"I appreciate you taking the time off Mr. Gibbs" Uncle Steve greeted them formally the next morning. Tony could barely refrain from raising an eyebrow at the greeting since the two were as close as brothers, hell even Grandpa Franks called them brothers.
"No problem Mr. Hayes. Thank you for calling me." As soon as the door was closed all formality was gone with the wind. "So, are you done thinking now?"
"Honestly Leroy, there isn't much more I can do than what I told you yesterday."
"You are the damn Principal!"
"Come on Leroy, not in front of Tony for God's sake! The last thing the kid needs is to hear us fight." His Dad calmed down a bit at that.
"Is there something you can do?" Gibbs asked now a lot calmer with the worry clearly showing through.
"Yes. As I was about to say before your little rant…" Steve said and gave Gibbs a meaningful look causing Tony to chuckle a bit. "First things first, I'll take over detention for the week."
"How do you plan on doing that without too many questions?"
"I just want to keep an eye on our two Tony's since they can't seem to stay out of trouble."
"Okay…something more?"
"I'm going to start dropping in at various times of Tony's classes to see the dynamics first hand."
"How are you going to do that?"
"I want to check the dynamics of the classes, make sure that I have a good idea of how things are going outside this room."
"You do have a brain at times."
"Well thanks Leroy."
"Do you have something more?"
"No, but I do need your son's math paper."
"I can grab it for you, it only takes a second." Tony chipped in.
"No!" His Dad and Uncle said at the same time before sharing a look.
"Why not?! It's literally three steps from the door."
"Because we don't want you running into Tony Rizzo again alone, okay buddy? You need to try to give him the cold shoulder. If he approaches you walk away, or even better, find an excuse to find me or one of the teachers who won't let themselves be manipulated by the other Tony."
"You make that sound easy." Tony said a bit accusingly.
"We only have your best interest at heart son, you know that." His Uncle said calmly. "So, let's fetch that paper."
Said and done. Twenty seconds later they stood outside Tony's locker and Tony took a deep breath before opening the door. He had a bad feeling about this for some reason. As soon as he opened the door a paper fell down onto the ground. He took a quick look at his Dad and Uncle making sure they hadn't seen and choose to ignore it, having a sinking feeling how it had gotten there. Quickly grabbing the worksheet, he gave it to his uncle and slammed the locker door shut.
"Here." His uncle nodded and quickly compared the two worksheets. Nodding once more he passed back Tony's.
"You are in the clear Anthony, just make sure there are no more misunderstandings, do you hear me?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. Mr. Gibbs."
"Mr. Hayes." Once both were out of sight Tony bent down and retrieved the paper: "You are going to regret it if you told anybody who did it."
-The Other Tony-
"Good morning, class. Ms. Duncan." The voice was calm but held a hint of authority in it and Tony grimaced slightly. His Uncle had found a way to actually set his plan in motion this early, something Tony hadn't counted on. Even though he wasn't too fond of the situation he, just as everybody else stood up to show his respect and greet his Principal. Turning around to face his Uncle who walked towards the front of the room, Tony met his eyes briefly. The look they shared was brief and as impersonal as it could get with his Uncle, which wasn't very impersonal, but Tony still felt a sting of pain. No matter how many years his Uncle had been his Principal, Tony could never quite get rid of the hurt he felt over the more impersonal tone and less familiarity in his Uncle's eyes during school hours. At least as long as they were around other people. As soon as they were alone his Uncle came down twice as hard on him, taking on the role as uncle and principal at the same time. Tony could still remember the first week with his Uncle as Principal.
Flashback
Tony had stared angrily at his Uncle during the whole presentation in the auditorium. His Dad and Uncle had broken the news a week ago and Tony hadn't minded it at the time, now that he had listened to his Uncle for the past half an hour though…he did. He had suddenly realized that his Uncle's rules were quite a bit stricter than the last Principal's and that meant Tony wouldn't get away with any of his usual pranks or a hint of teenage attitude here and there. And that was all his Uncle's fault.
"Tony!" Luke whispered beside him. "Who are you glaring at?"
"No one Luke. No one." As he said those words he decided to not let his Uncle get in his way, as a matter of fact the first prank was gonna have his Uncle's name on it. He already had the perfect prank in mind, he just needed Luke's help with a few things. As soon as the day was over Tony drew Luke aside and explained his plan to prank someone.
"Who?"
"Not here. Why don't you follow me home and I'll explain everything…"
"Okay, I'll call my parents."
End flashback
"I'm here to check first-hand how things are going." His Uncle said once the whole class including the other Tony had greeted him. The other Tony was surprisingly standing along with the rest of the class and Tony couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that until he felt his Uncle's eyes land on him and blushing looked down. "And since it seems that you are in the middle of a important lesson, I'll just sit here a while and observe." Tony was on edge during the whole class. He was seated next to the other Tony as usual and even though his Uncle was supposed to observe the other Tony, he felt his Uncle's eyes on him more than once. It stressed him out so much that he refused to answer any questions even though he knew the answer. Once the bell rang he was the first one out the door, heading straight for his locker.
"Hey Tony!"
"Hey Luke, so when do you plan on catching up with the rest of us in math?" Tony asked teasingly, instantly in a better mood. Luke had been absent the two last days so it was a happy surprise to see him in school. Tony knew he could really use that friend right now. The others had started hanging around the other Tony more and more. A few looks and whispers was all the attention Tony got from them now. It angered him and hurt him at the same time, how could his friends turn on him just like that?!
"You know math isn't my strongest suit." Luke grimaced.
"Yeah, well, it was worth asking." Luke snorted at that and suddenly eyed him weirdly.
"What's up Tony? Are you okay? You seem a little too relieved at seeing me.."
"It's nothing Luke."
"You can't lie to me Tony, I've known you too long."
"It's stupid Luke, just let it go."
"When have you ever known me to let things go?"
"I'm begging you Luke, don't get mixed into this."
"Drugs?" Luke whispered.
"No! Never! What the…Luke never!"
"I had to ask."
"You shouldn't have to."
"It's not like that, come on Tony, you just made it sound so bad that I had to start with the worst. So if it isn't that then what is it?" Tony could suddenly see his Uncle staring at him from the end of the hallway.
"Not here."
"Okay, then. Your place, after school."
"I can't. I'm grounded."
"You what? I'm on mini vacation with my family for 5 days and you are suddenly grounded?!"
"It's a long story."
"We need to start somewhere."
"Yeah, but not now." The same second the bell rang and Tony sprinted to his next class, relieved when the door closed and his Uncle was nowhere to be seen.