Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.
Chapter 30
Who would of thought such a little word would get such a big reaction. Vicky's head spun with the speed at which Jethro pulled her up and tucked her under his arm, but that was nothing compared to the sting he left in her backside when he allowed her to straighten up.
"Empty your pockets." Gibbs repeated.
Still a bit stunned, Vicky stared at the man as if he was talking gibberish. Jethro took that as another sign of defiance and quickly bent her over, swatting her behind half a dozen times, like before. This time when she stood up again, Vicky's hands went straight to her pockets. Quickly, before her uncle could start spanking again, Vicky held out the contents of her pockets, as she blinked back rapidly forming tears. When Jethro removed his cigarettes and her lighter, all Vicky was left with was half a pack of gum, and a nasty feeling the man in front of her wasn't very impressed by her recent theft.
"Stealing, Vicky?" He asked softly.
Right now, trying to make her feel guilty was not going to work, it just got her back up. "What else was I supposed to do? You didn't tell us how long we were gonna be stuck out here. I haven't any left, and all you wanted to do with them was get some dumb lesson across to Taylor." She shrugged. "No point wasting them." Vicky sounded a lot calmer than she felt, she didn't just want those cigarettes, she needed them.
"Not just Taylor." Jethro crushed the pack and tossed it over Vicky's head, into the fire.
Vicky watched as her only source of nicotine went up in flames. Now she was mad. "Yeah, like that's gonna make a whole lotta difference. I'll just get more tomorrow." Turning back to Gibbs as if she had nothing to worry about, Vicky smiled sweetly at him. "Can I go to bed now? After all we do have a long walk back in the morning."
"Who said we're going back tomorrow?"
That stopped her in her tracks. He was kidding, right?
Jethro almost grinned at the flicker of uncertainty that flashed across her face. That should have a bigger effect on her, than kicking off about the stealing. "Good night Vicky."
o
"You okay?" Taylor whispered as Vicky crawled awkwardly into her sleeping bag.
"Not really. Your dad packs one hell of a wallop."
"Yeah, I know." She propped herself up on her elbows. "You got off easy though."
"How do you figure that?" Vicky asked, backside still burning.
"He didn't spank you for stealing."
"No, but he burnt the cigarettes, what am I supposed to do now?"
"Ah …stop smoking?"
"Why should I?"
Vicky wasn't really looking for an answer to that question, but Taylor gave her one anyway.
"You might as well. I mean you have no cigarettes, we're stuck in the middle of nowhere, and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes if my dad catches you smoking again. You haven't seen him really pissed at you yet, and if you think his hand is bad you really don't want to find out what his belt's like."
"That wasn't pissed?"
Taylor laughed. "That was so NOT pissed, and if you think it was you're in for a hell of a shock."
Her cousin's information was not helping. "Just shut up and go to sleep Taylor."
Still smiling, Taylor lay back down again. Vicky was going to stop smoking whether she realised it yet or not.
o
Not sure if Vicky was going to do something stupid like taking off on her own, Jethro unrolled his sleeping bag close to the entrance of the girls' tent. Lying back, hands behind his head, he gazed at the countless stars above, and listened to the whispers coming from inside the tent. When he had confronted the two of them earlier, he had been surprised by the fact it wasn't Taylor who had the problem, and even though he wasn't happy about her sneaking the odd cigarette he was impressed by her honesty. At least now he wasn't going to have to make her smoke the whole pack to make her sick, the way his dad had when he'd caught him smoking. The thought of it still made him feel queasy. Her innocence also made dealing with Vicky much easier. His niece absolutely hated being out here, and while lengthening their trip might help convince her to give up smoking, it would also reward Taylor who couldn't get enough of the great outdoors.
The whispers eventually trailed off, and Vicky's snores were soon filtering through the thin fabric of the tent, before Jethro finally allowed himself to relax. He was just drifting off when the sound of the door being slowly unzipped alerted him to a possible escape. Lying still, feigning sleep, he waited to see what was going on. A sleeping bag was tossed out through the now open door, but it wasn't Vicky who followed close behind it. Taylor closed the door again to keep the bugs out before taking a good look around. Although he wasn't far from the tent it took Taylor a few seconds to spot him in the dark, but when she did she dropped her sleeping bag down on the ground beside him and lay on top of it.
"Too hot in there." She mumbled, before rolling onto her stomach and quickly falling asleep. Jethro relaxed again, there was no danger of Taylor going anywhere tonight, the kid was wiped out. It was a pity he couldn't make her this tired when they were at home, it just might keep her out of trouble.
o
Jethro had Vicky and Taylor up at the crack of dawn and gave the two girls the task of taking down the tents while he cooked breakfast. Judging by the angry and sullen looks Vicky kept sending in his direction the girl's attitude had not improved. She didn't say a word to him until they had all finished eating.
"I want to go back."
"We're not going back until you agree to stop smoking." He stated calmly.
Vicky glared at him. "I told you already. I don't want to. It's none of your business anyway!"
Taylor looked from one to the other. Both seemed pretty determined, but her money was on her dad.
"Well then, when you change your mind you can let me know and we can head back. Until then we keep walking." He handed the map and compass to Taylor. "Let's see if you can get us to our next camp site."
Taylor's face lit up and she immediately began to study the map. This trip was just getting better and better.
o
Vicky spent most of the day trying to figure a way out of the nightmare she was in. By dark it was becoming more evident that her uncle was serious about not going home until she agreed to his conditions. When the craving for nicotine hit her, it was very tempting to try and make her own way back, but even if she managed to get back to the car without getting lost, she wouldn't be able to get any further than that. Apart from the fact she didn't have the car keys, she couldn't drive. There was nothing else for it. She was going to have to swallow her pride and agree to quit.
Vicky looked over at her uncle who was sitting on the other side of the fire. When she marched over to him he was pointing something out on the map to Taylor.
"Fine! You win! I'll quit!" Although tempted, Vicky stopped short of stomping her foot, settling instead for waving her arms around.
Jethro whispered something to Taylor, making her scramble to her feet and disappear into their tent, before he spoke to her.
"Sit down."
"Why? You win! What else is there to say?"
"It's not a battle of wills Vicky. Now sit!"
Taylor's warning flashed through her head, reminding her not to push the man too far. Sighing, she sat down and waited for the lecture.
From his shirt pocket Jethro produced a little foil square that Vicky recognised as a nicotine patch. "Roll your sleeve up, this will take the edge off."
Afraid that he would change his mind, Vicky bit back the urge to ask him why the hell he couldn't have given her the patch the day before.
Taylor reappeared and dropped her sleeping bag outside the tent, just in time to see the patch. She sat down beside her cousin. "What's that?"
"Nicotine patch." Although Vicky knew it couldn't work that fast, the fact that it was there, made her relax a bit.
"What does it do?" Taylor had never seen one before.
"Puts nicotine into the blood stream and helps you stop smoking." Jethro could almost see the cogs starting to turn in his daughter's head.
"So it's like smoking, but you get the kick without it being bad for you?" That sounded a bit too good to be true, and if it was, why didn't they just sell those instead of cigarettes?
"Something like that." It was time to change the subject. He pointed to her sleeping bag. "You were going to bed, remember?"
Taylor shook her head. "No way, I want one of those."
Jethro stood up and gave her a warning look. "Not a chance Taylor, they're supposed to help people stop smoking, not start!" Taking a hold of her hand he pulled her gently to her feet and pointed her towards her sleeping bag. "Go. Now. We have another early start tomorrow." Thankfully Taylor seemed to get the message and admit defeat. He watched her drag her bedding back into the tent, obviously making the point that she wasn't happy with him and it didn't matter how warm it was, she wasn't going anywhere near him.
Vicky giggled, and when her uncle looked down at her she quickly covered her mouth with her hand to try and stop herself.
"What?" He asked, exasperated, wondering why it was so difficult to keep both of them happy at the same time.
"Nothing." Another giggle escaped as she stood up, the idea of Taylor expecting to be given a patch was cracking her up. "I'll go see if she's okay. Goodnight uncle Jethro."
o
In the morning Taylor was up first, and just itching to get moving. Map in hand she was keen to have another go at navigating. Vicky, eager to get back to civilisation wasn't far behind her cousin, and actually enjoyed the walk back to where the car was parked. She tried to work out what she wanted to do first when they made it home. It was a toss up between calling Patrick or treating herself to a nice long bubble bath.
On the ride home Vicky had the whole backseat to herself. Taylor had shaken off last night's bad mood and called shotgun.
Vicky decided to bite the bullet. "Uncle Jethro?"
"Uh huh?" He looked at her in the mirror.
"When we get back can I have another patch?"
"They're supposed to last twenty four hours Vicky."
"I know, but mine must have come off last night, and I couldn't find it this morning. I did look, I'm sorry." Vicky knew the patches weren't exactly cheap and felt bad about losing it.
Jethro glanced at Taylor who was staring intently out the passenger window. "You checked the tent and your sleeping bag?" It couldn't just of vanished.
"Yeah."
Slowing the car down, Jethro pulled over to the side of the road. "I'll get you another one." He made his way back to the trunk where his rucksack was and fished out another nicotine patch, before passing it to Vicky. At least it looked as if she was willing to give it a go now. That was promising.
Taylor jumped as he opened her door. Oh yeah, she was guilty as hell. He crooked his finger at her. "You, out!" He ordered calmly.
Shrugging, Taylor released her seatbelt and climbed out. Trying to look unconcerned, she leant back against the car and stuck her hands into the pockets of her pants.
She was not fooling him. He should of realised last night that his daughter was up to something when she'd given in so easily, and then opted to sleep in the tent. "Where is it Taylor?"
"Where's what?"
"The patch."
"Why do you think I have it?" Taylor was not ready to give up yet.
He moved a little closer. "Don't make me look for it Taylor."
The intimidation worked. Swallowing nervously she removed her hands from her pockets and lifted the sleeve of her t-shirt. "Alright, you don't need to get mad. I was only testing it. If you ask me it sounds too good to be true." Gingerly she removed the patch from her arm.
Jethro raised an eyebrow when he saw how difficult it was to remove. There was no way that had come off by itself. The little brat had waited until her cousin had fallen asleep and peeled it off.
She dropped it onto his outstretched hand and he slipped it into his pocket.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get back into the car."
Taylor kept her butt against the car. "You first."
He tried not to grin as he shook his head. "Nope."
"But you're gonna smack me as soon as I move." She whined.
"Uh huh."
"Even when he's watching?" Taylor pointed behind him.
The instant her father turned to see who was there she moved like lightening and threw herself back into the car, closing the door safely behind her. Unfortunately she didn't think about locking it.
"Get back out here!" Jethro held the door open as Taylor slowly and very hesitantly complied.
"Turn round."
Sighing she turned and faced the car. She could see Vicky in the backseat, the traitor was trying not to laugh.
"Ow!" Taylor jumped at the swat, even though it wasn't hard it still stung.
"That's for stealing your cousin's patch."
"Ow! What was that one for?" Taylor asked as she felt herself being turned round to face her dad again.
"Trying to trick me." He held the door open as she fastened her seatbelt.
Feeling rather pleased with herself she smiled up at him. "What do you mean, trying?"
Narrowing his eyes, Jethro leaned in closer. "Alright, you tricked me." He looked from Taylor, to Vicky and back. But if either of you tell anyone, especially DiNozzo, I'm denying everything!