you can do whatever the hell you please. Are we clear?"

He nodded in response, unable to form any words, just yet.

Mike raised an eyebrow, uncannily in Gibbs fashion, demanding a verbal response.

"Yes, Mike," he responded huskily.

Mike put his arm around Gibb's neck and beamed,

"Come on Gunny, let's get those kids of yours sent home, you sure look like you could spend a few hours in the rack."

Gibbs walked stiffly with Mike towards the door.

"Can I ask you one question Mike?"

Mike nodded in agreement,

"When did you realise I'd make a good team leader?"

Mike stepped back, taken totally unawares by the question. He finally grinned,

"The day you traded your cammy greens for an NIS badge Probie. I don't accept deadbeat agents on my team. You should know that by now!"

Gibbs managed a smile, despite the incredible pain in his butt.

Together both men headed towards the bullpen.

The team stood bewildered at the sight of Mike Franks and an extremely stiff Agent Gibbs descending the staircase. Tony swallowed hard and winced in sympathy. There was no doubt in his mind, after what he'd learned from Gibbs just over an hour earlier, what had just gone on. Standing in front of the team, Gibbs straightened himself up and inhaled deeply.

"I thought the Director gave you permission to go home?" he said, his voice still a little hoarse.

There was silence and he nodded, acknowledging that it was his permission they were waiting for.

"Go home," he croaked.

Immediately, they grabbed their gear, and began heading towards the elevator ahead of Gibbs and Mike who followed on behind, bags in hand.

"You need a place to stay Mike?"

"No. Because I'm staying with you tonight," Mike said crustily.

Gibbs nodded his head and entered the crowded elevator.

"I hear you caused quite a stir in England," Mike said, directing his frown to Tony.

"Uh, you could, put it like that...uh, yeah, just a little," Tony replied awkwardly.

"I think it will be a long while before the Director gives us permission to attend another conference," Ziva added.

"There won't be a next time!" Gibbs snapped back in response, his eyes still staring straight ahead.

From the back of the elevator, Abby gasped, "Why Gibbs? Is it because we screwed up so much?"

"No," he replied.

"Then why wouldn't you go to another conference Gibbs?" she probed further.

"Because, Abby," he turned to glare at her quickly, before turning his head back.

He winced slightly and sighed, before snatching a guarded glance at Mike,

"Because conferences are just a pain in the ass!"

Mike Franks roared with laughter and the tense awkwardness in the elevator disappeared as one by one, the team groaned and then smiled in mutual sympathy with one another.

Jethro Gibbs eventually afforded himself a wry grin,

"Wait till I get my hands on Fornell."

THE END