Danny thought about that time and shuddered. Mac was sooo upset with him that time and it hadn't even been while they were working and lying twice about things… while he couldn't imagine what Mac had in mind for his punishment this time, but he thought it was going to be so much worse.
The spanking for disobeying the rules of safety unnecessarily, the lying… no wonder Mac was pacing a bit more than usual. Danny knew in short order his butt was going to be feeling the disappointment and disapproval of his choices and his hand was going to be aching from all the writing he was probably going to have to do and … probably grounded again. Why couldn't he ever learn to think before he acted?
Danny wasn't given a chance to think of much else as he heard his dad call his name.
"Come over here Danny," Mac called out softly.
Danny bit his lip and turned around. He looked at his father from the distance of where he was to where his dad was and hesitated. If he went over to the man then he'd get spanked however if he didn't go over then he'd just have a second charge of disobedience added to his list of crimes.
With a drooped head Danny made his way to Mac, tears in his eyes but not falling. "I'm sorry."
"I know," Mac responded, his eyes looking sad. "Let's get this over with son."
Danny stood on shaking legs as he unbuttoned his jeans. Mac laid him over his lap before tugging the jeans and boxers to the boy's knees. Danny couldn't help but let out a little whimper.
Mac didn't waste any time on bringing his hand down with a stinging swat taking Danny's breath away. The last time Mac had started this hard was when he'd gone into Tanglewood territory.
As with that time Danny couldn't stop his legs from involuntarily twitching.
"OW MAC! Please…too hard…I'm sorry!"
Mac said nothing as he continued to rain swats down on the unprotected backside. When he heard Danny start to sniffle he started to lecture.
"When" SWAT "I tell you" SWAT "that you" SWAT "are not" SWAT "to do something" SWAT "I expect" SWAT "you" SWAT "to" SWAT "obey me." SWAT "I need" SWAT "to be able" SWAT "to trust you" SWAT "when" "I'm not" SWAT "around." SWAT "You do" SWAT "not" SWAT "raise" SWAT "your voice" SWAT "to me" SWAT "again." SWAT
Hearing Mac talk about trust, Danny let loose his first sob. Losing Mac's trust came in second to losing Mac himself.
Mac gave him a few more swats before stopping and rubbing his back briefly. "Give me your hand."
Danny let his tears fall freely down his face as he gave his dad his free hand. He felt Mac pin it to his lower back and shuddered when he felt the back of the hairbrush rest against his burning backside.
Mac didn't waste any time in bringing the brush crashing down onto his son's red backside. He wanted the punishment to be over.
SMACK "You" SMACK "do not" SMACK "repel" SMACK "when you" SMACK "are hurt." SMACK "You" SMACK "know" SMACK "better" SMACK "then" SMACK "that!" SMACK "That" SMACK "was one" SMACK "of the first" SMACK "rules" SMACK "implemented" SMACK "when you learned" SMACK "to repel." SMACK "You" SMACK "are not" SMACK "to disobey" SMACK "the rules" SMACK "no matter" SMACK "how old" SMACK "you are" SMACK "or" SMACK "how right" SMACK "you think" SMACK "you are." SMACK "Do" SMACK "you" SMACK "understand" SMACK "me?" SMACK
Danny nodded his head frantically, "Y-yesss!"
Mac didn't say anything further as he lowered one knee and raised the other and started swatting at the tender under curve.
"NO MAC PLEASE," Danny shouted.
Mac gave his hand a squeeze as he gave the tender under curves eighteen hard swats. When he was done Danny lay limp over his knee, crying.
Mac rubbed circles on Danny's back waiting until the sobs had quieted a little before pulling the younger man's pants gently back up. He pulled Danny upright and sat him on his lap, making sure the boy's back side didn't touch anything.
"It's ok Danny; it's all over," Mac soothed, allowing Danny to cry.
Danny held onto Mac like a life line, "I-I'm s-sorry Mac."
"I know you are," Mac assured him holding him close until the tears had finally stopped.
Danny looked up at him, "Am I in a lot more trouble?"
Mac gave him a wry grin, "You lied twice and disobeyed two orders. What do you think?"
Danny sighed and fidgeted to be released. Mac helped him stand up before standing up himself.
"Go get ready for bed; I'll be in, in ten minutes."
Danny nodded his head and quickly went to do as he was told. He got dressed quickly yet made sure to be gentle. As he lay in bed he groaned. 'Tomorrow's not gonna be fun,' he thought to himself with a pout.
---------------------------------
Mac entered the bedroom ten minutes later on the dot. He sat by Danny's side and gave a little sigh. Danny lay on his side and stared up at him.
"How long am I grounded this time?" Danny asked, keeping his voice level.
"Two months," Mac answered.
Danny's face fell, "But dad…"
"No buts Danny." Mac interrupted. "You know what you did was wrong. You are grounded for two months. Stella trusts me to deal with you; you lied to her though so you are restricted to the lab for one week while your wrist continues to heal. Tomorrow I will take you to her and you will apologize. You will also apologize to Flack when he comes over tonight."
"Why is Don coming over?" Danny wondered.
"I have to finish up some paperwork so he will be staying with you." Mac replied. "You will not give him a hard time and you will do as he says."
Danny said nothing as he dropped his gaze to look at his bed. Mac gently took Danny's chin in his hand and forced, albeit gently, Danny to look at him.
"You will apologize to Stella and Flack; you will be grounded for two months; you will be confined to the lab for one week and you will write me a six page report on why you don't climb or repel while hurt unless it's an emergency. You may use the computer for one hour a day to find the information but you will hand write the paper." Mac's voice was firm. "Do you understand?"
"Yes," Danny answered with just a slight pout that caused Mac to smile.
"Flack has a key and should be here in ten minutes. Will you be ok on your own?" Mac inquired of his son.
Danny nodded and turned back to lie on his stomach. He wouldn't be going to sleep until after he'd talked to Flack…of that he was sure.
"I'll see you in the morning," Mac ruffled Danny's hair and left the room. He quietly left the apartment knowing he'd be home in a few hours and that he would be able to spend the next day with his son…
EPILOGUE:
As predicted Flack was at Mac's place ten minutes after Mac had left. He made his way slowly to Danny's room only to find Danny half asleep, laying on his stomach. Flack said nothing as he brought the blankets up to his shoulders and went to lie down on the couch.
The next day the two talked. Well…Flack talked and Danny pouted. Flack's punishment for Danny was that he wasn't allowed out of his sight the next case they worked. Flack kept his word much to Danny's later dismay.
Mac and Danny spent the next day talking though there were times when Mac's mind would wander back to the prank call he received at 3:33 am…the same as when he was in London.
When the two went to work the following day Danny, standing at Mac's side, apologized to Stella for lying to her. Stella accepted the apology knowing from the way Danny squirmed in his seat that he'd been punished already.
When Danny finally got a few free minutes he found Lindsay and apologized to her. There was no need for him to explain as she knew he'd repelled and knew he wasn't supposed to.
Danny handed Mac his report the same night as his two month grounding was over. With a happy sigh Danny went to his room and lay down and hoped he would always be able to follow the rules. He did not want another reminder like this last one and winced with the memory of how sore his backside was when Mac was through with him.
'Never again,' he thought to himself. As he drifted to sleep he couldn't help but wonder if he could really keep his promise to himself. Only time would tell…
THE END