Child's Play Chapter 1
A/N: I know. I'm an idiot for taking on so many stories at once. But a plot bunny here just kept popping into my head, and refused to leave until I wrote something. So here it is:) It's completely AU, and it goes back to when all of them are children. The story is set during their elementary school days. And YES, as you can see, it's gonna be a multi chapter one. IT'S NOT GOING TO BE LONG. Don't worry. I am going to make this one AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE. Haha. However short that may be-.-
Hope you enjoy the story:)
NCIS. #KIDS. #TIVA.
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The clearing behind the classroom block had been made into a playground for the children to play while they wait for their parents to pick them up after class. There was a swing set in one of the corners, accompanied by a few see saws and slides scattered around a big sand box in the centre of it. Currently, it looked like an old, abandoned place, but the moment the bell rung, the once lonely playground would be filled with the life and sound of children laughing.
A little girl with masses of chestnut curls framing her face, was the last one to leave the classroom. Her eyes wandered across the entire playground until she caught sight of the person she was looking for. He was seated with his group of friends, and had probably said something funny, because all of them started laughing. She envied him a little, for being able to keep up his smile and humor constantly. A small smile appeared on her face when he happened to turn and catch her eye for a moment. However, the moment passed as she quickly turned her back on them, and headed to the swing set to read her book.
She was so engrossed with the words on the page she was reading, that she did not notice that someone had walked up to her. She looked up in annoyance when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. "Yes?" She said, making no effort to disguise her irritance at the disturbance.
"Hi! You're Ziva, right? I'm Abby. You looked lonely, sitting here all by yourself, so do you wanna come over and play with us?" A younger looking girl with her jet black hair tied up into two ponytails asked as she pointed to the group in the distance. Her request seemed genuine, so she conceded.
"Awesome! I know you're in our class, so you should probably know everyone; but in case you don't, Tim is the one being chased by the other two. I call him Timmy!" She turned her head to watch as the little boy ran as fast as he could, hugging something tightly to his chest. She thought that he ran in a funny way, but the way he was so protective over whatever he was holding, was very cute.
"The guy over there who started teasing him is Tony. He's the sweetest guy and tells the best jokes ever! He always cheers me up when I'm sad." Abby said. She smiled a bit at that. She didn't need any introduction for him. On her first day, Tony had come up to her and said she looked like Salma Hayek. He then proceeded to try to steal her lunch while she stared at him, stunned. Needless to say, Tony ended up with a scraped knee and a bruised shoulder.
"The pretty girl laughing and running after him is Kate. She's the one who did my hair so nicely." Abby continued, smiling herself, at the way the older girl was happily racing with Tony to catch Tim. She thought that the girl was indeed pretty, but she couldn't help the slight disappointment she felt when she saw how close she and Tony were.
By the time they reached the group, Kate had pinned Tim to the floor while laughing, and Tim had surrendered his toy to Tony, who was looking at it with a disgusted expression.
"C'mon Tony, give it back!" Came his pleading voice.
"Wow. Kate, c'mere and see this! The toy has a sticker that says: 'I belong to Tim McGee'." Kate suddenly got off him, and hopped over to Tony to see the sticker. The two giggled while Abby went to help Tim up.
"It's an action figure! And it's really expensive. So, please give it back?" Tim asked. Kate paused for a moment, before taking it from Tony.
"Alright. That's only cause I know that your dad will kill you if you don't bring it back in one piece." Kate said, when she saw a car pulling up out front.
"Thank you, Kate. Bye guys!" Tim said gratefully, before sticking it quickly into his backpack and running off towards the car.
"Why did you not stick up for Tim just now?" Ziva asked, and she settled down beside Abby.
"Oh, once you've been friends with them for a while, you'll know that they're just teasing him." Abby smiled at her, and started to pack her things as she saw a familiar figure come towards them.
"I gotta go, my dad's here. Bye, my new friend!" Abby suddenly reached out and grabbed Ziva into a quick hug. Ziva froze for a moment. She wasn't used to human contact, and suddenly, this girl is hugging her like there's no tomorrow. Abby pulled away and ran to hug the other two, before going off.
Ziva resumed reading her book. She could hear the distant sounds of people saying goodbye, and she could feel the air growing colder as evening drew nearer. She was not surprised when her book was snatched away from her.
"What do you want, Tony?" She said angrily.
"You're so boring! Why aren't you enjoying yourself playing? Instead of reading all these books in... Mandarin?" He said while staring at her book curiously.
"It is in Hebrew, Tony, and give me back my book." She said as she turned to get her bag.
"Come get it, then!" He started running without giving her a warning. She didn't hesitate to run after him, knowing that he would run out of breath in a while, and she could catch him like last time.
Although her face was black, and her mouth set into a pout, Ziva secretly enjoyed their game. They ran around the playground and Ziva soon saw her oppurtunity and pushed him to the floor. He ended up on his back, with Ziva sitting on his back. She had pinned his arms and took her book back, but she didn't budge from her position.
"Hey Zi, you could totally become some hot cop when you grow up!" He coughed out. She seemed to recollect her thoughts and slowly stood up. Tony felt a sharp pain in his leg when he turned over, and winced. He guessed that the wound from last time had reopened.
"What happened?" She asked, noticing that he had yet to get up from his position.
"I think it's the wound from the last time you hit me. This is all your fault!" He said while clutching his knee.
"My fault? How can it be my fault? You were the one who challenged me." She answered him as she started walking away.
"Hey! You made me fall! You ought to help me since the school's about to close." He shouted at her receding figure. She stopped. Before he knew it, she had pulled him up and was dragging him towards the exit.
"Where are you taking me?" He suddenly asked, when he realised that they were heading in the opposite direction from his house.
"My place. It is nearer, and I have medical supplies. " She replied, unfazed by his whining about his knee because they were walking so fast.
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"Ziva! Why are you home so late?" Her father's voice rung out in Hebrew the moment she stepped into the house. "Hello Father." She greeted him in Hebrew, making Tony look at her curiously.
"I am late because of him." She replied in English when she reached him. She nodded her head towards Tony, who was sitting in the living room. He raised his eyebrow at her, while Ziva scurried off to find the first aid kit.
"Hello Mr David. I'm Tony Dinozzo. I'm in your daughter's class." Tony said, when an older man came to sit in front of him.
"Please, call me Eli. It is a pleasure to meet you. Ziva does not usually bring her friends home." His thick Israeli accent didn't surprise Tony. Eli was a big sized man, and his demeanour itself was enough to make Tony sit up just a bit straighter in his seat.
"Oh! I don't think I'm counted as her friend, per say. She just felt guilty for beating me up, and allowed me to use her first aid kit."
"She...hit you?" Eli did not seem surprised at the fact that his daughter hit a boy, but more likely became suspicious of him.
"Oh no, that was the first time. This was an accident. She just pushed me." He said, when Ziva finally returned, holding a white box. Eli took this as his cue to leave, and walked off towards the kitchen.
"Tony, roll up your pants." Ziva commanded, the moment they were alone.
"It's alright Ziva, I can do it myself, but thanks." He said, leaning down to pull the ends of his jeans up.
"Let me see how bad it is." She continued to kneel in front of his leg.
"Ziva, it's a matter of a man's pride. I want to do it myself." He said convincingly.
"Oh please, you are no further than Tim, when it comes to being a man." She retorted, but she did get up unwillingly and sat beside him on the couch.
"I'm hurt, Ziva. Really!" He said and put his hand over his chest. He cleaned his wound and placed the bandage over it while Ziva watched him.
"Hey Ziva, you weren't waiting for your parents to pick you up. So, why didn't you go home earlier?" He said softly, breaking the silence they had fallen into.
"Speak for yourself, Tony. You didn't go home either." She replied. He could have sworn that her face had turned a light shade of pink when she turned away from him.
"Oh, well, that's easy. I stayed behind so I could accompany Kate until her parents came to pick her up." Something about the way he said that sentence made Ziva snap inside. She got up abruptly, ending their conversation.
"It is getting late. Your parents do not know that you are here, yes?" She said snippily.
"Yep. I'll get going now. Thanks again." Tony knew that he had somehow upset her, and that he should leave while she hadn't killed him yet. Just as he was opening the door, he heard a shuffling of feet and suddenly, there was a little girl in front of him.
"WHOA! Hello, little ninja!" He smiled cheerfully at the girl who looked slightly younger than Ziva. She was the spitting image of Ziva, except that her features were more gentle than her sister's, and although he could see the same fiery streak, he knew that she was probably the baby of the family.
"That is not my name! My name is Tali David. Most people call me Tali, but sometimes my mother calls me 'young lady' when I get in trouble. I like you, so you can call me Tali!" She said as she slowly let him out. "You should come over more often! I think my sis likes you!"
That made Tony pause, and turn to look at the grinning child, who was staring at him with hopeful and mischievous eyes. Then, all of a sudden, she wasn't there anymore, and all he could hear was a muffled goodbye from upstairs.
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"I just wanted to meet him! You didn't have to be so mean!" The younger girl pouted when her older sister finally released her grip on her. Ziva had pulled her up the stairs and as far away from the window as possible.
"He is none of your business, Tali. I have nothing to do with him." Ziva replied stonily. She focused her attention on her sister, instead of on the fact that Tony had basically said that he liked Kate.
"Does that mean I can have a try at him?" Her sister asked cheekily. Before Tali had a chance to react, she was pushed down onto the floor with her arms pinned to the floor. Secretly, she was amused that her sister could actually get all fired up because of a boy; outwardly, she knew it was unwise to show her amusement.
Ziva found herself being picked up and forced to release her sister by her father. "No." She glared at her younger sister with finality.
"What's with all this yelling? Ziva, your friend has gone home?" Eli asked.
"Yes, Father." She replied.
"He's the one that Ziva always talks about!" When Tali said that, Ziva's eyes widened and she immediately clamped her hand over her mouth and turned her head away with embarrassment. Their father would not tolerate this, not when things were so unstable back home.
"Tali, go to your room." Said their father sternly.
The young girl realised what she had implied, and quickly mouthed "sorry" to her sister as she walked to her room. She felt like an idiot.
Eli led his older daughter to the living room where Tony had just been. He was curious on why she had been coming home later ever since they transferred her to a new school. Now, he knew.
"Tali says you like this boy, " Eli started.
"She was lying." Said Ziva, in a calm voice, betraying none of her emotions.
"I'm not asking, Ziva." He cut her off patiently. Something he had not done lately. It just occurred to him how little he actually knew his children.
Ever since their family communications started breaking down, relationships with between everyone became more strained. He therefore, in an attempt to salvage his family before things went too far, got his family to pack up and migrate to America. He thought the change of scenery would do them some good, and give them all time to think. Plus, he had ties in America, and he could also work from there.
When Ziva let out a sigh, he knew he had won this round.
"Tony also told me that you beat him up a few times." At that, she didn't know how to reply. She knew her words had to be chosen very carefully, because her father was being vague and she didn't know what he was fishing for. She nodded.
"You shouldn't be beating up guys in school." He asked the underlying question, and she knew she had walked into a trap.
She should have known, her father usually caught the people he questioned in a statement a long time before he actually asked the question. She figured that she should be prepared the next time this happened. The only thing she could do was tell the truth. Sadly.
"He never pays any attention to me. He always plays with Kate, so it was the only way I could get him to notice me." She said quietly. She was expecting a lecture on how she was too young to be jealous, or a punishment, but instead, all he did was pet her head and walk off.
Ziva sat by herself in silence, wondering what Tony was doing at the moment.
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OKAY. Truth is, that I originally intended for this to be a one shot, but I think I left it without finishing the story, so I may add on a few more chapters. So, what did you think? Should I write more? Any suggestions? Could you guys be so kind as to leave me with some reviews? Please don't be alarmed at how OOC this may be... I'm trying to stay true to the characters even as children:3
Okay I'm gonna write the next chapter now, and hopefully I can finish this mini multi chapter story soon:) thanks for reading!
~Lianna