Disclaimer: All I want for Christmas is a writing job… a writing job. Gee, all I want for Christmas is writing job on NCIS!!! Alas, that may be a wish even Santa can't fulfill!

So, you know the drill… I haven't purchased the rights in the last 24 hours… I still don't own it!

A/N: Thank you to the many readers that have shown their support for this story with their reviews, and tags as a favorite story/author... you have my Muse on fire & you ROCK :-)!

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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NCIS Headquarters (1 hour earlier)

"Jethro I just don't think we have enough evidence to hold him. Mike was pushing it keeping him here overnight. He got lucky that the poor guy is so petrified he didn't ask for a lawyer or formal charges." Jen was leaning over his desk looking at the screen as they reviewed their evidence.

"Evidence won't matter once he confesses Jen." Leroy Jethro Gibbs had no doubt in his mind that an hour in the room with Mike Franks would have the Lieutenant confessing to the double murder, world hunger, and the depletion of the ozone layer.

"You do realize there's a chance Mike could be wrong. Besides any confession he gets is liable not to stand up in court based on how he got it. Maybe the reason the prints and DNA haven't come back yet is because the evidence just isn't there. "

"It's there Jen and its here," Gibbs gestured toward his gut and walked off to interrogation.

Jennifer Shepard followed in exasperation. Working with the two older men was taking an ethical toll on her. She constantly felt like she was policing their behavior and the criminals they went after. She did trust them implicitly, but she believed the rules of the agency were there for a reason. Gibbs and Franks believed their rules superseded agency rules at just about every turn. They believed in the rule of need… if they needed to do it to get the job done then they did. Jethro did draw the line at actually breaking the law, but Mike still saw it as an area of gray.

Gibbs & Jenny's Car (20 minutes earlier)

They were going home on Franks' orders to go and be with their family. He said the evidence had been processed and they had more than enough to hold their suspect. Sure his lawyer would be around soon enough barking about violation of civil rights, but Mike certainly didn't need the Gunny and his wife fighting his battles. The couple stopped to run a few quick errands and then headed straight home. Jenny desperately wanted to spend some time with Abby while Gibbs had a date with his two older children that he wasn't looking forward to at all. Having given Noemi some time off for her own family Jenny quickly went through her minds rolodex of restaurants deciding which one would be the lucky ones to deliver dinner that night. There was no way she was cooking.

As soon as they pulled up they both noticed the burgundy Nissan parked in their driveway. There was no expectation for company of any kind and that alone drove them both from the vehicle like lightening. They checked the door and didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary. Opening it slowly Jethro took another listen and proceeded forward with his wife on his heels. Both weapons were at their hip ready to be drawn. Hearing the television Jenny slipped into the family room. Tony was exactly the way Kate had left him minus the pizza box. It had gotten moved during a bathroom run.

"Tony."

"I'm not sleep I'm meditating." The mumbled response came from the still prone subject.

"Get up!" Jethro barked from the door.

"Yes sir. What's going on? You don't look happy." Jen thought… 'Well, I could've gotten him up too if I yelled!'

"Whose car is out front?"

Jen took a seat on the coffee table in front of her son. "Tony is someone in the house? Where are the girls?"

"I don't know. I think Abs is upstairs and Katie was down here bugging me about something and calling me lazy. What's wrong?"

One minute he was there and the next he wasn't. Neither Jen nor Tony saw any good coming from his silent actions. Any uninvited guest that managed to make it to the second story was most assuredly leaving via a window or an ass bump ride down the stairs.

Present (Kate's doorway/hallway)

"What the HELL IS GOING ON?" It was the tone that made time stand still in their house.

A fearful smirk broke out on his face as the realization of his father's impeccable timing dawned on him. Tony couldn't imagine a worse case scenario then the one in front of him and was more than thankful that for once he had nothing to do with it.

Where Kate was concerned, well there's a realm between completely asleep and fully awake, a place where your conscious mind plays tricks on you. Kate was in that limbo. The arm around her waist was strong and comforting and it felt so familiar. Yet, there was the voice the intrusion that made her feel like something about the reality was skewed. If she was in her room at Georgetown why in the world was her father there. It was like her worlds had…

Eyes popping open Kate flung Ashen's arm off of her and leapt from the bed. The harsh movement startled him and a great fumble ensued. Everyone seemed to speak at once. There were apologies and yelling and… was that laughing? Suddenly a loud whistle was heard that halted all of the action and pulled focus to the glaring prodding eyes in the doorway.

"Everyone downstairs right now," Gibbs turned on his heels and took off down the stairs. Abby gravitated toward her brother who was now leaning against the railing while Kate took off to explain the unexplainable. Ash had put as many things into his bag that he could fit considering he didn't exactly take the time to repack it properly. Once he cleared the room Jenny followed him down only stopping to order her other two children to stay put because they would be of no help in this situation.

"Way to go Kate," Tony said going into his sister's room to snag leftovers from her bedroom picnic Abby followed still shocked, "boyfriend in your bedroom is bad, but boyfriend in your bed is priceless." Turning to Abby, "you two may actually be outdoing me in the screwing up department."

"T-man this is serious. Dad may actually kill Ashen. Dad may actually kill Kate. I seriously didn't think I'd ever see him more ticked off than he was at me, but I think she may have found an even bigger trigger."

"Nothing left to do kid but sit back and enjoy the fireworks. This trip home might not suck after all. Come on we need to go to their bathroom if we want to hear what's going on in the office."

"That's wrong Tony. I didn't want you guys listening in on me last night. No… we shouldn't, right?"

"Longer he's pissed with her… longer he stays off your butt and mine."

"Good point. I mean I should at least know how much time her trouble is buying me."

The two took off for the other side of the house no lingering guilt over eavesdropping. They were feeling like kids again. When they first discovered the acoustics in their parent's bathroom it was an accident. They had been running through the house chasing and hiding and tormenting one another. Ending up in the bathroom listening to Kate gossip about boys to one of her friends was a fluke. Then they got trapped when Jenny had come up to nap. Eventually they got out, but sneaking around to do a little household spying had become a favorite pastime from that moment on. It was one of the few things Tony and Abby shared that Kate didn't participate in. Kate turned out to be more like her mother then she realized in that regard. She never saw the merit in eavesdropping, snooping, or cheating. Abby, until recent events, only skirted around that sort of behavior occasionally being drawn in by others, but Tony he lived for the edge pushing the envelope every chance he got.

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When his wife reached the bottom landing her daughter wasn't there and her husband was like a medieval sentry awaiting the arrival of an intruder.

"Leave your stuff right here and wait for me in there, now." Ashen knew it was best that he follow the command even though he had no real obligation to do so.

Once he was out of earshot Gibbs addressed Jenny. "She's in there waiting. I know you want to hear her out, but I'm telling you right now we're doing this my way this time Jen."

Caitlin Marie Gibbs was doing everything in her power, which wasn't that considerable, to avoid vomiting all over herself. Her pacing was vigorous and precise. The movements of a caged animal who knows he has no way out. She desperately wanted to protect her boyfriend sparing him the embarrassment and frankly the pain of a conversation with her father about why he was in her bed. Gibbs had been clear though, she was to stay put.

"Oh, mom," Kate rushed her mother when she appeared in the door.

Jenny rubbed her back in the embrace and attempted to guide her toward the chairs in the room, but her daughter stopped moving.

"What?"

"Mom please… what's he going to do to Ash. Nothing happened I swear we just fell asleep that's all. Dad never understands anything. He wonders why Abby didn't just tell him about her grades." Uh-oh she thought there's a comment bordering on saying too much.

"You don't get to put this on you father Caitlin. This is all you. Maybe falling asleep in your bed wasn't part of the plan, but Ash should never have been in the house, no less upstairs."

"He wouldn't even let me explain. All he does is grunt and point… 'you… in there… wait.' It just isn't fair." Kate was put out, worried about Ashen and beneath a few layers of righteous indignation deeply concerned about how much trouble she was in.

Finally getting her to sit down Jenny locked gazes with her daughter. "Ashen will leave this house under his own steam Kate believe me. Your dad isn't going to do anything to him, but he does need to become more than clear on the rules of this house because you certainly have left a few out."

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"Sit."

Monosyllabic thought the 19-year-old. That can't be a good sign. He was also thinking why he would have to fall for a girl whose father carried a gun. It was one thing to run around Georgetown like the carefree couple they were, but to bring it under the man's roof was suicide. Ash knew better especially after the way their relationship started with those stupid pictures and Tony's blackmail. Well, he figured if he survived this he'd do great on Capital Hill. Why was this man just staring down at him? Let's just get it over with already. Ash was preparing to take a punch or at least being hurled against a wall, but he could not take the silence.

Gibbs was watching the younger man's eyes flutter furiously undoubtedly walking through all the possibilities of consequences.

"You better have one damn good reason for being in my daughter's bed."

"Sir, I just want you to know that I would never intentionally disrespect your home or your… our…my…Kate. I was just trying to do something nice for her since I'll be so busy with my internship over break. We just fell asleep, which isn't an excuse just a statement of fact. I mean being upstairs probably wasn't the best idea, but it wasn't as bad as what you're thinking… sir."

"So, now you know what I'm thinking?"

"No sir, I didn't mean to…"

"The better question is what were the two of you thinking; were you thinking at all? Were you Ashen?"

"Not enough sir. Please let me apol…"

"No, no. Don't apologize because you're not sorry for what you did. You're only sorry you got caught and frankly so am I. Here are the rules for if or when I decide you two can see one another again. Caitlin does not entertain her boyfriend in her bedroom. Caitlin does not have her boyfriend over without our permission. Caitlin follows and holds you to all of the rules her mother and I have set for her and if Caitlin gets caught in one more compromising position with you… you won't be that boyfriend anymore. The next time you see her will be at a class reunion. You got a problem with any of that?"

God did he… Ashen had a problem with all of it, but would follow those rules to the letter as long as it meant he could eventually see her again at all.

"It would be a good idea for you to answer me." Gibbs was up and at the door. His poor 'detainee' still sat in his chair staring straight ahead.

Jumping from his seat Ashen was so nervous he almost saluted the ex-Marine. "Yes… I mean no sir. I don't have a problem with any of it."

Clapping him on his back as he exited the office Gibbs practically dislodged a lung. Sucking in a deep breath Ash grabbed his gear and headed for the door. "Agent Gibbs, sir, could I say goodbye to Katie."

"Caitlin!"

She stood at the door with her mother behind her neither sure why she'd been summoned.

"He's your company. You see him out… you have three minutes."

They slipped out the door.

"She thought you were going to rip his arms out and beat him senseless with them."

"It crossed my mind Jen. Somehow we've lost control over this household. They don't respect me, you, our rules, this house, nothing."

"Weren't you the one who told me we put them on the right path and that they were just trying short-cuts? They'll find their way back and we'll be there to help steer the journey."

"I will not tolerate blatant defiance."

"We're all just readjusting. You were in the Marines Jethro with lots of rules and structure. It wasn't that different then living at home with Jack, but I can tell you first hand that college is different. You're on your own. Making decisions and doing things with little to no supervision. Sometimes coming home to mom and dad's rules is awkward at first."

"We will not be going through this every time she comes home for a holiday or summer vacation. I'm putting a stop to this Jen."

"Alright, just… have some patience and try to listen to the explanation. Speaking of listening I need to go have a chat with Abby and you need to work this out with your daughter." Jen kissed him on the cheek and added, "After I order dinner."

Kate watched her mother's retreating figure go down the hallway toward the kitchen as she entered the house. A glaring match proceeded. Neither father nor daughter wanted to give an inch, but both knew it was the only way to settle things at all.

Gibbs knew his children well and where Abby needed to let it all hang out first and then deal with consequences Kate was the exact opposite. No attempt at rational conversation would be made until all of her anger was gone, with Kate punishment usually had to precede talking. Even then with her stubborn streak it could take hours before she was ready.

Taking a deep breath he raised his arm and pointed toward his office, "inside right now young lady and stop glaring at me."

She may have released the door with a slight bit more force than absolutely necessary. Okay, she slammed it with intent and force then stomped across the floor into her father's office making sure he knew she was just as pissed off with his actions. Shaking his head he followed behind her undoing his buckle while he walked.