AN: Being Jewish, I have a slightly biased view of Christmas. Sorry!
Gibbs turned around, hearing a splash from behind him. He turned just in time to see Ziva's feet disappear through the hole in the ice. He cursed, "Damn it, Ziva!" he ran after her, "What the hell are you thinking?!"
He moved a large chunk of ice aside, clearing the hole. He couldn't see where she'd gone to, but he could see the silhouette of a man beneath him. Reaching down into the arctic water, he felt the sleeve of someone's coat. Pulling up, he hauled an unconscious body to the surface. The man wasn't Tony.
A voice yelled from the back seat of the Jeep, "Hey, boss! Have you seen my sketch pad?" Tony poked his head out the window, "It was right on the hood, and now I can't find it." he looked down at the team, gathered around a large crack in the ice. This couldn't be good.
Gibbs swore loudly, "Damn it, Ziva!" he examined the body he'd pulled from the water. He knew that even with proper medical attention, this man was long gone. "Where the hell did she go?" he watched a shadow moving under him. She was headed the wrong way, swimming farther away from the gap. She'd already been down over a minute, and wouldn't last much longer. Tapping the ice, he traced a path with his hands, leading her back to the opening.
She finally found her way back, gasping for breath, "Gibbs, I couldn't find him!" she took a deep breath, diving down again
"No, Ziva!" Tony ran over, jumping into the hole after her
"Is everyone on this team deaf? Stupid? Both?" Gibbs threw up his hands in exasperation, "Why won't anyone listen to a damn thing I say?"
Tony surfaced quickly, hauling Ziva out with him. She was barely conscious, all color gone from her skin. He dragged Ziva out across the ice, pulling her away from the fragile opening in the ice, "Gibbs, she's barely breathing," he panted before passing out
McGee lay Tony out on the ice, checking his pulse and breathing. Ducky blew several breaths into Tony's lungs, while McGee pounded on his chest, "Come on, Tony!" McGee breathed, "Call me 'Probie', insult my masculinity, mention a dumb movie, anything!" he begged.
Finally, Tony began to gasp and cough. He looked around, at first not recognizing the landscape around him. The sight that caught his attention was that of Gibbs grabbing Ziva tightly, trying to force water from her lungs, "Ziva, you okay?" he managed, his voice trembling and weak
She nodded bleakly, spewing water up. Gibbs wrapped his jacket tightly around her, "McGee, get paramedics here, now!" he ordered, "Ducky, let's get them in the car where its warm, and out of these wet clothes."
Ducky nodded in agreement, "I think you'll need to help the poor girl up, she's stopped shivering already; we need to get her warmed immediately." he pulled Tony up, draping his arms over his shoulders, "Come, Tony. Let's get you in where its warmer." slung between Ducky and McGee, they carried him off
Gibbs picked up Ziva, carrying her over and setting her down on the hood of the car. He held up a blanket, creating a shield from wandering eyes, "Strip down," he ordered, "You can't stay in those wet clothes for too much longer without freezing to death."
Slowly and reluctantly, she obeyed. Her fingers seemed unwilling to follow her commands, struggling with the buttons and zippers that adorned her clothing. With a little difficulty, she finally made it down to her undergarments. "There. Done," she told Gibbs, her voice shaking, "What do I change into?"
"Nothing," Gibbs told her, "We don't have any spare clothes. We didn't plan on you two going swimming. Come here," he wrapped the blanket around her several times, trying to lock in as much warmth as possible. He picked her up, carrying her to the car, "Medics will be here soon, stay put!" he ordered, though that didn't exactly work last time
She nodded, curling up in the back seat. She could feel the icicles forming in her wet hair, "Where is Tony?" she asked, worried
"Right here," a trembling voice said. He too was wrapped in a blanket, likely wearing nothing underneath. Ducky helped ease him in beside Ziva, "Hey, is it cold in here or is it just me?" he joked. The others were not amused
Ducky sighed, "You're both lucky to be alive. One can only survive about three minutes in water that cold." he placed a thermometer under Ziva's tongue, "Keep that there, dear." the thermometer read only 91.5, adding to Ducky's concern, "Oh, good heavens! Timothy, how far away are the paramedics?"
McGee wandered over, carrying an armload of supplies, "About three minutes. Here, I've found some extra blankets and some snacks," he threw another blanket over each Tony and Ziva, "Is the heater on?" he asked worriedly
"Yeah," Gibbs checked, making sure it was on the highest setting, "Its as high as it'll go."
Ducky sat down beside them, closing the door behind himself, "Here, lets try to keep the heat in, shell we?" he pulled Ziva into his arms, "With your illness, I don't think going for a swim was wise, dear. Let's hope you will warm up quickly." he rubbed his hands along her arms, trying to get her warmed up
Tony took his temperature, slightly better at 93.2. Gibbs threw open the door, clearly not happy, "Medics are here. Ziva, Tony, you're going with them." he helped them out of the car, both tensing at the feel of the chilled air, "Ducky, they're going to Bethesda, I want you to go with, and keep me posted." he lead the two agents over into the paramedics' capable hands
"Duly noted, Jethro," he closed the doors of the ambulance behind him
Ducky entered the room quietly, not knowing if the two agents were sleeping or not. Ziva sat up in bed, clutching a mug of hot tea tightly, taking small sips. Tony lay back in a chair at her bedside, robed in a half-dozen blankets. They seemed cold and quiet, but better than they were an hour ago. "Its good to see that you two are doing alright." he smiled, taking a seat beside them, "Everything alright?"
"Yes," Ziva nodded, "We can go home in an hour." she coughed a little, making Tony and Ducky uneasy, "I am fine!" she insisted
Gibbs handed each of them a cup of coffee, "Here, that'll warm you to your bones. My own brew; it could peel the paint off a car, but its damn good coffee."
Tony eyed the cup curiously, disdainfully swallowing a few sips. He didn't mind the taste, as long as it was warm, he didn't care, "Good coffee, boss." he smiled forcefully
The door flew open quickly, knocking over a coat rack near the doorway. A black blur was all Tony could see before he was crushed beneath a very worried Goth, "Tony! What were you thinking? You had the plague, but that wasn't enough to have us worry about. You had to go diving in a frozen swamp?" her arms flailed comically, "And you," she turned to Ziva, "You've got the flu, you could have drowned, or you could have caught pneumonia!" she enveloped Ziva in a tight hug, "No more, its almost Christmas. It should be a happy time, not a time of hospitals."
Ziva struggled against Abby's grip, but to no avail. She only clung tighter, preventing movement or breathing, "Abby, I need to breathe!" she gasped
"Sorry," she quipped, "Ducky, are they okay?" she felt each of their foreheads, worried
"They're okay," the doctor told them, laughing from the doorway, "Ziva's got the flu, and she tells me she had that before all of this. And Tony's prior encounter with the plague complicates things a bit. They should both fully recover, once they get warmed up. But they should have someone stay with them, just to make sure they don't get sick."
"You're staying with me," Gibbs told them, "I want to keep an eye on you two." he didn't want to see another team member put in the ground. He couldn't go through that again, especially not at Christmas
"Yay!" Abby cheered, "We can have Christmas at your place, Gibbs! We can put up a tree, stockings, make fruitcake..." she smiled, seeing Gibbs' reaction to the word 'fruitcake', "well, maybe not fruitcake, but we can make cocoa, drink eggnog until we're good and drunk, and set out cookies for Santa..."
"Santa's not real, Abbs," McGee informed her, sad to burst her bubble
"I know, McGee. Unless Santa could go down 1500 chimneys a second, there's no way he could deliver all the toys in one night." she told him, "And, the odds of a reindeer flying, not that high."
"Ducky? Do I have a fever?" Ziva asked, "Why are they talking about flying reindeer, and chimneys, and what is a 'fruitcake'?" delirium was the only logical explanation for what she was hearing. She rubbed her temple tiredly
Ducky chuckled warmly, "You do have a bit of a temperature, dear. But you're not hearing things. Christmas has always been a holiday of traditions, both conventionally religious and just plain absurd." he didn't expect her to understand American Christmases. There was really no explanation for a lot of it. "Much of it is commercialization and materialism."
"I'll have to show you my favorite tradition, Ziva," Tony grinned, "Know what 'mistletoe' is?"