"It's a friggin' dump!" Lenny complained as they stood outside the house that Logan rented for their charade at the high school. The tiny single-story house with faded, peeling paint that was the exact color of one of Stevie's booger bombs, was exactly what Lenny proclaimed it to be. A dump. The lawn was non-existent, long dead and gone, now just dust in the wind. The bushes that lined the front of the house were also dead, nothing left to them but twigs. A couple of the decorative shutters were hanging precariously off the house. Most of the shingles were curled up at the edges. Everyone was hoping it didn't rain, no one wanted to test the integrity of the roof.

Logan stepped up beside him, the stub of a cigar clamped between his teeth as he surveyed the house. "Your point, kid?"

"That was the point," Lenny grumbled as he headed for the door of the less than desirable house.

"The point we're trying to make is that I'm much less than a proper guardian and you are all looking for trouble. This house proves how less than acceptable I am as a guardian. Remember that," Logan reminded him as he shoved past Lenny into the house.

Ziva gave a tiny little chuckle as she passed Lenny in the living room. "Do we all get our own rooms at least?" she asked Logan.

Logan stopped in the arch that led to the hall from the small living room. "Sort of."

"I'm not sure I like that answer." Ziva eyed him warily.

Logan propped a hand on his hip and stared at her. Only he could do that and not look the least bit girly. "Bad guardian, teenage couples. Do I need to say duh? You're supposed to be sharing rooms."

Ziva was certain she heard Craig choke, but when she turned to look at him, his face was carefully blank. She turned back to Logan. "We have to share a room?"

"In appearance only or Storm would kill me. Craig will put his things in your room, Ziva, but he'll be bunking with Lenny. Skylar's things will go in Lenny's room. If anyone from the school comes by you and Craig will act as if you're sharing the room, same for Skylar and Lenny. The rooms each only have one bed, I brought a couple of inflatable mattresses with you guys can take turns using, but remember to stow them in the morning just in case."

The four of them watched as he turned away and strode off down the hall toward his room at the very end of the hallway.

Ziva turned to the others. "Okay, well I guess we had better go unpack.

They turned as a group and went down the hall to the two smaller bedrooms. Ziva and Craig took the first bedroom and Skylar and Lenny entered the second one down the hall. Logan had already laid claim to the slightly larger master bedroom. Ziva was uncomfortable as she and Craig put their things away, even though they weren't really sharing the room. It was strange to even think about sharing space with him.

The paint on the walls was slightly yellowed, the carpet, well the less said about it probably the better. The furniture had more than likely come from a secondhand shop. At least it looked like Logan had bought new mattresses. She could applaud him for that much. The double bed took up most of the space in the little room. A small, battered nightstand stood beside the bed with a little lamp on it, the only other piece of furniture in the room was a dresser with five drawers they would have to share along with the closet. Not that they had brought much with them.

Craig stepped up next to her where she stood at the dresser. She slammed the top drawer shut and glared at him.

He frowned at her. "What?

"I was putting my underwear away!" She was surprised when his cheeks flushed red.

"Oh sorry. I didn't realize ... I was gonna put this stuff on the dresser." He held up a couple of old football trophies and some pictures of his parents.

"Sorry," she mumbled at him and stepped out of his way. She watched as he carefully placed the items on top of the dresser. He honestly cared a lot about his parents. There had been a time when she loved her parents with that kind of intensity. Until her mother had looked at her with fear and loathing. She looked away from Craig as her heart ached for a time that she would never get back and she took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"We should take some pictures of the two of us together to stick around the room. Ya know, to show we're a couple."

Ziva's head whipped around, but Craig was still facing the dresser as he carefully arranged the trophies and pictures to his satisfaction, so she couldn't see the expression on his face. His words had been casual; she would have to accept that he was simply trying to make their ruse seem real.

"Uh, yeah that's a good idea. You got a camera?"

"I'm sure Sky brought her Polaroid with, she never goes anywhere without it. We'll have to change clothes and stuff. Maybe go to a couple of different places like we were on dates and stuff like that."

He still hadn't turned around. Ziva stood and headed for the door. "Good plan, I'll get Lenny and Skylar, they should take some pictures too." She scooted out the door quickly without looking at him.

***

"Get your butts in here!" Logan shouted from the kitchen.

The four of them dragged into the dingy little kitchen. Not one of them ready for the day. A few yawns escaped here and there, none of them wanted to head for the grind of a day spent at public high school.

Ziva eyed the plate in the center of the cracked, scratched, pea-green Formica kitchen table. "Are those supposed to be Pop-Tarts?"

"No. They are Pop-Tarts," Logan answered. "Now eat."

"Dude seriously. Nice breakfast. We didn't know that you could cook." Lenny snatched one of the Pop-Tarts up and bit into it, he immediately yelped and tapped the corner of the toaster pastry against the table.

Craig chuckled. "Man, what did you do, microwave them to death?"

Logan growled at him. "Eat your damn breakfast."

"No, seriously, did you? They're called "toaster pastries" for a reason." He made little air quotes around the words toaster pastries when he said them. Ziva saw Skylar cover her mouth to hide a giggle. Craig turned and dodged out of the room when the claws came out and Logan went after him.

Ziva rolled her eyes. "Great, Storm is gonna have a fit if Logan kills Craig on the first day."

Lenny dropped the Pop-Tart back onto the plate, dusted off his hands, and started after Logan and Craig. "I'll go save Craig's butt."

It took a good ten minutes to calm Logan down before they were finally piled into the car and headed toward the high school. Logan insisted on pulling the piece of a crap truck he'd purchased for this adventure right up in front of the school. Hey, nothing like drawing everyone's attention to their little ragtag group. Right?

"Watch each other's backs and keep your eyes open. Remember we think the dealers are mutants so if you think you know who they are ..."

"Don't be afraid to give them a show," Lenny said with a grin.

"Don't make it obvious for the entire school," Logan warned.

"We aren't stupid," Craig replied.

"That's debatable," Logan shot back—more than likely referring to Craig's little dig at him for his attempt at breakfast—as they piled out of the car.

Skylar slammed the door shut and gave him a happy smile. "Don't worry we'll be fine." She blew him a kiss as she turned away from the truck. The beat-up-ancient-built-in-another-decade-should-have-been-crushed-into-a-cube pickup that had more rust on it than paint looked ready to crumble into dust any second truck, pulled away from the curb. Not one of them wanted to ask Logan where he'd gotten the thing and risk death at the hands of his hair-trigger temper. The one thing they could be glad about was that Logan knew cars and the thing at least ran well, even if it looked like a death trap.

Ziva pulled her tattered black backpack with the little teal skulls on it up onto her shoulder. Craig fell into step next to her and dropped his arm over her shoulders. She almost and pulled away from his hold and snapped at him, but then she remembered they were supposed to be a couple and smiled up at him instead.

He tightened his arm around her and dropped a quick kiss near her temple before he spoke quietly so only she could hear. "Damn this is gonna be interesting." He jerked his chin in the direction of the three girls standing near the top of the stairs that led into the school.

The three looked as if they were holding court there. Surveying their royal kingdom from atop the stairs. Either approving or disapproving of their subjects as they passed through the doors of the school. People passed warily, darting glances at the three before slipping through the doors into the school.

Ziva shot Craig a look of glee. "Oooh, this is going to be sooo much fun!" Her tone said she was going to enjoy putting the girls in their place, which could only be beneath her.

As the foursome topped the stairs, the three girls' eyes locked on them like heat-seeking missiles. The lead girl raised her lip slightly in a small sneer as she took in Ziva's torn jeans; worn leather jacket, and the rest of her equally battered clothing. Not to mention the purple streaks in her hair. Her gaze flicked over Craig before moving to Lenny and Skylar. Quickly taking them all in and it seemed, disapproving of them immediately.

"Wow, what freak show did like you four run away from?" the girl sneered.

"The same one that has obviously adopted you as its mascot," Ziva said politely as they passed the girls by and entered the school.

"Freaks!" the girl called out loudly.

Ziva flicked her fingers back at the girl, sending a small jolt of power at her.

Skylar sucked in a breath and shoved Ziva forward away from the girls. "Ziva! What if someone saw that?" Skylar looked back at the girl who was freaking out and trying to smooth down her hair, which now resembled a giant, frizzy, tumbleweed.

Ziva shrugged. "Like I care? The witch deserved it. Honestly, calling us freaks. Did you see her and her little Barbie lookalikes? I bet they're cheerleaders."

"They are. Brittney is the cheerleader. As in the head cheerleader. And you just made her your number one enemy, sweetheart."

They turned to eye the boy who had spoken. He was slouched against the lockers they were currently passing. His pose was casual, though his attitude was anything but; his eyes darted about as if he were keeping watch over everything happening in the halls at once. He shoved his shoulder against the metal of the locker and pushed away to walk over and talk to them more privately or as privately as the crowded hallway would allow. Ziva gave his bad boy getup a once over and dismissed him as any kind of real threat. He was a frontman. Possibly. He could just be a wannabe trouble maker. She doubted he was who they were looking for. The leather jacket he wore was designer, despite its worn condition. Shoes were top of the line basketball sneakers that weren't even six months old and if this guy was any sort of hardcore gang member, she'd kiss Lenny full on the lips. She could pawn the watch he wore and pay rent for several months. Propping the hand that wasn't holding Craig's on her hip she gave the wannabe tough guy a look that had caused more than one real gang member to back off. Back when she'd roamed the streets she learned an appearance of tough was a façade that could accomplish a lot, she stepped up to him.

"Look I don't care if her daddy owns the school; no one talks to me that way, ever. She does it again and next time she won't have any hair left." The boy took a giant step back and Ziva's lips lifted in a smile. "Wise choice." She tugged gently on Craig's hand. "Come on Craig we've got to get our schedules."

"Right baby." He gave their would-be advisor a nod and followed Ziva down the hall, Skylar and Lenny trailed behind them.

Skylar looked back and saw the teen lift his phone to his ear. Turning back to Lenny, she tugged his hand. "Be right back." Before he could answer, she disappeared. Skylar wasn't fond of possessing cell phones, they messed with your nervous system something fierce. They needed some intel on this guy, though. And knowing whom he was talking to might help. She popped into the phone and listened in on his conversation.

"Hey man, I've got some information you might be interested in," he told the person on the other end of the line.

A deep male voice answered, "It had better be something good. I don't want any of your bullshit and you better not be calling to tell me you've killed off another customer."

He looked around quickly as if he thought someone might have heard his boss' comment. "No, no, honest no one has died. But four new kids just got here today and one of the chicks is a mutant, at least I think she is. And it don't look like she cares much if anyone knows it. She's pretty badass."

"What about the other three?" came the quick reply through the phone.

"Not sure if they have powers. Our badass chick has a boyfriend, he seems like some clean-cut jock taking a walk on the wrong side of the tracks. The other guy might be on board, not sure about his girl, she seems a little too glee club."

There was a brief pause as if his boss were thinking things over. "Right, keep an eye on them and see what they can do. I want the girl with the powers."

"I haven't even told you what she can do!" Wannabe protested.

His boss exhaled hard. "Fine. What can she do?"

"Um, well not exactly sure. But she made Brittney's hair stand on end. Like she zapped her with a giant jolt of static electricity or something. It was funny as hell watching Brittney try and smooth that shit out."

Skylar swore she heard the man on the other end of the line grinding his teeth. "Whatever, just get her on our team. Understood? We need someone with some real power. All we've got is Deek and his fuckin' venom, which is only getting us a bunch of high school students who are either soaring to the sky or dying. I need results. Yesterday!" The phone disconnected before Wannabe could answer.

Skylar quickly left the phone and returned to where the others waited before the guy shoved the cell into his back pocket or someplace equally difficult for her to get out of. They'd gone and fetched their schedules while Skylar was snooping.

"Well?" Lenny asked when she sidled up next to him.

Quickly—and as quietly as possible—she told them what she'd overheard. "It sure sounds like he's our guy."

Craig frowned. "I don't like how interested he is in Ziva. It sounds more like their building an army than a drug empire. What was that crap about all they have is the guy with venom? And why are they marketing the venom as a drug? I mean if it's killing people why bother?"

"That's what we need to find out," Ziva told him.

"Not by putting your butt on the line!" he snapped back.

"It's my butt I think I should get to decide that!" she snapped back.

"It is a very nice butt, it would be a shame to get it killed," Lenny put in.

"You are not allowed to comment on my butt, Aquafina!"

Lenny held his hands up in surrender. "Just saying, Craig has a point, we're supposed to be a team, and putting one of us in danger isn't how we get this done."

"We'll just ask Logan about it when we get home tonight, he's the senior agent on this," Craig told them.

Ziva snorted. "What are we FBI now, "senior agent"," she mocked.

"Let's just get to class before we're late," Skylar said with a sigh.

Ziva stomped off, Craig trailing after her since they had first period together. Lenny and Skylar went in the opposite direction heading to their classes.

Craig snagged Ziva's hand in his and pulled her against his side, leaning down to whisper in her ear, "Girlfriend, remember."

With a sigh, she slowed her pace and remained by his side, even if she'd rather leave him in the dust. Together they walked through the door into the history class they shared. And surprise, surprise, Wannabe was there. He slouched against a desk, as he had against the locker in the hallway, speaking to another student.

Craig pulled Ziva in tight against his side, he was going to make certain these creeps got the message she was his. Nothing was going to happen to her. He wasn't clear on exactly when he'd become protective, and possessive, of her. Maybe it had been from the start, the second he'd seen her standing behind the counter in that dive diner putting out her tough-girl vibe to protect what was beneath the exterior disguise. The little girl whose mother had tossed her away when she'd seen what her daughter was capable of doing. Or maybe, it was when he'd held her in his arms in the back of the car. She'd looked so young, fragile, and vulnerable. Yet, he knew she was anything but those things, she could kick his ass any second of the day. A single touch and she could stop his heart before he could form a thought.

Wannabe leaned down and spoke to his buddy when he spotted them. When he finished, the other teen nodded, Wannabe smiled and straightened back into his slouched position. With a wave, he motioned them over. Together they stopped before him and his buddy, both of whom grinned widely at them.

"Hey, listen since you guys are new I'll be glad to give you a few pointers about the school," Wannabe told them.

"Pointers?" Ziva asked one eyebrow raised in question.

"Yeah, you know like who it's okay to talk to. Who's a snitch, who's a loser, geek, jock ... so on and so forth."

"I think we're smart enough to figure those things out for ourselves. Thanks," Craig replied with just a touch of sarcasm, he kept his arm firmly around Ziva.

Wannabe stepped up to him. "No, you aren't. Trust me. Things here aren't exactly what they seem, friend."

Craig's smile was less than friendly. "No, you trust me, friend, you don't want to mess with me. I'm not what I seem. Don't get in my face. You won't like the results."

Wannabe glanced down at his friend briefly and then back at Craig, his smile had faded away, left in its place was a sneer. "Really, you expect me to fear you, preppy jock boy?" He poked Craig in the chest.

"Wrong move." Craig's hand shot out and he gripped Wannabe's wrist tightly. "Sorry, you're gonna miss class. A shame really, history can be damn interesting." A surge of energy rippled through him and hit Wannabe, the other boy's eyes widened for only a second before they rolled back into his head and closed. Craig released his wrist and shoved him at his friend. The other boy scrambled to catch his friend before he hit the ground.

Ziva sighed and looked at Wannabe's friend. "He's all yours. Come on Craig, let's go sit down." Together they walked away, leaving Wannabe's friend staring after them in stunned silence. They took seats across the room from the pair.

Craig leaned across the aisle close to her as if he were kissing her neck. "Think that was enough to get their attention?" She gave him a giggle and a small nod, her eyes darting over to where Wannabe's friend was rapidly texting someone while darting looks at them.

"Oh yeah, definitely. It's only a matter of days before they contact us. Maybe only hours. Now get your lips off my neck before I zap you," she whispered.

He grinned at her as he backed off.