Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Sadly, they belong to some other people.
AN: Here's to a somewhat winter-y Kibbs fic. Hope you like it!
The moment she stepped on the ice, her legs wobbled and a single thought crossed her mind, shouldn't have made that bet with Tony. Totally the one to fall down first. She then tightly gripped the sideboard and willed herself to put one foot in front of the other. But it was so slippery and okay, that was to be expected, but Kate couldn't help but gasp when her left leg skidded forward against her will and she had to follow up with the right one and oh God, why did she agree to this? It had been a moment of utter insanity – true, she'd said yes, but what she'd really meant to say was no, and then she'd nodded, a dreadful, horrible nod of agreement and –
Air whooshed past her. She knew it was Tony, even though there were a lot of people on the ice already, some clinging to the sideboard for dear life like her, others speeding right past them, discouraging them from venturing out into the 'real world' of ice skating completely. Damn, Tony was good and fast and coordinated AND crashing down. Kate giggled at the sight of him on all fours, of him standing up and brushing the snow from his Armani coat. So not letting him off the hook for that one.
"Ouch!" Kate turned around and saw McGee who had taken a similar stance to hers: feet close together – cause when you try to skate, they don't inch apart, they feet apart – with both hands glued to the wood. Next to him, Gibbs was casually leaning against the sideboard, one foot crossed over the other at the ankles.
"Let him fall, McGee. It'd do him some good," Gibbs said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Don't just stand here, you two. Have some fun," he looked over at Kate and that, that was a smirk, she was certain. Then he pushed himself off the sideboard and Kate dreaded the fall, but instead, he glided away.
But of course! Why did she ever doubt Gibbs's ability to float on ice?! He was now a hazy figure in the distance, a broad back, fit legs and a very, very nice –
"Right, boss" McGee mumbled a lagged response, then glanced over at Kate, who was obviously spaced out, eyes set on an invisible point in the distance.
She'd kind of expected him to suck at it and this may or may not had been the reason she'd given in that quickly – she'd really wanted to see her boss ice skate, and him potentially not being good at it was quite the incentive.
"Kate! Tim! Sorry I'm late, but you know I have this thing on Saturday where I go bowling with –"
"We know, Abs. It's okay," McGee's voice felt distant, in a very literal sense of the word. Kate hadn't realized when he'd passed her by; she'd been occupied with her – thoughts. Now he was, perhaps, six feet away from them and that was some progress.
"Good to see you, Abs," Kate said. "I love your dress," she added, because Abby truly looked like a pro; from the black velvet dress that flared at the waist, to the ribbon laced, black leather skates.
"Why, thank you, Agent Todd. You look dashing yourself."
Kate almost snorted. That was an overstatement. See, if Abby was all Goth chic, Kate was puffy-jacket-ear-band-thermal-pants fabulous. Still, she grinned at her, "Thanks, Abs."
Abby extended her hand, "Ready to have the time of your life, Kate?"
It was a moment's hesitation before Kate took her friend's hand.
At first, she just let herself be pulled by Abby, but that was a hazard in itself. Once, her fingers almost slipped away from Abby's hold, and the consequences of that would have been, well, sitting would have been painful. Then, she'd actually listened to what Abby was telling her and tried to keep up with her, one step this way, one step the other way. Her movements were sharp and she was definitely crushing Abby's hand, yet the latter was just as cheerful as usual.
"Wasn't that a great idea, Kate?"
"Hmm?" Kate managed, eyes set on her feet which were moving on their own accord now, but somehow it was working – more or less.
"You know, ice skating as a team building exercise? Look, even Tim and Tony are getting along," Abby pointed at the two agents who were holding hands, with Tony in the lead. They were skating pretty fast, or at least Tony was before he released McGee's hand, and then the rest was physical comedy in action: McGee, unable to control his feet at this speed, bumped into the sideboard, Tony guffawed, but didn't see the man behind him and was soon on the ground, again.
"Uhuh, sure," Kate responded, apparently distracted. She was still haunted by images of broken limbs, or even worse injuries – come on, those blades were sharp!
"Remind me to head slap him later, Abs," Gibbs chimed in, appearing out of nowhere by Abby's side. Kate almost fell over at the sound of him. Even the tiniest disruption was a threat to her balance, and with him being Gibbs, that was a sure knockdown blow.
"Try not to lift your feet off the ground, Kate. Easier to skate," a casual suggestion, and then he was gone.
Kate's gaze followed him into the distance. He was, in fact, taking heed of his own advice; his feet were glued to the ice, yet he was smoothly gliding forward, propelled by some mystery power. What the hell.
"Hockey. He was a hockey player in high school, Kate," Abby's clarification was the one thing that reached her ears.
Now it made sense.
"Oh, no, McGee!" Abby shook her head and Kate followed her line of sight. Tim was on the ice again, but his attempts to get up were all futile. Tony and Gibbs were nowhere to be seen. "Mind if I go help him out, Kate? Trust me, you can do it!"
Even without getting a response, Abby released Kate's hand and skated off to where McGee had given up trying and was now sitting on the ground, cross-legged - to the extent of which that was possible. The minute she was alone in the center of the ice rink, Kate's knees wobbled and she had to hold her breath to keep her balance. She stood without flinching for a long while, until she recovered her center (which somehow had been transferred to the tips of her fingers, damn it). Then she started skating slowly and cautiously – she could take her time, okay.
Perhaps Abby was right. Perhaps she really was getting better.
"Need some help, Kate?"
Kate released the breath she'd been holding. "I'm fine, Gibbs," she said, looking down at her feet. But of course, she had to sway at that exact moment, punctuating the lie.
Gibbs took her hand to steady her.
"Thanks," she looked at him and saw amusement in his eyes. If she could have, she would have slapped his arm, but she was still paralyzed by fear and clung on to his fingers, as if they were a lifeline.
"You gotta relax, Kate. Can't skate when you're so tense," Gibbs said simply, and took hold of her other hand, spinning her at a 90 degree angle. "Here, let me show you." Just like that he started skating backwards, lifting their hands slightly and pulling her along with him. She let him lead her, even though she was terrified. What if he bumped into someone and they both fell? He couldn't possibly see where they were going, right? He kept his eyes on Kate and she looked over his shoulder at strangers who rushed past them.
"Gibbs, I can't –"
"—you're not gonna fall, Kate."
"But what if we – "
"We won't – don't you trust me?"
She finally looked him in the eye. They'd stopped moving, but she hadn't noticed. Gibbs usually kept his emotions to himself, but now he appeared mildly irritated, if anything. She'd like to think he was hurt, but why would he be?
"I trust you, Gibbs," Kate squeezed his hand and he smiled a little, in his own way – that is, he frowned, a tiny lonesome crease scrunching his brow, before he tugged at her hands in question. She nodded.
For some time they skated. He was extra careful and looked over his shoulder every once in a while in between pieces of advice. She tried her best to follow his directions, and gradually became more relaxed. Kate was now able to skate like he'd suggested earlier, without lifting her feet off the ice – true, she was slow, but Gibbs was surprisingly patient.
"Good job, Kate," he murmured and she grinned. Getting praise from Gibbs was like avoiding traffic in rush hour; both were nearly impossible.
"Have a good teacher," she smirked, and wow, abort, abort. Kate was not flirting with her boss. She dropped her gaze, and willed herself to retain a somewhat natural shade of red in her cheeks.
Then the blow came. As one speeding body crashed to the ground, another, knocked out of breath, crashed against a man's chest, anticipating the fall to come. But Gibbs steadied her, arms wrapped tightly around her back, as the two of them glided backwards, until the momentum was lost and they were standing still in one corner of the ice rink. She could feel his hand move up her back – there, he's pulling away – before it moved down her back again and she wasn't so sure about that anymore.
"You okay, Kate?"
"No," she laughed, but that in itself sent a pang of pain to her side and she whimpered quietly.
"Damn hockey players," Gibbs muttered under his breath and Kate laughed again, unfortunately, remembering what Abby had said earlier. Her chin was now tucked at his shoulder and she scanned the rink for the ill-fated soul who'd get his butt kicked if Gibbs was ever to find out who he was. Instead, it was Tony who was approaching them with a wicked grin.
Reluctantly, Kate pulled away and was stunned to see Gibbs' questioning look. He hadn't wanted her to pull back. But just like that, it was gone, and he turned around at the sound of DiNozzo's voice, "Hey, boss. Kate. McGeek and Abby want to get hot chocolate. Do you want to come with us? I mean – unless you have something else in mind to keep you warm." With these last words – could have been literally, his last words – Tony was quick to get away from them.
Kate looked at Gibbs, whose eyes were squinted. He was weighing up his options. Before he could leave in pursuit, Kate reached her hand and wrapped her fingers at his elbow. "So. Teach me how to skate backwards, Gibbs."