Ziva cautiously opened the door of interrogation room four and peered in. Abby jumped to her feet and swung around.

"Ziva? What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here! If Gibbs comes in and you're here. . ."

"Relax Abby, I'll only be here a moment. Besides, Gibbs just went up to Jenny's office, that conversation could take all night."

"Okay," Abby said, not sounding convinced. "Come and sit down."

"I'm fine standing thank you," Ziva replied quickly.

"Oh, Gibbs has already. . .you know?"

Ziva shook her head and grimaced. "Jenny."

Abby's eyes widened. "Jenny? Jenny spanked you?"

Ziva nodded. "She was almost as mad at me as Gibbs is."

"Gibbs wont like that. He doesn't like other people taking charge of his team."

"Actually, I got the feeling he found it quite amusing. Besides, she didn't spank me for the lying or anything."

"Oh Lord above Ziva, please tell me you didn't do something else! Are you going for a Guinness World Record or something?"

"No I am not going for a Guinness World Record!" Ziva replied defensively. "There was just a very annoying doctor at the hospital."

"Okay, out with it, what did you do?"

"Ziva walked in to lean against the one way mirror. "He was trying to inject things into me and I didn't want an injection, so I. . .I knocked the needle out of his hand."

"You knocked the needle out of his hand?"

"Five times."

"Five times?"

"And the last time it smashed."

"Ziva! What did Jenny say?"

"She yelled at me, and then she asked the doctor about a 'proverbial woodshed'. I did not understand that, and Jenny still has not explained it."

"Oh, traditionally, if a child was to be given a spanking the child's parent would take them out to the shed where they stored firewood for privacy, the 'woodshed'. And a 'proverbial woodshed' is like a woodshed but not a woodshed. As in used for the same function, the spanking rather than the storing firewood, because, clearly most people do not have open fires any more. Do you see?"

Ziva stared at Abby in bewilderment. "No Abby."

Abby frowned. "It's a place where people take you when they want to tan your ass."

Ziva nodded, that she understood.

"Okay, but Abby, the reason I came in here in the first place was. . .well, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

"For making you not take me to the hospital."

"Don't be sorry for that Ziva! I made my own decisions and they weren't your fault. Trust me, forget about it. You have enough to feel guilty for without adding that to the list."

Ziva smiled. "Thank you Abby."

Abby smiled and hugged Ziva, before turning to push her from the room.

"Now, you'd better hurry up and get to where you're supposed to be before. . ."

She tailed off as she caught sight of the doorway, at which stood their two severely pissed off bosses.

"Oh crap," Abby whispered. "As if we weren't in enough trouble already!"

Gibbs fixed them with a menacing glare. "What the hell are you two doing in here?"

The two women attempted to answer at the same time, talking over the top of one another, their voices getting increasingly loud as they tried to be heard.

"STOP!"

They stopped, and exchange worried glances.

"One at a time. Ziva?"

"I came in here because I was feeling bad about talking Abby into not bringing me to the hospital and I wanted to apologise."

Gibbs' glare softened slightly as he turned to Abby. "That true?"

"Yes Gibbs, but I told her that she shouldn't apologise because it was my choice to do the wrong thing."

Jen was torn. On the one hand she was in complete disbelief that the two of them would even think about disobeying them again, but on the other hand, she couldn't really fault them for making sure everything was alright between themselves. She turned to Gibbs and explained this to him in fast, quiet French.

"They could have done it at a more appropriate time when it did not involve disobeying us," he pointed out.

On the other side of the room, the girls were even more nervous that their fate required a parental conference.

"What are they saying?" Abby hissed to Ziva.

"I'm not sure, they're being very quiet. Something about appropriate times and disobedience and paddles and belts and. . ."

"No, no! I don't want to hear any more!"

The two stood squirming in silence as they waited.

Eventually, Gibbs and Jenny turned to them.

"Whilst I can understand, Ziva," Jenny said. "That you would want to apologise to Abby, that is not an excuse to disobey orders. Do you understand me?"

"Yes ma'am," the two girls replied.

Jenny nodded. "Okay, well, I believe my work here is done. I'll leave you both in Daddy's capable hands."

The two gulped. In that moment, both felt keen to act like the little girls she had inferred they were and throw themselves at their 'mother' begging her not to leave them.

It was due only to the substantial willpower that each woman possessed that the refrain from doing so. And they felt even more like little girls about to face their father's consequences as Gibbs began to pace up and down in front of them.

Finally, he turned to face them, glaring angrily. Both tried to hold his gaze, and both failed, dropping their eyes to their feet and squirming under the furious look.

"You know what?" Gibbs said suddenly, making them both jump. "I was all for coming down here and getting this out of the way so we could move on. But now you go and disobey me again! What is wrong with the two of you? Can't you behave yourselves for five minutes?"

Ziva bit her lip nervously and Abby began to wring her hands.

"I'm much too angry to deal with you right now," he grabbed Ziva's arm and hauled her towards the door, stopping only to snap, "Corner!", to Abby, who flung herself into the nearest corner immediately.

Ziva, who, even after two spankings, numerous swats and immeasurable lectures, seemed absolutely incapable of learning her lesson, was not so compliant.

She fought and yelled and swore as Gibbs attempted to get her into the corner and obeyed only when Jenny slammed the microphone button in the observation room, and threatened to repeat the "conversation" they'd had at the hospital.

Ziva winced as Gibbs slammed the door shut and groaned as he, not trusting her to stay put, turned the key in the lock.

Ziva lay her head against the wall, wondering why she had allowed the situation to get so out of hand. Why she couldn't just follow a simple order. Before she'd even fully formed the question, she knew the answer. It was because in Israel, both at Mossad and at her home, she'd known where she stood. She knew what was allowed and what was not and the consequences for doing something in the latter category.

But here, in a new job, new country, new people, she did not. Well, that was a lie. She was fully aware that disobeying a direct order was unacceptable both in her country and here, but she didn't know the last part, the consequences. She didn't know how far she was allowed to go. And, just as she had with her father as a little girl in Israel, she was crossing the lines, pushing the boundaries.

But she had a sinking feeling that, this time, she'd pushed too far.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!