Wisely, Tony heeded the warning and offered, "I did invite some friends over a couple of times. Does that count?"

Jethro raised his eyebrows and Tony licked his lip nervously.

"They were friends, Boss, not uhm… not strangers or anyone like that."

Gibbs clarified, "Were you given the go ahead to invite anyone over while I was gone?"

"No, not exactly, but actually, you never said to not invite someone over."

Jethro looked at him incredulously. "What?"

"You didn't say not to do that," Tony attempted to defend himself.

Noting that Tony was already grasping at straws, Jethro pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tell me about Friday."

Recalling the party and the party guests, then the clean up afterwards, Tony sucked in a breath. It was one thing to admit to having the occasional friend over. It was yet another to admit a party had been staged which lasted into the wee, wee hours.

"I'm waiting, and not patiently-" Jethro prompted, his voice beginning to rise and take on a sharp edge.

"I don't know, Boss." Tony tried to appear helpful but genuinely puzzled.

Gibbs looked at him squarely. "Look at me." When Tony obeyed, he continued, "Is that the truth, Anthony?"

That caused the young man to capitulate immediately, which was what Gibbs had anticipated. He had several years devoted to parenting the boy his own way. Tony might distort the truth, but he would never deliberately lie to his mentor when Jethro asked him something directly.

Tony met his gaze, unflinching, though his stomach was churning. "No , no sir it is not."

He regarded his boss with a tragic expression, but Gibbs steeled himself to remain firm. He didn't say anything for almost a full minute, which was torture to Tony.

"How many people were here Friday?" Gibbs questioned.

Tony's stomach knotted but he answered, "A bunch, Boss, and I don't exactly know how many. That is the truth."

Jethro regarded him a couple of seconds, then held out his hand, palm out. Recognizing the gesture, Tony began to protest, "No, please, I am really sorry, and…."

Gibbs interrupted firmly, "Close your mouth. I absolutely do not want you to speak."

Tony shook his head. Gibbs raised an eyebrow, and Tony reached into the pocket of his jeans and took out his car keys, which he placed in his boss's hand. "Boss, how long…."

Jethro interrupted him again. "I am positive that I told you to get quiet."

At that, Tony puffed his lip into a pout but stayed silent.

Jethro stood up and slid Tony's keys into his own pocket, then motioned once again with his hand. Tony reacted with a huff but reached over to the side table and grabbed his phone, then handed it wordlessly to Gibbs. Jethro deposited that into his pocket, as well.

Finally he turned to Tony and ordered, "Look right at me, Anthony." Tony did, and Jethro announced, "Ok, you will not be in possession of either of those items for quite some time, so go ahead and reconcile yourself to no communication and no transportation either. Furthermore, with the exception of the time spent at NCIS, you will not be leaving this house to go anywhere or to do anything for the same duration of time."

Tony looked at him miserably.

"To say I am disappointed in you is an understatement. I really thought I could put some faith into you this time, and believe that you could act maturely when given the chance to do so. I won't make that mistake again. I can not believe that you deliberately went against not only my instructions, but also ignored the normal rules you have been given."

That made an impression, and Tony flinched as though he had been slapped. He desperately craved his boss's approval, and tried hard to make him proud.

Looking at Tony's stricken face Gibbs softened his tone a bit. "Are you clear, Anthony, on what you are doing without- what you have lost- for the next few weeks?"

Tony nodded, and Gibbs leaned down and tapped him under the chin. "Do you have anything to say? I'm permitting you to talk now."

"How long is quite some time?" Tony questioned, steeling himself. He knew his week of throwing caution to the wind ranked pretty high on his boss's lists of unacceptable acts.

"Four weeks-" was the immediate reply, and Tony couldn't help but groan.

"That is going to kill me, Boss! Please, please, please rethink the calculation. Don't make me stay home all that time. You can give me extra chores or some other punishment instead."

"I don't need an alternate punishment. I'm satisfied with the one I just gave you," Jethro said firmly.

Tony threw his head back against the sofa cushion and closed his eyes. Along with this bad news, he now had a throbbing headache.

Gibbs spoke again. "That's effective immediately. Now, again, are we clear?"

Tony nodded, but Gibbs spoke sharply, "Verbal reply, Son-"

Tony opened his eyes and regarded his boss sadly, "Yes sir, I understand- four weeks of nothingness- no phone, no friends, no females, no car, and no fun. I think it's pretty clear."

Abby interrupted then, bounding in through the kitchen. "Gibbs, I finished the kitchen and it looks good if I do say so myself."

He smiled in reply and watched as she flopped down on the sofa by Tony. "Ok, well I'm heading to the basement."

The two watched him depart. Once he was out of sight Abby put her arm around Tony and hugged him to her. "Ok, tell me all about it. I could hear bits and pieces only." When he didn't immediately answer she continued, sympathetically, "He house arrested you, didn't he?"

Tony had to grin then, despite the fact that his day was ruined. He and Abby never credited Gibbs with restricting one of them, but rather with house arresting, owing to the assurance they had that he would make sure they were locked up for the duration.

"Yep, I'm house arrested for a solid month," Tony answered sadly.

Abby hugged him. "Well, just so you know, I didn't tattle on you this time."

He smiled in reply, "Thanks, Baby Girl, that is good to know."

"Well," she said, looking around the room. "Let's make lemons out of lemonade."

Tony laughed, and brightened. "Hey, you know what, though? He said no phone, no car, and no going anywhere. He didn't take away the television. There is some hope, after all!" Tony gleefully grabbed the remote and powered on the set. "All I have to do to stay sane is not get into any more trouble for the next four weeks so he doesn't take the television away, too."

Gibbs, who hadn't made it to the basement yet, had witnessed most of the scene from the doorway. He shook his head slightly and marveled at the bond between the two. They were flipping quickly through the viewing selections and laughing as the screen caps flew past.

Once again he felt gratitude flood him as he watched his family.