Sweat trickled down Tim's back as he worked diligently. Whilst he had been initially horrified by the cleaning punishment Gibbs had dished out, he now found himself oddly grateful for it. The manual labour under the hot sun was a welcome distraction from the mess he was in. Pulling and dragging heavy boxes was a welcome outlet for his built up frustration at himself.
Hours passed and soon it was lunch time. Glancing around the now spotlessly clean shed, with equally gleaming tools adorning the walls, Tim gave a small smile.
At least he could still do something right without screwing up.
Traipsing into the house, he quickly dashed upstairs for a shower. As he changed into fresh clothes from the vast assortment he'd gathered from his place, he wondered briefly how long he'd be staying at his boss' place for.
Remembering his actions, he grimaced.
He would probably die from old age in this house before Gibbs was finished with him.
Padding downstairs, he quickly threw the now defrosted burgers under the grill and busied himself making a rustic salad. He didn't feel particularly hungry, but he knew that Gibbs would totally freak if he came home and he had neglected to eat.
He was funny about things like that when it came to the four of them.
Moments later, he found himself wolfing down his food with a gusto that surprised him.
Ok, so maybe he was hungry then.
Quickly tidying up the kitchen, he let out an audible groan as he remembered the second part of today's chores.
Cold cases.
Cold cases…by hand.
Dragging himself down to the basement reluctantly, he again grimaced when he realised that Gibbs didn't even count today as part of his punishment. This was just to keep him busy so he didn't self destruct.
Quickly locating the allocated box, he sighed at its size.
This was going to suck.
Lifting the box up with a grunt, he turned to make his way back upstairs, before catching his leg on the edge of the workbench. Stumbling, he threw out his arms to catch himself, dropping the file box in the process.
Cursing under his breath, he bent down to retrieve the box when something caught his eye on an opposite table.
Straightening up, he reached out and picked up the object that grabbed his attention.
His own face beamed up at him from the frame, accompanied with matching grins from Tony, Ziva and Abby with Gibbs standing behind them with his arms somehow draped over the four of them.
Tim's throat constricted slightly as he looked down at the photograph, encased in a clearly Gibbs made frame.
It was a photo from a few years ago, on the rare occasion that they all actually got time to hang with each other outside work. Gibbs had taken them to dinner at a place Tony and Tim were dying to try out, and then to a show that Ziva and Abby had been dying to see.
As a reward for a particularly well done job on a tough case.
Mentally kicking himself viciously for causing the man that had done more for him than his other father would ever have dreamed of, McGee set the photo down gently and gazed at it fondly.
Director Shepherd had taken it…she'd been so full of life that day, looking her young years for a change, having been effectively ordered by Gibbs to accompany them.
Tim smiled as he remembered the constant bickering that flown back and forth between Jenny and Jethro.
They were like an old married couple…always had been, well…before she…
Brushing that memory away as quickly as he could, Tim grabbed the box and set off upstairs.
Settling himself at the dining room table, he grabbed the first file and set to work and was soon lost in a haze of dates, suspects and a stabbing pain in his writing wrist.
At the office, things were going smoother than Gibbs could have hoped for and he let out a breath of relief.
The case had been quickly wrapped up; the guilty party having left so much DNA at the scene, that Abby was nearly affronted by the sample load heaped upon her. Tony and Ziva had accompanied their boss in apprehending the suspect, and for now, he was securely locked away in federal holding.
Sitting at his desk, Gibbs watched silently as Tony and Ziva worked diligently at their desks typing up their case reports.
His mind began to wander…
Kelly had been just four…five maybe, when she'd stopped her father's heart mid-beat. He had entered the house wearily, after a long debriefing to hear the sounds of Shannon in the kitchen preparing dinner. Throwing his jacket down on the sofa, he had glanced up the stairs to see his little girl sitting in the middle of them, so lost in her little world she hadn't heard him coming in.
About to open his mouth to call to her for their usual greeting hug, he was stopped in his tracks…
The little girl had somehow gotten a hold of her mother's blood pressure medication. She had somehow managed to screw the cap off the bottle. Several pink pills were held tightly in her little fist, as she raised it to her mouth…
He'd let out a fearsome roar at the little one, his heart clenching in fear as he'd raced up the stairs to wrest the tablets from her grip. Her big eyes had filled with tears in response; he never raised his voice with her.
"No…sweets daddy" she had pleaded, as he threw the tablets in the container with shaking hands…
That fear, that gut wrenching fear he had felt when his little girl had a hand full of pink pills, was the exact same fear he had felt when his boy had held the pink tablet to his mouth…a kind of intense fear the he never thought he'd experience again.
Sighing, he stared blindly at his computer screen, not really seeing anything that was displaying on it.
He still didn't know how he was going to deal with Tim; the whole situation was still bizarre to him. He knew whatever punishment he decided on had to be sufficiently severe and unpleasant, but, at the same time he was cautious not to go overboard.
Tim had made a mistake, granted one hell of a bad one, but… he was still a good kid.
He needed to remember that when deciding what the hell he was going to do with him.
He was already grounded for the rest of his life. That was a no brainer.
Well ok…he conceded to himself, maybe not the rest of his life, but…definitely the immediate and indefinite future of it.
Chewing his bottom lip slightly, he descended into deep thought. The only sounds that could be heard in the squad room were the soft tapping of keys, and the odd snarl from Ziva when she caught Tony staring at her chest.
Hours passed, and with a jerk Gibbs realised it was finishing time.
Standing up wearily, he have the usual "wrap it up, but keep your cells on" order and bid both Tony and Ziva a warm goodnight when they left after gathering their belongings.
He was far from surprised when Tony doubled back, leaving Ziva holding the elevator, to talk to him in low tones.
"Boss…I need you to promise me that Tim will still be alive tomorrow…not that I care or anything, but finding another probie is a lot of hassle."
Grinning at the obvious cover up of concern, Gibbs looked up at his eldest boy with pride.
"I promise Tony" he replied, "besides; I'd hate to put you to any inconvenience."
Returning the grin, Tony nodded and swept after Ziva, holding up his hands in innocence as she began growling at him for some prank or other he had pulled.
Realising that Tim had only eaten a burger or so today, Gibbs hurried from the office in search of the kid's favourite take out.
A half or so later, and the team leader found himself on his doorstep laden down with food. Manoeuvring himself into the house, he found a deep in concentration McGee at the dining table, still working on the cold cases he'd dished out.
Depositing the take out bag on the table, he smiled slightly when Tim jumped, clearly being so engrossed he hadn't heard him enter.
"Boss" he stammered, "I'm sorry…I'm nearly done, I just have…uhh, three more to do I think. I'll get them done, I-"
"Relax Tim" Gibbs interrupted gently, "throw those files back down in the basement, and then come back up here to eat ok?"
Nodding, the younger man hastened to do as instructed and scampered down to the basement with the heavy box in tow. Clambering back up the stairs, he caught the waft of what smelled like his favourite Indian food.
Edging back into the kitchen, his favourite dish was laid out for him with his favourite soda and he felt another stab of guilt.
Even when he was in as much trouble as you could pretty much be in, the elder man still managed to show he cared.
"Thanks boss" Tim murmured softly, as he dropped down into his place.
Nodding, Gibbs looked over the younger man with a raking gaze.
"How'd the shed go Tim?"
Beaming despite himself, the junior agent launched into an explanation as to the transformation of the shed and the new system for storing tools he'd designed. Gibbs listened amiably; feeling relieved to hear the boy's excited chatter.
"That's great" he praised when Tim fell silent, "I knew you'd do a good job."
Tim smiled his shy smile and turned back to his food, and for a while both men just ate in comfortable silence.
Eventually though, the last morsel had been cleared from both plates, and Gibbs knew he had to put the kid out his anticipative misery.
He could only hope that the punishment he'd eventually decided on was both fair and effective.
"Ok Tim, go on in to the living room. I'll be through in a minute."
As expected, the younger man paled slightly, but nonetheless he nodded immediately and made his way obediently into the sitting room.
Tidying up slowly, Gibbs took the time spent in the kitchen to reaffirm to himself that he was about to dish out was fair, merited, and above all else, in Tim's best interests. Drying the last piece of cutlery, he dried his hands and strode purposefully into the living room.
The sight that greeted him almost broke his heart.
Tim was curled up on his usual spot on the sofa, wrapped around a cushion, looking like he'd just buried his childhood dog.
Groaning inwardly at how young the kid looked, Gibbs sat in the arm chair facing him and leaned forwards.
"Ok Tim" he began, "it's time for you to give me some answers."
Looking up at him pleadingly, McGee began to fidget in his seat.
"Boss…I don't know what I can say, I screwed up…big time" he murmured dolefully.
Gibbs stared at him intently, before opening his own mouth.
"I know that Tim, but before we talk about your punishment, I want to know everything. I want to know what upset you in the squad room besides Tony's teasing, I want to know why you got so upset over that misunderstanding when you should know that I would never allow Tony to speak about you that way, never mind agree with him. I want to know what you were thinking by running out of the office and out of contact, and I definitely want to know what the hell you were thinking when I walked into that dive to find you with DRUGS in your hand."
Tim gaped at the older man.
"How did you know Tony was teasing me?" he squeaked, "he's going to think I told you! Boss you have to tell him I didn't rat him out, he'll never let me hear the end of it otherwise."
"Tony came to me and told me that he was teasing you, Tim. He felt extremely bad about it, and he's been punished, he doesn't think you told me anything, so don't worry about it."
Another gaping silence ensued from the younger man.
"Tony…ratted himself out?"
Biting back a smile at the look of shock on his youngest boy's face, Gibbs nodded.
"Boss…you didn't need to punish him, it was no big deal."
Shaking his head slightly, the elder man resolved to stay on track.
"Yes, I did Tim but that is between Tony and I, we're talking about you right now. So, I'll ask you again, what got you so riled up in the bull pen yesterday? The truth, now."
A deep and vehement flush began to creep across the younger man's face as his eyes pooled into pleading spheres.
"Please boss" he all but whispered "punish me all you want, I deserve it, just please…don't make me talk about it."
Growing more and more alarmed by the minute, Gibbs shook his head vigorously and stood.
Striding over to Tim who grimaced in clearly anticipation of a head slap, he quickly sat down beside him and placed a warm hand on his knee.
"No Tim" he said firmly, but gently, "I need to know, I'm sorry, but I need to know."
Chewing his lip and fidgeting for a moment, the junior agent realised that compliance was inevitable.
Besides, he owed Gibbs an explanation…at the very least.
Fishing out his cell, he quickly opened up a message thread and with shaking hands, handed it to his boss.
Grateful for the easy reach of his glasses, Gibbs slipped them on and blinked as he tried to focus on the bright screen in front of him.
God he really hated these god damned phones.
The first message he saw, was clearly from McGee.
Hey dad…it's me, Tim. Long time no see, huh? Anyway…I got talking to Penny the other day (she still doesn't let me call her nana) and she suggested I drop you a message…I don't think you had this number until now…so, how have you been doing? It's been a few years since we last…talked, and I was just wondering if you wanted to maybe meet up this weekend for lunch? Penny said you were going to be in town on business, so if you're free, let me know!
Having a sinking feel in his stomach that he knew where this was going, Gibbs read on.
Timothy. I'm afraid I'm simply far too busy this weekend to have any time to waste on lunches. I hear from your sister you are still a junior agent after all this time. How disappointing. Perhaps you should spend less time lunching and more time trying to make something of yourself. Please do not bother me again unless it is important. Send my wishes to Penny.
Gibbs felt the room swim in and out of focus as he read and re read the answering message.
A sick, burning pool of rage was beginning to froth up in his gut.
How dare that uppity asshole tear Tim down like that?
No wonder the kid had been in such a state.
Glancing beside him, he saw the young man still fidgeting nervously and staring at the floor.
Without uttering a word, Gibbs reached out and pulled the boy into his arms, holding him tightly against his chest.
Pressing his face against Tim's soft hair, the elder man sighed.
How could it be that out of all of his team, Abby appeared to be the only one with kind, loving and adoring parents?
He held the kid to him for a long time, not saying a word, just holding him. He soon felt the tension begin to slip away from the tight shoulders, as Tim began to relax for the first time in many, many hours.
As he eventually let him go, he tactfully pretended not to notice the teary quality of his youngest boy's eyes.
"Tim…" he began, trying valiantly to keep the burning anger he felt for Admiral McGee out of his voice "I'm so sorry that that happened to you."
Shaking his head immediately, a soft "s'not your fault boss" could be heard in the quiet room.
"I don't care, it should never have happened" Gibbs replied softly.
"Why didn't you come to me when you got that message?" he added, knowing that if the young man had, none of this mess would have happened.
"I…" McGee trailed off, returning his gaze to the floor.
"You what, Tim?"
Drawing in a deep breath, and looking up at his boss, the junior agent tried again.
"I didn't want to bother you, it wasn't your problem."
This apparently, judging by the murderous look that crossed Gibbs' face was quite the wrong thing to say.
"You didn't want to bother me?" the elder man repeated incredulously.
Tim cringed as he practically felt the anger burning beside him, and nodded.
Gritting his teeth, Gibbs composed himself.
"If you ever and I do mean ever keep something like this to yourself again, because you don't want to bother me, I will skin you alive. Do I make myself clear?"
Gulping, Tim nodded immediately and cursed his stupidity.
He should have gone straight to Gibbs; he would have made him feel better.
He always did.
He could have avoided this whole sorry mess.
"So" Gibbs continued, working hard to keep his voice level "you were understandably upset by that…text, and then you overheard Tony and I talking about a different Tim, and lost it. Instead of walking into the conference room and demanding to know what was what, you left. In the middle of a case. You turned off your cell, and you got drunk. You made some new friends, and got even drunker. You then decided it would be a good idea, as a federal agent, to accept drugs of unknown description from these people you had known less than two hours. Is that a fair summation of events, Tim?"
Paling to a deathly white, McGee managed to jerk his head in the affirmative.
"Two points, Tim" Gibbs answered. "Point one; I completely understand that you were upset about what your…father said to you. I completely understand that, and I know you'll come to me the next time if something like that happens, wont you?"
The answering nod allowed him to press on.
"Point two, you should know by now that you are one an incredibly important person in a lot of people's lives…Tony's, Ziva's, Abby's…and mine. Not to mention everyone else. There is no one I know that would speak about you the way Tony and I were talking about Connery. There is also no way in hell I would ever allow it, if I heard it. Now, you should have known that, shouldn't you?"
The second answering nod, again allowed him to press on.
"Whilst I understand that you were very upset, nothing and I do mean nothing gives you the right to act in the outrageous way you did, does it?"
A stuttering and stammering "no boss" was offered in meek response to the unusually long bout of speech from the elder man.
Taking a deep breath, Gibbs addressed the most pressing issue.
"Drugs Tim? What on earth were you thinking?"
Gulping down air as if it were in scarce supply, McGee tried to formulate an answer.
He went with the brutal truth.
"I was being a child, boss. I was angry and wasted and I thought what the hell, no one cares about me anyway. I didn't think it through, I just…acted. It was inexcusable of me, both professionally and personally, and I don't know if you can believe me or not seeing as how I've acted, but I promise you it will never happen again."
A brief silence hung over the two men.
"Of course I can believe you Tim" Gibbs murmured, "I'll always believe you."
The younger man shot him a look of pure relied and gratitude in response.
"Ok, now we know why you behaved the way you did, we can deal with it. I take it that you know and understand that you both need and deserve to be thoroughly punished for this Tim?"
The sandy brown head nodded instantly, much to Gibbs' relief, who took a deep breath and prepared to hand down the sentence the kid had earned himself.
"Ok then. I think it goes without saying that you're grounded, indefinitely. When I feel you've earned back my trust, and are no longer capable of causing yourself undue danger, we can talk about paroling you. Until then, it's work to home and home to work, you understand? And by home, I mean here."
Again, the tousled head nodded…although slightly slower this time.
This was going to suck…Gibbs didn't think things like internet, or computers or video games were important, and as if on cue, the elder man spoke again.
"You will only have your cell during working hours, at home, you hand it to me. The same goes for your laptop and anything else like that. No video games, no internet and no friends or fun. Is that clear?"
This time the nodding of the head was morose and despondent, but it was a nod nonetheless.
"Verbal answer Tim."
"Yes boss" the younger man replied, fighting hard to keep the misery out of his voice by reminding himself he deserved everything he was getting.
"Good. That takes care of the…non corporal aspect of your punishment then."
McGee stiffened and waited for the verdict to be read out.
"I think you know you're not getting away with just one conversation with my belt, don't you?"
Groaning inwardly, but indeed knowing that this would be the likely outcome, Tim nodded.
"I know boss…"
Somehow finding the resolve to retain his stern face when all he wanted to do was pull the miserable looking kid into his arms, Gibbs took another deep breath.
"How many things did you do wrong Tim?" he demanded sternly.
Quickly racking him brains, Tim counted up his transgressions, and winced.
"Four boss" he murmured, hoping that this was the correct answer.
Nodding in the affirmative, Gibbs looked at him sternly.
"And they were?" he prompted.
Gulping in another intake of air, Tim opened his mouth obediently.
"Not coming to you when I was upset when I know I'm supposed to, jumping to the wrong conclusions by underestimating myself, when I know I'm not supposed to, going off contact in the middle of a case…and….endangering myself and others with my stupid behaviour."
Feeling a thunderbolt of pride for his youngest boy, Gibbs nodded.
"Good Tim, that's good" he praised gently.
"So, tonight you're going to learn what happens, again, when you do not come to me for help when you need it, understand?"
"Yes boss" Tim all but whispered.
Nodding, Gibbs forced himself to press on, loathing himself as he did so.
"Tomorrow night we will deal with the jumping to wrong conclusions, the night after the going off contact and the night after that…your life threatening behaviour. Is that clear?"
Tim nodded, and bit back a groan.
He was never, ever going to sit again.
"It's clear boss."
Gibbs surveyed the younger man for a moment, and came to an impromptu decision.
"Ok then, how about we get tonight taken care of?"
Wincing despite himself, Tim nodded, and heaved himself up. He began to make his way across to the armrest that Tony had been bent over just last night, before he was stopped in his tracks.
"No, Tim. Not over there."
Looking down at his boss, Tim merely looked his confusion.
"Boss?"
Gibbs thought rapidly for a moment, and reaffirmed his decision.
"Come here Tim" he said softly, pointing to a spot directly beside his right hand side.
Feeling distinctly bewildered, but not wanting to get into any more trouble, Tim did as he was told.
The two agents looked at each for a moment, before Gibbs suddenly reached out.
Within a millisecond, Tim found himself staring at the ground, as Gibbs placed him deftly over his knee, wrapping a firm hand around his waist as he did so.
It took a moment for the position he was into register in the shocked McGee's brain, but when it did, he immediately began to struggle.
"No boss" he spluttered in indignation "no, not like this…let me up, come on, let me up!"
Merely wrapping a firmer arm around the struggling agent, Gibbs ignored his protests.
Quickly reaching up and tugging the kid's sweat pants that he had clearly changed into down to his knees, and pooling his boxers down to join them a minute later, the elder man prepared himself.
He had never spanked either of his boys like this before, being over his knee was usually a position reserved for Abby, and occasionally, Ziva.
This time however, and for the reason he was being punished, Gibbs just…knew that Tim needed to be closer to him. He didn't know how he knew it; he just knew that he did know it.
Raising his hand high, and continuing to ignore the squawking protests of his youngest boy, the team leader lay down the first swat on the now bared backside across his knee.
Despite his outrage, Tim let out an instinctive hiss at the sting that flared across his cheeks.
How could a hand hurt that much?
Gibbs wasted no time in bringing the second swat down, and holding tightly to his still struggling agent, he quickly settled into a steady tempo.
Within a few moments, Tim stopped fighting the hold on him, as the pain began to mount in his rear.
The hard and wide hand methodically spanked every inch of the backside, ensuring no area escaped it's attention.
All Gibbs' years of carpentry had given his hands a leathery texture, and judging by the yelping that was now escaping his junior agent, he was putting them to extremely good use.
Soon, Tim began to sniffle despite himself as the stinging pain descended to his sit spots, as Gibbs lit a fire across the tender area. He tried to hold himself as still as possible, knowing that despite how embarrassing it was to be put across his boss' knee, he deserved every swat that was besieging his rear end.
Minutes passed, and the only sounds to be heard in the living room were the brisk and crisp swats of hand meeting backside, and the whimpering yelps that accompanied them.
It wasn't long before the first tears fell from Tim's eyes, as his posterior was taking on a crimson glow.
Though the belt may have a more immediate bite, Gibbs' hands were nothing to be sniffed at, and when a particularly searing swat landed across his upper thighs, Tim gave up his stoic front and began to sob over his boss' knee.
For his part, Gibbs was relieved to feel the boys torso go limp across his lap and to hear the sobbing waft up from the tousled brown head.
As much as he despised hearing any of his people cry, he knew that this was an indication as lesson had been learned, and that Tim had completely succumbed to his punishment.
He also knew, that some of the boy's tears, had nothing to do with his stinging rear and everything to do with his tyrannical father.
Tim needed to cry about that, and Gibbs knew that without the position the kid was currently in, he never would.
Dishing out a last flurry of hard and deliberate swats across the now ruby red backside, he let the last one fall with an intense force before instinctively reaching up to the small of the kid's back and rubbing small and comforting circles on it.
The punishment itself, had not been that intense, though there was no doubt in the elder mans mind that it had been effective.
The spanking he'd dished out was commensurate with the offence that had warranted it, and Gibbs had cut the kid some slack about not coming to him about his father.
He knew Tim had deep rooted issues there, and working on them would take time.
As he continued to rub the now quietly weeping kids back, he grimaced when he thought about tomorrow's punishment.
There was no way Tim wouldn't be feeling the belt for that one.
As the weeping began to subside into a quiet snuffling, the team leader very gently pulled the boxers and sweats back up over the crimson backside, and winced when Tim yelped in response.
Very carefully, he guided the boy up off his knee, and set him on his feet.
Standing up himself, he tiled the kid's chin up to level eye contact between them, wincing at the watery quality of the normally dancing eyes.
"You understand why I punished you like that, Tim?" he asked quietly.
A brief pause ensued as Tim pondered his answer.
"Yes boss…" he answered, his voice hitched…"and…uhh…thanks….I guess."
Biting back a grin at the idea of one of his lot saying thanks for blistering their rear ends, Gibbs nodded.
He knew what the kid meant.
Opening his arms widely, he was rewarded when his youngest boy launched himself into them.
Nuzzling his face into his boss' broad chest, Tim sighed a contented sigh.
Sure, his ass was on fire.
Sure, his boss had just put him over his knee like an unruly five year old.
But…as the elder mans arms wrapped tightly around him, and as the gentle words of praise that always followed a punishment began to waft into his ear, Tim McGee knew one thing for sure.
The father you're born with, isn't necessarily the father you'll grow old with.
….
TBC
…
A/N: This is my first time writing an OTK spanking scene with one of the boys, so please let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading!