Chapter 4

"Tony if you ever do something so stupid again: I swear that I will give you such a strapping," threatened a relieved Gibbs, once he had been apprised of the bust. "You could have been killed today; if Ziva hadn't been with you Connery would have taken great pains to beat you to death and then he would have turned his attention back to the Petty Officer. I can't lose you like I did Kate, son," Gibbs added to a surprised Tony.

"Boss, you really do care?"

"Of course, I care you bonehead. Why do you think I take such pains with you if I didn't care," replied Gibbs.

"But Boss, "I'm the one that is in pain after one of your administrations," exclaimed Tony playfully.

"That's the best way I have to show you how much I care about you, DiNozzo," Gibbs said with a smile. "It's a tough job but someone has to do it…and I'm the best man for the job; especially if it will keep you safe in the end."

"Yeah, safely resting on my stomach for the night," mutter Tony.

"Yeah, and that is where you will be spending tonight, too," promised Gibbs.

"B-But you said that if I ever do something like this again you will give me a strapping…not that you are going to do it now," whined Tony as he started to back away from Gibbs.

Gibbs only smiled at him and said, "What do you think, DiNozzo?"

"But Boss I wasn't hurt that bad…can't the beating I took from Connery count as punishment?"

"Too late to think about your welfare now, DiNozzo; you should have been thinking about the consequences of your actions before throwing yourself at that rapist, when it wasn't necessary. You did it entirely to impress Robyn, didn't you," asked Gibbs sternly?

Tony sheepishly nodded, "Well, partly but I also wanted to be sure that the rapist didn't get away."

"DiNozzo, Ziva was right behind you. He wasn't going anywhere," explained Gibbs.

"But, Boss," Tony opened his mouth to continue his argument when

Gibbs grabbed Tony by the arm and said only for him to hear, "Get yourself down to Autopsy so Ducky can check you out…we will continue our conversation later," before he angrily swatted his backside.

Tony hastily left the squad room before Gibbs decided to do more.