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… I don't own it, but the story is all mine. The character of Kathleen, the 2nd Mrs. Gibbs, is complete fiction and has no connection to actual show history.

A/N: This is not the story I planning, but the one that evolved. I have not forgotten my poll request, but must answer to my muse. The dynamic with Kate, Tony, Tim in season 2 has so many sibling moments it begged to be creatively addressed and I felt up to the task. So, 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.

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A Week After Arrival

"Kate how come Tony doesn't have to help with dinner?" Tim was sitting on a stool dumping lettuce into a bowl for a salad.

"Mostly because no one would want to eat anything he made. Plus, I thought cooking together was our thing. You know Tim girls like boys that can cook. At least that's what the magazines say."

"Is that how Tony learned so much about girls, reading magazines?"

Just then the teenager barreled through the kitchen door sweaty from playing ball with his friends at the park. He hadn't heard the start of the conversation but for sure wanted to clear up any misconceptions his little brother had where girls were concerned. "Kid I learn about girls by being with girls. Let them read the magazines I prefer to read them."

The eight year old had no idea what any of that meant and giggled when his sister made a face behind their brother's back and shook her head at his ridiculous comment. Dribbling with one hand Tony made his way over to the stove making to put a fork into the pot. Kate punched him in the arm.

"Hey, back off. You're sweating and stinking. Could you be anymore disgusting?" She wanted to know.

Grabbing a forkful of the steaming yellow saffron rice Tony chewed loudly then proceeded to open his mouth in dramatic fashion displaying the mush knowing it would gross is sister out. They of course started yelling at one another which earned a loud slamming of some tool and the appearance of their father from the basement.

Gibbs had been trying to temper his disciplining of his older two children so as to not spoke his youngest. Yelling, glaring, growling and swatting were all on a shelf in a sort of moratorium the way they were for weekends, because those visits and vacations didn't really offer Tim an opportunity to witness the wrath of Jethro very often. His mental consensus was that when you only saw your kid a few times a month you needed to make it a pleasurable experience.

Drinks with Mike and Ducky earned him a lecture about the disservice he was actually doing to the boy. It was rare for Tim to earn his own reprimand, but he needed to see, understand and except what daily life with Gibbs meant. Mike was blunt, as usual, when he informed his Senior Field Agent, he still referred to as 'Probie', that watching his siblings get away with murder would set the wrong tone about what he was expected to do.

"Is there a reason you two are shouting?" The dribbling hadn't stopped. "Tony, the ball goes outside."

"Just Tony being pig is all." Kate was waving her wooden spoon in the air feeling quite superior. Jethro watched thinking how some of Diane's ways had unconsciously worn off on his daughter. Tim continued to stare. His brother and sister could be very entertaining.

Walking past his sister Tony bumped her hard enough for her to wobble a little. That move earned him another elbow to the side as he exited.

"Enough!" Jethro growled.

Caitlin Nicole knew when to back off even if Tony didn't. The look in her father's eyes said they were rapidly approaching a 'level-2-incident'. Backing off she sweetened her approach.

"Dinner is almost ready daddy. I tried something new. I just need to go clean up a little." She was reaching for Tim's hand to pull him with her upstairs when they were stopped.

"Tim, did you go to the park with Tony?" The astute investigator already knew the answer. Tony looked like he'd played ten rounds of HORSE and Tim looked like he did every day... like he hadn't left the house. There really wasn't a tone to the question, but the little guy's tummy knotted with the feeling that answering 'no' wasn't the correct response.

Ready to run interference Kate chimed up. "I wanted him to…"

"Turn around son and speak to me." Nodding his head at his daughter he let her know to keep it moving to her task and to leave him to his.

"No sir I didn't go. I like helping Kate in the kitchen. I used to help my grandma all the time when my mom was away."

Perching on the stool Jethro beckoned the little guy closer so he was standing in front of his father.

"That's nice Tim and I love that you and your sister have so much fun together, but you cannot spend the summer cooped up in the house everyday. Besides, when I tell you to do something I expect you to do it even if it's just to go outside and play."

"Yes daddy," Tim didn't care what Tony said he didn't think there was anything wrong with saying daddy.

"As long as we're clear go wash up for dinner," the two parted. Stepping outside Gibbs watched his oldest continue to sink shot after shot with his ball. He clapped his hands together loudly getting his son's attention who then threw the ball at his dad.

"I thought I told you this morning to take your brother with you."

There was that swagger. It wasn't as though Tony meant his walk to be cocky or defiant, but it still came across that way.

Tapping his forehead he made light of the situation saying, "I kept thinking I left something behind. Keys, ball, Gatorade… what was, what was it… oh yeah whinny kid who's afraid of being outside."

The arm was up and blocking re-entry to the house in seconds.

"Do you think this is some sort of joke?"

"Well, not all of it, but there was a small portion of that last comment that was just a little…"

The smack to his seat was a quick reminder that now wasn't the time. Stern face met a more somber respectful one.

"No sir it's not a joke, but the kid has been saying no all week. Why do I have to keep asking?"

"Because the one time I told him he had to go you didn't invite him. He needs to feel wanted Anthony. His grandparents couldn't keep him because of their health; his mom had to leave…"

"At least his mom can come back." There was a loaded comment surrounded in a calculated risk. Bringing up his biological mom at the wrong time as a weapon of guilt garnered either great sympathy or great pain.

"Don't! This isn't about your mother or Kathleen for that matter. It's about doing what you're told. Now, I just gave him the same speech so I expect tomorrow to play out differently then today. You got me?"

"Sure, no problem, you're the boss." They exchanged a strained look that somehow softened in his son's eyes and evolved into a smile.

Letting his arm slide down to once again free passage into the house Gibbs' gut told him that sort of rapid compliance couldn't mean anything good. Before he allowed him to clear the threshold the troubled father added, "And Tony the next time you want to play the mom card you better be ready to deal with the consequences."

Jethro had carried so much guilt after his wife's death and his two divorces he let the kids get away with murder… a lot. Kate wasn't as manipulative as her brother, but they both took to using Shannon as an argument weapon of choice. So much so that Gibbs had gone to see the agency shrink to make sure they weren't truly going through something so many years later. He was informed that there would always be a sense of loss in his kids, but that in some of the scenarios he described the doctor felt Special Agent Gibbs was being taken advantage of and that clearer boundaries needed to be set. Not using 'mom' as a get out of jail free card for poor behavior or attitude had to be added as a new rule.

As Tony headed upstairs to get cleaned up he started forming his plan. If he had to spend time with his little brother then he was going to start implementing operation 'Toughen-Timmy' first thing in the morning. If a boys day out was what his father wanted then that was exactly what he would provide.