This was my SeSa for Megeesgeek on NFA

Chapter 1: Fun Night Out?
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"It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water."
- Franklin P. Jones -
~o~

"Okay, let's see how fast you can go Probie. If you can beat me to the girls," pointing to the far end of the ice rink, "I promise I'll let off on calling you Probie. Howzat?"

Tim grinned and winked as he gave a thumbs-up. "Deal! Although I know you'll still call me names, no matter what."

Tony's face was chagrined. "You really want me to stop calling you those magnificent names?"

Tim merely shrugged and smiled, before directing his skates towards the outside of the rink. There was a minor teeter, there, which made Tony chuckle. Oh yeah, baby! Timmy-boy was no match for him. Wouldn't take long before McSpaghetti-Legs would kiss the ice! Still chuckling, he joined the younger agent and, after a short countdown, they both sprinted off.

Tim nearly fell over his skates as he took off, but instantly regained his balance and sped after Tony. With determination radiating from his face, he hurried on. Soon, exhiliration and the adrenalin took over, giving him the boost he needed to beat Tony in this game.

He was closing in on Tony! He was closing in! C'mon, Tony, get your fat butt out of my way...He laughed at the course his mind was taking. The tricks that competition could play on his mind was simply unimaginable. Only once before he'd experienced this feeling; this intense competitive streak... In another lifetime. Right now, he didn't have time to think about the past, his focus was on beating Tony, the undisputed alpha-male of NCIS.

Then, as Tim, still laughing, overtook Tony, another skater slammed hard into his side, sending him crashing into the side of the ice rink, knocking the breath out of him as he, absentmindedly registered the snapping of a rib...or two...

He'd never seen it coming. And the skater had taken off like a ghost. As if he'd never been there.

He just lay there on the hard, frozen surface, stunned and winded, and with a surprised look on his face as realization left him with the numbing feeling of a cold pack, that he didn't feel any pain. Not yet, that is. Within his peripheral vision, he saw his friends and other skaters and staff rush over to him. He saw their mouths move, but there was no sound coming from them.

Tony instantly went down on both knees when he noticed how Tim was struggling to raise himself up. He stooped into Tim's line of sight, his own face mere inches from Tim's, at the same time laying a restraining hand on his friend's shoulders.

"Don't move, buddy, help's on the way." He took off his gloves and carefully placed one of them under Tim's cheek.

But Tim only stared uncomprehending at Tony with those big eyes of his.

"Wha..."

"Just stay down, Pr...Tim. Just stay down." Tony patted his friend's outstretched gloved hand. The girls stood nearby, one on either side of an equally stricken Jimmy, who suddenly came to himself, remembering his training. He gently extricated himself from between Ziva and Abby and swiftly came over to the two agents.

Ziva touched the tiny Star of David at her neck and muttered a soft Hebrew prayer, while drawing Abby near for comfort with her other arm. They'd both witnessed the accident. They'd get the other skater who'd run into McGee later. More likely than not, the guy that had hit McGee with such devastating force, had had no malicious intent and this whole situation had merely been an unfortunate accident.

A crowd was gathering which two members from the staff tried to disperse. One of them quickly informed Tony an ambulance was on its way. Tony had risen to his feet as soon as Jimmy had knelt down to take stock of Tim's vitals.

It didn't look good, but then, it might just be nothing really serious. For all it was worth, McGee only had the breath knocked out of him when striking the side and then hitting the ice. But one never could be entirely sure and he could still be suffering some life threatening injury!

Jimmy continued to hold Tim's wrist to check the pulse, which was still fast from the burst of energy which ended mere moments ago. He looked into the young agent's eyes and saw the precise moment when the pain finally started to kick in.

Tim scrunched his eyes shut and hissed. His body became rigid and Jimmy could feel a tremor building up.

"Try to relax. I know it's hard. You're hurting badly, but you have to try. Let's try and concentrate on assessing what's wrong, okay?"

A barely perceptible nod was the only answer he got.

"C...c..cccoollddd..."

"I know. You're still lying on ice. I can't move you, though."

Tony, who'd heard Tim's soft plea, quickly pulled his jumper over his head and draped it gently over Tim's shivering form.

"Hope this helps, Tim."

"Ttthh...an-kss..."

Then he whimpered...and his breath quickened, at the same time becoming more superficial. Gah! This sucked!

New voices and a flurry of activity heralded the arrival of the EMT's.

Jimmy got up with some difficulty – his knees seemed frozen in place from the cold - and passed his assessment to the EMT's, standing aside as they quickly started to prepare Tim for transport to the nearest hospital.

Then he was whisked away.

Tony just stood there, running a hand through his hair. God! When had this fun night out on an ice rink suddenly turned into a nightmare?

The four of them stared at one another.

Abby was the first who broke the silence, her voice coarse with emotion.

"It was a bad idea to go ice skating for teambuilding. What was the point anyway? We're a team already! Stupid! Stupid-stupid-stupid! Should've gone for something less dangerous. Like your film quiz, last year, Tony... Or a Trivial Pursuit night!" Tears had made her mascara run and her frantic rubbing her eyes hadn't helped in lessening the streaks adorning her pale face. Ziva pulled a tissue from her pocket and gently wiped most of it from her friend's face.

"It's not your fault, Abby. You know we all enjoyed ourselves. We all were having a blow...until..." Ziva shook herself. "We could never have foreseen this." She rubbed Abby's back.

"A 'blast', Ziva. We had a 'blast'..." Tony stooped to pick up his discarded jumper. "Well. Shouldn't we go to the hospital?"

"Shouldn't we first of all notify Agent Gibbs?" Jimmy piped up, eliciting three pairs of nervous eyes staring at him.

OMG! How were they going to explain this to Gibbs? One agent incapacitated by a stupid ice rink accident in his down-time!

Their gazes bounced back and forth between the four of them. Nobody was looking forward to bringing the Bossman this news.

Then, Tony saw three fingers pointed at him. "What? No!"

"You're the Senior Agent, Tony. The honor's yours..."

"And who's the Probette, here, Ziva?"

Abby had already started walking towards the exit. She wanted to get to the hospital pronto, to see how her Timmy was doing.

Jimmy gave a vexed sigh and started dialing. Gibbs didn't like him anyway, so what did it matter if he bore the brunt of the man's ire? Listening to the dialling tone, he suddenly found Tony had snatched the cell out of his hands.

"Gimme that. You're right. I'm the Senior Agent and it's my task to tell Gibbs." He waited until he heard Gibbs answering his phone. "Boss? We...eh...we have a problem..."

I hope you all like it enough to read on and spare a minute for a wee review.