Ignore It?

We all know Gibbs was lying.

SPOILER ALERT: Tag to "Sins of the Father" and "Dead Reflection"

WARNING: Spanking of an adult.

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to CBS. I just play with them.

Vance: So how do we handle our predicament?

Gibbs: What predicament?

Vance: Agent DiNozzo disobeyed direct orders from both of us. He stuck his nose in the case.

What are you going to do?

Gibbs: Ignore it.

Vance: What I figured...

Gibbs:

I knew Tony would show up eventually. No sense chasing after him. The problem was, with Senior in the house, giving him what he so richly deserved was going to be tricky. Yeah, I knew he would disobey me. It was his father, after all. Hell, I would have done the same thing. And Tony knows that. But Tony also knows that if he disobeys me, there will be consequences – no matter what the reason for the disobedience.

The thing is, if it wasn't for him, his father would be locked up, on trial for a murder he didn't commit. It was Tony's work that led to the truth. None of the rest of us were making any progress. But still, we have a deal: Do the crime, do the time. And I'm pretty sure he came here because he's holding up his end of the bargain…

Tony:

This sucks. It really, really, really sucks. We should be celebrating tonight. My dad's been cleared, we closed another case, put another bad guy behind bars where he belongs… But I have that knot in my stomach. As usual. I made a judgment call, knowing that no matter what happened, it would lead here. Thank God it worked out for my dad, but now…well, now I have to deal with the consequences.

I know it's not going to be bad. Gibbs isn't all that pissed. At least I don't think so. Not like he was last time I disobeyed him. Of course then, I broke Rule 12, which, sometimes I swear is actually Rule 1 in disguise. That night was one of those times. I don't think I've ever seen him that pissed. I was so sure I was going to end up over the workbench that night. But it never happened.

Maybe that's why I'm here now. Maybe it's not that I'm coming to take my punishment for disobeying him this time. Maybe, this is for last time…

"Gibbs, you got any bullion cubes?"

Gibbs looked up from the table where he was reading. "Check that cabinet there," he said, pointing with his chin.

Mr. DiNozzo opened the cabinet and sifted through jars of spices. He found the yellow and green box he was looking for, but looked at it with disdain. "When's the last time you cooked, Gibbs?"

"I cook every night. Just not with any of that stuff."

"This expired in 1991!" Mr. DiNozzo exclaimed.

Gibbs put down his paper and looked over the top of his glasses. "Well, that's probably the last time a turkey was cooked in this house." He stood up and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. "Here, there's a grocery store about two miles up the road that's open 24 hours. Get whatever you think we'll need." He handed a wad of cash to his boarder-turned-chef. "Keys are on the table by the front door."

"Don't you want to go?" Mr. DiNozzo asked.

Gibbs shrugged. "I wouldn't have the faintest idea what to buy."

"All right," Mr. DiNozzo said as he took off his apron and wiped his hands. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Take your time," Gibbs thought.

"Hurry, Tony thought.

Gibbs could see Tony out of the corner of his eye. The younger DiNozzo was sitting in the living room watching an old movie on TV that he'd probably seen at least sixteen times. But with the NBA still locked out, there was no game for him to watch instead.

"Do you want to come, Junior?" Mr. DiNozzo asked, reaching for his coat.

Tony hesitated, not daring to look at Gibbs. "No, I'm just going to stay here."

Mr. DiNozzo nodded. "Ok. I get the feeling you two have something to talk about that you can't discuss with me here. Will half an hour be long enough, Gibbs?" he asked with a slight grin.

Gibbs thought for a moment. "Give us 45," he answered, nonchalantly.

Before Tony could even react, his father was out the door.

"What the…?" Tony asked in alarm.

Gibbs smiled slightly. "He and I had time to talk before you got here. We got talking about the case and he figured out that you disobeyed a direct order. He asked me what I was going to do about it, so I told him."

"And he approved?"

"Well, I think he thought I was joking," Gibbs acquiesced. "Come here."

Tony stood up and walked to the table. When Gibbs didn't stand up, he pulled out a chair and sat down across from his boss.

"Anything you want to tell me?" Gibbs asked quietly.

It felt like 20 minutes before Tony finally spoke, but Gibbs knew by now not to rush him. In reality, only a couple of minutes passed as Gibbs watched Tony think.

Finally, "I disobeyed you." Gibbs nodded. "But not just tonight." Gibbs nodded again. Tony shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Boss, when I came here that night, and I tried to talk to you about EJ, I knew you were pissed. And I expected you to do something about it. But you didn't. Why not?"

Gibbs took off his glasses and sighed. "It wasn't the time. You still thought you were right. If I had punished you then, you would have resented it. It wouldn't have taught you anything. I knew you'd come around eventually, and I knew that when the time came, we would talk it out like we are now."

"And then you'd beat the crap out of me," Tony said with a grin. Gibbs gave him a look. "I'm sorry, Boss," Tony said quietly. "About EJ, about getting pissed at you. I know you were just trying to protect me. And I'm sorry I disobeyed you today too. But I didn't know what else to do. I knew my father didn't do it and, I guess in a way, I wanted to be the one to prove it."

Gibbs nodded. "I get it Tony. I really do."

"But you're going to punish me anyway," Tony stated.

Gibbs sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "What do you want me to do, Tony?"

Tony gave him a pleading look. "I can't… I mean, I don't…. Look, we both know…" He stopped, torn between conflicting thoughts.

"Tony," Gibbs said, leaning forward, "just tell me what you need me to do."

Tony struggled for a few moments then shook his head. "It's the EJ thing," he whispered.

Gibbs nodded and grinned. "Let's go."

Down in the basement, Tony bent over the workbench and waited while Gibbs retrieved the paddle from the cabinet. Gibbs stood behind Tony and studied him for a moment. "Are you sure?" he finally asked.

"Yeah, Boss. I'm sure. I don't want the guilt anymore."

A proud grin spread across Gibbs' face. Then he put one hand gently on Tony's back and brought the paddle in the other hand down on his backside.

Tony hissed and clenched his jaw. There was no way he was going to cry this time. No way. But the flood of relief as the pain built soon became too much to bear and tears started streaming down his face. The paddling was over in less than a minute, but Tony stayed in position while he sobbed into his arms. Months of pent up anger, fear, sadness and guilt flooded out of him. He felt Gibbs pull him up gently by the arm and before he knew it, he was sobbing on his boss' shoulder.

Gibbs held his senior agent, tears forming in his own eyes. This had been a long time coming, and he knew that Tony's tears had very little to do with the spanking he'd just rained down on him. He knew Tony's tears were the literal outpouring of all the emotion he'd been holding in for months – possibly even years. And he knew that some of Tony's tears were for his father.

Gibbs felt Tony start to relax and begin to get himself under control. A few moments later, Tony pushed away. "I'm sorry, Boss," he said, wiping his face with the back of his hands. Gibbs gently pulled Tony's hand away and replaced it with his own. He patted the wet cheek and smiled. Then he turned and walked up the stairs.

By the time Mr. DiNozzo returned, Gibbs was back at the table reading, Tony was back in the living room watching the same old movie, and anyone who didn't know better would think the two men had been there all along. But the air felt different. The tension was gone.

Mr. DiNozzo deposited the shopping bags on the kitchen counter. "So where does this stuff go?" he called out.

"I got it," Tony called from the living room, bouncing out of the overstuffed chair. Gibbs smiled to himself at Tony's renewed energy, then joined the father and son in the kitchen to make sure he could find everything after they left.