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… The character of Kathleen, the 2nd Mrs. Gibbs, is complete fiction and has no connection to actual show history.
A/N: Here's the 2nd installment of Type II Family….Fast forward a few years… Kate and Tony are in the same school (she's a freshman & he's a junior). Little brother Timmy just turned 11; living in his own room; and suffering through the early stages of junior high.
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.
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She was some dumb not plum dumb. Kate lurked around the dinning room, family room and staircase waiting until the dust settled from hurricane Jethro. Listening to her dad rip her brother a new one over his grades wasn't really a new scenario, but she felt especially guilty about it happening right then and there. Of course her dad would know that Tony had gotten his grades too. They were in the same school for goodness sake. A part of her thought maybe she should have sold him on the idea that each grade level got it on a different day to buy the big jock some more time. Those were all thoughts in futility because her dad did know and Tony had earned some pretty crappy grades from what she could detect. Well, it wasn't that they were so horrible, but compared to her and Tim they were a disappointment. Her dad was on his usual rant about Tony being smart, but always cutting corners and trying to get away with doing as little as possible. Popping into the hall closet as her father made his exit all Kate could think was thank heavens he didn't get a spanking because he would be so not inclined to help her after that.
Waiting until the footsteps cleared the kitchen tile and the heavy thud got further into the distance Kate slipped completely from the depths of the closet. The tap on her shoulder had her three inches from the ground in seconds.
"Uhh… jeez Tim! Stop sneaking around."
"I'm not the one that just came out of the closet."
"What do you want?"
"Nothing, I was coming down to grab a snack. Dad said he needed to talk to Tony without… hey, you were listening."
"No I wasn't. Good night Tim." Kate loved her little brother but was rapidly tiring of the current exchange.
"Take it from me Tony gets pretty ticked off when people listen to him getting in trouble." Shaking his head Tim took off back up the stairs all thoughts of a snack forgotten. Whatever was about to go down he wanted to be far away from.
Once he was out of sight Kate resumed her mission of sneaking to Tony's new room. It was off the dinning room down a short hall on the first floor in what used to be the guest room, until about the middle of the summer when it became home to her big brother. The new room was also the reason for the alarm system, motion sensors, and door/window alerts. Gibbs allowed a certain amount of freedom, but he was no fool. A teenage boy with his own virtual wing in the house was borrowing aggravation.
A battle with his first ex-wife had him entertaining the idea of splitting his sons up more closely, especially after a fist fight between the brothers resulted in a bloody nose and a sprained wrist. Tim and Tony were roommates through the worst and best of times, but the reality was a 11-year-old and a 16-year-old was a toxic combination he could no longer deny. So, the Gibbs family lost a guest room in exchange for a modicum of sibling civility.
Without knocking, "hey, I'm sorry." Kate waited for the typical snippy retort from the tall built figure occupying the center of the bed; his eyes focused on the ceiling.
"Don't apologize…"
"It's not a sign of weakness between us Tony."
"What do you want Katie?"
"I only gave dad my report card because I wanted him to let me go to the Fall Festival. I figured he'd be in a more generous mood."
"How'd that work out for you?" Finally sitting up and resting his back against the headboard Tony made eye contact with his kid sister. She stayed rocking on her heels at his door.
"He said no."
For some reason this gave the sullen teenager energy to burn. Leaping from the bed he crossed to his sister throwing an arm around her shoulder and drawing her to sit on his bed. "You weren't really surprised were you kid?"
"Yes I was. He wouldn't even let me make a case. His exact words were… 'Not happening…!' He won't let me go without an adult. I just want to go with some friends. We weren't planning on hitchhiking for God's sake. He actually thought I wanted him to take me with Tim and some friends."
Tony's thoughts ran from… 'is she kidding' to 'poor kid'. He could have spared her hours of angst by preparing her for the no he new would've been forthcoming.
"It's not like it's even at the school Kate. You didn't really think he'd let you go to the National Mall alone… at night… with friends?" Seeing the awe in her eyes he nudged her shoulder adding, "You did think that! You could've gotten all A+'s with academic Honors and trust me you still would be getting a no."
"So, what'd your grades get you smarty pants?"
"Oh, you get awarded BIG fun when you bring home the gold the way I did. Let's see one B, three C's, a C+ and a D got me a one way ticket to my room for the next two weeks."
"Ouch. Was the D in math?"
Tony took on his father's stance of arm crossing. He scooted away from his sister in annoyance.
"T, what happened to the tutor dad paid for?"
"She did not take kindly to my hitting on her twin. She bailed on the gig saying something about the money not being worth it."
"Wow! You know what they say about Karma. The odds of your coming back as a low level reptile improve with every date you have. Wait, so what have you been doing with the money? "
"You came in here for a reason." Tony was completely evading the inquiry.
She turned around to face him allowing her legs to mimic his arms. "I need your help. I have to go to the festival."
"No one has to go to a Fall Festival. What gives?"
Kate was hesitant to share her feelings with her brother. They were good scam partners, and they certainly didn't mind gaining up on Tim together, but this was about her heart. She just wasn't 100% sure. "Stacey sort of set up a double date in the middle of our group outing. You know Dex, right?"
"Weird skinny kid with the acne or the one with the ultra thick coke bottle glasses and the slight lisp?" Tony was being snide on purpose. Kate's friends would never mix with Tony's gang at school and he'd just highlighted some major reasons why.
"Don't be a jerk. Dex is in Language Club with me. He's really sweet and he's a sophomore. He's going with some friends and asked us to join. I can't say no. He'll think I'm some baby freshman who still needs her daddy to hold her hand."
"I'm not getting into any of that, but you better get into the point quick. You know if dad bust you down here after lights out and with a recent "felon" you're hot water."
"I need a plan to get dad to let me go."
Standing up pacing before his sister Tony finally stopped and shook his head. "I got nothing. I'd offer to drive and dump you, but my house arrest starts immediately. What you need is a way there without dad thinking your getting there was even possible."
This was why her brother drove her nuts sometimes. Of course that was what she needed! He was supposed to be the one giving it to her. "Okay, so what do have by way of plans?"
"Going with Stace is totally out of the question?"
"Have you been listening to me? Dad is not going to believe that all of a sudden I'm going to Stace's for a sleepover and we have no interest in the Fall Festival."
Tony rubbed his chin. The kid was right. Even swamped with his case Leroy Jethro Gibbs would pick up on an amateur con like that one. "What if you stayed with someone who dad wouldn't think would let you break his rules. Then you'd just have to get past them."
"I'm listening." She was literally on her knees looking up at her brother. He had the twinkle. It was a look he got when he just knew a plan of his was coming together. They'd coined the phrase during the brief stint they spent with Diane as a step-mother. That was when they hatched some of their best works. It was nice keeping 'Lady-Di' on her toes Tony used to say.
"Who do we know that lives near the National Mall?"
Her eyes had the twinkle now too, albeit to a lesser degree. "Grandma Julie and Grandpa Doug… Kathleen's folks." Leaping up Kate lunged into her brother's arms. "Tony this is brilliant. This could work T, dad totally trust them. I mean they're old he knows they'd never break his rules. Plus he has to work all weekend and with you being grounded he's gonna think going there is a great idea."
"Alright, slow down MacGyver the plan isn't idiot proof yet. You have to get Timid-Timmy to go along. He's going to have to be your wing-man with me out of commission."
The look on her face said he had slipped into Tony-TV-speak and she was lost in translation.
"I mean little Katie that the request to make the trip to the grandparents will look less suspicious coming from Tim. You'll go along, but only with a little arm twisting. It should throw dad off the scent. As long as you strike a balance between whining about the festival and agreeing to the sleepover dad should buy it. Once you're there you'll just need Tim to help with your exit and entrance."
Smacking his hands together in awe of his own brilliance Tony flopped back on the bed.
"This plan depends on Tim? I'm dead."
"Not really, you just have to sell him on it, or threatened him. I myself like scaring the crap outta him. He needs to stop being a lily-livered-little-whiny-pissy-pants."
"I don't think name calling is the way to get him to go along."
"That my dear sister is your problem." Rolling across his bed Tony slipped his math book out of his back-pack. He actually had to do the assignment tonight. His dad wanted to see it before he left for work, so much for copying off the cute girl in homeroom.
"That's it? That's the end of the plan and the help."
"Kate I have to get this done. It's late. Get out. 'Say goodnight Gracie'." Tony gave a little wave.
Kate giggled a little not taking notice of the presence in her brother's door.
"Caitlin Nicole what are you doing down here?" That was the second time her heart stopped in the last hour.
"I was just… I wanted to… just saying goodnight to Tony."
"You should be in bed. Get going I'll be up in a little while to check on you after I set the alarm."
"Night T… night daddy."
Gibbs walked out behind his daughter tossing over his shoulder, "You better have it all done and in order by 0700!"
"On it dad," was what he said, but when he looked back at the book his eyes glazed over. He knew it would take him most of the night, not because he couldn't do it, but because he hated it so much his mind was blocked.
"Oh, and Tony give me the car keys. You're on the bus for the next two weeks. I don't want you making any pit-stops before or after school. We'll see if it motivates you to get those grades up."
"Ah-man, dad you can't make me ride the "cheese-mobile".
Fixed with the classic LJ Gibbs glare Tony reached into his bag again and produced said car keys. When his father left his room he thought the man seemed even more on edge then usual. Maybe he should warn his sister off any hi-jinks. This might not be the right week for mayhem and madness. The Gunny did not look to be in the mood. Yeah, he'd get to her before breakfast so she could abort the mission.
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Upstairs
Kate popped into Tim's room to leave him a note on his desk that she needed to ask him something VERY IMPORTANT before they went down to breakfast. Satisfied that the wheels were in motion she glided back across the hall to her room secure in the fact that she was going to get exactly what she wanted.