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

Chapter 25

Taylor jumped to her feet when the bedroom door opened, expecting it to be her dad. It wasn't him. It was Vicky and she looked kinda pissed.

"You promised!" Vicky looked and sounded hurt.

"I promised what?"

"You promised you wouldn't touch the fireworks!"

"Had my fingers crossed so it didn't count."

""What age are you, six? Of course it counts, a promise is a promise!"

Now that Taylr thought about the whole finger crossing loophole, it did sound a bit dumb, but it was something she'd always done. That's why her dad made her take her hands out of her pockets when he was interrogating her, wasn't it? There had to be something behind it. "Everyone knows if you cross your fingers a lie isn't a lie. It's probably even in the bible."

Vicky moved close enough to push her cousin back down onto the bed.

Butt still tender, Taylor winced and immediately stood up again. "Quit it!"

"What's the matter?" Vicky pushed her down again." "Can't sit down? Still, it could be worse, they could be trying to scoop up what was left of you and Lucas into plastic bags right now."

This time instead of standing, Taylor scooted back on the bed until she was leaning up against the wall. "You think I don't know that?"

Vicky stared at her. Taylor admitting she was wrong, she hadn't seen that coming, and it took some of her anger away. She sat down on her own bed.

"How'd my dad find out?" Taylor shifted her weight a little. "Did you tell him?"

"I heard the first explosion and went to check the fireworks were still there, your dad followed. That was one hell of a bang, the second one. Sounded as if you used all the fireworks. It made the windows in the store rattle."

Taylor wasn't sure if she felt guilty or stupid, probably both. "How was I supposed to know how much to use? Didn't exactly say on the back of the box did it?"

"Aren't you mad that I told on you?" She regarded her cousin suspiciously.

"No. I got stuck in the tree. Dad got me out just in time, so if you hadn't told him …" Taylor shrugged, not wanting to say it. "He's kinda pissed at that."

"I'll bet." Vicky relaxed, she'd been afraid there was going to be another full scale war. "He took it out on your ass then?"

"Not yet."

"But I thought …"

"There's no way I'm gettin' away with a few swats, no matter how hard they were. Is he downstairs?" Not knowing how long it would be until she had to face the music was always a killer.

"No just your grandpa and aunt Patricia, and yeah, before you ask, I don't think your grandpa will ever get over the fact that you killed Jesus, then nearly killed yourself. If I were you I'd stay out of his reach for a while.

Taylor managed a small grin. "Still can't believe Lucas nicked that from the church."

"You were supposed to get Taylor for dinner, not to sit up here talking." Patricia directed at Vicky from just outside the door. "If you don't hurry up it'll be cold."

"Sorry." Vicky ducked under her aunt's arm and raced down the stairs.

"Not hungry." Taylor informed her mom.

"Doesn't matter, you're still eating." She stated simply, letting her daughter know she had no choice in the matter.

With a sigh Taylor followed her mom downstairs, making a mental note to give her grandpa a wide berth.

o

Trying to swallow when you weren't hungry wasn't the easiest thing to do, but Taylor managed to force some of her dinner down. Between her grandpa's condemning looks and her father's empty chair it wasn't exactly the most relaxed meal they'd ever had. When everyone had finished Taylor headed straight back up to her room, not wanting her grandpa to start lecturing her again, making her relive the days events. After a quick shower Taylor changed into her pyjamas, found her PSP at the back of a drawer and settled herself down on her bed to wait.

Patricia checked on her shortly after, and Taylor found the courage to ask the question she'd been afraid to ask earlier. "Where's dad?"

"I don't know."

Taylor's heart skipped a beat. "He's comin' back, isn't he?"

"Of course he is." She sat on the edge of Vicky's bed. ""He's just gone for a walk to clear his head. You gave him quite a scare today."

"Scared me too." Taylor admitted. "He's really mad, huh?"

Patricia raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?"

"Yeah." She turned the game console over in her hands. "He never smacked me that hard before." When her mom looked confused she added, "Right after the tree blew up."

""Ah.." Now it made sense. "You don't think you deserved it?"

"Didn't say that. I just meant," she shrugged "I don't know, he had a really weird look on his face. Don't think I ever made him that mad before, and I've made him mad plenty of times." That last bit was probably an understatement, but her mom would know what she was talking about.

"Well you didn't come so close to blowing yourself up before, and not after he warned you not to do it, twice. What exactly do you think would of happened if your dad hadn't been there today?""

Taylor thought back to the piece of sweatshirt in the tree. "Don't wanna think about that."

Patricia reached over and took the PSP out of her hand. "Well maybe you should be thinking about that instead of playing games."

"But …."

"No buts Taylor, now under the covers, not on top." She tapped Taylor's leg and waited until she was actually in bed before closing the drapes.

"Isn't dad gonna, you know …"

"Not tonight, so make good use of the time and think about the risks you took today, and what you put everyone through."

Taylor turned onto her side to face the wall. She didn't want to think, she wanted to forget. Forget what she's done, and what she had coming.

o

Taylor must have eventually fallen asleep and when she woke up later the room was completely dark. Her crimes from the previous day filled her head, and she could hear Vicky snoring from the bed beside her. She was not going to be able to get back to sleep anytime soon, so, throwing back the covers Taylor went in search of her PSP.

As soon as she cleared the last stair Taylor realised there was someone sitting in the darkness of the living room. It had to be her dad, but from where she was standing she couldn't see if he was awake or not. Either way she didn't care. Taylor gently lowered herself down onto the couch beside him, relieved that he'd come home again. He was asleep. She moved close enough to be able to feel his chest rise and fall, then tried to match her breathing to his. It was too hard, her dad took much deeper, slower breaths.

"Why aren't you in bed?"

Taylor gave a little jump at her dad's voice, she hadn't meant to wake him up. "Can't sleep."

"Why not?"

"Cause, you know …"

"No I don't. Tell me."

"Cause of what I did. Why aren't you in bed?'

"Same reason. Cause of what you did."

There was the guilt again. "I'm sorry."

"Are you?"

"I made mom cry." She paused for a second to figure out just who else she'd managed to piss off. "And I made you mad, and grandpa, oh and the sheriff and probably the minister when he finds out what we did to his Jesus doll." Taylor followed that statement with a whisper. "I made me mad too."

"How?"

"I should off listened to you when you warned me not to light the fuse."

"Yeah you should have, and its something you're going to pay for."

Taylor's stomach flipped over. "Should have used less powder and a longer fuse too. Huh?" She could feel her father breathing faster. He was getting angry.

"No. You shouldn't have stolen the fireworks or tried to make a bomb!"

"Kinda figured that out when I was caught on the branch dad. OW!" Taylor rubbed her leg. She hadn't seen that one coming in the dark.

"You wanna make it worse?"

"No." this time she thought about what she was gonna say before she opened her mouth. "I know I shouldn't have done it, and I know you're gonna make me regret it, "

"Uh huh."

"but I didn't think it could go wrong until it did." Taylor really wanted to add that if he hadn't of made her rush she might not have slipped, but having a good idea what his reaction would be, decided against it.

"You call getting blown to pieces going wrong?"

Shit, she'd set him off again. "Dad I know what nearly happened and I don't want to think about it any more."

"That's too bad Taylor, because you need to think about it." Standing up he pulled her to her feet. "You need to realise just how close you came to killing yourself! Go back to bed Taylor. If you can't sleep think about just how badly you screwed up."

Taylor stood her ground, trying to decide if she should try and push him into punishing her now, instead of having to wait. "Told you I'm not thinkin' anymore." The whole idea of lying in bed, going over everything again and again in her head was horrendous."

"It's not your call."

"But OW!" Taylor quickly sat down on the stairs.

"You still can't do what you're told, can you?"

"I was just askin'!" She protested.

"No you weren't, you were trying to goad me into spanking you now."

There wasn't much point glaring at him in the dark, but she did it anyway. How the hell did he know that?

"If you're that keen, I'll oblige, but I'm still going to strap you tomorrow." He allowed a few seconds for it to sink in. "BED!"

Taylor instantly turned and scrambled up the stairs.

As Taylor threw herself into bed her heart was racing in her chest. That had almost taken a nasty turn. It was hard to try and make someone angry when you didn't have the temper to back you up. Angry at herself for backing down, Taylor kicked at her quilt. She hadn't even managed to get a hold of her PSP. With sleep unlikely to come easily, and a strapping to look forward to, it was going to be a very long night.

o

The night did seem to drag on forever and Taylor had indeed been able to do a lot of thinking. By morning she had come to the conclusion that most of what had happened had not been her fault. Conscience a lot clearer and hungry after eating so little the night before Taylor found herself in the kitchen with a giant bowl of cereal in front of her long before anyone else woke up.

It was already warm, even though it was early. It was going to be a perfect summer's day. Taylor propped her spoon up in the bowl and opened the back door to let some fresh air in, before returning to her breakfast. She wondered how Lucas was doing and if he was going to be allowed out today. If his mom and dad had watched the video she doubted it very much. It didn't seem fair. It had been her idea, she was the one who had taken all the risks and yet she was the only one who hadn't actually seen the explosion for herself. If her dad had anything to do with it she wouldn't get to see it at all. The camera was most likely locked up in Lucas's house and the video would never be posted on YouTube. What a waste! Taylor was positive it was way better that the one she'd originally watched. She pulled her iPhone from her pocket. It had been a while since she'd watched it.

"The first thing I was going to ask you today was why." The voice came from behind her.

Taylor jumped and almost dropped her phone.

"Is that where you got the idea from?" He nodded towards her phone.

"It's not nice sneakin' up on people." She complained, trying to distract him while she put the phone into her pocket again. "And no, I didn't get the idea from my phone." Turning her attention back to her cereal, Taylor tried to ignore her father's presence. I mean did he actually expect her to tell him everything. When she glanced up at him he was looking right back at her. Taylor dropped the spoon into the bowl, splashing milk over the table. "What?"

"Where did you get the idea from?"

"Which idea?"

Jethro pushed himself off the counter he'd been leaning against. "Stop trying to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. When I ask you a question I expect an honest answer, and you know what to expect if you lie."

Taylor decided to try a different approach. After deciding she wasn't totally to blame she now came to the conclusion she'd suffered enough. "You told me last night to think about what I did."

"Go on." He seemed willing to play along for now.

"Well, when we took the fireworks we didn't think we were doing anything wrong. They were a bit like garbage you weren't allowed to throw in a trashcan. We didn't even know if they were going to work they were so old. So I'm not sorry for that." She waited to see how he would react, and when he didn't get angry or try to contradict her, Taylor began to feel more confident.

"Keep going." He told her calmly.

"When I blew up Jesus, that was so not my fault. I thought it was just some stupid doll Lucas had found. I didn't know he'd stolen it from the church, so I don't have to be sorry about that either."

Again there was no argument from her father.

"As for blowing up the tree, well how was I supposed to know we'd used to much powder? We made a mistake, everyone makes mistakes, so what? No big deal. I know I slipped, but that's only cause you showed up and made me panic, so when I got stuck in the tree it was technically your fault, not mine. The way I see it the only thing I did wrong yesterday was to light the fuse when you told me not to, and you already smacked me for that." Taylor folded her arms and glowered at him, remembering just how much it had hurt. "My butt's probably still got a giant handprint on it, you hit me that hard." Slowly and calmly Taylor set her bowl in the sink, pleased he was taking everything so well. It looked as if keeping your temper under control had its advantages after all. Relieved that was all over Taylor headed for the open door. "I'm gonna see Lucas." Her dad didn't need to know she wanted to watch the tape. "I'll be back for dinner."