Warning: This story contains corporal punishment of a minor. Don't like; Don't read.
The bell rang and the class started stirring packing up their work and belongings. Mr. Richardson sat quietly at his desk shuffling paperwork, as he stood all students turned their heads and he spoke softly "Could Steven and C.J. please stay a moment after class". A low "oooooo" rolled through the class until Mr. Richardson swept his gaze over the students and the noise came to an abrupt halt.
C.J. threw herself back into her seat with an exaggerated exhale. Mr. Richardson glanced in her direction through the top of his glasses. C.J. quickly settled and peeked towards Steven. He looked as if he were about to vomit and … or hyperventilate. What was he doing she thought? He'd forgotten his homework once…. once… nothing to worry about Mr. Richardson was just going to talk to him about responsibility, work ethic and following the rules. Steven always blew everything out of proportion. The rest of the class filed quietly out of the room.
The red light of the intercom system lit up and began flashing signaling the office. Even in today's age with cell phones and computers the school still employed its old intercom system when it wanted to get in contact with a teacher during 'school' time. Mr. Richardson stood and quickly walked to the intercom while asking
"C.J., Steven could you please wait in the hall for a minute until I finish this conversation with the office?"
"Sure, sir, No problem" replied C.J. grabbing Steven's sleeve and dragging him with her.
As soon as she closed the door Steven couldn't hold it together anymore and began blubbering about not being able to handle this.
"Handle what?" C.J. replied sarcastically. There was nothing to handle.
She grabbed both his shoulders and gently shook him, initiating eye contact by bending down and looking at Steven's lowered face. He caught his breath and raised his head to maintain CJ's gaze.
"Steven… please tell me what it is you can't handle"
"CJ… I can't handle getting the strap"
"You don't need to …. You forgot your homework once… Mr. Richardson's rule is you have to forget to hand in work twice…. And then you get the strap…. YOU FORGOT ONCE" again giving his shoulders a shake. " I swear Steven ALL Mr. Richardson is going to do is talk with you."
Steven screwed up his face in his I'm thinking and haven't come up with the answer yet. In a couple of seconds his breathing had resumed a more natural pace and depth and he blurted out "Why are you here than?" Ahhh that was the question… why was she here…
"I don't know" CJ hissed furrowing her brow.
"You're waiting for Mr. Richardson and you don't know why?" Steven spat out.
CJ's mind finally began to race, now that she had Steven calm enough she could worry about herself. She let go of Steven and ran both her hands through her hair, exhaled and asked Steven "Why am I here?"
"You break so many rules that you can't remember which one you're in trouble for?" Steven said accusingly.
"That's not it… it's just… well you see… I haven't done anything exactly… that might be the problem" CJ finally sputtered out.
"You think you might be in trouble for something you DIDN'T do? You're crazy." Steven sort of laughed.
"In my family if you get IT at school you get IT again at home" CJ explained.
"Ya… you've said that before..so what?" Steven was getting annoyed with CJ's slow explanation he wasn't in the best of moods.
"You remember before spring break how I got the strap for fighting?" waiting for Steven to nod before she continued. " Well… I kinda signed the letter Mr. Richardson sent home for my parents to explain the punishment."
"YOU WHAT? Why would you do that?"
CJ gave her best Uncle Gibbs stare she could before continuing. "I didn't want the 'at' home punishment for a fight I didn't start or feel I had any control over… "
"How would Mr. Richardson find out about it months later?" Steven said giving CJ a quizzical look as he leaned against the wall and slid down so that his chin rested on his knees. CJ joined him as she began to play the past 24 hours through her head.
Flashback to the24 hours before
Her mouth got ahead of her as usual. She was just wound up waiting to set up the prank.
"Miss DiNozzo, do I need to remind you how I expect you to behave in this classroom?"
She quickly stood beside her desk and addressed her teacher Mr. Richardson "No, sir. I understand, sir."
"Excellent. Please be seated so that we can continue."
Lunch was the only time CJ had to coat the keyboard of the classroom computer with superglue; her father's favourite prank at the office. It hadn't taken her long to think of the idea, dad had told the stories many times and with mom and dad away investigating a case out of town for a couple of days she was able to grab the supply from home.
When class resumed it wasn't long before Chris asked to use the computer to work on his assignment. CJ held her breath although she had pulled a few stunts in the past (putting food colouring in the soap dispenser, sticky tack in the pencil sharpener in the staff room and chalk dust all over the hall way) none of them were aimed at her class and none had been linked to her and this was the most daring. At first Chris was just confused as he tried to remove his pointer fingers from the keys by pushing the keyboard with his other fingers they too became fixed to the keys then he thought he'd make a big scene by shaking the keyboard as hard as he could. At this point not only was Mr. Richardson staring at Chris so was the entire classroom of laughing students. "Christopher, please get yourself under control" Chris stood stock still holding his hands straight out in front with the keyboard hanging off his fingers, Chris was trying to not to laugh at his own predicament. Mr. Richardson tried to pry the keyboard free from several different angles but the keyboard would not budge. The longer he tried the more frustrated he became. Mr. Richardson finally turned to the class and in a stern voice demanded that everyone get control of themselves and stay seated as he needed to take Chris to the office.
As the class laughed and Mr. Richardson pulled CJ started to get worried. Didn't he know he was supposed to use acetone to get Chris' fingers unglued? Everybody knew that… right? CJ sometimes forgot that she had different information about the world than the general population. With both parents as NCIS special agents as well as all of her 'extended' family working in some capacity at the agency she got a lot of practical knowledge that may not be the most useful to the world at large. CJ made a snap decision that if Chris and Mr. Richardson ended up in the office she would be in more trouble as they probably wouldn't let things go as Mr. Richardson might.
"Sir" CJ hesitantly raised her hand and started to stand.
Mr. Richardson turned slowly and deliberately toward the now standing CJ. The look on his face made CJ's heart jump into her throat. "What?"
"Well, I was going to suggest that you use acetone to get Chris unstuck, it works well on many sticky substances".
"Would you be willing to go and ask the science teacher to borrow some for our little issue?"
"Yes Sir, right away sir" CJ quickly left the room and headed to the science class at double time.
Returning to the classroom CJ quickly approached Chris who was seated at the large work station at the back of the classroom and deftly detached his fingers from the offending keyboard.
The class returned to normal and nothing was said until the bell rang to signal the end of the day when Mr. Richardson quietly addressed CJ "I would like to have a chat with you before you leave".
CJ got her things packed up at the same time as the rest of the class and told Steven to go ahead as she needed to ask a question about tonight's homework. He knew she was lying, he was one of the only people who could but he before he called her on it, he saw her clenched jaw and decided he wait for her at the edge of the school yard. CJ hung around the cloak area until it was almost empty and then returned to her desk. Mr. Richardson sat working marking papers at his desk, periodically looking at the fidgeting 11 year old sitting at her desk. She was never very good at sitting still. He had been trying to figure out what to do with her since the 'incident' this afternoon.
CJ was different than any other kid he had taught in 15 years. She was the first student in five years that he had needed to strap. And she was the only kid who took the punishment in stride, joked about it with him and wasn't afraid of it happening again. She had a mouth on her that landed her in hot water on numerous occasions. And then today… this superglue thing… and probably all the little pranks that have been happening throughout the school all year.
Mr. Richardson stood up, walked across the room and sat on the desk in front CJ with his feet on the chair. CJ smiled, he'd scolded her the day before for sitting in her desk that way.
"So… were you responsible for our little incident in class today?"
CJ swallowed hard, took at quick look at Mr. Richardson face, which didn't seem all that angry before answering "yes, sir"
"Ah… you wouldn't also by any chance be responsible for all the other little pranks that have been happening all year would you?"
CJ hated direct questions…. They gave no room for obfuscating the truth. She might be willing to deceive with off handed comments but lying had been the only rule she just couldn't bring herself to break.
"yes, sir"
She also found that adults who were about to punish you were much more lenient when you'd owned up to your indiscretions without a lot of prompting and coercions.
"CJ can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, this is your party" she replied with a wry smile. Mr. Richardson returned the smile.
"How did you know that acetone was the solution to remove superglued fingers from a computer keyboard?"
"My Uncle Tim"
"Ok, I guess my next question would be why does your Uncle Tim have this knowledge?" raising his eyebrows as he spoke, trying hard not to smile at the obvious runaround she was giving him.
Laughing CJ began to explain how her father would always superglue his coworker's, the man she now calls Uncle Tim, keyboard as a joke for stress relief at work.
William Richardson liked to get to know his students and to help with that he would read their files before the school year started. CJ's file was rather interesting, she had been described as having learning challenges, issues with authority and had a tendency to talk back before thinking things through. He agreed with talking back, but did not agree with the other assessments. Not only did he suspect that she was extremely bright, CJ had great respect for authority and responded in military fashion to those she respected in authority. He surmised from accounts in the file that CJ's issues with authority only showed up when she didn't respect the authority figure because of their actions. Her family all worked for NCIS and although he didn't have an understanding of what that meant exactly he was pretty sure that her household demanded respect, organization and truthfulness with parents that do investigations for a living.
"How is it CJ that you seem to have landed yourself in enough trouble to warrant the strap for the second time this year?"
CJ just looked at Mr. Richardson. How did he expect her to answer that question? He already knew how… and why … well…. It was funny… and that didn't sound like a good answer or one that would help her in this particular situation. So she chose to stay quiet, relatively new ground for CJ to be on.
Mr. Richardson stood, walked to his desk, opened the bottom drawer and withdrew the strap. CJ followed him with her eyes. Once the offending object was in his hand she stood and turned towards the front of the classroom. As soon as she had decided to help Chris get unstuck without involving the office she thought this is how the day might end. She also knew that for her to "take" the punishment she needed to get her 'brave' on and needed to be in control of the situation as she could. She stood waiting for him to return not quite at attention but with a definite echo of a military bearing in her stance. He slowly walked back to her desk and asked her to hold out her hand. He reminded her that she was not to move her hand until instructed. She obeyed the directions by holding out her hand; she stared past Mr. Richardson and gritted her teeth. He brought the strap down hard, CJ sucked in air through her teeth. It took all her willpower not to move, this wasn't the first time she'd been strapped but it seemed to hurt a lot more than she remembered. The next three lashes fell quickly and CJ barely able to keep still and breathing and expecting that the punishment was over started to lower her hand. Mr. Richardson barked "stay still". CJ stole a quick glance at Mr. Richardson's face, before squeezing her eyes shut in hopes of keeping the tears from falling. She took a deep breath and raised her hand back into position. Mr. Richardson administered two more lashes before finally allowing CJ to lower her hand.
Mr. Richardson returned to his desk picked up an envelope and handed it to CJ as she was walking out of the classroom. CJ knew it was the letter to her parents explaining what she had done and the punishment meted out. Now CJ had the 30 minute city bus ride to Uncle Gibbs's house to decide what do to with the letter. Her decision would be easier to make if she knew what was in the letter exactly. If it mentioned the fight and subsequent punishment from earlier in the year then she couldn't give Gibbs the letter as she had forged her father's signature and kept the incident a secret. And even if it didn't Gibbs spanked way harder than her dad and had no qualms about punishing her when she was in his care. By the time she reached her stop she had decided that it didn't matter what was in the letter, she would forge her father's signature again and keep this episode quiet as well.
In the morning she entered the class and decided she would wait for Mr. Richardson to ask for the signed letter; just in case he forgot and she didn't have to 'officially' lie. By the end of the morning CJ thought he wouldn't ask for it at all and had relaxed. As the class was getting ready to go outside for recess Mr. Richardson came up behind her while she was at her hook getting her coat on and asked "Do you have something for me Miss DiNozzo?"
"Ah yes sir" rifling through her backpack to find the letter.
CJ found the letter and handed it to Mr. Richardson. He looked over the letter to make sure it was actually signed and smiled when he saw that it was.
"Your dad not very happy about your escapades?"
"My parents are out of town on a case, I'm staying with my uncle at the moment, and no he wasn't very happy" CJ sarcastically answered with a smirk and rubbing her backside for emphasis.
The class all left for recess.
William just shook his head as he looked down at the letter with the signature 'Anthony DiNozzo' yet CJ suggested that her father was out of town… oh… my he thought she's gotten herself in big trouble this time. He went to his desk to retrieve the emergency cards and looked up CJ's information. Written on the bottom of the card was a note stating that L. Jethro Gibbs was to be contacted should the parents be out of town on business.
Mr. Richardson spent his lunch hour on the phone with Mr. Gibbs explaining the entire story starting with the fight in January and ending with the letter he just received from CJ.
End of Flashback
It hit her like a ton of bricks… her mouth had gotten her into another awkward situation. She had signed her father's name on the letter and then explained her father was out of town…. What an idiot? If she'd just kept her mouth closed she wouldn't be sitting outside of Mr. Richardson class waiting to be strapped for the third time this year and the second time in as many days.
Steven saw the look of panic on CJ's face and resumed his panicking. His scramble to his feet and deer in the head lights look snapped CJ out of her reverie and back to the real world.
"Steven, knock it off" she growled standing and grabbing his shoulders for the second time and trying to get him to look at her. He shut up and stared past CJ and looked down the hall the panicked look returning to his eyes. CJ tried to move her face in front of his to get his attention and explained that all he needed to do was answer politely and make sure he didn't do it again. CJ was confused that Steven still wasn't looking at her and couldn't drag his eyes from whatever it was he was looking at. CJ slowly turned to follow his gaze.
Gibbs was standing about 10 feet behind her dressed in slacks, golf shirt and jacket. The look on his face was unreadable. She quickly turned back to Steven it was easier to stay calm when not facing her uncle.
Mr. Richardson came to the door and asked for Steven to join him. He nodded to Gibbs and ignored CJ as he returned to the classroom. CJ patted Steven on the back and smiled as he followed Mr. Richardson.
CJ chose to ignore the fact the she was not alone in the hallway, that way she didn't have to get into a conversation with a man who had run criminal investigation and interrogations for over 30 years.
CJ didn't have to wait long before Steven came out of the class smiling. Thanks he called over his shoulder to Mr. Richardson and then turned to find CJ standing exactly as he had left her a couple of minutes earlier and Gibbs leaning against the wall behind her. "You alright CJ?" he asked hesitantly. "Yeah I'll be fine Steven, you go home, I don't think I'll be walking home" nodding her head in the direction of her uncle. Steven quickly departed.
Gibbs approached CJ and placed his right hand in the middle of her back and guided her to the door. Her feet didn't want to move and she had to force herself to make each step into the classroom.
As soon as the door was closed Gibbs' demeanor changed. "Sit down CJ" Gibbs instructed. When she didn't respond immediately Gibbs gunnery sergeant voice came into play and shouted "NOW". She moved quickly to the table near the door that Mr. Richardson used for lessons or to separate distracting students from the class and sat down making sure to stay out of arms reach as she made her way to the chair. Gibbs held out his hand and Mr. Richardson handed him two pieces of paper and he slid them in front of CJ, he gave her several seconds to examine them before asking "Want to explain anything?" tilting his head in the direction of the papers.
"I don't think I need to explain, it seems the two of you have this all figured out." CJ huffed shifting uncomfortably in her seat while shoving the papers across the table to where Gibbs sat and Mr. Richardson stood behind him trying not to look at either of the men. Gibbs reached across the table and lifted her chin with his two fingers, forcing her to look at him "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, it's your choice." Swallowing hard CJ began to explain what she'd done. When she finished his only response was "why"?
How was she going to answer that… it was for many different reasons really.
"Why?" The gruff man pressed on.
"Well the fight wasn't my fault, I was attacked by a kid much bigger and older than me and I only hit him to get him off of me. I took the strap from Mr. Richardson and didn't want to take it from dad as well. " CJ swallowed again before continuing. "Then yesterday in the letter that Mr. Richardson referred to the first incident and I didn't want you to find out about the fight and first letter… and… " CJ hesitated again. "And what… CJ?" Gibbs insisted. "well … you always had to deal with dad gluing McGee's fingers to the keyboard…" she chanced to look at her uncle to see his reaction and saw as a smile crept onto Gibbs' face and his eyes light up recalling his senior agents pranks . CJ smiled back before lowering her head again and continuing. "so I thought you wouldn't be real sympathetic to my plight"
"Ya don't think?" he scoffed.
"That and you spank harder than daddy." Again Gibbs couldn't stop the smile creeping across his face.
"I see" Gibbs whispered nodding and pursing his lips so that CJ didn't see the smile.
Gibbs stood, turned towards the door and nodded to Mr. Richardson. CJ began to rise to follow her uncle out of the classroom. Without turning Gibbs called back, "Sit down CJ you and Mr. Richardson have unfinished business regarding the lie you told yesterday." CJ's mouth went dry and lowered herself back into her chair; he wasn't really saying he was leaving her here to be punished by Mr. Richardson was he? The look he shot her over his shoulder as he closed the door told her exactly that.
The door clicked, and CJ sat stone still waiting for Mr. Richardson who for the third time this year opened the drawer in his desk that contained the strap. Taking the implement in his right hand and closing the drawer with his left he slowly returned to the table placing the strap on the table, leaning with both hands on the table and lowering his face to grab CJ's attention. CJ looked into his eyes and saw regret and hesitation. Not sure where she got the courage from CJ stood up looking him directly in the eyes and suggested that they get this over with quickly as Gibbs wasn't really a patient man and he didn't seem in the best of moods.
Mr. Richardson really didn't understand this kid. When she went to hold out her hand Mr. Richardson shook his head and looked to the table. It only took CJ a second or two to get the implication that she was to bend over the table. Her courage waivered slightly as she walked to the end of the table, bent over grabbing the edge of the table and preparing herself mentally for what was to happen next. Mr. Richardson picked up the strap and stepped to CJ's side. He made sure each stroke had a good sting but allowed enough time between each lash that she was able to keep from yelling out or let the tears welled in her eyes to fall.
CJ heard him walk back to his desk and return the offending object in the bottom drawer, as she stood and wiped her eyes on her sleeve as gravity forced the tears to start to escape. She grabbed her bag and stalked out of the room without looking back.
Gibbs was leaning against the wall beside the classroom and almost tripped CJ by accident as she stormed past heading towards the parking lot. Gibbs nonchalantly followed his 'niece' to the car.
Gibbs was surprised by just how much CJ was like her parents; easygoing nature and sense of humor like her father, yet determined and emotionally strong like her mother. Even her looks were a good mix of the two agents. Her hair and eyes were definitely from her mother but she had her father's charismatic smile. He pushed the lock release on the key as he approached the car, as CJ heard the click she opened the door, threw her bag in the backseat and seat belted herself in before Gibbs even arrived at the car.
The drive from the school to Gibbs' house was about 20 minutes and most of it was travelled in complete silence. Each occasionally glancing to the other and then returning to staring out to the road. Before they arrived home CJ began … "I …. I'm…"
"You know that even with an apology you are still in for the whipping of your life when we get home?" He interrupted.
"I … I know… I just wanted you to know I am really sorry"
"I'm sure you are" he said sympathetically.
They pulled into his driveway and he quickly extricated himself from the car and headed towards the house. CJ sat for a few moments collecting herself before following Gibbs into the house, dropped her bag in the front hall and stood there waiting. She couldn't see him anywhere and decided that standing by the door was the best course of action. She stood with her hands in the back pockets of her jeans head hung low. She hadn't needed Gibbs to tell her what was going to happen when they arrived to know… all it did was increase the panic she was already feeling.
She heard him before she saw him. He was coming back from the bedrooms, holding … holding … Oh my god… he was holding a strap just like Mr. Richardson's… her instincts told her to run and not come back until dad got back from the field and plead her case with him.
"With me CJ" he demanded as he walked towards the living room.
When they had both walked the few steps to the living room and stood there face to face he asked "Do we need to go over what got you into this mess?"
"No sir, I'm quite aware of what got me into the mess thank you very much" CJ spat.
Ignoring her tone he turned repositioned himself behind the couch and crooked his finger signally for CJ to join him. CJ was slightly confused as she stood hands still in her pockets facing him her father always punished her in her room and her mother did it in the kitchen. He spun his finger around and then pointed at the couch. Still confused CJ turned around so that her back was to Gibbs.
"Loose the jeans CJ" he barked.
"NO way"
"Was there something in my tone of voice that made that sound like a suggestion?"
Stiffening and setting her jaw she undid the button and zipper on her jeans and lowered them slowly.
Gibbs placed his hand in the middle of her back and gently guided her to bend over the back of the sofa. He didn't remove his hand as he shifted to her side and began to use the strap for what it was intended. He didn't hesitate in his application of the strap to her backside and did not give much time between each lash for her to recover. CJ couldn't even think straight because of the fire in her ass. She knew she was supposed to stay still and take it but that was next to impossible, the only thing keeping her bent over was the hand in the middle of her back. Every brain cell was working on keeping her feet flat on the floor and still and her hands clenching the sofa cushion with all her might. CJ's usual way to cope with the pain of a thrashing and keep still was to count each stroke in her head trying to figure out when it would be over, but by stroke 12 she couldn't even do that. The strap hurt a lot more than her father's belt and Gibbs laid it on much harder and with no mercy. With the last few strokes landing on her bare skin of her upper thighs she actually yelled out through the sobs.
Gibbs slowly removed his hand from her back and as she felt the pressure lifting she pushed herself off of the couch to stand. Gibbs didn't move or say anything until she had replaced her jeans and stood body shaking as she tried to control her ragged breathing. Gibbs threw the strap on the coffee table beside the couch and with a hand on each shoulder turned her around so that she was facing him. Lifting her chin with two fingers he looked into her eyes, smiled and pulled her into a loving, fatherly embrace. She quickly regained her composure and hugged her uncle back. He leaned down and whispered in CJ's ear "You took that really well, angel". His use of her pet name made her shift so that she could see his eyes. They were wet with unshed tears and he had a knowing loving smile on his face. She hugged him tightly whispered another apology before she turned and walked to the bathroom to have a long hot shower to try wash the events of the day away.
Gibbs put the strap away and went to the kitchen to look for something for supper. Deciding that the day had been long for everyone and ordering pizza was the best bet picked up the phone and dialed CJ's favourite restaurant.
As the two of them ate pizza standing at the kitchen counter, CJ broached the subject of reporting the day's incidents to her parents. She was pretty sure that they would agree that she had been sufficiently punished for all transgressions but didn't really want to be the one to have the conversation. Gibbs laughed out loud. His only response was "Already done" and he walked over to the tv to start a movie, patting the seat on the couch beside him with an inviting smile.