Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.

Chapter 6

"Put me down!" Taylor ordered as she struggled to break free. Her dad complied, but instead of setting her on the floor he sat down on a desk and dumped her across his lap. She heard the smack before she felt it, but had no time to protest before another one echoed throughout the classroom. Taylor's temper receded with every stinging swat, until she stopped fighting and started to cry.

He stopped spanking. "Are you done with the tantrum?"

"Yes." Taylor managed to get out. She tried to ignore the sting in her butt, and push herself up, but her dad's hand on her back kept her down. "Dad?" She glanced over her shoulder to see what he was doing. Then instantly regretted it. He looked absolutely furious, and it was only at this point she remembered just exactly what she'd said during her little outburst. Taylor realised he wasn't done yet, and panicked. It was bad enough he was probably about to go nuclear on her backside, but here? She renewed her efforts to escape. "I didn't mean it! I lost my temper. I'm sorry!"

"You're gonna be!" He growled, holding her tight enough to stop her falling off his lap. "Stop fighting me Taylor. You're already up to your neck in trouble. Do you want to make it worse?"

Taylor stilled at the threat. "Not here dad, please! Everyone's gonna hear!"

It wasn't working, she heard the swish as the belt slipped through the loops on his pants.

"You didn't seem too concerned when you were shouting the odds a few minutes ago. You think they didn't hear that?"

"I'm sor…OW!" Taylor clamped her mouth tightly shut, not wanting to give Millar the satisfaction of hearing her getting her ass whipped. She couldn't stop herself from crying though, each lick burned like hell.

It felt like forever before Taylor was standing in front of her father again, trying to control her sobs as he replaced his belt.

"You ever speak to me like that again, or try and kick me, what you just got will feel like nothing." He stopped her reaching back to rub, then handed her a tissue. "We're going back in a minute, and you're going to answer anything you're asked. Truthfully! If you try to avoid answering, or if I detect even the trace of a lie, we'll be doing this again, only I won't bother taking you out of the room first. Got it?" His patience was long gone.

Taylor nodded, Right now she'd agree to anything.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

As soon as Jethro and Taylor left the room Leon was on his feet and in front of his son.

"Mr Millar asked you a question. Answer him Jared."

Jared didn't know what to do. On one hand his father was angrier than he'd ever seen him before, but on the other, it didn't look as if Taylor was going to admit to anything, not yet anyway. He was not going to be the one to land her in it. Taking a deep breath to build up some courage he looked up at his dad.

"No."

That was the first time he'd ever openly defied his father and he watched as the anger was quickly replaced by rage. Leon pulled the boy off his chair and smacked his backside hard, twice, before sitting him down again. Jared tried unsuccessfully to blink his tears away. His dad hardly ever had to spank him, and never in front of anyone else. He stared at his desk, embarrassed.

Just about to repeat the question Leon was interrupted by Taylor's shouts filtering through from the adjoining classroom. He tried to ignore what was happening nest door and turned his attention back to Jared.

"The prank, was it you and Taylor?" This time he was certain he would get an answer.

After the swats Jared had almost been ready to confess, but now he could hear Taylor putting up a fight, he would have to do the same.

"I can't answer that. Rule number one."

Inside his head, Vance swore. That was definitely a 'Gibbs' thing. "What's rule number one?"

Jared shook his head. "Rule number two, never tell anyone what rule number one is."

Again Jared found himself being swatted and dropped onto an increasingly stinging butt.

The sounds coming from the other classroom changed dramatically. Taylor's shouts had been replaced by loud smacks, and Jared realised Taylor couldn't hold out for much longer. This was not going to end well. He was going to have to talk.

"It was us, but it was only a dumb prank." He mumbled, feeling guilty, not because of what they'd done, but for admitting it. Then looked at Mr Millar. "I'm sorry."

Leon took a seat on one of the desks, and waited for the other delinquent to return. They weren't finished yet, not by a long shot.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

A very red-eyed Taylor found herself deposited on her chair again, and although her backside screamed at her to stand up, she stayed seated. She risked a quick glance at Jared. He'd been crying too.

"Taylor has something she'd like to say to you." Gibbs informed her teacher.

Swallowing what was left of her pride, Taylor looked up at Mr Millar. "I'm sorry I put the crickets in the car."

He nodded. "Would the pair of you like to explain what's been going on with your homework?"

Jared and Taylor looked at each other before Taylor spoke. "We take turns."

Millar moved to stand in front of them. "You do realise that's cheating?"

Not sure if that was an actual question Taylor stayed silent. Until her dad stood up, then she answered quickly. "Yes."

Jared followed Taylor's example. "Yes."

Leaning on the desk directly in front of them Millar looked at their parents before pronouncing sentence.

"We've already discussed what your punishments are going to be. You're going to re-do all the homework assignments you cheated on."

That didn't sound too bad to Taylor or Jared.

"On top of that, there's just over three weeks left until the end of the school year, both of you will be in detention until then. You're lucky the pair of you aren't suspended."

"Three whole weeks?" Taylor began to protest. You've gotta be….." She shut up when her dad got to his feet and reached for his belt.

"Do you have a problem with that Taylor?" Millar asked.

There was only one answer she could give. "No."

'Jared, you can go home now." Millar shook hands with both Leon and Jacky, and as Taylor watched her friend leave, she clearly heard Vance tell his son that this wasn't over, and when they got home Jared was going to find out what his belt felt like.

What about me?" Taylor wanted out of here too, and her butt was still making sitting extremely uncomfortable.

"Oh, we're not done with you yet." Patricia informed her, as she placed her daughter's attempt at an essay in front of her. Taylor could feel the blood draining from her face. Millar had told them everything.

"We'll start with your attitude to your school work. Don't even try to tell me that you think this is acceptable. Why'd you do it Taylor? With everything you've been up to it looks as if you're trying your hardest to get yourself expelled. Is that what you want?

Taylor looked up at her mom. The thought hadn't even crossed her mind, well maybe at the start, but this place wasn't so bad, now she had Jared to keep her company. "No."

Patricia's expression told her that she didn't believe her."

"I don't, I swear!" She protested.

"Then why?"

Taylor stared at her desk. "I just didn't want to go to school today, and I was angry because I knew I'd never get away with cutting." She looked guiltily over to where her dad was standing. "It all just sort of spiralled out of control."

"You mean when you tried to blackmail your teacher?" Jethro asked as he moved closer to her.

Taylor glanced at Millar before she answered. "Yeah."

"Didn't we have a problem with you posting humiliating videos on the internet before?"

Taylor avoided looking up at him. "I didn't post it."

'You threatened to!" He was close to losing it.

Again Taylor was aware of his hand hovering over his belt buckle. "Sorry."

"You're apologising to the wrong person."

She tried not to glare at Mr Millar. "Sorry." Then stared at the hand her dad was holding out to her, not sure what he wanted.

"Phone."

"But I need it. What if I'm out and have to call you?"

"I wouldn't worry about that, you're not going need it for a long time."

Reluctantly Taylor reached into her bag for her iPhone and placed it onto his outstretched hand.

"Blackmail is extremely serious Taylor, and strictly speaking you should at least be suspended." Mr Millar informed her.

That didn't exactly seem unappealing to Taylor.

"However, on this occasion your father has assured me he'll take care of the matter."

'F***' was the first word that sprung into Taylor's mind. He was gonna kill her.

Now Millar looked smug, but he wasn't done yet. "You'll also be required to attend Saturday morning detentions, until the end of term."

Saturday detentions? She had no idea they even existed, what sort of sick b****** had thought of that?

"If however you try and pull the same stunt again, it WILL be dealt with officially." He warned.

Just as she was about to open her mouth, probably to say something she'd regret, her dad pulled her up, and she wisely closed it again.

"Go wait in the hallway, and stay in front of the window where I can see you."

Now Taylor was finally getting out of here, going home was the last thing she wanted to do. Her ass still throbbed painfully as she leant up against the wall and watched her parents talk to Mr Millar. Although she couldn't hear what they were saying, she was certain they were apologising again, on her behalf.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Taylor didn't want to see how angry her mom and dad were. She was already fighting the urge to start crying, so she walked just in front of them towards the main door. As soon as they stepped outside, her father put his hand on her shoulder to stop her, then turned Taylor round to face him.

"I have to go back to work now. When I get back later, I'll expect you to have your homework and essay done, and don't give your mom a hard time either. We have enough to deal with tonight, without you making it any worse."

All Taylor could think when he was speaking was 'shit he looks pissed!' But nodded when he'd finished.

Giving his wife a peck on the cheek he headed off to where his car was parked, leaving behind one extremely nervous daughter.