A/N Gibbs eventually gets to deliver his punishment. Hope you like!
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Tony spat as he banged his head against the elevator wall.
"Tony, why do you think he wants us in the garage?" Tim asked croakily, his throat already dry with nerves.
"Why do you think Probie, he's probably going to beat the crap out of us."
Abby's eyes widened, "Even me?"
The three of them nodded in agreement and Abby slumped against the wall.
"So, what do you think?" Ziva snapped as she folded her arms defensively, "Electric shock, water-boarding, several slaps to the head?"
Tony placed his hands on his head and winced, "Put it this way, whatever the big guy has planned…it aint gonna be pretty."
As they entered the garage, Tim huffed loudly, "You know Tony, this is all your fault, we should never have listened to you!"
Tony gasped, "What? I didn't exactly twist your arm Probie!"
"Actually you did everything apart from twist his arm Tony," Ziva growled, "Anyway, he is right, if we had not listened to you we would not have found ourselves in such a prediction."
"Predicament Ziva," Abby corrected her quietly as she stood sulking.
Tony narrowed his eyes at Tim and scowled, "Well if Elf-Lord had a problem with it all he had to do was open his whiney little mouth."
"I am not whiney!" Tim snapped
"You were the one caught on camera whining like a girl."
"Hey!" Ziva barked, "Girls don't whine!"
As the arguments and recriminations escalated they had not noticed the elevator doors swishing open and Gibbs entering. With one sharp whistle, there was silence.
"Don't you think you are in enough trouble as it is without adding fighting to your list of crimes too?"
Eyes suddenly found the floor and nervous coughs escaped from very dry mouths.
"All of you in the truck," he snapped as he headed for the drivers seat.
Tony automatically made for the other passenger seat and Gibbs smacked him upside the head,
"Ow! What was that for?"
"You don't deserve a seat, in the back…..all of you."
Slowly they crammed themselves into the back of the truck and Gibbs drove out of the garage.
Abby pouted as she tried to maintain her balance, "Where are we going?" she voiced with concern.
"You are in the bus headed for hell."
Even the journey was hell. The speed of Gibb's driving and his obvious swerving to make swift progress, made the ability to keep their footing in the back of the truck at times an impossibility. Despite the jolts and falls, the team were silent as their minds raced, thinking about where they were heading, or more worryingly, what they were heading for.
Eventually the truck came to an abrupt halt and the engine was turned off. It was a few unsettling moments before the door swung open and the team came face to face with two burly and very vocal Marines.
"GET OUT OF THE TRUCK!"
"MOVE YOUR ASSES AND GET OUT NOW!"
The team scrabbled out of the truck the adrenalin rushing fast and making them bump and scramble to retain their balance and composure.
"Oh God!" Tim mumbled as he instantly recognized the OCS training area
"Where are we?" Abby frowned as she placed her hands on her hips.
"DID I ASK YOU TO OPEN YOUR GOD-DAMNED MOUTHS I THINK NOT NOW GET ON THE GROUND AND GIVE ME TWENTY PUSH UPS AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT OPENING YOUR CHOW HOLES AGAIN UNTIL I TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
"Yes Sir!" they all instinctively replied before hitting the ground and rapidly counting out their allotted push-ups.
Gibbs shook hands with the mean Staff Sargent and smiled,
"Staff Sargent Anderson, good to see you again."
"No problem Gunny. These the sniveling, idle, lying good for nothings you spoke about this morning?"
Gibbs nodded as the other Marine made his way over, "Gunnery Sargent Carter, you must be Agent Gibbs, Anderson told me all about your little predicament Gunny. Which course do you want them to do 'The Stamina' or 'The Confidence'?"
Gibbs smiled, "Both."
"Jeez Gunny, the stories I heard about you were right, you are a..."
"Bastard...yeah I know," he interrupted as he strode towards the team, "On your feet" he barked.
The team formed a line and stood shell shocked. Gibbs began to pace up and down the line.
"Our Director may have chewed you out this morning, but as far as I am concerned you have still to be suitably punished. You four are going to learn the consequences of lying to me. By the time we are finished here today, you will never, ever play hooky again. I guarantee you, that when you are lying in your racks tonight you will shudder at the very thought of placing the Agency in such an embarrassing situation ever again. But over the next few hours I want to make sure that you do not let me down again. You will follow every order these Marines give you. Quitting will not be an option."
Gibbs dropped his voice a tone and narrowed his eyes, "You...Will...Learn!"
He stopped and turned, facing the two Marines.
"Staff Sargent Anderson and Gunnery Sargent Carter here will be working with you on the lesson for today."
The team glanced at what they were sure were the two meanest Marines on the base. Gunnery Sargent Carter opened his mouth and began to yell,
"YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO GET YOURSELVES INTO THE HUT BEHIND YOU, GET CHANGED INTO YOUR GEAR AND REPORT BACK HERE IN FORMATION. AND WHEN I SAY TEN MINUTES YOU IDLE MAGGOTS I MEAN TEN GOD-DAMNED MINUTES EXACTLY……MOVE!"
In nine minutes they had gotten changed into Marine Corps issue PT kits and were standing in formation.
"Ok, warm up first, how about a little log run!"
The team's first task was to run a two kilometer circuit carrying a heavy log. As they grappled to place it on their shoulders, they immediately began to argue,
"Probie, will you lift your side up!"
"I am lifting it Tony, it's just really heavy!"
"Oh for goodness sake McGee, it's a log not an iron bar," Ziva moaned
"Ziva don't shout at Timmy he can't help it if he's weak!"
"Abby! I'm not weak!" Tim snapped
Gunnery Sargent Carter bellowed loudly into Ziva's face, "THAT AINT WORKING TOGETHER, NOW LIFT THAT LOG AND RUN!"
Gibbs jogged alongside them and sidled up next to McGee, "Come on Tim, you're the one I rely on to dig deep, are you going to let Tony lead the way again?"
Tim gasped and could only manage a scowl as he pounded his feet to the ground trying to maintain the pace.
After they had completed their log run, Gunnery Sargent Carter briefed them on 'The Stamina Course' and explained how they should tackle each obstacle. Gibbs sniggered discretely as the groans rippled through the assembled team and as well as mutterings of "No way in hell!" and "Is he crazy?"
Before they headed off to the 'Uphill Sprint', Abby stood in front of Gibbs with the best innocent and helpless look she could muster.
"Gibbs, I can't do this, I'll take whatever other punishment you have but please don't make me do this. It will give me nightmares! You realize that this whole experience could traumatize me for weeks to come, causing irreparable physiological damage manifesting itself….."
Gibbs wasn't budging and he simply took her by the shoulders and turned her round to face the rest of the team and whispered in her ear,
"Oh I want you to remember this for a long time Abby. You pay the price for lying just like the rest of the team!"
Abby whipped her head round and threw him a scowl. Gibbs simply pointed his finger in the direction of the team,
"Go!"
Abby's eyes pooled instantly and she pouted her bottom lip, "Gibbs."
"Do you want to earn yourself no Caff-Pow's for a week as well as this?" Gibbs asked sternly as he pushed her shoulders around again and even more firmly pushed her back towards the team causing her to shriek and run on quickly.
As they struggled through the obstacles, each one growing more difficult, they were soon exhausted and growing tired of the two marines constantly yelling at them. It was on the 'Cliff Climb' when tempers began to fray,
"McGee, if you do not get out of my way, I will remove you from this planet entirely!" Ziva snapped as McGee trudged and pulled and hauled at the rope barely making progress.
"Ha…ha…I'm going as f..fast as I can Ziva," McGee gasped.
"I have seen a porpoise move faster than you!"
"I think you mean tortoise Ziva a porpoise is a dolphin," Tony panted as he tugged and pulled his way up the hill.
McGee lay on his back exhausted, "I can't do this, I can't take this anymore. I'm going to pass out!" he whined.
Tony crawled over to him and winked surreptitiously and whispered, "Play along McGee, I've got an idea, howl"
"What?"
"Howl. Make like you are in pain!"
"I am in pain!"
"Well howl like you are in excruciating pain, like you're….singing…trust me."
McGee scowled and then started to howl in pain as Tony started to rub his hand up and down Tim's shin.
"Boss! We've gotta problem here, GIBBS!"
Gibbs straddled down the steep hill with a hint of concern on his face.
"What's the problem?"
"I think Probie's pulled a hamstring or something, he's in agony boss," Tony winced with fake sympathy.
A slight touch from Tony's boot to McGee's side made his animated howling all the louder and as Gibbs felt around the 'damaged' leg, he smiled.
"Yeah, DiNozzo, I think McGee's pulled something here."
Tony looked innocently as he stood, nodding in agreement.
"He's pulled a fast one!" Gibbs growled as he lifted his boot and kicked McGee square in the butt before growling,
"You get up and move your ass up that hill and start listening to your gut when DiNozzo starts leading you into trouble!"
Tim complied quickly and began scrabbling and pulling himself up the hill. Gibbs turned his attention to Tony and took him by the scruff of the neck and ran him down to the bottom of the hill to start the steep climb again.
"Another lie DiNozzo and it's back to square one….literally."
"Argh, boss, please, come on, this is killing me man!"
Gibbs whacked him upside the head, "stop exercising your vocal chords DiNozzo and get your ass up that hill or else I'll help you with every step with my boot!"
Tony gulped and immediately began to climb.
Further along the course Ziva struggled on, despite the pain in her legs and arms, and as she neared the Cargo Net she was confident that Gibbs would not get the better of her. She stood breathing deeply before tackling the last obstacle and felt the presence of her Team Leader behind her,
"You finding this a challenge Officer David?" Gibbs growled in her ear.
"This is nothing...compared to Mossad training, I...am fine" she said firmly, keeping her eyes ahead, her breathing still unmeasured.
"Yeah, I thought as much," Gibbs chuckled quietly, "that's why you are going to fall back with the others and repeat the obstacles you've done ahead of them."
Ziva snapped her head round and gasped with an open mouth, "That….that is not fair, I should not be treated differently from the others just because I am more able!"
"You may be able Ziva, but you are part of the team, and you will learn that as part of the team you do things together."
As she pouted and folded her arms defiantly, Gibbs tipped her chin, making sure that she made eye contact with him,
"You will learn Officer David, that when a team member makes a wrong decision, that you have a duty and responsibility to point that out to them and make sure that, as a team, you make the right choices. You damned well knew that DiNozzo was a jerk convincing you to play hooky, but you let Tim and Abby and yourself go along with it. That is why you are out here, that is why you are being punished. Now get your butt back to your team and start helping them."
Ziva scowled and stared for a few seconds before she threw up her hands in acceptance and headed back towards the earlier obstacles.
By the end of 'The Stamina Course' the team, with the help of Sargents Carter and Anderson had been transformed into physical wrecks and as they reached formation point were whimpering and groaning, bent over, gasping for breath, all of them sore and sweaty and caked in mud.
"Confidence Course next Gunny?" Sargent Anderson asked with a wicked grin,
Gibbs shook his head slightly and then barked loudly,
"Fall in!"
Slowly the team formed a line and as their breathing returned to normal, Gibbs eyed the sheepish, cold, tired and exhausted crew who were almost in tears.
"Okay, will we have a repeat performance of your behavior or, do we need to continue this lesson with 'The Confidence Course?" he asked in a low, stern voice as he looked at each of them in turn.
Four resounding 'no's' were accompanied with croaky responses that "they would never do it again" and "please boss, sorry boss" and "we'll never do it again Gibbs" and Jethro Gibbs was content that his particular lesson had been well and truly learned.
He narrowed his eyes, "If you give me reason to punish you for lying or letting the Agency down again, trust me, I'll take it out on your ass. Do I make myself clear?"
Nods of agreement were acknowledged and permission given to head for a hot shower and a change of clothes. Within the half hour the team were silently piling into the back of the truck and Gibbs was thanking the two marines for their help.
"I think I'm going to throw up," Abby wailed as she leaned on Tim's shoulder.
"I'd help you Abbs, but I'm kinda immobile right now," Tim grimaced as he massaged the muscles in his shoulder.
"I can't feel my legs. I can see 'em, but I can't feel 'em!" Tony whispered to himself.
Ziva narrowed her eyes as she reached around stiffly attempting to rub the pain from her back, "He really has a problem with people lying to him doesn't he"
Gibbs smiled at the sound of three loud groans that came from the back of the truck and recalled, a distant past when a certain Probie Shepherd had made the exact same noises after her lesson.
Next and final chapter coming soon...