A/N: Hey everyone; thank you for your lovely comments; I'm having some problems with my internet connection and sadly I couldn't respond to your comments individually.

Dear Saliko, Mar91, Psyche53, Smush68, Shopingnull, Queenofwheels, Gibbs4eva, Kerri, Ky111, Diane McLaughlin, jrfan2383, DS2010, GAARA12223, RedLindy, chemmom4, Shawn1968, Mrs Sully87, Long Live BRUCAS, Spemma mason, rigger42, Maccie B, and all the Guests who have left me reviews, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me and it's great to know you've liked the last chapter; your words mean the world to me.

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Also, I think I need to address one little thing here,

I'm very thankful to you all for reading my stories, leaving me reviews and sharing your thoughts with me; and I know sometimes it takes weeks for me to update a story and I'm sorry about that; but really, this is the best I can do at the moment. I usually update once a week, but sometimes I'm too busy to write and sometimes, especially these days, I'm too down to concentrate; so, forgive me if sometimes you have to wait for an update.

And dear Guest who thought I'd get angry over this; you're wrong, why would I get angry? I'm thankful that you like my stories and read them; but as grateful as I am, I have to tell you that if it's so hard to follow stories like these, maybe you should try reading completed stories, instead of those WIP. I understand your point as I sometimes feel the same and forget what's been happening in the previous chapters of a story, so that's why I usually read those that are already finished.

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Keep in mind that these stories happen in 1970s and each story of this series is a standalone.

Hope you like this chapter, too.

Fair's Fair - 4

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The next morning, Gibbs' eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he'd clenched his jaw so hard and for so long that his jaw had locked that way.

He was still holding Tony's pictures when Shannon woke up and came down the stairs; taking a good look at him, she rolled her eyes, took the pictures from his hand and put them in her purse before going into the kitchen to prepare breakfast and making some coffee.

"Shannon, have you talked to Abby?" Gibbs sounded hoarse as he followed her into the kitchen and sat down.

"About what?" She yawned.

"Should we ground her or something?"

She turned around and frowned; "She didn't do it on purpose and I think she's been through enough. You have no idea how much she cried yesterday."

Gibbs nodded, but said, "You're right. But I was thinking... I... Well, I punished Tony for no reason and the last time I grounded him was for that stupid vase, which again wasn't just his fault and again they hadn't broken it on purpose. So, I was thinking that if we want to be fair, we have to ground Abby, now. So that Tony sees she'd get punished as well and so that she learns she has to be more careful from now on or someone might get hurt."

She liked how that sounded. "Fair is fair." She shrugged and then nodded her head in agreement.

Gibbs sighed and took the coffee mug from her and sat down at the table. He didn't even offer an apology this time, after all, he knew she wasn't expecting one; what she wanted was for him to grow up and act like a real good dad; and well, a decent, fair human being, he supposed.

She was right; he had two kids and just because one was a boy didn't mean he had to be dealt a bad hand all the time or that he shouldn't be given any praise and just watch as his sibling got away with mistakes and got praised for no reason. They were equals and if he said it, he had to act it, too and it was probably past the time that he learned that boys and girls weren't different; expressing different feelings with them wouldn't show them how they were equally loved.

He'd finally started to see that it was wrong to assume that boys didn't need to be told or shown they're loved like girls did.

Half an hour later, they heard the sound of light footsteps, indicating that one of the kids was awake and was about to join them in the kitchen; Gibbs looked towards the stairs to see which one of the kids was coming down. Moments later, his son appeared down the stairs and he paused when he saw his dad sitting there.

"Hi." He said quietly and if his stiff posture was anything to go by, the boy was in pain.

"Morning, son." Gibbs smiled, and barely kept his gasp to himself when he saw Tony's face for the first time up-close. It was worse than what he'd seen in those pictures. Now the bruise on his left cheek seemed to have gotten darker, making the slight swelling look more pronounced. He knew they needed to take more pictures before going to the cops to make a case against Anderson.

Tony saw the reaction and quickly turned around, making sure that he had the left side of his face hidden from both parents.

"Let me see it, honey." Shannon wasn't going to have any of it, though. She grabbed his chin gently and turned her son's face towards the light to see it better. "Is it worse than yesterday?" She asked, trusting the boy's judgment.

"No. It's just a bruise. It always gets darker before going away. I'm good." He answered quietly and when they heard Abby's footsteps, he quickly pulled his face away and turned so Abby wouldn't see the bruising to his face.

"Morning." The sleepy girl yawned as she entered the kitchen. "Oh. Hi, Daddy."

"Hey, Sweetie."

Shannon set the table so they could eat; she knew the atmosphere was heavy and knowing Tony, he'd soon retreat to his room and she didn't want him to do so without some food in him.

"So, did you kids have a good night?" Gibbs asked, addressing both kids.

Shannon almost growled at the stupid question, glaring at the same time at her husband.

Tony just said yes, but Abby started to talk about her bad dreams and mean men and monsters. This had been the first time she'd seen someone hitting someone else and it'd shaken her. But both parents knew that it must've hit Tony harder; yet, the boy didn't say a word.

Once the breakfast was over, Tony asked if he could leave as Abby wondered if she could go play outside, but Gibbs stopped them both.

"I need to talk to you both, first."

Both kid sat back down dutifully.

"Tony..." He paused, trying to find the best way to address the painful experience his son had gone through and also showing him how sorry he really was; how he'd learned a valuable lesson the he'd never forget. "I... I don't know how to say it, but I owe you a really big apology." He bit his lip as he collected himself. "I'm sorry for not letting you explain what'd happened yesterday. You didn't deserve the punishment and of course you're not grounded anymore, which of course your mom has already told you." He added quickly. "I'm just saying this to tell you I was wrong and that I'm sorry for hurting you instead of asking you what'd happened."

"Thanks." The boy muttered quietly; not knowing how to react to an apology from a grownup.

"Abby, you, on the other hand, are grounded." Gibbs addressed the little girl, knowing that this way Tony'd see that they were equally loved and cherished, despite the previous examples.

As he'd expected, that got a stronger reaction out of the little boy. Tony looked up with shock and the shock in his eyes was harder to take than Abby's pout.

"But, Dadddyyyyy-" The girl whined, trying to find a way out of it.

"No, Abby!" He stopped the whining fast. "You weren't careful yesterday and if your brother hadn't been there to have your back, Anderson would've hit you, too. Also, that's not the worst thing that could happen when you're not careful. You have to learn that it's important to be careful and pay attention to where you're going and what you do."

She looked down, her lips trembled and then she started to cry.

It was hard for the man to take the tears, but looking at Shannon and seeing her nod and approval, he realized he was doing the right thing and that this had to be done. "Did you thank your brother for being there and having your six?"

Abby looked up with watery eyes and then looked at Tony who was now even more flabbergasted; like he couldn't believe this was actually happening and that their dad was still talking when Abby was crying.

"Thank you, Tony." She said sincerely. "I love you. I'm so sorry you got hurt because of me."

Despite his shock, Tony smiled. "It's OK, Abby. You're more important." He reassured her quickly and in his innocent mind he couldn't see how wrong it was for a kid to think he's not as important as the others.

"No! That's not true, Tony. Not at all!" Gibbs disagreed immediately, sounding baffled, even though Shannon had already informed him of how their son saw himself compared to Abby. "You're both important and Abby promises to be more careful from now on. You shouldn't get hurt because of her, just like she shouldn't get hurt because of you. You two are siblings and you have to have each other's back, but that doesn't mean one of you is more important than the other. We love you both the same way. OK?"

Tony's mouth was slightly open, and while Abby was nodding her head, Tony sat there with an open mouth, not reacting in any way.

"So, Abby, you see why you have to be grounded?" Gibbs chose to finish that part first before going back to Tony and addressing his issue.

"Because I wasn't careful?" She asked quietly.

"Yes. And because you didn't listen when I told you not to leave the yard and because you did enter someone else's place without permission." Their dad explained. "Also, you got away from your punishment when you broke that vase. It wasn't fair to just ground Tony. I made a mistake back then and I think it's only fair that we fix it now."

"OK." She said meekly, remembering that incident as well and understanding her dad's logic even if it confused her why she was being punished now and after so long.

"So, you're grounded for a month."

Her eyes widened and she looked at her mommy, hoping she'd do something, but the woman just shook her head. "Fair is fair, baby."

Her shoulders slumped, but she nodded. She supposed they were right. Tony had gotten hurt because of her after all and besides, he'd taken his punishment when they'd both broken that vase together. She always looked up to Tony and believed he was the most amazing brother ever and if he could take it, then she could take it too.

"Good. Now, that it's settled. Please go to your room. And remember; no bugs, no going out. No video games; no TV and no toys. You're allowed to have your drawing books and crayons and you will do your chores and come to eat with us every meal. We good?"

"Yes, Daddy." She said quietly before getting up from her chair to go to her room. On her way out, she paused and cast another look at Tony, thinking that maybe she wasn't allowed to talk to Tony either. Summoning her courage, she kissed Tony's right cheek and mumbled a quiet "thank you, Tony," before quickly running up the stairs.

"No running inside the house, please." Shannon called after her and shook her head with amusement.

"Can I go, too?" Tony asked, feeling uncomfortable around his dad when he was looking at him like that.

Getting up from his seat, Gibbs went to Tony's side and knelt in front of him. "Tony, son, I meant what I said. We love you both equally." he repeated, this time sounding pleading. "I know I've screwed up when I made it look like that you weren't, but I've never loved you any less than I've loved Abby. You two are my world and I can't think of anything worse than seeing either of you hurt or sad."

Desperate to get away, Tony nodded, still not looking up at the man in front of him. It was clear, though, that he didn't believe what he was hearing.

"And I'm sorry for assuming things and not letting you explain." The young father added. "I think I should add a rule to our rules for that. Never assume, always double-check." He announced.

"I like this one." His wife approved, finally saying something positive about Gibbs that morning.

"I also owe you a huge apology for when I yelled at you for that vase and for making you think you are the only one in this house who gets punished for making mistakes."

"In fact," Shannon spoke up, "Your dad's mistake is pretty huge, which means he's gonna get punished, now."

Tony's head shot up and he shook his head; wincing slightly when the movement hurt his head. He didn't want to be the reason his parents fought, so he was surprised when instead of complaining, his dad conceded.

"Yes, I do deserve to be grounded."

"No TV for you. No beer, no going out with old buddies, so they better not show up during the next month." Shannon stated. "Also, you're banned from the basement. No woodwork. You're just allowed to read. Any question?"

Sighing, Gibbs said, "I do get to go to work, right?"

"Sadly I can't keep you from that. But I'll talk to Mike Franks; so no extra activity there, either. You'll go to work and come straight back home. And you're sleeping on the couch until the further notice."

Wincing at the last part, he finally shrugged and accepted his punishment. "Fair is fair, huh?"

"Now, I'm gonna go call the cops and make Anderson pay for hurting our son. No one touches my babies." She growled angrily and walked away.

'Damn straight.' Gibbs thought and a dangerous glint shone in his eyes and for a moment, Tony was afraid he'd go and do something to Mr. Anderson, but remembered that they were calling the cops, so he guessed they were safe.

He was startled when he felt his dad's hand on his shoulder and heard him say, "I'm so proud of you, Tony. You've never let me down and I'm so lucky to have a son like you."

Tony averted his eyes, feeling delighted and yet shy as he was unable to believe those words.

"You've always made me proud and with the way you had your sister's back, you made me even prouder. I shouldn't have said those things yesterday; I'll do better. I wanna be a better dad to you and I promise to show you how much your trust means to me. I hope Abby learns from you and grows up to be just as brave and strong and reliable as you are. I need to be sure someone has your six when your mother and I aren't around to do so." He stated and silently scolded himself for not having his son's six recently, vowing to do better from then on.

"Thanks." The boy said quietly.

"That being said, I don't want you to put yourself in danger. You hear me, Tony? Never. We won't be able to take it if anything happened to you." Gibbs said next, with a hint of fear in his voice.

Tony was unable to promise something like that. He knew he wouldn't keep it; he just couldn't, so he did the next best thing and hopped his dad would let it go. "I can't take it if you or mommy or Abby get hurt, either." he said and finally got up from the chair. "I'll be in my room."

He left so quickly that the young dad didn't even get the chance to call him on his evasiveness and the lack of promise.

Sighing, Gibbs got up and went to find his wife and see how the things with the cops had gone. He figured working on Tony's self-esteem was a long-term project and although with his thoughtless actions, he'd stupidly added to the young boy's self-doubt, he was determined to meet that objective successfully and help Tony see that he was as important as everyone else.

He thought about how throughout the whole conversation, Tony had barely looked at him and had never smiled at him; not even slightly. He wasn't sure whether it was because Tony didn't believe him and was just being cordial and a good son when he'd nodded or because he was so disappointed in him that he didn't think he deserved to be a receiver of his smile.

He was pretty sure the former was true, but he knew that he'd disappointed his son, as well and now he had to work hard to gain back the boy's trust and approval, no matter how long it took.

For now, he was just thankful for his wise wife who was there to remind him when he forgot the important stuff and became too pigheaded; he needed her to be able to raise their children right and if she went too hard on him every now and then, well, he clearly deserved it. He loved his family, all of them, and was horrified to realize his words and actions had made his son doubt it.

So, to open his eyes and see why it was necessary to show them how much he needed them and cherished them all, he'd needed Shannon to put him in his place.

Fair is fair, after all.

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That's it!

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A/N: Let me know what you think?

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I still own nothing but my own plots and of course my mistakes.

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