Fire and Ice
Inspired by the Let It Go (Frozen) Challenge, and written for the Gif It and It's Not Natural Challenges
Genre: Character Study/Supernatural/AU
Characters: Tim (mainly), Tony, Abby
Rating: FR7
Warnings: None
Summary: He understood 'conceal, don't feel, don't let them know' perfectly.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of their respective copyright holders. No infringement intended. The original characters and places mentioned are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to those living, dead, or undead is completely coincidental.
XXX
"So, what did you guys think?" Abby asked as they left the movie theater, weaving their way between the harried parents and over-excited children.
"I still can't believe you made us go see a Disney movie, Abbs." Tony made a show of shuddering at the thought which earned him a smack on the arm. "And what kind of a title is 'Frozen'?"
"Oh, you loved it and you know it."
"It was OK. Not a cinematic masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. I've seen better animation and the transition between the songs and dialog was a little clunky, to be honest."
"It didn't seem that way to me and I liked the songs too much to notice, I guess." She gave him a wicked grin. "I didn't realize you were such an expert on musicals, Tony."
Tony just shot her a dirty look and turned to the third member of their group. "So what did you think, McCritic?"
"I really didn't notice, either."
"OK, but what about the rest of it?"
"It was OK." He paused to consider his response. "I liked the singing snowman."
"Of course you did."
"How about the twist? I thought that was great," Abby declared and Tony rolled his eyes.
"Aw come on, 'twist'? I saw that coming from a mile away."
"No you didn't. I saw your reaction. You were just as surprised as me."
"No, I wasn't."
"Yes, you were."
"Was not."
"Were, too."
"OK, you two, knock it off."
"Chill, McGrouchy." Tony gave Tim a wide grin. "Get it? 'Chill'."
"Hilarious. Can we go now?"
"Hot date, McGee?"
"No, it's been a long week and I'd really like to get caught up on my rest, especially since we're not on call this weekend."
"Thank God for that." Tony froze for a brief moment before slowly turning to check over his shoulder as his teammates grinned.
"No Gibbs, Tony. You're safe this time."
"I wasn't…OK, fine. Force of habit. Speaking of habits, what are your plans for the weekend, McGee?"
"Sleep, just like I told you."
"You're no fun, Tim."
"Yes, I know." Tim finally reached his car. "See you all on Monday."
"You OK?"
Tim raised an eyebrow at his partner. "Yeah, why?"
"You seem a little…"
"Tired? It's been a long week, Tony."
"Can't argue with that."
Tim just shook his head and climbed in the driver's seat of his car. "Good night Tony, Abby. Enjoy your weekend."
"Oh, I plan on it," Tony replied with a grin. "Come on, Abbs. Let's let McPartyPooper go get his beauty sleep." They headed off to find their own cars as Tim started the engine and began to make his way towards the closest highway. Once he reached the highway instead of heading north towards Silver Spring he drove west out of the city and then northwest towards the mountains. After stopping for supplies he continued on, traversing smaller and smaller roads until he finally hit the dirt and gravel driveway that led to his destination.
Since he started at NCIS, Tim had been saving to buy a weekend retreat. Two years ago he had accumulated enough for a sizeable down-payment on a small log cabin with lake access surrounded by ten acres of scrub wood and pine, which itself was surrounded by parks and nature preserves. His co-workers would have been surprised to find that his vacation home lacked the more modern conveniences, including electricity and hot water, but it did offer the one thing Tim desired the most.
Privacy.
As he drove the last hundred yards to the cabin Tim chuckled softly to himself. When Abby had chosen the movie they were going to watch, Tim knew she had no idea just how relevant that movie had been to him. Tim's teammates knew that he was a private person, not much for sharing tales of his family or how he spent his free time. What they didn't know is that those 'quirks', as they saw them, were defense mechanisms ingrained from a very early age. Well, perhaps 'ingrained' was too mild a term. 'Indoctrinated' was closer. Or maybe 'verbally beaten into his head by one terrified and one angry parent' was the most accurate description of his less-than-normal childhood.
He understood 'conceal, don't feel, don't let them know' perfectly.
On one level he could understand why they had isolated him from others for most of his formative years. His was a secret nearly impossible to accept, one that also would have exposed him to a terrible fate if it had become known to anyone besides his parents. His sister didn't even know. They had made sure he could control his very unusual talents before he was ever allowed to be around her, and Tim had lived in constant fear of hurting her before he learned that control.
Tim put his car into park and climbed out, taking a deep breath of the clear, cold mountain air as he did so. The sights and smells that met him always brought back memories from his childhood, of the isolated camp sites his mother had taken him so he could practice and learn control without worrying about witnesses. Despite her efforts, it had taken him until he was almost ten years old to be able to handle his powers, and he was in his mid-teens before he could enjoy using them. The control he now had was hard-won, that was certain.
He carried his supplies to the cabin, depositing the perishables and two large bags of ice in an old freezer unit that sat just inside the porch door. It was cold enough now that the ice probably wasn't needed, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. After checking to make sure the rest of the cabin was as he had left it, he constructed a frame of kindling and twigs in the stone fireplace and brought in a supply of larger logs that he'd need to start heating the cabin for the weekend.
When everything was in place, he grabbed a flashlight and headed down the path to the lake. The first snow of the season was a week past, and the trail was still a little slippery, but he made it to his destination without incident.
The full moon was rising over the lake, casting a silvery path over its rippling surface. Some of the areas closer to shore has started to freeze over, but the center was still churned gently by the cold breeze that blew through the valley.
Tim crossed the gravel beach to the dock and walked out to the end. In summer he would usually bring a fishing pole and spend the weekend sitting in an old but comfortable camp chair, the bobber on his line drifting slowly in the wind as he waited for it to disappear below the surface. Tonight he had other plans.
He carefully studied the area, searching for signs of winter visitors to the surrounding parks, but found none. The silence was occasionally broken by the soft hoot of an owl or the cry of a water bird, with no evidence of any human visitors in sight. Finally Tim returned to the beach and walked over to a campfire ring with three wide logs set on end to form seats. He spent the next several minutes assembling a second log arrangement, this one much larger than the pile of twigs he had left in the hearth back at the cabin.
After making one final check of his surroundings, Tim held out his hand, palm up, and furrowed his brow in concentration. He curled his fingers over his palm and quickly opened them again. Almost immediately a small flame formed in the air over his hand, flickering slightly in the breeze. He concentrated again and the flame grew, leaping off of his hand and disappearing. Soon a second flame appeared and started to grow, eventually forming a large fireball. He flung his hand towards the fire pit and the logs erupted in flame, cracking and popping as the frozen water within them vaporized.
Tim stood and watched the flames for several minutes, remembering the first time he had been able to do that. His mother had told him she was proud of him but he had seen the fear in her eyes. He knew that she still held memories of walking into his room when he was a baby and seeing the mobile above his crib on fire, with Tim giggling at the sight, and he couldn't really blame her. He had made a promise to her that he'd never scare her again and she had hugged him, thanking him with tears in her eyes. Since that day he had never used his talent in front of anyone else. Especially his father.
Tim's father had been angered by Tim's "freak" ability and had forbidden him from using it, punishing Tim when he accidentally lost control. He hadn't been thrilled when he learned of his wife's methods, but had finally agreed that punishment didn't solve the problem, and intimidation didn't work as well as practice. He had said nothing when his wife finally told him that there would be no more problems, coolly accepting her (and Tim's) promise.
It hadn't become an issue again until Tim joined NCIS. His father had been convinced that Tim would be found out, and that argument had led to Tim not talking to his father for years. They had eventually reconciled, after Tim had learned of his father's illness, but the fear was still there. Seeing how great his team was at investigating hadn't helped calm his father's worries, either. Tim had assured him he had it under control but their relationship had remained strained. Tim had even wondered if his father was right, and that he should move on. Thankfully it hadn't come to that point.
So far.
Tim sat down on one of the log seats and stared at the fire, wondering what would happen if his team ever found out. Given how much Gibbs hated authority, Tim did believe that Gibbs would cover for him, but he still didn't want to test that theory. Abby would be angry that he hadn't shared his secret with her, he was pretty sure of that, but then, who knew? She'd probably want to do experiments. He didn't know Bishop well enough yet and he didn't really trust her NSA connection, but his major worry was Tony. Tim knew the senior agent didn't deal with anything outside normal very well.
As the fire started to die down, Tim walked back out to the end of the dock and made another check of his surroundings before raising both of his hands out away from his body, palm up and fingers curled. He opened his hands and twin flames appeared, which soon grew to more than a foot in height. He tossed the flames into the air and sent them out over the water, just above the surface, the red and orange lights dancing over the water like fire sprites. He pulled the flames up short and then sent them up into the sky where they burst into multiple small drops of fire and fell down into the water below with a thousand tiny hisses. Tim grinned to himself. He hadn't been able to do that as a kid.
Two more flames soon appeared in his hands and he tossed them up into the air as well, allowing them to grow into two large fireballs. He sent the balls of fire higher into the air, then made them collide, spinning the resulting drops of flame into a fiery tornado that touched down onto the surface of the lake, pulling water up into it and extinguishing the flames. Finally he let two smaller flames skip out over the lake like two stones and eventually they, too, sank down into the lake.
Warmed by his activities, Tim returned to the fire and sat down, watching as the burning logs slowly turned to white-hot ash and wondered why he had this particular power while no one else did. He had searched his family history on both sides for a hint of someone else in his lineage who could do what he did, but other than a vague reference to one of his mother's ancestors being tried for witchcraft, he hadn't been able to pin down any indications of someone who shared his abilities.
Tim checked his watch. It was near midnight of a very long day, so time for bed. He waved his hands towards the lake and a mass of water rose from the shallows, rising as a cloud that moved over the fire pit and rained down water over the pale coals, extinguishing them. Satisfied that the fire was out, Tim headed back towards the cabin. Once he reached the small structure he went inside and started another fire in the hearth. The room warmed quickly and he changed for bed, settled down onto the bunk across from the heath and watched the flames dance. Finally he added a few larger logs to guarantee a slow burn through the night and crawled under the covers of his bed. Tomorrow he'd go for a hike around the lake, chop firewood, and enjoy the peace and quiet of his mountain retreat, something any normal person would do.
XXX
Monday morning dawned bright and cold, with the temperature barely making it out of the teens. Tim made it back to his apartment to get ready for work and then to the Yard with only a few minutes to spare. As luck would have it the team was called out to a rural area to deal with a dead body and soon they were in the truck, following Gibbs in the sedan to the site. It was even colder outside the city and Tony complained loudly about the inhospitable conditions until he noticed that Gibbs' glare and shut up. They worked more quickly than normal to process the scene but finally they had as much information as the scene would provide and packed everything up for the trip back. Tim didn't let the circumstances bother him too much. After all, for them this was normal, something Tim had learned to appreciate, eventually.
On the way back to the Yard, and away from Gibbs, Tony resumed his diatribe.
"Man I hate scenes like that. I can barely feel my toes."
"Should have dressed warmer, Tony."
"Yeah, right. That only helps so much, you know."
"I guess."
A few more miles of silence passed before Tony continued.
"What about you, McFrosty? You ready to get back to your nice warm computer? I'll bet you were freezing, too."
"Nah, I'm good," Tim replied honestly. After spending the weekend out at the cabin, he had acclimated to the frigid temperatures.
"You sure? Your brain cells haven't frozen over or something?
"I'm sure." Tim replied and turned to Tony with a grin. "The cold never bothered me, anyway."
The End