The first thing Ziva, Ari, and Tali noticed as soon as they stepped off the bus were the stares they were receiving from the other students, almost as if they were aliens. They walked into the school, still trying to ignore the stares without much success. It just made things so awkward, it became borderline infuriating. Tony, Abby, and McGee had already gone to their lockers, but they couldn't, seeing as how they needed to speak with the principal first. After what felt like hours, they made it to the main office, waiting for the secretary to acknowledge them. She looked up from her computer screen with a bright smile, standing up as she held out her hand. "Pleased to meet you. Principal Vance will be right with you." the woman replied as they each took her hand in their own, giving it a firm shake. A minute later, Vance stepped out from his office, holding three sheets of paper.
"Pleased to meet you, Ziva, Ari, and Tali?" Vance said as he held out his hand to the respective students. "Here are your school schedules. As I'm sure you three are aware your father requested that you be put in the same classes, so you're schedules will all be the same. I hope you enjoy your stay here at Washington High, and wish you the best of luck." Vance said as he handed them their schedules. They walked out into the hallway, each looking at their schedules. English, History, Gym, Math, Lunch, Science, Auto, then finally Spanish. They each went to their respective lockers. Ziva's locker was eight down from Ari and next to Tali.
Ziva dumped her unnecessary books in her locker and shut it. When she turned around, half the people were staring at her and Tali, several ogling at them, several others looking at them with disgust. Ignoring their looks, she went to English with Tali and Ari, each noticing the looks they were recieving from the others. When they walked in, the classroom was already filled, save three desks randomly empty.
"Ah yes, I was told that I would be expecting new students today. Please, find a seat, you can call me Mrs. Smith." Mrs. Smith said as she gestured around the classroom. Getting a better look around the classroom, they were pleased to see McGee and Abby, who smiled at them. They each returned their smiles as they each took a seat. For the most part the lesson was very boring, talking about poetry and appreciation for writing. The only fun part about it was passing notes to each other, mostly talking about Tony and his beat down on the four seniors.
After class ended they all met in the hallway to share their schedules. They were all happy to hear that McGee and Abby would be with them in English, Gym, Lunch, Math, and Science. As they headed towards History class, a few of the players on the JV Football team came up to them. "Hey ladies, how about you two ditch that guy you're walking with and we'll show you a good ti-" immediately they stopped talking, then just ran off down the hall. Confused, they turned around to see Tony giving the football players he just scared off a death glare. Even though the three of them all had Mossad training, they couldn't help but feel intimidated and scared by the glare he was giving. After a few moments Tony gave them a simple nod and walked into their History class.
Pleased that Tony was on their side, they walked into History wearing big grins as they introduced themselves. Ari and Tali gave each other a wordless indication sit occupy the two empty seats in the front, forcing Ziva to sit in the back right next to Tony. Ziva hadn't even noticed the look Ari and Tali gave each other, too distracted by staring at Tony. Even though he looked completely cold and ruthless on the outside, she knew there was a great warmth deep inside him, but something was covering it up too much to show.
She scrawled a thank you on a sticky note and passed it to Tony. He just glanced at it before giving her a small nod, then continued taking notes. She had to admit that for someone that apparently used to not give a damn about school, he was very attentive. Even though the teacher was trying to be discreet, it was fairly obvious that Tony was his favorite. Hell, he gave the best answers in the class, it was almost as if he was teaching alongside. There was no doubt that he was smart, but it just seemed so out of character for someone like him, well minus the whole hardened exterior.
As class ended, Ziva walked up to Tony to thank him. He just nodded in reply, then walked out of the classroom. When they started gym class, she was secretly pleased that Tony was there too. Today they had to do the beep test, whatever that was. As if reading their minds, Tony came up behind and spoke in a gruff voice, "Get to Point A to Point B, when you hear a beep, go back. Rinse and repeat, every ten beeps you get less time. Don't get to a point in time and you're out. Pace yourselves." And with that he took up a position on one of the far ends of the gym. McGee and Abby were next to Ziva on her left, Tali and Ari on her right.
Beep
The first ten levels were extremely easy, only requiring a fast-paced walk. Only a really bratty looking girl got out, obviously not caring one bit about gym, and more on make-up and boys.
Beep
The next ten levels were a breeze, a slight jog at most, and no one in Ziva's group broke a sweat, while to her amazement, five of the girls stepped out. Wow, Tony wasn't kidding, half of these girls in America look like they're about to quit! Ziva chuckled to herself as the next level came.
Beep
By level 30, about a quarter of the class was out, two-thirds of them girls. Ziva, Tali, and Ari hadn't even broken out in a sweat, while only a small bead of sweat collected on McGee's and Abby's faces. For Computer and Science nerds, they were good shape.
Beep
At this point half of the class was out at level 60, barely getting a B, which was pretty sad seeing how they could get a B for such a low score. No one could get a good view of how Tony was doing considering he was all the way across the gym, but they were pretty confident he was doing fine. They were moving at a run, but nothing too hard.
Beep
By level 100 only about ten students remained, consisting of Ziva, Ari, Tali, Tony, and some players on the school Soccer and Football team. McGee and Abby both dropped out around level 80, and at level 100 it was starting to become difficult to get to the other side and back. The speed they were moving at was close to a sprint, and sweat was starting to collect on their foreheads. Still, they kept up, but no one had a good view of Tony.
Beep
It was level 130 at this point and everyone dropped out except Tony and Ziva. The students at the side were cheering them on, and unconsciously Tony and Ziva started to drift closer. By level 140 they were sprinting at full speed, not wasting a second to catch their breaths. Ziva was getting extremely exhausted, but she really wanted to beat Tony. As for Tony, he was breathing rapidly, but still doing well. At level 150 they were both about ready to drop dead, competition the only thing keeping them from flat out collapsing. At level 155, Ziva accidentally lost her balance, but before she fell to the ground, Tony slid under her to cushion her fall. The test ended with Ziva directly on top of Tony, both breathing heavily and staring into each other's eyes, lips mere inches away. The gym teacher blew the whistle, snapping them out of their trance as they quickly scrambled up, snapping them out of their trance.
"Damn!" the teacher said as he scribbled something onto his clipboard, "Ziva, where did you learn to run like that! You and Tony just broke a school record!" he practically screamed as he looked at Ziva for an answer. "Mossad." she replied as she walked over to meet with the rest of them. She had to get by several congratulations and several students asking her where she learned to run before she met up with her friends.
"Wow Ziva!" both McGee and Abby exclaimed, "Where did you learn to run like that?" they asked incredulously, probably the 20th time she had been asked that today. Before she could answer her eye had been caught by Tony taking off his shirt off and drying himself off with a towel while drinking from his water bottle. Every girl and most of the guys were staring at him, the girls with amazement and the guys with jealousy. His skin was tanned and he had most well-defined muscles Ziva had ever seen before, and that was saying something considering she used to spend every day working with other Mossad Officers in the gym mats. Not even the trainer was as ripped as him. A small trickle of water made its way down his chest, causing Ziva and every girl in the gym save Abby to lick their lips. After draining his water bottle, he grabbed a can of Axe and sprayed himself with it, then dropped it back into his bag.
Even though he was never much for showing off, he couldn't help but show off to Ziva. Internally smirking at himself, he inconspicuously flexed his muscles, dropping every single jaw in the gym. Heh, I just realized nobody in this school has seen me shirtless in two years. Tony thought to himself as he zipped up his gym bag, having kept up his cold and hardened exterior mask on the whole time. Even though at heart he was still the same guy he was before his mom was killed, he just couldn't manage to be happy, thus he kept up a cold and heartless personality. It wasn't like he was trying to act cool or anything, it's just that it made him uncomfortable to be anything else around people he didn't entirely trust. The only person he completely trusted is Chris, so he dropped all of his masks, but his usual silly and happy self was still scarred from the painful memories. Still, Ziva just made him feel something he hadn't ever felt before. She wore absolutely no makeup, was extremely athletic, and didn't give a damn about dressing up to impress. In his eyes, she was a beautiful goddess, not that he would ever admit that, yet.
Lunch
Despite their performance in gym, they still received several glares when they walked in the cafeteria. As Ziva, Ari, and Tali walked to the lunch line, they were stopped by two players on the JV football team, Ron Sacks and Brent Langer. "Oh look what we got here! Iraqi Terrorists!" Sacks shouted, earning several snickers from various tables. Immediately Ari got in his face, slowly losing his cool. "In case you haven't noticed, we're Israeli. And we're not terrorists." Ari shot back, making a fist at his side. Ignoring him, Sacks continued, "Oh Israeli terrorists eh? Whoa watch out man don't trigger your bomb vest!" Sacks shouted again, this time the entire cafeteria was laughing. Just as Ari was about to beat the shit out of him, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Tony and stepped aside. Immediately the entire cafeteria went dead silent. Not noticing his presence, Langer joined in, "Haha how many schools did you bomb already? Five?" Langer snickered.
In a matter of seconds Sacks and Langer were being held up in the air by the collar of their shirts, their expressions going from scared to downright terrified. "L-look man we were j-just kidding!" Langer shouted nervously, squirming as Tony walked over to the trash bins, still holding them up in the air. Ignoring their pleas, he threw them both in a trash bin, covering them in food and milk. Several nervous laughs came from various tables as he wheeled the two trash bins to the front door and opened them, then shoving the two bins out the door. At this point the whole cafeteria was stunned into silence. Tony walked back into the cafeteria and said "Boom," before stepping back into the lunch line. Slowly conversation resumed in the cafeteria, everyone talking about what just happened. In the span of several seconds, Ari, Tali, and Ziva developed a new-found sense of respect for Tony.
"Thanks Tony." Ari said as he extended his hand. "My name is Ari, Ziva's brother." Ari said as Tony shook his hand. Tali introduced herself as Ziva's sister, and gave a gentle hug to Tony, who just patted her on the back.
"No problem, anyone gives you guys shit just talk to me." Tony replied. All three of them nodded before filing behind Tony. Five minutes later, Tony walked to an empty table in a corner of the room and sat down, ignoring the looks of fear and amazement he was receiving. Spotting McGee and Abby sitting at another table, the three of them took seats and ate in silence, all of them thinking about what just happened.
"Why does Tony sit alone?" Ziva inquired as she sipped from her milk. "Everyone in the school is afraid of him, so he doesn't really have friends." Abby replied, already feeling guilty. A few seconds later, they all stood up and walked over to Tony's table. As they sat down, they all glanced at Tony for any signs of protest. Receiving none, they continued to eat their lunch. After a few minutes, the curiosity became too much for Ari, and he just blurted out "Where did you learn to fight?"
Even though his expression didn't change, everyone could see how he tensed his shoulders. After about a minute of awkward silence, Tony looked up to look at all of them. He hesitated for a moment before answering Ari's question. "Navy SEALS." Tony answered quietly. All of their jaws dropped, too shocked to respond.