A/N: Thank you for all the lovely comments, I really appreiciate them. I updated earlier this time too :)

How the hell is exercise abuse? Exercise is very good for you. My class have done lots of exercises like running up and down the pitch, marching (One of our teachers is an ex Army man). I've done it in cadets too, where we had to do some of the basic training because we managed to piss off a couple of officers really bad. I was about fourteen, and we were made to do a course for most of the afternoon and evening. Iv'e done loads of stuff like that, and i can honestly say exercise is not bad for you. Yeah it hurts like hell when your getting pushed over your limit, but once you done it and when you are with your mates it is a laugh. There is absoultley nothing abusive about exercise unless it is taking too far into the extreems.

Sorry about my rant for everyone else.

Thursday Morning

Zach nervously went over to the kitchen table, sitting down opposite his grandpa. He fidgeted with the hem of his shorts, unable to look up at his grandpa's face for fear of seeing the anger in the usually so kind face.

"Zacharriah…" Jack begun, reaching over to tap in on the chin to look up "I honestly thought that you liked staying here, I didn't think it was because you knew you could get away with things."

The blond swallowed guilty at that. He had to avert his eyes after seeing the hurt that was so plainly written on his face. How could he have behaved so badly that it made his grandpa doubt whether Zach liked staying with him.

"I… I don't think that Grandpa."

"Oh yea, and how can I believe that when you have done nothing but lie to me all week?" Jack glared at him.

The teen grimaced, biting his lip nervously when he lied again.

"I lied to you about the concert, and that's it." That was the only lie he thought the man knew about.

"There you go again; you know if you were your father right now, I'd be washing your mouth out with soap for lying." He warned him.

"Uh..." Zach was shocked that he knew he was lying, maybe he found out about the whole thing with the school, and he certainly didn't want to carry on lying now he knew the man had come to his limit.

"Sarah came clean about everything because she didn't want you to be in trouble." Jack told him "And I'm not angry about what you did, I would have even let you go to the concert if you just asked me"

"You would have?" He raised his head to look at him.

The blond felt slightly stupid now, he wouldn't even have been in trouble for that if he had just asked in the first place. But his hopes were raised because his Grandpa wasn't angry; maybe this meant he could get out of this relatively unscathed.

"Yes, I would. You're just a boy Zach; you deserve to have fun sometimes. But the fact is you lied to me, and I'm really disappointed in you for that." Jack scolded.

"Oh…" His head fell back down, the disappointment was so much worse than the anger.

"And on top of that, you ran away. I can't even tell you what was running through my mind when you disappeared like that. I thought you would turn up after a bit, but when you didn't I begun to worry something bad had happened to you. Never do that to me again Zacharriah, I'm an old man and I don't think my heart could take it" He made sure the emotion was clear in his voice, all the worry he had felt when Zach had gone missing for over a few hours and the fear that something terrible had happened.

"… I'm sorry"

"I know son, but we still have to deal with this. I'm only going to punish you for lying to me, not for running off because I know your dad will be doing the honours." Jack stood up, motioning for Zach to follow "I want you to go wait in the living room"

"Tim, Abby, we are both so sorry for taking advantage of Grandpa Jack" Sarah said meekly from the backseat on behalf of her and her nephew.

"We know." Tim replied, keeping his eyes on the road "That's why you're both grounded for a week as well as your day out with Gibbs, instead of me adding to what Grandpa Jack already gave you"

Both of them gave a sigh of relief at that, they both knew it could have been so much worse for them. But it did not mean they were looking forward for the Marine exercises from their personal drill sergeant.

"Thank you Tim. I swear we won't do it again, we both already feel guilty about treating him like that and about letting Zach take the fall" The brunette said.

"Yeah" Jayden nodded in agreement.

"You both can both apologize to Grandpa if you haven't already, and Jayden, you need to make it up to Zach for getting him excluded."

"I will dad." He fully intended to make it up to Zach anyway, he didn't need to be told that.

The car was in comfortable silence for a short while, Kate had already been dropped off at school so that could be the reason why. But Sarah was the one to break it, speaking to her sister-in-law directly.

"That picture you took of Uncle Gibbs and Zach was very cute, Abby. Uncle Gibbs is going to flip when he finds out that Grandpa Jack has gotten some of them framed. I reckon you should really go into hiding."

"See…" Tim said to Abby playfully "I told you Gibbs would kill you"

"As if Timmy. It's cute. Gibbs will love it, you know he's gotten softer now Zach's around." Abby knew for a fact Gibbs would not do anything about it.

"He hasn't gone that soft."

Zach waited impatiently on the sofa, his leg bouncing up and down as he tried to keep his mind from thinking about what he knew was about to happen.

But that was a pointless effort when Jackson returned, and the teen's eyes zoomed in on the wooden paddle in his hand. For a second he had thought it was a switch, so he was incredibly relieved when he saw it wasn't.

"I thought I might be needing this sometime, so I made sure to bring it down from Still Water" Jack smiled wryly.

"Guess I didn't really disappoint you then if you already thought that of me" Zach said before he had a chance to think.

It was definitely the wrong thing to say. Jack's scowl was back on his face, and his grip tightened on the paddle.

"You are too much like your father, Zacharriah. He used to be exactly like you, had an answer for everything and trouble followed him around. That's why I had him make this paddle; it always seemed to work on him."

The man was gritting his teeth in annoyance. He remembered telling Jethro when he was younger that one day he would have a son that was exactly like him, and he would find out exactly what it felt like to be on the other end. It seemed slightly ironic that Jack was on the receiving end of his grandson's cheekiness too. He reckoned a teenage Jethro would be laughing his ass off right now.

"Dad made that?" His eyes widened and he was looking closer at the object in the man's hand.

Zach was in odd awe of the wood. This was the actual paddle that had been used on The Leroy Jethro Gibbs; this was the stuff of legends. He had to show Tony when he got back, he would love it.

"And it's been used on him more times than I can remember." Jack nodded. "Now you have the honours. Jeans down and bend over the sofa"

The teenager found himself standing up and unbuckling his belt before shakily bending over the back of the sofa. Usually he would never be so willing, but in front of The paddle, he felt he had to man up and take it like he imaged his dad would have.

He felt that idea quickly start to slip from his mind though when the paddle was applied solidly to his short-clad backside. He didn't manage to last long before he was sobbing into a cushion on the sofa and begging for his grandpa to stop.

"Grandpa… I.. I'm Sorry… I won't … lie to you … ever! Please!" He felt the hardest swat of all, before it finally stopped and he felt a hand rubbing circles onto his back.

"Shh… it's over son… shh…" Jack helped him up, getting him to pull his jeans up and leading him over to the sofa to sit down next to him. Zach was sobbing into his shoulder while he was still gently rubbing his back.

"Dad's going to kill me" The teen sobbed harder, showing no sign he was going to stop crying anytime soon.

Jack was sure it was because of the fact reality was coming crashing back around him, rather than the severity of the punishment he had just doled out. After a few days of no consequences he hadn't bothered to think about his actions, but now that he did have consequences, he was really starting to regret what he done and how he had managed to upset his dad and grandpa.

"No he won't. He'll be annoyed, yes. And he will definitely blister your backside. But once it's over it's over, and you get a clean slate. Just like you with me now." The white-haired man comforted him,

"I always screw up though. He must be fed up with me by now; I just can't ever seem to stay out of trouble for more than two weeks." He had stopped crying now but he hadn't moved an inch from Jack's side.

"Trust me, if that was true, I would have given Leroy up for adoption the second he hit puberty." Jack chuckled "But I never got fed up of him because I love him, just like he loves you. You and he are so much alike when your dad, he couldn't possibly get fed up of you"

"Was dad as bad as me then?"

"You are not bad" Jack was mildly stern telling him that. "You are just a bit naughty sometimes, just like Leroy was."

"What did he use to do?" The teenager was planning to use this as ammunition for his defence in the future, and also to laugh at his dad's expense.

"Tons of stuff, I couldn't even look the other way or he would be up to his neck in mischief. You name anything, and I bet I caught him doing it. Drinking, smoking, fighting, gambling, getting arrested, joy-riding, honestly mention anything to me and I can tell you a story on it with Leroy"

There were some stories that Jackson would keep to himself however, because he understood that some things it wasn't fair to tell. Like smoking cannabis, because he knew Jethro would not want the boy to know, and also he didn't want to give Zach the impression his father was that bad considering the boy still had hero worship for his dad.

"He went joy-riding?" The teen so wanted to hear this story.

"Yea a few times. The first time he was fifteen and he had a fight with one of the local boys who was the Sheriff's son, the Sheriff broke them up of course and blamed Leroy for most of the fight. Leroy, being the bad tempered person he was, decided to get back at the Sheriff by taking his car for a ride."

"No way!" Zach pulled away from his grandpa to get a look at his face to make sure he wasn't having him on. "He took a cop's car?"

Jack nodded "He was driving around for ages with lights flashing and the sirens on. He was driving around the block, throwing the Sheriffs belongings out the window, while the Winslow tried to chase him down. Winslow was a jerk and I would have been laughing with everyone else who was watching if I wasn't so angry"

Zach was laughing, he was howling at the image of a teenage Jethro driving a stolen cop car while a fat sheriff tried to chase him down. "I… have to… tell Tony this"

They Grandson and Grandfather stayed there until noon, Zach listening to all the stories his grandpa had to tell about his dad. He had learnt so much in the last hour about the man, he couldn't wait to tease him when they were back on good terms with each other. He suspected that the man would get him back easily though.

Jack had fed the teenager, telling him to come around for food whenever he wanted because microwave meals and takeaways were not good for a growing boy, before he sent the boy on his way.

"Can't I just stay here Gramps?" He groaned, but headed towards the front door anyway.

"No sonny, don't worry about it too much. I'll come round later and make sure you are still in one piece." He pulled him in for a hug.

"Thanks."

"Just do me a favour…" Jack smirked now, thinking back to the many threats he had said to Jethro growing up "Tell Jethro that you are the son that I always promised him he would have"

Zach frowned confused at that, but said he would do just that. And he slowly made his way down the street, gulping slightly when he came face to face with his front door. He took one deep breathe, before entering the dragons lair.