Tony was dying to know what Ziva was teaching; she hadn't let one clue slip. Nevertheless, she was dreading it. She didn't list dealing with kids among her talents. Gibbs knew that as much as anyone else, and Ziva wasn't known at NCIS for her good nature but as a Mossad Liaison Officer.
"Why me? I'm not good with children! McGee or Tony… no not Tony. McGee would be a lot better at this. He's good with children. Abby, why me?" Ziva had grumbled to Abby all weekend and she was glad Ziva wasn't at her house anymore.
Ziva was driving down to Patrick Bosco High to start her first day as a teacher. Tony hadn't stopped bugging her since she found out that she was to be a substitute teacher.
As soon as she placed the earpiece securely inside her ear so it wasn't seen, Tony's voice came through.
"Hey Zee-vah, you going to tell me what subject you're taking yet?" Tony asked.
"No."
"Come on, I'm going to find out soon enough anyway."
"A bit of suspense never did anyone any harm did it?"
"Let's see there was, umm…"
"I'm not going to tell you, Tony, so stop trying."
"We can cross out English." Tony said under his breath.
"What was that?!"
"Nothing." He replied quickly and was relieved that Ziva wasn't with him.
"I am going to kill you, Tony," she said, deathly serious.
"We both know you wouldn't do that," he joked. Then, "Would you?"
"Yes."
Ziva pulled the glasses Gibbs had given her- a pair that had a little camera inside them- out of her handbag and put them on.
*
"Now, Miss. David, the kids have been doing stencils and now have to cut them out. So are you OK with knives? We can always change what they're doing if you're not."
"No, no it's fine. I'm good with knives." Ziva said cheerily. "It's the students." She added under her breath.
*
"This is going to be so fun. Ziva, knives and kids!"
"I'm warning you, Tony…,"Said Ziva.
"DiNozzo," Gibbs said sternly.
"Sorry, Boss." Tony said hurriedly. "Don't kill any kids Zee-vah." He said under his breath.
*
"I hate this job." Ziva mumbled while she kicked the desk.
Just then the bell rang for the first period and the students started coming in mumbling about how much they hated art but instantly cheered up when the saw Ziva standing at the desk.
"Good morning. I am Miss… Stavi. Um… where are the stencils you were working on last time you were in…art?"
"Zee-vah they probably won't tell you where they are. You saw how they were moaning when they came in." Tony whispered in her ear.
"What should I do then Tony?!" She whispered under her breath.
"How am I supposed to know. The best guess I have is for you to look on the desk for a note from their other teacher."
"Um… Miss. Stavi?" A small voice rose above the other babble of voices.
"Yes…?" Ziva asked looking down her list of names.
"Claire. The stencils are in the box marked stencils." The moaning started up again, mainly directed at Claire.
Claire. Wasn't that one of Mrs. Jones's – the one who was murdered – children.
"Right. Thankyou Claire." Ziva replied, embarrassed.
Ziva heard Tony chuckling through the earpiece.
"Shut it, Tony!" Another annoyed whisper. "I'm sure nobody will really miss you."
"Sure, Zee-vah." Tony laughed again. "How would you explain my death after this threat?"
"DiNozzo."
"Sorry Boss."
"Keep watch on Claire throughout the whole day."
"Yes Boss." Tony grumbled.
Ziva turned back to the class and walked over to the box. She grabbed the stencils roughly out of the box and handed them to Claire to hand out.
*
Tony was shuffling down the corridor when the bell rang for lunch. Suddenly he was swarmed by kids all rushing towards the lunch hall.
"Damn kids!" Tony muttered under his breath.
He started looking around trying to spot Claire in the crowd. When he saw her head bobbing against the flow of the crowd he rushed to try and get as close as he could to her.
"Tony? Where are you?" Ziva's sudden voice startled him.
"Um… headed for the playground. I think."
God, I've got to find a map. Ziva's going to kill me if I give her another vague idea of where I'm headed.
"Ok. I'll meet you there."
WOW! That was…. Calm, minus a little sigh.
*
God, couldn't Tony atleast know where he was!
"Miss. Stavi?"
Ziva continued walking down the corridor to where Tony thought he was headed.
"Miss. Stavi?" The little voice asked again, more annoyed this time.
Why didn't the Miss. Stavi an…. Ziva's thoughts trailed off as she remembered the name she thought up on the spot. Great!
"Yes? Sorry." Ziva turned round to talk to the girl who had been calling her, only to see Tony first.
She looked down to see Claire looking at her as if she had lost her mind. Ziva quickly composed her face while she cursed Tony mentally for not knowing exactly where he was and not telling her that he was right there.
"Miss. Stavi, why are you having me followed?"
What? Great! Could this get any worse? The answer was yes. Claire was onto them.
"I am not having you followed." Ziva said seriously.
"Well who is. Tell me! You turn up, and this guy starts following me around. Can you explain that? Hm…. I'm waiting."
"Claire can we talk about this later, please."
*
Oh my God! Ziva said please! She never said please. What was the girl saying? He couldn't hear and he wasn't an expert at lip reading.
*
"Why?" Claire asked suspiciously.
God can the girl not see I can not tell her just now! With all these children walking around, even now some of them turned to eavesdrop. Ziva thought.
"Fine."
Claire turned around and headed back the way she had come. Then stopped when she sensed that Ziva wasn't following.
"Well are you going to talk to me or not? I know somewhere we can talk in private, and bring that friend of yours as well."
Ziva didn't move.
"Come on…. Or I could tell the school you're a pedo."
"Um… a what?"
"Doesn't matter, let's just say you won't be working here anymore."
What ever a pedo was, being kick out of the school was not an option.
"Tony, follow me, NOW." Ziva whispered.
*
Ok. I thought I wasn't meant to be seen following her. Unless…. God Gibbs was going to kill him now. He had really stuffed up this time.
Reluctantly Tony followed Ziva to an empty room, where Claire turned round glaring at him.
*
"Ok Claire, what do you want to know?" Ziva asked.
Tony looked at her with surprise.
"Who are you? Really. Why are you here? And why are you following me?"
"I am Ziva and this is Tony, we are from NCIS, Naval….."
"I know what NCIS is."
"Ok, your mum probably told you."
"Wait; are you here because of my mum?"
"Well, yes. Why? Don't you know she was murdered?"
"WHAT!?" Claire gasped. "My mum was murdered!"
God, she had to know, someone told Mrs. Jones's boyfriend that she was murdered and that we were looking into it. She should have known that we would be around, looking for leads.
"Claire, did Chris not tell you?"
"No…. he…. said that…. mum…. ran away." Claire dropped to the floor and sobbed.
Ziva stood there awkwardly for a moment.
What would Abby do? What would Abby do?
She dropped down to the ground and wrapped her hands around Claire. Tony just stood there rocking from foot to foot.
"Claire, where would your brother be?"
"Who?... Harry? He would… probably be with… his mates, down on the golf course." Claire tried to say through her sobs.
Tony rushed out the door to find Harry.
"It is alright Claire. We WILL find who did it."
"It's not… so much that…. Mum is dead…. It's just that she and…. Chris didn't really…. get along…."
"Wait, did you just say that Chris and your mum did not get along."
"Huh-uh."
"Tony! Gibbs! I think we have a lead!" Ziva said hurriedly. "Claire, can you please come to NCIS with me?"
"Are we going to go back Ziva?" Tony asked.
"Yes, bring Harry."