"I can't let this go Abby," Tony said firmly. It had been three months since Gibbs decided to retire to the white sandy beaches of Mexico and Tony had not yet resolved the internal awkwardness of his newly acquired role.

"I know I shouldn't have gone, Tony. But I'm really sorry and I promise I'll never do it again," Abby clutched the edge of her cold metal lab table and tried her best to appear sweet and repentant. "Isn't that really the point after all? Can't we just let this go?"

"Is that what Gibbs would do?" Tony asked already knowing the answer. He stared into her pleading brown eyes and took a deep breath stealing his nerves. He knew what Gibb would do if Abby had defied a direct order and approached a homicide suspect on the street under his watch. He knew all too what his mentor's reaction would have been to Abby jeopardizing a case and risking her life for no better reason than stubbornness and pride.

"But I thought he was innocent," she said as more of a whine than she intended kicking the ground with the toe of her heavy black boot.

"But he wasn't, was he?" Tony's said, his voice edged with the same anger and fear he felt watching a murder suspect hold a pistol to the young Goth's head and praying he could bring her home safely. "We can deal with this professionally if you prefer."

"You would actually suspend me?" she answered in a shriek looking around at her beloved lab.

"You defied my direct order. You jeopardized your life. You jeopardize this case. I will not let that go," his voice was low and stern, leaving no room for debate. "Gibb's would not give you a chose, but I am."

Her eyes fell to the floor and she took a deep, defeated breath. She wasn't sure what was worse, the normally jovial Tony being angry with her or the thought of what Gibb's would do if she had defied a direct order and endangered her life in the process. They had all seen a new side of Tony since Gibb's had left. The old Tony would never have dreamt of punishing her, but something in his firm and unyielding eyes told her that this new Tony just might.

Tony pulled a tall stool away from its nearby counter and sat down, his feet propped on its low rungs.

"Front and center," he commanded pointing to the floor before him.

"Tony, can't we…." Abby began in a whining plea.

"Abby," Tony warned in a tone that sounded eerily like Gibbs.

She slowly shuffled the six feet, to stand directly in front of him, stubbornly refusing to look him in the eye, too afraid of the anger and disappointment she would find there. She let out a surprised squeal as he gently took her wrist and tipped her over his lap. Adjusting her slightly into position, he raised his right knee and wrapping his left arm around her waist in preparation for the struggling he knew would come. Abby's stomach churned in embarrassment and regret as she stared down at the tile floor, her feet dangling helplessly from his muscular thighs like a small child over her father lap. She wasn't certain if she wanted to cry or throw up.

"Tell me why you're getting a spanking," Tony commanded in a firm, soft voice.

"Because you told me to stay away from the suspect and to stay in my lab and I didn't. I thought he was innocent and wanted to talk to him instead," she answered in a hoarse whisper.

Her body jumped reflexively as Tony's hand came down hard on the curve of her bottom.

"I don't care whether you like my orders or not, you are going to follow them."

His large hand worked methodically from the back of her thighs to the center of her bottom. She could not believe that Tony's hand could hurt this much. She was accustomed to Gibb's heavy, paddle-like blows that left her in tears with just a few swats. His spankings never lasted long, they never needed too. But Tony's hand came down in sharp, rapid swats on her covered bottom. Any one of them alone would do little more than get her attention, but together they built like an ember into a bonfire and she struggled to stay in position.

"If you refuse to submit to your punishment and this will only get worse Abby," Tony warned as a stern father to a petulant child.

"Please Tony," Abby pleaded in a voice already thick with tears. "I'm really sorry. I won't do it again. Please stop."

She twisted and squirmed violently over his lap, but to no avail. His strong arm, wrapped around her waist kept her firming in place. Her legs kicked higher as she tried to block his unrelenting swats. His hand wrapped around the back of her thigh, forcing her legs back down. She prayed that this was finally over.

"Abby, I ordered you to stay in the lab," Tony's voice was stern and authoritative, as a father scolding a child. "In response to this direct order, what did you do?"

"I went to talk with the suspect instead," she said meekly through her tears.

"I ordered you to finish processing the evidence and let us do the field work. Did you do that?"

"No," she cried.

"I told you to stop fighting your punishment, and what did you do?"

"Tony, please it hurts," she whined. "I've learned my learned. I won't do it again, just please stop."

"And what lesson would that be?"

"That I need to do what I'm told and it's for my own good," she answered quickly, talking a deep breath. Perhaps this was over after all.

"And your response to an order to stop fighting your punishment, was to start kicking harder," his voiced sounded more like Gibbs than Tony's and her stomach sank. "Your punishment will be over when I say it's over and when I think you have learned your lesson."

She felt the cool air on her skin as his large hand lifter her plaid skirt. Before she had time to react his hand came down sharply on her bare thigh. The skin peeking out from her white panties was growing a deep shade of pink. He cupped his large hand, increasing the sound of the each smack as it reverberated through the sterile room.

"Owwwwwwww," she let out a constant wail.

Tony knew that she deserved this punishment, and he knew that if Gibb's were here this spanking would be much worse. Still, he hated being the one to deliver this punishment. He wanted to comfort her and promise that everything would be alright. Despite his heart, the voice in his head told him that he had to finish this.

He concentrated his strong hand on the tender curve of her bottom in an intense stinging volley of swats. This time Abby didn't fight, she lay limply over his lap. He could hear the sound of her shaking sobs and felt their waves pass through her body.

Gently turning her over to rest on his lap, her arms thrust around his neck and her fingers twisting into the fabric of his polo shirt as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. His strong arms wrapped protectively around her waist and back, holding her against his solid chest. Rocking her as a father comforting a child he felt her relax into his arms.

"It's all over," he whispered into her pigtails, resting his check against her dark brown hair.

Slowly her sobs turn into silent tears. She looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes looking very much like a punished little girl.

"I don't want to ever have to do this again Abby," Tony said in a soft voice, his gentle eyes looking down into her own.

"You won't Tony. I'm sorry," she answered quickly.

"But if I have to it will be my hand to your bare bottom," the tone of his voice and the look in his eye told her that he meant what he said. "Are we clear?"

"Crystal."