AN: Part 1 of 6 (will post the rest soon). Hope you enjoy :)
"What do you mean you can't sing?" Kate is trying to stay calm, take deep breaths, but all that 7-11 is crap, crap, crap. She is pretty sure she is squeezing the life out of Abby's forearm, but her friend is not saying a word because she has – clearly – lost her voice. Kate has seen horror films – not quite as many as DiNozzo, but she has seen her fair share - and still, this is one heck of a horror film. She is about to walk on stage and sing a flirty duet with her boss. Shut the front door.
And she's got to call him baby.
Sorry, Abby signs, and coughs, a little too promptly for Kate's liking. Good thing she's picked up on a few basic signs.
What is going on here? First Gibbs agreeing to sing at the concert, and then Abby catching a cold, too sick to sing, too sick to speak? If she didn't know any better, Kate would say she was being set up, but that can't be. Right?
Kate narrows her eyes at her, panic subsiding, quickly replaced by flaring nostrils and a set of pursed lips, seeking a compromise, any compromise. "How about Tony?"
Abby's eyes blow wide open, a tell-tale sign that's out of the question. "Tim? No?" Kate sighs, running out of options. "Jimmy? He's a bit on the tenor side, isn't he?" Abby giggles, surely amused by Kate's valiant effort to find herself an understudy. "Well, okay, I guess I'll just have to ask Duck. He and Gibbs can totally blow this out of the – "
"Can we?" A deliciously teasing voice whispers in her ear, and Kate right about jumps in her place, startled. So, that's why Abby was pointing and gesturing and trying to get her attention. Right.
"Hmmm." She slowly turns around, coming face to face with Gibbs, who doesn't feel the need to take even one step back. No, he is right here, sporting a full-blown grin and a Santa hat. Ho-ho-ho and a Merry Christmas to you, Kate. "I'm pretty sure you can," she says, a glint in her eye, then turns around to leave, sucks in a breath when his hand comes round her waist.
"Let's duet, Katie," he murmurs, wriggling his eyebrows at her, and she can't help but giggle. It's not like her, and she clasps a hand over her mouth, but the damage has been done. He looks at her, appreciative, and nods courtly. "I take that as a yes."
Behind them, Abby laughs, and Kate is pretty sure that's a Yes! she hears (so much for having a sore throat). "We haven't practiced the song," she murmurs, scrunching her nose, hoping her facial muscles would muster a glare – even a baby-scowl would do.
"Bless you?" Gibbs looks puzzled and Kate realizes she must be looking like she's about to sneeze. Lovely. He looks at her, scrutinizing her every feature. "That time in the car. I was humming the song, and I sure heard you –"
"—you can't be serious, Gibbs – "
"Ay, Captain, very serious." He brushes a strand of hair from her face, adjusts her antlers. "Cute," he whispers, almost to himself, but Kate hears him, tries to ignore the shiver that runs down her body. "Sing with me, Rudolph," he murmurs after a pause, calm eyes set on her, but there's a challenge in them, a spark that is what ultimately leads to her nodding.
An excited squeal rings through the air, and a perky Abby comes between them, draping her arms over their shoulders, can barely catch her breath to say, "I knew you guys would figure it out!"
Definitely a set-up.
