On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... nine ladies dancing …

December 21st

Thor rushed into Jane's lab, some papers waving in his right hand. "Jane! My Jane! I believe we have just been given plans for this evening!"

Jane turned to greet him, as did Tony and Bruce, who were helping Jane calibrate some equipment that wasn't producing results as accurately as she believed it could. Thor had a wide smile on his face. "So what are these plans?"

"We are to dine and then go to Rockefeller's Center to partake in something called iced skating. I presume this is a Midgardian holiday tradition of which you are familiar?"

She giggled and nodded. "Yeah, ice skating is something that can be done year-round indoors, but is more fun to do in the winter. I'll do my best to teach you tonight."

Bruce and Tony looked at Thor and then looked at Jane, and then both burst out laughing at the thought of tiny Jane teaching the much larger Thor, who'd now be in a pair of skates, how to safely glide across the ice.

Tony attempted to compose himself, wiping a tear from his eye. "Please, Dr. Foster, any photos you'd be willing to share of this experience would be greatly appreciated." He then began giggling.

Jane tried to glare at him, but then pictured Thor learning to skate and realized it would probably look hilarious yet adorable. A smile spread across her face at the thought, and she took Thor's free hand, giving it at squeeze. "I'll try for a photo or two, if there's time. I have a feeling he'll be a quick study."

Phil Coulson walked into his office Friday morning looking forward to the weekend, for once. He had a backlog of television on his DVR and intended to make a dent in clearing it off. Things had been relatively normal at SHIELD for once, and he had hoped to take advantage of it.

On his desk sat a necklace with a charm and a note. He picked up the card to read it: A noble warrior never misses his mark, and his shot always kills, like Gungnir. He realized the charm was in the shape of a spear. Remembering what he had learned of Norse mythology in school and from when Thor had first arrived, Gungnir was a spear, and if he recalled correctly, Odin's spear.

He smiled, picking up the necklace. He was never one for lucky charms or numbers and wearing them on necklaces for luck as some field agents were (Hawkeye, he was thinking of you), but something about this one felt right. He secured it around his neck, and slipped it under his shirt. He figured, given what he'd been through recently, it wasn't too late to start carrying a possible lucky charm.

"How is it that we never saw this show before?" Bucky asked Steve as they walked out of a Rockettes show.

Steve shrugged. "Not sure."

"It's one of the few things that has been around almost as long as us!" Bucky chuckled. "Man, those girls can kick."

"Mmm hmm," Steve replied. He was busy looking at his phone. Bucky tried to lean over and see what Steve was looking at, but Steve quickly slid it back in his pocket. "So, I think there were definitely more than nine ladies dancing."

Bucky nodded and began walking towards Rockefeller Center. He'd had a text from Darcy earlier telling him that she would likely be at the skating rink that evening, and to let him know when the show was done. "True, but there were at least nine. So I'd say that fits the gift."

Steve's phone beeped, and he pulled it out of his pocket. He read something on it, smiled, and looked up at Bucky. "How far away are we from the ice skating rink outside of Rockefeller Center?"

"Not far. Why?" Bucky asked, smirking.

"Darcy's there with Jane and Thor. Want to go join them?" The look of eagerness and earnestness on Steve's face was one Bucky knew he couldn't say no to, even if he hadn't already planned on saying agreeing.

"Thor's the big guy? The one who is a god or something?" Bucky asked, dragging out his reply a little longer. Steve nodded. "Sure, let's go watch the big guy try to skate."

Darcy was sitting on a bench near the skate rental, waiting for Bucky and Steve to arrive. Her sides hurt from laughing, as she had earlier watched Jane help Thor stand on his skates. Once he had mastered that, she had tried to teach him how to glide forward, but the toe pick had thrown him for a loop. Undeterred, he happily had gotten back up, eager to try again. Seeing him uncoordinated at something was hilarious by itself, but watching him flail like he was a baby animal trying to learn to walk was what made it even better because he was so happy about it.

Her phone vibrated in her jacket pocket, and she pulled it out. Seeing she had a few new text messages, she quickly read them. It was from Bucky, saying he had walked with Steve to the ice rink. But when he, Bucky, had seen the skaters, he'd had what he'd previously called a memory explosion - when some old memory suddenly becomes clear in his mind. It could be a good or a bad thing. This time, it was a bad thing, as he remembered an op he'd been on as the Winter Soldier that involved seducing a mark on an ice rink and inflicting damage with an ice skate. Darcy shuddered at that thought, and felt horrible for Bucky. Bucky also said not to worry, as he'd called his shrink, and wanted Darcy to have a fun night with Steve. She texted back that she hoped he would get through this okay, and that she would talk to him tomorrow.

Just as she put her phone back in her pocket, Steve joined her on her bench. She looked up at him, smiled, and bumped him in the shoulder. He returned her smile with one that left her feeling weak in the knees. She was glad to be sitting down.

"So Buck," he started. She nodded, hoping he wouldn't continue so their night wouldn't have too dark of a cloud hanging over it.

"You ever go skating before?" she asked, watching him struggle somewhat as he laced up his skates.

He chuckled. "No. Can you tell?"

She stood up and moved in front of him, kneeling on one knee so that she could undo some of the kinks in his laces and redo them. "Just a little bit." She met his eyes, smirking.

He watched her expertly tie his skates with a practiced precision. "You've obviously skated before," he stated. She nodded. Then she patted the top of one of his knees as she stood back up, holding out one of her hands for him to use to pull himself up. He hesitantly took it, standing slowly. He felt pretty good about himself until he tried to take a step, and then one of his feet wobbled.

"Careful there. We don't have to go too fast," she cautioned, leading him over to the ice. "You don't want to be too stiff because then it will hurt when you do fall." Pausing she turned to look at him, and added, "and you will fall."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Darce." She stepped on the ice and took both of his hands. He put one foot carefully on the ice and then the next. She skated backwards as he very slowly moved forward.

She shrugged and grinned. "Everyone falls. It comes with the territory. Just trying to be realistic. Now remember, there's a toepick at the front of the blade. That's used to dig into the ice to get a bit of a grip for when you take a stride."

He nodded, lifting one foot up and dug the toepick of the skate into the ice. "Good to be reminded."

She went through a few more things with him, skating backwards as she talked, somewhat pulling him along. He seemed to be doing fairly well, or so he thought. Then she let go of his hands. "You ready to try by yourself?"

"I think so. I'll just go slow. And you'll be near?" She nodded, and he took in her rosy cheeks, admiring how they matched the shade she'd used on her mouth. She was wearing a blue peacoat with bright green mittens, and left her hair down, curls spilling over her shoulders. When the lights caught her hair just right, it almost seemed to sparkle. He wondered if that was something to do with the ice and the mild-ish temperatures, or something else. Either way, she looked beautiful, and he told himself he needed to tell her that before the night was over.

He took a few tentative, small strides, happy that he was moving forward and still upright. She was right by his side, asking him how his day was, and then how the Rockettes show was when he'd told her about that. By the time he had a little wobbly step, he'd realized they were halfway around the rink.

"You're doing awesome, Steve. I'm impressed. You're picking this up way faster than Thor." She grabbed his upper arm, and they continued to skate. He noticed that he felt more confident skating with her touching him.

"Well, I am a bit more patient than he is, I imagine." He looked over to the other side of the ice where Thor and Jane were holding hands as Jane seemed to be explaining something to him.

Darcy laughed. "Very true. Plus, you know, enhanced super soldier who learns things way fast. That's gotta help, too." She reached her other hand over to the arm she was already holding and patted the arm.

"You're saying I'm not a natural skater? That I'll never be the next, um, ah, I don't know any famous male skaters off-hand."

"Brian Boitano?" Darcy suggested with a giggle.

Steve quirked an eyebrow at her. "Really?" She nodded. "Okay, Brian Boitano."

"You may wear spandex to fight crime, but I can't see you in any sparkly get-ups while doing triple axels, Steve." Again, she patted his arm. "But, what's the skating world's loss is the rest of the world's gain."

He smiled, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "I'll just have to set another goal then, I suppose."

They continued to skate around the rink, and he continued to become more and more confident with each lap. Sometimes they had a running commentary on the other skaters, and sometimes they talked about nothing and everything, and sometimes they skated in silence. But even when Darcy could tell Steve could skate without her holding his arm, she still held it.

As the end of their skating time drew near, Darcy whirled around so she was skating backwards in front of Steve, holding both of his hands, grinning.

"I'm glad you came," she said simply.

He smiled. "Me, too. You are a very good teacher."

Even with her rosy cheeks, he knew she blushed. "Well, I try. It's easy with a good student, like yourself."

Suddenly she stopped skating, and he didn't stop fast enough, so he sort of ran into her. He brought his arms around her, so that they were essentially hugging each other and somewhat spinning on the ice. Both were giggling.

"I've been meaning to tell you, you look beautiful tonight," Steve said quickly, before he lost his nerve and before his missed the moment.

Instead of replying, Darcy stood up on her toepicks and pressed her lips to Steve's, bringing her mittened hands around the back of his neck. He immediately responded, his arms finding their place at her shoulders and small of her back, and his lips crushing against hers.

When the two pulled back to catch their breath, it may just have been the two of them who noticed or even saw, but they would swear to anyone else at the rink that night that it had started snowing at exactly that moment with the big kind of snowflakes that stick to your hair and coat and look so perfect that they look fake. It was a perfect way to end their perfect night of skating at Rockefeller Center.

"Look," Steve murmured, pointing at the big tree all lit up. "The snow just makes everything look and feel more magical."

Darcy nodded and leaned in to kiss him again.

Author's Note: Still playing catch-up from the days I missed with the ear/sinus crap. Thanks again to those reading and reviewing! It is greatly appreciated!

Finally - Merry Christmas to all those celebrating! May your day be merry and bright!