WARNING: Contains non-consensual spanking of an adult.

Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine. I just borrow them.

Tony ran across the warehouse and pushed open the door, weapon drawn. But he was gone – no where to be seen. He turned around and ran back across the cement floor. Kate was pushing herself up.

"Are you ok?" Tony gasped reaching down to help her up.

"I'm fine. What happened?" Kate asked.

"He's gone," he answered morosely.

"I don't understand. Why didn't you…" she began. Tony shook his head and walked away. "Tony!" she called after him, but he kept walking.

* * * * *

Gibbs heard Tony knock on the front door and then open it. A few seconds later, he walked through the living room, clearly on his way to the basement. He stopped short when he saw Gibbs standing in the middle of the living room.

"Hey Boss," Tony said weakly. Gibbs tilted his head and looked at him without responding. After a minute, he was so uncomfortable under his boss' steady gaze that he turned away. "Do you want me upstairs or should I just bend over the back of the couch?" Tony asked, reaching down to unzip his slacks.

Gibbs nodded toward the couch. "Sit down," he said quietly. Tony looked confused. "We're gonna talk."

"But I disobeyed you," Tony argued. "And Kate got shot at."

"I know," came the gentle response.

"You aren't going to punish me?"

"DiNozzo, sit," Gibbs ordered. When Tony had finally settled himself on the couch, he sat down in the armchair across from him. "Ok, start at the beginning. Tell me what happened."

"You know what happened. I disobeyed you, I went into the warehouse without backup and I put Kate in danger."

"I didn't ask for a summary."

Tony huffed, but Gibbs leaned back in his seat patiently and waited. Finally, Tony gathered his thoughts. "I was standing next to the dumpster when I saw Marshall pull up, which I then told you. You told me to hold my position and wait for backup. Marshall got out of his car, shot the surveillance camera and the lock on the door and went inside. And I followed him." Tony stopped, his shoulders slumping.

"Go on," Gibbs said after a minute.

Tony took a deep breath before he continued. "I went into the warehouse, but I didn't see Marshall." He stopped again, remembering too clearly what happened next. "The next thing I knew, the door behind me flew open and then I heard the shots. I saw Kate hit the deck and Marshall run toward the back of the warehouse. I knew Marshall had missed her, so I followed him. But by the time I got to the door, he was gone. The backup team arrived about a minute later…" he trailed off.

The two men sat quietly for a few minutes, Gibbs deep in thought and Tony knee-deep in guilt. Finally, Tony spoke again. "Can we just get this over with?"

Gibbs played dumb. "Get what over with?"

"Come on Boss. I screwed up, and when I screw up, you whip my ass and then we all go back to work."

"Uh huh," Gibbs said, still studying Tony carefully. He sighed and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. "Why do I do that?" he asked.

Tony shrugged. "'Cause I'm an idiot?"

"No, you're not. Yes, you make mistakes, but who doesn't?" Gibbs scolded. When Tony didn't respond, he stood up. "This is why I punish you when you make the kinds of mistakes you made today." He walked to the bookshelf next to the fireplace. When he returned a moment later, he handed Tony a black leather-bound book.

"What's this?" Tony asked. Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Well, I know what it is," Tony said defensively, "but what does it have to do with this conversation?"

"Proverbs 19:18. Look it up," Gibbs answered, lowering himself back into the chair across from Tony.

After a brief, skeptical glance at his boss, Tony flipped the pages and found the verse he'd been pointed to. "Read it," Gibbs instructed.

"'Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.'" Tony rested the Bible on his lap and sat thoughtfully for a moment. "But I'm not your son," he said finally.

Gibbs shook his head and grinned. "First of all, way to miss the point, DiNozzo. And second," he said, softening, "you might as well be. And I'm not about to let you put your life on the line so carelessly. If taking a belt to you means you'll think twice before you do something to get yourself – or someone else – killed, then that's what I'll do. And I'll do it every time you do something like this."

"You really think that?" Tony asked.

"Which part?" Gibbs asked, looking at Tony suspiciously.

"That I might as well be your son?"

"I think you're still missing the point," the older man said pointedly.

"No, I get it," Tony sighed. "You should know, by the way, that I did think twice before I followed Marshall into the warehouse."

"And you went anyway."

He sighed again. "Yeah, I went anyway. I knew that if he didn't kill me you would. But it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I just didn't think that Kate would follow me into the warehouse and I sure as hell didn't think she'd get shot at."

Gibbs chewed the inside of his lip for a moment. "You really thought about it first?" Tony nodded. "So maybe this is working after all."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I think it is. I think today was the first time I've ever really stopped to think about the consequences before I did something. I just wish I had thought a little longer," he added morosely.

"So what made you decide to disobey my order and rush in after him?"

Tony shrugged. "I thought I could get to him faster than the backup team." He looked at his hands. "I guess I was just, I don't know, impulsive."

"Well, you always been," Gibbs agreed. "And sometimes that works out ok for you. But more often than not, it backfires." He stood up and walked back over to the fireplace. He leaned against the mantle with his back to Tony. "You scare me," he said almost sadly. "I'm scared that one of these days, you're going to do something impulsive like you did today and your luck is going to run out." Tony saw him take a deep breath and let it out shakily. He turned around and looked at Tony for a long minute. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let that happen."

He studied the young man in front of him. He was swimming in guilt, and that didn't surprise Gibbs at all. He had disobeyed a direct order, but he knew that wasn't the problem. "Kate could have been killed," he said quietly, knowing he was poking at a very tender spot.

He saw Tony swallow hard, shake his head and bury his face in his hands.

Gibbs stood and watched him for a minute. He walked across the room and sat down in front of Tony again. He put his hand gently on Tony's knee. "Look at me." When he looked up, there were tears in his eyes. "Hey, it's over. Marshall got caught at airport security and is behind bars, Kate's fine, and I'm pretty sure you've learned your lesson. You need to move on."

Tony looked up suddenly and studied Gibbs' face. "What do you mean?" he asked after a minute.

"What do I mean by what, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked impatiently. He sat back in his chair again.

"I'm just supposed to 'move on'?" Gibbs nodded. "You're not going to…" Gibbs shook his head. "But…why not?" he asked. Tony saw a faint smile flash across Gibbs' face before he returned to a serious scowl. "Boss, why not?" he asked again. There was betrayal in his voice.

After allowing him to squirm for a minute, Gibbs finally asked, "How do you feel after I spank you?"

"What?" Tony asked, surprised.

"How do you feel after I spank you?" came the pointed repeat.

"I don't know…"

"Well, think about it for a minute." He could see Tony's brain working overtime and he sat back to wait. After a few minutes of watching him become more and more uncomfortable, he finally decided that if he was ever going to get back to his boat, he needed to help his agent along a bit. "Do you feel better or worse?"

Tony took the lifeline. "Well, my ass hurts for a while, so I'd say that's worse." He caught the look that was shot at him and sobered. "It gets rid of the guilt," he finally admitted.

Gibbs nodded but said nothing.

A few seconds later, Tony understood. The betrayal returned to his face and his voice. "Boss, I…you're really not…?" Gibbs shook his head again. "But why not?"

Gibbs looked at him again. "I just told you why not. Weren't you listening?" He stood up and headed for the basement. "See you tomorrow, DiNozzo."

Tony watched his boss disappear through the door and heard him clomp down the steps. But instead of leaving, he sat frozen on the couch. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He'd arrived at Gibbs' house as ordered fully expecting to get a hard whipping and some resolution. But instead, he sat alone, waves of guilt threatening to drown him. He'd disobeyed a direct order. He'd put Kate in danger. She could have been killed. He could have been killed.

And what did it mean that Gibbs hadn't punished him? Did it mean that he'd finally crossed the line and that Gibbs had washed his hands of him? That thought, more than any other brought a lump to Tony's throat. As the darkness gathered in the living room, Tony sat listening to the sounds of the man he'd come to love and respect work alone one floor below.