WARNING: Few swats in this chapter. Please see Chapter 1 for other warnings and disclaimers.
Chapter 4
Gibbs leaned back in the chair, looking at his small son who was fidgeting nervously in the corner. Giving a heavy sigh of resignation he softly called the boy, "Aiden, come here."
AJ turned around wide-eyed. His dad had never used his real name before and somehow that seemed very frightening to the five-year-old despite the fact that the man's voice was quiet and calm.
"Tell me what rules you broke," Gibbs ordered as soon as the boy came to a stop in front of him his blue eyes meeting his son's steadily in expectation.
"I lied to Tim and I left where I was supposed to be and nobody knew where I was."
"You left out the most important one."
The little boy's brow furrowed and his blue eyes were full of confusion.
"I, I guess I disobeyed too. 'Cause you told me to stay in the conference room."
"Well, yeah, you're probably right, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about safety. It was really dangerous for you to leave the building all by yourself."
"Oh."
"AJ, I understand that you wanted to do something nice for Abby but you knew that what you were doing was breaking the rules, didn't you?"
AJ bit his lip and slowly nodded.
"Okay, then. Right after dinner tonight, you are going to get your pajamas on and go to your room. You can read if you want, but no computer and no video games."
"But we was going to stay up late and watch a movie and have popcorn!" the boy whined.
"Yes, but you lost that privilege when you broke our rules. There will be other nights to watch movies and eat popcorn, but tonight you will be going to bed early. Now, normally, anytime you put yourself in danger, you will get a spanking. This is your first time, so all I'm going to do is give you a few swats so that you understand what will happen if you do something like this again. Only if it does happen again, it will be more than just a few."
"But, I won't do it again, Daddy," AJ assured the man.
"I hope not," Gibbs answered pulling the boy towards him and over his knee. SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! He put just enough into the swats to make certain that the sting would prove as a future deterrent for his young son. Just those four had the little boy in tears, which made Gibbs feel like the worst kind of brute, but he knew how necessary the discipline was, especially after Deirdre's lack of it. He gently pulled AJ onto his lap and the boy threw his arms around his neck.
"I'm sorry Daddy."
Gibbs smiled. His 'don't apologize' rule did not apply to repentant children. "It's okay, AJ. Sometimes little boys make mistakes, it's all part of growing up, bud." He gave the boy a hug, relishing the feel of his son cuddled up against him.
"Did you?"
"Make mistakes? Oh, yeah, plenty of them."
"Did Pappy Jack spank you?"
"Pappy Jack?"
"That's what Cam and I decided to call your dad."
"Oh, he's gonna love that," Gibbs said cryptically, just now realizing he was going to need to give his dad a call soon to let him know about the boys.
"So did he?"
"Spank me? Oh, yeah, more than once, buddy." Not caring for that particular line of questioning, Gibbs decided to change the subject. "How about you and I go get Abby that Caf Pow?"
"Really?" the boy asked excitedly.
"Really."
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Ashlynn was down with Abby in her lab when Gibbs and AJ arrived with the Caf Pow. The boy proudly carried it over to Abby. "Thanks for doin' the speriment with me yesterday," he said with a huge smile on his face.
"Oh, thank you, AJ, this is so sweet. You're the most awesome lab partner a girl could hope for. I see lots more experiments in our future."
Abby turned from the little boy to Gibbs with an angry scowl. "How could you?" She signed angrily.
"Do you want a demonstration?" Gibbs signed back, pinning her with a hard stare that let her know she had better not continue in the same vein.
Calming down considerably, she signed, "But he's just a little boy."
"Who needs to understand it is not safe to wander off by himself."
Abby knew Gibbs was right, but that didn't keep her from her general dislike for the situation.
"Look at him. Does he seem terribly upset to you?" Gibbs hands flashed in query, pointing to the boy who had gone to retrieve Burt. AJ loved Abby's farting hippo.
Abby had to admit that he didn't. AJ looked perfectly content and so cute with that little bit of – hey what was that on the corner of his mouth? With a suspicious look at Gibbs, she reached for a cotton swab. Moving deliberately over to the boy she cleaned the smudge from his face. Turning back to pin Gibbs with an accusing look while trying to hide a smirk she held up the swab and demanded, "And what exactly is this?"
Looking just a tad uncomfortable, Gibbs shrugged. "He needed a snack."
"A snack?"
"Yeah, Daddy got me a chocolate ice cream when we went to get your Caf Pow," AJ explained happily.
Ashlynn, who had been quietly observing the interaction between Gibbs and Abby, had to stifle a laugh. The last of her anger at the NCIS agent evaporated. AJ was obviously just fine. Gibbs might be infinitely more strict than her mother, but when all was said and done, he'd ended this much the way Deirdre would have, which brought a big smile to the girl's face. When her eyes met with Gibbs's he gave her a wink, before declaring it was time to get back to work.
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Saturday morning Gibbs sat by himself in his kitchen, sipping at a cup of coffee. Given his plans for today, he had been more than pleased when a final break in the case had led to the arrest and confession of a Navy Captain with the Office of Naval Intelligence yesterday. Of course that had meant working late last night. Ducky had offered to take the boys home and see them settled for the night. The medical examiner had been given strict instructions that AJ was to go directly to his room after dinner to serve out the rest of his punishment for his disappearing act.
Protective custody had meant staying at NCIS headquarters for Ashlynn so she got to see the man brought in, but Gibbs had given a definitive 'no' to her watching the interrogation. It had been past midnight when they finished up. Gibbs had told Ziva to go home, assuring her that he could handle Ashlynn's protection for what was left of the night. Besides, they still had the FBI backup parked just across the street, a necessary appeasement since NCIS had assumed custody of their witness.
A knock at the door surprised Gibbs. He hadn't expected anyone to show up quite so early. He opened the door to see Leon Vance, dressed in jeans, an old jersey, and a sports cap.
"Jared got a new bedroom set for Christmas. Thought you might be able to use a set of bunk beds," the man stated matter-of-factly, having overheard some the team's plans and knowing full well Gibbs had been looking at purchasing new bedroom furniture for his sons.
Gibbs held the director's gaze for a moment. At the beginning of his tenure Vance had asserted that he did not believe in fraternization with subordinates. Of course the two men had definitely been developing a certain degree of mutual respect, but this gesture was still unexpected. Finally, Gibbs smiled and gave a nod. "Thank you Leon."
The other man snorted. "Are you kidding? I'm going to be on Jackie's good side all weekend for clearing something else out of the garage."
"Cup of coffee?" Gibbs offered after the two men had unloaded the beds and a matching dresser, leaving them outside for the time being.
"Can't." Vance said with a shake of his head. "I'd stay and help with your project, but Jared has a game and I told Jackie I'd be back for breakfast. I'm sure you'll have lots of helping hands, though." The Director motioned to Ducky's Morgan, which was just pulling up.
"Oh, yeah, that we will. Thanks, again," Gibbs said offering his hand.
"Don't mention it," Vance answered shaking Gibbs hand and then heading for his vehicle.
"I told you there was no need to be early, Duck," Gibbs said approaching the older man's vehicle with a shake of his head, fully aware how late the medical examiner had gotten home last night.
"Nonsense! As I accepted responsibility for providing breakfast I needed to be here prior to everyone's arrival. Well, nearly everyone," he stated looking meaningfully down the street. "Might I assume that this," here he waved at the wooden bedroom furniture, "Is our good Director's contribution to today's venture?"
Gibbs just grinned and offered a nod. Accepting a large baking dish covered with aluminum foil from his friend, he started inside. Ducky grabbed another dish as well as a canvas bag and followed. Once the food was settled in the oven to keep warm, Gibbs offered Ducky a cup of coffee, which his friend graciously declined. Before the two could even sit down a bleary-eyed Cam padded down the stairs and simultaneously there was a quick knock at the door, followed by an enthusiastic entrance by Abby, dressed in black overalls and a white hard hat, holding a Caf Pow.
"Reporting for home improvement duty, sir," she said offering a salute with her left hand.
Ruffling his son's hair as he passed, Gibbs cocked his head sideways, "Don't 'sir' me Abs and how many times do I have to tell you, that's the wrong hand?" he groused while offering her a welcoming kiss to the side of her head.
"Yes, Ma'am!" she replied smartly with a grin and a wink for Cam, who was giggling.
"We aren't doing any heavy construction, Abs," Gibbs commented knocking on her hard hat.
"I know, but the hat is just too great not to wear. The paint is in the hearse. Should I go get it?"
"Nah, come in and have some breakfast. We need to get the room ready first anyways."
"What are we doing?" Cam asked excitedly.
"We are going to completely redecorate your room," Abby said dramatically thrusting her palms out and moving them away from each other as if picturing an expansive landscape. "Making it into a haven for you to retreat after a long day of school work, computer games, and playing ball."
"Alright! This is gonna be fun!"
Just then Ziva arrived with two enormous bags and was ushered in as well, Gibbs taking the bags from the woman and setting them aside. With Ashlynn's help and Gibbs's credit card, Ziva and Abby had seen to the purchase of new bedding and curtains in appropriate themes to please each of the boys. Having heard the voices, AJ came barreling down the stairs to greet their guests.
"Hey are we having a party or somethin'?"
"Or something," Gibbs, said swinging the boy up into his arms.
"Wow this is great! Is everyone coming?"
Another knock at the door precluded anyone responding to the boy's question. Gibbs opened it to find a grinning Palmer, his glasses askew and arms full with a large blue cooler, a teakettle and small brown bag stacked precariously on top.
"Good morning, Agent Gibbs."
"Morning, Palmer. Come on in and set that down before you hurt yourself."
An obviously tired Ashlynn descended the stairs, then, dressed in faded jeans and a t-shirt, her dark auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail. "I certainly hope this crowd hasn't drunk all of the coffee yet," she said with a yawn.
"Did you know about this?" Cam demanded.
"Of course I did, squirt. I know everything."
"Jethro should I get the food out now, or wait until Anthony and Timothy arrive?"
"Let's go ahead and get started, Duck. I'm sure they'll be along soon enough."
Ducky removed a large breakfast casserole from the oven as well as a plate of English pancakes and morning rolls. He pulled paper plates and plastic utensils from the canvas bag he had brought. The collected group took turns dishing food for themselves, with Ashlynn serving up AJ's plate for him.
Tony and Tim arrived with another cooler and a few grocery bags just as everyone was finishing.
"Hey, you didn't wait for us!" Tony said, abashed, while Tim gratefully accepted a plate of food from Abby.
"You sleep in, you lose," Ziva said with a cat-like smile.
"It's 'you snooze you lose' and that is absolutely not the case here. After I picked up, McSleepy, I will have you know that not only did we get sandwiches fresh from the very best Italian Deli in the DC area for everyone's lunch but we also had another very important stop to make."
"Important stop?"
"It's a surprise," Tony answered grabbing one of the English pancakes off of the plate and eating it with his fingers.
"What kind of surprise?" the former Mossad agent asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Well, if I tell you, it isn't much of a surprise is it now, Zi-va?" he asked with a smirk.
Ziva spun around to Tim who was just biting into a morning roll. "McGee what do you know of this surprise?"
Gulping down his food, Tim sputtered, "Well, uh, really it's uh-"
"Hey! No bullying Probie, Probie," Tony snapped, always pleased for the opportunity to remind her of her subordinate status.
"Enough!" Gibbs growled. "Let's get the stuff moved out of the room."
"Uh, boss can't we at least," Tony started looking mournfully at the remains of the breakfast casserole only to be interrupted by Gibbs.
"Breakfast time's over. It's time to get to work," the man barked clapping his hands together.
Luckily, Tony had several opportunities to grab a few bites as there were plenty of people to help with the job. Once everything was moved out and drop cloths laid, Gibbs left the painting in the very able hands of his co-workers while he went to his basement to make some shelves for the walls.
By mid-afternoon the second coat of paint had been applied and the mess mostly cleaned up. The room was now a medium blue with contrasting baseboards, window seals, and crown molding. There were shelves ready to be hung the following day and a bookshelf also fashioned by Gibbs. He planned on starting on a desk as work permitted.
They were sitting down with various forms of refreshments, Jimmy's contribution to the day, when Abby looked around. "Hey where are all of the guys?" she demanded as only Ducky and Gibbs were sitting with the female contingent of the group. "After all Timmy's complaining, I thought he'd be the first to grab a drink and a chair. Sheesh! Who would have thought a full grown man, an NCIS field agent, would whine so much about holding someone on his shoulders for the tiniest bit of time, in the once in a lifetime opportunity to aid the creative process."
Just then AJ came running in quite obviously enthused about something. "Ashlynn come see! Come see what Tony brought us!" He yelled while grabbing hold of Abby and Ziva and pulling them toward the door.
Gibbs looked at Ducky, "If it's a puppy, you're going to have a new occupant for your morgue."
Bouncing around with barely contained excitement AJ herded the gals out the door, hanging back just slightly with a grin on his face. The three were immediately bombarded with water balloons and further soaked by the most hi-tech water assault weapons available on the market. The shrieks brought Ducky and Gibbs to the door just in time to see Ziva grab an Aquablaster from Jimmy and lob two unsmashed water bombs at Tony. Ashlynn had taken Cam's Super Soaker, which she had turned on him but he had a motorized Water Warrior as back up and was returning fire. Dodging water from MgGee's Bottle Shot, Abby headed directly for the hose and started spraying down both Tim and Tony, who was using two water rifles and had two more pistols in make shift holsters. AJ was dancing around gleefully shooting everyone with his Super Soaker Sneak Attack. The ensuing water fight was one for the record books!
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An obviously angry Fornell stomped into the squad room Monday glaring daggers at Gibbs and McGee. "Why, when we are working a case together with full cooperation would you find it necessary to hack into the FBI computer systems to get information on the case?" he demanded heatedly.
Tim looked completely befuddled his mouth hanging open, but Gibbs looked as calm as ever. "We wouldn't," he answered simply.
"Our computer guys say it came from this office."
Gibbs looked at McGee, whose fingers were already flying on his keyboard. "On it boss." After a few minutes, Tim's brow furrowed and he got up and made his way over to Gibbs's desk. "Uh, may I?" he asked gesturing towards Gibbs's computer.
Gibbs moved and after a few more minutes of tapping, McGee confirmed Fornell's accusation. "Tracks were well covered, but this machine was used to hack into the FBI database."
Fornell rolled his eyes, "Well, we all know you didn't do it Jethro."
"Who then?" Tony asked, having watched with avid curiosity.
"Freeze," Gibbs said turning on his heal to pin a quietly retreating Ashlynn with an angry glare.
"Just heading down to Abby's lab where the boys are," she said innocently.
Looking first at Gibbs, then at Ashlynn, Fornell shook his head, "You aren't saying…"
"McGee, find out everything you can about what that," here he stabbed a forefinger toward the computer, "Machine has accessed in the past week." With that the angry NCIS agent cleared the space between himself and Ashlynn taking hold of the girl's arm and looking over his shoulder at Fornell, "My office."
Once all three were in the elevator, Gibbs allowed it to begin its descent before punching the stop button angrily.
"You hacked into the FBI computers!" Fornell yelled.
"You wouldn't tell me anything about the investigation," Ashlynn answered defensively.
"Do you realize you could be sent to prison for this?"
"Do you realize that the Assistant Director of your division is having an affair with a twenty-two-year-old co-ed who is college roommates with his daughter?" At Fornell's perplexed look she continued. "My point being I don't think there will be any charges."
The smack to the back of her head was completely unexpected and Ashlynn brought her hand up to rub the spot while taking a step away from the NCIS agent. "Ow! That hurt!" She said crossly, glaring at the man.
"Keep it up and it's going to hurt a lot worse and a lot lower," Gibbs growled. "What in the hell do you think you're doing? This is exactly the kind of crap that Deirdre would pull and if you haven't forgotten it got her killed! Haven't AJ and Cam lost enough? Are you going to put them through losing their sister, too? Because this road leads to prison or the grave and either way you won't be there for them."
Ashlynn's initial flush of anger at his words was now a blush of shame. She hadn't really thought of it that way. She had just wanted to find out what was going on in the investigation.
"I won't do it again," she mumbled.
Gibbs took a threatening step towards the girl, leaning down so that he was just inches from her face. "You so much as breathe on something that doesn't belong to you again, and I will park your ass in an interrogation room right after I blister it! There will be no computer, no phone, and no visitors. I will not let you break the hearts of those two little boys. You got me?"
"Yes," Ashlynn whispered.
"Anything you want to add?" Gibbs asked, turning to look at the FBI agent.
"No, I'm satisfied," Fornell said with a smirk.
Gibbs turned around and smacked the button with a little more force than necessary. After letting Fornell off, Gibbs took Ashlynn down to Abby's lab reiterating his warning that she was not to touch an NCIS computer or leave the lab without an escort.
Later that day, Ashlynn sat in the lady's room punching numbers into her cell phone. If Ziva had been available, she was quite certain that she wouldn't have even this much privacy. After getting McGee's full report on what his computer had been used for a furious Gibbs had insisted an agent dog Ashlynn's every step and had assured her that this is what she could expect for the foreseeable future.
"Rudy? Hey, it's Ashlynn. Yeah, I know. It's been a long time. I need a favor."
TBC