After Tim moved in with Gibbs, he was allowed to finish out the school year in his old school, which was in another town. He was in fifth grade, despite being only nine, because he was so smart. So when summer came, Gibbs began the process of enrolling him the middle school for the coming year.

Starting middle school was terrifying. At least nobody knew about his parents here, so it was a chance for a fresh start. Not that it would help much. He was never good with other kids. Living with his new siblings over the summer had helped that some, but he still knew that he would make few, if any friends.

He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that Tony was starting middle school at the same time or that they would be in the same grade. He knew Tony would hang out with the jocks and probably ignore him. He was okay with that. He saw enough of Tony at home. He also knew that Tony knew some pretty embarrassing stuff about him, but as much as his older brother teased him, he knew that Tony would never go so low as to tell anyone anything really bad.

He could barely sleep on the night before the first day. He got up and got dressed at 5 am. Tony couldn't sleep either and they sat next to each other at the kitchen table. Gibbs merely raised one eyebrow when he came down at 5:30 make coffee.

Gibbs drove them to school at eight o'clock. They both hopped out of the back of the truck. Gibbs said to Tony, "Take care of your brother, Okay?"

Tony nodded, "Sure thing Dad," and held Tim's hand as they made their way toward the school. Satisfied, Gibbs drove away.

Tony held Tim's hand as they made their way toward the school, until he saw some of his friends, who had gone to elementary school with him, up ahead. He turned to Tim and said, "You make sure you keep following me, Okay?" When Tim nodded his assent, Tony turned around and made his way over without a backward glance. Tim scrambled after him.

All the kids made their way through the front doors of the school. There was a large sign hanging right in front of them saying, "6th grade orientation" with a large arrow pointing to the right. Tony and his friends joined the throng of students making their way to the right. Tim ducked and weaved, trying to keep Tony in sight. He somehow managed and they made it to the auditorium.

Tim took a seat a few rows behind Tony and waited, along with the entire 6th grade. Soon, the lights dimmed and the principle got up on stage and said, "Welcome, incoming 6th graders." Any chatter that had been going on ceased instantly. The principal went on to give his speech about the fundamental differences between middle school and elementary school and how this was a new start for them and how he wouldn't tolerate any misbehavior.

Tim listened attentively. He also tried to keep an eye on Tony, who seemed to be looking away boredly just as the rest of his friends were. Tim could tell he was paying attention, so why pretend to be bored?

Finally, the principal was done with his speech and the 6th grade administrator came out and said, "Now, you will all be placed in different homerooms. Each homeroom teacher will come forward and call out the name of his or her students. Afterwards, all the students in that homeroom will leave the auditorium together. Are we clear?"

There was a murmur of agreement. She nodded, "First up, Mr. Nardone." The first teacher came up and read his class list. Neither Tim nor Tony were on it. She then said, "Next up, Mr. Bar." Another teacher came up and read his class list. Neither Tim nor Tony were on it. This went on for some time until Ms. Hall, called, "Rachel Fitzsimmons, Anthony Gibbs, Timothy Gibbs, Joan Harrison…"

Both Tim and Tony stood up when she finished calling out her class, along with about 20 other students. They made their way to where Ms. Hall was waiting and then followed her to her classroom. Tony didn't acknowledge Tim the whole time.

When they got to the classroom, they all sat down at the desks. Tim automatically took the desk front and center. He was always a teacher's pet. Tony took the desk directly behind him, right at the front of his group of friends, and leaned back in his chair to talk to them.

Ms. Hall stepped in front of the class. She waited for everyone to calm down before saying, "Welcome. As you know, my name is Ms. Hall and I will be your English teacher as well as your homeroom teacher this year. To get to know you better, why don't we go around the room and say your full names, what you want people to call you and one thing you're looking forward to in sixth grade."

They began. When Tim's turn came he stood up and said, "My name is Timothy Gibbs, and you can call me Tim. I'm looking forward to our classes this year, especially math." He sat down.

Some of the kids snickered. Tony felt anger surge through him, though he couldn't explain it. He had laughed at Tim for saying something similar just a few days ago. He breathed out slowly. He didn't say anything, but he didn't laugh either.

Tony's turn came and he stood up and said, "My name is Anthony Gibbs, but you can call me Tony. I'm looking forward to playing football for the middle school." He sat down. Tim rolled his eyes. He had known Tony was going to say that.

When they finished going around, Ms. Hall said, "Alright everybody, now that we've gotten to know each other a little, I'm going to hand out your schedules. You each have the same teachers for your four main classes, which means me for English, Ms. Taylor for Science, Mr. Bar for History and Mr. Harris for Math. You have them different periods of course, so you might have people in some of your classes but not others. You'll notice that you also Gym, Art and a language in your schedules. You may or may not have the same teachers. Once I hand out everyone's schedules, we'll go on a tour of the school."

Ms. Hall finished handing out the schedules. They whole class stood up and they made their way out into the hall. She led them all around the school, pointing out all their classrooms, the bathrooms, the cafeteria and the main office. Tim was pretty much silent the whole time, though Tony laughed and whispered with his friends.

When they got back to the classroom and sat down, said, "We spent quite a while in here, so just for today, your main classes will each be five minutes shorter." She glanced up at the clock, "I'll dismiss you for period one in five minutes, but are there any questions?"

Tony raised his hand. She smiled, "Yes?"

Tony asked, "How come I'm in all the same classes as my brother?"

frowned and came over to inspect their schedules. Math period one, History period two, English period three, Science period four. For the first four classes, they were exactly the same. She said, "Well that's odd. It could just be a coincidence, or a computer glitch of some sort."

"It's not just a coincidence. But what do we do about it?" said Tony.

She sighed, "Just go to class together, and if there are any problems, we'll sort them out later."

Tony said, "Sounds good."

Ms. Hall glanced at the clock, "Okay, you can go to your period one class now."

The students all rushed out of the classroom. Tony didn't acknowledge Tim and breezed strait passed him. Tim frowned, but followed Tony to Math.

Their first three classes passed uneventfully. Tony had friends in every class. Tim didn't. They didn't speak to each other all in Math. In History, they got assigned partners by cards and Tim noticed that Tony switched his card when the teacher wasn't looking so that they could be partners. Tony didn't really talk to him or anything, and Tim wondered why he'd done it. In English there wasn't much time to talk as the teacher assigned seats and Tim and Tony were on opposite sides of the room and they got to work right away.

After the three classes they had lunch. That's when the trouble started. Tim was standing in the cafeteria. He was the type of kid who always seemed to be a magnet for getting picked on, and today was no exception. Some random kids started teasing Tim, calling him a geek and a baby and a nerd. Tim was on the verge of tears when Tony and some of his friends walked by. Tony saw what was happening and couldn't do nothing, so he said, "Why the hell would you even waste your time picking on a kid like him."

If it were anyone but Tim, he might have said, "Loser kid like him," or "Dumb kid like him," but he didn't want to describe his own brother like that, at least not when there were other people around. Tim was on the verge of a break down anyway though and Tony's words were the straw that broke the camel's back. He ran off toward the bathroom, trying to hide his tears.

Tony's friends moved to find a table and he went with them, but as soon as they were sitting, he casually excused himself to go to the bathroom and followed Tim. When he entered the room, he didn't see any one, but heard muffled sobbing from the last stall. He knocked on the door and said, "Tim?"

"Go away, Tony!" came the response. Sighing and making sure there was nobody around, Tony got down on his hands and knees and crawled under the stall door.

Tim had been sitting against the wall, crying, his head in his arms. When Tony slipped under the door, he looked up at him with red tear stained eyes. Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Tim asked, "What did you mean, 'a kid like him,'?"

Tony bit his lip, "I did mean it like that. I was trying to get them to stop picking on you."

Tim frowned, "Why?"

Tony rolled his eyes, "Because you're my little brother."

Tim cocked his head, "You didn't stand up to them."

Tony looked down embarrassedly, "I figured I'd try diplomacy first."

Tim sighed, "Now that I've been crying, they'll just pick on me even more."

Tony shook his head and held out his hand to Tim, "No, they won't."

Tim accepted his hand, "How can you be so sure?"

Tony grinned as he pulled his brother up, "They try, and I won't let 'em."

Tim smiled slightly. They exited the stall hand in hand. Tony turned to Tim and said, "It'll be harder for them to tell you've been crying if you wash your face off with cold water." And with that he left the bathroom and went back to the table with his friends. Tim did as Tony suggested and his eyes did look less red. He left the bathroom a few minutes later and went back to the table where he was sitting.

The lunch bell rang and they went to Science. Tony ended up sitting behind Tim. They didn't speak for the whole class, but Tim turned around a few times and caught Tony's eyes.

After that they went their separate ways, Tim to Spanish and Tony to Gym. Tony had Art last and burst out into the sunshine with a few of his friends once the bell rang. They laughed and talked, hanging out in front of the school, until Tony noticed Tim slipping out of the building, his head bent low. He could tell something was wrong by his posture, so he told his friends that he should get home and made his way over to Tim.

He put his arm around Tim's shoulder and they started out in the direction of home. Tim didn't even look up at his touch. Finally Tony asked, "What's wrong?"

Tim shrugged, "Nothing."

Tony said, "You'd lie to your own brother?"

"I'm not lying," Tim protested.

Tony sighed, "So nothing's wrong."

Tim kept looking down as he murmured, "Exactly."

Tony asked, "Then why are you sulking?"

"I'm not sulking," Tim whined.

Tony ran his fingers through his hair, "Let's try this again. What's wrong?"

Tim sighed, Tony could be quit persistent. He shrugged, "Just some guys in Gym."

Tony's arm tightened ever so slightly around Tim's shoulders, "What did they do?"

Tim bit his lip, "they just…nothing."

"They just what?" Tony prompted.

Tim leaned his head into Tony's chest slightly, "They just said I was a wimp."

Tony began, "You are not…"

Tim cut him off, "You and Stan kept saying I was."

Tony sighed, "And you proved us wrong."

Tim bit his lip, remembering the day he climbed over the fence to retrieve the lost ball, and said, "I guess so, but…"

Tony cut him off, "No buts. You're not a wimp."

"Okay." Tim paused, then said, "So what should I do?"

`Tony rolled his eyes, "Prove it to them."

Tim nodded, "I will."

They had made it home at this point and Tim and Tony walked in the front door. Nobody else was home yet, and Tony dumped his bag over by the wall and flopped down on the couch. Tim mean while carried his bag all the way to the dining room table and started unpacking it. Tony frowned, "What are you doing?"

Tim looked at him, "We have that pre-test to fill out for Math."

Tony groaned, "And you wonder why people think you're a wimp?"

Tim just rolled his eyes and got to work.