A/N: Thanks again, and I was much quicker this time with the update. I wasnt going to post this, but I'm in such a good mood I had the time and temper to do this.

Just got to say, even though this is nothing to do with the story at all, Cymru Am Byth. Wales have played amazing rugby all through the six nations, and definitely deserved the GrandSlam. Bit of a shame that Ireland got beat by the English. It would have been nice for them to win on St Patricks day. Anyway, It is going to be an amazing night out in Cardiff tonight! I cannot wait. I prob won't post now for a few days.

Thursday Afternoon

Gibbs watched from his seat on the dining room table as his son slipped into the house, and tried to quietly walk up the stairs with his bag, only to stop and freeze like a deer in the headlights when he caught sight of his dad glaring at him.

"… Hi dad… I'm just… just going to put my bag upstairs" Zach said.

"Come right back down here then afterwards" He told him, watching him dash up the stairs.

He didn't have to wait long for the teenager to come back down and was wriggling noticeably on the chair opposite him. It seems that Grandpa left an impression Gibbs thought Good, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on him. Gibbs had full intention to make this a lesson that Zach learnt.

The Marine didn't speak; instead he stared at his sons face waiting for him to do the talking. He watched as the blue eyes darted around the room, trying to look at anything but him, in the end his gaze stopped on Gibbs' injured arm.

"You know dad…" He begun carefully "You really shouldn't be sp… you know… when you're arm is like that."

"I still have another arm" He stated.

"Yeah… you do.." The teen looked at his other arm, licking his lips nervously, before trying again "… But what if you like hurt your hand or something, you won't have any arms then."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at the blond. Deciding his son wasn't taking this seriously enough, he reached down with his hand, unbuckling his belt, pulling it through the hoops and letting it lay on the table between them.

"If I were you Zacharriah, I'd be more concerned about your backside" He warned.

Zach kept completely quiet now, staring at the belt that lay on the table. He wondered if he should get his dad a new belt for Christmas, one that wasn't leather and wouldn't hurt half as much. Maybe he could get him one of those scarf belts that hippies wear.

"Talk me through your week son, I want to know exactly what you did and why you did it" He prompted him when it looked like he wasn't going to speak.

"Uh… I… um…" Zach didn't know where he should start.

"Look at me when you're speaking. And how about your start from the very beginning, when you went to that David Gateau's concert"

"David Guetta." He corrected with out thinking. "And, yea…" He paused for a minute, but soon remembered that his Grandpa had known that he was covering for Sarah and Jayden, his dad would definitely know.

"Sarah thought it would be fun to go, and I told he Grandpa would go mad, but she said he wouldn't, and I really wanted to go too, so I told Grandpa that I was taking Sarah on a date, and then we… we lied when we came back late"

"Why didn't you just tell Sarah no? You knew you would both get in big trouble." Gibbs wondered.

"… I dunno" He shrugged.

"That answer is not going to cut it. You know exactly why and I want you to tell me."

Zach sighed "You know what Sarah's like, she's usually the one who's telling me to not do things and she tries to not get involved. This was her idea, and I …" He didn't think it a good idea to tell his dad that it was a turn on when Sarah was breaking rules "… I wanted to go anyway. And I didn't think we would get caught"

"So there wasn't really a good reason was there? You just thought you were too good to listen to my rules, yet again" Gibbs said sternly.

Zach was about to argue, but thought better of it when his eyes caught the belt and his backside was already stinging from a round with Jack. "No sir."

Gibbs was impressed that his son was holding his tongue. That was completely unlike the cocky child. Then he saw him squirm and look at the belt and realised that it was probably only because he didn't want anymore than necessary. But it was still a big improvement for him.

"Alright, what about skipping school?"

"Uh… Jay told me he was going to skip to meet some girl from Maryland that he met of the internet. I wasn't about to let him go on his own, that girl could have been anyone. And Jay was planning to go to the museum and spend the day there" Zach rolled his eyes "I wasn't about to skive to go to a museum! So I got everyone else in and we went to the zoo."

"Getting excluded?" His raised his eyebrows at that one.

"Jay hacked the registers. But he's got a good school record, and you know mines far from great. I wasn't about to let him take the fall, so I said it was me. I'm sorry I had to lie to do it, but it was the only way, and if I had to I would do it again" Zach said stubbornly, nothing would sway him from that line of thought.

"You should have told Jayden not to do it in the first place. I'm proud that you looked after your cousin, don't get me wrong, but I am not happy that you skipped in the first place. I know that getting excluded wasn't your fault, but if you had been in school in the first place none of this would have happened" He explained, wanting his son to know that he was not getting punished for protecting his cousin.

"I know. I guess I just thought because I'd gotten away with the concert I could do it again" He sighed.

Gibbs nodded, accepting that answer "And running away?"

The teen put his head down, ashamed of himself for this one. He had run away from punishment, like a child, and he had managed to indirectly get his dad shot because he had gotten involved with the Russian Mafia.

The Agent reached over when he heard his son mumble something, tilting the teen's chin upwards and seeing the faint blush on his cheek.

"I can't understand you if you mumble, Zacharriah."

Zach ran a hand through his hair, scratching at the top of the bandage on his head.

"Grandpa said he was going to switch me. I sort of … panicked and ran. Before I knew it I was calling a taxi to the airport" His ears were burning brightly now.

"You know that that is not acceptable behaviour ever, right? I swear if you ever do that to me or your grandpa again, Iwill spank you every day for a week." He threatened him, wanting to make sure that it would never happened again.

"I'm sorry. I won't ever do it again" The fact that he had gotten them kidnapped was a big factor in his reluctance to run off again.

"I know that it wasn't your whole fault with Petrov, you can't help what he did and you knew nothing about it. I don't think I have to tell you what would have happened if Callen wasn't there do I?" Gibbs said seriously, trying to get his son to understand the danger he had put himself in.

Zach shook his head. If it wasn't Callen, and an actual mobster, his chances of survival were very low. Even if the worst didn't happen, none of his family would have the slightest idea where he was. It was not something he liked thinking too much about.

"I won't punish you for something that was out of your control, but Zach, you really need to start thinking about the situations you put yourself into. One day I won't be there to save you."

"… Sorry" He mumbled shamefully.

"I'm glad, but I'd prefer it instead of you being sorry, you never got yourself into these messes in the first place." The silver-haired man slowly pushed his chair back from the table and stood up to glare down at his son.

"You are going to have extra chores for a long time to pay back your collage fund. You are going to go apologize to Director Vance for your rudeness to him. And you will apologize to Ducky, Jimmy, Ashlee and anyone else who was out searching for you." He picked up the belt from the table, leaving it lax in his hand.

"Yes Dad." Zach nodded, deciding not to move an inch of his seat. For the first time since he had sat down, he wasn't moving a muscle.

"Pants and shorts down, and over the table son" Gibbs folded the belt in half, making sure the buckle was in his hand.

Zach rose from his seat, gulping as he looked at the belt, but slowly did what he was told to do. His pushed his jeans to his knees, looking back at his dad in a question, but the man just gave him a pointed look and he sighed, pulling his shorts down too and leaning over the table.

"Son, this is for lying and running away." He pushed him down so his chest and cheek were pressing against the table, knowing that if he was standing up he most likely wouldn't stay still and it would have just made it more difficult on him. Gibbs couldn't even give him a reassuring hand; he just had to hope his son would take it like a man.

He winced with sympathy when he saw the already red backside, but he knew from experience that Jackson usually went a lot harder than that. Maybe the man had gone soft, or probably just had a softer spot for his grandson than he did his son.

Gibbs tried to not let it get to him as he heard his son hiss through his teeth from the first sharp crack of the belt. He wanted his son to learn a lesson though, who knew what could happen next time he decided he would run off. That thought made him keep swinging the belt, making sure he covered every inch of the boy's backside.

After the tenth crack of the belt, Zach had was sobbing, his head in one of his arms as he brought the other one around to cover himself.

"Dad… I'm s.. s.. sorry"

"I know son, I know. Move your hand" Gibbs was grateful when the boy did what he was told, and brought the belt down two more times, before throwing it on the seat and moving over to the boy.

"Shhh… shh… it's okay… it's over. You're forgiven" He quickly pulled up his son's shorts and jeans, before trying to pull him up into a one armed hug.

The boy spun round, quickly seeking comfort in his father's arms. He was mindful of his wound, and tucked his head into his good shoulder, sobbing openly.

"Zach, it's okay, I've got you now." He held him tight to him, kissing the top of the blond head and waiting for his crying to calm down.

When he did calm down, he stayed in his dad's arms for a few more moments before softly pulling away so he could look the man in the eyes.

"… Are you still going to let me be an intern on your team?" He asked, unsure if the man may have changed his mind now that he wasn't drugged up.

"You know I don't change my mind once I say something Zach." Gibbs told him. "I'll bring some forms home for you to fill out next time I go into the office. And I think you should give your apology to Vance before I mention it to him. You are going to have to prove to him that you will take it seriously."

"I will dad I swear. I really want to do this; I promise you I will do my best." Zach nodded, determined.

"Good, that's all I ask." Gibbs ruffled the blond hair, putting his hand on the back of his neck and pulling his head close enough to kiss the blond head. "I love you Zach, don't you ever forget that. No matter what you have done, I promise you, I will always love you"

"I love you too dad."