Chapter 12
Gibbs stepped out of the bedroom to the aroma of soup cooking on the stove. Tony was placing the bowls on the table next to plates that already had sandwiches on them. Gibbs wondered just how long he had taken to get dressed. Just how much time had he lost caught up in his memories?
“I made fresh coffee if you want some,” Tony tossed over his shoulder as he headed back into the kitchen. He already knew what Gibbs’ answer was going to be. Taking two cups down he poured the coffee, adding sugar and hazelnut creamer to his before heading back out to the table.
"Yeah, that would be great." Gibbs took his seat at the table and leaned forward encouragingly.
Tony placed the coffee in front of Gibbs as he took his own seat. The two men ate their lunch in silence, neither man comfortable with being the first to speak. With the meal finished, Tony stood and began gathering the dishes to take to the kitchen. A hand on his arm stopped his progress.
“Sit down, DiNozzo, that can wait for later.” Gibbs spoke softly as Tony retook his seat. “We have some things to discuss.”
“Like what?” Tony asked apprehensively.
Gibbs' voice took on a firmer tone when he said, “Like what’s going to happen over the next couple of weeks and what is expected from you.”
“Oh, and just what is expected of me?” Tony snapped back very sarcastically, his eyes filling will anger.
Gibbs saw Tony roll his eyes and growled, “Well for one thing that tone is going to stop and stop now, as well that other little trait you love so much.”
“What?”
“The rolling of the eyes, the smart-assed attitude, and especially resisting your training,” Gibbs stated, letting Tony know there would be no arguments on this subject.
“You don’t really expect me to just fold and give in to this madness do you?” Tony smirked until he saw Gibbs eyes turn to stone. “My God, you do, don’t you?”
“Well yeah, DiNozzo, what he hell do you think we’re here for, vacation?” Gibbs snapped. “You’re here to learn what it is to be a slave, or are you to dense to understand that?”
Tony shook his head and looked away. “I’m not listening to this shit.” Rising from his chair, Tony turned to walk away only to be pushed back down by Gibbs.
“Oh yes you will,” Gibbs shouted as he stood over a very shocked DiNozzo. “You’re going to not only listen, but you are going to start doing as your told or you’re going to learn all about a slave’s punishment sooner rather than later.”
“Punishment, what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Tony shouted back.
“Just what I said,” Gibbs lowered his volume this time as he took his seat again. “I’ve been going easy on you up until now, way too easy.”
“Easy!” Tony shouted again. “You call what you’ve done to me easy?”
“Yeah, DiNozzo, I do. If you had been in a slave training center or were still in the detention center you would’ve likely have been broken by now,” Gibbs stated matter-of-factly, his eyes narrowing. “You’ve been here over a week. I have broken slaves and had them ready for the auction block in less than two.”
“Maybe I’m just stronger than they are,” Tony replied quietly as he looked away.
“No, you’re not,” Gibbs answered soberly. “Believe me, I have broken some of the strongest, most radical terrorists out there and they haven’t lasted two weeks.”
Gibbs reached out wanting to place a comforting hand on Tony’s arm but thought better of it and grabbed his coffee cup instead, staring intently into it. “If I were training you the way I use to train my slaves you would already have been tied face down on a bed and fucked into the mattress by your trainer, me, and my two assistants.”
“What? You’re trying to telling me," Tony said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "that during the two-week training session a slave is raped only three times?”
“No, DiNozzo, the slaves that are difficult to train, that fight all their training sessions, can be easily put through the most intense training every one to two hours. That’s one of the reasons for three people. If you don’t give them a chance to recover you can break them faster.”
“You mean you would…oh God, I think I’m going to be sick.” Tony scrambled away from the table and ran to the sink, losing the lunch he had just eaten. A glass of water came into his line of sight with the word “Rinse”. Tony turned away from the sink and leaned against it, his head hanging down on his chest. He felt Gibbs’ hand on his shoulder giving a supportive squeeze.
“Go sit back down, I’ll take care of this.” Gibbs guided him towards the chair he had just vacated then turned and rinsed out the sink. When Gibbs came back to the table, Tony was sitting with his head in his hands, his breath coming in short pants. “Slow your breathing, DiNozzo, you’re going to hyperventilate.” Gibbs rubbed soothing circles on Tony’s back and saw his breathing slow. Sitting back in his chair, Gibbs waited until Tony felt comfortable enough to look up at him. Gibbs noticed how pale he looked and how his forehead had broken out with sweat. “You feeling any better?”
“I don’t think I’m ever going to feel better again,” Tony whispered.
“Do you understand now why I said I’ve been going easy on you?” Gibbs watched Tony slowly nod his head. “You told me earlier that I, of all people, should realize what torture I put people through, and I do. My first few training sessions were pure hell, but I finally realized that it was a necessary hell.” Gibbs drained the last of his now cold coffee, staring into the bottom of the empty cup. “Believe me when I say I know the hell you have already gone through, but that is nothing compared to what you still have to face. All I can say to you is to try to remember your sacrifice is for your country.”
“Oh, please.” Tony rolled his eyes again. “After what they’ve done to me, I don’t owe them jack shit!”
“Now wait just a minute, DiNozzo, the government did this to you, not your country.” Gibbs looked up from his cup into Tony’s very angry eyes. “What about all those innocent women and children that didn’t ask to be targeted by the terrorist? How would you have felt if we had lost our only link to that terrorist cell because of your investigation? That lead that took us to a woman and her child who were killed or about to be killed because one of those low lives strapped on a bomb and detonated it in a crowded store?”
“Don’t you dare put that shit on me!” Tony’s voice was low and menacing. “That wouldn’t be my fault.”
“Are you sure about that?” Gibbs asked, his eyebrow rising in question. “If your Captain had done what he had been told to do and had ordered you to stop investigating and, knowing you the way I do now, you had continued to investigate anyway and because of that we lost not only our link but some of the undercover agents? Would you not feel that you were at least partly at fault?”
Tony sat staring at his hands, unable to answer Gibbs’ question. Gibbs was right, it would be his fault, but how was he to have known if no one had told him about the cell? Tony shook his head and quietly whispered, “How could they have expected any detective worth his salt to just stop investigating a homicide just because his Captain told him to?”
“I know what the government did to you sucks and is totally wrong, but you have to understand that, as misguided as they were, they did do it to try to keep this country safe. So don’t blame the country for what your government did.”
Tony snorted a laugh and shook his head. “Well, forgive me if I’m not ready to jump on your patriotic bandwagon just yet.”
“I’m not asking you to jump on the bandwagon, DiNozzo,” Gibbs sighed. “What I am asking is for you to not make me turn into that bastard slave trainer I swore I would never be again. I’m enough of a bastard; you really don’t want to see that side of me.” Gibbs saw the corners of Tony’s mouth turn up in a quick smirk before returning to an impassive stare. “Fine, DiNozzo, then think about you. Make this as easy on yourself as you can, because I can promise you if you continue with this same behavior you’re going to force my hand. If that happens, the hell you think you have gone through up till now will pale in comparison with what’s to come.”
Gibbs waited for any response from Tony. When he got none he made a decision he knew would not bode well with his trainee. “Okay, DiNozzo, if this is the way you want it, you’ve got it.” Gibbs saw Tony stiffen just slightly. He was refusing to show any outward sign that he was worried. “As I told you before, you have got to get use to being touched and to touching someone in return. I want to give you a chance to do that, but only if you cooperate with me.”
Gibbs rose from the table and went to the kitchen to fill his coffee cup. Coming back to the table he saw Tony hadn’t moved an inch. “So, this is how it’s going to work over the next couple of weeks. You are going to start doing some assigned chores. You may end up with an owner who will want to use you as a domestic.”
“A maid, you’re telling me I could end up being a maid?” Tony’s voice rose in surprise.
“Maybe, or a personal assistant. Either way, you need to get use to having chores. We’ll share the cooking, but you will be responsible for cleaning the kitchen up after meals. It will also be your job to change the bedding.”
“You have got to be kidding,” Tony grumbled under his breath.
“During these two weeks you will accept your training without question. You will never know when, where, or how I will strike. I may come up behind you while you’re doing dishes and give you a hand job, or just show up in the shower like earlier and demand you give me one.” Gibbs took a sip of his coffee waiting for what he had said so far to sink in. “If you fight me or refuse to do as you’re told you will face punishment. Do you understand?” When Tony refused to answer, Gibbs reached over and smacked him in the back of the head. “I said do you understand?”
Tony yelped at the sudden pain of the smack and looked at Gibbs with trepidation. “What kind of punishment?”
“That will be determined by me and will depend on the severity of the infraction. It could be as simple as taking a paddle to your bare backside, to being whipped.”
“Y-You can’t do that,” Tony stuttered.
“Man, you still don’t get it do you, DiNozzo?” Gibbs was strictly business at this point. “I can do anything I decide is necessary to complete you’re training, absolutely anything.”
Gibb stood behind Tony’s chair, his hands on both of Tony’s shoulders. “So it’s totally up to you now. You can accept what is going to happen and relax.” Gibbs leaned forward, his hands sliding down Tony’s chest, his calloused thumbs rubbing over Tony’s nipples, causing them to immediately harden and for Tony to take in a sudden breath. “Maybe get some pleasure out of all this,” Gibb whispered seductively in Tony’s ear, then stood up straight and slid his hands back to grasp Tony's shoulders again. “Or you can continue with the attitude and continue to fight me every step of the way.” Using a technique he learned when he was in the Marines, Gibbs squeezed a nerve in Tony’s shoulders causing him to cry out in pain and try to pull away, but Gibbs held him in place. “And you will learn quickly that your actions can have very painful consequences.” Gibbs released the nerve pressure and, turning towards the bedrooms, gave one final statement. “It’s your choice, DiNozzo, and no one else’s.”
Long after Gibbs left the room Tony continued to sit at the table staring straight ahead, trying to wrap his mind around all he had heard. What did he do now? Should he give in, which went against everything in him, or continue to resist and face God knows what punishment, and likely a shitload of pain? Pain wasn’t a stranger to him. Hell, his childhood had been filled with pain, both physical and mental. Not to mention the number of injuries he had when he was a cop, but this was different. Could he handle being whipped or worse? Tony fought the bile that threaten to rise in is throat as he pictured what promised to be a very bleak future.
***NCIS***
Gibbs shut the door to his room and leaned against it, hanging his head. He listened for any sign of Tony coming down the hall, but not a sound could be heard on the other side of the door.
After what seemed like forever, Gibbs finally took a seat on the edge of his bed. He had some planning to do. He wanted to keep Tony on edge. Keep him guessing, keep him nervous. Not give him a chance to recover or calm down. By the time he was done, Tony would be jumping at his own shadow. If he can do that, it wouldn’t take long for Tony to break and then his training could advance.
Gibbs wasn’t ready to put Tony through any hard-core training sessions just yet. That would start in a couple of weeks if all went well. Maybe it was time to start using some of the corporal punishment tools he had stocked up on. Gibbs could almost bet his paycheck that before these two weeks were over the paddle would be used as well as some of the other items. He just hoped his lessons would make Tony finally realize that this was his life now, that he had no way out. If not, well, Gibbs just didn’t want to face that unless he absolutely had to.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs explains training and punishment