Chapter Text
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. Fair's Fair.
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"Did I or did I not tell you not to come down to the basement?" Gibbs was angry at his two children who, despite his very clear instruction, had sneaked into the basement.
"We just wanted to see it." Abby whined, referring to the ancient vase that Gibbs had hidden there to give to his wife for their anniversary; the vase that now was broken because these two little snoopy kids had to touch it and when he'd called their names, they'd apparently gotten scared and dropped the thing.
"I'm sorry." Tony murmured, not looking up from the spot on the floor that he'd been staring at for the last five minutes that their father had been scolding them; or well him; because Abby was standing behind the man and he'd been addressing him the whole time he'd been glaring and telling them off.
"Your apology doesn't fix the vase, does it?" The father growled. "When I give you an order, I expect you to follow it!"
"Won't happen again." Tony promised quietly.
"Damn right it won't." Gibbs snapped, once again forgetting to watch his language around kids. "You're grounded for the next two weeks; no TV; no movies, no game, no going out, no staying up late. You're not allowed to talk or play with Abby and you're not allowed to touch your toys. No touching means no touching! When you're not at the table for a meal or doing your chores, you'll be in your room. You can read your books. But that's it. Clear?"
Tony looked up to see if Abby would be addressed next, but found Abby still behind the man.
Apparently he was the only one being punished. Well, he was used to it; the whole thing was probably his fault, even though Abby had insisted that they go and check out whatever 'Daddy' had been hiding in the basement and she had been the one taking the vase and then dropping it when their Dad had called their names. But well, he knew it had to somehow be his fault; he knew he kept screwing up and his father had always told him he was a bad influence; so, his fault really. Nodding his head, he said, "Yes, Sir."
As he was walking up the stairs, he heard Abby whining and telling their dad that now she'd be really bored; and heard Jethro's response who replied that she could play with her friends and go to the playground until Tony's punishment was over.
Yes, he was the only one being punished; but Abby was a girl and she was more important; he knew he deserved to be punished. The Gibbs' had been so kind to let him live with them instead of returning him to his real house when they found him running away from his father, but that didn't mean they had to put up with his mistakes and ignore it when he messed up. And besides, he could take any punishment, and at least he wasn't being beaten; so he guessed everything was fair and right.
He didn't mind spending two weeks reading his books; that could be fun if he tried.
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That evening, when Shannon came home, she wondered what was going on that Tony seemed so quiet and hadn't left his room until dinner. She of course asked him if he was alright and the little boy had merely nodded.
Looking around to see if she could find anything amiss, she found her husband looking rigid and upset and Abby throwing worried glances at her brother and her father. So, naturally, she'd aimed the question at her, asking her what'd happened.
The young woman noticed her husband's lips moving with curses that he was muttering under his breath when she addressed Abby and the little girl dutifully started to give a detailed and complete account of everything.
She told her about going to the basement and then touching the vase, which Shannon didn't know of because seriously, why would a vase be in the basement, and then Abby told her about getting scared and dropping and accidentally breaking it. At last, she told her about 'daddy' being mad and punishing Tony and that's why Tony was quiet, because he wasn't allowed to do anything but eat his food, do his chores and read in his room.
By the end of her tale, Tony's head was even lower, which the nurse in Shannon liked even less that the mother in her, because clearly that position wasn't good for his neck. And Jethro was finishing his food way too quickly like he wanted to get away from the table.
She thanked the little girl and told the two children who were done with their food to go to their rooms, 'please'; she needed to have a talk with her man.
"So?"
"So?" Gibbs growled, not looking away from the TV screen and the news.
Grabbing the remote control, she turned it off and sat on the couch. "First of all, what's this vase Abby's talking about?"
That seemed to be the wrong question to start with, because her husband stiffened and a look of sadness covered his face which was quickly followed by rage.
"Jethro?" She prodded gently.
"It was supposed to be a surprise." He sighed, "For our anniversary."
It took a moment for her to get what he meant, but when she did, her face broke into a big smile. "Aww, Jethro! Thank you."
"It's broken, now." The man said coldly.
"It's the thoughts that counts."
Jethro clearly didn't think that way, though, because he got up and went to the basement, looking anything but convinced. Shannon followed him down and looked over his shoulder at the broken vase.
"It's beautiful." She smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Stop it." The man groaned.
"What?"
"It's broken, Shannon."
"It's not too bad; it can be put together again." She said reasonably and then grabbed her husband's face and turned it towards her, kissing his lips gently. "It is the thought that counts, Jethro. And I don't care if it's broken, I love it. Thank you."
The man smiled faintly.
"So the kids sneaked in and saw it before me, huh?" She chuckled.
"I told them to stay away from the basement." He growled and pulled away, walking to a stool to sit on.
Shannon laughed quietly. "Well, they're kids. It's a given that sometimes they'd do what they're told not to. Pretty sure that's how they learn things."
"Not in my house." The man snapped.
"Whoa! Tone down the drill instructor. They're kids, not your soldiers." She rolled her eyes. "If everyone, who was told not to touch something, listened, then we wouldn't be here."
"In the basement?" The man looked confused.
"On the earth." She chuckled.
"What?" Now he was really baffled.
"The original sin? Adam and Eve were told to stay away from that tree, too!" She reminded her husband and seeing the man rolling his eyes, she continued, "Seriously, humans are supposed to be curious; kids even more so. You gotta start learning to bend a little. Loosen up; you know."
"You sure you're a nurse?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're not a preacher or something are you?"
Laughing, she shook her head. "No. But we do have to pass psychology courses to become a nurse. So..." She smiled. "Speaking of psychology... Couldn't you be a bit more lenient or something?"
"No. Next time when I tell them to do something, they'll listen."
"Again with the drill instructor, I see." She sighed. "And why did it sound like Tony is the only one being punished?"
"Because he is."
"What?"
"I can't punish Abby."
"What?" Shannon repeated, frowning as she felt a strange feeling in her chest. "Why not? Didn't they commit the crime together?"
Shaking his head at his wife's choice of words, Gibbs said, "Yes, but it's Abby."
"And the other one is Tony/! The boy who'd been abused as long as he remembers."
Gibbs closed his eyes at the reminder of that; but he refused to believe he'd done anything wrong. "I didn't hit him. He's just grounded."
"OK, not my point; I'm asking you why you think Tony with that background can take a punishment, and Abby can't."
"Because it's Abby." He repeated.
"And she's your favorite?" She asked with a dangerous edge in her voice.
"God, no! I don't do favorite." He denied quickly, but even he knew that his actions were screaming a different story.
"So what?"
"So... She's a girl."
Shannon's eyes widened and she jumped up from the stool. "Oh, for Pete's sake, could you be any more sexist?"
"What?" Gibbs was surprised at the sudden turn of events.
"Just because Abby's a girl doesn't mean she's weaker."
"What? How did you get that from my words? Of course she's not weaker."
"And yet you just punished Tony for something that they did together." Shannon shook her head. "Or maybe you think it's alright for Abby to do whatever she wants, but the moment Tony moves he has to be put in his place?"
"Shannon!"
"No! If something is wrong, it's wrong for both of them; not just Tony."
"Abby can learn by example." He reasoned weakly, already feeling a bit bad for being so hard just on Tony.
"And Tony's so stupid that he can't?"
"I didn't-"
"That's what I got from your excuse." She cut him off harshly. That woman could really be a force to be reckoned with. "And you know what? You're not helping Abby with your behavior, either. I know you're old-school and everything; but you gotta learn that if you go this way, thinking that girls and women are the weaker gender-"
"I never said women are weaker." Gibbs protested feebly.
"More fragile, unable to take punishment, undeserving of punishments for their mistakes; whatever;" she growled. "If you keep acting like that, Abby won't become stronger; she'll just grow up to be this overgrown kid who thinks she can get away with anything and that everyone should always be at her service and do things her way. And I refuse to let you raise her like that. My girl is gonna grow up into a strong, compassionate woman who actually knows right from wrong and never demands the others to be her pawn just because she can start crying and stomping her foot on a whim. And she sure won't be a 'my way or the highway' kinda girl because I won't let you be that kinda man anymore. You know, since 'she learns by example'."
Gibbs swallowed. "I'm not-"
"You're not what?" She cut him off again. "Go on, tell me this is not who you are. Tell me you don't think things should always go your way."
Gibbs wanted to point out that at that moment it was Shannon who was forcing him to see things her way, but wisely kept quiet.
"Hell, just a few minutes ago you've gone all drill instructor on me, saying that 'in your house'" she used finger quoting to emphasize her point, "things will be the way you demand."
OK, maybe she had a point. Gibbs sighed and let his shoulders drop in defeat.
Sighing, Shannon paced the floor for a couple of minutes in silence, making Gibbs think that she should be a school principal or a headmaster instead of a nurse; but either way, she'd clearly jumped into the role of a fierce lioness- or maybe a mama bear- pretty well.
"I'm not gonna cancel Tony's punishment this time or do anything against what you've done." She finally said, her voice still carrying that dangerous tone. "But only because I think that'd be a bad example and I don't want for our kids to start seeing us anything other than one unit. I don't want them to think your words carry no weight because I can do differently and I don't want you to do anything against my words in future. 'Learn by example!'" She repeated the annoying words that had left Gibbs' mouth minutes earlier. "But, keep in mind, the next time they do something, Tony won't be the only one paying for it. And Abby will never get away with things that deserve to be addressed strictly."
"You'd make a mean DI." Gibbs smiled wanly, but it vanished quickly at the glare he received.
"I'm not joking."
"I know. I know." He held his hands up. "I get it."
"You'd better." She said and walked up the stairs, leaving her husband alone with his thoughts.
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TBC ...
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