Ziva's turn
Thanks to my good friend and endless supporter, Chelsea1234!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters. Sole property of CBS and Don Bellisario. Warnings in the first chapter
At the end of the day, Gibbs escorted Ziva to the car, keeping a firm on her arm as if to prevent her from running again.
" I am not two, Gibbs, I know not to run out I front of cars, you do not have to hold my hand.' Ziva said with a tinge on frustration. She was being treated like a child and she was getting tired of it.
"Well ,Ziva, for all I know, you may decide to try to get away. So just consider my guidance a little bit of insurance." Gibbs answered as she tried to pull away without being too noticeable.
The ride to her house was quiet and tense. She refused to look at Gibbs, instead focusing on trying to act unaffected by the turn of events. Silently sitting in the car, she started thinking to herself that she has never been grounded before. The more she started thinking about it, the more it upset her.
As they entered her apartment, Ziva thought she might try a new tactic. " Gibbs, I have been thinking and I agree with Director Shepard's decision to suspend me. My actions were unjustifiable and I see the true error in my judgement. I fully accept the punishment for my misconduct." Ziva was hoping that by agree with them, Gibbs would lighten the punishment.
"Well, Ziva, I am glad that you see where you are wrong. And trust me, after this weekend, you will never try to repeat such fool hardy decisions again. So, quit stalling, I am not going to change my mind. Grab enough stuff for the weekend. NO weapons!" Gibbs said with a smirk as he tossed his head towards her bedroom.
"Fine!" Ziva stomped off, feeling evermore like the petulant teenager. Things were not going her way at all. She went into her room and started throwing clothes, pajamas and other necessary items for a long weekend. "Of all the idiotic, stupid ways of dealing with this…" Ziva muttered to herself. She was so engrossed in her little self rant that she failed to notice Gibbs, standing in the doorway.
"Ok, Ziva, how would a Moussad agent have been dealt with if they not only disobeyed a direct order, but not just disobeyed, but purposefully altered orders to suit their personal benefit? " Gibbs asked, knowing that this would maybe put things into a different perspective.
" There are different ways to deal with this, one could lose their rank, one could lose their job or one could… one could…" Ziva sank down onto the end of her bed and starting staring at the floor.
"Yeah, Ziva, what is the other possibility?"
"One could be put to death." She answered with in a hushed tone. She knew that she had been cornered into admitting just how serious her actions would have been in her home country. This made her stop and think that maybe, just maybe, this way is not too bad.
Gibbs now moved to sit down beside Ziva on her bed and turned her to face him. Looking straight into Ziva's eyes Gibbs wanted to reinforce the reasoning behind her punishment. "So you are saying that we should bust you down to mail girl?"
"No! I would go crazy down in that hole."
"So, then we should just terminate your position and start looking for a replacement. I know a couple of eager agents ready to move up to the position, if you think this is a good idea, we can start the paperwork on Monday." Gibbs said with a look in his eyes that said he was serious.
"But, I … have grown extremely fond of all of you and can imagine myself at another agency." Ziva started to see the track his train of thought was going.
"Ok, we all know the last alternative is totally out if the question, so where does that leave us? Do you feel like you deserved to get off scott free?"
"No, I deserve to be punished, it just seems… I mean, I do not know now how I feel about this. I mean, if my own father did not care enough to .. I guess the biggest question is…" Ziva broke eye contact with Gibbs and started looking at the ceiling, trying to curb the tears that threatened to spill. "..Why?"
Gibbs slid back onto the bed and pulled her up beside him. Ziva slid back also and laid her head on his shoulder. Gibbs laid his head on hers and gently kissed her hair. "Ziva, when I first met you, I thought you were one tough girl."
Upon hearing herself being referred to as a girl she looked up at Gibbs and wanted to argue, but he stopped her.
"Yes, you heard me correctly girl. You may have put on a brave assassin front, but I could see in your eyes and see a frightened girl. And when you shot your own half brother to save me, I learned just how far Eli was willing to go to have his way. He did not even consider how that action would traumatize you. But the icing on the cake was just how far he would sacrifice you, his own daughter, to complete a mission. After seeing the condition you were in when we came to Somalia, I made a vow that no one would ever hurt you again. You know how I feel about the others on this team, our unique family dynamics. Just because your biological father is a bastard, you deserve to have a father who loves and cares for you. I decided to fill those shoes."
Gibbs could feel the wet sensation on his shirt as Ziva's tears freely flowed.
"But, I never asked to be treated like a daughter, I knew that reading your bio that you had lost one daughter. Why would you want to take on a screw up like me?"
Gibbs gently thumped the back of her head and Ziva looked up at him with wide eyes. " You are not a screw up! If you think you are the only one that has personal problems then I have a way for you to fill your time while you are grounded."
"Still grounded? " Ziva asked sheepishly, hoping that this little heart to heart might have lessened his resolve.
"Yep, still grounded. Hurry up and let's go. We still have some more things to discuss at home." Gibbs said as he slid off the bed and exited her room.
Ziva finished packing and threw her bag in the back of the car. She sat in the car and thought of what Gibbs had said all the way back to his house. Once they reached the driveway, a new wave of uneasiness washed over Ziva. She knew what was to come, but she still did not like it.
As they entered the entrance way and entered the house, Gibbs spoke. "Ok, you know which bedroom is the girls, so go put your stuff away, and I will be up in a little bit."
"What am I to do? Just sit and needle my thumbs?"
Gibbs just shook his head in amusement at her massacre of another American phrase.
"It's twiddling my thumbs, and no I want to you think about what we talked about at your house. Why are you important?"
"Gibbs" Ziva spoke his name with a soft inflection. "Are you still…"
Gibbs understood the question she could finish. "Yes Ziva, I'm still gong to spank you so go on, I'll be up there soon."
Ziva turned and went up the stairs and entered the pink room. This room was now the girl's room when ever they stayed over. She threw her stuff into the corner and lay on her stomach on the bed. Her backside still smarted from her previous spanking, she dreaded this. As she waited on the inevitable, she started to think about what he had said. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she failed to hear Gibbs gently knock on the door. She was startled by sudden dip in the bed. Looking up she saw Gibbs was now sitting beside her.
"So, did you think about my question?" Gibbs aid with a slight tilt of his head.
"Yes, I did, and I think I might have an answer. I looked at all of your "kids" and I see a special bond. First, there is Tony. On the outside he is a carefree, fraternity minded, womanizer, but you see through his façade and see the insecure man who needs a firm hand of guidance and a clear set of rules and consequences. Each head slap not only helps redirect him when he strays, it also reaffirms the feeling that you care enough to take the time to correct him. Then there is Tim. On the outside he seems to be a computer genius, hacker extraordinaire and wealth of knowledge, but you see him as he is on the inside. A young man on the verge of greatness, but whose greatest hindrance is himself. His lack of self confidence and esteem make him prove to self-sabotage, but you pushing him and goading him into going beyond what he thought he could do makes him realize his worth. Can't forget the favorite…" Ziva said with a grin. She knew that he would make a remark about this but she pressed on. " It's OK, we all know that she is the baby. Abby likes for everyone to think that she is just one happy go lucky girl. That nothing ever gets her down and that she always is going to win. She dresses like she does so that others will stop and look at her outfit and not turn their attention to the dark in her eyes You see past all that make-up and see her as she truly is, a young lady looking for guidance and comfort. She is really a girl who had to grow up to soon, who likes to test her boundaries, just to see if you will rein her in."
"Ok, I see you have everybody else figured out, what about you?" Gibbs asked.
"I .. I… have thought hard and I just don't know. I betrayed you, I made you choose between Tony and me. I have let you down. I always thought that when I joined NCIS it would make me stronger, instead I feel weaker. I feel like I can't make it on my own anymore. I feel like a..a…a failure. OW!"
Gibbs head slapped her. " First off, Ziva David, yes, you have made mistakes, but we all do. Second, you're not weak. What you feel, you shouldn't look at as a weakness, you should look at as a strength. Now you don't have to carry all the weight and burdens alone. You have a family to help you through these times. Finally, you need to realize that when I punish you, it's not to make you feel inferior or less, it's to remind you that you are important to me. I will do whatever is in my power to protect you, even from yourself. Your actions over the past days are not one of a trained agent. They're the act of a scared, stubborn child." Gibbs stated.
This statement made Ziva sit up. "That is my point, I am not a child, I am…"
"You're acting like one now. I look at you as my daughter, I want to protect and help you, but there are times when I have to draw the line and that's now. So let's get this over with." Gibbs stood up and pulled the chair out from underneath the desk. He sat down and motioned for Ziva to come to him.
"Gibbs, please.." Ziva pleaded as she slowly crossed the room and stood in front of him. She started to back away when he grasped her wrist and pulled her over his knees. "I am still sore.. you cannot.."
"I know and I can so forget that argument. Tell me why you are in this position for the second time today." Gibbs asked as he saw her struggling to maintain some sense of fight.
"Because, you think I need this. OW!"
Gibbs, not pleased with her attitude landed one hard swat to her backside. "Keep that attitude up and you will lose the pants."
The thought that Gibbs would even threaten her with that pushed her over the edge. "How dare you threaten me. I will let you know that hell will freeze over before I let you …." Realizing that she had pushed Gibbs too far, survival instincts kicked in.
"You let me… let me tell you something Ziva I will do as I see fit.. OWWW! Did you just bite me?"
Before Ziva could even process what was going on, Gibbs had shifted her, pulled her pants down leaving her modest underwear covering part of her ass, and started spanking, punctuating each word with a hard smack. " You..will.. not.. bite.. me.. ever.."
"OWWW! I..am..sor..! Please, that hurts!"
"Supposed to Ziva. SMACK! SMACK!SMACK!SMACK! Why are we doing this ?" Gibbs asked as he continued to turn her ass a bright red.
"Because …I..I..lied at the ..hospital….OW! PLEASE! I ..pro.. no more lies."
"Damn straight, no more lies." Gibbs kept up the steady spanking making sure that every inch of her upturned backside was now fire engine red. Now to drive the point home, Gibbs raised his right knee, and lowered his left, now making the underside sitting area of her ass a target. "! are too SMACK! Important to me SMACK!" He delivered these swats extra hard. He wanted her to feel these tomorrow. "I will not SMACK! Risk losing SMACK!another daughter SMACK! Am I clear SMACK!"
Ziva was now sobbing uncontrollably. " Ye..ye…yes. PLEASE, I…I…I… swear..No…no..no.. more."
Gibbs peppered the tops of her thighs with a few sharp swats to make sure she knew just how upset he was. He wound down the spanking and started rubbing slow circles on her back. "Shhh! OK, all done now. Come on sit up." Gibbs tried to help her straighten her clothes, but Ziva gingerly pulled her pants back into place. Just thinking about sitting made her hurt.
" I ..I think, I will just lay down." Ziva said as she curled onto her side, facing away from Gibbs. He gently stroked her hair and got up off the bed.
As he stood in the doorway he looked back and saw his 'daughter' as she really was, shaking from crying so hard and trying still to keep the tears from flowing, but still strong. " If you want to go ahead and shower and change into your pajamas, Abby and the guys will be here soon with Chinese. And Ziva…"
"I know that your past experience with fatherly love is cloudy, know from me to you that this father will always love you. I will call when they come so you can eat with us down here as a FAMILY." Gibbs said with a grin as he closed her door and headed downstairs.
I am ending this one here, starting new story today! Keep in touch and throw me some ideas!
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