The song I listened to on repeat over and over again is Hey Brittany by the Sickest Kids… the other song I listened to is Whispers in the Dark by Skillet. Oh yeah, don't forget Cancer by MCR (my chemical romance), Grim Reaper by Keaton Simons and Chain by Back-on. Wait… I'm forgetting one… right! It's just for you Sam- Catapult! (yes, that is a song by Counting Crows, a band I don't really like, but I was listening to the other day…)

He was a 19 year-old assassin masquerading as a teacher. She was a lonely 16-year-old girl who has been running from her own life. They were a match made by heaven, but were more than willing to deny it with everything they had. He was there to kill; she was there just to graduate after running from home. She was repelled by his lack of knowledge; he was intrigued by her ready wit. He could quote any movie, while she had never set foot in a movie theater. She was his next target, but he decided to keep her around. He was there to discover her secrets, while she already knew his. They had nothing in common… right?

Even with all of their differences, their own souls were bound together by an invisible red-ribbon, an old folktale that said that two souls intertwined together would always find each other. Yet somehow, they chase each other across history, ending with a cruel twist as she was massacred before his eyes. She was King Henry's wife- Anne Boleyn, whose lover was hidden from public view. He watched, aghast as she was killed under false charges. She was Joan of Arc, he was her best friend, she was burned at stake as a Salem witch for the color of her eyes- a pale, icy blue at that time. Marie Antoinette, a maid, a model for painting, she was there, always, lurking in the past. Sometimes they hated each other, others they would pursue each other across the continents. Somehow, they were joined together and pulled apart.

Yes, they were the same, but they were different.

Yes, just like everyone, they have their own stories, filled with war, and death, and pain.

It was winter, the season where you race around like mad hares. You frolic and you run in the snow, hoping to avoid being caught by your guardians as you ran around freely.

She didn't want to go to school. It was always the same, find a place to stay, go to school, get beaten up, and then leave in the morning. She had run away from home three years ago, and was able to survive with just one bag and the friends she had built up over the years. She wouldn't ever go back, not to the ghouls that she had been forced into calling parents.

Yes, she was a good student. Yes, she dutifully never missed a day of school. And yes, she hated it, all of it, the lies, the pretending, and the apathy she had to show. She despised it all, the teachers, the students, the classes, but what she loved most was the learning.

Yes, she loved learning, but with her exotic looks and pretty, empty smile, she was thought to be a freak, someone who was dumb and unable to learn. With her main language being Hebrew, and her failure to understand English sayings and phrases, she was looked upon as a freak. The teachers didn't want to teach her- they were only there because they were being paid. And now, the only teacher who had made an effort to care about her was leaving because they were getting married.

Yes, life sucked. A lot.

But Ziva David was not a quitter, and she wouldn't let anyone think that she was.

She would circumcise them using a branding iron first.

The wonders of being the daughter of a murderer and a prostitute- she knew how to give pain to anyone who managed to piss her off that much. But that was rare, because then as soon as her face appeared on the news, her mother would be sent to chase after her and find where Ziva was.

Did she mention the fact that life really sucked?

Ziva sighed as she trotted through the pouring rain on her way to school. Her clothes were already soaked through, and she wasn't happy about it. She had hoped that she would be able to get a new umbrella before the rain came, but she just didn't seem to be able to afford it at the moment. With a groan, Ziva increased her speed to a sprint until someone knocked into her, sending her flying to the ground, straight into the puddle amassed by a gutter. The person that had knocked her over continued running, almost as though they were too rushed to realize they had knocked into her.

"Hey! Yeah you! The freak that just knocked into me!" she screamed at the top of the lungs. "The brown haired bastard up ahead with the freaky hair style! Freak! Dickhead! Loser! Wanna-be! YES YOU WITH THE UGLY DEISIGNER CLOTHES ON!" she increased her volume until he swung around, glaring at the foot above her head.

"What do you want?" he asked wearily, not wanting a confrontation this early in the morning.

"What do I want? You're the one who knocked me into the gutter!" she snarled. "The least you can do is give me an apology. The clothes that I had on are soaked even more then before! I swear, if you get me sick, I will kill you with a paperclip. I do not care why you hit me, but what the hell is with the lack of apology?"

"Sorry Shorty," he told her, watching her bristle at the reference to her scrawny body. "But since you're not my type- ow! What was that for?" he spat as she crushed down on his feet with her own foot.

"Don't call me short," she watched him open his mouth, then hit him hard in the stomach. "Listen, I do not care what you problem is, but you mess with me again, and I will beat you into the air."

"It's the ground, not the air. Hey, don't kick me!" he yelped as she kicked his kneecap angrily. "What the hell? Are you stupid or- ouch! Don't kick me midget!" Ziva paused for a moment, then hit him in the shoulder, sending him staggering back a few paced before she continued on her way.

"Girl… Midget, Shorty, scrawny… freak!" he continued following her, seeking to get her attention. He finally sighed and held his umbrella over her, watching her look up in surprise. "It's my fault you got wet- let me hold the umbrella over you until you get drier, okay?" he relented, berating himself for getting involved with the girl. It would detract from his mission.

There was a long silence as the two of them walked together. The man noted with surprise that the girl was only a few years younger than him. Her small size made him think she was just a junior high student, while it appeared as though she was older.

"If you try to rape me, I'm screaming at the top of my lungs until someone comes to help me. Hey, are you a criminal?" she asked him, attempting to be friendly.

"I'm not a child rapist," he rubbed his head with a sigh, wondering how he got into the mess. "And I'm not recognized as a criminal in this country."

"This country?" she noticed his slip, and her eyes widened, before she froze completely. "Your face is almost familiar…"

"I meant to say I'm not a criminal," his eyes didn't widen, his face was completely straight. His acting was flawless, but there was one problem. When he completed his assassination, she would instantly guess that he did it. He would need to dispose of her.

He looked at where her face should be, only to find her gone, the only sign that she was there was the vanishing sound of her footsteps as she fled. With an auditory groan, he rubbed his face again, realizing that he would have to track her down, or if he was lucky, she would just forget about him and not botch his mission.

If he didn't silence her soon, Tony Dinozzo was going to have hell to pay.

"Hello, my name is Tony Dinozzo and I'm your new history teacher. Nice to meet all of you!" a wide, goofy grin was spread across his face as the classroom of bored teenagers stared at him, some of the girls looking appraisingly as his taste in clothing and good looks.

Ziva glared at him, crossing her arms as he began to babble. She was certain that his grin was as fake as hers was, an instrument to get others to trust him. That technique wasn't going to work on her, no she was a David, and goofy grins and twits acting empty-headed wasn't enough to get her to open up.

"So yes, um, we are beginning the revolution. It began a long time ago… and well, there were many people that were killed in there. You see, well, it involved many people and several people died… yes, um… Jill of Ard… wait… Here! You, the dark-haired girl with a creepy stare! Tell me something about the Hundred Years War! Yes, I'm talking to the girl who looks like she's thinking of the best way to kill me with a paper clip!" Mr. Dinozzo blurted out quickly, narrowing his gaze at the Isreali who finally looked him in the eyes.

Time stopped. They both were aware of the other one's intake of breath as recognition clicked.

They were one and the same, born of similar material. And they had met each other only that morning.

Hard and cold to the core, indifferent to the people around them.

Slowly, deliberately, Ziva broke the staring contest and recited lazily, "Joan of Arc was burned at stake for being a brilliant general. She was bold and brave, and later was made a Saint by the Catholic church. She helped lead the army to victory but was captured and martyred."

"Yes, that's right, please open to page 392 of your textbook and read the chapter. I'll pass out the worksheet, the test will be two days from now. Any questions? No, good, I thought so," the papers were passed out, and just as Ziva was about to begin hers, the bell rang and Tony relaxed quickly, knowing he was finally going to be able to escape.

A hand pulled at Ziva's hoodie, stopping her from being able to leave. "Girl, what's your name?" he asked suddenly and Ziva froze, staring at him in surprise. None of the teachers bothered to ask her the name she went by- to them she was just another nuisance in the way of going home.

"Ziva David," she told him quietly, tugging out of his grasp. "Mr. Dinozzo-"

"Tony. It pains me to be called Dinozzo. It reminds me of my old boss," Tony gave her another easy grin, feeling the fakeness of it like a lantern.

"Whatever Tony. I cannot deal with an annoying teacher at this moment," she snapped, just wishing to get away from him.

"Oh come on Zee-vah!" he smirked as he followed her out the building.

"Leave me alone," Ziva snapped, heading out into the pouring rain as he jogged after her, still talking ceaselessly.

"Now why would I leave a pretty girl like you alone?" he protested, a smile on his face as he chased after her, his grin wide and disarming.

"Because I will kick your ass into next week if you don't," she muttered and his smile widened, becoming genuine. "And don't give me that smile- it is revolting."

"Sure Ziva," he smirked at her. "I'm sure I'm revolting too."

"But you are," she told him, and he stopped, shocked, at her seriousness. Not waiting for him, she continued on ahead, leaving the slow man behind in the streets.

What was she going to do? Then man had practically admitted that he was a criminal. It wasn't even his second day here, and already she was despising the new teacher with a passion she had formerly reserved for her father. Ziva grappled with the problem of the man known as Anthony Dinozzo, wondering what his goal here was. It was at times like this that she missed Tali the most. Tali, the sister who could look at a puzzle and arrange the interlocking pieces within moments. Ziva sighed, not knowing that somewhere else, the person she had just been thinking of was doing the same.

As soon as she left, Tony dropped his façade. The girl was a David. That meant no matter how much he liked her, how smart or intriguing she was, she had to die. He couldn't get close to her, because if her did, he would be risking the mission and the mission was the most important thing in the world. If he didn't kill her and that foul family of hers, the entire country could be at stake.

Yes, Ziva David had to die.

Edited (Sorta) 5/17/10

Pretty short, only five pages without author notes. Oh well…

I got the idea for this story when I was supposed to be studying for exams. Ask DarkestAngel11 I came to school on Monday (day before exams) and was just like "Guess what I did this weekend." And like any good straight A-student she says, "You finally studied?" I of course was just like, "Tch, I did. For a while. But that's not the point! What if Tony and Ziva were in a alternate universe where she ran away from her family and Tony was a assassin-slash-teacher-slash-part of a underground society designed to quietly eliminate dangerous people (like the Davids)

Her answer? "Girl, you're crazy." But she supported me anyway.

This story is on word and is about… umm… 20 pages without author notes so far. It's gunna be about 40 or 50 pages over all (unless I decide to stick the sequel in the same story) so about 20,000 or 30,000 words. Then again, I might go loco and make it 40,000. Only about halfway through with the typing, so I'll update the chapter every week. On Saturday, so you can have two chapters this week. Maybe. It depends where I am in the story.

I need a beta. Please volunteer and I will be your best friend :D

Anyway, I've rambled enough. Didn't like where I broke off on this chapter, so I might attempt to have the next one with a better ending. Tali is alive in this story. She's funny, crazy, hyper, and she loves movies. Yet for some reason, she can't stop screaming at Tony.

Dang. I gave away some spoilers. Oh well, please review and forgive me. Do you have any story title ideas?