Title: A Walk To Remember

Chapter: 4

Disclaimer: I do not own ANY of the original characters from the show, they belong to the writers of NCIS but i do however claim ownership of all other non-original characters from the show.

Author's note: Does anyone else think that it is plain old mean for the writers of NCIS to be leaving us to wonder what they're going to do next for the next three and a half months! I think it's very mean and am not sure how I am going to handle that long without NCIS, especially when they ended it that way! (I don't like it when I have to wait an extremely long three weeks for a new episode, which we had to do way too often this season, three months will be nearly unbearable!) Anyways… here is the next chapter! I hope you like it and thank you for all your reviews on the last chapter! :)


Ziva sighed as she walked into her last class of the day, Chemistry 12.

She immediately walked to her assigned seat and sat down, ignoring the many stares that were pointed her way.

She didn't bother returning to the halls to talk with friends, since she didn't have any, and simply stayed in her seat while waiting for the bell to ring.

Several other students entered the classroom, and a group of girls walked in right as the bell rang.

"Please." Mr. Gline, their teacher, began, "Take a seat so we can get started."

Ziva watched in slight amusement as several students grumbled angrily while heading towards their desks.

"Good." Mr. Gline continued once everyone was seated. "I'll hand back your tests from a few days ago and we'll look over it together."

Mr. Gline handed out their tests and Ziva was pleased to see that she had received perfect on it.

Looking around, it was not hard to observe that others hadn't done so well. Many of them had failed, and even more had just made it.

Eventually the grumbles died down and Mr. Gline took control of the room again. He began lecturing the students about their lack of effort when Megan Kyle, the head cheerleader who sat behind Ziva, leaned forwards to get a look at the Israeli's mark.

"100%!" She exclaimed, causing everyone to look their way. Once they realized what Megan was talking about, several sneered.

"Nerd!" One kid accused, and several more nicknames were used before Mr. Glines managed to calm the class.

It was only when the room was completely silent that Mark Prent, one of Tony's friends, spoke up.

"She only knows chemistry so well because she had to learn which chemicals to mix to get the biggest bomb."

The class exploded with laughter and Ziva sunk into her seat. She'd learned long ago that standing up for herself only made matters worse and gave the other students more joy in teasing her.

"MARK PRENT!" Mr. Glines shouted, his face red from anger. Everyone became silent and looked at the teacher with wide eyes—it was rare that the shy man ever displayed such anger.

"You're cruel remarks have just earned you a lunchtime detention with me tomorrow!" When Mark opened his mouth to protest, Mr. Glines shot him a warning look.

Mark glared at Ziva and mumbled something about it being all 'the terrorist's' fault before returning his gaze to Mr. Glines and nodding.

~~~NCIS~~~

Ziva was thankful when the final bell rang, dismissing all the students from class. Mark, along with several other students kept sending her glares the whole class.

She left the classroom and quickly packed her bag. It was only when she was outside that she remembered she had to tutor Tony at his house today.

Without fully thinking her actions through, Ziva walked back into the school in search of Tony. She didn't have to look far before finding him.

Tony was leaning against his locker, flirting with the cheerleaders who were flocked around him and his friends. The only cheerleader that Tony seemed to be uncomfortable around was Brittany.

Ziva had to smirk at this because Brittany definitely didn't look uncomfortable around Tony. She was not very subtle in her attempts to get next to him and was currently clinging to the popular jock's arm—much to the dismay of the other girls and Tony himself.

Ziva rolled her eyes at how desperate all the cheerleaders looked. Although she wasn't the most popular kid in school, even shehad more pride than that.

She walked over to the group of students, not catching the look of disgust that crossed the girls' faces—or the look of panic on Tony's.

"Shalom." She greeted, then rolled her eyes when no one responded. Turning to Tony, Ziva questioned, "What time do you want me to come over?"

Everyone turned with wide eyes to look at Tony, and it was Brittany who first spoke.

"You invited 'the terrorist' over to your house?!" She demanded, the anger, hurt, jealousy and shock all evident in her voice.

Tony's eyes grew even wider. He looked around at each of the people surrounding him—everyone but Ziva—and a confident smirk returned to his face.

He rolled his eyes and raised his eyebrows at Ziva before commenting. "There's no way that freak is coming to my house. Last time I checked… I didn't have a death wish."

Tony's friends chuckled and Brittany, along with the other cheerleaders, broke into a loud laughter as Ziva slunk away quietly, pain seeping through all of her veins.

Tony immediately felt regret when he watched her shoulders slump, but knew it was too late now. She'll forgive me… He assured himself, Everyone always does…

"Nice one man." Josh grinned and smacked Tony playfully on the shoulder before chuckling again, "Real nice one."

Tony managed to produce a fake grin, but he couldn't get over the look on Ziva's face when he turned on her.

"Hey." He spoke up and everyone quieted down, "I've got to run. Sorry that I can't make it to the party tonight, but I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Tony slid his over-filled backpack over his shoulder and left, barely acknowledging everyone's goodbyes.

As soon as he was outside, Tony headed towards his car and threw his bag to the passenger's seat before getting in the drivers' seat.

He started the engine and pulled out of the school parking lot. Tony began driving home, then, when he was sure no one could see him, turned and headed towards Ziva's house.

He was driving down her street just as she turned the corner. Tony slowed his car down and pulled up beside her, "Hey Ziva."

When Ziva refused to acknowledge him, Tony sighed and stopped the car. Her house was only a few houses over and if she went inside, he'd never be able to get her back out. Knowing this, Tony sighed quickly got out of the car and ran to catch up with Ziva.

"Wait up!"

Ziva continued to ignore him, and when Tony stepped in front of her to block her path she simply stepped around him.

"Ziva…" Tony began and finally Ziva lost it.

She turned around to face him and didn't bother to hide the fury in her eyes. "WHAT TONY!"

Tony's mouth dropped open and he couldn't help but take a small step back—the hundreds of times of hearing her be referred to as 'the terrorist' popping into his mind.

A look of pain flashed across Ziva's face and Tony mentally cursed himself. It wasn't like she was an actual terrorist. She'd been helping him raise his grades so he wouldn't be kicked off the football team and lose his chance at a football scholarship, yet he turned on her in order to 'save face.'

"Look Zi—" Tony began but Ziva began walking away from him.

"I need your help!" He called out, and Ziva simply shouted over her shoulder.

"Get someone else to help you…" She paused a moment before adding, "Someone who you don't need a death wish to spend time with."

Tony closed his eyes, I deserved that.

"I thought you didn't give up that easily!" Tony shouted after Ziva, recalling her words from the day before. "I guess you lied because you're just like everyone else. You just run away from your problems instead of fighting like your life depended on it!"

Much to his surprise, Ziva stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around slowly and retraced her steps.

Ziva then stood right in front of Tony and determination was clear in her eyes as she stated, "I do not run away from my problems. I fight my own demons and never give up."

Before Tony could say anything Ziva took a step back, "I will help you. But you must neveraccuse me of running away from my problems because believe me, I fight them everyday."

Tony furrowed his brow in confusion, not sure why Ziva had suddenly become so defensive.

"I…" He swallowed before starting again, "I promise."

"Good." Ziva answered as she regained her composure.

Without another word, she walked over to Tony's car and sat in the passenger's seat before looking up at him expectantly, "Now we study, yes?"

Tony smiled before getting into the drivers' seat and taking off.

~~~NCIS~~~

An hour and a half later, Tony looked up from his textbook and simply watched Ziva, who was sitting in the chair across from his in his dining room table.

Ever since Ziva had mentioned the 'demons' she had to face everyday, Tony was curious to find out what they were. He refrained from asking, however, because the determined, yet scared look on her face as she said the words told Tony she didn't want to talk about it.

Tony continued to stare at Ziva, and wondered why he'd never realized how beautiful she was. Her long, thick, black hair was flowing freely down her back. No matter how badly the kids at school were scared of her, even they couldn't deny that she was hot.

Ziva felt Tony's eyes on her and looked up, smiling slightly when his eyes met hers.

"Something wrong?" She asked and Tony shook his head, then changed his mind and nodded.

"Math, or history?" Ziva questioned and Tony shook his head.

"Neither." Ziva looked at Tony in confusion, "But I thought you said you only had math and history homework tonight."

"I do." Tony agreed, "But that's not the problem."

When Ziva looked at him questioningly, Tony continued. "What happened at school was messed up. I was being a jerk and it was especially cruel after you were only trying to help me. I'm sor—"

"Do not apologize." Ziva cut him off and Tony looked surprised so she explained, "My father has always says that apologizing is a sign of weakness."

Tony smirked, "You ever tell him it takes strength to apologize?"

Ziva pursed her lips together as she bit back laughter. I would love to see the look on his face after saying that.

"No." Ziva answered honestly and Tony grinned.

He opened his mouth to say something when he remembered what this conversation was about. The smile left his face as he turned solemn.

"Seriously though, I was wrong. It was nothing short of cruel to say that. And even if I sound weak for saying this… I'm sorry."

Ziva was caught off guard by Tony's uncharacteristic seriousness so she shrugged it off, "You are not the only one who believes I am a terrorist."

Tony looked at Ziva in amazement before stating honestly, "I don't think you're a terrorist." He paused before adding, "And since I'm apologizing, I may as well get everything cleared up now. I'm sorry for saying you run away from your battles. You take a lot of crap from the kids at school—more than you deserve and you're one of the strongest, most determined people I know."

Tony flashed her one of his infamous grins before continuing, "After all, you're the only one who hasn't given up on me."


Okay… So I know that the end of this chapter is sort of out of character, but I thought it was really sweet. :) I hope that you liked this chapter (I forget who it was but someone asked for longer chapters so here is one.) For those who haven't watched the movie (or read the book) I am giving you a lot of hints as to what happens, but I don't know if you've figured it out yet. (If you don't get it know, read over a few chapters once you find out the twist and you'll be kicking yourself for not realizing sooner.)

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review!