******* I do not own NCIS *******

Chapter 15

The whole trip home Gibbs tried to keep Taylor within arms reach, just in case his daughter decided to take a swing at Emma. Taylor was just biding her time waiting for an opportunity to present itself.

They were sitting in the airport waiting for their flight, all five of them, lined up in a nice little row. Emma, Patricia, Gibbs, Jason and then finally Taylor. Taylor frustrated with her lack of success in getting Emma alone, unzipped her backpack to find her ipod. It was lying right on top of the three airline tickets, she'd forgotten she had been looking after them. That's why Emma was still here.

Feeling pretty pleased with this new revelation, Taylor lifted them out and waved them at Emma, "Lose something?"

She smiled smugly when Emma glared at her, then quickly lost the smirk when she realised Emma wasn't the only one aiming a glare in her direction. Her dad and Patricia were not impressed. Quickly sliding back in her seat again, she stuffed the tickets back into her bag. At least Jason seemed to appreciate the discovery, he was trying not to laugh.

After a few minutes Emma headed towards the rest room. Taylor watched as the door swung closed behind her. She glanced in her dad's direction. He was hidden behind the newspaper he was reading, legs stretched out in front of him. Taylor recognised her chance, so she stood up quietly and started to walk in the same direction. She didn't get far.

"Take one more step and I'll spank you, right here, right now." His voice was low, but threatening.

Taylor froze and looked back at her father. He was still concealed behind the large sheets of paper.

When she didn't sit back down again he turned the page, keeping his attention focused on the print and added. "I mean it Taylor."

Revenge was gonna be harder than she had originally thought. Pouting, she took her place beside Jason again, sneaking a look along the row at her dad, trying to figure out just how he'd managed to spot her. Emma would just have to wait.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

A few hours later and they were back in D.C.. Emma and Jason had both been safely delivered home, though exactly how safe they were right now, with angry parents was a whole different matter. Taylor appeared to be completely unconcerned as her dad unlocked the front door and she followed him and Patricia inside. Hanging her coat up on an empty hook she headed up the stairs, but stopped halfway when her father spoke.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To my room."

"No you don't. We have a few things to discuss first. Now get down here."

Taylor didn't move. "Like what?"

He looked at her, a look of disbelief on his face. "Like how you ended up in a police cell in New York."

"I was framed, and I didn't do anything wrong." She took another couple of steps.

"Not gonna tell you again."

"Fine!" Turning, Taylor stomped back down the stairs, past both Patricia and her dad, into the living room. Both followed her in. They had already decided to show a united front. It was important, considering the future they were now planning together. Jethro just hoped this whole mess wasn't going to make Patricia change her mind.

Taylor threw herself down on the couch, picked up a cushion, and wrapped her arms around it. "I don't see what the big deal is. I didn't break any of your dumb rules."

Patricia chose a chair a safe distance away, while Gibbs took up his usual position on the coffee table opposite his daughter.

Taylor was so caught up in her self justification she was completely unaware of the fine line she was walking. Her father was trying really hard to keep a hold of his temper, and couldn't believe Taylor thought any of her actions were justified.

He took a deep calming breath. "Where did you get the money to pay for your ticket?"

"Emma booked them on the internet, and I paid her. Don't look at me like that! It was my money!"

"I didn't ask whose money it was, I asked you where you got it, and you better lose that attitude pretty damn quick."

She picked at the cushion, not really wanting to answer.

"WHERE?"

Taylor only answered when he reached towards her. "My savings account."

"Are you allowed to take money out without checking with me first?"

"No."

"Well there's one 'dumb rule' broken so far. When we're done I want your savings book and card. I'll look after it from now on."

When Taylor opened her mouth to object, he stopped her, holding his finger up. "I don't want to hear that it's not fair, because it is."

You could almost see the confidence draining away from Taylor as she realised her dad was going to shoot down any excuses she had managed to come up with. It was one thing convincing herself she was right, but a whole different ball game trying to convince him.

"Why is it important that I have a rough idea where you are?" He asked next.

'Crap' Taylor thought, she'd been ready with a defence of 'You didn't ask me where I was going." He was anticipating what she wanted to say, that was not good.

"I'm waiting Taylor."

She sighed, there was no point pretending she didn't know, and she was trying to make sure he kept that belt of his around his waist. "It's dangerous."

"Why?"

She started to fiddle with the zipper on the cushion. He was not makin' this easy. "Cause if I get into trouble you wouldn't know where to find me."

"Uh huh." He paused. "Still think you did nothing wrong?"

She stayed silent, not wanting to admit defeat.

"Look at me. Do you still think you did nothing wrong?"

Reluctantly she looked up at him. "No."

"You have to start thinking things through Taylor. Just because you want to do something, then figure out how to do it, doesn't mean you should. We've been here before. If you have to hide something from me, then you shouldn't be doing it. Not difficult. Do you understand?"

Taylor nodded.

"Good." He glanced over at Patricia before he pronounced sentence. "You're grounded for the next two weeks. No ipod, no TV, no phone calls, no games, and no computer. Not only here, but at school too. You can spend recess and lunch with Patricia, just to make sure you stay away from Emma. I know you're angry with her, but she had to take full responsibility for stealing last night, and I'm sure her parents aren't going to go easy on her either."

Taylor couldn't say anything, her brain had stopped somewhere around the bit about no TV. What the hell was she gonna do for two whole weeks?

When Taylor didn't object, Gibbs stood up. "Upstairs, I'll be up in a minute."

That snapped her out of it. "You're gonna spank me too?"

He raised an eyebrow at the question. "What do you think?" Then nodded towards the stairs. "Go on, I'm not gonna argue about it."

She mumbled the whole way up the stairs. "Anyone else would think grounding was enough, but oh no, not you, you gotta…" Whatever else she said was cut off by her door slamming.

Unfortunately her little burst of temper disappeared as she waited, taking with it any remaining bravado. Taylor could handle being grounded, she didn't like it, but she'd choose it over the alternative any day. She hated being spanked more than anything else she could think of, and not just because it hurt, she hated the fact she had absolutely no control over it. One of these days, she would have to try and convince her dad that she hated being grounded more, and maybe he would give up on the whole spanking thing.

There wasn't much chance of that happening today she thought, as she checked out the determination in her dad's eyes, when he ordered her to drop her pants. Or when he pulled her across his lap and started swatting her backside. Or even when she didn't care how hard she was crying. Finally she had to admit to herself, the only way she could have avoided being in the position she was in right now, with one hell of a fire raging on her ass, would have been to actually stay out of trouble. Even seeing New York wasn't worth this.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Patricia had been expecting fireworks at school on Monday morning, but Taylor was strangely uninterested in Emma, and didn't protest about the fact she had to stay with her at recess and lunch. Hopefully Taylor was willing to put the whole thing behind her now, and move on.

When Emma returned to class after lunch she was sporting a split lip, and the beginnings of what was going to be an impressive black eye. Patricia called her out of the room to ask her who had hit her, but Emma had no intention of telling anyone what had happened. Taylor had been with her throughout the entire lunch break, so Patricia had to assume Emma had upset someone else.

At the end of the day Jason was waiting for Taylor outside her classroom. Emma was the first one to emerge from the room. From the state of her face he could see that Taylor had done a pretty good job.

Taylor appeared last, and Jason couldn't wait to ask her what had happened.

"You eventually got Emma on her own then?" He whispered. "Aren't you worried about what your dad's gonna do?"

Taylor looked him straight in the eye. "I never touched her."

"You didn't?" That was hard to believe.

"Nope, didn't have to." Taylor shrugged innocently.

Jason thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with any form of explanation. "Okay how'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You know what I mean. How'd you get Emma?"

Taylor smiled. "I told Ashley who glued her to the chair."

The End