Disclaimer: Of course NCIS… characters… and such belong to the powers that be & not ME!!! Story created for purely entertainment value.
You know the drill…
A/N: This is an interlude (flashback) type tale explaining Kate's tumble down the path of poor credit choices. She's just finished the 8th grade, is prepping for her first fancy boy/girl dance, and is celebrating with her best-friend the throw-all-caution-to-the-wind Ms. Stacey. Both girls are 14, although Stacey is about 6 months older and has picked up her mom's casual attitude regarding money and men.
Here's the 3rd installment of Type II Family… The boys will NOT be featured in this story at all.
A/N: Sit back, suspend belief and enjoy it as the fiction it's meant to be.
Warning: THIS STORY will CONTAIN NON-SEXUAL SPANKING; ABORT THE MISSION… DO NOT READ… TURN BACK NOW IF THIS ISN'T YOUR THING.
*************************************************************************
The closer they got to the house the quieter Kate got Tony was starting to freak out a little for her. Mostly because she wouldn't tell him what she'd done. They were having this round about conversation to keep Tim out of the loop. Using a slight whisper Tony asked, "Is this I'll get your room after the funeral trouble or you'll be having your meals on your stomach for a month trouble?"
"Aaarrgh, leave it alone Tony!"
"Leave what alone Kate… hello could someone talk to me?"
"Not now Tim," was the unison response.
"Whatever," the now slouching 11 year old mumbled.
When they got to the driveway Tim snatched his backpack and ran from the car. He was feeling bad about being ignored but hated letting on. Tony thought, fantastic something else I'll have to fix before I go out. Gibbs had been riding him about picking on the little guy. Kate couldn't focus on anyone's issue but her own at the moment.
"Well, you can't sit in here the rest of the night."
"Huh? What? Oh… yeah, I know. Any chance you want to stay home and run interference?" Maybe she wasn't above begging her big brother for some level of protection. Kate decided she would take whatever she could get.
Tony refused to bite. "Not even a little bit. You could tell me what's really up and I might be…"
The front door, left partially ajar by Tim, was flung open fully by Gibbs. "Caitlin Nicole Gibbs in this house NOW!"
"Too late… Good luck with that," Tony tilted his head in their dad's direction. Tony exited the vehicle making his way up the double wide steps giving his dad a large berth and a sad backward glance to his little sister.
Once he watched her leave the safety of his son's classic muscle car Gibbs lead the way inside nearly twenty paces ahead of his daughter.
So, clearly making a run for it was both unrealistic and downright stupid. Actually it could be considered suicidal. If he didn't see her cross that threshold in the next few seconds Kate feared being dragged in bodily. She certainly didn't want that sort of scene unfolding on their front porch. Once she did enter Kate gently closed the door behind her, surreptitiously leaning against it for support. The staring 'contest' she was immediately engaged in with her father was the normal sort. Although hard to believe his crystal blue eyes were even more intense making her stomach churn, her knees buckle, her palms sweat and her bladder… well, let's just say she was getting desperate to empty it. This guilt was a powerful thing; the silence even more so.
Inching and scooting around the room Kate maintained her brother's berth from her father taking a seat on the far end of the sofa waiting for his head to explode.
~*~*~*~*~
Tony didn't say a word to his brother when he first got to their room. The kid was on his computer with headphones on clearly wrapped up in his own world. Considering his goal was to get out the house without any pissed-off-parent-aftershocks rocking his world, not going out of his way to engage the kid seemed like the best idea. The two of them got into plenty of trouble for the last two explosive exchanges they'd had over the summer. Continuing the game of ignore the other Tony got dressed quickly to get out of the house before the dust settled. He did notice the glances being stolen while he put on shoes and a of spritz cologne.
"Alright, what," inquired the big brother of the younger placing his hand on his shoulder to get his attention.
Removing his headphones Tim didn't answer.
"I'm just making sure everything is cool between us before I go out. I don't feel like coming home to grief."
"So, by cool you mean you want to know if I'm okay with you and Kate ignoring me, refusing to speak to me, answer my questions or treat me like I'm your brother then yeah, we're cool." Tim turned back to his computer screen.
Walk out and deal later or stay and fix things… Tony clapped the kid on the back with a little chuckle saying, "Great… cool it is then!"
Tim just shook his head watching the teen leave the room. Tony threw over his shoulder, "Tell dad I left out the backdoor and that I'll be back by curfew."
"Whatever," was the response that hit his ears as he took off down the steps.
~*~*~*~*~
Gibbs got down on his daughter's level by kneeling right beside the end of the sofa she perched herself on. "This is the most disappointed I've ever been in you Caitlin."
She couldn't even begin to make eye contact. He hadn't specified what he knew exactly, but there wasn't a doubt in her mind that he knew it all. What could she say? She literally had no defense, so she said nothing and she looked away.
Grabbing the corner of the ottoman Gibbs pulled it closer to his daughter then took hold of her hand. "You need to look at me Caitlin. I want answers young lady."
Practically folding her body in half drawing away from her father Kate whispered, "I'm sorry daddy, I'm so sorry for disappointing you."
"You need to explain to me exactly what happened. I gave you very clear instructions for using my credit card and you basically stole from me."
The knot in her stomach was far beyond huge. It was slowly creeping up contributing to her constricted breathing and nausea. He thought of her as a thief. Technically it didn't seem that far off from the truth, but when it was said out loud it hurt her feelings. She wasn't a thief… not really, was she?
"I shouldn't have done it. It was really bad. I wanted to take it back, but it was too late."
Sitting back on the ottoman Gibbs ran his hand through his hair making every attempt at keeping his temper in check. "Caitlin I want to know why?"
"I don't know. We were having fun and just excited about graduation. I wasn't thinking right."
"You weren't thinking at all!"
Her eyes immediately filled. "Don't yell at me. I said I was sorry."
"Sorry, is for things that happen by accident. Was handing my card to the salesperson an accident Caitlin? Did you give it to her by mistake and then realized it? Or did you deliberately try to get away with something you knew was wrong?"
"I knew it was wrong," and the tears flowed in earnest as did the rest of the story.
He could tell that his little girl was struggling. There was a mountain of guilt on her little shoulders. His heart response was to gather her up in his arms and tell her it was going to be alright. Hell, he could afford the extra money spent, what was the big deal? His head response was completely different. Her choice in friends, her ability to be influenced so easily, her lying for no other reason than self preservation, her open defiance of explicit rules were not acceptable or open for debate, there would be consequences before comfort.
"You need to go to your room."
"What about my p…"
"Caitlin you do not want me rushing to come up with a punishment right now. You are to stay in your room until I call you down for dinner, do you understand me?"
"Yes daddy, I understand."
Watching her take off up the stairs Leroy Jethro Gibbs was saddened that the one person he wanted to talk to about this was the one person who couldn't answer back. He needed a Shannon solution big time. Glancing at one of the many pictures on the shelves that held images of his original fiery red head, Gibbs called out sotto voce, "baby what I do?"