WARNING: Contains non-consensual spanking of adults.

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

"Would the two of you cut it out already?" Gibbs yelled. He'd reached the end of his patience reserve for the morning. Kate and Tony each became suddenly interested in their computers. "I swear. The two of you fight like kids," he said, more to himself than to his team.

McGee sat quietly at his desk, secretly grateful that Gibbs had yelled at his partners. They were starting to annoy him too.

Just a few minutes later, their silent glares at each other evolved into whispers and then into yet another argument.

"Hey!" Gibbs yelled and they quickly returned to their work. "Go to lunch," he ordered. "By the time you get back, I want whatever this argument is finished." He gave them a warning look. "Understood?"

"Yes Boss," Kate answered.

"Got it Boss," Tony echoed.

They quickly rushed for the elevator. Tony got there first. "Beat ya!" he yelled at Kate as he hit the button.

"You're such a child!" Kate yelled back.

"HEY!" Gibbs shouted from the bullpen. "Knock it off or I'll beat both of you!"

Kate and Tony disappeared behind the elevator doors as the rest of the squad room went back to work after the loud interruption.

* * * * *

They'd been at it all week. On Monday, it was a fight over where to go for lunch. On Tuesday, they argued about who was driving to a crime scene. On Wednesday, Tony had stolen Kate's sketch pad – again. On Thursday night, Kate got revenge by letting the air out of Tony's tires. Which led to the argument of the morning. Gibbs had hoped once they were "even" it would all end. But the bickering continued all morning and his patience was gone. And he wasn't the only one.

* * * * *

"Gibbs, they're driving me crazy!" Abby complained. "Can't you do something?"

"Oh, I can. I'm just hoping they grow up on their own," he answered with a grim smile.

"Well they almost contaminated evidence in my lab when they started punching each other this morning."

Gibbs sighed. "I'll take care of it, Abs."

* * * * *

"Boss…"

"What is it, McGee?"

"Um, I was just wondering, um, can you make them stop?"

Gibbs put down his pen and looked at McGee. "Don't you have something to do?"

"Uh, yes Boss," McGee said as he scurried away.

Gibbs smiled. "If only that still worked on the rest of my team," he thought grimly.

* * * * *

"Tony, we need the surveillance videos from the convenience store. Take McGee with you. Kate, get on the phone with Cmd. Atkins' doctor and get those medical records."

"Yeah Kate, get on the phone," Tony mocked as he grabbed his gun and badge.

"Why are you so immature?" Kate spat back.

The slap on the back of Tony's head was not unexpected. "Sorry Boss," he said as he hurried after McGee to the elevator.

Gibbs looked over at Kate who was finally just doing her job.

"Going to see Ducky," he said to no one in particular.

Ducky was, of course, working on his latest guest, Cmd. Atkins. "Hey Duck," Gibbs said as he hopped onto an empty table.

"Jethro, I've just started here. There's no way you're about to ask me how he died," Ducky said as he peeled back the Commander's skin. When he didn't get a reply, he turned around. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah," Gibbs answered, rubbing his hand across his face. "Tony and Kate have been fighting all week and everyone's pretty much sick of it."

Ducky put down his scalpel. "Well, what are you going to do about it, 'Dad'?"

"Dad?" Gibbs asked.

"Ah yes. Clearly, there's some sibling rivalry going on here. They've been competing with each other, almost from day one. But you've allowed it to go unchecked so now, I fear you have no choice but to stop them – before someone gets hurt." Ducky looked at this friend with a slight smile.

Gibbs sighed. "I never had any siblings, so I never had this problem."

"Well, I had siblings, Jethro," he answered leadingly. "Do you know how my father dealt with us when we started competing for his attention is less than positive ways?"

Gibbs grinned. "Yeah, I know. I guess I was hoping you'd tell me there was another way to deal with this."

"Oh, there are plenty of other ways," Ducky said, turning back to his task. "But one always seemed to be particularly effective for us. At least for a while," he shrugged.

"Ok," Gibbs said, sliding off the table. "Thanks Doc."

* * * * *

"McGee," Gibbs said later that day. "You got that tape?"

"Right here Boss," McGee answered, dropping the tape on Gibbs' desk.

"Good work. We'll take a look at it in the morning."

"Um, Boss?" he asked.

"It's late. Go home." McGee returned to his desk to pack up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kate and Tony start to pack up too. "Was I talking to the two of you?" he said sternly without looking up. He saw them slowly sit back down.

McGee looked up at Gibbs and then a second later, he understood. He left with a quick good-night.

"With me," Gibbs ordered as he stood up and walked toward the stairs. Kate and Tony glanced at each other before they jumped up and hurried to follow their boss.

He was waiting in the conference room when they finally made it up the stairs. After ushering them in, he closed and locked the door. Kate and Tony exchanged a nervous glance. They moved toward the table and both reached for the same chair. A brief scuffle ensued and was broken up by a shrill whistle.

"I swear the two of you were separated at birth – and then never grew up!" Gibbs shouted at them. "I don't remember telling you to sit down."

They both let go of the back of the chair they'd been fighting over and turned toward their angry boss.

"Sorry Boss," they answered simultaneously.

"Too late," Gibbs said, still glaring.

"Too late for what?" Tony asked innocently.

Gibbs looked between them for a moment. "Who's first?" he asked.

"Um, first for what?" Kate asked hesitantly.

Gibbs said nothing, but he unbuckled his belt and pulled it off.

"Whoa, Boss. Come on. It's not a big deal," Tony argued.

"Oh," Gibbs said, "so you know why we're here."

Kate took a step back. "We're sorry, Gibbs. We'll stop. Right, Tony?"

"Yeah. We're done Boss. From now on, no more fighting. We promise."

"And if this was Tuesday, I might accept that," Gibbs answered. "But it's Friday. This has been going on all week. Actually, it's been going on a lot longer than that, but you two have been intolerable this week and I'm not putting up with it any more. And neither is anyone else who works here. Now I will ask one more time, who's first?"

Tony and Kate glanced at each other again.

"He is."

"She is."

"You started it," Kate yelled at Tony.

"I did not. Besides, you let all the air out of my tires!"

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted. "Go plant yourself in the corner."

"Are you ser…yes Boss."

"Kate, bend over."

"Thanks a lot, Tony," Kate said as she bent over the table.

"You are just as guilty here as he is, so don't try to pass this off on him," Gibbs growled.

He put his hand on her back, raised the belt and brought it down on her backside. She gasped as the pain registered and the belt landed again.

"That hurts," she whined. Gibbs' only response was another hard slap with the belt. The spanking was over relatively quickly and Kate was ordered to the opposite corner.

"Tony, get over here."

"Boss, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let it…"

"Get over here," Gibbs repeated and Tony closed his mouth.

He sighed and bent over the table. Gibbs pushed up the back of Tony's blazer and left his hand resting on his back. Tony quietly accepted his spanking, but he grimaced and squirmed throughout it.

When he was finished, Gibbs called Kate back and ordered them to sit down. He put his belt back on and stood over them.

"That was a warning. Stop the fighting now, or next time, we'll do this at my house. Tony, feel free to tell Kate what that means later." He watched Tony pale slightly and mentally patted himself on the back. "I mean it. Cut it out." He turned suddenly and left the room, leaving Kate and Tony alone.

"Do I want to know?" Kate asked after a minute.

Tony shook his head. "Just trust me when I tell you that he's not kidding and you really don't want to find out what happens if we do this again."

"We were pretty immature this week," Kate admitted.

Tony shrugged. "I like fighting with you, Kate. I never had a sister to fight with growing up."

"Well, I think you're pretty annoying," Kate retorted. "But," she sighed, "you do remind me of my brothers," she smiled.

"Hm. I'm not sure that's such a good thing. I've heard you talk about your brothers."

Kate laughed. "Maybe, but they're my brothers. And I love them," she said tenderly.

Tony stood up and ruffled her hair with a smile. "Thanks, Kate. Do you want to go get a drink or something?"

"Sure," she said standing up. "Should we ask Gibbs?"

Tony considered that for a moment. "He'll say no, but yeah, I think we should." He grinned mischievously. "Race you back to the squad room," he challenged as he pushed her back into her chair…